Elevation: 8640

Mileage

17 miles South of Carson Pass

9.78 miles North of Ebbetts Pass

.97 of a mile to the end of Raymond Lake Trail at Raymond Lake.

	Raymond Lake Trail Junction.

South from the Raymond Lake junction on the Pacific Crest Trail

Lay of the Land

"Roller coaster" characterizes the nature of the first 5 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail South from the Raymond Lake trail junction to Eagle Creek. We will be crossing two drainages hiking South off of Raymond Peak as well as a series of folds along the ridge arms descending off of Raymond Peak's Southeastern facing flank. Check out the trail around Raymond Peak on the map.

Specifically, the Southbound trail from the Raymond Lake trail junction first drops 280 feet into, and then climbs 200 feet out of, Raymond Canyon. The trail then winds around a set of folds in the ridge arms descending off of Raymond Peak before finally dropping down 420 feet to Pennsylvania Creek.

After a 200 foot climb South out of Pennsylvania Creek to overlook Eagle Creek, the terrain radically changes. Hiking down and looping around the head of Eagle Creek brings us into and through an amazing menagerie, a natural statue garden of eerily eroded volcanic forms.

The terrain South, after climbing out of Pennsylvania Creek, changes in many respects. First, the terrain moderates in difficulty for the remaining distance to Ebbetts Pass. But by far the most interesting change is how the general composition of the volcanic terrain changes between Raymond and Reynolds peaks. The terrain changes from the loose, finely eroded material typical of that we encountered on Raymond Peak, to the much harder volcanic rock that composes Reynolds Peak. This really affects how these mountains look.

As we cross the ridge into Eagle Creek you will begin to notice amazing shapes cut into the hard volcanic rock on Reynolds Peak. you can't help but compare this with the very different character of Raymond Peak's heavily eroded reddish volcanic soils just exited. The quick transition from Raymond Peak's eroded volcanic mountainsides to Reynolds Peak's sharp spires and razor back ridges composed of hard volcanic rock is rewarding hiking.

But don't worry about the difficulty or danger increasing with the change in terrain, as the Pacific Crest Trail winds around the base of Reynolds Peak's sheer features, rather than through them. The trail around Raymond Peak's eroded flanks have more nerve-racking crossings over sections of trail that are eroded off the mountainside. The trail passing through the hard rock around Reynolds Peak is much more stable.

As we continue South of Reynolds Peak its sharp hard volcanic shapes give way to a field of interesting composite boulders, and finally we overlook then drop into a dense forest punctuated by bright meadows and refreshing little islands of granite formations poking through this vast ocean of volcanic terrain.

On our way down to the forests South of Reynolds Peak we see the remnants of ancient volcanoes poking up through the increasing forest cover. These volcanic mounts appear to be volcanic "plugs," the remnants of ancient shafts of lava exposed after the volcanic cones surrounding the lava cores long ago eroded away. These features have very distinctive shapes.

South of Reynolds Peak we again enter forest cover but we first get looks at Upper and Lower Kinney Lake Kinney Lake come into view nestled in the forest. The last few miles of the hike South of Reynolds Peak passes around, rather than up the steep sections of the terrain, and we will easily and quickly pass around Ebbetts Peak to arrive at Ebbetts Pass.

If we arrive at Ebbetts Pass on Highway 4 too late in the afternoon to hitch down to the Lake Alpine Lodge for resupply, we may want to hold up near Ebbetts Pass. Nestled within the forests just a short hike North of Ebbetts Pass you just passed by Sherrold Lake and Upper and Lower Kinney Lakes. All of these lakes have nice campsites where we can hold up.

These are good places to camp if we plan on hitching down to Lake Alpine to pick up our Resupply the next day. If we are continuing South, our next campsite will be 4 miles South of Ebbetts Pass at Noble Lake. Noble Lake did not look so good in September of 2009.

Noble Lake Cows

Noble Lake's shore was extensively post-holed by cow hooves, and the water had a lot of algae, moss, and that nasty cow smell that indicates you may want to find a better water source, if possible. The ranchers need to fence off part of the lake to keep it sanitary for backpackers and hikers. I don't mind the cows, or Sierra grazing, but adjustments must be made when the cows or the backpackers trash the terrain.

The Kinney Lakes trail junction is 1.36 miles North of Ebbetts Pass.

Forum Page

comments or questions?

The PCT across Raymond Peak traverses its exposed treeless eroding volcanic flank. Narrow fingers of thinning forest follow the drainages between the flanks of Raymond Peak.

South of the Raymond Lake trail the Northeast facing terrain nourishes these thin fingers of forest cover in narrow drainage canyons.

This North-Northeast facing terrain is perfectly situated to catch what little moisture remains in the air carried across the Sierras from the Pacific Ocean by the prevailing NW winds.

This rare moisture, along with the water in the canyons sustains the forest fingers climbing up these North facing ridge-sides. Thus you will find alternating thin strips of forest decorating Raymond Canyon and Pennsylvania Creek on Raymond Peak's Northeastern flank South of the Raymond Lake trail junction.

I've found good cold water in both, if flowing at restrained levels, and a little nearby shade to enjoy it during late Summers of dry seasons. This may require the "stick" method of water purification.

When a creek or spring's water level is sooo low that even putting your filter intake into the water disturbes the clarity or even wrecks the tiny pool you wish to draw from, you must first establish a stable platform for your intake hose.

I find a stick that bridges the pool or section of flowing water I wish to draw from that does not disturbe or cloud the water. I drape my intake hose over the stick and slowly lower it into the tiny pool or flow, hopful that I will not screw it up. Once I've got the intake situated I pump carefully so any movement of the intake hose does not damage the little pool or flow I am drawing from.

Passing South of Pennsylvania Creek the nature of the terrain changes dramatically. The compacted small reddish rocks and reddish eroded volcanic soils piled steeply on the eroded volcanic flanks of Raymond Peak now solidifies into razorback ridges of uniquely eroded hard lava. This transition is most notable when you pass over the ridge dividing Pennsylvania Creek from Eagle Creek.

Look up Pennsylvania Creek and you will take note of the massive hard volcanic formations along the crest line that feed Pennsylvania Creek's headwaters. When you cross the subsequent ridge South to pass into Eagle Creek's drainage, you will be standing at the entrance of a fine gallery of hard lava formations, carved by the combined forces of erosion into a wide range of spires and other interesting shapes.

This is really cool terrain. Note on the topo map how Raymond and Reynolds Peaks are part of the same massif, though each expresses different characteristics.

comments-questions?

Amazing erosion carves exotic shapes which rise out of the volcanic debris

Passing South of Pennsylvania Creek demands a 200 foot climb that crosses through a saddle in the sheer crestline of the ridge dividing the drainages coming off of Raymond and Reynolds Peaks.

Crossing the highpoint of this exposed ridge brings the canyon above Eagle Creek into view. The southbound trail traverses Westward down the open ridgeside into forest towards Eagle Creek's headwaters, paralleling the creek until the trail drops down to cross the creek right under the shadow of Reynolds Peak towering above.

Within Eagle Creek's canyon is an amazing gallery of volcanic spires carved into a wide range of striking shapes and textures carved by wind, rain, and runoff.

At the head of Eagle Creek we are sitting directly below Reynolds Peak, under forest cover.  Is that not great?

Since passing South of the Wet Meadow Reservoir trail junction we have crossed Raymond Peak's barren eroded volcanic mountainside, enjoyed little forested bits of cover running up the mountainside drainages, and are just now passing through a gallery of unique eroded formations carved of volcanic rock.

Sweet.

Now we are again enjoying a nice shaded forest section, with access to water, under a jagged, razor-backed hard volcanic rock formation called Reynolds Peak. This is an Amazing place.

Eagle Creek, right under Reynolds Peak

Mileage

22.26 miles South of Carson Pass

5.24 miles South of the Raymond Lake trail junction.

4.54 miles North of Ebbetts Pass.

top of page

Razorback ridge falling off Reynolds Peak's edges

Composite Boulders

On the South side of Reynolds Peak you pass though an zone of composite boulders and terrain.

These boulders are composed of a uniform cement-like material that has engulfed many different types of rocks and stones.

All of these different rocks are now locked into the cement, and as erosion breaks boulders off of composite formations above and around us, these strange boulders now reveal clues about the distant past of this particular location. It is first apparent that for this cement-like material to have swept up so many different types of rocks, it must have flowed over significant distances.

Another observation is that though these composite zones and composite boulder fields are associated with hard lava areas by proximity, these composite materials have significantly different properties than hard volcanic rock.

The most important observable difference is the difference in heat between the volcanic and composite materials when they were deposited.

The volcanic material was composed of molten material that's high heat brought about uniform composition, while the composite material's diverse collection of unaltered rocks within a porous cement-like gray material indicates not just a much lower temperature, but of the presence of large amounts of water and volcanic ash.

I can barely imagine the scene 10,000 years ago when a series of volcanoes lining the Eastern Escarpment of the Sierras cut loose with massive eruptions. But to imagine an eruption happening while the remnants of the receding ice age were still burying many of the Sierras flanks and valleys requires one reset their imagination to a larger scale.

Imagine the lava and ash flows of ten or fifteen Mount Saint Helens, erupting not across the idyllic forests, lakes, and meadows that were destroyed by Mount Saint Helens, but from under massive ice caps along a hundred miles of ancient Sierra Crestline.  The same ice that cut the beautiful granite formations all along the length of the Sierras fueled giant lahars of almost unimaginable size that created these boulders.

Because of the presence of snow and ice in proximity to major volcanic eruptions, I speculate that these lahars must have measured hundreds of feet in height as they flowed down foothill valleys hundreds of miles distant from the actual eruption.

Alice, our resident consulting geologist, pointed out to me that lahars would tend to flow down the already present ancient drainages, and harden to fill these drainages. These lahar-filled ancient valleys would again be eroded out, but this time erosion would cut through the rock deposited by ancient lahars, ultimately removing most indications of there presence.

Over the ten thousand years since these deposits were made the majority of them have long been eroded away, leaving a wide range of polished stones as the only clue of their presence.

What is apparent is that massive lava flows and giant lahars were sweeping down both flanks of the Sierras 10,000 years ago during the last period of intense volcanic activity that coincided with the end of the last ice age.

comments or questions?

As we continue South of Reynolds Peak, its sharp volcanic shapes give way to a gentler series of terrains characterized by dense forest punctuated by bright meadows and refreshing little islands of white granite formations poking out of this vast ocean of volcanic terrain.

The Lake Alpine Lodge and Bear Valley resupply page lays out your resource and resupply options when you reach Highway 4 on the Pacific Crest Trail, or Lake Alpine on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail.

Ebbetts Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail

69.49 miles South of Meeks Bay

38.78 miles South of Echo Summit

26.78 miles South of Carson Pass

29.44 miles North of Sonora Pass (Hwy 108)

103.24 miles North of Tuolumne Meadows (Hwy 120)

Resupply Strategy

Reaching Highway 4 at Ebbetts Pass marks the Southbound backpacker's first opportunity to resupply since the Echo Lake Chalet, 40.78 miles to the North along the Pacific Crest Trail route.

Your next location to resupply South of Ebbetts Pass is 29.44 miles South at Kennedy Meadows Pack Station. The Kennedy Meadows Pack Station sits 8 miles West of where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Highway 108 at Sonora Pass.

My plan always includes hitching West on Highway 4 down to Lake Alpine for at least some food, a few beers, and hanging out with the cool folk at the Lake Alpine Lodge, (and/or the Bear Valley Store and deli) if I do or do not pick up a resupply package at the Lake Alpine Lodge.

I recommend planning your days off. Resupply locations are generally a good place to take a day off, relax, feed your body, and spend some time hanging out with the locals and other visitors in a beautiful location.

I have a real nice campsite on the East side of Lake Alpine where I lounge around for my day off, when I'm not eating and drinking at the Lodge.

Lake Alpine Lodge backpacker's resupply page

Trail Options South of Highway 4

The Southbound route decision you faced at Carson Pass was black and white. You either took the Pacific Crest Trail or you took the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail South to Highway 4. Your route selection South from Highway 4 to Highway 108 is not so clear cut. The Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trail have a number of trails that connect them between Highways 4 and 108, unlike their routes between Carson Pass and Ebbetts Pass.

From Highway 4, this means you can continue South on the Pacific Crest Trail from Ebbetts Pass, or you may continue South on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail South out of the East side of Lake Alpine through the Silver Trailhead.

My favorite route between Highway 4 and the next Highway to the South, Highway 108 at Sonora Pass, is to follow the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail South out of Lake Alpine to the head of Spicer Meadow Reservoir. From there I follow the Highland Creek Trail up to the Pacific Crest Trail, rather than continue South on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail.

This particular route option is a bit longer than either route alone, and involves an extra climb. But this route offers more than either of the others alone by tying together a section of the TY trail across the Western Flank of the Sierras with a PCT section along the Sierra Crest. I believe that this combination of routes through the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness gives a perspective which neither of the trails quite does on its own.

This brings up an important fact of backpacking the Sierra Crest. You don't have to stay on any particular "named" route between Lake Tahoe and Mount Whitney. In fact, I believe that the best route between Lake Tahoe and Tuolumne Meadows in the Northern Sierra is comprised of a combination of the PCT and TY trail sections.

When you hitch down to Lake Alpine for your resupply you can continue South on the Tahoe to Yosemite Route South of Lake Alpine. Or you can hitch back up to Ebbetts Pass and continue South on the Pacific Crest Trail.

comments or questions?

7.5 Topo Hiking Map: Upper Sunset Lake to Ebbetts Pass

30 min Topo Hiking Map: Carson Pass to Ebbetts Pass

Note: Click the Colored Dots on the Maps!

Miles and Elevations

South: Noble Lake and Tyron Peak on the Pacific Crest Trail

Backpacker Forums

Have you hiked these mountains before? Do you have a great Sierra Nevada route or trip to relate?

Post it on: TahoetoWhitney.Org

If you have experiences, comments, questions, or pictures about this Section or Segment of the Pacific Crest Trail, Let it Rip HERE:

Section: Carson Pass to Ebbetts Pass

Segment: Raymond Lake to Ebbetts Pass