North Areas (Granite Chief Creek, north area, and Talbot Creek)
I have mapped these three areas separately, because they are not contiguous, but together they round out the north and northwest boundaries of the wilderness, protecting both pristine wilderness lands and areas that were once logged but are recovering. The three areas total 3,405 acres.
Granite Chief Creek: This is the upper Granite Chief Creek watershed. The creek is tributary to the North Fork American River. The north boundary is section lines, the south boundary is the current wilderness boundary, which is also the watershed boundary along Lyon Ridge. It is entirely Tahoe National Forest. This area is pristine wilderness, without logging or roads. It includes a little less than two miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, which is now outside the wilderness. It is 1,419 acres.
North area: This is uppermost part of the Talbot Creek watershed, which is tributary to Middle Fork American River. The north boundary is the watershed boundary, and the south boundary is the current wilderness boundary. It is within Tahoe National Forest and American River Conservancy lands. It was in part lightly logged and had logging roads, but those traces are fading, and there are no permanent roads. It is 398 acres, but the significance is greater since it would round out the upper watershed protection and protection of the Tevis Cup Trail, which were missed in the 2015 wilderness additions.
Talbot: This is another segment of the Talbot Creek watershed. The north and west boundaries are the watershed boundary of Talbot Creek, which is also the Tevis Cup Trail on Red Star Ridge. The south boundary is section lines. The east boundary is FR 51 and the Talbot Trail. It is within Tahoe National Forest and American River Conservancy lands, with a small inholding of private property, which could be excluded or acquired. Some of this area was logged and had logging roads, though there are no permanent roads. It is 1,687 acres.
My original vision was a significant northward expansion of the wilderness into wilderness-quality lands along the Pacific crest, including the Pacific Crest Trail as far as Anderson Peak, however, it turns out that Chickering American River Reserve, which I had assumed was state lands administered by University of California, is actually private lands with a conservation easement, therefore not available for designation as wilderness. I did not want to propose additions that are not contiguous to the existing wilderness.
A map is below, showing the adjacent designated wilderness and the proposed additions. It includes a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, shown on the map in orange dashed. (pdf)
My third Granite Chief Wilderness trip was for trail maintenance. My original intent was to work on either the Five Lakes Creek Trail or the Western States Trail, but on my way in, found that the ‘Squaw’ Saddle Trail, PCT-d segment (my term, not related to PCT segments), and Whiskey Creek Trail needed work, so spent my time on those.
‘Squaw’ Saddle Trail (needs to be renamed by apparently has not been renamed by Forest Service) is now in good condition. Open Street Map shows Five Lakes Trail going by the largest lake and then reconnecting with the ‘Squaw’ Saddle Trail, but signing indicates this is not an official trail. I’m calling this ‘Squaw’ Saddle Trail all the way to junction with PCT.
PCT-d, the segment between ‘Squaw’ Saddle Trail and PCT is in good condition except for one down tree that intrudes into the trail but can be stepped around. I did a lot of spot brushing on this trail, as brush was starting to encroach.
Whiskey Creek Trail was a mess. Four down trees remain, one a slide under and three with good bypasses. At the crossing of Whiskey Creek, there is a log jam where the trail once crossed. You can cross below the jam, going down the bank, using a rock hop (at current water level), and then climbing up beside boulders and willows. I removed or modified several down trees.
Five Lakes Trail is maintained by Truckee Trails Foundation, and it is in good condition. It does not maintain the section west of the largest lake, which is no longer an official trail.
Though this work was not my original intent, at least it will be easier and quicker to get to Whiskey Camp next time. One family was camped at the camp on Saturday night, but I saw no one else there. In times past, it was rare that there was not a group, or many groups, at Whiskey Camp, but use seems to have tapered off.
I spend a lot of time pulling creeping honeysuckle or creeping snowberry (Symphoricarpos mollis) out by the roots. The hiker name for this plant is tripwire, as the vines root, creating segments that harden into a black, very strong trip wire. If it crosses the trail and roots, it is a clear hazard to hikers. I have been tripped up a few times, even though I am quite aware of the plant. Cutting the vines simply produces more vines, so taking it out by the roots is the only solution that lasts more than one year. Strangely, I don’t have a photo of the trip wires. The snowberry shrub (Symphoricarpos albus) also has tough stems, but doesn’t grow low to the ground. On the PCT section, huckleberry oak, whitethorn, and sagebrush were the most common plants crowding the trail.
Mosquitos are present, but not abundant. There are probably as many flies, but I did not see the large one with green eyes that bites a chunk out of you.
It rained for a half hour or so on Thursday morning
Sunday morning was a magical cloud day, a great one for lying on the back and making animal shapes of the clouds. It eventually thickened, and there was a smattering of rain on my way out.
Granite Chief Wilderness was established in 1984 with the California Wilderness Act, at about 24,000 acres (97 km2). About 10,000 acres were purchased by American River Conservancy under the Granite Chief Wilderness Campaign, some of which were added to the wilderness after restoration, mostly putting an old and barely passable road to bed (see new wilderness boundary), bringing the wilderness acreage to 28,374 (114 km2).
But there are extensive areas contiguous with the existing wilderness that are of wilderness character that I believe should be added to the wilderness. Some sections of the Pacific Crest Trail are not in the wilderness, when they could easily be with slight boundary adjustments. Some of the additions are pristine wilderness, and some are areas that were logged but are healing and could be added now or in the future.
I believe in wilderness, not just for the recreational value, but as areas we set aside for nature to flourish and heal, where we interfere little if any in natural processes. This has become all the more important with climate change and all the related issues including insect die-off and red fir die-off. When we have the opportunity to expand existing wilderness areas, we should. As our use of non-wilderness lands intensifies, we need to balance that will additional wilderness. The Granite Chief is one of those areas.
So, I will post a series on my proposed additions. It is a lot of work to look closely at maps and on the ground to develop recommendations, and then map them accurately. I’m using ArcGIS Pro to do this, and investigations on the ground. The posts may stretch out over a couple of years, and I’m guessing there will be at least six. When the series is complete, I’ll create a single map showing all the additions together.
Caveats
Some of the areas I’m proposing have been logged, many of them just before or just after the wilderness was established. I don’t believe that it will be economically possible, and questionably, environmentally responsible to log these areas again. The distance from the forest to remaining mills is just too great. Barker Pass Road was originally meant to go across Five Lakes Creek watershed to Mosquito Road and to mills in Foresthill or Placerville, but that will never happen, and those mills are long gone.
That is not to say there could not be fuel reduction projects, and perhaps some of these areas should be treated before inclusion in wilderness. Because of the misguided Forest Service policy of immediate suppression of lightning caused fire, even when far remote from human development, there are overstocked forests and years of debris on the forest floor, a conflagration waiting to happen. In the lower elevation forests, this is a completely unnatural, dangerous, and human-created condition. In the red fir and hemlock forests at higher elevations, it is not clear to me what the natural fire regime was or should be.
There are also logging roads associated with that logging. Almost all of these have deteriorated to be 4WD, not accessible for most recreationists, and are used primarily by off-road type users. This, in my mind, is not a valid use of National Forest lands. As an example, old logging roads on the mesas above Five Lakes Creek valley were closed for a while by downed trees, allowing nature to recoup and the peace and silence to return (see Granite Chief 2025-09-13 mesas). The views from the edge of the mesas are incredible, but the vehicle use here is not of that purpose, it is just for using vehicles. Unfortunately 4WD users with heavy chain saws and long bars managed to cut the trees out and return the roar of engines and tearing up of road surfaces. I have no sympathy for this.
Blackwood Creek & Ward Creek addition
The first area I’m recommending I call the Blackwood Creek and Ward Creek addition. It is within the drainages of Blackwood Creek and Ward Creek, which are tributary to Lake Tahoe. It would not result in any road closures. It includes some logging and fuel reduction areas in both watersheds, but these are healing fairly well, with the access roads having been long closed. It also includes much pristine wilderness lands.
The area is about 3,825 acres. A map is below, showing the adjacent designated wilderness and the proposed addition. It includes a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, shown on the map in orange dashed. (pdf)
My second backpack of the mountain season was not for trail maintenance, though I did a bit of winter debris removal. Rather, it was to see what condition the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) and others were in.
My trip got delayed a bit, so I ended up taking the Amtrak bus rather than California Zephyr, to Truckee, then TART to Tahoe City. A short walk from the Tahoe City Transit Center is the Tahoe City trailhead for the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT). I headed south on the TRT, through Page Meadows, and up Ward Creek to Stanford Ridge where I camped for the night. The trail to that point has been logged out and is mostly in good condition.
The next day I headed the rest of the way to the crest where the TRT joins the PCT. They are coterminous to the south. There were some snow banks but nothing difficult, and four down trees, moderate winter debris and no brush issues.
I dropped my pack near the junction, and headed south on the PCT to Barker Pass. There are 59 down trees on this section (which I call PCTf, though this is just my terminology, and unrelated to the PCT lettered sections), up to 24 inches diameter but most in the 15 to 18 inch range. Debris light to heavy, some snow patches but none difficult (the wall of snow just south of the wilderness boundary was not difficult, as it is many years). A lot of seasonal creeklets were flowing. Barker Pass Road is now open, and there were a few cars at the Barker Pass trailhead. I passed about 12 people, a few PCT thru hikers and some day hikers.
Returning to my pack, I headed north on the PCT. The brushy ridge section north of Twin Peaks is starting to close in but should be OK until next year. This section has the greatest number and diversity of flowers at this time. Safebrush is freeze burned, from not being covered with snow during very cold temperatures, and other plants lesser so. I camped at a small flat beside the trail, one of the few spots on the ridge. In the late afternoon there was warm air coming up out of Bear Pen drainage, from the high temperatures in the foothills and valley, but the wind shifted from the north and that was chilly.
PCT brushy ridge section, starting to be overgrown
There is only one tree down before the switchbacks down to Five Lakes Creek, but on the lower switchbacks there were 29 trees down, the largest 21 inches. From the Five Lakes Trail to Whiskey Creek Trail, there is one tree down. The Whiskey Creek Trail has 16 down trees, most small. The crossing of Whiskey Creek has been further complicated by two new down trees which caused a log jam and moved the large down tree that had previously made an easy crossing. The creek is low enough for an almost dry jump, but steep banks and alder thickets make that crossing awkward.
Continuing north on the PCT, there are 34 down trees to the ‘Tevis Connector’ (this trail will be renamed but I don’t know what to). It was finally cooler in the upper Whiskey Creek basin, with the gully creek and Whiskey Creek still flowing but low. From there to the Tevis Trail / Western States Trail crossing, 5 down trees. The Middle Fork American River is flowing well.
arrowleaf balsamroot flowers
The north slope of the Granite Chief saddle still has snow, but less than many years. The trail can mostly be followed, particularly with close reference to the mapped route. Seven trees down. I camped at the sand flat north of the meadow and Washeshu Creek, good spot for sunset and sunrise.
The next day I headed to the Granite Chief Trail, and then down to Olympic Valley. This trail is maintained by Truckee Trails, and is in good condition.
Overall, the condition of these trails surveyed is poor due to down trees. Brush is mostly OK but will need maintenance next year. Winter debris is mostly moderate, but very heavy in a few places. There are snow patches, but nothing difficult to manage. Creeks and creeklets are flowing well, though creeklets will dry out quickly. It doesn’t look like a great flower year, but that is alway uncertain. Trail use is low so far, but of course the PCT will be heavily used shortly.
Granite Chief Wilderness was established in 1984 with the California Wilderness Act, at about 24,000 acres (97 km2). About 10,000 acres were purchased by American River Conservancy under the Granite Chief Wilderness Campaign, some of which were added to the wilderness after restoration, mostly putting an old and barely passable road to bed (see new wilderness boundary), bringing the wilderness acreage to 28,374 (114 km2).
But there are extensive areas contiguous with the existing wilderness that are of wilderness character that I believe should be added to the wilderness. Some sections of the Pacific Crest Trail are not in the wilderness, when they could easily be with slight boundary adjustments. Some of the additions are pristine wilderness, and some are areas that were logged but are healing and could be added now or in the future.
I believe in wilderness, not just for the recreational value, but as areas we set aside for nature to flourish and heal, where we interfere little if any in natural processes. This has become all the more important with climate change and all the related issues including insect die-off and red fir die-off. When we have the opportunity to expand existing wilderness areas, we should. As our use of non-wilderness lands intensifies, we need to balance that will additional wilderness. The Granite Chief is one of those areas.
So, I will post a series on my proposed additions. It is a lot of work to look closely at maps and on the ground to develop recommendations, and then map them accurately. I’m using ArcGIS Pro to do this, and investigations on the ground. The posts may stretch out over a couple of years, and I’m guessing there will be at least six. When the series is complete, I’ll create a single map showing all the additions together.
Caveats
Some of the areas I’m proposing have been logged, many of them just before or just after the wilderness was established. I don’t believe that it will be economically possible, and questionably environmentally responsible to log these areas again. The distance from the forest to remaining mills is just too great. Barker Pass Road was originally meant to go across Five Lakes Creek watershed to Mosquito Road and to mills in Foresthill or Placerville, but that will never happen, and those mills are long gone.
That is not to say there could not be fuel reduction projects, and perhaps some of these areas should be treated before inclusion in wilderness. Because of the misguided Forest Service policy of immediate suppression of lightning caused fire, even when far remote from human development, there are overstocked forests and years of debris on the forest floor, a conflagration waiting to happen. In the lower elevation forests, this is a completely unnatural, dangerous, and human-created condition. In the red fir and hemlock forests at higher elevations, it is not clear to me what the natural fire regime was or should be.
There are also logging roads associated with that logging. Almost all of these have deteriorated to be 4WD, not accessible for most recreationists, and are used primarily by off-road type users. This, in my mind, is not a valid use of National Forest lands. As an example, old logging roads on the mesas above Five Lakes Creek valley were closed for a while by downed trees, allowing nature to recoup and the peace and silence to return (see Granite Chief 2025-09-13 mesas). The views from the edge of the mesas are incredible, but the vehicle use here is not of that purpose, it is just for using vehicles. Unfortunately 4WD users with heavy chain saws and long bars managed to cut the trees out and return the roar of engines and tearing up of road surfaces. I have no sympathy for this.
Barker Creek addition
The first area I’m recommending I call the Barker Creek addition. It is within the Barker Creek drainage, which is a tributary to the Rubicon River. It would close Barker Pass Road at the Powderhorn Trailhead. It leaves open Barker Creek Road, which connects to the famous Rubicon 4WD trail, but it would close the rogue user-created roads off that road. It includes the logging area of West Meadow Creek, which was logged long ago, but is healing fairly well, with the logging road having been long closed.
The area is about 5,611 acres. A map is below, showing the adjacent designated wilderness and the proposed addition. It includes a small section of the Pacific Crest Trail, north of Barker Pass. The western boundary is the Rubicon River, which I’ve used for convenience of mapping, though there are wilderness quality lands west of the river as well. (pdf)
My first trip of the 2026 season to the Granite Chief Wilderness. This late May trip may have been the earliest I’ve been into the Granite Chief, with my first trip usually being mid-June to mid-July. This year had low snowfall and early warm weather, though there was some late snow and colder weather.
As usual, California Zephyr train to Truckee. I had tea at Dark Horse Coffee, then TART to Tahoe City and Alpenglow Sports for a fuel canister, and then TART to Kaspian Campground on the west shore. Then the walk up Barker Pass Road to Blackwood Campground, and the night. Next morning, the 4WD road to Barker Pass, then more along Barker Pass Road to the Powderhorn Trailhead. This is by far the longest entry point to a trailhead of all of the entry points. Being out of backpacking condition, and altitude acclimitization, I went very slowly and didn’t get to the trailhead until early afternoon.
I did some trail maintenance on the first part of the trail, which goes from the trailhead to Powderhorn saddle, but little progress. I attempted to cut one tree but couldn’t make the saw cuts (from top and bottom) meet, and gave up. This part of the trail is a mess, a lot of down trees and debris, which can be avoided by walking the old logging road to the saddle.
I then walked down the trail to what I call Powderhorn meadow, not an official name, which is short of the Powderhorn Creek crossing, the last part in the dark. The top part of the trail still has a number of snowbanks, one hard to cross. I was able to follow the trail across snow, though familiarity with the route helps. Someone has chainsawed out all the large trees all the way down. Though I have mixed feelings about chain saws, I can’t fault someone maintaining a trail which the Forest Service has long abandoned. It is what I try to do in my non-mechanized way. But of course there are four new large downed trees since the chainsawing last year. Three are easy to bypass. The fourth, just west of the wilderness boundary, could be bypassed by a bypass has not yet been established. Other than this one downed tree, the trail is now safe for equestrian use, which it has not been in many years. There are also a lot of small down trees and leaners (trees that are bent over into the trail but are still alive), and a lot of debris, particularly in the red fir zone.
chainsaw cut down tree, Powderhorn Trail
There are quite a few flowers out, which probably got started during the warmer weather. Service berry, woolley mules ears, forget-me-not, phlox, wallflower, larkspur, violet, sanicula. Some of these are in the Flickr photos (see below).
I worked the bottom part of the trail, cutting small downed trees, brushing whitethorn, and cutting some leaners. I remove gooseberry (two species, at least) and creeping snowberry but the roots when I can, because just cutting them results in new sprouts and more sprouts the following year. The creeping snowberry is also called trip wire, because the long runners when they cross the trail and root develop a very tough stem which is the trip wire. This is very slow work, but when I can get the roots and runners out, lasts for many years. And of course removing winter debris which varies from thick to very little. But is did almost no work beyond the lower quarter, leaving much to be done higher up. I’d guess there are three to four days of work to return the trail to where is was when I last worked it in 2024. There are places, particularly high up, where conifers are encroaching on the trail, and it is very slow work cutting those back.
I cut corn lily out of the section of trail between the meadow and Powderhorn Creek. It is strange to cut perennials, which will of course come back from roots year after year, but on the other hand, the trail tread was completely obscured by plants, making it hard to find in this short section.
I did not cross Powderhorn Creek because it was high enough to be a wet crossings, but knowing the trail from past years, I would not expect any major issues between the creek and Diamond Crossing trail junction.
I notice more tread erosion from the winter than most years. I think there has been more heavy rainfall and less snow, and that leads to more tread erosion. The trail has very few water control structures, and there have always been sections with erosion issues, but it seems worse and more widespread now.
Venus and Jupiter are prominent in the west after sunset.
I returned to the saddle and trailhead, then walked Barker Pass Road, all the way down rather than the 4WD road. Mistake. The road is almost twice as long, and boring. When I went in on Friday, Barker Pass Road was gated at Kaspian Campground, and when I came out, it was gated after the creek crossing where it starts to climb. There was extensive work cutting down trees, so I assume the road will be open to the pass soon.
I met one PCT thru hikers at Barker Pass, unusually early in the season. He said he’d been on snow almost all the way through the Sierra. Most of the thru hikers will show up in mid-June, and then there will be a stream of them.
I came out a day early, so changed my return home to the Amtrak bus rather than train. Went to Dark Horse again, and ate breakfast at Squeeze In, which used to be a regular part of my trips but has not been.
I have another backpack this coming week, and it will probably be a trail survey trip so I can report on conditions on a few of the trails. Stay tuned!
This was my last trip of the 2025 Granite Chief backpacking season. I had another trip scheduled for this week, but the snow, and life elsewhere, got in the way.
I did not actually enter the wilderness this trip. Instead, I explored the mesas and rims south of Five Lakes Creek. Every time I head into the wilderness on the Powderhorn Trail, I also think that I should explore the mesas and rims above the wilderness. So this time I did.
I walked up Barker Pass Rd from Hwy 89, then the 4WD road toward Barker Pass. I slept on a ridge with a clear view of the sky. It must have rained quite a bit in the preceding days, as my sleeping bag was quit wet in the morning. I went the rest of the way to Barker Pass, and then along Forest Road 3 to the Powderhorn trailhead, and up to the saddle, doing some clean-up work on the trail, particularly the dense patch of whitethorn. There is one down tree larger than I could cut that makes the first part of the trail sketchy for hikers and impossible for horses, but one can use the old logging road to the saddle.
The second night I camped at an overlook to the south, on the old logging road that goes from Powderhorn saddle. Last time I walked this road, it was closed by many large down trees, and I had hopes that it would be closed forever. But the 4WD people apparently have large chain saws. But it doesn’t get much use. The flat area above cliffs had a great view of the night sky. Unfortunately, the morning revealed animal chewing on my almost new backpack, probably a chipmunk. The morning light also highlighted what a deep defile the Rubicon River makes to the south. This is a dry camp, so I gathered water from the unnamed creek that crosses Barker Pass Rd at the end of travel.
In the morning, I walked out one of the old logging roads, and then along the rim of Powderhorn canyon. The trees on the mesa are mostly mountain hemlock, but also red fir, lodgepole pine, yellow pine, and sparse but huge western white pines. I dropped off that ridge and walked out another logging road, fortunately closed at one point by large boulders, to another view into the canyon, above the postpile section.
Returning to Powderhorn saddle, I did some work on the uppermost trail, mostly cutting conifers that have encroached on the trail, and trimming back manzanita. Some of the conifers are too large to cut, a result of my neglecting to cut them when they were young.
I have been beginning and ending my trips at Dark Horse Coffee in Truckee, waiting for the next TART bus south, and for the next bus or train back home. Good people there, and a nice funky atmosphere. I recommend it!
My seventh trip of the season was a trail survey, to pick up the major trails that I had not yet visited this season.
My first day up in the mountains I went to Bluesday at Palisades Tahoe, then to Tahoe City to sleep. It rained a lot in the afternoon, but tapered off by mid-evening. I went in at Five Lakes Trailhead. It rained and hailed hard on my way down Five Lakes Creek, and I sheltered under some trees for the heaviest part. By late afternoon, it had stopped, and I made camp near Diamond Crossing at a campsite that I often use. A few red clouds at sunset. This campsite is next to Five Lakes Creek, and up against the high ridge on the north side of the creek, so the sun goes away very early, but shows on the canyon rim to the east for quite some while after.
Next day I headed down the Hell Hole Trail, from Diamond Crossing. I last used this trail, as far as Steamboat Creek, last year, but it has been since 2020 going further than Steamboat, and longer since doing any maintenance on the trail. There are more down trees than before, but most noticeable change is the thick layer of winter debris, particularly before Steamboat but throughout. It was hard to see the trail in several locations, and I found myself off the route several times. Steamboat Creek is seasonal, always dry at this time of year. The trail route which I had defined and maintained from Steamboat down to the bottom was still OK in some places, but thick with debris on many, and I lost the route here and there. Having my earlier GPS track helped. I had previously edited the Open Street Map route to combine upper and lower Hell Hole Trail, but realized on this trip that was a mistake. Upper was once maintained, and though hard to follow due to lack of maintenance, it is still accessible to horses. Lower is steeper, narrower, not at all safe for horses, and though it was constructed in a few spots, there are sections that either were not or have disappeared. Though bears are largely responsible for keeping these trails open and visible, they don’t always stay on the ‘official’ trail, and their network of trails can be confusing.
From the bottom of the Hell Hole Trail, I headed west on a trail that traverses along the north side of the reservoir, to a trailhead on the jeep road. Neither end of the trail is signed. The trail was probably constructed when the reservoir drowned the historical trail closer to the Rubicon River, but two short sections were never finished. Greyhorse Creek does not have a bridge, and the crossing is not safe for horses, nor is it safe for anyone during high water. So far as I can tell, the trail was never assigned a trail number or official name.
Greyhorse Creek at trail crossing
With the reservoir way down, as it always is this time of year, I opted to hike across the bottom, much of which was a large meadow before being drowned, to Upper Hell Hole Campground. This developed campsite, with tables, grills, and port-a-potties, is mostly used by people boating in when the reservoir is up.
The next day I walked the ‘other’ Hell Hole Trail (14E02) to Hell Hole Dam. The trail has been logged out this year, though there were two down trees since the log-out, one of which is a mess to get through or bypass. But overall, good condition. There are a number of tipped-over trees with root balls intact (firs tend to snap off above the roots), mostly Jeffery pine but some others, all tipped down canyon. I wonder if there are major wind events blowing down canyon. With the same name, though different number, one might presume that the two Hell Hole Trails connected, but there is no constructed trail between the two. There are a variety of use trails, some fairly easy to follow, others not.
shelf fungus Laetiporus
I had already decided to move my next camp up the Rubicon River a ways, and my choice was solidified when a group of jeeps arrived in the campground. I would have guessed that the campground was inaccessible by vehicle, but true jeeps (as in old and the Jeep brand), modified with crawler gears and large tires, can go almost anywhere. I camped on a bluff above the pothole section of the Rubicon, where it drops through several waterfalls and eventually down to the reservoir floor. This is all underwater when the reservoir is up.
Rubicon River sculpting of granite
Next day, I made my way on use trails to the waterfall on Five Lakes Creek, then along a trail or route that I have partially maintained, and back to the bottom of the Hell Hole Trail. Though nothing like a constructed trail, the route can be followed, except closest to Hell Hole Trail, where I have not been able to find or define a trail through the logged area. This area was helicopter logged.
I headed back up the Hell Hole Trail, able to find it a bit more often for having walked it, and then the Five Lakes Trail, and camped at Big Spring Meadow. There were other campers there. Big Spring Meadow used to be a popular destination for both hikers and horse riders, but has been seldom used the last few years. In part due to the deteriorated trails. Next day, out at Five Lakes Trailhead, hitched a ride to River Ranch, and then again to Truckee, as the TART bus was nowhere to be found.
Note on gear
I have a pair of Altra waterproof mid-height boots. This is my last time every buying waterproof boots. They work fine if water never gets in the top, but once water does, from creek crossings or rain running down legs, they do not dry. My boots were still wet five days after the earlier rainstorms, despite often stopping to try to dry them out. As a result, my feet suffered, severely, rubbed raw in a number of places, painful to walk. Altra trail shoes are the only brand that fits my distorted feet, so I will buy them again, but never waterproof versions.
I have been hiking the last few years in convertible pants, with zip-off legs. I like them, but wanted to try again wearing Patagonia baggie shorts, as I used to do. Much more comfortable hiking. The unmaintained trails on which I spent about half of this trip are not the place to be wearing shorts. Debris kept flipping up and scratching my legs. So, love them baggies, but only for maintained trails.
Note on Hell Hole area trails
The GaiaGPS maps show a 4WD road from Greyhorse Creek to the east and around the Rubicon. This is fabricated. There never was not could be a road here. There is an old road that goes up to a mine prospect, but it is no longer usable. I asked GaiaGPS about this road, and they blamed it on Open Street Map (OSM). It is not and has never been in open street map. It is a relict from some earlier map. Several areas along the Rubicon River were logged, but it was helicopter logging, not road logging.
I have looked for two trails shown parallel to lower Hell Hole Trail, 15E17 and 15E18, but have not found them. I think they were entered by someone sitting at a desk, not from someone in the field.
Though GaiaGPS claims that they load from OSM, thereby correcting these errors, this is a lie. Apparently they add new data from OSM without removing old data. So fabrications and relicts remain, year after year after year. The Buckskin Trail, two branches off of Hell Hole Trail, are another example. Not in OSM in years, and not followable on the ground, yet it remains on GaiaGPS maps. GaiaGPS has always had some problems, but since it was acquired by Outside, it has really gone downhill. So to speak.
For the trails I have created in GaiaGPS, trails that are or were recently maintained are shown in red. Trails that may have been constructed, but have not been maintained in a long while and may be difficult to follow are orange. Use routes, never constructed, and of various ease of use and visibility, are yellow.
I have a thought that someday I’ll figure out all the trails and routes in the Hell Hole and Rubicon River area, and map them correctly. I’m probably fooling myself.
My sixth trip of the season was for trail work and trail survey.
Five Lakes Creek Trail
I completed trail work on the Five Lakes Creek Trail, from the creeklet crossing where I’d stopped last trip, to the Five Lakes Creek Trail & Big Spring Trail north junction, and then on the Big Springs Trail down to the crossing of Five Lakes Creek. There remain about 14 down trees, too big for me to cut, but I created either good climb-overs or bypasses, and in one case, a duck-under of a hanging tree. Also removed winter debris and brushed several sections, though there was less debris and brush on this second part. The trail on the west side of the crossing of Five Lakes Creek was brushed in with alder and willow, and I cleared that. At current creek levels, there is a rock-hop crossing, but at higher levels one must go upstream or downstream, which means fighting alder thickets. I was expecting the work to take two days, but it only took one, so I had a free day, and used it to re-survey the Western States Trail in Olympic Valley.
Western States Trail (Olympic Valley)
I realized after looking at my old trail track for the Western States Trail, that I had been off-route for much of my survey trip in early June. So I backpacked from Whiskey Creek where I’d camped north on the PCT, and then the Western States Trail to Watson Monument on the ridge above Olympic Valley. From that point, the trail goes south a short distance along the ridge, and then down a trail across the ski area. None of these upper trails are signed, including where it uses a short distance of road. The trail stays as high along the north-facing slope of the valley as is possible. I have no idea where the original, historic Western States trail went, if it was even in the Olympic Valley at all, but the existing designated trail is quite nice, and avoids as much of the ski area infrastructure as it can. Before Alterra bought ‘Squaw’, the old Ski Corp groomed slopes with bulldozers and dynamite, built roads wherever a bulldozer could, and maximized disturbance of the natural environment. It was a terrible company. Alterra is not perfect, but it is far better.
Where the trail crosses ski area roads, of which there are an abundance, it is usually not signed at all. There are signs, here and there, but not at every crossing or junction, and they are often not obvious, sometimes small signs high up in trees, or very old wood signs. Every time you get to a trail junction or road crossing, it is worth pausing and orienting, or you will likely end up on the wrong route.
The most confusing location, for me, was where the correct trail stays high under a cliff, and does not descend on the more used and obvious trails. On my GaiaGPS maps, I’ve marked this waypoint as ‘Jct WS stay high’. A side trail, from the marked junction ‘Jct WS access’ is signed as Western States Trail, but it is not.
When I got above Palisades Tahoe village, I broke off the trail and descended to the village, for Friday music and some rest. I was tired! The remained of the trail east to the trailhead on Hwy 89 is correct and not very confusing. And better maintained.
So, is this trail worth the challenge of following? Absolutely. The north-facing slope of the valley is sometimes bare rock or scree slopes, but it is also host to beautiful flower fields and clusters of trees. There are whole fields of brilliant pink rock fringe (Epilobium obcordatum, Onagraceae), which are fairly rare in this part of the Sierra crest. Gentian, probably explorer’s gentian (Gentiana calycosa, Gentianaceae), with its bright blue flowers is common, and again rare in this part of the crest.
There is only one water source along this entire trail, at this time of year, a spring that may or may not be year-round. When I passed it, a dog was luxuriating in the cool shallow water, so I passed it up as a water source. Earlier in the year, there are many creeklets that cross the trail.
GaiaGPS and Open Street Map
Part way through my effort to make sure I had an accurate route for the Western States Trail through Olympic Valley, I realized why I was having a hard time. GaiaGPS has mis-labeled other trails as the Western States Trail, though they are not.
Which led to a closer look at GaiaGPS. The company, now owned by Outside, claims that they update from Open Street Map (OSM) on a regular basis, and if there are errors that have been corrected in OSM, they will be corrected in GaiaGPS. This is false. There are trails in GaiaGPS that have not been in OSM in years, if ever. I’m sure some of the trails are remnants from Forest Service maps, which include mistakes 20 or more years old. It may be that new information is added, but old, incorrect information is not deleted. Though I selected GaiaGPS over a number of other field mapping apps, years ago now, I’m becoming increasingly unhappy with it. Since it was bought by Outside, it has noticeable deteriorated.
I’m at work correctly labeling the Western States Trail (Olympic Valley) in OSM, but it is going slowly because I have a lot to learn about OSM and how to make edits. When I get the segments right, I’ll combine them into what is called a ‘relation’, for the whole trail from the trailhead on Hwy 89 to the junction with the Pacific Crest Trail.
My fifth trip of the season was primarily for trail work. As I do when I can, I attended Palisades Tahoe Bluesday on Tuesday evening, camped out on the Granite Chief Trail, and next morning headed up the trail, south on the PCT, and into the wilderness. I’ve been walking a lot on the PCT, and have ignored the needed trail maintenance. I realized that I don’t consider it my responsibility any more. There are plenty of other trails that no one else would work, and the PCT should really be maintained by people who have done the PCT, to give back to the trail that provided them their experience. The wave of PCT thru hikers has passed, but a few are still struggling northward.
Wooley Mules Ears are starting to yellow- and brown-out for the fall, while the less common Arrowleaf Balsamroot turns a brighter yellow. Here and there are touches of fall color.
I checked out the route to Little Needle Lake and basin. This trail was partly maintained and heavily used by the CCC trail crew last summer, so is now easy to follow. The junction with PCT is just south of the Middle Fork Trail junction, and is not obvious. It is not an official trail, so probably won’t ever have a trail sign. Passing the Whiskey Creek meadow, a blond and brown black bear was tearing up a dead log, apparently finding morsels to eat, but ran off when it noticed me. I’ve seen quite a number of grouse, and some quail, in addition to the ubiquitous juncos.
I camped at Whiskey Creek camp. Two other backpackers were in, using my favorite camp site. I talked a while with them, and noted that this area used to get a lot more use. I would almost always see families camped there on weekends, and others during the week. No more.
I spent the next two days working on the Five Lakes Creek Trail, south from Whiskey Creek. I brushed, removed winter debris, defined bypasses or climb-overs of large down trees, and cut a few smaller down trees and leaners. I did 1.4km, to the creeklet crossing, about 2/3 of the way to the Big Spring trail junction. My objective was to the junction, but the work was slow, particularly working snowberry which has to be taken out by the roots to keep it from bushing out the next year and blocking the trail, and gooseberry with its sharp prickles on stems and seeds. Whitethorn is past its gentle early summer phase and extract blood. The photo below is approaching the creeklet crossing. Doesn’t look like much, but it was an impenetrable thicket of alder and yearly growth before.
cleared Five Lakes Creek Trail creeklet crossing
A dirt bike has been ridden on the Five Lakes Creek Trail, damaging the trail tread and scarring some meadow areas. I don’t know who this is, it has happened at times I’m not in the wilderness. It may have even been a Forest Service person, as there are rogue employees who do this sort of thing. I was a wilderness ranger for years, and this deeply offends me. If I ever catch them, there will be hell to pay. The linear tracks of a dirt bike become conduits for water erosion during thunderstorms and snow melt.
I camped at ‘Squaw’ Saddle above the ‘Squaw’ Saddle Trail, overlooking Olympic Valley so I had cell phone reception to prepare for a Saturday Zoom meeting. I decided to go out through Olympic Valley to avoid walking Alpine Meadows Road from the Five Lakes Trailhead to the bus stop at River Ranch. In the morning, I followed the old ‘Squaw’ Saddle Trail down the hill. It is steep and severely eroded most of the way down to the Western States (Olympic Valley) Trail, but that trail is in good condition. I realized that on my 2025-07-01 trip, I veered off the Western States Trail, missed a trail junction, so my description of the upper part of that trail is in error. Once on the trail, I began to remember having walked this section years before. It is still not signed, but is clearly the correct trail. My route on GaiaGPS is correct, more or less. Ironically, the one Western States Trail sign provided by the ski area is incorrect, it is NOT on the WS Trail, but on an access trail to the WS. Shown below.
I have surveyed all the significant trails of the wilderness this season, except Hell Hole Trail and the related complex of paths at the bottom of the Hell Hole Trail, along Five Lakes Creek and the Rubicon River. This survey awaits a stretch of cooler weather. It was uncomfortably warm along the Five Lakes Creek Trail, 600 meters higher than Hell Hole.
Granite Chief Wilderness 