White Rock Lake via Independence Lake (Nevada County, California)

 

Today's hike with the meetup group is a bit of a route-finding exercise, which has been a theme recently, to find a path from the western end of Independence Lake up and over a rugged granite ridge to White Rock Lake a few miles to the west. Knowing this would be a time-consuming hike, we met a bit earlier than normal and with only four of us, it made sense to just meet at the organizer's home. Just after 7:00 AM, we departed for the trailhead and made our way over towards Truckee. The road took us deep into the forest to arrive at the Independence Lake Conservancy Camp, on the eastern end of the lake.

After strapping on our packs, we headed out along a dirt road that follows the northern shore of the medium sized lake. It's very easy hiking and we make good time for the first three miles. We note an abundance of snow plant here, to which someone comments about it being protected now due to some people harvesting it for food. At least at this early start of the hike, the temperature couldn't be much better. It's hovering around 55 degrees, but I can't imagine that will last long.

I had expected to see some development here, perhaps predating the conservancy's ownership of this land, but I'm surprised and grateful to be disappointed on this matter. The lake is pristine with no cabins in sight. In fact, the only notable sign of civilization beyond the dirt road we are walking is a strangely place electric fence. With no signs of cattle here, we're all a little unsure of the need for such a barrier. We grab the yellow rubber handles of the two spring sections and pull it back to allow our party to pass through and then return them to their hooks (luckily without getting a shock).

As we approach the end of the road on the western end of the long narrow lake, we head off trial and into the forest. We know the general direction we must go and simply find the best path through the dense forest and underbrush. There is a huge amount of fallen timber here that would fuel a serious forest fire. It's probably good that this is a seldom-visited area. I can see a tossed cigarette wrecking havoc in this remote area.

After about a mile and a half in the forest, we emerge at a large meadow, which is essentially a bowl between masses of granite. We skirt around side of the wet meadow on wide sheet of flat granite that sits at about a 30-degree incline to the plane of the meadow. After making our way around, the real challenges begin. Here we encounter one climbing challenge after another, which I find quite fun. Unfortunately, one of my comrades is recovering from surgery three weeks ago and another bruised a rib or two on a recent hike. We do our best to find a path that will cause the least discomfort to them, but we are still force to make some decent climbs and scrambles as we make our way up the granite face.

Our advance is slow, but with persistence and diligence, we make our way up the mountain. On a few occasions, we are forced to scout for a way up the next section and we do encounter some really challenging sections, but not enough to deter us. On one section in particular, I have to make my way up a 45-degree boulder-field covered with greenery, before pulling myself up about five feet to a narrow ledge also covered with plant growth. From there, I'm able to swing around and carefully inch my way up a steep granite incline that includes a small flow of water, making the climb slippery and even more treacherous. I advise my friends to find a different route, but as I'm committed, I continue on and arrive at the top just before them.

Luckily, they found another route around the side of this obstacle and join me on top a short time later. From here, we can finally see White Rock Lake about a mile distant. It's windy up here with a slight chill on the air. We take some time to refuel with snacks and then discuss our next move. We know the trip down to the lake over more rugged terrain is going to take another hour or so, and after some discussion decide to settle for the wonderful view that we currently have rather than make our way down. Personally, I'm very content with his plan. I really only wanted the view anyway.

After a short break, we start making our way back down the granite face we had just climbed, trying to follow a similar route. Down is almost easier than up, but we do find ourselves in a couple of conundrums when we stray from our previous route. The most challenging of these forces us to carefully slide our way down several cascades of a now-trickling waterfall. A month or two ago, this likely wouldn't have been possible due to the spring melt, but now towards the end of summer, the torrent has been reduced to a tiny stream. I lead the way and carefully slide down from one section to the next, doing my best to point out good hand and foot holds for the others. Thankfully, we make our way down the waterfall and out of the granite without injury.

After another trek through the forested section, we return to the dirt road and begin to make our way back to the car. Entering mid-afternoon, it's hot and unfortunately, we have all used most of our water. I do have a pump filter with me and Independence Lake is just a few feet from me, but we opt to push forward to the car. When finally get back, we crack open a couple of beers and enjoy some refreshing melon. As always with this group, it was a great hike and I'm thankful to be part of this amazing bunch of people. We covered 12.4 miles on and off the trial today, which was a good workout.