Emigrant Wilderness – Crabtree to Long Lake

Emigrant Wilderness Crabtree Trailhead to Long Lake, October 2-4

My boss asked me last minute if I was interested in joining him on a backpacking trip after his brother in law canceled. Since my boss is 47 and an inexperienced backpacker, I was not sure how far we would make it but the goal was to hike 10 miles to Gem Lake on Friday night.

Gem Lake Saturday Morning

We set off east on a day hike to see if we could find a nice fishing hole at Long Lake. There are supposed to be nice rainbows in the lake but we got skunked. The scenery was a satisfying consolation.
Long Lake, it was a bit windy as a storm was slowly moving in.
Three small dams raises the water level a few feet and helps maintain outflows year-round. No fresh trout for dinner, only tuna in a foil pouch.
A picture of Jewelry Lake on the walk back to camp at Gem Lake

Back to camp to experiment with a homemade wood-burning stove and make some tea.

The forecast before we left showed lows in the 20's and a 30 percent chance of snow with high wind gusts for Saturday night. The wind arrived on cue but there was no signs of precipitation as I turned in for the night. The gusts shook my tent a bit but I stayed warm in my WM Summerlite and down jacket. I woke up around 1:30 to the sensation that there was a weight smothering my feet. After shaking the sleep induced haze, I realized that my tent was sagging due to a build up on snow on my tent. I peeked outside my tent to see a intense snowfall and what looked like a lot of snow but was actually only about 3 inches. I realized that I had left quite a few odds and ends laying around camp, which may never be found if I didnt rescue them from the snow now. After consolidating the items I contemplated whether to wake my boss, pack up and hike out. I ultimately decided to ride it out till morning and hope the snow would slow and the trail would allow us to get out.

The Contrail handled the wind well but sagged a bit in the snow.

My Boss's tent

Here is the contrast of Saturday morning to Sunday morning (Gem Lake)
Saturday Morning

We packed up and hiked out. The snow continued but slowed enough to allow decent visibility. Fortunately it was possible to make out the trail most of the time. The hike out was peaceful and quite picturesque.

The trail remained visible

Piute Valley

Back to the trailhead after enjoying the first snow of the year.