2024 didn't turn out to be a very strong year for designated Jeep outings so as fall came and the Aspens started turning yellow and orange, I was looking for a way to combine some fall color viewing with a Jeep trip. We had been up into the Lobdell Lake Road area a couple times before, which was close to one of the major access points to Mount Patterson, a peak in the Sweetwater Range where you can drive your vehicle all the way to the summit, which is over 11,600' in elevation. For this part of the country, that's a pretty high destination. Oh, and since we hike a lot, we thought we'd work in a hike up to Emma Lake too.
What did I learn?
Ranching is alive and well in the Sweetwater Range of California. When we pass through or near this area on US Highway 395, we only see a small part of what's really going on in these mountains. It was fun to see the Charolais bull grazing on open range, and the sheepherder moving his flock along the roadway.
We've been through the Walker River Canyon many times, so I wanted to take a route up to Lobdell Lake that Bri hadn't experienced before. We caught Burcham Flat Road just east of Walker, CA, and made our way over to the road up to the lake. We actually stopped and snacked on pine nuts from the native Pinyon Pines along the way. The pine nuts weren't the most flavorful thing I've ever eaten, but I've heard some people salt them.
Once you turn off Burcham Flat Road and travel up-mountain toward Lobdell Lake, you get into the Aspens very quickly.
Since I grew up without mountains around me, I am forever amazed by how far you can see any time you're working your way up the mountain on a road or trail. This view shows some of the Aspens were still green, some orange, some turning brown, and some had lost all their leaves already.
We got out of the Jeep and took a walk through a grove near the road. While I was taking in the views and waiting for Bri to photograph a creek in the area, I couldn't help but notice that everything around me had been trampled and chewed. There wasn't a single blade of grass that wasn't chomped off. At the time, I couldn't figure out what had happened in this area - how could the handful of deer that live here eaten everything in sight? More on this later...
We eventually made our way up to Lobdell Lake, and when we go there it was a little unclear how to get around Lobdell Lake and start up Mount Patterson. After having to back up on a shelf road, and turn around in an abandoned cattle camp, we made our way around the west and north edges of the lake and found this trailhead sign.
We haven't taken any Jeep roads that experienced Jeepers would consider difficult, but I understand some of the more challenging roads have a "gatekeeper" obstacle near the beginning of the route. I've heard the purpose of the gatekeeper is to weed out the rigs that aren't built-up enough for what's ahead, but some are probably just to limit users. On this route, the gatekeeper was an ornery old Charolais bull. I had to look this guy up and it turned out Charolais are a French breed that has been in the Sierra for a LONG time. We nicknamed him Le Boeuf, which is French for "The Beef".
The road from the Mount Patterson trailhead sign up to this point was very rocky and washed out. We saw several offroad motorcyclists that moved quickly through and around the rocks that we had to creep over and navigate around slowly. We did our best to stay out of their way both going up, and coming down.
We eventually got above the treeline and made our way into some very rocky terrain, but they were small rocks, almost like railroad ballast. I don't know the origin of the name, but a sign referred to this area as "Mars with Flowers", which seems fitting. We were much too late in the year for flowers, but we did feel like we were on Mars.
This is a glimpse of the road up to the summit. It doesn't look like much in this photo, but approaching it in the Jeep was pretty intimidating. To climb it, I made sure we were in Low Range 4x4 and tried to be as steady as possible on the gas pedal to avoid spinning the tires. We climbed right up it!
Apparently someone had been there before us...like nearly every place we've ever gone. I was impressed by the flag not only because it was up there, but also because someone had stored 3 properly folded flags in an ammo canister at the base of the flag pole, presumably so you could replace the flag if you find it in a tattered state.
Looking south from the summit.
Looking north/northeast from the summit.
Looking back to the west, which is the direction we came from. A crew of side-by-sides was heading down to an old mining building.
There are two main ways to reach the Mount Patterson's summit, but we went back out the same we way came up. I felt like this made sense because we knew the route and were confident we could make it down safely. I would like to try the other route someday, which is to the south and east. Maybe 2025?
Surprise! Sheep, a lot of sheep. Our route to the Emma Lake trailhead took us back toward US Highway 395 on Burcham Flat Road. During this travel we passed an oncoming tiny house being pulled very slowly down the road. I thought it was unusual, but unusual is nothing new in this part of California. It wasn't too long after the tiny house that we came across this herd. They were marching across the mountainside at a steady pace. My best guess is the tiny house is for the sheepherder and it was moving day. Basque sheepherders are part of this region's history, and I bet this was one of them. Passing these sheep also solved the mystery about what ate all the grass by the Aspens...sheep. There were some guard donkeys and dogs too - which were strictly business and NOT social with strangers like us.
The hike to Emma Lake was steep, and very steep. I was glad when we made it to the lake...only to find out the lake is green. We've seen hundreds of clear blue lakes during our years in the Sierra, but a green lake was a first for us. We could see Brook Trout in the water, so it must be livable.
This is a photo from the trail to Emma Lake. One of the white peaks in the distance is Mount Patterson. It was fun to see the place we were just a couple hours earlier from a totally different viewpoint.
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