This trip was an attempt to squeeze in one last hike before putting away the backpacking gear for the winter. The weather forecast was for highs of 60°F and lows of 38°F, which is well within the limits of my summer UL gear, so I figured why not. I left home in the East Bay at 9:20 am and, after getting my permit at the Pinecrest Ranger Station, arrived at the Crabtree Trailhead and was on the trial at 12:20 pm.

Within the first 200 yards I met Sean from Sunnyvale. He is just making the transition to UL and was interested in discussing preferences in UL gear. He had a Jam 2, merino shirt, trail runners, and hiking poles, and was obviously well on his way to UL. I saw some dayhikers at Camp Lake but only saw one other backpacker all day, ironically also camped at Piute Lake.



Fall Colors enroute to Camp Lake



Camp Lake



Lilypad Lake



At the Notch above Piute Meadow

The storm the previous week had obviously dumped a lot of rain/snow in the area. The soil was moist, and there was water standing on the trails. All the rivers had much more than the normal amount of water for this time of year.



Snow in the High Country



Alpenglow above Camp at Piute Lake

My camp above Piute Lake had a 360 degree view of the sky and scenery. The sunset made it one of the more spectacular campsites I’ve had.



Sunset at Camp above Piute Lake

The next morning I pushed on to Gem Lake then descended to Buck Meadow Creek to return to the trailhead via Pine Valley.



Gem Lake

As I descended into the Buck Meadow Creek drainage on Sunday morning, I saw another hiker climbing up to Gem Lake. He was the only person I saw all day.



Descending to the Gem Lake Outlet to Buck Meadow Creek



Descending to Louse Canyon, Notch to Groundhog Meadow Ahead

Every other time I’ve been on this trail Cherry Creek was dry. I’d never seen these cascades before.



Cascades in West Fork Cherry Creek



More Fall Color



Descending into Pine Valley



Grouse Lake

I arrived back at the Crabtree Trailhead about 4:20 pm and was back home in the Bay Area by 7:30 pm Sunday night. All in all a great, quick mountain fix.

Edited by rgless on 11/04/2009 00:04:29 MST.

Did the same hike last year with Jay and Josh. Nice late season trip. Glad YOU did not get snowed on. Cherry Crk with water??

Cool stuff Richard, I was there this past Sunday and went out to Bear Lake...It was 75-80 degrees--- very warm for the first day of November.

Jay,

Great trip report with lots of photos and narration!

Weird weather this year in that the temps are so warm/mild.

Thanks for sharing.

One of these days, I will get the trip report done on our TRT trip.

House is going thru a remodel and wife is hogging the computer working on her Master's Degree.

-Tony