Rancheria Falls Trip in April

she didn't say it was a problem, just that it's a wet walk right now :)

I'm driving up from LA on friday, hope to be at the trailhead around noon. I'll start out on the trail with my packcover and snorkel and then wait up somewhere near Rancheria Falls.

I have been watching this thread with interest for a while. Coincidentally I was planning a similar hike this same weekend. It appears that my friends are flaking out on me and so I may be on my own. I think I will be at Rancheria on Friday night and perhaps also Saturday night depending on the amount of snow on the ground further north and higher up. Trail permitting I would like to make it to Lake Vernon.

I wanted to say hello now, introduce myself and hopefully I will see some of you on the trail or at the campsite. I have not been on any outings with BPL before but I will see if I can recognize some of your from your avatars. I am 6'1'', fairly large build, I be wearing a green hat and a red pack. See you on the trail.

Does anyone know what time what time someone would have to arrive in order to camp at the campsite near the trailhead? I know the gate to the reservoir is locked in the evening.

David

David, dunno if you would be able to make it up to Vernon or not. There still is alot of snow at that elevation. If you see us on the trail or at Rancheria, say hi or please feel free to crash our party. We will be there until Sunday

David,

Years ago I did a loop from the Dam to Lake Vernon down to Rancheria and back to the dam.

Having done that route, I would not recommend going from Rancheria up to Lake Vernon.

When I did that 3 years ago, the trail was narrow with brush, overgrown, steep, and exposed to the afternoon sun.

Would love to meet you, but you are much better off going from the Dam and then taking the switchbacks that are about 1 mile from the trail head.

That said, here is a link to a photo essay of a trip that I took to Lake Vernon that gives you an idea of what you will see. Don't look at it, if you want to be surprised by the scenery.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=16066

At this time of the year, I would expect you to be post holing it in the snow.

If you are going to go up there, prepare for cold weather and maybe bring vapor barrier socks to save your feet!

-Tony

I just got off the phone with the Hetch Hetchy Ranger Station. Ranger Heidi said that the trails were no longer wet. The previously reported "wet trail" had been the result of snow/rain runoff and that the runoff had decreased. She did tell me that if you go beyond Rancheria you should expect to deal with snow and deep water fords.

Anthony and Dennis, it sounds like you guys will be starting out around the same time. Bob and I should be pulling in around 6:30-7:00. We'll see you there!

Looking forward to it. As I understand it, when I see the falls there are campsites along the river but if I see the sign then I went to far. Any special site you want to camp at.

Anthony, do you have a map of the area? If so once you pass the last creek on a metal bridge, you climb about 300 feet or so? At the top you will see the river, turn right (or kind of south) right there. There are plenty of campgrounds straight down right there. And yes, you will be too far if you come to the wooden sign on the trail.

I'll just bring my bivy and let you pick the site.

Anthony,

Perhaps we'll see each other tomorrow.

strange

how many creeks are there on metal bridges?

I'll keep an eye out for you, Dennis. Glad to hike in with you.

Cary there are a total of two bridges one that croses Wapama Falls which is a wet crossing and then the metal one just before you head up to Rancheria.

Are you bringing some bread again? Wine????????

Just curious! Yum!

but i do plan to bring something for sharing :)

Tony, Ken, Jeremy, and Bob here,

We just arrived at the park entrance and all of the spots at Rancheria for Friday night have been taken and we are staying at the backpacker's camp.

There are still spots open for Rancheria for Saturday,but if you are coming to join us- COME EARLY.

If you are coming in the afternoon on Saturday, you might not get a permit to get in at Rancheria.

Luckily, we are at a local store here that has a dial up internet connection to post back to all of you.

If you are coming up tonight, you will have to stay at the backpacker's overnight campsite, which is where we are staying tonight.

The backpacker's camp is $5 per head per night…bring a $5 as the Ranger's might not have change.

The backpacker's campsite use money in an envelope for payment.

Hope everyone who is wanting to come will make it up.

Looking foward to seeing you all on the trail!

-Tony

Thanks for the heads up. I was going to roll out later tonight, and try to snag a permit in the morning.

lots to do before i can go – no chance of getting out of here tonight i think, not and make it all the way there anyway & don't wanna be looking for a place to stay in the dark

maybe we can drive early and take a nap before hiking in

Nate & Casey,

Did you make it up there?

Casey- I walked down stream from our group site at Rancheria in the hopes of trying to find Nate and yourself.

All I found was a Rainbow Tarpent with what looked like a Red Osprey pack next to it, but there was no one around.

Was that you?

Nate…we could not find any sign of you.

We feel bad if you guys came up but could not find out sight that was at the main site (there were a number of sites below an area where there was a large expanse of granite that the river flowed down and then continued down the river…I looked down there and found the Rainbow tarptent with a few other people's sites)…at the main site we were back behind the trees towards the river up above on a flat sandy spot located on top of an expanse of granite.

Please let us know what happened to you…maybe you guys did not drive up?

Feel really bad if you guys missed finding us.

Will post photos of the trip in a week.

-Tony

Went up Friday to the valley and called in to the Ranger station Saturday morning. He said they were sold out of permits so I just hung around valley and had a good time by myself. Got back early this morning, and it's HOT here in SF, so enjoyed a day at the park, but sorry I couldn't make it.

Jay will have to have a BBQ soon.

Look forward to the trip reports.

Nathan or Nate? :

Thanks for letting me know what happened to you.

Sorry that you missed joining us.

Initially, we had trouble getting everyone together in one site, the challenge of just finding everyone or them finding us.

Cameron saw the prior posting and drove up Friday night, but the gate was closed.

He ended up stealthing camping by the side of the road and drove in 1st thing in the early Saturday morning.

Cary & Lane read the posting and left early Saturday morning and managed to get a permit.

Most important thing is that we know what happened and that you are okay.

Again, sorry that you missed it.

Ken and I have never experience this issue so early in the season.

Next time we should consider getting a permit well in advance or go somewhere where permits are not needed.

There was some discussion of doing an Immigrant Wilderness trip in the future with the idea of making it a pot luck or something where everyone brings food for a group pre and post dinner snacks.

-Tony

YMMV but the RFTiA was a great success. I finally got to hike with the Bay Area BPL group (If we take a name, I vote for "Movers & Shakers"). The weather goddess cooperated, the trail was dry, and we slept under clear skies. Also,the barbequed shrimp didn't hurt a bit in offering a true "wilderness experience".

I'll be getting my photos off to Tony "Pool Boy" Wong, as soon as I down load my camera.
Thanks for ramrodding this one Ken, it was great.

It was a pleasure to meet up with such a eclectic and fun group of people who are passionate about their booze, music and light backpacks. A special shot out to Denis for his friendly nature and keeping me company on the way in. Thank you to Lane and Cari for getting me back to the trailhead. Ken I hope you continue to organize trips. You can almost certainly count me in for the next weekend trip.

Below are my pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Davidwage/RancheriaFalls02?authkey=Gv1sRgCMW8r7yrw9SIigE#

Cheers,

David

Dave, I was glad you came over to our site and hung out with all of us. Hard to do, especially when you don't know anyone. Yes there will be more trips!

Just a heads up to everyone.

I am posting photos of the trip up….I may have over 150 photos, so it is going to take a few days to get them all up.

So enjoy them as they come up and thanks for your patience.

-Tony