More Carson-Iceberg Wilderness

[balzaccom]

Maybe this is a sign of where we are headed...

Registration for the backpacking permit is all on-line, and easy as pie. And so we headed up to the Stanislaus National Forest to hike a loop out of the Arnot Creek trailhead. This area got badly burned in the Donnell Fire a couple of years ago, but we hoped our route would take us up and out of the fire damage. And we wanted to see how bad it really was.

The first two miles were through a decimated forest--not much green to be seen, and mainly just stands of blackened trunks. But once we made it to the Woods Gulch Trail we immediately climbed up out of the fire damage into a steep climb up over the pass towards Highland Creek.

And this is where the real adventure began. I don't think a trail crew had seen that trail in fifteen years. Downed trees everywhere. Often overgrown with manzanita or, even worse, whitethorn, At times it was hard to find the trail. Once down to Highland Creek, it didn't get any better. This had once been a really nice trail, but now it was an obstacle course.

At Highland Lakes we were surprised to see the campground open...but sadly, the water system wasn't working yet. From there we tried to follow the trail back down to Arnot Creek, but there were so many use trails and short cuts that we never did find the junction.

Eventually we decided that we knew where the trail had to be and where it had to go, and just went there. And found it. And followed it back down tot the burned area at the trailhead.

A total of 22 miles, more or less. Some spectacular scenery in this part of the Sierra--volcanic peaks, lots of beautiful granite, the flowers were just starting, and we only had mosquito issues in two short stretches. And we saw exactly one other group of backpackers in the entire three day trip.

Not for the inexperienced...

Here's the full trail report, with photos, and the complete photo log:

https://www.backpackthesierra.com/post/ ... wilderness

[davidsheridan]

Thanks for that report. I am headed that direction in a couple of weeks and found your report very informative.

[SSSdave]

That zone has some fascinating volcanic landscapes that provide rich nutrients for plants. However after driving SR108 last week, it was evident the unusual weather this year has delivered a poor wildflower season. More than just the 2/3 normal precipitation as we had that 7 week February dry spell when germinated plants expect to store a lot of water as temperatures warm, then May was cool with winter fronts moving down east oft he range, and June hot with one cold frost storm. Saw expanses of mule ears with none to few flowers that is a perennial strategy to bypass poor weather years with other species water stunted.

[balzaccom]

We did see a lot of different flowers, Dave, just not very many of any of them...

[windknot]

Thanks for the report! You do a good job finding out-of-the-way trails. Great way to stay socially distanced.

[giantbrookie]

Nice. I too was in a part of the Sierra with similar geology. It is nice to have the contrast between the slabby granitic terrain we're accustomed with the knobby volcanic moonscape. In contrast to where you went, which is would fall under the category of a "path less traveled", I was in a much more popular area (partly because it can be reached by very short hikes from two major roads).