TR: Squaw Dome to Iva Bell Hot Springs, June 18-24, 2011

If you've been searching for the best source of information and stimulating discussion related to Spring/Summer/Fall backpacking, hiking and camping in the Sierra Nevada...look no further!
Post Reply
User avatar
Flamingo
Topix Regular
Posts: 346
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 12:18 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: West Oakland, California
Contact:

TR: Squaw Dome to Iva Bell Hot Springs, June 18-24, 2011

Post by Flamingo »

Hi All,
I just returned from a seven-day trek through the Ansel Adams and John Muir Wilderness. We started at McCreary trailhead and followed mostly abandoned trails to reach Iva Bell Hot Springs from the west. This route is challenging, but it provides early-season access to the Iva Bell springs while Reds Meadow and other eastern trailheads are closed. Most people reach Iva Bell from the north (via Red’s Meadow), but the route I describe here is lower in elevation and allows you to access the hot springs early in the season.

Trip Statistics: Approximately 25 miles one way. About 6000′ total gain one way. McCreary trailhead is located at 6774′. The low point is Cassidy Bridge at 4400′, and the high point is the saddle north of Pincushion Peak at 8622′. Iva Bell Hot Springs are at 6450′.

Our Trip:
Small snow patches lingered on the Minarets Road, but we successfully drove our car within one mile of McCreary trailhead. We parked alongside the road, left a note in the window (and crossed our fingers) [edit: this parking arrangement worked fine]. The trail from McCreary to Cassidy Bridge was completely snow-free and easy to follow.

We encountered a dozen poison oak patches at the bottom of the San Joaquin river canyon. The poison oak was difficult to avoid; pants and a long-sleeve shirt are highly recommended for this short section. Past the poison oak, there are many excellent campsites near Cassidy Bridge. We all rinsed off in the river, and no one in our group got poison oak rashes.

The switchbacks east of Cassidy Bridge were in great condition, and we easily found Rattlesnake Lake, which has evolved into a grassy marsh these days. Along the ascent to Rattlesnake Lake we paused at several nice vista to enjoy views of Balloon Dome. Although Rattlesnake Lake lacks the majesty of higher alpine bodies of water, it nonetheless felt extremely wild and lost; it seemed like no human had visited this area in a long time. Beyond Rattlesnake Lake, we struggled to follow the trail to Heitz Meadow. The cross-country walking was easy, fortunately, so we followed what clues we could find: sawed logs and occasional water bars. We found the collapsed cabin in Heitz Meadow, with its destroyed outhouse and broken horse corral. It was apparent no human had lived here in decades.

East of Heitz Meadow, the trail disappeared under fallen trees and forest litter. Views were minimal through the dense forest, so we took a compass bearing and tried our best to stay on course. The cross-country walking wasn’t bad, but there were seemingly endless downed trees to negotiate. We found hints of the trail, which was reassuring. Eventually the sunset, and we camped near an unnamed creek at snowline (~7500 feet).

The next day, we hiked on solid snow over the saddle north of Pincushion Peak, past String Meadows, and into the Silver Creek drainage. We used a map and compass to hike directly to the saddle (hooray!), but if you get lost you could just as well find the saddle by following the terrain contour around Pincushion Peak. In my opinion, a topo map is 100% required for this section. This early in the season, Silver Creek was a raging white torrent -- totally unsafe to ford -- but luckily we found a wide log spanning the creek. The log seems to be a permanent fixture here, and it should be easy to find for anyone hiking through the area. (Hint: the log sits in alder bushes on both shores, and is approximately where the trail crossing is marked on a topo map). From Silver Creek, we followed overgrown switchbacks down to Fox Meadow; we had to hack through many sections of dense manzanita and huckleberry oak. Long pants would have been useful to protect our legs from sharp branches. At Fox Meadow, we rejoined the well-maintained trail that connects Reds Meadow to Iva Bell, and we cruised upstream to the hot springs.

Iva Bell Hot Springs are scattered across a hillside meadow; we found at least five pools, but there may be more (?). I suspect we were the first people to soak this season. The meadow pools were covered in algae, but we easily scooped away the mess and enjoyed soaking in clean water. The pool in the lower meadow against the boulder is probably my favorite, but the pool under trees by the campsite is also nice with built-in seats and little towel hooks. The highest pools are perched on a shelf, about 200 feet above the meadow. The vista from the high pools is terrific; unfortunately, the high pools were filled with hundreds of tiny leeches. I think these pools are unsoakable until the leech problem is solved. [edit: searching on the internet, I find no mention of leeches in these upper pools, so I'm wondering if it's an early-season phenomena?]

We camped near the meadow pool for two nights. It was heavenly. A pair of hikers briefly passed through, after entering over Mammoth Pass with all the snow. They seemed to be arguing with each other---overall having a bad trip--- and they departed without ever soaking in the pools. The shuttle to Red’s Meadow trailhead was not yet running this season, so I’m not surprised the hot springs were relatively empty.

It was bittersweet to leave Iva Bell, but over the next three day we returned to McCreary Trailhead following our original route.

A note about navigation: We carried topographic maps, a compass, and an iPhone with GPS. We relied on the map and compass to navigate the cross-country northeast of Heitz Meadow, but we also used the iPhone a few times to validate our decisions. The iPhone GPS, surprisingly, worked very well in the wilderness.
The route map is shown here:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=208 ... 27,0.55481" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I made a short video about the trip, here:
https://vimeo.com/25647095
Last edited by Flamingo on Thu Jul 09, 2020 5:34 pm, edited 8 times in total.
User avatar
Carne_DelMuerto
Topix Expert
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 12:43 am
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Auburn, CA

Re: Trip Report: Squaw Dome to Iva Bell Hot Springs

Post by Carne_DelMuerto »

Impressive trip and nice TR. Thank you.
Wonder is rock and water and the life that lives in-between.
Shawn
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1061
Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2005 9:56 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: Trip Report: Squaw Dome to Iva Bell Hot Springs

Post by Shawn »

Great TR, but I really enjoyed the video. Good thing it wasn't four hours long or I'd never get anything done. Thanks for posting!
Shawn
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1061
Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2005 9:56 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: Trip Report: Squaw Dome to Iva Bell Hot Springs

Post by Shawn »

Okay VHS, now I just watched your SEKI TR from last year; again great stuff. May I ask what type of camera you're using? I noticed that the video taken while walking doesn't appear to have the usual "herky-jerky" movement in it, making it much nicer to watch.

I almost have to wonder if you're a professional video dude (after all "VHSVHS")?

Thanks again -
User avatar
Flamingo
Topix Regular
Posts: 346
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 12:18 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: West Oakland, California
Contact:

Re: Trip Report: Squaw Dome to Iva Bell Hot Springs

Post by Flamingo »

@Shawn - I use a pocket-sized Canon Powershot digital camera that also captures video. There's nothing particularly special about it. The trick to smooth video is to the hold the camera firmly and breath slowly.
Last edited by Flamingo on Mon Jun 27, 2011 11:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Shawn
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1061
Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2005 9:56 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: Trip Report: Squaw Dome to Iva Bell Hot Springs

Post by Shawn »

Ah, very good - thanks for the kind reply. Your stuff was truly enjoyable to watch.
User avatar
maverick
Forums Moderator
Forums Moderator
Posts: 11821
Joined: Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:54 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer

Re: Trip Report: Squaw Dome to Iva Bell Hot Springs

Post by maverick »

Very nicely detailed TR, and cool video, the only thing is when your hiking
in you video it sounds like someone eating cereal next to the microphone, crunch
crunch, crunch.
Thanks for posting it.
Professional Sierra Landscape Photographer

I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], Harlen, mschnaidt and 116 guests