R06 TR: granite lake (emigrant wilderness), june 2-4, 2018
Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:30 pm
now that snow and cold once again rule the range, i've been thinking back to this past june when i took a short trip to emigrant wilderness full of clear skies, swollen creeks, and the tail end of 2018's snowpack. i wasn't going to write this up, but winter is long and we took a route that included a brief off trail section (piute creek to granite lake) that i haven't seen written about in my googlings. maybe it will be of interest to someone out there on the internet?
june 2
by the time the drive and permit pickup was behind us, we found ourselves standing in the crabree parking lot at 1 PM. we were both new to emigrant. the first few miles are wooded, but soon enough familiar sierra granite opens up before you.
camp lake, only 2.5 miles from the trailhead, is quite lovely, though heavily impacted. we hoofed on towards gem lake. i was particularly curious what west fork cherry creek would look like on june 2nd at 5 PM -- and now i know. it was high! not fast, but high.
a ranger (and his dog) was stationed at the crossing, and for good reason: a 5'2"-ish girl crossed right before us... and was lifted up into the current and carried about 20 feet downstream before the ranger managed to catch her on his trekking pole. the current was slow, and she very likely would've been able to thrash her way to shoreline, but -- yikes.
i'm over 6 feet, and the creek was just above my waist. i had some trouble at the deepest spot, and with no height issues to blame it on. i should've been moving slower and more intelligently, but the water was (you'll be surprised to hear) incredibly cold. as i barged ahead, i managed to slip and fall over onto myself a little bit. i was upright in a second or two, but in that time i was soaked up to my chest and immediately *freezing* cold.
this being the sierra, i dried out in 10 minutes — though it took my nervous system a bit longer to unwind! we made our way to gem and had a lovely night, falling asleep to a chorus of croaking frogs.
june 3
initially i had circled leopold lake as today's destination, but the persistent snow above ~8400 ft convinced us to opt for plan B: granite lake.
cherry creek was almost two feet lower in the morning as we retraced our steps back to piute meadow, where we ran into the ranger again, who was an interesting guy. it was here that we veered off the trail, heading north up piute creek. a lot of fun mini challenges presented themselves immediately. it was smooth sailing on game trails and easy terrain until the 'keyhole' where the canyon narrows.
internet voices said that we should head northwest, but that way looked steep and absolutely choked with tall brush. (perhaps we were already further west than the internet expected us to be?) instead we ascended a huge, beautiful slab closer to the creek. as it leveled out, this perfect granite highway turned southwest, leading us directly to the top of the prominence (~8150 ft), with great views south. somehow, i managed not to take a single photo. you’re welcome.
we continued on and ate lunch at the largest of the unnamed lakes at 8230 -- a lovely spot. this is where we encountered some larger patches of snow for the first time, all on northern slopes.
the rest of the way towards granite lake involved minor route finding that felt tricky at the time but obvious afterwards. at one unremarkable spot on the climb, we came across three large rock spirals. we were seemingly in the middle of nowhere, near no trail or noticeable landmark. it did not feel like a spot that someone would spend a lot of time doing anything, much less accruing the perfect geologic specimens to make large rock spirals.
we continued up slabs and through a brief forested section before cresting a minor hill and hark: there was granite lake in the distance! it was ringed by snow and 3/4ths frozen. we post holed and slid our way around the southern and western shoreline. there were two dry-ish, tent-sized spots amidst the ~90% snow coverage on the west side of the lake. it had been a short day of hiking, and we spent a long, lovely june afternoon at the lake. i'm sure it's not true, but at the time it was easy to imagine that we were the first people up there that year.
we went to sleep once again to a chorus of frogs.
june 4
on this trip, we were lucky to visit granite lake at a very particular point of its spring thaw: by dinner the night before, the lake was down to 1/4 frozen. but by morning, a thin layer of ice covered virtually the entire surface.
we packed up and headed straight west over snow, descending a small, seasonal waterfall and continuing over more snow, scooting between the bare patches around trees and open granite where we could find it.
we made it down without incident to slow and wide lily creek, where we traversed a somewhat steep snowfield in order to avoid crossing lily (and getting our feet wet). in retrospect, we should've just crossed and re-crossed a bit later, as the snow was already turning to mush at 8:30.
the rest of the morning involved straightforward cross country wandering in the general direction of bear lake. we were constantly walking alongside or right through temporary creeks and waterfalls, as the snow higher up continued to melt out. it was beautiful. there is some absolutely gorgeous granite up there (i'm thinking especially of the area southeast of the word "creek" on the topo). again, i managed not to take any photos here. we followed the use trail around bear creak's north and west sides, including a couple of deep marshy sections that seemed unavoidable. we took a final break at camp lake and then all of a sudden we were back in a car speeding home.
this was my first time in emigrant, and i really liked it. it's mellower and more welcoming -- closer to "normal" camping than the high sierra, which feels more akin to four hits of acid (chased by an ounce of maltodextrin?).
june 2
by the time the drive and permit pickup was behind us, we found ourselves standing in the crabree parking lot at 1 PM. we were both new to emigrant. the first few miles are wooded, but soon enough familiar sierra granite opens up before you.
camp lake, only 2.5 miles from the trailhead, is quite lovely, though heavily impacted. we hoofed on towards gem lake. i was particularly curious what west fork cherry creek would look like on june 2nd at 5 PM -- and now i know. it was high! not fast, but high.
a ranger (and his dog) was stationed at the crossing, and for good reason: a 5'2"-ish girl crossed right before us... and was lifted up into the current and carried about 20 feet downstream before the ranger managed to catch her on his trekking pole. the current was slow, and she very likely would've been able to thrash her way to shoreline, but -- yikes.
i'm over 6 feet, and the creek was just above my waist. i had some trouble at the deepest spot, and with no height issues to blame it on. i should've been moving slower and more intelligently, but the water was (you'll be surprised to hear) incredibly cold. as i barged ahead, i managed to slip and fall over onto myself a little bit. i was upright in a second or two, but in that time i was soaked up to my chest and immediately *freezing* cold.
this being the sierra, i dried out in 10 minutes — though it took my nervous system a bit longer to unwind! we made our way to gem and had a lovely night, falling asleep to a chorus of croaking frogs.
- gem lake
june 3
initially i had circled leopold lake as today's destination, but the persistent snow above ~8400 ft convinced us to opt for plan B: granite lake.
cherry creek was almost two feet lower in the morning as we retraced our steps back to piute meadow, where we ran into the ranger again, who was an interesting guy. it was here that we veered off the trail, heading north up piute creek. a lot of fun mini challenges presented themselves immediately. it was smooth sailing on game trails and easy terrain until the 'keyhole' where the canyon narrows.
internet voices said that we should head northwest, but that way looked steep and absolutely choked with tall brush. (perhaps we were already further west than the internet expected us to be?) instead we ascended a huge, beautiful slab closer to the creek. as it leveled out, this perfect granite highway turned southwest, leading us directly to the top of the prominence (~8150 ft), with great views south. somehow, i managed not to take a single photo. you’re welcome.
we continued on and ate lunch at the largest of the unnamed lakes at 8230 -- a lovely spot. this is where we encountered some larger patches of snow for the first time, all on northern slopes.
- lakes near 8230
the rest of the way towards granite lake involved minor route finding that felt tricky at the time but obvious afterwards. at one unremarkable spot on the climb, we came across three large rock spirals. we were seemingly in the middle of nowhere, near no trail or noticeable landmark. it did not feel like a spot that someone would spend a lot of time doing anything, much less accruing the perfect geologic specimens to make large rock spirals.
- weird
we continued up slabs and through a brief forested section before cresting a minor hill and hark: there was granite lake in the distance! it was ringed by snow and 3/4ths frozen. we post holed and slid our way around the southern and western shoreline. there were two dry-ish, tent-sized spots amidst the ~90% snow coverage on the west side of the lake. it had been a short day of hiking, and we spent a long, lovely june afternoon at the lake. i'm sure it's not true, but at the time it was easy to imagine that we were the first people up there that year.
- granite!
we went to sleep once again to a chorus of frogs.
june 4
on this trip, we were lucky to visit granite lake at a very particular point of its spring thaw: by dinner the night before, the lake was down to 1/4 frozen. but by morning, a thin layer of ice covered virtually the entire surface.
- frozen lake
we packed up and headed straight west over snow, descending a small, seasonal waterfall and continuing over more snow, scooting between the bare patches around trees and open granite where we could find it.
we made it down without incident to slow and wide lily creek, where we traversed a somewhat steep snowfield in order to avoid crossing lily (and getting our feet wet). in retrospect, we should've just crossed and re-crossed a bit later, as the snow was already turning to mush at 8:30.
the rest of the morning involved straightforward cross country wandering in the general direction of bear lake. we were constantly walking alongside or right through temporary creeks and waterfalls, as the snow higher up continued to melt out. it was beautiful. there is some absolutely gorgeous granite up there (i'm thinking especially of the area southeast of the word "creek" on the topo). again, i managed not to take any photos here. we followed the use trail around bear creak's north and west sides, including a couple of deep marshy sections that seemed unavoidable. we took a final break at camp lake and then all of a sudden we were back in a car speeding home.
this was my first time in emigrant, and i really liked it. it's mellower and more welcoming -- closer to "normal" camping than the high sierra, which feels more akin to four hits of acid (chased by an ounce of maltodextrin?).
Just kidding.