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Our Backyard – Carson Pass
The Lady was adamant, “I really, really want to do the long hike on Saturday and I really want you to come too.” The previous weekend we completed major chores here at home including pressure washing the deck and resealing all the redwood uprights and railing and I knew that was about all the “home time” the Lady could tolerate. On top of that, our friend, Ted the Mountaineer, had invited us on this hike at Carson Pass.
I wanted to do it too, but it’s kind of fun to watch the Lady work for it with her infectious enthusiasm.
We arrived at Carson Pass – an easy one hour drive from home – at 0700 hours and met Ted at the parking area.
Ted spent the night up here after a day of working as a Mokelumne Wilderness Volunteer.
Please allow me a quick introduction. Ted the Mountaineer is very much like Julie with an incessant need to keep busy. He is an accomplished mountaineer and guide. He’s summited Denali, the Eiger, the Matterhorn – just off the top of my head. He’s worked as an international mountain guide. He’s been to Everest Base Camp, the Alps - in fact he is recently home from a spring skiing trip to the Italian Alps. In the past I’ve documented other adventures Ted has invited us on –
Yosemite’s Glacier Point – March 2011
Mammoth – Tour of the Couloirs – April 2013
The bottom line is Ted is a wonderful person and a friend. He had us laughing when he told us the group he met in Italy referred to him as "The Old Man." Julie and I think of Ted as a youngster.
We had a long day ahead for us that necessitated an early start. Ted had invited us on a 17-mile loop (with 3600 feet vertical) around Round Top Peak. But, we were not just going on a hike, we’d be doing trail work along the way.
Carson Pass over the Sierra crest is named for the mountain man Kit Carson who crossed here with John Fremont in February 1844.
As the monument states, the original tree inscription is now on display at Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. Most historians agree Carson inscribed the tree on a later crossing herding sheep into California hoping to sell at a large profit during the Gold Rush. Easy evidence of this is the inscription was close to the ground, ground most likely deeply covered with snow in February.
The area here is part of the Carson Pass Management Area
with several necessary requirements to help reduce impacts in this heavily used area.
We quickly got our boots on and were ready to go. The Mokelumne Wilderness boundary is quickly reached heading south on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Note: these are my photos used by permission on Sierra Wild's webpage for the Mokelumne.
As we exited the trees an expansive view of Round Top and The Sisters opened up before us.
We made a left at Frog Lake and continued south on the PCT below the east face of Elephants Back, crossing steep snowfields. “No fall zones,” as Ted reminded all of us. We also took time to kick in good steps close together across the slope for others to use.
This is PCT through hiker season at Carson Pass and we soon met north bound hikers.
Our fun continued.
The PCT drops into a bowl below Forestdale Divide before
climbing up to the pass separating the Great Basin from the Pacific (Mokelumne
River) drainage. There is nothing like the wonderful scent of Mule Ears in the springtime.
At Forestdale Divide we turned off of the PCT and onto the little used Summit City Trail and began the long drop into Summit City Canyon.
The canyon is named for a mining camp – Summit City - that began in the 1860’s. I found this detailed history of Summit City on a website – Summit City History - and would love a copy of the book mentioned.
Ted has taken on this trail as a project and this is where the majority of our trail work took place – cutting out brush and shovel work to drain water off the trail. Ted worked on the trail last season and this was his first look at it this year.
During the day we also, with a handsaw, cut out 4 trees and rolled one large down tree off the trail. We took a break along Summit City Creek at the low point of our route at 7400 feet. From there we started up the grade to the little basin that holds Fourth of July Lake (in the upper left in the second photo below).
This was a hot day in the high country. We were blessed with an upcanyon breeze that made this climb bearable, otherwise it would have been brutal in the heat.
Here is a view back to the east up Summit City Canyon. Forestdale Divide is just to the left of the small peak in the center of the photo. And that small peak is where the Lady likes to scrabble up from Lost Lakes with our morning coffee. I was surprised to see the high number of Red Fir dead and dying in this canyon.
The trail up to Fourth of July Lake is steep with switchbacks and sections with rock steps.
Last year, on a hike Julie was along on, Ted found this sign in pieces scattered on the ground. He returned with supplies and tools and assembled it back together, so he was very pleased to find it still standing in good shape after winter.
Break time at Fourth of July Lake.
It hit me that, although I’ve skied to this lake many times, this was only my second time here hiking.
Again, we were thankful for the breeze as we tackled the climb up to our highpoint of the day (9400 feet) at the ridge top west of The Sisters.
It is the glorious start of spring up here. Drummond's anemone (Anemone drummondii)
Time for another break at the top and send out “current location” on our InReach devices.
A view west along the ridge. West Pass, the highest point (9500 feet) on the California Overland Trail is just out of sight to the right.
The route back to Carson Pass goes by Round Top Lake. Round Top Peak is to the far left.
Then it is up and over a small pass and down to Winnemucca Lake.
The trail passes directly below the north face of Round Top Peak and its snowfields we’ve enjoyed skiing for decades.
We took a last break at Winnemucca Lake before heading down to Carson Pass.
A glance back.
We passed Frog Lake where we stayed left on the PCT at the beginning of our hike.
The last section back to Carson Pass.
We arrived back at our vehicles at 1800 hrs. That made it 11 hours of hiking and trailwork, a very good day. Especially sharing it with our buddy Ted. Ted, thanks for invite!
And yes, we are blessed to live in such a spectacular place with this in our backyard.
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