Carson Iceberg Wilderness – Paradise Valley Loop – July 17 - 18, 2010 & July 24 – 25, 2010
See the photos
I actually did this trip twice in back to back weekends but figure there is no need to write about it two separate times. I have only done one other trip in Carson Iceberg and that was many moons ago. All I can recall from that trip was that it was freezing…it was already October and we came across a small bear crossing the trail. I had decided that I wanted at least one of the trips that I was leading with Sierra Club to be a wildflower trip. I searched and searched for some options and finally came across what seemed to be a nice loop trip in Carson Iceberg off of H4.
Since I didn’t have much experience in the area and the fact that I like to actually do the route before taking a group out on it I decided to give it a dry run with Curtis and Andrew the weekend before my trip. I was also uncertain whether or not I would run into much snow since the high point go to about 10K. Highland Lakes was our staging point, which is reached by an unmaintained road. A 4WD wasn’t required but it was certainly bumpy in some areas. On the trip the following weekend we stayed at one of the campsites right after the Highland Lakes turnoff. I remember the campsite being quite a bargain and there was running water. There were also several unmaintained campsites right on the river along the road. Highland Lakes itself is a beautiful location with 2 huge lakes that are in a flat open area. The trailhead we were looking for was right before one of the lakes. There were wildflowers all over the place. I won’t call of the flowers out and will just let you look at the pictures.
We headed out northeast on the trail towards the Pacific Crest Trail. The climb was very gradual and the PCT pleasant in this section. We did run into some PCT hikers which got me very excited. Most were clean thru hikers, which perplexed me since I expected some pretty bad stink. We hadn’t picked a campsite beforehand and were more or less winging it the first weekend. Our first campsite was less than ideal and I corrected that the second time around with the bigger group. The next weekend we had a great flat campsite with wonderful views. Although with the campsite we got some rain…and a good ol fashioned Sierra thunder and lightning storm. For a few folks on the Sierra Club trip it was there first time out in rain…everyone and their equipment faired well.
The next day we walked about 15 minutes until we hit a saddle with outstanding views of peaks, peaks and more peaks. This was definitely a spot to sit and rest awhile. We headed down and to the junction of the PCT and the trail to Disaster Creek. This is where we saw the last of the PCTers. The climb up and over the pass was steep and thankfully short and we were heavily rewarded on the other side. The hike down Paradise Valley was simply amazing…wildflowers were in full bloom and just carpeted the area. It was also really neat to see how things change over the course of a week.
The last leg of the trip follows Disaster Creek and is a bit unexciting after going through Paradise Valley but was pleasant nonetheless. Once we hit Gardner Meadows the signage became really really bad and we got a bit turned around. Thankfully it’s very easy to navigate around in this area. Gardner Meadows are really beautiful. The other thing I did not mention is that from the time we hit the JMT/Disaster Creek Trail junction until we got to Gardner Meadows we did not see a single person on either trip. There are still so many places in the Sierras where one can find solitude. This was a really great trip and definitely exceeded my expectations.
See the photos
I actually did this trip twice in back to back weekends but figure there is no need to write about it two separate times. I have only done one other trip in Carson Iceberg and that was many moons ago. All I can recall from that trip was that it was freezing…it was already October and we came across a small bear crossing the trail. I had decided that I wanted at least one of the trips that I was leading with Sierra Club to be a wildflower trip. I searched and searched for some options and finally came across what seemed to be a nice loop trip in Carson Iceberg off of H4.
Since I didn’t have much experience in the area and the fact that I like to actually do the route before taking a group out on it I decided to give it a dry run with Curtis and Andrew the weekend before my trip. I was also uncertain whether or not I would run into much snow since the high point go to about 10K. Highland Lakes was our staging point, which is reached by an unmaintained road. A 4WD wasn’t required but it was certainly bumpy in some areas. On the trip the following weekend we stayed at one of the campsites right after the Highland Lakes turnoff. I remember the campsite being quite a bargain and there was running water. There were also several unmaintained campsites right on the river along the road. Highland Lakes itself is a beautiful location with 2 huge lakes that are in a flat open area. The trailhead we were looking for was right before one of the lakes. There were wildflowers all over the place. I won’t call of the flowers out and will just let you look at the pictures.
We headed out northeast on the trail towards the Pacific Crest Trail. The climb was very gradual and the PCT pleasant in this section. We did run into some PCT hikers which got me very excited. Most were clean thru hikers, which perplexed me since I expected some pretty bad stink. We hadn’t picked a campsite beforehand and were more or less winging it the first weekend. Our first campsite was less than ideal and I corrected that the second time around with the bigger group. The next weekend we had a great flat campsite with wonderful views. Although with the campsite we got some rain…and a good ol fashioned Sierra thunder and lightning storm. For a few folks on the Sierra Club trip it was there first time out in rain…everyone and their equipment faired well.
The next day we walked about 15 minutes until we hit a saddle with outstanding views of peaks, peaks and more peaks. This was definitely a spot to sit and rest awhile. We headed down and to the junction of the PCT and the trail to Disaster Creek. This is where we saw the last of the PCTers. The climb up and over the pass was steep and thankfully short and we were heavily rewarded on the other side. The hike down Paradise Valley was simply amazing…wildflowers were in full bloom and just carpeted the area. It was also really neat to see how things change over the course of a week.
The last leg of the trip follows Disaster Creek and is a bit unexciting after going through Paradise Valley but was pleasant nonetheless. Once we hit Gardner Meadows the signage became really really bad and we got a bit turned around. Thankfully it’s very easy to navigate around in this area. Gardner Meadows are really beautiful. The other thing I did not mention is that from the time we hit the JMT/Disaster Creek Trail junction until we got to Gardner Meadows we did not see a single person on either trip. There are still so many places in the Sierras where one can find solitude. This was a really great trip and definitely exceeded my expectations.
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