High Sierra Topix

I took a quick trip into West Fork Cherry Creek from the Bourland Meadow TH on 7/6-9. Bourland is a very quick and lightly used route into Western Emigrant. From the TH to the creek is only 2.7 downhill miles. We camped just below mile 5 the first night at about 6550 ft. Hyatt Lake is only 4 miles or so past the creek and is cross country but not too bad.

The TH is about an hour and a half from 108 in Long Barn on a good paved forest road for most of the way. The last 7 miles or so are on rougher forest roads but they were in good shape with only a small washout or two. A high clearance 4x2 would make it easy.

The weather was warm and the creek was raging. Varying by about a foot between mid morning and evening. We had originally planned to head up to Hyatt but decided that crossing the creek with packs on was a little iffy. We had waded across without packs in a couple of deeper slower sections but we were mid chest at times and didn't want to risk getting our bags wet (I guess I should have brought the pack raft).
Frankly our decision was more about the conditions at the creek than the crossing. It was gorgeous! Wild and fuller than we had ever seen it. We camped (legally) in a couple of spots but still had great views of the creek. On our second night our camp was close to the top of waterfall. It was stunning with a full moon on the granite and spray.
On our third day we hiked further up the canyon to the confluence of Piute Creek and the West Fork. It was all waterfalls and whitewater.
The mosquitos were not an issue at all. A couple around at the usual times but we were never were bothered by them.

We'll be going back early in the season next year!

Thanks for the report. I was wondering how full Cherry Creek was running. I went into this area out of Bourland Meadows about 20 years ago. At that time, I don't recall any trail down to West Fork Cherry Creek - we just worked our way down cross-country. Is there a trail now?
-Phil

There is a trail from Bourland to the top of the ridge, then the use trail is marked, more or less, by cairns down to the creek---which is funny because it is pretty much open granite the whole way, and you can see the creek pretty obviously. Cairns may help more in getting BACK to the trail from the creek.

And in these conditions, I would not consider Hyatt Lake easy, unless you have a secret way of crossing the outlet from Hyatt...

It's a fair use trail from the TH to the edge of the forest where it transitions to open granite. Someone even marked it last year with orange paint dots in some of the more overgrown sections (and that wasn't me ). The first time I went in 11 years ago I tried working my way down to the creek cross country. That was rough. On my way out I ran into a group at WF Cherry that showed me the trail. That was sweet!

Balzaccom has been on the exact trail. I enjoyed your trip report P. Your website is great!

The hike up to Hyatt isn't easy but I did find a route that bypasses the majority of the difficulties at the Hyatt outlet. I have a .gpx track I can share but I agree the navigation is tricky. I was referring to the distance and effort expended. Once the route is dialed in it's not too bad.

I wouldn't try to hike up to Hyatt for another few weeks at least. There are some boggy areas that I wouldn't want to slog through in a wet year.

Thanks for the information, it's appreciated. We are (hopefully) headed to Rosasco, Big, and Yellowhammer next week and this helps the planning phase.

Hi Calihaze,

Welcome to HST!

We are (hopefully) headed to Rosasco, Big, and Yellowhammer next week and this helps the planning phase.

Please write up a TR for us when you get back.

maverick wrote:Hi Calihaze,

Welcome to HST!

Please write up a TR for us when you get back.

Thanks, will do. We also found a recent Reddit post that has information on the area.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WildernessBack ... water_due/

We will likely be improvising at multiple points during this trip.

Update: West Fork Cherry Creek can be crossed on both PC10 and PC4 now, without safety concerns (as an adult). You will get wet (thigh deep on PC4 and shin deep on PC10. Personally, we were unable to make it to the Big Lake area, due to a H2O filter death and only packing enough fuel for food - so we turned around prior to getting to Rosasco. I met a group coming from Yellowhammer and they said it wasn't too soggy and is open for business in their opinion. Thanks again to OP for the info and the post.

Hi mschjsnaidt

How did you travel north up W Fork to confluence if Paiute? Did you stay on the west side of the creek and , if yes, how did you get through the hellish brush just north of the use trail?

Hi Murphtron. Here is a map of my route up to Paiute Creek. I stayed on the NW side of the creek. That brush is a pain! It's thinner away from the creek.