Get Thee to the South Warner Wilderness. ..NOW!

“I just got back from a 10 day to the South Warners, we hit it at that magical time of year when the wild flowers are blooming, the meadows are green and lush and the waterfalls are running high.

There is a delicate balancing act between too much snow and not enough. Right now there are snow fields to feed all the little streams and rivulets, but not so much that you can't safely navigate the trails.

The East side still has a few rather large snow fields, especially around Paterson Lake, but they should be reduced by now. We went in from Soup Spring campground and hiked up to the summit Trail, then around past North Emerson Lake to the Owl Creek trail. We spent 3 days at Lindermnan Lake (more of a very wet meadow then a lake right now) and the area is spectacular! With the hoodoos to the North, the cliffs behind and all the little groves of trees, waterfalls and streams, this is an area of true magic. You can cross country up to Patterson Lake from here and it will take you through Devils Knob, another must see spot. We left by hiking the Squaw Peak trail to Pepperdine Campground.

If you come in from Pepperdine, you will have only about 9 miles to Linderman Lake.

As with all things, you must pay to play...the fly's can be a bit of a nuisance. I counted about 15 on each foot at one point. I was also bitten twice in the eyelid by carpenter ants while I slept....same damn eye too. One other warning, or perhaps a plus depending on your social affiliations....The Rainbow crowd is just South of there...I heard close to 20 thousand were going to be in the area. We never saw any while we were up there, but some could be actually backpacking into the area I suppose. In fact, the only other people we saw was a group from Reno doing the loop around Patterson Lake.

There is a mountain lion in the area, we found a kill just a few hundred yards away from our main camp, plus there were a few bear signs. I actually had a rather rare experience with an Eagle...it buzzed me while I was meditating....they will sometimes go into a power dive, then right before they hit, spread their wings to almost stop and pull off...the sound and actually concussion of the air around you is something you will never forget...it scared the hell out of me, but then I felt rather privileged.

This is a truly specular area at just the right time.... it won't be long until all the snowfield's dry up and the water falls disappear with the greenery. If you have the time, I recommend a trip into the area. A nice loop wold be to go in from Pepperdine, take the Squaw Creek trail to Linderman Lake, then cross country up past Devils Knob to Patterson Lake, then out the Summit Trail to Pepperdine.

A map of the area around Patterson Lake, Linderman and the Squaw Peak area can be found here . Maps of the entire hike, are numbered 1 through 4, with 1 being where we started near Soup Springs and 4 where we exited at Pepperdine Campground.”

“"...it scared the hell out of me, but then I felt rather privileged."


INDEED -- LOL”

“So cool mtsteve! Wish you could post pics :(”