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!

• Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72177720329850165
• Granite Chief collection on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/collections/72157637640215275/