As I was forced to take a furlough day in September, and couldn't take any day prior to today off I decided to take advantage of the lack of crowds by hiking to Granite Lake. Silver Lake has camping, two resorts with camping, and forest service cabins so it's usually crowded. I like to let Commando off leash but that means going to lonelier places so I don't bother anyone.
The trail head as described by the forest service is well marked. The sign says 1 mile as do the forest service directions, but I'm not so sure. After climbing a bit through a mixed granite high altitude pine forest there is a surprise trail junction. It says Granite Lake .5 miles ahead and the parking area 1 mile back. Even my math says that's 1.5 miles.
We reached the lake and I changed into shorts and waded around. The water was nice and cool. I did pick off something that looked like a leech though. Ick. We met some odd women with a Puli dog on a leash. They didn't know where Plasse's was and said they had hiked to Hidden Lake which was several miles along. Hmmm, I didn't think it was that far. Plus, didn't they look at a map?
Read a little, drank my drink, ate my sandwich. Commando waded, scared off the blue jays, and chased squirrels. It was nice and relaxing. Headed back and encountered no one so it was a perfect day.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
More Mt. Lola pictures
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| My signature on the summit log. Commando refused to sign. |
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| This is the box in which the summit logs are stored. It would have been interesting to read all of the entries...the box is stuffed with papers. |
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Bagged Mt. Lola - Finally!
A few weekends ago I decided to try and summit Mt. Lola. The trail from White Rock Lake is described as about 2 miles to the 9100 ft' summit. The first time I got on the wrong trail. I tried to follow a use trail that goes straight up and I gave up because it was too difficult. I did have a nice hike around the lake though.
The second time I studied the terrain and decided to dispense with the trail entirely and go up a saddle on the dam end of the lake. Although I had a great hike, going cross country proved to be a bit much and I didn't make it.
The third time I determined to carefully follow the trail. Unfortunately, I skipped lunch and didn't bother to hydrate or eat while hiking and somewhere very close to the summit I became ill and had to turn back. This route was quite punishing once I got to Mt. Lola's final flank. The trail from White Rock Lake is not well marked and is a bit hard to follow, although, not impossible. There also seems to be a trail, not on any map, that seems to head over to Castle Peak area so be careful.
After more terrain and map studying, I decided to drive up a forest service/logging road to Cold Stream Meadow and take the trail from there. There also seemed to be a sort of road on satellite views that went to almost 8500 feet and put one quite close to the summit.
The forest service road is passable by most high clearance vehicles. It's narrow and overgrown so you'll get paint scratches. I chose to drive over the foot bridge and it felt sturdy but it was scary nonetheless. If it ever fails there will be a good 3 foot drop into the creek.
The road forks above the meadow. I didn't like the look of either and parked a few feet back in a logging clearing. I chose to hike the road that went up and this turned out to be a good decision. It goes up and up and up with several switchbacks and a few steep places. It finally ends at a logging clearing and I had to just go up through the forest, then across a boulder field, then through some mule's ears and scraggly manzanita to a saddle. Once here, the going is not bad. It's all worn volcanic rock with scrubby plants worn down by the wind. It's not very steep, but there is still a climb to a rounded peak, then a slight drop, another climb to another rounded peak, then a slight drop, then, finally Mt. Lola!!
On this trip I set an alarm every 1/2 hour and forced myself to rest, eat, and drink. It made a big difference in how I felt. Although I could tell I was at elevation, there was none of the nausea and dizziness of Friday's trip.
I chose to take the trail back to the meadow and the car. I'm really glad I took the road up because I think it was easier than the trail. It took about 3 to 4 hours for me to get up and only 2 to get back to the car.
The second time I studied the terrain and decided to dispense with the trail entirely and go up a saddle on the dam end of the lake. Although I had a great hike, going cross country proved to be a bit much and I didn't make it.
The third time I determined to carefully follow the trail. Unfortunately, I skipped lunch and didn't bother to hydrate or eat while hiking and somewhere very close to the summit I became ill and had to turn back. This route was quite punishing once I got to Mt. Lola's final flank. The trail from White Rock Lake is not well marked and is a bit hard to follow, although, not impossible. There also seems to be a trail, not on any map, that seems to head over to Castle Peak area so be careful.
After more terrain and map studying, I decided to drive up a forest service/logging road to Cold Stream Meadow and take the trail from there. There also seemed to be a sort of road on satellite views that went to almost 8500 feet and put one quite close to the summit.
The forest service road is passable by most high clearance vehicles. It's narrow and overgrown so you'll get paint scratches. I chose to drive over the foot bridge and it felt sturdy but it was scary nonetheless. If it ever fails there will be a good 3 foot drop into the creek.
The road forks above the meadow. I didn't like the look of either and parked a few feet back in a logging clearing. I chose to hike the road that went up and this turned out to be a good decision. It goes up and up and up with several switchbacks and a few steep places. It finally ends at a logging clearing and I had to just go up through the forest, then across a boulder field, then through some mule's ears and scraggly manzanita to a saddle. Once here, the going is not bad. It's all worn volcanic rock with scrubby plants worn down by the wind. It's not very steep, but there is still a climb to a rounded peak, then a slight drop, another climb to another rounded peak, then a slight drop, then, finally Mt. Lola!!
On this trip I set an alarm every 1/2 hour and forced myself to rest, eat, and drink. It made a big difference in how I felt. Although I could tell I was at elevation, there was none of the nausea and dizziness of Friday's trip.
I chose to take the trail back to the meadow and the car. I'm really glad I took the road up because I think it was easier than the trail. It took about 3 to 4 hours for me to get up and only 2 to get back to the car.
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