North Fork of Cherry Creek from Lord Meadow to Five Acre Lake, Emigrant Wilderness

[Logan]

I'd like to hike off trail from Lord Meadow up the North Fork of Cherry Creek heading up to Five Acre Lake->Yellowhammer Camp->Big Lake at the end of August this year, 2025. This would be part of a loop from Crabtree->Emigrant->Huckleberry->Big->Rosasco and back. I'm only good for class 2+ scrambles. Does this seem reasonable? Any tips for getting from the North Fork to Five Acre?

When I initially posted in the Conditions Reports and Information forum, maverick pointed me to some links in the trip reports but none actually describe the walk along the north fork between Lord Meadow and the area southwest of Five Acre. mschnaidt has some great trip suggestions and mentioned a path south of 8181 between Yellowhammer and North Fork CC but that is way too many contour lines for me (hence traveling further up the creek and trying to cut over to Five Acre) and there still isn't much on that section of the North Fork. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Many thanks! Apologies for being a rookie here.

[mschnaidt]

Hi Logan, welcome to HST.

I've taken two cross country routes out of the N Fork in that area. The one you referenced is the steep but clear ramp up to the South side of Yellowhammer. I chose this route because it was detailed in Ben Schifrin's guidebook "Emigrant Wilderness and Northwest Yosemite". The route is in the PC11 chapter. The book is out of print but if you can find a copy grab it. Also my route went down the ramp which was much easier than up it.

The second route was from the creek up to Red Can. Similar elevation gain to the route you are looking at but further upstream. There was a fair amount of route finding involved. Lot's of back and forth and backtracking to find a route. We had a couple of 14 year olds with us and they got grumpy. I don't have a .gpx track.

One of the joys of cross country travel is the sense of accomplishment of overcoming the difficulties and puzzles of the route that you plan. Study your route on Google Earth. Tilt the view so you get a better idea of the slopes you need to climb. Stay away from brush, it's thick up there and a pain to push through. Even short sections will suck the energy out of you. Try to stay on open granite. The long way is often faster if you have open ground.

However, you might want to consider skipping the route up the North Fork of Cherry from Lord Meadow. It's pretty but the route from Huckleberry through Lord Meadow and up the Yellowhammer outlet stream gives you similar views and is easier to navigate. It's a long hard day from Huckleberry to Big. Easy navigation on the steep stuff is a very good thing towards the end of your day. The section from the creek up to the lake is steep but wide open. Much better than steep, brushy and problematic when you're tired. You can go to either Big or Yellowhammer once you get up the ridge. Lord Meadow was overgrown when I was there. Skirt the brush.

5 Acre is nice but it isn't a must see.

Be safe and have fun!

[Logan]

Thanks for the advice. I think I will adjust and head up the Yellowhammer outlet. I was then thinking the next day of going down the outlet of Big Lake and coming back up just north of the outlet stream of Hyatt Lake to Hyatt and then on to Rosaco. Do you have any experience with that?