A cross-posting from my personal blog, on my recent walk on the Western States Trail from Squaw Valley to Auburn, which of course included about 20 miles in the Granite Chief Wilderness.
My next trip is in the Mokelumne Wilderness (not posted), where I’ve not been in five years, and then back to the Granite Chief.
I did my first trip through the wilderness June 24-27. How much difference a year makes! Last year, a month later, I was crossing regular patches of snow on the trail, and sometimes walking on snow for long distances, but this year I only crossed a couple of patches. Last year the creeks were so high that they were difficult or impossible to cross, this year all were easily crossed.
I went in at Granite Chief Trail, and did an afternoon’s work brushing the trail, and then much of the next day. I’ve completed the portion to about half way up where the trail crosses a creek near a mules ears meadow. Probably another day’s work yet to do to finish it off to the top. Huckleberry oak, white thorn, and pine mat manzanita have died back in a number of places along the trail. Is it from too much snow last year, or too little this year, or some other reason? I camped out on a granite ledge that hangs over Squaw Creek canyon, but slept very little with the wind howling all night.
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Tiger Lily along Five Lakes Creek
I thought that I’d wrapped everything up this morning, and then this afternoon I was going through photos of other trips to upload them, and discovered set of photos I’d not labeled or uploaded. They were named TRT, but it was actually a much bigger trip, from Donner Summit to Spooner Summit. Once I found the photos, I also found the section of my journal, where I’d taken fairly detailed notes on the trip.
For the Granite Chief Wilderness portion, I came in on the north side from the PCT, went to Whiskey Creek Camp, walked out to the head of Picayune Valley but didn’t go down, explored Five Lakes, went down Five Lakes Creek to Diamond Crossing, and then out Powderhorn Canyon to Barker Pass. I backtracked to Twin Peaks and went out Stanford Rock Trail to Tahoe.
So THIS was my first trip of 2011 into the Granite Chief. Or maybe there are more yet to discover!
view into Bear Pen from PCT
My first trip into the Granite Chief was in 2006, but the adventure started several years earlier when I was walking the Tahoe Rim Trail. There is a little overlook just off the trail as the TRT climbs out of North Fork Blackwood Canyon, south of Twin Peaks, where there is a view north down a valley. I was intrigued, and started looking at maps to see where this might be and how I could get there. This canyon is Bear Pen, with the Five Lakes Creek and Whiskey Creek basins beyond. Continue reading
Drummond’s Anemone, near Little Needle Peak
I had a great six day trip through the Granite Chief Wilderness, plus some additional country to the north. I went in at Alpine Meadows Trailhead, and out at Squaw Valley Trailhead, with at least 67 miles in between.
Since some people read this blog for trail conditions: Five Lakes Creek cannot be crossed anywhere downstream of the PCT trail crossing, except on logs. The Middle Fork of the American River cannot be crossed at the Picayune Valley trail crossing, but can on a log downstream. The Five Lakes Creek Trail is mostly clear of snow. Upper Grayhorse Trail, upper Picayune Valley Trail, and upper Granite Chief Trail are largely under snow, but the trails can be followed with attention.
Had another wonderful five day backpack in the Granite Chief last week. A lot of the trip was just re-visiting places I’d been before, some of them not in several years though.
As a new trip I went to Little Needle Lake which I’d heard other people mention but not been to. It is a shallow, alder and willow bordered lake in the volcanic rock below Little Needle Peak. It is a pretty setting, with soggy wet meadows surrounding the lake and a spectacular cliff above. The route is is a vague trail, and there are some seldom used campsites at the lake. To avoid the thick mosquitos at the lake, I camped to the north on a granite bench, where there were some really cool trees and a great view of the end of the day down the Middle Fork American River canyon. The next day I headed up onto the ridge and south, following the divide between Picayune Valley and Five Lake Creek, eventually reconnecting to the Picayune Valley trail a little east of where it climbs out of Picayune Valley. The ridge does not have a trail, but the going was pretty easy, with great views and a different perspective than I’ve gotten elsewhere.
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Powderhorn Canyon from the mesa edge
I had a wonderful five day trip, one of my non-driving trips on which I took the Amtrak to and from Truckee. I walked from Truckee up to and along the Donner Lake Rim Trail, then headed south on the PCT past Donner Pass, Mt. Anderson, the North Fork of the American River (which becomes the Royal Gorge downstream), and into the Granite Chief.
I did some brushing work on the PCT, particularly the section between Five Lakes Creek and Twin Peaks that was completely brushed in four years ago and got me into doing maintenance on the PCT. So the trail is now reasonably clear again, though it needs brushing every year.
Middle Fork of the American River at Picayune Trail crossing
I finally got back into the Granite Chief Wilderness this last week, doing a four day trip out from the Barker Pass Trailhead. The remarkable thing is how much snow there still is in the dense forests and north facing slopes. I spent a lot of time kicking steps in grungy snow, varying from sloppy to rock hard, and got tired of it!
I headed north from Barker Pass to the saddle at Granite Chief Peak, the northern boundary of the wilderness, doing a trail condition survey. There are some trees down here and there, but nothing that can’t be gone over or around. There is light to moderate winter debris. In several places the trail cannot be followed across the snow, though the general trend is clear and it isn’t that hard to pick it up again if you are paying close attention.
Ed Hopkins of Baltimore provided me a link to photos of a five day trip in September. The photos have captions that tell much of the story of his trip. He camped two nights at Little Needle Lake, which I’ve not been to yet, and explored that northern area. Thanks, Ed, for sharing.
fireweed in fall color
I finally got back into the Granite Chief this week for three days, going in at Powderhorn Trailhead which is just west of Barker Pass. Fall colors are coming, but the aspen trees which are often the brightest are just starting, and the vine maple seems subdued this year, as likely to be pale white or pale yellow as bright yellow. I don’t think there have been any freezes since August, and though the calendar says fall, the days were still summer, quite warm. And the mornings refreshingly cool. I did quite a bit of exploring, checking out Little Powderhorn and Laddie’s Cove, the lower end of the Five Lakes Creek gorge, and the mesa between Powderhorn and Little Powderhorn canyons.
Granite Chief Wilderness 