This is my report of a solo 2 night backpack trip in the Grouse Lakes roadless area of the Tahoe National Forest (just north of Interstate 80) from July 31 to August 2, 2023.
This report will span 5 posts in this thread in order to store all photos on HST (with the 12 photos per post limit).
Introduction
For the last few years, I have been backpacking primarily in the Yosemite high country. In January of 2023 I decided to try a more adventuresome trip from one of the eastside trailheads. I reserved a permit for the Paiute pass trailhead in the first week of August, 2023. The rest of my August was already booked for family activities. But as we all know, the snow kept falling all winter, and in the spring it wasn't melting very fast. By July it was clear that my original plan would not work because of too much snow for my tastes, so I canceled that permit reservation. Now I had to find an alternative. In addition, my week in August had shrunk a bit and I only had a few days available. My usual haunts in the Yosemite high country were also snowed in and not available, plus Tioga road was not even opened yet in July. I decided to look for something at a much lower elevation.
My thoughts went quickly to the Grouse Lakes Roadless Area just north of Interstate 80 in the Tahoe National Forest. This area lies between 6,000 and 8,000 feet elevation, but because it was heavily glaciated, it has a lot of bare granite and metamorphic peaks and many small lakes. This gives it the feeling of a higher elevation area. In both 2020 and 2021, I had done overnight trips into the Grouse Lakes area in June. Conditions were ideal on those trips. So I expected good conditions in early August in that same area during this heavy snow year of 2023. A bonus: no permit (other than the standard annual California campfire permit) is needed to backpack in the Grouse Lakes area. The trails in this area are also open to mountain bikes, though I have rarely seen them.
My family and I have done many day hikes and a few backpacks into the Grouse Lakes area over the last 40 years, and have owned a cabin near it for the last 25 years, so I am very familiar with the trails and the terrain. All the trails here are very popular, but there are fewer folks in the Beyers Lakes area, so I targeted that. Also, I like to do at least some cross-country travel on my backpack trips, so I decided to make a loop with a cross-country connection from Beyers Lakes around the Black Buttes to the Five Lakes basin, following roughly the same route I had done 8 years ago. Instead of the great adventure I originally contemplated for this summer, I was going to embark on a modest one.
Here is a map I left with my wife of the route I planned, overprinted in green, with some alternates overprinted in yellow. I kept pretty closely to the green route, except for some floundering around in the cross-country section. Note that this map is a section of a larger CalTopo map that I maintain with all my Sierra hikes. Solid colored lines are trails I have done; dotted colored lines are cross-country routes I have done; the red tent symbols are places I have camped.
Hikers and backpackers in the Grouse Lakes area are concentrated on the weekends. I started my trip by driving up to my mountain cabin in the town of Alta off I-80 on Sunday, July 30, so I could start hiking on Monday. I planned two nights in the backcountry, but brought enough food for 3 nights.
All distances and elevation changes shown here are from tracing my route on CalTopo and using its profile measurements. All hiking times are from my trail notes.
Day 1 - Monday, July 31
Stats: backpack 5 mi, 1600 feet elevation loss, 1000 feet elevation gain. About 4 hours actual hiking.
My optimal plan was to start and end at the Grouse Ridge trailhead, the highest one for the Grouse Lakes area, at about 7500 feet elevation. But while planning the trip, I wasn't sure if the road was even open - snow is not plowed; it has to melt out. My map shows an alternate start at the Blue Lake trailhead at 5800 feet elevation, which I knew was open, but that would add several less interesting miles to the loop. A few days before my hike, I managed to reach someone at the Forest Service district office who reassured me that the road was open to the Grouse Ridge trailhead, if perhaps "a bit rough".
So early on Monday morning, I drove from my cabin up I-80, then west on highway 20, then north on paved Bowman Road to the signed turnoff for the Grouse Ridge road, which runs for about 6 miles to end at the Grouse Ridge trailhead. This is a dirt and gravel Forest Service road. The road had many rough and washboarded sections, limiting speed to about 12 mph overall. I had no problems in my Subaru Outback and believe a normal sedan could make it up the road if driven with care to avoid rocks and deep ruts. I parked in a shaded flat area where the road tops out on a shallow saddle just before the campground spur (room to park at least 5 cars). The southern segment of the Grouse Ridge trail starts here. It took 50 minutes driving time from the Interstate 80/Highway 20 interchange to this parking spot.
A short use trail also starts at this saddle heading directly east up the slope to the top of Peak 7636. Before donning my backpack, I took a short jaunt up this trail for the view from the top. Most of the Grouse Lake roadless area can be seen from this viewpoint. There is also a good view of the rugged Sierra Buttes 15 air miles to the north, and beyond it, the shining white snows on Mount Lassen were just visible 90 miles away. The Sierra Crest south to the Crystal Range was also visible. The photo below looks directly east from Peak 7636. The Black Buttes, which I will round on a cross-country route, are to the far right.
I descended back to my car, ate some lunch, shouldered my always too-heavy backpack (about 32 pounds), and started descending the southern segment of the Grouse Ridge trail at 12:30 pm. It starts at a post (no sign) about 100 feet west down the road from the Peak 7636 trail. Temperatures were in the 60s with a good breeze. This Grouse Ridge trail ran steeply down the slope to the south through attractive mature red fir forest with little glades and flower meadows, like this one with a small stream.
I could see no evidence of the logging that has been done on this slope just west of this trail; the forest looked quite pristine. There are occasional views out to local peaks. About halfway down the slope, the trail starts to switchback to ease the grade. Still, this trail is steep overall and I would not want to ascend it; it has an elevation change of 1300 feet in only 1.5 miles. Eventually, the trail comes to a signed junction with the Blue Lake trail, heading west to its namesake. My trail continues east on a contour in a more open area with lots of exposed granite. A big rocky area just east of the junction provides a good view and a rest stop.
In less than a mile from the Blue Lake trail junction, the contouring Grouse Ridge trail comes to a ford of Granite Creek. In the past, I have come this far on a dayhike from Blue Lake in the spring to find Granite Creek roaring and impassable. This day, it was flowing only a few inches deep and easily crossed on exposed rocks. There are camping possibilities on the east side of the creek. Very quickly after the crossing, the trail comes to another junction, with broken signs strewn on the ground. The Grouse Ridge trail now heads down to Fordyce Creek and Eagle Lakes. The Beyers Lakes trail takes off to the east heading uphill. I went that way.
The trail up to Beyers Lakes climbs at a moderate grade through forest and meadows. Wildflowers were profuse, including many leopard lilies in the wet areas and a huge field of mules ears (but few flowers). After crossing a broad saddle, the trail drops a bit to a big wet meadow where it makes an easy jump across the outlet creek from Beyers Lakes.
The topo shows a lake on a bench just south of this creek crossing. I decided to ascend the open forested slope to the south to have a look at it. It was pleasant enough, as you can see in the photo below, but did not appear to have any good camping spots.
I returned back to the trail, which then started its final ascent to Beyers Lakes. From a previous trip, I knew that the trail ascends to a saddle in a rocky ridge just west of the lake, but then continues climbing to the south. A use trail descends to the lake and passes several well-worn campsites. I wanted something more wild, so about half way up the slope west of the lake, I left the trail and headed north cross-country to the far northwest corner of the main lake, where there is a second outlet. The terrain was convoluted and brushy in spots, but full of leopard lilies by the streams and mariposa lilies and penstemon on the slopes. I reached the lake at 5:30 pm in a flat open area which had a rock-free patch of gravel just big enough for my tent, shown in the photo below. I spent the rest of the day setting up camp, looking around my lake area, and eating a leisurely dinner.
During the entire day I neither saw nor heard other people, although from the lowest parts of the trail I could occasionally hear the muffled sounds of the I-80 freeway to the south. There were basically no mosquitoes all day; it was windy, which helped, but also dry. The trails I used had well-defined tread and were easy to follow. I also noticed some mountain bike tracks on these trails, all the way to Beyers Lakes. I did not see any grazing livestock along the route, but starting at about 6800 feet elevation on the Beyers Lakes trail, I did see occasional old dried-up cow pies. This prompted me to filter my water - usually I drink it straight from the lakes and streams in the highest Sierra. There were good wildflowers the whole way, but probably past peak.
The wind stopped about 7:30 pm and it became completely still. A few mosquitoes came out about 8 pm, but they were easily swatted away. The last sunlight on the mountain was at 8:10 pm, with lovely sunset colors in the clouds from 8:15 to 8:45 pm. Mosquitoes got more numerous at dusk and I probably got a couple of bites. I think it had been too warm for them earlier. It was still in the 60s at dusk. I saw many small rings on the lake at dusk from fish rising. I went to bed at 9:30 pm and was immediately bothered by cramps in my hamstring muscles. A frog or two croaked all night to keep me company.
All in all, I had a very pleasant day of hiking in solitude through forests and wildflowers, with views of nearby mountains and canyons under mostly blue skies, ending at a nice camp by a lovely lake. Great day.
To be continued ...
TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
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TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
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wildhiker
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Re: TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
Continued from Day 1 post
Day 2 - Tuesday, August 1
Stats: backpack on trail 1.8 mi, 750 feet elevation gain, 230 feet elevation loss;
backpack cross-country net 2.5 mi, 500 feet elevation gain, 950 feet elevation loss.
5.5 hours actual hiking.
Beyond Beyers Lakes lies the wildest part of the Grouse Lakes roadless area. This southeast corner is the farthest from any trailhead and gets the least use. It also has the largest areas of open granite slopes that beckon you to head cross-country. This was my destination today.
I didn't sleep well - a common problem on my first night in the backcountry. I woke up at 5:30 am and got up out of the tent at 6:15 am. The night had not been cold and the air was dry - no condensation on tent. There were a lot of high clouds and very still air, which allowed me to hear a low roar from the Interstate 80 freeway in the distance. A few mosquitoes appeared by 6:30 am, but they were not a nuisance. The sun finally hit my camp area at 7 am, coming over the ridge north of Peak 7670. I ate breakfast, packed up, and started hiking at 8:25 am.
I first worked my way south parallel to the shore cross-country through complex terrain with brush to get across the two outlet streams of the main Beyers Lake and intersect the use trail passing the established campsites and heading up to the main trail on a low rocky ridge above the lake. I saw no one else camped by the lake.
Back on the main trail, I headed east toward Baltimore Lake. Patches of phlox and penstemon dotted the rocky areas along the trail. The trail ascended through a lovely open old-growth red fir forest, with many sunny openings with wildflowers. Lupines were all bloomed out, but there were good patches of pennyroyal, a yellow daisy, and sulphur flower (a buckwheat). There were many old dried up cow pies on this stretch of trail, especially in the open meadowy areas. Views improved as I broke out of the forest and headed up rockier areas to the top of the ridge.
The air felt much cooler than yesterday, especially with the wind - probably only about 60 degrees F. Right before the trail tops out on the ridge, there is possible camping in a shallow valley with snowbanks for water. At the top, I took a long rest and walked south along the ridge to a high point for the views.
Where the trail descended from the ridge on the east side, there was a large steep snowbank; I bypassed it climbing down some rocks. Snowbanks were common on this eastern side of the Black Buttes. The trail descended gradually through meadows with flowers and tall red firs and mosquitoes! At the head of a brush-choked valley with a small pond, just before the main trail makes a 90 degree eastward bend toward Baltimore Lake, I left the trail to start my cross-country adventure.
I had hiked this cross-country route around the east side of the Black Buttes twice before in 1997 and 2014, but my memory was hazy on the details. Also, the last two times, the terrain had been snow free, but I could already see many large snowbanks today. These would end up complicating the route-finding.
I walked directly north from the trail on an easy slope until I came to the edge of a deep gash in the earth - a long narrow ravine bordered mostly by cliffs or very steep slopes, as shown in this photo:
I walked first west and then east along the lip of this ravine looking for both a way down and a viable way back up the other side. Just a short ways east, I headed down a gentler slope to a wider part of the ravine where I bypassed a wet meadow and seasonal pond in the bottom (many mosquitoes!) to find a gully leading up the other side between solid rock faces. The gully was filled with snow, but didn't look too steep. I started walking up the snow, but then switched to climbing up the rocks on the left (west) side when the icy snow got steeper than I was comfortable climbing in plain boots. I remembered that this gully was my route on previous trips, but then it was a nice grassy climb with no snow. Part way up the rocky slope, I took this picture looking back across the deep ravine with the seasonal pond, with the Baltimore Lake trail in the forest in the background.
When free of snow, this gully leads directly to the eastern lobe of a V shaped lake. On this trip, I crossed to the east side of the ravine and clambered higher on rocky slopes to get around the big snowbanks and ended up reaching the V shaped lake at the northern tip of its western lope, where there are some trees and campsites on a bench above the lake. Here is a photo looking across the eastern lobe of the V shaped lake to the summit of Black Buttes. As you can see, the sky was covered with fairly thick high clouds.
I ate lunch by this V shaped lake and admired the nice snowmelt waterfall dropping into it. Northeast of the northern end of the western lobe of the V shaped lake, there is a prominent rocky knob and a notch to its left (west). I headed up the gully to that notch, shown in the next photo. Brushy areas were easily bypassed on the rocks.
From the notch, I took this photo looking back at the V shaped lake, the camping spot on the bench to its left (east), and the high ridge on the far left where the trail from Beyers Lakes comes over:
From the north side of the notch, I could see the full French Lake reservoir to the northeast. The plan was to roughly contour along the slope heading north, but I had to deal with gullies and ravines in the way. I walked left up a small grassy valley about 100 yards to where it intersected a grassy gully that I took heading down and east 50 yards to where it ended in a steep dropoff to a deep snow-filled ravine, as shown in the next photo. On my previous trips, there was no snow at all and I could easily walk down into and across this ravine. This time, I first headed up the rocks along the lip of the ravine to find a less steep section of the snowbank to cross, kicking steps and using my one hiking pole to help balance.
Once across the ravine and up a flatter area with small trees on the other side, I ended up on a rough bench cut into the rocky slope, with grasses and trees, as shown in the next photo. From memory, I wanted to walk up this bench to the heavily treed area seen in the center of the photo, and then contour around further north on the rocky slopes.
To be continued ...
Day 2 - Tuesday, August 1
Stats: backpack on trail 1.8 mi, 750 feet elevation gain, 230 feet elevation loss;
backpack cross-country net 2.5 mi, 500 feet elevation gain, 950 feet elevation loss.
5.5 hours actual hiking.
Beyond Beyers Lakes lies the wildest part of the Grouse Lakes roadless area. This southeast corner is the farthest from any trailhead and gets the least use. It also has the largest areas of open granite slopes that beckon you to head cross-country. This was my destination today.
I didn't sleep well - a common problem on my first night in the backcountry. I woke up at 5:30 am and got up out of the tent at 6:15 am. The night had not been cold and the air was dry - no condensation on tent. There were a lot of high clouds and very still air, which allowed me to hear a low roar from the Interstate 80 freeway in the distance. A few mosquitoes appeared by 6:30 am, but they were not a nuisance. The sun finally hit my camp area at 7 am, coming over the ridge north of Peak 7670. I ate breakfast, packed up, and started hiking at 8:25 am.
I first worked my way south parallel to the shore cross-country through complex terrain with brush to get across the two outlet streams of the main Beyers Lake and intersect the use trail passing the established campsites and heading up to the main trail on a low rocky ridge above the lake. I saw no one else camped by the lake.
Back on the main trail, I headed east toward Baltimore Lake. Patches of phlox and penstemon dotted the rocky areas along the trail. The trail ascended through a lovely open old-growth red fir forest, with many sunny openings with wildflowers. Lupines were all bloomed out, but there were good patches of pennyroyal, a yellow daisy, and sulphur flower (a buckwheat). There were many old dried up cow pies on this stretch of trail, especially in the open meadowy areas. Views improved as I broke out of the forest and headed up rockier areas to the top of the ridge.
The air felt much cooler than yesterday, especially with the wind - probably only about 60 degrees F. Right before the trail tops out on the ridge, there is possible camping in a shallow valley with snowbanks for water. At the top, I took a long rest and walked south along the ridge to a high point for the views.
Where the trail descended from the ridge on the east side, there was a large steep snowbank; I bypassed it climbing down some rocks. Snowbanks were common on this eastern side of the Black Buttes. The trail descended gradually through meadows with flowers and tall red firs and mosquitoes! At the head of a brush-choked valley with a small pond, just before the main trail makes a 90 degree eastward bend toward Baltimore Lake, I left the trail to start my cross-country adventure.
I had hiked this cross-country route around the east side of the Black Buttes twice before in 1997 and 2014, but my memory was hazy on the details. Also, the last two times, the terrain had been snow free, but I could already see many large snowbanks today. These would end up complicating the route-finding.
I walked directly north from the trail on an easy slope until I came to the edge of a deep gash in the earth - a long narrow ravine bordered mostly by cliffs or very steep slopes, as shown in this photo:
I walked first west and then east along the lip of this ravine looking for both a way down and a viable way back up the other side. Just a short ways east, I headed down a gentler slope to a wider part of the ravine where I bypassed a wet meadow and seasonal pond in the bottom (many mosquitoes!) to find a gully leading up the other side between solid rock faces. The gully was filled with snow, but didn't look too steep. I started walking up the snow, but then switched to climbing up the rocks on the left (west) side when the icy snow got steeper than I was comfortable climbing in plain boots. I remembered that this gully was my route on previous trips, but then it was a nice grassy climb with no snow. Part way up the rocky slope, I took this picture looking back across the deep ravine with the seasonal pond, with the Baltimore Lake trail in the forest in the background.
When free of snow, this gully leads directly to the eastern lobe of a V shaped lake. On this trip, I crossed to the east side of the ravine and clambered higher on rocky slopes to get around the big snowbanks and ended up reaching the V shaped lake at the northern tip of its western lope, where there are some trees and campsites on a bench above the lake. Here is a photo looking across the eastern lobe of the V shaped lake to the summit of Black Buttes. As you can see, the sky was covered with fairly thick high clouds.
I ate lunch by this V shaped lake and admired the nice snowmelt waterfall dropping into it. Northeast of the northern end of the western lobe of the V shaped lake, there is a prominent rocky knob and a notch to its left (west). I headed up the gully to that notch, shown in the next photo. Brushy areas were easily bypassed on the rocks.
From the notch, I took this photo looking back at the V shaped lake, the camping spot on the bench to its left (east), and the high ridge on the far left where the trail from Beyers Lakes comes over:
From the north side of the notch, I could see the full French Lake reservoir to the northeast. The plan was to roughly contour along the slope heading north, but I had to deal with gullies and ravines in the way. I walked left up a small grassy valley about 100 yards to where it intersected a grassy gully that I took heading down and east 50 yards to where it ended in a steep dropoff to a deep snow-filled ravine, as shown in the next photo. On my previous trips, there was no snow at all and I could easily walk down into and across this ravine. This time, I first headed up the rocks along the lip of the ravine to find a less steep section of the snowbank to cross, kicking steps and using my one hiking pole to help balance.
Once across the ravine and up a flatter area with small trees on the other side, I ended up on a rough bench cut into the rocky slope, with grasses and trees, as shown in the next photo. From memory, I wanted to walk up this bench to the heavily treed area seen in the center of the photo, and then contour around further north on the rocky slopes.
To be continued ...
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Last edited by wildhiker on Fri Feb 23, 2024 12:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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wildhiker
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Re: TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
Continuation of Day 2 post
This is where I started having trouble on this cross-country route. I did in fact walk to the center treed area in the photo and then contoured easily along the rocky slope, taking advantage of little grassy and tree areas, only to find myself at the top of a cliff about 100 feet high. Hmmm, I didn't remember this from my last time through here. I kept going north along the cliff top, eventually coming onto a ledge system between cliffs above and below, looking for a break that could lead me down. I finally found a steep ravine that would work, except that it was filled with icy hard snow. I was not going to attempt descending that snow with just boots. Here's a photo looking north from the beginning of the cliffy section. The little pond in the center and the saddle just left of it is the destination of this contouring section.
Looking around from the top of the snow-filled steep ravine, it looked like a higher traverse might go around the snow. But I couldn't go straight up the slope due to cliffs. So I backtracked all the way to the treed area and then attempted a traverse about 50 to 75 feet higher in elevation up the slopes which eventually led me to the top of another set of cliffs with no way down. So backtrack again.
One of the reasons I got in trouble here and had to do so much backtracking is that I really hate to lose elevation unnecessarily. From the start of the first failed traverse, I could see that a route would work to go much lower, ending up below the cliffs. But that meant losing about 300 feet of elevation, which I would have to mostly regain. But now I had no choice but to try that route. From the treed bench area, I descended easily on moderate slopes with some grassy areas and then descended gradually north along a break in the bedrock slope, this time ending up below the cliffs, where I had an easy walk back up grassy slopes to the little pond and saddle.
With all the backtracking and scratching my head about where to go, it took about two hours to go less than 1/2 mile on this convoluted rocky terrain from the treed bench to the saddle where I finally cross over the northern end of the Black Buttes ridge. But it did provide my "modest adventure". Here is the view northwest from that saddle:
I started down from the saddle into a small valley that turned into a steep snow-choked ravine and then a narrow gorge cut into the rock. I bypassed the snow and the gorge on the east side by descending a steep slope with loose rock and talus parallel to the lip of the gorge, shown in the next photo. The west side was too cliffy to descend.
At the bottom on the gorge, I crossed the small creek onto a forested moderate slope on the west side. I descended the forest slope for only a couple hundred yards before starting to contour west through the forest to a visible cliffy low granite ridge with a shallow saddle. Easy walking led over this saddle, down the open slope on the other side to a dry creek in a shallow valley, and up that creek valley south through open forest to its head on a rocky low ridge overlooking the Five Lakes Basin. I could see the main cluster of three lakes in the basin center and even make out two tents. There were lots of mosquitoes in that forested valley and they followed me up onto the ridge, but fortunately the wind came up to blow them away.
From the rocky ridge I went south down an open slope to a creek coming from the southeasternmost of the Five Lakes. Crossing that creek to its west side, I found a fragmentary use trail. I first followed that use trail south a couple hundred yards to have a look at this southeasternmost lake, shown in the next photo.
I then followed the fragmentary use trail downstream. It faded away and I just walked through the open forest until I came to the east side of the middle of a group of three lakes. I rounded that lake on its north side, with some bits of visible use trail. I saw the first people of the day - a family group with two kids camped on a flat area very close to the shore of the lowest of this three lake group. I easily crossed the stream draining the middle lake into the lowest one and found a campsite up on a low hill between the two lakes, with views of the lakes in both directions.
It was 6:40 pm by the time I found my campsite. This camp spot was open, with lots of bare granite around, a nice breeze, and thankfully no mosquitoes. My cross-country adventure had been fun, but also long and tiring and frustrating, and I was glad to be done and camped in this very scenic lake basin with only a few people nearby in a location that is very popular on weekends. The only people I saw today, all from a distance, were the family group camped below me by the lake shore and a group of three women camped higher up on the slope above me. High clouds had covered the sky most of the day but were finally clearing late in the afternoon to yield beautiful sunset colors on the Black Buttes ridge and in the clouds.
After reflecting on my hike today, I decided that the cross-country section was a difficult class 2 because of the sustained convoluted terrain and difficult micro-route finding. Steep snowbanks were also a problem. The route was also hard on my left foot, which was still recovering from a bout of plantar fascitis. Two advil tablets helped with the pain in the heel. I saw few wildflowers on the cross-country route because it was mostly bare rock, with only little pockets of soil and isolated trees. Two or three frogs started to croak in the distance after dark and I was in bed by 10 pm.
To be continued ...
This is where I started having trouble on this cross-country route. I did in fact walk to the center treed area in the photo and then contoured easily along the rocky slope, taking advantage of little grassy and tree areas, only to find myself at the top of a cliff about 100 feet high. Hmmm, I didn't remember this from my last time through here. I kept going north along the cliff top, eventually coming onto a ledge system between cliffs above and below, looking for a break that could lead me down. I finally found a steep ravine that would work, except that it was filled with icy hard snow. I was not going to attempt descending that snow with just boots. Here's a photo looking north from the beginning of the cliffy section. The little pond in the center and the saddle just left of it is the destination of this contouring section.
Looking around from the top of the snow-filled steep ravine, it looked like a higher traverse might go around the snow. But I couldn't go straight up the slope due to cliffs. So I backtracked all the way to the treed area and then attempted a traverse about 50 to 75 feet higher in elevation up the slopes which eventually led me to the top of another set of cliffs with no way down. So backtrack again.
One of the reasons I got in trouble here and had to do so much backtracking is that I really hate to lose elevation unnecessarily. From the start of the first failed traverse, I could see that a route would work to go much lower, ending up below the cliffs. But that meant losing about 300 feet of elevation, which I would have to mostly regain. But now I had no choice but to try that route. From the treed bench area, I descended easily on moderate slopes with some grassy areas and then descended gradually north along a break in the bedrock slope, this time ending up below the cliffs, where I had an easy walk back up grassy slopes to the little pond and saddle.
With all the backtracking and scratching my head about where to go, it took about two hours to go less than 1/2 mile on this convoluted rocky terrain from the treed bench to the saddle where I finally cross over the northern end of the Black Buttes ridge. But it did provide my "modest adventure". Here is the view northwest from that saddle:
I started down from the saddle into a small valley that turned into a steep snow-choked ravine and then a narrow gorge cut into the rock. I bypassed the snow and the gorge on the east side by descending a steep slope with loose rock and talus parallel to the lip of the gorge, shown in the next photo. The west side was too cliffy to descend.
At the bottom on the gorge, I crossed the small creek onto a forested moderate slope on the west side. I descended the forest slope for only a couple hundred yards before starting to contour west through the forest to a visible cliffy low granite ridge with a shallow saddle. Easy walking led over this saddle, down the open slope on the other side to a dry creek in a shallow valley, and up that creek valley south through open forest to its head on a rocky low ridge overlooking the Five Lakes Basin. I could see the main cluster of three lakes in the basin center and even make out two tents. There were lots of mosquitoes in that forested valley and they followed me up onto the ridge, but fortunately the wind came up to blow them away.
From the rocky ridge I went south down an open slope to a creek coming from the southeasternmost of the Five Lakes. Crossing that creek to its west side, I found a fragmentary use trail. I first followed that use trail south a couple hundred yards to have a look at this southeasternmost lake, shown in the next photo.
I then followed the fragmentary use trail downstream. It faded away and I just walked through the open forest until I came to the east side of the middle of a group of three lakes. I rounded that lake on its north side, with some bits of visible use trail. I saw the first people of the day - a family group with two kids camped on a flat area very close to the shore of the lowest of this three lake group. I easily crossed the stream draining the middle lake into the lowest one and found a campsite up on a low hill between the two lakes, with views of the lakes in both directions.
It was 6:40 pm by the time I found my campsite. This camp spot was open, with lots of bare granite around, a nice breeze, and thankfully no mosquitoes. My cross-country adventure had been fun, but also long and tiring and frustrating, and I was glad to be done and camped in this very scenic lake basin with only a few people nearby in a location that is very popular on weekends. The only people I saw today, all from a distance, were the family group camped below me by the lake shore and a group of three women camped higher up on the slope above me. High clouds had covered the sky most of the day but were finally clearing late in the afternoon to yield beautiful sunset colors on the Black Buttes ridge and in the clouds.
After reflecting on my hike today, I decided that the cross-country section was a difficult class 2 because of the sustained convoluted terrain and difficult micro-route finding. Steep snowbanks were also a problem. The route was also hard on my left foot, which was still recovering from a bout of plantar fascitis. Two advil tablets helped with the pain in the heel. I saw few wildflowers on the cross-country route because it was mostly bare rock, with only little pockets of soil and isolated trees. Two or three frogs started to croak in the distance after dark and I was in bed by 10 pm.
To be continued ...
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wildhiker
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Re: TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
Continued from Day 2 post
Day 3 - Wednesday, August 2
Stats: backpack 4.4 mi, 1100 feet elevation gain, 550 feet elevation loss. 3 hours actual hiking.
My goal today was to hike out back to the trailhead and drive back to my cabin where I could shower and spend the night before driving home the next day. This day was going to be on very familiar trails that I have hiked numerous times on day hikes. I was expecting a highlight to be flower fields on Sand Ridge, which appears to be weathered volcanic rock creating very good soil.
I woke at 5:45 am and got up out of the tent at 6:15 am. I slept much better this second night. I got up to pee at 1 am to find a landscape lit by a bright full moon, with a frog still croaking! Luckily, the sun rose to the north of the Black Buttes, not right over them, and reached my campsite by 7 am. This morning the sky was a typical perfectly clear Sierra blue, with no clouds at all. It was cooler than yesterday, but not actually cold, and with only a few mosquitoes. The tent was completely dry with no condensation. Here is a photo showing my camp in the early morning light.
I ate breakfast, packed up, and started hiking at 8:45 am. I picked up a use trail heading up parallel to the outlet stream of the higher lake in this group of three, labelled 6992 on the topo. The topo mistakenly shows the outlet stream dropping from the northeast corner of Lake 6992 down to the lowest lake in this group, but in reality, it drops from the southeast side to the middle lake. There were two tents in a camp by the outlet of Lake 6992. The use trail was now quite distinct with a good tread as it passed around the east side of Lake 6992, staying very close to the shoreline. Here is a photo of this lake from this east side:
By the northeast end of Lake 6992, I passed a large established campsite with an elaborate fire ring and room for two or three tents in a flat forested area. Now I started seeing more people: two sitting on rocks across the lake, and a backpacker and his dog passed me going my same direction. At a trickling inlet stream on the northwest corner of Lake 6992, I dropped my pack and took a half-hour excursion through easy cross-country terrain to visit the northernmost lake of this Five Lakes Basin. It was a deep lake surrounded by cliffs and brushy slopes, with no obvious camping spots, and no view of higher mountains.
Back at Lake 6992, I picked up my pack and continued hiking up a good use trail that ascends the slope west of the lake, following a larger inlet stream. About halfway up the slope, the use trail tread gets indistinct and there appear to be multiple routes continuing, each with its own set of "ducks". Any of them will probably get you to the ridge top. I used one that stayed close to the inlet stream before popping out on the ridge top between two small tarns. Here I met the very good and well defined use trail that runs along this ridge north from Glacier Lake. I turned north (right) on this trail and soon reached the highest of the Five Lakes, where I stopped for a snack and rest on the rocky peninsula on the west side. Here is a photo of that lake:
I didn't see any people close in around this highest lake, although it is a popular camp area on weekends with a large well-established camp above the southwest corner, and smaller camps around the south and east sides.
The official Sand Ridge Trail starts just above the southwest corner of this highest lake and quickly rises up to the top of Sand Ridge. As I expected, there were fields of wildflowers along the trail. Most of the flowers were some kind of yellow daisy. Mules ears flowers had mostly gone to seed already. There were also large patches of paintbrush and pennyroyal flowers.
Views are excellent in all directions from the mostly open Sand Ridge. Black Buttes are in close view to the south. English Mountain and Sierra Buttes can be seen to the north. It was too hazy today to see Mount Lassen. The Granite Creek drainage spreads out to the west with little lakes and tarns and Grouse Ridge rises beyond it. Here are a couple of photos looking south and north.
Hiking is fast up on Sand Ridge, with a great top-of-the-world feeling. I stopped for lunch under a lone western white pine. There were many mountain bike tracks on this trail. Back in the 1960s it was a jeep trail, coming all the way from the Grouse Ridge trailhead. A concerted effort by the Sierra Club and other local conservationists convinced the Forest Service to close this Grouse Lakes area to all vehicle use in the 1970s and now the trail has mostly reverted to single track.
The trail is quite steep and eroded descending the western end of Sand Ridge. Here there were lush fields of wildflowers in bloom, including mules ears, which I think of as the signature flower of volcanic soils in the Sierra. At the bottom of this descent, the Sand Ridge Trail connects with the Glacier Lake trail and continues west along a broad ridge before it starts a trudging climb back up to the Grouse Ridge trailhead in fairly dense forest. There are some breaks with views, including the one below back to Black Buttes.
Just before reaching the main Grouse Ridge trailhead, I took a side trail that takes off to the left (south) to the campground and then continues parallel to the road and another flower field back to the saddle where I parked my car. I reached my car at 2:45 pm. I saw only two other people on the trail - day hikers - since leaving the Five Lakes Basin and only four cars parked at the main trailhead. There was only one camp setup in the Grouse Ridge campground, which probably just opened. This is a big contrast to a normal summer weekend, when the campground is full and 20 or 30 cars are parked at the trailhead.
To be continued ...
Day 3 - Wednesday, August 2
Stats: backpack 4.4 mi, 1100 feet elevation gain, 550 feet elevation loss. 3 hours actual hiking.
My goal today was to hike out back to the trailhead and drive back to my cabin where I could shower and spend the night before driving home the next day. This day was going to be on very familiar trails that I have hiked numerous times on day hikes. I was expecting a highlight to be flower fields on Sand Ridge, which appears to be weathered volcanic rock creating very good soil.
I woke at 5:45 am and got up out of the tent at 6:15 am. I slept much better this second night. I got up to pee at 1 am to find a landscape lit by a bright full moon, with a frog still croaking! Luckily, the sun rose to the north of the Black Buttes, not right over them, and reached my campsite by 7 am. This morning the sky was a typical perfectly clear Sierra blue, with no clouds at all. It was cooler than yesterday, but not actually cold, and with only a few mosquitoes. The tent was completely dry with no condensation. Here is a photo showing my camp in the early morning light.
I ate breakfast, packed up, and started hiking at 8:45 am. I picked up a use trail heading up parallel to the outlet stream of the higher lake in this group of three, labelled 6992 on the topo. The topo mistakenly shows the outlet stream dropping from the northeast corner of Lake 6992 down to the lowest lake in this group, but in reality, it drops from the southeast side to the middle lake. There were two tents in a camp by the outlet of Lake 6992. The use trail was now quite distinct with a good tread as it passed around the east side of Lake 6992, staying very close to the shoreline. Here is a photo of this lake from this east side:
By the northeast end of Lake 6992, I passed a large established campsite with an elaborate fire ring and room for two or three tents in a flat forested area. Now I started seeing more people: two sitting on rocks across the lake, and a backpacker and his dog passed me going my same direction. At a trickling inlet stream on the northwest corner of Lake 6992, I dropped my pack and took a half-hour excursion through easy cross-country terrain to visit the northernmost lake of this Five Lakes Basin. It was a deep lake surrounded by cliffs and brushy slopes, with no obvious camping spots, and no view of higher mountains.
Back at Lake 6992, I picked up my pack and continued hiking up a good use trail that ascends the slope west of the lake, following a larger inlet stream. About halfway up the slope, the use trail tread gets indistinct and there appear to be multiple routes continuing, each with its own set of "ducks". Any of them will probably get you to the ridge top. I used one that stayed close to the inlet stream before popping out on the ridge top between two small tarns. Here I met the very good and well defined use trail that runs along this ridge north from Glacier Lake. I turned north (right) on this trail and soon reached the highest of the Five Lakes, where I stopped for a snack and rest on the rocky peninsula on the west side. Here is a photo of that lake:
I didn't see any people close in around this highest lake, although it is a popular camp area on weekends with a large well-established camp above the southwest corner, and smaller camps around the south and east sides.
The official Sand Ridge Trail starts just above the southwest corner of this highest lake and quickly rises up to the top of Sand Ridge. As I expected, there were fields of wildflowers along the trail. Most of the flowers were some kind of yellow daisy. Mules ears flowers had mostly gone to seed already. There were also large patches of paintbrush and pennyroyal flowers.
Views are excellent in all directions from the mostly open Sand Ridge. Black Buttes are in close view to the south. English Mountain and Sierra Buttes can be seen to the north. It was too hazy today to see Mount Lassen. The Granite Creek drainage spreads out to the west with little lakes and tarns and Grouse Ridge rises beyond it. Here are a couple of photos looking south and north.
Hiking is fast up on Sand Ridge, with a great top-of-the-world feeling. I stopped for lunch under a lone western white pine. There were many mountain bike tracks on this trail. Back in the 1960s it was a jeep trail, coming all the way from the Grouse Ridge trailhead. A concerted effort by the Sierra Club and other local conservationists convinced the Forest Service to close this Grouse Lakes area to all vehicle use in the 1970s and now the trail has mostly reverted to single track.
The trail is quite steep and eroded descending the western end of Sand Ridge. Here there were lush fields of wildflowers in bloom, including mules ears, which I think of as the signature flower of volcanic soils in the Sierra. At the bottom of this descent, the Sand Ridge Trail connects with the Glacier Lake trail and continues west along a broad ridge before it starts a trudging climb back up to the Grouse Ridge trailhead in fairly dense forest. There are some breaks with views, including the one below back to Black Buttes.
Just before reaching the main Grouse Ridge trailhead, I took a side trail that takes off to the left (south) to the campground and then continues parallel to the road and another flower field back to the saddle where I parked my car. I reached my car at 2:45 pm. I saw only two other people on the trail - day hikers - since leaving the Five Lakes Basin and only four cars parked at the main trailhead. There was only one camp setup in the Grouse Ridge campground, which probably just opened. This is a big contrast to a normal summer weekend, when the campground is full and 20 or 30 cars are parked at the trailhead.
To be continued ...
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wildhiker
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Re: TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
Continued from Day 3 post
Final thoughts
I was very happy with how my little three day backpack trip turned out. I had beautiful scenery and wildflowers with few bugs on moderate terrain. Weather was good, except for the high clouds. My planned route was short enough for leisurely hiking with lots of breaks to take photos, admire the views, and take rests. Going midweek provided plenty of solitude.
I took a lot of photos of wildflowers along the route. Here is a selection.
Seen while descending on the Grouse Ridge trail: the yellow daisy like flower was common throughout the Grouse Lakes area; the pink one is very small and rare.
Seen while ascending the Beyers Lakes trail: I've never seen the big white lily in the Sierra before - reminds me of desert lily; the white composite is common in meadows; leopard lilies were common in wet areas; mariposa lilies were found on dry sunny slopes.
Seen around Beyers Lakes: the pink flower on red stalks looks like some kind of buckwheat; purple penstemon were common in rocky areas; the purple petaled aster or daisy was found in openings in the forest.
Seen ascending beyond Beyers Lakes: some dense patches of penstemon and phlox in open areas.
Seen on Sand Ridge: in addition to the yellow daisy like flowers and mules ears, there were many patches of these pennyroyal and paintbrush in bloom.
Seen on Grouse Ridge: these sulphur flowers were close to the trailhead.
Final thoughts
I was very happy with how my little three day backpack trip turned out. I had beautiful scenery and wildflowers with few bugs on moderate terrain. Weather was good, except for the high clouds. My planned route was short enough for leisurely hiking with lots of breaks to take photos, admire the views, and take rests. Going midweek provided plenty of solitude.
I took a lot of photos of wildflowers along the route. Here is a selection.
Seen while descending on the Grouse Ridge trail: the yellow daisy like flower was common throughout the Grouse Lakes area; the pink one is very small and rare.
Seen while ascending the Beyers Lakes trail: I've never seen the big white lily in the Sierra before - reminds me of desert lily; the white composite is common in meadows; leopard lilies were common in wet areas; mariposa lilies were found on dry sunny slopes.
Seen around Beyers Lakes: the pink flower on red stalks looks like some kind of buckwheat; purple penstemon were common in rocky areas; the purple petaled aster or daisy was found in openings in the forest.
Seen ascending beyond Beyers Lakes: some dense patches of penstemon and phlox in open areas.
Seen on Sand Ridge: in addition to the yellow daisy like flowers and mules ears, there were many patches of these pennyroyal and paintbrush in bloom.
Seen on Grouse Ridge: these sulphur flowers were close to the trailhead.
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balzaccom
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Re: TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
That's a lovely area! Thanks for reminding me! I haven't been there in years, but you've given me a reason to go back. Nice report.
For those who minght be confused, the Five Lakes Basin in this report in north of I-80, and west of the Five Lakes area above Pallisades Tahoe (ex-Squaw Valley.)
For those who minght be confused, the Five Lakes Basin in this report in north of I-80, and west of the Five Lakes area above Pallisades Tahoe (ex-Squaw Valley.)
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-R ... 0984884963
Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-R ... 0984884963
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grampy
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Re: TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
Thanks for this report; super-descriptive and showing an area I haven’t seen much of. This makes me want to do a trip here someday. I also momentarily had trouble sorting out the Five Lakes thing; found it in my maps searching on “Five Lakes, Nevada County” (the other Five Lakes near Palisades are in Placer County).
On a minor note, could your buckwheat photo really be Calyptridium; particularly one-seeded Pussypaws ?
On a minor note, could your buckwheat photo really be Calyptridium; particularly one-seeded Pussypaws ?
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LMBSGV
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Re: TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
Wonderful report on an area I've never been to. I definitely need to visit and learn more. With your report, I have a marvelous detailed guide to follow. I always love your precise descriptions and personal observations of the places you visit.
I don’t need a goal destination. I need a destination that meets my goals.
http://laurencebrauer.com
http://laurencebrauer.com
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sekihiker
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Re: TR: A modest adventure in the Grouse Lakes roadless area, Jul 31 - Aug 2, 2023
Great photos of a really pretty area. Thanks for posting.
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