Tag Archives: Rubicon River

Granite Chief 2025-08-26 Hell Hole

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.

photo of Greyhorse Creek at trail crossing — *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.

photo of shelf fungus Laetiporus — *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.

photo of Rubicon River sculpting of granite — *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.

Photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72177720328848766
Granite Chief collection on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/collections/72157637640215275/

Hell Hole and Barker Creek 2020-10

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My late October to early November trip into the Granite Chief included the Shanks Cove and Greyhorse trails, which I’d not been on this year, the Hell Hole trail and explorations around there, and a off-trail hike up the Rubicon River and then out Barker Creek to Barker Pass.

On my trip up to the area, I slept out near Truckee, and it was very, very cold, well below freezing, so I guess I can call summer over. After tea and breakfast to warm up, I headed into the wilderness at Alpine Meadows TH, thence to Whiskey Creek Camp. I explored around Five Lakes lake, the largest one, which is the only one with significant water late in the year, which I’d not done in years. I generally avoid this most popular destination for day hikers, but it was early and on a weekday, so I figured correctly there would be few people. It is a beautiful lake, the only really alpine looking lake in the Granite Chief.

From Whiskey Creek Camp I followed the Western States (Picayune Valley) trail to the junction with Shanks Cove trail, and thence up to the ridge where I camped for the night. It was much warmer up there than it had been in Truckee, though I was 650 meters higher, since cold air drains away from the ridges and towards the valleys. In the morning I walked out the Greyhorse trail to the trailhead, which is no longer marked by anything, then back to the ridge and down Shanks Cove trail to the Five Lakes Creek trail. The Shanks Cove and Greyhorse trails have not been maintained in a long while, and there are many trees down, most easy to bypass but a few not. The winter debris (which this year came mostly from high winds in the fall) is thick in many places. And brush is encroaching on the trail in many spots. On the plus side, there were small flows of water in some of the little creeks that I was sure would be dry in this dry year.

I camped near Diamond Crossing and spent time just watching the creek and seeking out the brightest fall color trees. Then down the Hell Hole trail. The two forks of Buckskin Creek were flowing a little, but Steamboat Creek was completely dry. I explored downstream, where I have found water in the past, and did not find any, but I didn’t check upstream. Steamboat is always one of the earliest creeks to dry. Down the the bottom, where there is a vague junction with the trail coming from the 4WD road at Greyhorse Creek, with the route up canyon parallel to Five Lakes Creek. I have found and maintained about half this trail, but the other half is still uncertain, just wandering through forests and finding vague traces of trail here and there.

I continued my exploration of trails and routes in the Hell Hole and Rubicon River area, trying to make sense of how they fit together. I made some progress. I walked out the official 14E02 Hell Hole Trail to the dam and across. It is not marked in any way at the trailhead, but if going in that way, one would park at the boat trailer parking lot, walk down the steps, across the dam, and to the beginning of the trail on the south side. The dam is not open to vehicles but there is a hiker gate. This trail is not much used, but is surprisingly pleasant given how close it is to the reservoir, and is decently maintained. At a point just above the Upper Hell Hole Campground, which gets very heavy use by boat-in campers when the reservoir is up and the weather nice, a connector trail goes down through the old upper campground and to the east end of the lower campground. Continuing on the main trail, it gets harder and harder to follow, but traces of it exist and seem to lead to the Rubicon River just where it narrows in its first canyon. From the eastern-most campsite, a route marked with rock ducks heads along the ridge, then down to a crossing of the Rubicon at what I call huckleberry camp (there are more red huckleberry bushes in this area than one would expect at this elevation), then back up onto the ridge between the Rubicon and Five Lakes Creek, connecting with the route from Five Lakes Creek end of the Hell Hole trail and the route that goes down to the Rubicon at the same canyon point as the possible trail. With a better understanding of how the trails and route fit together, I have updated my tracks on GaiaGPS.

I then spent half a day trying to figure out where the McKinstry trail goes, but at this I failed completely. There are little fragments of trail along the Rubicon River, but they don’t seem to connect. I know that when I walked the McKinstry trail years ago, it was not that hard to follow though not maintained, but now I can’t even seem to find the place where it climbs up out of the Rubicon Canyon. So, that remains for another trip, and I still don’t know what the condition of the McKinstry trail is.

Leaving the trail finding project behind, I ventured out on a no-trail trip up the Rubicon River and then Barker Creek. The river canyon was dark and cold, probably never getting direct sunlight at this time of year, so I decided against continuing up canyon, which is beautiful, and only possible in low fall water. Instead I headed up Barker Creek, which is incredibly beautiful. There are here and there traces of a route marked by rock ducks, but it pretty much is just walking up the bottom of the canyon, walking around pools and jumping the small creek. The canyon eventually gets too rough to follow and I climbed out alongside the canyon to the more gentle terrain above. From there cross-country, and along some of the OHV trails (fortunately empty on this day), and then the PCT/TRT up to Barker Pass. And then down to Blackwood campground for the night, and out to catch the TART bus in the morning to Tahoe City.

I bought some gloves from Alpenglow, which I had most unfortunately forgotten on this trip, and have only some heavy waterproof gloves at home, and spent the rest of the day just enjoying Tahoe City. The following morning to Truckee, and caught the Amtrak California Zephyr home to Sacramento.

This will be my last long backpack trip (nine days) and my last mountain backpack trip of the year, but I’ll continue shorter backpack trips in the Sierra foothills and the bay area throughout the winter and spring, until next summer backpack season in the Granite Chief.

Photos on Flick: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/albums/72157716780807318; Granite Chief collection on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisondan/collections/72157637640215275/.

Rubicon & Desolation 2014-08

Down in the Rubicon 2010-07

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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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Hell Hole & Bear Pen 2008-08-08

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Rubicon watershed

I had an interesting trip through the Granite Chief and surrounding areas last week, starting at Barker Pass and coming back to it after some wild times through the Rubicon River drainage, Hell Hole Trail, and Bear Pen.

I started at Barker Pass, walked south along the PCT/TRT to Miller Creek, and then headed west on the Rubicon “trail” which is an OHV trail. I’d heard about this trail for years, but had avoided it, and certainly never driven it since I have only a passenger car. I actually enjoyed the people I talked to along the way. Hiking up out of the Rubicon River, the OHV trail gets worse and worse, but the traffic seems to stay low and the people friendly and responsible. From Buck Island Lake north, closer to “civilization,” however, the people get worse and worse. More trash, more blaring music, more frowns, more toilet paper everywhere, more transmission fluid on the ground, fewer Jeeps and more breakdowns. I was glad to leave the OHV trail and head north along a logging road. Of course on that road there where whining crotch rockets, zooming up and down, for entertainment value. It is interesting to see when things cross over from people who use their vehicles, of whatever sort, to access nature, and when they use them simply for entertainment and could care less about nature.