Emigrant Wilderness - What a Gem!

Emigrant Wilderness is a part of the Stanislaus National Forest to the north of Yosemite. It's a unique wilderness area in California where the permits for overnight camping are available without prior reservations and the hike, while being challenging in terms of the terrains and climbs, is so well marked that it's easy to navigate as a private group. I first attempted to hike this loop in 2022 as part of my training for the Grand Canyon backpacking trip, but on that attempt, we only managed to hike 12 miles of the 20 mile loop and I've been wanting to go back and hike to complete loop ever since. Four years hence, I'm so pleased to have completed this hike.

Pri and I decided to do this hike over the Juneteenth weekend. We reached the ranger station at Pinecrest at about 9:30 on Friday and after collecting the permits for camping and fire, drove to Crabtree trailhead to start hiking at about 10am. The parking lot was already full by that time, and we had to park along the street. This was turning out to be a popular destination indeed. Our plan for the first day was to hike about 9 miles to reach the Gem Lake and camp for the night, with the caveat that we were going to play by the ear and end the day when we felt like it. This was a backpacking trip with no designated spots for us for each night and we were free to do as we pleased. Our total planned mileage for the trip was about 20 miles, with 3000ft of elevation gain. Our highest elevation would be at Gem Lake, which is at 8500ft. Our pack weight was about 30lbs.

The trailhead was crowded at the start. There were families with children headed out to Bear Lake and some groups were going to Camp lake for fishing. The trail started off as a gentle undulating hike, all the way until we got to the beautiful Camp Lake. We had a moment of nostalgia as we spotted our camp site from our last trip, gorgeous spot it was! After this, it was a downhill climb until we reached Lily Creek where we stopped for lunch - Pri had made chapati rolls with homegrown zucchini and chickpeas, it was delicious! With our bellies happy and full, we crossed Lily creek and started our first major uphill climb to Lily pond. We climbed 500ft in a mile, over crude granite stairs designed such that no two were at the same height. Our glutes and quads were shocked, in fact Pri's legs were cramping during this climb. We had to stop every 10-20 steps to catch our breath. While the legs were busy trying to get through this grueling climb, the mind was busy in it's own way analyzing the impact of the strain and the exhaustion and making me question if this was a signal to the end of my hiking days. Was I getting old?! It didn't help that there were a group of boys, maybe in their early 20's bounding up the trail as if it was a walk in the park. There was a family with 2 young children too, which was impressive to see. By this time, the trail was not as crowded, and with lots of stops to catch our breath, we finally reached the impressive Lily Pond. What a tranquil spot filled with floating lilies, some blooming, many waiting for the next day's sunrise to begin life. 

Pri was in some pain with her cramping muscles, and we considered options to shorten the hike, but she decided to hike on like the champ she is. Our next downhill section brought us to Piute Meadow, a beautiful meadow in a valley with a creak and stunning wild flowers. There were so many beautiful areas to camp here and it was very tempting, but we decide to push on and tackle the next uphill climb. After the first climb, our expectations were now set somewhat correctly, and the next section of granite hill to climb over the granite trail, stepping over granite stairs and granite boulders (majestic, painful granite), didn't feel too difficult. By this time, we realized that we couldn't make it to Gem Lake for the night, and decided to stop at Piute Lake. We reached camp at about 6:15, having hiked 9.2 miles and 2200ft. We setup camp on a granite platform overlooking the Piute Lake surrounded by the majestic granite peaks. After a dinner of Maggi, we went to bed as soon as the sun set. I did manage to get a picture of the night sky as I had to leave the tent at night, but we managed to get a restful sleep until well past sunrise the next day.

Day 2: We set off at 8am to tackle the 3rd climb of our trip to Gem Lake. By this time, we were seasoned granite climbers, and this hike felt mellow. We crossed some creek, got our feet wet, heart rate soaring and soon, we were at the absolutely majestic Gem Lake. This was the highest point of our trip, sitting at an elevation of 8250ft. An absolutely still alpine lake bordered by granite boulders and pine trees which were artfully reflected in the waters. We sat along this lake to take in calm serenity of the lake, lazing like lizards on the rocks. The next 2 miles were a grueling downhill climb - over a variety of - you guessed it - granite variations. We had some welcome distraction in the form of horses and cowboys on the trails, it was a like a scene from a western movie! There were also gorgeous water falls, and I got a kick out of spotting a patch of snow! The downhill climb was so intense that I found myself wishing for some uphills instead - that's how hard it was.. We encountered a couple of more groups of horses, one with a dog too, a cute bubbly black creature who was running circles around the horses. His energy was magnetic. 

The downhill climb ended at this gorgeous creak where we could sit and soak our feet and give our tired legs a well deserved rest. We continued along a more gentle terrain, bordered by vibrant wild flowers and lush green meadows. After a short stop for lunch (rava upma, left over from lunch, with a sprinkling of masala peanuts), we arrived at our campsite for the day at about 3pm, Grouse Lake. We hiked about 7.5 miles today, mostly losing elevation. 

We quickly setup camp and managed to squeeze in a nap, like all good backpackers must. We had a leisurely evening with tea, short walks, lots of chatting, soup and bisibelebath, and got sublime sunset views over the lake and the peaks. 

It was another early night for us, time to rest up those legs for one last climb on the last day.

Day 3: We woke up well rested, and after breakfast, we broke camp at 8am to start the hike to the car. We caught sight of the mist rising from the Piute lake as the first rays of the sun hit the waters - it was surreal! 

The first stretch was a level trail, walking on pine needles and soft sand, what a symphony for the feet and knees! We enjoyed this section while we could because we knew another grueling climb was just up ahead. Soon enough, the climb began, one mile of steady climbing with some steep switchbacks. But being prepared for the worst, we were able to finish the climb with energy to spare, and seeing the view at the top of the hill gave us a new burst of hiking energy. After that it was an easy downhill climb and before we realized it, we were back at the car, by about 10:20, in good time to make it to a good Indian restaurant for a well deserved, carb heavy lunch.

The Emigrant Wilderness is just an amazing landscape of granite peaks with meadows and alpine lakes, much like an extension of Yosemite, without any of the crowds / traffic or distractions. The air was crisp, everything shone. The weather couldn't have been better, clear skies with a slight breeze and cool nights. The trail was very well maintained, a shout out to the trail maintenance crew that managed to keep this trail in hiking condition over what was essentially granite peaks. There were barely any downed trees, and the trail was very well marked. Wild flowers were blooming, in some places carpeting the rocks and meadows and in many others, bordering the trail to add charm and encouragement. We took some moments to acknowledge and be grateful for the privilege of hiking this trail, all things considered. The hike was strenuous, placing demands on our body, especially with the 30lb packs we were carrying, but the views, tranquility and grandeur of the place more than made up for it. 

Four year ago, when we attempted this hike for the first time, we were denied permission, this time, we were privileged to be permitted to complete this grand loop. For that we are grateful.

Leaving you with nature's wild flower bounty to keep you smiling :) All photos are here

A walk in the Park of Sneffles Wilderness, Uncompagre National Forest, a ramble with Jay

 I was enamored by the allure of the hiker's huts in Europe and on my ride down this rabbit hole, I came across huts in US, specifically San Juan Huts. Hiking at an altitude of 10,000 feet with evenings in a hut sounded great and sometime last October, I reached out to my hiking buddies to gauge interest. Soon, we had a group of 4, picked dates and made the booking for end of July this year, almost one year away! Plenty of time for research, dreaming, falling deeper into the said rabbit hole.

As the date got near, unfortunately Aruna couldn't make it due to a family situation, so it was down to 3 of us: Gaay, Prabha and me. Tickets booked, food dehydrated, hotels booked, it was finally time to start our trip. As all great adventures do, our trip started with a 3am wakeup to catch a 6:30am flight from SFO to Grand Junction. Gaay was my companion on the flight, and it felt like the flying time was just the blink of an eye. Prabha joined us from Kansas in Grand Junction, and together we drove to Ouray on the eve of our hike.

Ouray is at an elevation of 7,792', the highest town in the vicinity, and so was an ideal town for us to acclimate in. Of course the fact that it is dubbed the Switzerland of America added to the allure factor. We arrived at Ouray early evening, and after quickly re-distributing food in our packs and shedding some items, we set off to explore the small town. We settled on Maggie's kitchen for dinner, and their beet burger and fries were amazing indeed - living up to the claim that they had the best burgers. We were also hoping that the beet would help us to acclimatize better, since we had to start hiking at 10,000 ft the following morning.

There are 2 exit points for this hike, one is in the town of Ouray and the other is at East Dallas trailhead, and they equate to 9 or 5 miles of hiking on the last day respectively. Since we wanted to have some time to soak in the hot springs and explore the million dollar highway, we decided to end at East Dallas trailhead. We met Tim the driver in Ouray, followed him to the ending trailhead to park our car there, and then started the ride to the Last Dollar Pass. It was my first experience of truly off-roading, it was like riding a roller coaster with some bumps thrown into it for fun. By about 9am, we were at the trailhead ready to start the hike, already surrounded by mesmerizing views!

A sample of the views to come

Day 1 Hike:

Our mileage for today was about 8.5 miles with 1100ft elevation gain, but a net elevation loss to our hut of the first night. At the very outset, it was a beautiful hike, we were surrounded by wild flowers, the trail was blanketed with pine needles which made the hike easy on the feet - but most of all, we were hiking through aspen groves! How beautiful they were? For a California hiker, I must say that this was one of the highlights of this landscape, the aspens intermingling with the pines. There were abundant butterflies and bumblebees feasting on the nectar, and the Indian style little squirrel with stripes on its backs scurrying along merrily. We even saw quails, which I first thought was a chicken! For a moment, I was thinking that this hike is not as difficult as it's made out to be (Gaay did serious research and shared videos and blogs with us), but that lasted only until the altitude got the better of me.. By lunch time, I had a headache and no appetite. Lunch was idli molaga podi, thanks to Prabha. Although this is one of my favorite foods, it was an effort to send any food down the throat.. Each step uphill, even a gradual uphill sent the heart pounding. It was like the heart would leap right off the body. Soon, we came upon a meadow with a stunning view of the cimerron mountains, blanketed on either side by aspen groves. Here, we made the wise decision to set down our packs, soak in the view and take a nap. This long break for views and nap became a much awaited feature of our days, and each one was well cherished. To be able to stretch out in a meadow with exquisite views at 10,000 was a reward we were happy to reap.

The weather was pretty amazing too.. We were supposed to have scatted showers and thunderstorms on the first 3 days, but other than a hint of rain at lunchtime which didn't even prompt us to take out our raingear, we had great weather.

Since I was hiking faster than Prabha and Gaay, I would frequently sit down and wait for them to catch up. At each of these rest stops, I was jolted by the beauty of the place. At one place, I sat by a creek with haphazard fallen logs off the trail. This turned out to be a squirrel highway! I was delighted to watch their antics as they would scurry across with their acorns, and sometimes play with each other. At another of the rest stops, I was marveling at a single Aspen tree in a grove of Spruce. Never a dull moment. 

Thanks to an aspirin and the nap at the meadow, I was able to recover from the altitude sickness and feel a bit more like myself in the second half, but all the uphill stretches still kicked ass. Prabha had a fall and hurt her face and knee, and I can only imagine her struggle with the added burdens. At about the 7 mile mark, I hiked ahead and we decided to meet at the hut. By about 4:45, after hiking / resting for over 7 hours, the North Pole hut was finally in sight! 

The huts - they were the reason we booked this trip in the first place, but I must say they completely exceeded our expectations.. I was expecting a dusty rustic hut with creaky old utensils, what we had was a neat wooden cabin with 8 beds (4 sets of bunks), mattresses, a fully stocked kitchen with cast iron skillets, kettle, pour over coffee filters, shelves of books and games all surrounding a central fire place. It was blissful! We had large propane tanks for endless cooking, none of the tiny pocket fuel of our backpacking trips. I made soup and took it to the "patio" which had an amazing view of the Sneffles mountain range. Even the outhouse had a million dollar view! 

Prabha and Gaay had not arrived and I was beginning to get worried. I decided to wait until 6pm and then go check on them, and just before 6, we saw the sweetest sight of them hiking in! Turns out they had a mini mis-adventure with Gaay's phone and GPS tracking dying on them, and them panicking about having missed the turn to get to the hut. They tried contacting me on the Garmin, and much to our disappointment, Garmin inReach could not send / receive messages from the hut. Thankfully, this mis-adventure was short lived. 

Since the huts had 8 beds and we had reserved 4, we were to have hut mates every night, and to be honest, I was a teeny bit anxious. But the Keeble family turned out to be the best hut mates we could have hoped for! The mother Holly was 60, amazingly spry, an avid hiker, mountain biker and reader. She was very friendly and great company. The father, Les was nice company too, and he our official water fetcher when the son was off hiking. Lance was 25, and as would be expected of a 25 year old, he was off on his own adventures after full days of hiking. He was very nice company too, respectful but reticent - who wouldn't be when surrounded by people at least twice their age! All of them were intrigued by the Indian food I had dehydrated for the hike, and Lance would help to finish off the meals when I had inevitably made too much. We discussed backpacking trips, Indian culture, Arizona trails, historic fiction and all topics in between. They were great company.

We had Maggi with paneer for dinner the first night, and went to sleep before the sun went down, me with the aid of zandu balm that Gaay had in her backpack pharmacy.

Day 2

Today's hike was supposed to be easier and rewarding from the description, and it didn't disappoint. We woke up to aspen glow on the mountains, and made the most of the morning with lazy pictures. Breakfast was guacamole with tortillas, and coffee / tea. In return for the Keebles bringing water to the hut from the creek / beaver pond each day, we decided to take up the dishwashing duty, and frankly, we got a bargain. After a quick clean up of the hut, we were ready to start hiking by 9am.

The trail was gradual, and I had acclimatized to the elevation and we had an enjoyable hike. The creeks we had to cross today were deeper, like shin deep, so we broke out our water shoes grateful to have not packed and lugged it for nothing. The creek crossings were fun, and the scenery was more of wild flowers and aspens and spruce with the peaks poking out periodically to break the monotony. There was a moment when we thought we were going to get caught in rains, we donned our rain jackets and put on the pack covers, but the rain lasted only about 5 minutes. Nevertheless, the dark clouds made for some very interesting photos. We took lots of breaks along creeks and meadows but our break-of-the-day was at Cocan flats, a large meadow framed by the Sneffles peaks. We lazed here and got caught up on a nap too. 

We were at the hut by 4pm, in time for our daily tea and snacks. Since we didn't have to carry our usual backpacking load, we decided to weigh down our packs with Indian snacks - Bakarwadi, madras mixture, even Grand Sweets Thattai! Dinner was vegetarian Chili which I had dehydrated. I was very happy with how it turned out, and it was well appreciated by the hut mates too. When bed time came around, I couldn't sleep - I was in an agitated state of happiness and contentment. Today's hike was mellow, the views were great, the weather perfect. Prabha was doing much better after the fall yesterday, the hut was cosy, I had great company in a beautiful spot. My cup was overflowing. 

Day 3

Today was supposed to be the toughest hike we had, climbing to an elevation of 11,000ft with a strenuous uphill climb. Total mileage was supposed to be only 5 miles, but due to some work in the area, some of the trail was closed, causing us to take a detour which added about 3 miles to our route. We were mentally prepared after an easy day 2, and the fact that the most scenic view in the state of Colorado awaited us gave us a good push too. 

The trail started off beautiful as we had come to expect in this region. A gentle uphill climb with great views followed by a steep downhill climb. Soon we were at the point on the trail we should have been at if there was no diversion and here's where the actual climb began. All along the trail, we had a stream bubbling along calming our thumping hearts us with it's soothing melody. We crossed meadows of daisies which made me happy - how could anyone not be happy at the sight of these cheerful flowers?! We crossed many creeks, either by wading through shin deep water or by butt shuffling along the log bridges. These bridges were usually where I waited for Gaay and Prabha to catch up, and I allowed the bubbling creeks to penetrate my consciousness and provide me sense of calm and belonging in nature. We came across a majestic waterfall, that originated from the Blaine Basin. The last 2 miles or less of the climb was steep, with switchbacks and narrow ridges, and this was a brutal test of our endurance. I was thankful for each switchback we encountered, considering what a steep climb we would have had if there wasn't the switchback.. In some places, it was so steep that if we didn't put one foot in front of the other quick enough, we would slip back, and this was scary.. Eventually, we came to the junction that was the Wilson Creek Summit and the Sneffles Overlook, dubbed the most scenic viewpoint in the state of Colorado, was a meagre 0.25 miles away. We left our packs and made our way to the viewpoint, and it was breathtaking! The entire Sneffles range was in front of us, flanked by a huge field of aspens and spruce, and the towns nestled in the valley far below. The sky was also picture perfect, with clouds placed just so to enhance the beauty of the landscape. This was the highest point on our hike, 11,000ft! We spent some time relaxing here, taking pictures, shooting videos and generally being content and grateful. 

The descent to the Ridgeway hut was just 2 miles, and we were able to get to the hut by 5pm to wind down, stretch our tired legs and prepare for the next day. The Ridgeway hut was the least well kept of the huts on this trail, though even this hut exceeded by original expectations.. We had a visitor that night in the form of a mouse, gnawing through a ziplock bag to get to the peanut butter sachet that we had kept for trashing. I guess nature didn't want us to wish we had more adventure on our trip! We had more desirable visitors too, there was this cute buck which decided the grass around the hut was its favorite meal ground and it kept us company for quite a while. 

Day 4

After the strenuous day 3, we were ready for some mellow hike again and that's what Day 4 entailed. With a mileage of only around 4 miles, and hardly any elevation, we had an easy relaxing day. We found a beautiful aspen meadow to claim for our rest and nap and that was a highlight of the day. This was the day we encountered most people on the trail, and lots of dogs too.. There were a few intersections on the trail which had access to dirt roads, and hence the day hikers we encountered. I wanted to add more mileage and so decided to hike up a spur to the Miller Mesa, which had a few camp sites along the way, but no great view of the mesa. Since this was a short day, we reached the Burn hut by 2pm and decided to have a substantial lunch of thepla roasted in ghee - oh what a treat that was! With hot soup on the side no less, this was FIVE STAR dining! 

The Burn hut was in a very scenic setting too, and the view from the window was of the Ridgeway and Teakettle peaks. I was excited to find a picture in the coffee table book that was in the hut that matched the view in front of us. After some rest, we hiked up to a creek to clean up for the day. It must be noted that this is where I learnt to ignite the cigarette lighter, thanks to Lance! I upped my backpacking skills - Hooray for me!

In the evening, we decided to hike up to Moonshine Park, which is an area from which we can see the San Juan mountains across vast meadows. Happily for me, this added more mileage to our day, and we sat and marveled in the beauty of this landscape without the rush of completing the hike, considering that we would be hiking along this same route the next day. We also went on a side trail which had an awesome view of the peaks, and sunset, surrounded by Aspens. Holly and family were our company at this spot, and it was nice to hang out with them. We got some beautiful pictures of the sunset and headed back for our final bitter sweet night at a San Juan hut.

Day 5

Our final day was here, and I was content. This trip felt just right, not too short, not too long.. Not too easy, not too (too too) hard. I was really happy with how the trip panned out, and ready to take on the final day. 

There were 2 routes we could take for the final day, and we decided to take the shorter one, of about 5 miles, so that we would have some time to explore the hot springs and the million dollar highway. I was a little wary of the steep downhill climb as they are not my favorite. But for the most part, the trail was gradual and with good footing. I did decide to add a detour to the Corbett Pass as I wanted to add some mileage to the day. During this section, there were some areas where I had to butt shuffle down the steep slope as standing and walking in that loose gravel was not an option for me. I was rewarded for my effort on this side hike with a bounty of blackberries that I happily feasted on. Until about the last mile to town, our trail was uneventful. I must have heaved a premature sigh of relief because that's when the red rock slate trail started, which also adorned the walls of the mountain we were descending. Heat radiated from the earth and the walls, as the slate made the trail slippery and treacherous too. There were narrow ridges that I passed on the strength of the prayers I sent up, and thankfully, without a fall, we managed to reach the trail head. The sigh of relief could finally be heaved at the sight of our parked car - what a sweet sight!

We got lunch at a cute restaurant in Ouray, stuffing ourselves with pizza, mozzarella sticks and salad, our well deserved due after 5 days on the mountains. After purchasing magnets and stickers, we headed down to the hot springs, the real treat for completing the hike. The Ouray Hot Springs pools gets water from the hot springs piped to its pools. In addition to having showers and changing rooms, it has 3 hot springs pools of increasing temperature, and soaking our tired limbs in these pools was so relaxing and pleasurable. The final pool, called the overlook pool, not only had stunning views all around, it even had a waterfall which was a delight for our tired shoulders as we had a soak. After a lovely hour at the pools, we felt clean and civilized and ready to take on the real world again. I hope these hot springs have not spoilt me for all my future hikes, I felt rejuvenated and not tired in the following days too - they were absolute magic!

After that, everything moved at fast forward speed, the drive up the million dollar highway which would have vowed us with the views if we hadn't spent the last five days up there in the mountains surrounded by even more stunning scenery. We drive down to Grand Junction, and headed to an Indian restaurant for Biryani, because Someone wanted biryani and the rest of us were easily convinced. Soon, we were at GJT airport, and then at Denver airport, ready to say our good byes to Prabha, and soon after that, at SFO, back to our real lives.

This trip was perfect in every way - the weather cooperated beyond our expectations, Prabha and Gaay were awesome hike buddies for me, the scenery was constantly breathtaking, our hut mates Holly, Les and Lance were perfect, and the difficulty and length of the trip hit the sweet spot for me too. Only thing that could have made the trip better was if Aruna was able to make it too.. I'm counting my blessings which made all these things come together and create this experience and memories for me.

Until next time!

Photos are here.

Our meals:

Day 1

Breakfast: Idli molaga podi from Prabha

Dinner: Paneer Fried Maggi

Day 2

Breakfast: Tacos with Guacamole 

Dinner: Vegetarian Chili

Day 3:

Breakfast: Quinoa Pongal

Dinner: Bisilele Baath

Day 4:

Breakfast: Ready to eat Rava Upma

Dinner: Minestrone Soup

Day 5

Breakfast: Oats / Thepla roasted in ghee