Grouse Ridge. Heading Home.
Along I-80 at the Emigrant Gap - Sat, 22 Jun 2019, 4pm
We're on our way home now. Just pulled off at a rest stop on I-80 with beautiful views over the Emigrant Gap. I'm sharing this picture because it shows a bit of where we were today:
At the bottom center of the picture is Spaulding Lake. Rising thousands of feet above it in the background is Grouse Ridge. The Grouse Lakes Basin is over that ridge. When we climbed to a low part of the ridge behind Carr Lake we could see over here, to I-80.
We did try a few more hiking spots after Carr Lake before calling it a day. We drove 4x4 trails around to Lindsey Lake, another big lake in the Grouse Lakes Basin. It was even more popular with campers than Carr Lake was, likely because its camping spots are drive-in whereas Carr Lake's spots are all walk-in (i.e., you have to carry your gear anywhere from 200 ft. to 1/2 mile). With Lindsey Lake also being lower in elevation there wasn't snow around it, but there was a lot of mud from snowmelt higher up in the mountains. With that plus the crowds of people camping out behind their trucks it wasn't our vibe so we didn't stay longer than 30 minutes.
Next we tried driving to a fire lookout atop the highest peak on Grouse Ridge. The road was dry and clear of snow most of the way until about 2 miles before the top. There it ascended across a steep, north-facing slope approaching the summit and was snowed in. We weren't up for a 4 mile roundtrip clambering over snowbanks; we'd already tried that at Feely Lake and thought better of it. So Grouse Ridge joins the list of things to do later in the season, perhaps when we've got a week in Lake Tahoe in August.
For now it's time to hit the road and get home. If we hammer it straight through we could be there just after 7 but we're going to stop for dinner first as soon as we get to the small town of Colfax, the first place of any size as we come down out of the pass, as we've only eaten trail snacks since breakfast. And Hawk has already identified a few antiques/bead shops in town, too. So it'll be more like 8:30 when we get home.
We're on our way home now. Just pulled off at a rest stop on I-80 with beautiful views over the Emigrant Gap. I'm sharing this picture because it shows a bit of where we were today:
At the bottom center of the picture is Spaulding Lake. Rising thousands of feet above it in the background is Grouse Ridge. The Grouse Lakes Basin is over that ridge. When we climbed to a low part of the ridge behind Carr Lake we could see over here, to I-80.
We did try a few more hiking spots after Carr Lake before calling it a day. We drove 4x4 trails around to Lindsey Lake, another big lake in the Grouse Lakes Basin. It was even more popular with campers than Carr Lake was, likely because its camping spots are drive-in whereas Carr Lake's spots are all walk-in (i.e., you have to carry your gear anywhere from 200 ft. to 1/2 mile). With Lindsey Lake also being lower in elevation there wasn't snow around it, but there was a lot of mud from snowmelt higher up in the mountains. With that plus the crowds of people camping out behind their trucks it wasn't our vibe so we didn't stay longer than 30 minutes.
Next we tried driving to a fire lookout atop the highest peak on Grouse Ridge. The road was dry and clear of snow most of the way until about 2 miles before the top. There it ascended across a steep, north-facing slope approaching the summit and was snowed in. We weren't up for a 4 mile roundtrip clambering over snowbanks; we'd already tried that at Feely Lake and thought better of it. So Grouse Ridge joins the list of things to do later in the season, perhaps when we've got a week in Lake Tahoe in August.
For now it's time to hit the road and get home. If we hammer it straight through we could be there just after 7 but we're going to stop for dinner first as soon as we get to the small town of Colfax, the first place of any size as we come down out of the pass, as we've only eaten trail snacks since breakfast. And Hawk has already identified a few antiques/bead shops in town, too. So it'll be more like 8:30 when we get home.