THe Hoover Wilderness is one of our favorite backpacking destinations. It's located in the Eastern Sierra, sitting like a Scottish tam hat on the northeast edge of Yosemite National Park. In previous years, we've hiked from the Leavitt Meadows trailhead at the far north end of the Hoover Wilderness, and some twenty years ago we hiked up to the Robinson Lakes from the Twin Lakes trailhead.
This year, we decided to try the Green River trailhead.
And Dan was able to join us!
The two-volume Sierra South and Sierra North books from Kathey Morey and Mike White, now in their, what, thousandth edition, are the definitive source of information about backpacking in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. I own at least three versions of these books, and they are endlessly useful. They're now over 50 years old; the first editions came out in the mid 1960's!! My 9th edition copies, now 20 years old, are dog-eared and coffee-stained, but they continue to be the essential information about where to go and what to expect.
Here's how Sierra North describes the East Lake trip from the Green River Trailhead in the Hoover Wilderness:
This is a fine beginner's weekend hike. East Lake's scenery includes three colorful peaks, Gabbro, Page, and Epidote, each of which are composed of rocks varying in hue from vermillion reds to ochre, and set in metavolcanic blacks for contrast. Nearby Nutter, Gilman, and Hoover lakes offer good fishing to supplement the angling in East Lake, and the wide-ranging scenery along the way rivals any found on longer backpack trips.
I can confirm the truth of the second and third sentences.
And bonus points to Sierra North for managing to use vermillion, ochre, and metavolcanic in a single sentence.
But, I must protest that first sentence. A beginner's weekend hike this is not.
The distance wasn't that long; it was four miles from the trailhead to our campsite at the far end of East Lake. But the elevation was substantial: the trailhead is at eight thousand feet, East Lake is at nine thousand six hundred feet, and the trail, which follows the Green River canyon, ascends and descends several hundred feet at a time in places where the river dips around a cross canyon or encounters a sheer face that the trail must circumvent. All told, we climbed close to two thousand vertical feet on our way in (and came back down that much on our way out).
More challenging, though, were the numerous river crossings. There are about six substantial river crossings between the trailhead and East Lake, each with the typical hazards such as slippery rocks, fast current, decaying tree branches, and uncertain footing. It's one thing to spring across a river crossing carrying little more than a camera and a water bottle; it's another thing entirely to cross one with a full pack, tired after hours on the trail, and light-headed from the low oxygen levels found at nine thousand feet.
But the result was worth it! East Lake is just as beautiful as the guidebooks suggested, the weather was glorious, and we enjoyed every minute wandering through the forest and admiring the vistas.
We had our share of adventure! Dan's old boots proved not up to the task, and after only a few miles he decided to be wise and head home before the torn footgear became nothing but fabric shreds. And Rich's tennis elbow flared up, giving him such stabbing pain from shoulder to wrist that he could no longer heft his pack, and he too departed early. Roger and Chris and I enjoyed an eight mile round trip day hike from East Lake past Nutter Lake, Gilman Lake, the two Hoover Lakes, and up at last to Summit Lake, which sits at ten thousand two hundred feet atop the crest of Green River canyon and drains down into Yosemite National Park to the west.
Exhausted but happy, we returned home, pleased once more by the stark and majestic beauty of the Eastern Sierras.
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