Ebbetts
Pass
Weather

All
High Sierra
Weather

The View South from the high point of the Pacific Crest Trail across Tyron Peak.

Since passing South of Carson Pass we've been hiking the East Flank of the Sierra almost exclusively, excepting our hike across the Western-draining flank of The Nipple above Blue Lakes.

West Flank of the Sierra Nevada
South of Tyron Peak we hike across a short length of trail on the Western flank of the Sierra Nevada that is a bit shorter than our 5.95 miles down to Murray Canyon, before we are again hiking the East Flank. I put the length of this Western Flank segment of our hike at three miles.

Hiram Peak dominates the scene in the middle-Right of the image. We can see slivers of blue where the Highland Lakes sit to the West, to the right of Hiram Peak. The Highland Creek Trail drops down the Western Flank beyond Highland Lakes on its way to Lake Alpine via Spicer Meadow Reservoir.

The routes Arnot and Disaster Creek follow are visible to the East, or Left of Hiram Peak, respectively. The flow of Arnot and Disaster Creeks splits to pass East and West of Lightening Mountain, the pointed triangular peak visible to the Left of Hiram Peak in middle-distance.

The Sierra Crest line, capped by Arnot, then Disaster and Boulder Peaks rises out of view on the Left side, the East side of the image above. That's where we're going and those are the next mountains we'll pass on the Southbound PCT.
The Ebbetts to Sonora Pass map below gives us good context on the local peaks around our position crossing Tyron Peak in every direction we could possibly hike.

I discuss these potential three routes West to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail in depth on the previous trail guide page. The full Carson Iceberg Backpacking Map shows us all the connections between the PCT and TYT across this stunningly beautiful wilderness area.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness Backpacking Map
30 minute USGS Topo Map

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South from Tyron Peak
The next three miles South from Tyron Peak are down mountain to Wolf Creek Pass. Hiking South from Wolf Creek Pass begins a gentle climb for another three miles to enter the Wolf Creek drainage where our trail begins a series of undulations into and out of the three tributary branches of Wolf Creek draining the Eastern Flank of the Sierra Crest under the Arnot Peak Massif until we arrive at the Murray Canyon trail junction.

The first three of the next six miles to Murray Canyon are downhill, the next three are through rolling-rising terrain. That's hiking South out of Wolf Creek Pass on the PCT.

Murray and Golden Canyons represent a couple of changes in terrain. First, the rapid undulations of crossing multiple drainages are now replaced by crossing two much larger canyons. Second, we are drawing nearer to the main body of the East fork of the Carson River as we hike South, and arriving at the Murray Canyon trail junction marks our first views of the granites of its magnificent canyon emerging from the ocean of surrounding volcanic terrain, like an ancient god of hard rock emerging from its long buried soft volcanic tomb.

Though the volcanic activity produced a lot of material, it is soft, and the buried hard rock of the granite has been biding its time as the slow but inextricable forces of gravity, erosion, and uplift are slowly re-revealing its almost timeless grandeur.

I'm happy to even get a glimpse of this timeless dance living almost beyond the scope of perception.

At Wolf Creek Pass we have to the options to break South off the Pacific Crest Trail to hike to Arnot or Disaster Creeks, or on to the Gardner Meadow Trailhead near Upper Highland Lake.

Highland Lakes Backpacking Map
USGS 15 minute hiking map

From Gardner Meadow we can easily access Highland Creek Westbound down to Spicer Meadow Reservoir and the TYT. To our East the Elder Creek trail brings us first to Wolf Creek and shortly to the East end of Bull Canyon where we will see the trail West back to the PCT at the Bull Canyon trail junction above Noble Lake.

Continuing Northeast down Wolf Creek from the East side of Bull Canyon brings us to its confluence with the East Carson River at the end of Wolf Creek Meadow, which is just a bit Southeast of Highway 4 above the turn down Monitor Pass Road.

The East Fork of the Carson River continues North through Markleeville, where it picks up the the flows from the fan of creeks draining the South end of the Mokelumne Wilderness.

We are continuing South on the Pacific Crest Trail towards Sonora Pass, on to Tuolumne Meadows, and eventually down to the Whitney Portal despite all of these fine potential short and medium distance backpacking loops opening up around us at Wolf Creek Pass.

We will have to come back for some protracted study of this beautifully complex terrain.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness
30 minute backpacking Map

See the trail guide page to the North for the View from Tyron Peak

Hiking the PCT South through the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness

Basic Facts

High Point of the Pacific Crest Trail across Tyron Peak
9320 feet

Ebbetts Pass to Sonora Pass
Miles and Elevations

The Murray Canyon trail junction is 5.95 miles South of Tyron Peak

The Murray Canyon trail junction is 10.87 miles South of Ebbetts Pass

The Murray Canyon trail junction is 18.57 miles North of Sonora Pass

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Tyron Peak to Murray Canyon

The Lay of the Land

From Tyron Peak we have a mostly gradual and smooth 2.1 mile traverse down to Wolf Creek Pass. Deeply shaded Asa Lake offers excellent break and camping opportunities 1.69 miles South of the high point of the trail across Tyron Peak's 9320 foot shoulder.

The flat around Asa Lake and its campsites show the typical signs of heavy use. This is not unexpected as Asa Lake is only 2.53 miles from the Gardner Meadow Trailhead on Highland Lakes Road.

At Wolf Creek Pass we have potential to access the Southbound connector trail from the Pacific Crest Trail down to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail at Jenkins Canyon via Gardner Meadow Trailhead through Highland Creek, as well as the options to hike down the Arnot and Disaster Creek trails to their trailheads on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail along the Clarks Fork of the Stanislaus River.

The 2.21 mile long trail Southwest from Wolf Creek Pass to the Gardner Meadow Trailhead passes by the trail junction leading South that splits up to form both the Disaster and Arnot Creek trails down to the Clarks Fork of the Stanislaus.

From the Gardner Meadow Trailhead we can follow the Highland Lakes dirt road South past both Highland Lakes and the car campground between them, through the Highland Creek trailhead and on down Highland Creek to hook up with the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail at Jenkins Canyon. The Highland Lakes topo hiking map depicts this section of that route option.

This web of trails connecting the PCT and TYT creates many options for many backpacking loops touring around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. I discuss the potential for hiking loops of 20 to 80 miles around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness at the Jenkins Canyon and Boulder Lake trail junctions.

But we are heading South on the Pacific Crest Trail. This time. I have guide pages connecting to the TYT via Wolf Creek Pass that you can explore below, we talk about our options hiking down Highland Creek on the Forum, and we have another trail from the PCT to the TYT via Boulder Lake and Creek further to our South on the next following trail guide page.

This trail guide has pages hiking down two of the routes connecting the Pacific Crest Trail to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail. One through Highland Creek and the other through Boulder Creek.
I'm planning on my 5th TW hike in 2012 so I can Zig-Zag up and down Arnot and Disaster Creeks to fill in those missing parts of the guide through the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

Hiking South of Wolf Creek Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail we will find that the main branch of Wolf Creek offers nice camping before entering the canyons draining directly into the upper section of the East Carson River, first Murray, then Golden Canyon.
These canyons hang on the sheer Western Wall of the East Fork of the Carson River's canyon marking our entry into its immediate area of drainage.
We've been in the East Carson River's watershed once we crossed Blue Lakes Road 15.15 miles to the North of Tyron Peak, and will only exiting it for the next three miles where our trail tracks along the Western flank of the Sierra between Tyron Peak down to our entrance into the Wolf Creek drainage.
Everything else for the next 20.81 miles South of Wolf Creek down to the North Flank of Sonora Peak is a tributary of the East Fork of the Carson River.

South of Wolf Creek Pass we begin the long, undulating 22.42 mile climb, punctuated by one steep drop from the top of the East Fork of the Carson River's canyon down to river level. This section is mostly composed of rippling undulations of washboard terrain to begin the final climb from river level over ancient trails in the Headwaters Bowl of the East Carson River through the 10,240 foot Carson Gap where our Pacific Crest Trail finally escapes its long hike through East Carson watershed.

Past the Carson Gap we have one last bit of climbing up to the 10,500 foot Sonora Gap before dropping down to Sonora Pass's 9624 feet to end our hike through the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness section of the Pacific Crest Trail.

But first let's get ourselves down the 5.95 miles from Tyron Peak to the Murray Canyon trail junction.

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Video: Tyron Peak to Murray Canyon Trail Junction. Time: 8:12

Asa Lake to East Carson River
15 minute backpacking MAP

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South
off of
Tyron Peak

Grand Views of Clarks Fork drainage to the Southwest

We could be said to be looking into the heart of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness gazing South from Tyron Peak. We are observing the top of 2 drainages feeding the Clarks Fork of the Stanislaus River, being Disaster and Arnot Creeks. The Southwestern Highland Lake begins Highland Creek's run down to the North Fork of the Stanislaus River through Spicer Meadow Reservoir. The Northern Highland Lake is the source of the North Fork of the Mokelumne.

The Highland Lakes feed the latter two watersheds. The Southwestern lake, which I call the "lower" Highland Lake (measuring the lakes from the Sierra Crestline), is the source of Highland Creek. Highland Creek runs Southwest to ultimately feed the North Stanislaus River through Spicer Meadow Reservoir. The Northeastern Highland Lake, which I call the "upper" Highland Lake, is the source of the North Fork of the Mokelumne.

Disaster and Arnot Creeks drain Southeast and Southwest, respectively, down to the Clarks Fork of the Stanislaus River. to the South of Highland Creek and just a bit West of the Northwestern flow of the East Fork of the Carson River.

Complex fingers of multiple drainages interlock through this complex Sierra Crest terrain.

But we will see none of these riparian features down there on the Western flank as we hike South on our Pacific Crest Trail route. This Western view is just a brief interlude, a tease, of the extensive forests, canyons, and rivers dropping off the Western flank of the Sierra as we will too quickly return to the Eastern flank as we approach Wolf Creek.
The PCT is almost exclusively an Eastern Sierra experience, except for our brief view from here atop Tyron Peak, where we can see across the top of a series of Western watersheds.

We will shortly drop under forest cover and lose our grand broad view.

Soak it in. Orient ourselves with map and compass. Pick out the lines of the various trails, including our own.

The North Mokelumne, North Stanislaus via Highland Creek-Spicer Meadow Reservoir, and the Clarks Fork of the Stanislaus are riparian features along the Tahoe to Yosemite Route making its way South further down along the Western Flank of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness than our Pacific Crest Trail route. It's sweet terrain down there. This view of the West flank motivates me to go hike the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail!

It's also the reason I tie together segments of each trail when I hike through the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

We on the PCT have been exploring the high ends of the creeks feeding the watershed of the East Fork of the Carson River since hiking South of Blue Lakes Road, and are finally moving directly towards the great river itself hiking South off this shoulder of Tyron Peak.
This motivates me to hike the Pacific Crest Trail!

The divergent beauty of Sierra terrain is as good an argument as any for eventually hiking both the Pacific Crest and Tahoe to Yosemite Trail routes through the Carson Iceberg Wilderness, if not tracing each route across the Northern Sierra.
For more detailed examinations of this amazing terrain within the Carson Iceberg Wilderness we can stitch together various segments of the PCT and TYT to craft vast or restrained loops to help us figure out this whole pretty puzzle of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness and its complex terrain.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness
30 minute backpacking Map

We were given the physical and abstract tools to reflect as well as affect the complexities of our environment. Our feet, hearts, and minds were made for this engagement. We are nothing without this most basic relationship.

Stitch segments of the PCT and TYT routes together into loop trips circling around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. Loops of between 20 to 90 miles can be crafted around the Carson Iceberg's high altitude trails that make sense of the beauties of this place, and the space between your ears too.

The maps, mileage, and trail guide pages covering the TYT and PCT across Carson Iceberg Wilderness are designed to help you find it.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness
30 minute backpacking Map

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Hiram Peak with Upper Highland Lake on its Northwestern side.

The yellow slash of Upper Gardner Meadow sits nestled into Hiram Peak Northern ridge arm.

We can see the great volcanic feature of the Dardanelles peaking out half-way down the Western flank (Right side) of Hiram Peak. Spicer Meadow Reservoir and the TYT sit at the foot of that Dardanelle feature.

We can see the ridge guiding the course of the Clarks fork of the Stanislaus in the distance at the end of the canyon on the Eastern (Left) flank of Hiram Peak. That dark ridge is identified being beyond and just a bit to the Left of the yellow slash of Upper Gardner Meadow.

That distant dark shaded ridge we see beyond the Eastern flank of Hiram Massif is part of the great block of mountain terrain dividing the Clarks fork of the Stanislaus from the Middle Fork. The Clarks fork of the Stanislaus ends a few miles downriver where it merges into and becomes part of the Middle fork of the Stanislaus River. The map below depicts these relationships.

South Carson Iceberg Wilderness Map
30 min Backpacking Topo Map

Arnot Creek begins a bit past Upper Gardner Meadow, flowing along the base of the East flank of Hiram Peak. We are looking down to the Clarks Fork along the rough course of Arnot Creek, and though we cannot see it, the West flank of Lightening Mountain is rising just out of the frame of the image on the East, Left side of the image.

Disaster Creek roughly mirrors the route of Arnot Creek down to the Clarks Fork, but runs down to the Clarks Fork along the base of the other side of Lightening Mountain, down along the base of its Eastern flank.

Looking back at Tyron Peak as we enter the forest above Asa Lake.

The Southbound Pacific Crest Trail follows a gentle trail traversing down and around the top of this steep wishbone shaped canyon before finding the tiny shelf of gentler, flatter terrain where Asa Lake is stationed.

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Fawn above Asa Lake, Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

I try to keep my pack properly lashed and secured so it makes no noise while hiking. I try to stay balanced and quiet on the trail, trying to avoid kicking rocks, cones, or breaking twigs.

I hike solo 99% of the time, so I generate no group noises.

Keeping our breathing and the metabolic pain of hiking to a dull roar allows us to hear more external sounds than internal, making it possible to observe before being observed.

Wed Sept 23 2009.

Deer Forum

We've rotated past our long views down the canyon holding Highland Lakes and the other canyons too as we traverse down to our Southeast, until we get our last view of upper Highland Lake approaching Asa Lake across the Northernmost of the ancient volcanic mounds decorating this set of high elevation flats.

We're looking Southwest across the volcanic mass rising out of the surrounding forests and meadows off the North flank of Hiram Peak, a feature we we could see from higher up.

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Check out the map to precisely locate your position at Wilderness Boundary Markers.

Crossing into the Carson Iceberg Wilderness also puts us back onto the Eastern Flank of the Sierra as Asa Lake drains into the upper reaches of Elder Creek.

We'll subtly slide back onto the Western flank at Wolf Creek Pass, well, we'll be standing on the divide.

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I don't mind grazing or stock or fences.

But I don't like it when water sources are spoiled my man or man's beasts.

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approaching
Asa Lake

elevation
8520

A well-developed campsite

Our traverse South from Tyron Peak enters the fringe of a nice dense forest cover, lodgepole and fir, which is a very nice change from the exposed character of our hike South since we hiked out of the Southern end of the Lake Tahoe Basin. The majority of our hike across the Mokelumne Wilderness as been across exposed volcanic terrain. The volcanic terrain continues, but now under the shade of forest cover.
Getting into the Carson Iceberg Wilderness we're under forest again, and will remain substantially so until we climb above the forest line into the headwaters bowl of the East Carson.

Below us along the line of our trail route we can see bits of sparkling green reflecting off the surface of Asa Lake through the shade of the forest as we descend, when the Sun is just so in the sky.

A bit past the Asa Lake trail junction post there are a couple of additional campsites that are off the main apron location of the majority off campsites around the North shore of Asa Lake. These offset campsites are on the other side of the trail from Asa Lake and a bit below the expansive flat apron around it's North shore.

These more isolated sites are South on the PCT past the Asa Lake signpost where Elder Creek drains out. These sites are more private than the sites on the open flat apron sitting around the lake itself.

ASA Lake

Asa Lake to East Carson River
15 minute backpacking MAP

Highland Lakes Backpacking Map
USGS 15 minute hiking map

1.69 miles South of the high point on Tyron Peak.

6.61 miles South of Ebbetts Pass.

Access from Highland Lakes Road

A very short 2.53 miles separates the Gardner Meadow Trailhead on Highland Lakes Road from Asa Lake.

ROADMAP

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Southbound hikers will first encounter this junction above the North Shore of Asa Lake.

The route of the Pacific Crest Trail wraps around the East shore of Asa Lake, where the post is located.

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The PCT drops down from Tyron Peak to circle around the North to East shores above the flat apron wrapping around Asa Lake, where the majority of Asa Lake's campsites are located. Passing the Northern junction to the lake continuing South around the its East shore brings us down to a couple of additional campsites along the creek draining the lake, if we don't turn off the trail to visit Asa Lake itself.

These sites offset from Asa Lake provide a bit more privacy during busy Summer weekends, when young families hike (or hike/carry) little kids out through the easy access via Gardner Meadow.

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Continuing North on the PCT will bring us up to level with Asa Lake's flat apron, or we can follow the trail this post marks up to the lake.

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The heavy usage of Asa Lake is due to the close proximity of the dirt road out to Highland Lakes. But "heavy" is a relative term, especially for hikers in the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. I never see many backpackers in this area.

It looks to me like this place mainly gets busy during the main Summer holiday weekends, and during the main Pacific Crest Trail hiking season. I believe the same is true about the car campground located between the Highland Lakes. It is always lightly used, even during Summertime, except for the main holiday weekends.

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Just to the South of the Asa Lake trail junction we encounter the stream draining Asa Lake across a cute little meadow.

On the other side of the trail across from the meadow there's a nice campsite.

Frozen Crystal Garden

Hiking between Asa Lake and Wolf Creek Pass

I've always enjoyed the sight of ice crystals growing out of the ground. In fact, I've always enjoyed the effects of cold on terrain.
Hiking a loop around Carson Iceberg during the late of Fall of 2011 with my buddy Ari we encountered a bit of a cold snap. Temperatures dropped precipitously during three of the five nights of the trip. Below we encountered a great expanse of trail and terrain between Asa Lake and Wolf Creek Pass who's whole surface was lifted by a miniature forest of underlying ice crystals that had grown up during the deep cold of the previous evening.

A whole sea of ice crystal-tendrils rose from the soil, lofting virtually all of the loose surface gravel to a uniform height above the natural level of the ground on the tips of the growing crystals.

When first approaching this unusual surface I knew that something was "wrong," that the natural lay of the surface had been altered. I was alerted by the unusual uniform plane all the surface gravel had been lifted onto. It was too flat and uniform.

I figure that this interesting crystal-growth freezing action is initiated when air temperatures drop fast and far enough to draw surface moisture, and moisture held in surface soils, into some kind of capillary ice crystal growth action. In this case across a significant area. I've seen all sorts of ice crystal growth, and its telltale remnants in segments of a strangely uniform "ruffled" trail surface left behind after melting, but never such an expansive zone of crystal growth.

Above and below are pictures of the greatest extent of this phenomena I have ever seen. Early Spring and Late Fall travel brings us across many small examples of crystal growth, but this was big. It reached about 30 feet up the trail and ran off the sides of the trail into the surrounding forest bottom.

"Solid" ground is an inch below the apparent surface.

October 26 2011.

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We can see the growing ice crystals have lofted pebbles and small stones off the ground on their leading edges.

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Above we can clearly see how a wide swath of the trail's apparent surface is not solid. An expansive stretch of the trail's apparent surface is underpinned by nothing more than a good inch of ice crystals, who's overnight growth have lifted the surface gravel into a temporary "decorative" surface, a very fragile inch off the ground!

We can see how the growth of crystal gardens along the trails during cold evenings leaves behind a "ruffled" looking surface once it melts away with the rise of daytime temperatures.

Once we notice and note the times of recent crystal growth we will be able to narrow the range of times subsequent tracks could have been laid on those trails. Ice crystal growth wipes the trail clean of trail leaving a telltale uniform "ruffled" surface.

Add observing the timing ice crystal growth to our observations of wind, dew, and exposure to our understanding of the factors affecting tracks on the trail.

Freezes, rainstorms, and great winds are as informative as beautiful.

This great run of crystallized terrain had been accompanied by other normal and amazing cold effects over these days and nights of the cold snap. Interesting layering of clouds, bursts of hail and snow, and the most amazing of all, the main body of Wolf Creek flowing as slush.

Below we see Wolf Creek flowing as a Great River of slush.

Hey, when I see a fairly substantial body of running water semi-frozen and flowing in a "slush" state, a semi-liquid state, that rates both the "great" and the "river" designation.

I promote any creek flowing as slush to "river" for as long as it's flowing as "thick" water!

The crystal garden growing under the trail above and the river of slush below show us that the beauties of the High Sierra multiply as the temperatures drop with the approach of Winter, until they drop us into the beauty of the snow covered Sierra, the Winter Wonderland.

When it gets really really cold I call it the Crystal Wonderland.

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offering
Alternative Routes
and
Fine Backpacking Loops
linking the
Pacific Crest Trail
with
Tahoe to Yosemite Trail

at

Wolf Creek Pass

Trail Guide Options

Hiking Southwest out of Wolf Creek Pass towards Highland Lakes opens up three of the four routes linking the Pacific Crest to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail across the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

Highland Lakes Backpacking Map
USGS 15 minute hiking map

These three trails open up a wide variety of route modifications for the Southbound Long Distance Backpacker, and even more local loop backpacking trips for those hikers wishing to remain within the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

We discuss our hiking options out of Wolf Creek Pass further below. We can check out the trail from the Highland Creek Trailhead on the far Southern Shore of the lower Western Highland Lake to our position here at Wolf Creek Pass on the Highland Lakes to Wolf Creek Pass trail guide page. We pass the trail branching off South to both Disaster and Arnot Creek trails along the trail to the Highland Creek Trailhead.

The map of this area and its potential as a hub of backpacking loops around the Northern Carson Iceberg Wilderness can be seen clearly on the Highland Lakes to Wolf Creek Pass Topo Hiking Map.

Though we are continuing South on the PCT through Wolf Creek Pass, we could also explore the option of hiking down to finish the Southern section of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail. This would not only add miles and elevation to this Ebbetts to Sonora Pass Section of the trail, but also means we would have to find our way to Saint Marys Pass on Highway 108 across very challenging segments of unmaintained trail along with a small bit of untrailed route finding where there apparently has not been a trail since the Saint Marys Pass Road was abandoned.

I believe that was in the mid-1920s. I've read accounts and histories of the passes and roads over Sonora Pass. If I remember correctly the original route over Sonora and Saint Marys Pass was abandoned after repeated floodings had necessitated repeated costly repairs. The current route up on the rock above Deadman Creek was more challenging to build, compared to the easy route to the crest offered through the Clarks Fork, but the Deadman route up exposed granite has superior durability to the Clarks Fork route up the bottom of a often flooded canyon.

Check out the Carson Iceberg Wilderness map to craft your own custom route across the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness
30 minute backpacking Map

The black dotted routes on the above large scale map link to detailed maps. The red dots link to trail guide pages along the TYT and PCT routes, and selected connector routes. Each trail guide page has a link to the miles and elevations for that segment of trail.

We can plan excellent long and short backpacking trips across or around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness on the Pacific Crest and Tahoe to Yosemite Trails with this mapping, mileage,and guide information.

Asa Lake is North of Wolf Creek Pass on the PCT.
Wolf Creek is South of Wolf Creek Pass on the PCT.
Highland Lakes is Southwest of Wolf Creek Pass.

Elder Creek flows Northeast from Wolf Creek Pass.

I generally don't hike too much to the Northeast of Wolf Creek Pass.

It looks like a fine little loop out through Bull Canyon from above Noble Lake to the end of Bull Canyon down Elder Creek to the East end of Bull Canyon.
Elder Creek becomes part of Wolf Creek before it reaches the East end of Bull Canyon, then flows past the Eastern base of Silver-Highland Peak Massif to join the East Fork of the Carson River. We can trace out this route on the Carson Iceberg Wilderness Map.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness Hiking Map
30 minute USGS topo map

I've hiked down to the Silver King Meadow above Wolf Creek Meadow (which is where Elder Creek to Wolf Creek flows into the East fork of the Carson) following the East fork of the Carson River downriver out of the snow covered mountains during Winter. But, those mid-altitude meadows such as Wolf Creek and Silver King Meadows just seems a bit too far away from the high trails on the Sierra Crest during Summer.

But they offer great access to the Sierra. If you want to replicate or accomplish a trans-Sierra backpacking trip you will likely cross a couple of these meadows on your way up the East flank. I've hiked up the East flank of the Sierra lots of times and places from the Highway 395 corridor.

I always try to hitch up to the trailheads, but that's not possible during Winter, and not likely during late Fall and early Spring. So we walk!

But, these mid-altitude meadows are a welcome avenue to quickly bail out of the harshness of the high altitude Sierra Crest when a nice Winter storm comes barrelling in unexpectedly off the North Pacific.

Highland Lakes Backpacking Map
USGS 15 minute hiking map

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Highland Lakes option
SOUTHWEST
TYT

Wolf Creek is to the Northeast of Wolf Creek Pass down Elder Creek. This is Wolf Creek lower down the Eastern Flank than where we will cross it 1.61 miles to our South on the PCT from Wolf Creek Pass.

The trail Northeast down Elder Creek to Wolf Creek brings us to the East End of Bull Canyon. We passed the Bull Canyon trail hiking South past Noble Lake.

Check it out on the
Carson Iceberg Wilderness Hiking Map
30 minute USGS topo map

The trail Southwest to Highland Lakes passes by the tops of both the Disaster and Arnot Creeks trails coming up from their trailheads along the TYT on Clarks Fork road.

Those two trails are off of Highway 108. The trail down Highland Creek past Highland Lakes can bring us down to Lake Alpine on Highway 4.

These trails open up the possibilities for many backpacking loops around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness from trailheads on both Highways 4 and 108.

The Pacific Crest Trail climbs both to the North and South of Wolf Creek Pass.

Wolf Creek Pass is a low point on the Sierra Crestline between the Eastern and the Western flanks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

This place is swampy and full of mosquitoes during Spring!

To our South and to the West we see the very upper reaches of the Western flank watersheds of the of the North Fork of the Mokelumne River reaching up through lower Gardner Meadow all the way up to us at Wolf Creek Pass.

The furthest Highland Lake drains into the North Stanislaus via Highland Creek through Spicer Meadow Reservoir.

Arnot and Disaster Creeks both feed the Clarks Fork of the Stanislaus, which contributes its flow to the Middle Stanislaus River just a couple of miles West of where Arnot Creek enters.

Immediately to our East Elder Creek runs down the Eastern Flank of the Sierra into Wolf Creek, which flows down into the East Fork of the Carson River.

This trail Northeast down the Eastern flank of the Sierra runs us through a canyon dropping down into a set of great meadows where the East Fork of the Carson River collects up the flows from the lesser creeks such as Elder, Silver, and Wolf Creeks below the Sierra Crest.

Our PCT route continues South along the highest reaches of these creeks feeding the East Carson, until we finally see, then hike down to the East Fork of the Carson River itself.

The East Carson is one of my favorite Sierra Rivers.

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Many Hiking Trip Options
across the
Carson Iceberg Wilderness

If we are not walking the length of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail or following the Pacific Crest Trail route between Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney we still have many great long distance backpacking options in and around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness, especially if we tie together segments of the PCT and TYT trails to make big hiking loops around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

Hiking loops make trail "hubs" such as the junction at Wolf Creek Pass that links up with three different trails to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail very important.

The Carson-Iceberg Wilderness is worth exploring through short or medium distance section hikes,as well as part of a long distance backpacking trip along the Sierra Crest. We can craft grand backpacking loops of up to 90 miles staying within the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

Some of these routes are very isolated. One of my very favorite sections is the 9 miles (I've gotta check that...) of delightfully unmaintained and deteriorating trail along a most rough section of the East Carson River from Carson Falls up to the PCT. Just Delightful!

Carson Iceberg Wilderness
30 minute backpacking Map

My point here is that we can select and connect segments of the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trails to put together grand loops of very diverse characters of trail, levels of isolation, and varieties of terrain.

Many Options

Sections

Our first backpacking option is to hike the length of either the TYT and/or the PCT trail section between the Northern boundary of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness on Highway 4 to its Southern boundary along Highway 108. That would make us "section hikers" along one or the other trail.

Hiking sections of either the PCT or TYT routes is always fun.

Loops

Next, we can extend the section hike by crafting great medium to long distance loops around the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness by using the four main trails which connect the Tahoe to Yosemite route to the Pacific Crest Trail through the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.
Our longest loop option would be to walk the PCT across the Carson Iceberg in one direction, and the TYT back in the other.

Next, we could craft loops tying together the PCT and TYT using the four connector trails tying these two classic trails together across the length of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.
Wolf Creek Pass down to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail via Highland Creek is the Northernmost and longest of these four trails connecting the PCT and TYT across the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. The Boulder Creek and Lake trail is the Southernmost and shortest of these four connector trails. The medium-length Arnot and Disaster Creek trails lay between Highland and Boulder Creeks, giving us the flexibility to craft many medium-distance backpacking loops around the Carson Iceberg.

Start at your favorite PCT or TYT trailhead around the perimeter of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness. Hike to the connector trail of your choice, change directions and trails. Walk back towards your trailhead until you come to the connector trail back to your original trail and trailhead.

Check out this Carson Iceberg Wilderness topo hiking map that depicts our backpacking options connecting the PCT with the TYT into fantastic backpacking loops.

Check out this article about a 50 mile loop around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness using bits of both trails. Then figure out the backpacking loop trip that perfectly fits your expectations, desires, and capacities.

Wolf Creek Pass
options
to the
Tahoe to Yosemite Trail

Wolf Creek Pass trail junction opens up access from the Pacific Crest Trail to three of the four trails connecting the Pacific Crest Trail with the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail across the length of the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. Turning Southwest towards Gardner Meadow and Highland Lakes from Wolf Creek Pass opens up a wide range of local backpacking loops as well as excellent route options for the long distance backpacking hiking across the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

Hiking South down the trail towards Highland Lakes off of the Pacific Crest Trail at Wolf Creek Pass brings us first to the Arnot and Disaster Creek trail junction half-way to the Gardner Meadow trailhead, which is along our hike to Highland Lakes.

Highland Lakes Backpacking Map
USGS 15 minute hiking map

Both the Arnot and Disaster Creek trails have Southern trailheads on the Clarks Fork Road along the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail. Clarks Fork Road is off Highway 108, the Sonora Pass Road. The Northern ends of both of these trails terminate along the trail to our Southwest linking Wolf Creek Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail to the Gardner Meadow Trailhead off the Highland Lakes Road.

The Arnot and Disaster Creek trails are PCT-TYT connector trails number 2 and number 3, with the Highland Creek Trail being number 1.

If we continued hiking Southwest towards Highland Lakes from Wolf Creek Pass past the Arnot and Disaster Creek trail junction we will emerge onto the Highland Lakes Road through the Gardner Meadow Trailhead.
In this scenario we are going to follow the road down to its end at the Highland Creek Trailhead located on the far Southwestern end of the lower, Westernmost Highland Lake.

We'll hike down Highland Creek to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail where it passes around the Northeast end of Spicer Meadow Reservoir. This Highland Lakes Trail down to the TYT is the Northernmost of the four PCT-TYT connector trails we will encounter hiking South across the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

The Arnot and Disaster Creek trails are the second and third trails connecting the PCT and TYT across the Carson Iceberg Wilderness, and the Boulder Lake trail is the fourth and Southernmost.

Further South along the Pacific Crest Trail we will encounter two other trails linking up with the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail. The next is at the Golden Canyon-Paradise Valley trail junction, and the last is through the Boulder Lake trail junction.

Once we hike South of Wolf Creek Pass along the PCT our options down to the TYT diminish.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness
30 minute backpacking Map

The Paradise Valley trail from Golden Canyon leads West to Disaster Creek, which drains into the Clarks Fork of the Stanislaus across the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail at the very end of the Clarks Fork Road.

This route is a variant of the Disaster Creek Trail coming down from Wolf Creek Pass, but here we join the Disaster Creek trail half-way down its canyon to the Clarks Fork from Wolf Creek Pass. The Boulder Lake trail, our fourth and shortest route connecting the PCT and TYT trail, follows a feeder stream of Boulder Lake down through a good-quality unmaintained trail route to Boulder Lake, and then down a good trail following Boulder Creek to the Boulder Lake trail junction on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail along the Clarks Fork of the Stanislaus River a couple of miles above the end of the Clarks Fork Road.

These four trails linking the PCT to the TYT mean that we can create great and small backpacking loops tying these connecting trails into sections of the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trail.

We can easily create 20 to 90 mile loops around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness using our wide selection of trailheads on Highway 4 to the North, Highway 108 to the South, the Clarks Fork Road off of Highway 108, and even from Highway 395 to the East.

The Carson Iceberg is covered by a web of interlocked trails.

More Information

I also discuss the potential for hiking loops of 20 to 90 miles around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness at the Jenkins Canyon and Boulder Lake trail junctions.

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Wolf Creek Pass

Route options for PCT
and
especially PCT section hikers

Wolf Creek Pass
Highland Lake Trail Junction

Northbound Hikers
on the
Pacific Crest Trail

Hike to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail to Resupply at Lake Alpine

If you have lots of time on your hands while hiking North on the PCT up to Lake Tahoe, or you are a PCT section hiker, let me suggest this Pacific Crest Trail route variation hiking North between Sonora Pass on Highway 108 to Ebbetts Pass on Highway 4.

At Wolf Creek Pass turn Southwest to Highland Lakes. On the South side of the Southwestern Highland Lake take the Highland Creek Trail down to the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail at Jenkins Canyon, just above the top of Spicer Meadow Reservoir. From there follow the Southbound Tahoe to Yosemite Trail to Lake Alpine.

Highland Lakes between Wolf Creek Pass and Highland Creek
MAP

Pick up your resupply and kick back at the Lake Alpine Lodge for a nice day off.

Wolf Creek Pass is a little over 7 miles South of Ebbetts Pass at Highway 4 hiking North on the Pacific Crest Trail.
This route alteration from Wolf Creek Pass down through Highland Creek and onto the Northbound TYT to Lake Alpine on Highway 4 is roughly 21 miles. This route alteration adds significant miles, 14 miles, to the Pacific Crest Trail route across the Carson Iceberg Wilderness, and also adds a significant increase in elevation climbed if you are crossing over from the TYT to the PCT heading Southbound.

PCT hikers lose elevation hiking North.

More Trail Options
North from Lake Alpine

The Northbound hiker along the Pacific Crest Trail route who has followed my crazy route variation down to Lake Alpine on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail is now faced with a 15 mile hitch-hike East on Highway 4 from Lake Alpine back up to the Pacific Crest Trail route at Ebbetts Pass.

Hitching back to the PCT at Ebbetts Pass may not be your best move if you are a PCT section hiker, or have time, curiosity, and expert hiking skills in your head and feet. At Lake Alpine we are located just a bit South of, and one High Sierra mountain ridge East of a classic section of High Sierra Trail.

One of the most remarkable sections along a major High Sierra trail is the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail North of Lake Alpine. Unlike most major trails, this 26.28 mile section of trail from Lake Alpine to Carson Pass contains a 9.7 mile section from Camp Irene to the Fourth of July Lake trail junction along Summit City Creek that has long been unmaintained, offering an exercise for our observational and route finding skills, our physical fitness, and our psychological preparation for untrailed travel through remote terrain.
Most major High Sierra Trails are deeply cut into the terrain, and offer little or no route finding challenge. This section of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail North of Mount Reba requires excellent observation and route finding skills.

Though "named," and a major trail, the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail between the North Fork of the Mokelumne River and the trail junction below Fourth of July Lake is a special route. I call this section a transitional trail.

Trail sections like this one are the "front door" into cross-country travel, presenting a first step into finding and crafting our own routes through the Sierra. Though unmaintained and at times very rough, this section is contained within a constrained valley, keeping us roughly on course.

We do not have to find the crack in the Sierra Crest line into, or out of this rough section. A fine trail leads us into, and a fine trail leads us out of this isolated segment of trail. It is the span between these maintained trails that we must figure out.

Though unmaintained, this route is well-marked late in the season. Fools leave ducks, most of which are thankfully swept away by the thaw every year. Early in the season this section is unmarked, and sometimes very overgrown too. Mid-season this route is a classic. This route is soooo worthy of drawing the attention of skilled PCT section hikers, it is so superior to the PCT route, that I cannot stress it enough. (The same thing is true about your potential PCT route variations across the Emigrant Wilderness too...my opinion...) Now that you are excited about this, let's do it.

TYT route North of Lake Alpine

Continue North on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail from Lake Alpine over Mount Reba down into the isolated roughness of the unmaintained trail section along the N Mokelumne River up Summit City Creek to the Fourth of July trail junction at historic Summit City, a ghost town where we are a few short miles from Carson Pass and rejoining the Pacific Crest Trail.

North of Carson Pass the Pacific Crest Trail and the Tahoe to Yosemite Trails rejoin entering the Lake Tahoe Basin through the Carson Gap and their unified trek North on the Sierra Crestline above the West Shore of Lake Tahoe.
We'll pick up the Tahoe Rim Trail at Meiss Cabin just inside the Tahoe Basin North of Carson Pass.

Altering our PCT route from Sonora Pass to Carson Pass by diverting through the Lake Alpine to Carson Gap section creates a great route combining the best elements of the Pacific Crest Trail through the grand beauty of the East Fork of the Carson River with the isolated beauty of the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail through the serial desolation first in Highland Creek, and then in the deep quiet of Summit City Creek.

Plus, this route allows us to walk into Lake Alpine to pick up our re supply package, eat some fresh food, and meet a bunch of cool folks.

For short and medium distance backpackers this hike from Sonora Pass to Lake Alpine via Highland Lakes and Creek along this route can be quite a nice trip on its own merits. My real point here is that we are in charge of our hike.

We don't have to stay on any pre-determined route. We can select our route to extend or diminish the distance, difficulty, and duration of our backpacking trip. My advice on each of these points is clear:

Go for the longest route possible, don't get outside of our skill set, and stay out as long as we possibly can.

920 feet over 2.1 miles
between high point on Tyron Peak to Wolf Creek Pass.

The Wolf Creek Pass trail junction
.41 miles South of Asa Lake.

The Wolf Creek Pass trail junction is 3.85 miles North of Murray Canyon trail junction.

The Wolf Creek Pass trail junction is 7.02 miles South of Ebbetts Pass.

The Wolf Creek Pass trail junction is 22.42 miles North of Sonora Pass.

TYT Mileage and Elevations
Hike to Lake Alpine
on the
Tahoe to Yosemite Trail

Wolf Creek Pass
to
Gardner Meadow Trailhead on Highland Lakes Road
2.63 miles.

Gardner Meadow Trailhead
to
Highland Creek Trailhead
1.09 miles.

Highland Creek to Wolf Creek Pass
Trail Guide Page

Highland Creek Trailhead
to
Jenkins Canyon trail junction on the TYT
6.46 miles.

Jenkins Canyon to Highland Creek Trailhead
Trail Guide Page

Jenkins Canyon trail junction
to
Silver Valley Trailhead
on
East Shore of Lake Alpine
11.38 miles.

Lake Alpine to Rock Lake
Trail Guide Page

Silver Valley Trailhead
on the TYT
to
Wolf Creek Pass on the PCT
21.56 miles.

Hiking down to Lake Alpine from Ebbetts Pass?
Add another 7.02 miles bringing the total to 28.58 miles.

Hiking to Lake Alpine from the auto-accessible Highland Creek Trailhead at lower Highland Lake?
That brings the miles to Lake Alpine down to 17.82 miles.

Check out the
Wolf Creek Pass (PCT)
to
Lake Alpine (TYT)
Map

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Team Opus hitting the trail South after camping near Wolf Creek Pass.

This was a family and friends hiking team.

Tom, Dave, Steve and Cooper hiking Tahoe to Yosemite on the Pacific Crest Trail. July '09.

I believe they are friend, granddad, son, and son in law.

We'll see them down at the Swampy Lake too...

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View Northwest of Tyron Peak from Wolf Creek Pass.

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Early morning frosts and freezes are never unexpected in the Sierra.

Wolf Creek Pass is a flat meadow type terrain being penetrated by lodgepole pines. On its East side the meadow drains to become Elder Creek, while on its West side the meadow runs West by Southwest and opens up into Lower Gardner Meadow.

A seasonal tributary flows through Lower Gardner Meadow draining off the Northeast flank of Arnot Peak. This tributary joins with the other headwaters branch of the North Fork of the Mokelumne flowing to the North out of Lower Highland Lake.

We'll see this upper tributary of the North Mokelumne running through forest and across meadows to our Southwest as we hike South from Wolf Creek Pass towards Wolf Creek.

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Meadow-Headwaters of Elder Creek frozen.

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Wolf Creek Pass
to
Wolf Creek Campsite

Wolf Creek Campsite: A Relaxing Spot

The next series of images brings us across 1.61 miles of rolling-rising terrain between Wolf Creek Pass to the nice campsite on the North bank of Wolf Creek.

We start with a gentle uphill hike South from Wolf Creek Pass before dropping into the Wolf Creek drainage. The first major creek we encounter (there are a couple of Spring Thaw seasonal runoff areas we cross) is the main body of Wolf Creek.

Wolf Creek flows down to the Northeast from where the PCT crosses it to flow under the East side of Highland Peak. A bit further down the mountain Wolf Creek merges into the East Carson near Monitor Pass on Highway 4.

We would have ended up downstream on Wolf Creek if we had hiked East from the Bull Canyon trail junction below the North side of Tyron Peak, or hiked Northeast from the Wolf Creek Pass trail junction.

These routes are depicted on the 30 minute Carson Iceberg Wilderness map.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness
30 minute backpacking Map

A bit South of Wolf Creek on the PCT we will be able to look back to the Northwest to see twilight's sunbeams streaming through Bull Canyon onto the South flank of Highland Peak. We've seen Highland and Silver Peaks to our South since hiking onto the South flank of The Nipple. Now we will observe and use their Southeastern flanks as landmarks until we climb out of the East Carson Headwaters and finally lose sight of them 20.81 miles to our South.

Once we get down to the first and main branch of Wolf Creek our trail begins undulating across the drainages of its next two subordinate branches before a gentle climb brings us to the North rim of Murray Canyon.

The Murray Canyon trail junction is located at the base of the "Northern Sharkfin," Peak 9362 on our USGS topo backpacking maps, who's distinctive shape we have been using as a visual landmark hiking South. This is different from the "Southern Sharkfin" sitting on the South rim of Golden Canyon above the Swampy Lake. The "Southern Sharkfin" marks our exit from Golden Canyon as the "Northern Sharkin" marks our entrance to Murray Canyon.

Wolf Creek is 8.63 miles South of Ebbetts Pass.

Wolf Creek is 20.81 miles North of Sonora Pass.

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Mini-gorge of metamorphic rock.

The course of the seasonal stream running down to join the North Fork of the Mokelumne emerging from the upper Highland Lake.

This rock almost cooled into a Devils Postpile-type of column configuration, but did not quite reach that level of organization.

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But here we are still in the Western drainage of the North Fork of the Mokelumne River. Once we hike to the top of this rise we are on we will be in the Eastern Wolf Creek drainage, which feeds the East Carson River.

We can make out a vertical column structure.

The Arnot Peak Massif behind lush early Summer Meadows.

Arnot Peak is the triangular mass rising on this side of the ridgline in the center of the image.

Note the Volcanic structure on the left of Arnot Peak eroded into the form of a shark's tooth. This area has great metamorphic and volcanic features eroded into the shapes of shark fins and teeth.

These features are handy landmarks.

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The trail tracks along the base of this section of the Sierra Crest Line.

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Feature on the East side of the Arnot Massif.

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Arnot Peak Crestline hiking South past Arnot Peak.

We're now dropping down to Wolf Creek.

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Yellow, High Sierra Flower, Bolander's dandelion?

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This is likely a remnant of barbed wire marking out old pasture land absorbed into the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

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Headwaters of the North fork of the Mokelumne River running off the Northwestern end of the Arnot Peak Massif.

Well, this is the seasonal tributary flowing down to join the North Fork of the Mokelumne running out of the upper Highland Lake.

This stream does not run too near the trail, but we can see it to our Southwest.

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Forest Trail South to Wolf Creek and on to the East Fork of the Carson River.

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John, Dave, & crew. July 24, 2009.

They were fixing up one of the Spring Thaw gullies that run hard during the melt, damaging the trail.

Every fold in the mountainside holds one of these gullies, and they all degrade the trail bit by bit with each Spring Runoff flow.

Trails Forum

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The Wolf Creek campsite is expansive, has a big fire ring, nice boulders for cooking platforms, excellent year round water. and is a pleasant place.

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Sleeping pad is my footstool.

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Late October.

This is slush. There is no liquid water flowing in the river of slush above.

Even the tiny cascades of splashing white water are nothing more than splashing water frozen in to place, frozen into crystal ice shaped as splashes, frozen to the slush.

Quite amazing.

Not much water was actually flowing. You can't see it, but a thin film of water is flowing over and through the hard frozen mini-cascade at the top of the image. It is negligible.

Hard crystal ice is frozen in mid-splash every place water looks like it was cascading or splashing.

What looks like pools of flowing water is a body of slush standing in place. All waves and ripples are frozen in place.

I imagine the slush itself was moving very slowly, below my ability to perceive, as indicated by the staircase formation of layers as the slow moving mass of semi-solid water stacked up on its original surface as the lower layers lost its ability to flow over obstacles.

The fact is that there is virtually no liquid water in the pictures above or below.

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Seeing water configured as a staircase was beautiful.

Wolf Creek to Shark fin 9362

Unique Features Mark your Path

Wolf Creek is followed by two of Wolf Creek's feeder drainages to the South. We get glimpses every now and then of an unusual metamorphic feature to our South as we hike in and out of these subordinate branches of Wolf Creek.

I call this the "Northern Sharkfin" because it is one of two similar features that are situated on the North edge of Murray Canyon and the South end of Golden Canyon. The Northern Sharkfin is marked as Peak 9362 on our USGS topo maps.

It marks the location of the Murray Canyon trail junction as well as our Southbound entrance into Murray Canyon.

Entering Murray Canyon we are entering the immediate watershed of the East Carson River. Murray Canyon is a hanging canyon carved into the Western wall of the fantastic granite canyon of the upper section of the East Carson River.

Golden Canyon lays immediately to the South of Murray Canyon along our trail and South on the canyon wall from Murray Canyon along the East Carson River. The "Southern Sharkfin," marked as Peak 9501 on our maps is situated on the Southern rim of Golden Canyon overlooking the Swampy Lake.

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I use these unique features as landmarks. This feature marks our Southbound entrance to Murray Canyon. The trail down Murray Canyon to the East Carson River at Falls Meadow runs around this side of the base of peak 9360.

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Three tributaries of Wolf Creek cross the trail.

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Darkness, Light, Hot and Cold, Up and Down, the trails through nature are a kaleidoscope of feelings, sensations, sights, and experiences.

Don't live your life without dipping it deeply into its primary sources.

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Pacific Crest Section Hikers. This Section (encountered sept '09): Tuolumne to Ebbetts Pass. After we talked for awhile about this trail guide project these dudes insisted that I take a nifty little camera case to protect my equipment.

I had made a "backpacker bum" camera case out of duct tape...

Thanks dudes! Your case still shields my camera.

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Running low in July. Prior to the recent run of very heavy Winters and snow in late Spring (2010 and 2011) we were in the middle of a multi-decade movement towards earlier Spring thaws and shorter Winters.

Thus Wolf Creek's feeder creeks were drying out or diminishing by late July during the Summer of 2009.

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Light snows and cold winds were highlighting our hike, and this sunray was a cold pleasure.

As we approach Murray Canyon Southbound the route of the trail gives us occasional views to the Northwest over towards Highland and Silver Peaks until we enter an open meadow area where we can now get long views over at the East end of Bull Canyon and the East flanks of Highland and Silver Peaks, and the wide scope of the drainage of Wolf Creek passing Northeast under their Eastern flanks.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness Backpacking Map
30 minute USGS Topo Map

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I told you I use terrain landmarks... We are looking Southeast across the expansive open meadow North of Murray Canyon.

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Wolf Creek runs down and joins the East Carson River on its way down to drain into the desert.

As we approach Murray Canyon (South, to our Right) we are nearing the course of the East Carson River, but at its highest reach up the mountain.

Wolf Creek joins the East Carson at the end of the rounded massif in the center of the image above. We can just make out the East end of Bull Canyon on the far Left of the mountain ridge above.

We will follow the East Carson River upstream, South, through its headwaters bowl for 14.48 miles once we get into to its drainage, which begins South of the upcoming Murray Canyon trail junction.

Murray Canyon drains into the East Carson River.

Carson Iceberg Wilderness Backpacking Map
30 minute USGS Topo Map

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comments?

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PCT Section Hiker. Late July 2009.

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Comment-Identification?

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Murray Canyon Trail Junction

Down to Falls Meadow and Carson Falls

Murray Canyon is a grand "hanging canyon" suspended in the Western Wall of the Sierra bounding the East Fork of the Carson River. So to is Golden Canyon, the next canyon immediately South of Murray Canyon.

For the next 3.78 miles we will cross the upper reaches of these two canyons, hiking between the Northern and Southern Sharkfins.

We will be passing from the Northern boundary of Murray Canyon through the Southern boundary of Golden Canyon. Shark fins of metamorphic rock mark both the Northern and Southern ends of these canyons.

At any point in time that we can see either of them we can locate ourselves fairly precisely in the terrain.

Though these sorts of landmark observations are helpful during Summer, they become vital during Winter travel.

The East Fork of the Carson River Trail at Falls Meadow is 2.95 miles East of the Murray Canyon trail junction.

Murray Canyon is 10.87 miles South of Ebbetts Pass.

Murray Canyon is 18.57 miles North of Sonora Pass.

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We are now officially in the drainage of the East Fork of the Carson River.

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South past the Murray Canyon trail junction we hike South to cross the upper end of Murray Canyon.

Disaster Peak rises above the West ends of both Murray and Golden Canyons, though it is lined up behind Golden Canyon.

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Murray Canyon Campsites

1.5 miles South of Murray Canyon Trail Junction

The Murray Canyon trail junction is located on the North side of Murray Canyon.

There is a small feeder stream where the Pacific Crest trail crosses the center of Murray Canon that is not marked on the maps. But it is there, and there are a swath of campsites on its South side, as pictured below.

The stream is captured in the video for this section, and you can see it is a trickle during late October of a very wet Summer. It will not be flowing during late August of a normal year, and it will terminate by late July during a dry year.

Murray Canyon is 12.37 miles South of Ebbetts Pass.

Murray Canyon is 17.07 miles North of Sonora Pass.

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Looking North from a break in the spotty forest cover while crossing the upper reaches of Murray Canyon.

We are looking back at the Northern Shark fin, Peak 9360, which marked our Southbound entrance into Murray Canyon.

Murray Canyon drains East, into the East Fork of the Carson River, to our Right.

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Murray Canyon trail at base of North Sharkfin.

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Sierra Water and Fording Conditions

The Lay of the Land

When the thaw starts running the snow line up the mountains every year we can see open trails coming soon, after the emerging trails stop flowing like creeks...

Yet sometimes things happen. For the last two years (2010 and 2011) the Spring Thaw did not begin in earnest until after Summer had already technically begun.

Don't plan your backpacking trips by the calendar, but by the conditions on the ground. Many times the two do not match. During these mismatched times unobservant and/or poorly prepared backpackers can suffer and even die.

Spring Thaw Trail Conditions

Well, during normal years the Spring Thaw fills the trails with flowing runoff, making them run as creeks towards the end of June and the beginning of July. The newly exposed soils can become so saturated that soil actually flows slowly down mountain. The example below is a uniquely terraced. Most mud flows are not terraced.

	At the bottom of the Shortcut from Poison Flat to Dumonts Meadow.				Deep, wet, and terraced mud.
	A great flow of Spring wetness oozing out of the base of the mountain.				East Fork of the Carson River.

Sections of the trail will sink you in up to your ankles, if you are lucky.

Spring Thaw Fording Conditions

During the height of the Spring Thaw the smallest tributaries are raging and the main rivers are outright dangerous. As Spring warms into Summer the wide fan of the tributaries up into the edges of the drainage bowls start drying out, leaving only tired flows in the higher elevation main drainages.

During drought years, or late during a dry Summer, even the main drainages start retreating down-mountain, leaving only a dry stream bed crossing the Pacific Crest Trail up high.

Neither of these early or late conditions should be of too great concern to the mid-Summer hiker. Unless it is a very wet or a very dry year. Remember to base your trip plans on the conditions on the ground, not the date on the calendar.

Observe the character of the transition of the seasons into Summer and the resulting conditions so you can understand the specific water availability, the fording conditions, and the weather and temps you will experience.

High Sierra Weather Forecasts and Conditions

Video: Sierra Water and Fording Conditions. 1:45.

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Backpacking Trail Guide

PCT
North

South
to the
TYT

Wolf Creek Pass
to
Highland Lakes
and/or the
Tahoe to Yosemite Trail

Backpacking Trail Guide

PCT
South

Murray Canyon
to
Boulder Lake Junction