Tag Archives: ‘Squaw’ Saddle Trail

Granite Chief 2025-08-05 trail work

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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.

photo of cleared Five Lakes Creek Trail creeklet crossing
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.

photo of Western States Trail sign at the WRONG location
Western States Trail sign at the WRONG location

Granite Chief 2025-06

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My first Sierra backpack of the season! Rode to Truckee on the California Zephyr, and then Olympic Valley on the TART 89 bus. I enjoyed Palisades Tahoe Bluesday, then hit the trail to sleep out. Went up the Granite Chief Trail, which is largely in good condition. I took a side trip north on the PCT to North Fork American River, and then a short way down the Painted Rock Trail. A reader had asked me about that trail, so I wanted to at least know if it was still there and findable. It is, though hard to follow and not used so far this year. I’ve not used that trail in many years, but the challenge was the wet areas with alder and willow thickets where is was hard to follow the trail.

Then headed south on the PCT, I was intending to traverse north to south as a survey trip. But my attention was grabbed by the Tevis Cup Trail reroute, which I’d written about last year in Granite Chief 2024-08 trail survey. There is no evidence of trail crews there this year, and information on Western States Endurance Run indicate that funding was canceled or held as part of the Trump destruction of the Forest Service. I walked the east end, which is more or less as it was last year, though one blast area has been reconstructed. The middle part is a bit more polished than last year, and extends a little further west though a meadow. I had been told last year that the flagging extended all the way west, but I was not able to follow it past a alder and willow riparian area, so it may or may not exist. I gradually descended through open forest and small meadows to rejoin the existing trail near the switchbacks (the nearly-flat switchbacks). I headed out to the trailhead at Forest Hill Divide (as I call it, it doesn’t seem to have an official name) where the Tevis Cup Trail continues west along the ridge, heading eventually to Auburn.

photo of Tevis Cup Trail and flowers
Tevis Cup Trail and flowers

Walked down the Talbot Creek Trail, which was constructed a few years ago, some following an old logging road and some newly constructed. It has a nearly-flat switchback section as well, probably the same designer. The trail is not much used. The southern end trailhead is not marked by any signage, nor is the junction of Forest Road 51 with French Meadows Road, which leads to the trailhead.

After a rest at Talbot Campground, I headed back into the wilderness on the Western States Trail, my favorite trail and location in the wilderness. There are a lot of trees down, joining those already down from previous years. And a lot of winter debris, heavy in some areas. Crossing Middle Fork American River is close to a rock-hop, but still wet. I used a log downstream. The wet areas beyond, particularly in the aspen grove areas, have dense growth that obscures the tread, though your feet can find it, and branches hidden away to trip you. Other than an area on the switchbacks to the saddle, and descending to Whiskey Creek, brush is not bad.

photo of Sierra stonecrop
Sierra stonecrop

I passed a group of eight backpackers headed along the Western States trip from Whiskey Creek, which is about as many as I usually see in a year. The crossing of Whiskey Creek has another tree down, blocking the rock-hop, but the large tree that has been down for several years makes a good crossing. Whiskey Creek Trail has a few rotted down trees, and one new small, otherwise in good condition. I camped north of the ‘Squaw’ Saddle Trail, at the divide between Five Lakes and Olympic Valley. With runners in the area for three events, including the Western States Endurance Run the next day, there were runners all over the place. Most place names have been changed away from ‘squaw’ but I don’t know if the trail name has been. This trail descended into Olympic Valley, and is the original trail route before the Five Lakes Trail was constructed.

Walked out the Five Lakes Trail, which is in good condition, caught the bus to Tahoe City, grabbed some items at Alpenglow Sports, best in the area, then back to Truckee on the TART bus, to Word After Word for a book, to Dark Horse Coffee in Truckee for tea, reading and writing, and then the Amtrak bus home to Sacramento. Whew!

Though plans are never certain, and I often change my mind, I think my next two trips are going to be for trail maintenance on the Western States Trail. Survey trips on the other trails will have to wait. It was hot enough at Talbot Campground/Trailhead, 1722m, that I think my trip on the Hell Hole Trail to the end at 1439m will get delayed until September, though I’m always looking for cooler stretches of weather.