TR Emigrant Lake June 24-26 2022

[williegoat]

Location: Emigrant Lake, Emigrant Wilderness via the Kennedy Meadows trailhead.
Dates: June 24-26 2022.
Stats: 31+ total mileage with ~7,200ft elevation gain.
Maps: NatGeo 807 Carson-Iceberg, Emigrant and Mokelumne Wilderness Areas. Emigrant Lake USGS Quad. Emigrant Wilderness permit self issued at the Summit Ranger station in Pinecrest.

This was a scouting trip for a planned packing trip later in the summer. I am very glad I scouted it out, we ended up scrapping the trip. My planned itinerary would not have been pleasant. I had planned on a base camp at Sheep Camp, which is a nice open spot with access to the river, but it would have been too much to get to even as a day hike and would have left quite a bit still to get up and over either pass and into the beautiful sections of backcountry wilderness there. If I can figure out how to get everyone happily over to Emigrant Lake, that would be an incredible destination. In fact, there were a lot of great suggestions on getting to Emigrant Lake from other HST members in the other trip report from kpeter.

kpeter’s TR starting from the same trailhead at the same date here:
https://www.highsierratopix.com/communi ... hp?t=22398

Day 1
About 3.3 miles and over 1,000ft elevation gain to camp by the trail.

Temps hit 109 driving through central valley from the SF Bay Area. Had a great stop at the Strawberry General Store to grab dinner and a few other snacks.

The very first 3 to 4 miles hiking up to Relief Reservoir were extraordinary. You hike among giant sugar pines, along trail carved through rock overhangs and over bridges spanning roaring rivers. I absolutely loved it. Very easy and enjoyable to hike. With regards to kpeter’s excellent comments, I had no issues with the condition of the trail. However, having heavy users (stock or otherwise) chip in to make sure trails are maintained is a great thing. In other forums I have noticed some discussion on having a license fee (like for fishing) for backpacking use that just helps with the general maintenance of these wild spaces. For now, I am just eternally grateful to be able to get out there - land of many uses and all that.

Start of Trail.jpeg

Before Wilderness Trailhead.jpeg

Kennedy Meadows Lodge was not a welcoming place. Goodness. I went into the office to ask about parking. One nice worker said “absolutely!” and then another worker said “no way, sorry we expect too many PCT hikers.” It was frustrating. So, I ended up dropping my pack near main building, then parking a mile* back down the road at the National Forest overnight parking lot. The whole lodge experience definitely contributed to my decision to cancel our family pack trip we had planned for later in the summer.

* As for my vote on the distance here, it sure seemed like a mile to me, both ways.

Pack Drop by Lodge.jpeg

Found a great campsite near an old mine, once it started to get dark.

Campsite Packing Up PANO.jpeg

Day 2
Over 13 miles and 2,400ft elevation gain to scout out the loop over Brown Bear Pass.

Brought my pack with me as I hadn't really hiked in enough to make a day trip out of the loop.
Had several pauses for thunderstorms. One break was under the shelter of pines among the soft, dry needles. Another was in the tent among the rocks far from Middle Emigrant Lake.

The hiking beyond Relief Reservoir up to the passes was gross. A lot of side hilling travel over fans of broken rock, dusty trail with little redeeming views and even less access to the rushing waters of the creek. Lots of uninspiring miles of climbing. I would totally understand riding horses up this section to get to the high country versus hiking by foot. There were only two tiny patches of snow. One off to the side of the trail and the other on a switchback and many people shortcut the trail to avoid the snow.

En route, there are several campsites where the terrain levels out, like the large Sheep Camp. Sheep Camp itself is a very nice, open space with great access to the creek. If only it were located somewhere else. It was smack in the middle of my least favorite area. It is a LONG hike up to it and you have another LONG hike to get up to the passes.

Sheep Camp.jpeg

My first mistake was made at the turn off for Mosquito Pass. I should have forded the river and gone up that way. I knew the other side of the pass headed downhill, out of any danger of being exposed to the weather, and the skies above that section were marvelously clear. I was also starting to feel like a cold was coming down and Mosquito Pass would mean less mileage and more rest. I knew that after Brown Bear Pass, my other option, there was a wide open meadow area for miles that would suck to be in if there was any bad weather. And bad weather was pretty obvious - I could see the clouds in that direction and I was very familiar with these Sierra weather patterns. The reason I chose Brown Bear was because I really wanted to scout the loop up Brown Bear. It was one of the day hikes I would do with my family and it was VERY important for my family to have really well defined trails and I wasn’t sure about the trail conditions on this loop. I also could not resist the chance to explore Emigrant Meadow Lake, I wasn’t sure when I would be back. So, up I went. Dumb Willie Goat.

Junction with Mosquito Pass.jpeg

Saw several pack trains heading up to the passes, but no other hikers after Sheep Camp. Once I got near Brown Bear Pass, I grabbed some shelter among one of the last groves of pine as thundering clouds gathered. A pack train, however, just kept trucking up to the pass. I called out to the leader “are you worried about the weather at the pass?” He replied “No, it looks like it’s moving away.” So I packed up and followed them up and over. I noted that it is both important to follow general weather patterns and also important to pay attention to the shifting nature of storm clouds if you can see them.

Shelter from the Storm.jpeg

Brown Bear Pass was spectacular. My second favorite part of the trip. The views were top notch. I had to hike over a very small snow patch to gain the pass.

The trail disappeared at Emigrant Meadow Lake among the bogs and dense clouds of mosquitoes. Reappearing only now and again until Blackbird Lake. There were several stream crossings. I am very happy I scouted, there is no way my family would have enjoyed hiking this section. I am used to the mosquitos in Emigrant. The swarms surrounding Emigrant Meadow Lake on this trip may have been the worst I have ever experienced. It was actually pretty impressive. At some points, I was running.

Trail between Middle Emigrant and Blackbird.jpeg

One of several stream crossings Day 2.jpeg

Stopping at Blackbird Lake, I was in a dreamlike state looking at the lake. It was almost too picturesque - what with the clear skies after the storm and still waters. And yes, the junction for the trail was very odd, I carefully stepped across the narrow rock and made the short hop across the water to the more well defined trail section.

Trail junction at Blackbird.jpeg

Very easy going down to Emigrant Lake. Emigrant Lake was my absolute, top number one favorite. I watched a bald eagle soar overhead as I stopped at the crossing where the North Fork of Cherry Creek flows into the lake. It is a sandy spot at the river bank and the water spreads out becoming very shallow and clear. I stopped for a bit and watched the trout swimming and flashing their bright colors as they jumped for bugs. All underneath the granite cliffs and clear Sierra skies. Wow. I hiked a short bit to the junction to the trail from Mosquito Pass (the one I should have taken) and then another short while to a nice camp spot by the lake.

I was already not feeling great. So I made myself eat a huge dinner and hit the sack.

Campsite Day 2 Packed Up.jpeg

Day 3
Over 14 miles, with 700 feet of gain and over 3,000 feet of descent.

This was brutal as I was feeling the full effects of COVID and wanted to try to get back home at a decent hour. I went very slowly up to Mosquito Pass, meeting with only one other hiker who had also stayed at Emigrant Lake. Not as many views at Mosquito Pass, but it was quite broad and verdant with many small ponds and granite slabs. Really pretty spot in its own right.

Once I got over the pass and down to lower elevation, with many snack breaks, I felt much better and was able to pick up the pace and get back safely to the trailhead. My second mistake was not refilling on water at Grouse Creek where it crosses the trail en route to Relief Reservoir. I was basically empty and thought I could just fill up later, but it was a long waterless stretch until the meadow near the trailhead. Oof.

Grouse Creek.jpeg

Lots of hikers were on the trail once I got closer to Relief Reservoir. Some heading into and some heading out of the wilderness.

Pepper did great - the only parts she didn't really like were the shadeless trail sections later in the day and she had lots of shade to rest in and dirt to walk on as we made it back to the car.

My personal blog post is here. It has some of my favorite photos and a map of the route.
https://www.spiritbleach.com/2022/07/emigrant-lake.html

And here is my list of lessons learned which includes this trip (Trip 5):
https://www.spiritbleach.com/2022/03/ba ... arned.html

I had more photos of the trip. Comment or send a message and I'd be happy to share. I tried to include photos here that were of unusual or unexpected parts of the journey or informative for conditions or in some other way.

[kpeter]

Thanks for this! It is deja vu all over again for me Glad you got a picture of that rock at Blackbird Lake--a very distinctive and unusual trail junction. Each of your photos brought back memories. And nice to know we shared some of the same impressions. My concern about footing was probably exacerbated by the fact that I had had knee and ankle surgery just a couple months before I took that trip, and was paranoid! So glad you got yourself home safely with COVID. I have been ill in the backcountry and it is really, really terrible without the creature comforts of home to be running a fever etc.

[williegoat]

I felt the same looking at your report! Thanks for the comment. It is impressive you did that hike after that surgery and hope you have had a full recovery! Maybe we will cross paths sometime in the future. While we are both in full health.