I think Gem and Jewelry lakes would also have made good campsites. Thinking about going early October. I had time for one last weekend trip to the Sierra before winter. What was your experience? But it’s much less crowded than its neighbor to the South, offering more solitude for backpacking. At Huckleberry Lake, I left the main trail and headed up towards Letora Lake. Granite Dome to Ridge Lake and Iceland Lake is a 24.6 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Pinecrest, California that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. It was still near freezing when I started my backpacking trip. I also hiked to Deer Lake in one day but that was 20 years ago and I was super weary when I got there. Most of the 11 miles were downhill. A decision by the Stanislaus National Forest to compromise and leave some dams to naturally deteriorate while allowing maintenance of others was overturned in court in 2006, reigniting some of the controversy. Some of the extra weight could be offset by not bringing a tent as there wouldn’t be any mosquitoes this late, and there was no rain forecast either. This trail goes by Camp Lake and Crabtree Camp. It is an elongated area that extends northeast about 25 miles (40 km) in length and up to 15 miles (24 km) in width. ... Ridge, Sardella, Lewis. Over the 4th of July weekend, my friend Blair invited me out on a girls’ only trip out to Granite Lake in Emigrant Wilderness. This area is entirely within Tuolumne County, California and is approximately 140 miles (230 km) east of San Francisco, California and 50 miles (80 km) south of Lake Tahoe. Hope you did well. The evening was chilly, but I stayed warm by my campfire. Even so, I wanted to push a bit further so I could walk back to my car the following day. The trail is primarily used for hiking and is best used from May until September. Wearing both a fleece and gloves, I started climbing. The last miles of the trail passed through an old burn area. Locale: San Francisco. The descent to Huckleberry Lake was painful. The fly dropped outside the cliff and sank. Tom McElroy-Wild Survival Recommended for you The lake is nearly 2 miles long with good camping on either end. Only later did I remember that I had hit the outside of my foot against a sharp rock. You didn’t report much on your fishing adventures. To the south you can see far into the distance, across Emigrant Wilderness and towards the peaks in Yosemite, Long Lake with its little islands is prominent in the valley below. I stopped at Camp Lake to fill up on water and layer down. The Emigrant Wilderness of Stanislaus National Forest is a wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada.It is bordered by Yosemite National Park on the south, the Toiyabe National Forest and the Hoover Wilderness on the east, and State Route 108 over Sonora Pass on the north. Nice Pics Paul! Instead, I headed South, toward Huckleberry Lake, passing Blackbird and Maxwell Lakes. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and bird watching and is best used from April until September. At this point, it had been over two full days since I’d seen another person, and over a day since I’d even seen a footprint. There’s nothing like a relaxing weekend in the Sierra backcountry. The trail consisted of loose rocks ranging from the size of a grape to a football. The trout leaped into the air several times before accepting its fate. I picked up my Emigrant Wilderness permit at the Summit Ranger Station right after it opened at 8:30 am. Thanks for sharing. The Emigrant is most easily accessible from Hwy 108, with many visitors entering from near Pinecrest Lake or Kennedy Meadows. The northeastern third of the Wilderness is dominated by volcanic ridges and peaks; the remaining areas consist of many sparsely vegetated, granitic ridges interspersed with numerous lakes and meadows. The most recent groups were the Sierra Miwok of the western slope and Piute of the Great Basin. Wilderness Permits. They were uniformly lovely. Rainbow and Brook trout are found in almost all lakes and streams in the area. Trailhead: Start by heading up to Dodge Ridge Ski Area on Highway 108, and turn right towards the cross country ski trails/experimental forest (just before reaching the lift area). When I got to the West side of the lake, I was disappointed to notice that it was a shallow, swampy lake. Even so, the trail had well-constructed steps that ascended the granite. This is a difficult out and back trail to Bear Lake in Emigrant Wilderness. Daytime temperatures were in the low 60s and nighttime lows int the 20s. Since there are no trailhead quotas limiting the number of people who may enter each trailhead in the Emigrant Wilderness (except Kibbie Ridge/Lake), you do not need to reserve your permit ahead of time unless you are picking it up after hours. Deer Lake has great rainbow fishing. I also planned to do some off-trail exploration in the high country. To the south you can see far into the distance, across Emigrant Wilderness and towards the peaks in Yosemite, Long Lake with its little islands is prominent in the valley below. Towering granite peaks surrounded Upper Buck Lake. From the south, the wilderness is accessible from Cherry Lake, along the border with Yosemite National Park. It was the first weekend in November last year, ← How to plan an ultralight backpacking trip, San Francisco Bay Area overnight bikepacking trip →. In September–October 1852, the Clark-Skidmore party became the first emigrant group to travel the West Walker route over Emigrant Pass, continuing through a portion of the present-day Emigrant Wilderness. Ridge Lake can be reached either by continuing west after the first saddle in the route to Lewis Lake. Emigrant Wilderness is in Stanislaus National Forest, North of Yosemite. It is an elongated area that extends northeast about 25 miles (40 km) in length and up to 15 miles (24 km) in width. I planned to camp at Wood Lake. Highlights include cliffs in the Granite Dome area and lakes such as Emigrant Lake, Huckleberry Lake, and Lake Lertoria. Part of Granite Dome visible on left side. Deer Lake was a bit more shallow/marshy at least in one end. Gluttons for punishment, we went back to the Emigrant Wilderness again, this time with Nikki, Steph's friend, in tow. Emigrant Lake: 140 acres at 8827' elevation, about 15 miles from the trailhead. 5-star camping at Upper Buck Lake. Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front, California State Mining and Mineral Museum, Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area, University of California Natural Reserve System, Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emigrant_Wilderness&oldid=992361095, Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Protected areas of Tuolumne County, California, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from public domain works of the United States Government, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 4 December 2020, at 21:30. The dams were constructed by anglers who tightly stacked nearby stones and boulders. The trail passed through a pleasant pine forest. It offers a much higher starting point than the nearby trailheads of Crabtree(7100ft) and Bell Meadows(6500ft). Several more emigrant parties were enticed by officials from Sonora to use this route in 1853, but it was a very difficult passage with many hardships and was soon abandoned. I rigged my Tenkara rod and picked a size 16 bead head nymph with a pink hotspot. I gave it a few quick jigs and boom–the trout slammed the fly. I passed through some of the most impressive granite landscapes of the whole trip. In the morning, my foot was feeling worse. Day Hike to Chewing Gum Lake, Lake Powell, and Burt Rock from Gianelli Cabin – Emigrant Wilderness, Stanislaus National Forest. It was the last few weeks of trout season, so I also wanted to bring my fly fishing gear. Since 1975, 18 small dams in the Emigrant Wilderness have been the source of an unresolved political debate. The views over Huckleberry Lake were some of the most impressive of the trip so far. 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