TR: Hilton Creek Lakes Basin Grab Bag 7/30-7/31

[shawnterustic]

This was a truly memorable weekend that began as one thing (a quick, casual solo trip to check out one of the few areas I haven't visited from Rock Creek) and morphed into another even better thing (an awe-packed lake-bagging, peak-scouting, rain-dropping, dream-scheming weekend with two friends who know how to squeeze out both maximum miles AND smiles).

First, however, a drive through Mordor, a colorful and damp harbinger of Sunday's monsoon exit party.



After a rather warm night of "sleep" and a somewhat late start, we set off on the gentle, sandy rollercoaster toward Hilton Creek Lake #3, not a single other hiker in sight the entire way. Delights!


Hilton Creek Lake #3

Sometime between, say, Wednesday and Thursday last week, I got to thinkin' that maybe we could find a peak in the neighborhood to climb (short answer: yes, obviously), and decided that Stanford (North) might be an easygoing objective for a short weekend, so we continued on to Lake #4 to scope out a campsite and scout the first leg of the ascent up the drainage, since we figured we'd start in the dark the next day to make it up, down, and out before the monsoon whipped things into a frenzy. We chatted with a Sierra Club Wilderness Travel Course group for a little bit, then chose a site up and away from the lake to drop our gear. After traversing a short bit above the shoreline toward the outlet, it didn't take long to locate a use trail that made (mostly) easy work of the thick foliage guarding the outlet. (We passed some folks earlier who ended up doing what they assessed as class 3 scrambling along the boulders / cliffy stuff right next door, since they weren't able to locate the use trail - but it's there, I promise!)


There's a route in there, i swear!


Ranger's Buttons / Sphenosciadium

We made quick work of the shrubbery battle royale, enjoying small cascades, smaller wildflowers, and large views over the lake and beyond. Continuing on, we sort of regretted not carrying our full packs, since a sprinkling of sandy, flat campsites beckoned from a ledge with stellar lake basin views. Next time, next time! Our slight disappointment was tempered when we emerged into a ridiculously beautiful hanging valley, complete with burbling creek, tasty granite, and a nice view of the headwall we'd have to navigate the next morning - but of course, tricky tricky, no view of Stanford itself. We poked around in the drainage a little longer, then made tracks back down, arriving at camp with a bit of rain and hail.


File under: Places I Could Live Forever


Now you're just showing off

Back at camp, we sat in the rain and spent a lot of time talking about the food we wished we'd brought on the trip, ate much of the food we did bring, played a few rounds each of Farkle and Sushi Go, hatched plans for creative ventures, yawned a bunch (see previous night's "sleep")...and then decided that maybe we should come back for Stanford when the forecast doesn't call for Ye Ole Monsoon o' Doom. Not to worry - we had a Plan B ready to go. But first, one of the prettiest ridgetop evening constitutionals I've ever taken...


The northeast flank of Mt. Huntington makes for a fine vision during one's evening constitutional

[shawnterustic]

Day 2 began around 5am or thereabouts with the sound of rockfall in the vicinity - always a thrilling, comforting way to start the day! After a leisurely breakfast, we set off for Plan B - a full tour of the upper Hilton Creek Lakes basin...or at least as full a tour as the gloomy skies would allow. To get the full scoop, we stopped to pay respects to our lovely neighborhood lake, then went up and down, up and down, backtracking to Lake #3 to begin heading up that drainage.


Good morning, #4!

We picked up the obvious trail that skirts above the western side of Lake #3, and climbed steadily up a sandy ridge. The trail petered out here and there, but the route was obvious the entire way and the going was easy peasy. The ridge deposited us above Lake #5, tucked just beneath Patricia Peak. So far, the skies were holding and even though we might have slightly regretted not getting up early and heading for Stanford, the lakes were doing their best to make up for it.


Looking back on #3


Not too shabby, #5!

So far, not a soul in sight since we left camp - and it would continue that way until we returned to grab our stuff. Again - delights! After spending an appropriate amount of time paying our respects, we crossed the outlet, followed a short use path along the shoreline, then climbed up the ridge, following the path of least resistance high above the northwest shore. Instead of dropping all the way down to the inlet, we consulted my topo quad (what's up, my fellow quad-lovers!) and decided to stay high to bump over to Lake #6 - which is now firmly lodged high on my list of Favorite Sierra Lakes. Tiny wildflowers! Fish jumping! Granite beauty! Grassy meadowy delight! Giant boulders! Infinite possibilities of life!!!


Why I did not just stay here and make a life for myself, I will never know.



We spent a lot of time here. So much time, in fact, that the sky went from a carpet of cottonballs to something more akin to a blanket of grey doom. Hmmmm... We assessed and decided that since the next two lakes were so close, it was worth popping over for a quick visit. And so we did, skirting the western shoreline, then crossing the inlet next to a dreamy field of boulders. One of my buddies was so enamored of these granite chunks that he decided to scamper around in them while I chose the more direct route up the sandy hillside right next door - I'm a "less is more" kinda gal.



After the splendor we'd just witnessed, I'll say that this lake - #7? - was a bit of a letdown, a bit more stark, a bit less verve. So much so that I apparently forgot to take a photo. But just over the ridge, Lake #8 (truly, I have no idea if I'm numbering any of these correctly) was a real winner, with a deep aquamarine color and a sandy beach to boot. We may have spent some time lingering in such delights, but the sky direclty behind us was becoming crankier by the minute, so we decided to leave the two uppermost lakes for another day. Sometimes it's really nice having something to come back for.


Until next time!

[windknot]

Thanks for the report and beautiful photos! I like your writing style -- your joy from being out in the Sierra is evident. Nice way to spend a weekend!

[gary c.]

I love the Hiltons. Beautiful lakes and a variety of fishing opportunities. Your pictures are great but I don't think that I'd like to be there in January.

[sekihiker]

Fun report and fantastic photos. Thanks for posting.

[SSSdave]

Thanks for the well written enthusiastic tour. Two of us were camping at lake #3 on July 16. Over 2 trips have not yet ventured to the upper lakes you explored that shows a camp day between lakes #6 and #8 would also be worthwhile.

[shawnterustic]

@windknot Thanks so much! I'm glad the joy comes across

@gary c. This trip honestly rekindled my interest in Sierra fishing - I wish I had brought my setup! Perhaps for the return trip

Thanks, @sekihiker!

@SSSdave Lake #3 is a real gem - had we not initially considered a jaunt up Stanford, we might have been tempted to stay there, too! We came away wanting to return to camp somewhere around those higher lakes - it was so beautiful and peaceful.

[SSSdave]

I like your aesthetic sense. I spend considerable rambling about terrain like an undeterable black wood ant looking for aesthetic landscapes.

The lowest Hilton lake, we also camped at, is also one of the best fishing lakes in the range with an abundance of 3 species of trout. The one major negative of backpacking into that drainage from Rock Creek is the severely ground up often sandy trail condition due to heavy horse packing use. Equestrian use is fine, however it does mutilate trails and draws aggressive turd loving houseflies. Was constantly walking outside the main horse tread. Best strategy for we old folks carrying heavy weight is to late afternoon hike the first 3 miles to the 10k seep meadow where there is water. From there next sunrise, we went cross country directly over the ridge to the lower lakes saving vertical and mileage from the usual trail effort.

[shawnterustic]

@SSSdave Ah, thank you! There's a lot up there to please the aesthetic senses - and it's always wonderful to find new places to indulge.

I hear you about the sandy trail - felt a bit like hiking along an undulating sand dune for a while there. We were wondering about ways to circumvent some of it via cross-country...nice to know that where there's a will, there's a way!

[Gogd]

@shawnterustic , your trip is my kind of hike, going in with a general plan, then letting serendipity guide the tactical moves.

I have been in this area only twice, but your trip makes me want to go again! But heck man, sometimes I am the brick! I was trying to follow your narrative on a map; however, I got tripped up with the lake numbering scheme. Can you help me figure it out? If I number the lakes assigning #1 to Lake 9852 and sequencing lakes only along the main course of Hilton Creek, I come up with 5 lakes in the chain. In this scenario the lake located at ~10800 on the main steam channel would be Lake #3. If you count all lakes along the primary stream channel and those along any tributary the feed directly into the main channel, then I come up with eight numbered lakes. Regardless it is confusing for me to discern from the TR what number is assigned to any given lake. I am one of those fellow "quad lovers" you allude to, so lets start with the USGS Mt Abbot topo map, or alternatively the Cal Topo map our reference sources.

1. Which lake are you designating as Lake#1? Is it Davis Lake, Lake 9852 (aka Hilton Lake), or other?
2. Does the numbering system utilized sequence only lakes occurring along the primary creek, or does it also include lakes along side tributaries, such as the lake due south of Lake 9852, that is located at the top of a 200' tall series of trail switchbacks; and Lake 10353; and other lakes occurring along the tributaries closest to the east side of Mt Huntington?
3. I can arrive at eight Lakes in the chain, if the sequencing includes all lakes along primary and all secondary tributaries above Lake 9852. The question, then, becomes what is the ordianal sequence logic you use in labeling each lake? (e.g. elevation, or distance up stream, etc).

Ed