Emigrant via Crabtree June 26-30 (how much snow)

[hansenb25]

I’ve hiked mostly eastern Sierra areas and I know this area is a lot lower in elevation. Is a loop from Crabtree going to be doable this June? I think there are a couple of water crossings on this trail, which may be entertaining, but provided it’s a warm spring/summer, go for it or plan further south??

[rlown]

maybe not. snow melt will be the main issue about river/stream crossing.

[texan]

Dodge Ridge ski resort by Pinecrest has more snow than Mammoth so this year its a NO for sure. Try first week in August. I have been in Emigrant too many times and this year you need to wait and see how the snow melts. The creeks will be swollen in June with runoff for sure.

Texan

[kpeter]

I’ve hiked mostly eastern Sierra areas and I know this area is a lot lower in elevation. Is a loop from Crabtree going to be doable this June? I think there are a couple of water crossings on this trail, which may be entertaining, but provided it’s a warm spring/summer, go for it or plan further south??

The major problem is crossing W Fork Cherry Creek. Usually you can get over Lily and Piute Creek. So if you go in via Crabtree you might want to plan not to go too far east. I'm mulling this over too, and while last year I hiked out of Crabtree before Memorial Day, this year it will probably be a month later at best.

A similar area is hiking out of Shingle Springs to the Boundary Lake area. No stream crossings on that route, and the destination could be Lord Meadows where you can see the spectacular white water of Cherry Creek. The whole hike in is below 8000.

After this winter's storms, assume there will be many, many trees down across the trails until deep into the season when trail crews can get out there.

[balzaccom]

Good advice here. There's a ton of snow in the Sierra, and more on the way. It will take months for it to melt out, and the streams will be rocking and rolling while it does.

From Crabtree, you might be able to get up to Granite Lake, and then back through Y Meadow and Toe Jam, but all of that is a big question with this much snow. I would absolutely have a backup plan.

[frozenintime]

there is also the question of when crabtree itself might open. i can’t remember when it did in 2017?

[c9h13no3]

there is also the question of when crabtree itself might open. i can’t remember when it did in 2017?

I've never actually skied there myself, but folks ski out of there in the winter. Not sure if the road would be open all the way to the summer TH at 7100', but it's a south facing aspect so it should be good.

Gianelli is the one that doesn't open until later.

And for the aforementioned reasons of stream crossings, Crabtree wouldn't be my first thought when thinking of early season trailheads. Kennedy Meadows with its abundance of bridges is what I think of first when thinking of the Emigrant. Or heading out towards Kibbie Lake.

[SSSdave]

After heavy snow winters, there is often snow in shaded forest and northern exposures well into June. The drive to the Crabtree trailhead requires driving an unplowed dirt road reaching 7450 feet with some sections above 7k shaded north facing. Even higher is nearby Gianelli trailhead with the road rising to 8700 feet. Thus any June trips may be still blocked by snow on those roads. Bourland Creek trailheads down in heavy shading forests are also have sections above 7k. The above is why using the southern Cherry Lake trailhead at 4.7k or if open Shingle Springs at 5.8k is a huge advantage. For that reason, Kibbie Lake at 6.5k has always been an early season favorite. Note picking up walk up permits have also always been convenient from the Stanislaus Groveland station.



https://www.davidsenesac.com/2017_Trip_ ... 17-12.html

After the big winter of 2017, in mid June per above link, I purposely used Cherry Lake to reach the immense granite canyon below Lord Meadow in order to capture images and videos of the whitewater. Thus successfully accomplished that effort though have still not Youtube publicly Published any of my impressive 1080p whitewater videos that have otherwise been Adobe Premiere 2021 processed to do so. I currently have several Heavenly resort snow skiing videos Published so could add them to my account at any time. Also experimented capturing my first ever backpacking GoPro8 POV trail video from a Kibbie trip I may add bits of. I think in the future, using GoPro POV cameras to capture segments of interesting trail travel is something people will discover has value. As described on the link, the ability to reach that section of Cherry Creek early is dependent on also being able to walk through some snow at the highest section of the Kibbie Ridge trail that is 8k, one can glean from current satellite images. I saw first snows on that route at 7.4k.

[mschnaidt]

Here's a couple of photos taken on July 7th 2017. West Fork of Cherry Creek a little below Louse Canyon.

We went in from Bourland Meadow TH at 7500ish ft. There was a bit of snow until we dropped into Cherry Creek Canyon. We had intended to hike into Hyatt Lake but chose not to cross the creek with our packs. We could have at a wide spot but didn't consider it worth the risk. We stayed in the canyon instead and enjoyed the high water and solitude.

[kpeter]

Wow, Mschnaidt, those photos capture the power of the creek. Those springtime hikes get you up close to whitewater, and it is not just the depth, the width, or the speed, or the froth, you can feel the power of the stream in the vibrations in the air. Definitely not something to take lightly.

WIth regard to c9h13no3's suggestion of Kennedy Meadows, there are a couple of problems, although the bridges down low are great. Summit Creek won't be crossable at the inlet end of Relief Reservoir, and so there is only the one way to go--up toward Sheep Camp. But Sheep Camp is at 8800 while most of western Emigrant is a 1000 feet lower. I think of W Emigrant as opening up 2-3 weeks earlier than N Emigrant.