Hoover Wilderness - August 2019

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The Final Chapter of Our Big Summer Adventure

High Places

It was Thursday before Labor Day Weekend and we expected the celebrated eastern Sierra Nevada would start getting busy. We wanted to spend two more nights out before returning home on Saturday. We had no set plans, just possibilities. After driving over Tioga Pass, we drove up the Saddlebag Lake road. The campground at Saddlebag had several empty sites and it is situated right at the trailhead for the Hoover Wilderness. Staying in the campground allowed us to leave the camper set up and hike from camp although we were apprehensive about how the neighborhood might change as we neared the holiday weekend.

The weather was excellent so after settling into our chosen campsite we hiked north along the west side of Saddlebag Reservoir. It was 2:30 in the afternoon.

Past the reservoir, we did the small climb up to and around Greenstone Lake.

Gentian are one of the Lady's favorite wildflowers.

Greenstone Lake sits below North Peak and is on the creek that drains down from the Conness Lakes and the Conness Glacier.

We circled Greenstone Lake and headed to the east side of Saddlebag to return to camp.

We stopped at the old ranger cabin. It has been many years since it has been used.

Our hike was about 5.5 miles so we returned with ample time to relax with dinner and the walk in the evening to watch the changing light. Here is Saddlebag to the north and Mount Dana to the south.

There was a hike we've wanted to do and this was the reason for our return.

We again took the trail along the west side of the reservoir. We stopped on the Southern California Edison dam and took in the view of the Sierra crest in the morning light.

The peak in the center is known as False White.

False White is a popular backcountry ski peak. Here is a photo of ski tracks on False White in May 2016.

There was no reason to hurry through this exquisite landscape.

The highpoints were Mount Conness (12,590).............................

.................and North Peak (12,242).

We continued hiking north toward Steelhead Lake.

And then we started up.

We reached Mill Lake in its wonderful granite basin shared with Cascade Lake.

The granite and glacial striations cut into the granite as the glacier sculpted this landscape are so much fun to see.

As we hiked around North Peak, it was impossible to pull our eyes away from its incredible beauty.

Many years ago we were told of an off trail route over the Sierra crest and into Yosemite's high country. It was also covered in an old North Sierra hiking guidebook, now long out of print. Our goal was to find this route, climb to the crest, and look down into Yosemite. It would be great fun to get up close and personal with this spectacular terrain.

We started up above Cascade Lake and, as I suspected, soon found a use trail.

The views back the way we came were great.

We soon reached the long bench at the base of the cliffs that line the ridge. A tarn sits at the lower north end. The use trail ended.

The off trail route we were curious about climbs the scree slope on the opposite side of the tarn, then climbs a ramp through the cliffs. reaches the top, and then descends a steep slope down to Upper McCabe Lake in Yosemite. We decided to climb the broad ramp we were on and top out on the ridge at the base of North Peak.

We still could not keep our eyes away from North Peak and its small glacier below its north face.

We continued up until we reached our goal, the top of the ridge.

As always, the Lady claimed the high ground.

Upper McCabe Lake was directly below.

The ridge stretched out to the north.

The views were everything we could have hoped for.

We climbed down to explore and see other places on the ridge.

We keep being drawn to high places like this where we feel at home and are honored to be able to visit.

The wind blew hard over the ridge and it was cold but we wanted to stay as long as possible and try not to miss anything.

We took a more direct route down to Cascade Lake.

Lower down we intersected with the use trail.

We took a long break at Mill Lake.

A gust of wind picked up the Lady's glove and deposited it on the lake. The Lady pulled off her boots and quickly snagged the glove before it sank.

She's had that pair of fleece gloves for over a dozen years. They use to be mine before she snagged them in a different manner.

It was mid afternoon when we returned to the main trail and headed back toward camp.

It was Friday of Labor Day Weekend. It shouldn't have been a surprise, the number of backpackers we met coming in, but it was. We chatted with the families with small kids and wished them a good trip.

The campground filled Thursday evening and a small barricade was placed at the entrance stating, "Campground Full." The sign did nothing to stop the line of vehicles driving through the campground Friday night hoping the sign was wrong. Headlights flashed across our windows. It was time for us to return home. The drive Saturday morning was easy and uneventful.

There you have it. This was our big summer adventure. We left home on July 31st and returned on August 31st. We logged in around 3400 miles and averaged - old fashion math - 17.1 mpg. We visited family and friends, fly fished for trout, dipped in hot spring water, and hiked amazing high places. We had a great time.