TR: Bench Canyon via Isberg Trailhead

[Pietro257]

Dates: 7/29 - 8/3/2021 (5 nights, 6 days)
Enter: Isberg trailhead, Ansel Adams Wilderness
Exit: Same
Camped: 1st night Hemlock Crossing; 2nd confluence of the San Joaquin River and Bench Canyon Creek; 3rd Bench Canyon; 4th Bench Canyon; 5th Hemlock Crossing again

During the depths of the Covid pandemic last year I made myself a promise. I couldn't go backpacking in 2020 on account of the pandemic, but if backpacking was allowed in 2021 I would attempt to return to Bench Canyon in the Ansel Adams Wilderness. Bench Canyon is my favorite place in the Sierra. I was there in 1996, 2005, and 2012 at age 54. Could I get there this summer at age 63?

This trip was a reprise of a my 2012 itinerary, which I wrote about here: viewtopic.php?t=8190

I am sorry to report that much of the area we hiked through was scorched in the 2020 Creek Fire. Except for a cardboard sign that said "Trial," there was no signage at the Isberg Trailhead -- it was burnt up along with all the trees. While we tried to determine whether "Trail" was indeed the Isberg Trailhead, an old-timer in a pickup truck came along. It was a stroke of luck. He told us we were in the right place.

The 2.5 miles from Isberg to The Niche is a shadeless charred forest remnant that smells of burnt charcoal dust. It was ghastly. No plants grew on the floor of the incinerated forest. Between the time we entered this area and the time we returned on our way out 6 days later, it rained considerably. Since nothing grew on the forest floor to hold the rain in, numerous washes criss-crossed the trail. At times it was hard to find the trail on the way out.

During the entire trip we saw just four other people, all of them hiking the Sierra High Route through Bench Canyon. Not many people take the trail through Bugg Meadow to Hemlock Crossing. Between the fallen trees, spot fires from 2020, and lack of maintenance in this area, finding the trail was difficult. Much of the trail is just a path. On many occasions we lost sight of the trail and had to reconnoiter. I would recommend having a GPS device to navigate this area. Unless more people start tromping the trail down it will cease to be a trail and become a cross-country route.

In the last mile before Hemlock Crossing we walked through another forest of charred, limbless trees. I stepped on some black mud near a creek bed and sank to my thighs in charcoal ooze. It was like stepping in quicksand in the movies. It frightened me momentarily. I kept sinking but eventually hit bottom and crawled out.

Hemlock Crossing was not affected by the Creek Fire. You can find a great campsite downstream about 40 yards from the bridge on the west bank of the San Joaquin. We had a nice swim in the pool by the waterfall. It rained for a half hour, a prelude of bigger storms to come.

Next day we hiked through Stevenson Meadow and camped at the confluence of Bench Canyon Creek and the San Joaquin River. In dry years like 2021 you can cross the San Joaquin here. After you hike about 200 yards beyond Bench Canyon Creek you see an island in the San Joaquin. Cross there.

It rained for 2.5 hours in the afternoon, the longest summer storm I have ever endured in the Sierras. In 1975 I hiked the John Muir Trail without a single raindrop falling on me. For many years I used to tell people I had never been rained on in the Sierras in the summertime. The times they are a-changing. Now when I go backpacking I make sure to bring a good tent and a poncho. I always get rained on. I can count on it.

The cross-country hike from the the San Joaquin River to Bench Canyon requires some mountaineering, but nothing too scary. When you get to the headwall of Bench Canyon you see several green chutes you can follow to the top. The vegetation is slippery in places, it can be steep, and you have to do a bit of rock-climbing here and there.

I absolutely love Bench Canyon. It's such a beautiful and peaceful place. As I mentioned earlier, this was my fourth visit, and almost certainly my last. Throughout my backpacking career I have made it a rule to always err on the side of caution, but I think I violated my rule this time. I overextended myself. I felt woozy at times during this trip. I have a bad knee which can make going downhill difficult. We (there were four of us, two hikers in their twenties and one in his fifties) undertook a hike to Blue Lake at the top of Bench Canyon, but I had to turn around before we got there. I felt weak from the altitude, hunger, and fatigue. My trip to Bench Canyon was bittersweet knowing it was probably my last.

From Bench Canyon it took two days to return to the Isberg Trailhead. The rains had made of mess of the trail in the burnt areas. In my 2012 report of my trip to Bench Canyon I wrote, "That the United States Forest Service can find the money and personnel to clear the trails of fallen trees, all for the benefit of a dwindling number of backcountry hikers, is a miracle. We only saw six other parties in our six days in the wilderness. How much longer can the Forest Service justify maintaining the trails when so few people use them?" This is doubly true now. As a result of the 2020 Creek Fire, the trails are in worse shape than ever. It would take a real commitment on the part of the Forest Service to maintain the trail to Hemlock Crossing. I don't see the Forest Service rescuing this trail when so few people use it and the Forest Service must devote so many of its resources to fighting fire.

I took the Sierra High Route (the Roper Route) to Bench Canyon in 1996 and 2005. The route through Hemlock Crossing is much easier, but it can only be undertaken in dry years. In wet years crossing the San Joaquin near its confluence with Bench Canyon Creek is too dangerous.

From the Isberg Trailhead we drove the long, winding road to the town of North Fork. The Creek Fire had scorched the forest on all sides for miles and miles around. It was very, very sad to see. Due to the changing climate, we now have a "fire season" in California. I hope this year's fire season isn't as devastating as last year's.

Sorry to end on a sour note like this. I guess I'm feeling my age, although not for the first time. I'm pretty sure by next summer I will have forgotten the hardships of this hike. I'll only remember the good stuff. It happens every time.

[cgundersen]

Hi Pietro,
That indeed is a chastening report: the vanishing trail and the scarred forest. But like you, I'm a big fan of Bench canyon and Blue Lake. On perhaps my best experience in that area, the entire upper reaches of Bench were coated with dwarf lupine that imparted a sweet smell to the air. It made the hiking almost effortless. Well, don't give up hope entirely: my (now 70 year old) buddy is coming out for a trip in 10 days and after hiking with two knee braces for several years, he latched onto a good physical therapist who now has him going strong. Yes, he has ugly knees, but they work! Cameron

[TehipiteTom]

Thanks for this report! I've been wondering about areas like this that were hit by the Creek Fire. Glad to hear Hemlock Crossing was spared, along with the country upstream of there.

Bench Canyon is a favorite spot of mine as well. In 2000 I did a trip where we returned from Bench Canyon via Rockbound Lake, Long Creek, and the trail east of Sadler Peak. It's probably easier than doing the climb out of Hemlock, though even then the trail wasn't easy to follow. We also encountered no water in Chetwood and Cora Creeks, which I suspect is common in late season since their headwaters are not high enough to have snowpack through the summer (in a normal or below-normal year).

[Love the Sierra]

Hi Pietro,
Thank you for the report. SIGH, no wonder it is so little used. I was going to go there this year. However after reading yoru trip report, there is not way I am going to spend two days of my trip in a burn area. We have plenty of local burn in the local mountains, I cannot bear to see more on my vacations in the backcountry.
I am also suffering age with junky, lousy lungs. As long as I can put one foot in front of the other, I will keep going out!
Aura

[Pietro257]

Bad news: The bridge at Hemlock Crossing got mangled in the Big Winter of '23. It is now unusable. You cannot cross the San Joaquin at Hemlock Crossing. I will be curious to see how long it takes the Forest Service to restore this bridge, if the Forest Service decides to restore it.

[frozenintime]

i crossed that bridge in 2021. seemed pretty damn sturdy at the time! pretty wild that this winter took it down as well. i wonder how horrible the cross country would be to the bottom of bench canyon along the western side of the san joaquin. it's only two miles, but could be horribly brushy and i see a couple possible choke points on the topo.

[dbargaehr1]

Bridge is VERY damaged. steel partially torn from the concrete abutment. on the east side. Here’s some photos from our trip July 24-29. Pietro, are you and your wife the ones my brother and I met down there on the 25th?

[Pietro257]

Bridge is VERY damaged. steel partially torn from the concrete abutment. on the east side. Here’s some photos from our trip July 24-29. Pietro, are you and your wife the ones my brother and I met down there on the 25th?

Not me. I was there two years ago. I'm looking forward to your report. Did you cross the San Joaquin? Did you make it to Bench Canyon?

[dbargaehr1]

Bridge is VERY damaged. steel partially torn from the concrete abutment. on the east side. Here’s some photos from our trip July 24-29. Pietro, are you and your wife the ones my brother and I met down there on the 25th?

Not me. I was there two years ago. I'm looking forward to your report. Did you cross the San Joaquin? Did you make it to Bench Canyon?

putting together TR this week, lots of photos to sort through.

We did NOT cross the san joaquin, it would have been suicidal. It was RIPPING. There was a potential snow bridge on an avalanche zone further upriver, but we had no guarantee we'd be able to cross back to the west side to make it into Bench so we stuck to the west side despite the obstacles!

we did manage to make it to Bench Canyon via a very taxing XC route. I'll post details in the TR.