TR: Cole Creek Lake in Mokelumne Wilderness
Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 11:18 am
I'm a bit hesitant to post trip reports here because compared to what a lot of you folks are doing, my trips seem so trivial. Although to me they are big adventures . Also I don't know exactly what constitutes the "high sierra" but don't think where I go really counts ha! But I have so enjoyed reading this forum over the years and seeing the astounding pictures and trip reports that I want to contribute something.
I could only be away for two days this week, so I decided to go back to the Mokelumne Wilderness, this time going in from the north side, from Allen Trailhead, which is off HWY 88 near Silver Lake. I had gone a short way down this trail last year looking for a geocache, but had never been farther. My plan was to go to Long Lake, the destination that I'd intended to go to last week when I entered from the Tanglefoot Trailhead to the south. I didn't make it last week to Long Lake, and guess what, I didn't make it this time either, but I did have a fantastic, beautiful hike! I ended up at Cole Creek Lake which is about a mile short of Long Lake, but was such a nice place that I stayed there. The total distance was 7.2 miles one way, with 1850 feet of elevation gain along the trail going, and 1120 feet of gain coming back out. One reason I like the Tanglefoot trailhead is that it is seldom used and I like solitude. I thought there might be more people coming in from this trailhead near the HWY. But no vehicles were at the trailhead.
The first couple of miles of the hike from Allen Trailhead the trail climbs, through really nice woods and small meadows, with occasional nice vistas to the north of the Silver Lake area and the Crystal Range beyond. After a while you go through a barb wire fence and go down a little bit to a place called Allen Camp. There is an old building here, a nice meadow, and signs that it is private property. The terrain flattens out somewhat for a while. There were a ton of birds and some almost dried up streams with small trickles of water in some spots. After a bit, the trail climbs up again, and you get to the high point at about 4 miles in, on top of Squaw Ridge, at 8600 ft. As soon as you get up to the top of Squaw Ridge you can see for the first time the valley to the south where the trail will take you, and where a few lakes are located. I could see Mokelumne Peak for the first time and the saddle west of Moke Peak where I had come across northbound last week. Really awesome views from this point. There are a couple of historical Markers up here, for a trading post, and apparently this was part of the "Carson Trail" back in the day.
After topping Squaw Ridge the trail drops down gently and enters the Mokelumne Wilderness area. There is a trailhead at this point called Munson Meadow Trailhead. It looked like you'd need a high clearance vehicle to be able to actually drive to this trailhead but I'm not sure. There was a ranger truck parked there. Prior to this point the trail has been in some places open to dirt bikes, but once in the wilderness no motorized vehicles are allowed.
After entering the wilderness, it was one of the most pleasant walks in the woods I've ever had. The trail goes south and gently loses altitude, but so gradually it isn't really noticeable. The lakes are at about 8000 feet elevation, and the first lake that is near the trail is Cole Creek Lake, which is 3.2 miles from the top of Squaw Ridge. The trail goes through woods, across meadows and occasionally up into more open granite with some really amazing views to the east. I think one is looking at the Blue Lakes area looking east across Summit City Creek canyon.
I met a ranger coming up the trail toward me, and he had been camped at Long Lake. He had a partner who apparently had passed without seeing me, because I had gone off trail for awhile to sit on a bluff and have a snack. I talked to him for awhile. This is the first time I've ever seen a ranger out on a trail. He was curious about the trail conditions coming from the south as I did last week, so I felt kind of useful for a change LOL, to be able to tell him that the trail I'd been on last week, which is lightly travelled, was in great shape with no logs having fallen across it during the last winter. The ranger said there were no people camped out down the trail that he knew about.
Shortly thereafter, I got to a junction with a sign pointing to Cole Creek lake, 1/2 mile off the trail, so I went to check it out. It was so beautiful..I really couldn't believe it. And zero people. The lake is clear and clean and deep looking. It would be great for swimming. There were nice flat places to camp with tress that were perfect for my hammock. Man..I could not believe I felt like I had this whole wilderness area to myself. It was probably only two thirty in the afternoon at this point. I was kind of tired though and the area was begging me to set up camp and quickly get into the activity I specialize in....lounging. Seriously I don't know how I do it, pass hours of time just puttering, sitting on the bank watching birds and bugs, or wandering around the perimeter of the lake. I take a Kindle with me in case I need to pass time or get "bored" but it rarely gets used.
When I went to bed it was perfectly calm wind-wise. I did not set up my tarp. I did see a few shooting stars during the night when I'd wake up, leftovers maybe from the recent meteor shower. I did get cold sometime during the night, but it wasn't the usual cold spot, it was just an overall chilliness. When I got up, right before dawn, I noticed there was a slight breeze, and that was probably why I was chilled without my tarp blocking the wind.
I sat on the bank of the lake watching it get light and drinking coffee and eating my breakfast of stove top stuffing (weird I know!). The hike back out was fantastic. I saw no people on the way out. There was some fresh horse manure on the trails near Silver Lake and I wondered where they had gone.
I did not see any bears on this trip but did see a lot of their droppings. I saw way more birds than I usually do, hawks, juncos, hummingbirds,and a brilliantly colored bird that I later found out was a Western Tanager. Lots of chipmunks. And one group of cows who were not happy to see me.
I'll for sure be coming back to this area. For some reason I was just sure that there would be all kinds of people running around on the trails, and this certainly was not the case. There are several other lakes to explore in the area and hopefully next time I will be able to stay for a few days. I'd say its really the best backpacking trip I've had so far, just so so beautiful, both the hike itself and the destination.
Link to more pictures:
https://plus.google.com/photos/11415593 ... 3399029121
I could only be away for two days this week, so I decided to go back to the Mokelumne Wilderness, this time going in from the north side, from Allen Trailhead, which is off HWY 88 near Silver Lake. I had gone a short way down this trail last year looking for a geocache, but had never been farther. My plan was to go to Long Lake, the destination that I'd intended to go to last week when I entered from the Tanglefoot Trailhead to the south. I didn't make it last week to Long Lake, and guess what, I didn't make it this time either, but I did have a fantastic, beautiful hike! I ended up at Cole Creek Lake which is about a mile short of Long Lake, but was such a nice place that I stayed there. The total distance was 7.2 miles one way, with 1850 feet of elevation gain along the trail going, and 1120 feet of gain coming back out. One reason I like the Tanglefoot trailhead is that it is seldom used and I like solitude. I thought there might be more people coming in from this trailhead near the HWY. But no vehicles were at the trailhead.
The first couple of miles of the hike from Allen Trailhead the trail climbs, through really nice woods and small meadows, with occasional nice vistas to the north of the Silver Lake area and the Crystal Range beyond. After a while you go through a barb wire fence and go down a little bit to a place called Allen Camp. There is an old building here, a nice meadow, and signs that it is private property. The terrain flattens out somewhat for a while. There were a ton of birds and some almost dried up streams with small trickles of water in some spots. After a bit, the trail climbs up again, and you get to the high point at about 4 miles in, on top of Squaw Ridge, at 8600 ft. As soon as you get up to the top of Squaw Ridge you can see for the first time the valley to the south where the trail will take you, and where a few lakes are located. I could see Mokelumne Peak for the first time and the saddle west of Moke Peak where I had come across northbound last week. Really awesome views from this point. There are a couple of historical Markers up here, for a trading post, and apparently this was part of the "Carson Trail" back in the day.
After topping Squaw Ridge the trail drops down gently and enters the Mokelumne Wilderness area. There is a trailhead at this point called Munson Meadow Trailhead. It looked like you'd need a high clearance vehicle to be able to actually drive to this trailhead but I'm not sure. There was a ranger truck parked there. Prior to this point the trail has been in some places open to dirt bikes, but once in the wilderness no motorized vehicles are allowed.
After entering the wilderness, it was one of the most pleasant walks in the woods I've ever had. The trail goes south and gently loses altitude, but so gradually it isn't really noticeable. The lakes are at about 8000 feet elevation, and the first lake that is near the trail is Cole Creek Lake, which is 3.2 miles from the top of Squaw Ridge. The trail goes through woods, across meadows and occasionally up into more open granite with some really amazing views to the east. I think one is looking at the Blue Lakes area looking east across Summit City Creek canyon.
I met a ranger coming up the trail toward me, and he had been camped at Long Lake. He had a partner who apparently had passed without seeing me, because I had gone off trail for awhile to sit on a bluff and have a snack. I talked to him for awhile. This is the first time I've ever seen a ranger out on a trail. He was curious about the trail conditions coming from the south as I did last week, so I felt kind of useful for a change LOL, to be able to tell him that the trail I'd been on last week, which is lightly travelled, was in great shape with no logs having fallen across it during the last winter. The ranger said there were no people camped out down the trail that he knew about.
Shortly thereafter, I got to a junction with a sign pointing to Cole Creek lake, 1/2 mile off the trail, so I went to check it out. It was so beautiful..I really couldn't believe it. And zero people. The lake is clear and clean and deep looking. It would be great for swimming. There were nice flat places to camp with tress that were perfect for my hammock. Man..I could not believe I felt like I had this whole wilderness area to myself. It was probably only two thirty in the afternoon at this point. I was kind of tired though and the area was begging me to set up camp and quickly get into the activity I specialize in....lounging. Seriously I don't know how I do it, pass hours of time just puttering, sitting on the bank watching birds and bugs, or wandering around the perimeter of the lake. I take a Kindle with me in case I need to pass time or get "bored" but it rarely gets used.
When I went to bed it was perfectly calm wind-wise. I did not set up my tarp. I did see a few shooting stars during the night when I'd wake up, leftovers maybe from the recent meteor shower. I did get cold sometime during the night, but it wasn't the usual cold spot, it was just an overall chilliness. When I got up, right before dawn, I noticed there was a slight breeze, and that was probably why I was chilled without my tarp blocking the wind.
I sat on the bank of the lake watching it get light and drinking coffee and eating my breakfast of stove top stuffing (weird I know!). The hike back out was fantastic. I saw no people on the way out. There was some fresh horse manure on the trails near Silver Lake and I wondered where they had gone.
I did not see any bears on this trip but did see a lot of their droppings. I saw way more birds than I usually do, hawks, juncos, hummingbirds,and a brilliantly colored bird that I later found out was a Western Tanager. Lots of chipmunks. And one group of cows who were not happy to see me.
I'll for sure be coming back to this area. For some reason I was just sure that there would be all kinds of people running around on the trails, and this certainly was not the case. There are several other lakes to explore in the area and hopefully next time I will be able to stay for a few days. I'd say its really the best backpacking trip I've had so far, just so so beautiful, both the hike itself and the destination.
Link to more pictures:
https://plus.google.com/photos/11415593 ... 3399029121