Winnemucca Lake, Round Top Lake, and Fourth of July Peak
(Friday, July 04, 2003 in the Mokelumne Wilderness, CA)

A little trail paralleled the road for a bit before forking off to the left on forest service trail 18E06, crossing a creek, and heading towards Winnemucca Lake. The plan was to hike out to Winnemucca Lake and Round Top Lake, then bag Fourth of July Peak, rather appropriate given the date. Originally I'd planned on going to Fourth of July Lake, but looking at my topo map, the peak actually looked easier, as it was a rather steep descent to the the lake, and just a short climb to the peak. We climbed up a lovely meadow, bursting at the seams with mule's ear sunflowers with lovely views back at Red Lake Peak, which I've heard is a fun hike too. We crossed the Mokelumne Wilderness boundary as several snowmelt streams gushed alongside us, some with surprising vigor. A few folks passed us coming down the trail, apparently having fished their fill at the lake, and one group passed us on their way up, but it was otherwise surprisingly un-crowded for late morning on the fourth of July. After 2.5mi of lovely hiking, we came to gorgeous Winnemucca Lake (and found where all the people had been hiding). Another trail, coming from Carson Pass and the PCT, had a good number of folks on it, and there were a handfull of anglers hopefully casting into the lake. One fellow pulled a fish out, but we couldn't figure out what it was (neither could he). We had excellent views of Round Top, which I plan on hiking in the near'ish future, Elephant's Back, and Red Lake Peak, and I realized that I've seen a good many pictures of this lake & peak both online and in various guidebooks. After lingering here for a bit, we headed west towards Round Top Lake.

We crossed some snowfields and hopped over some streams as we hiked. Happily, most folks seemed content to stay at Winnemucca Lake, and we had little company on this one mile stretch. Sarah suggested we leave the trail and explore a promising-looking ridge and sure enough, it proved to have excellent views all around including a peek of Lake Tahoe, and harbored some lovely clusters of red penstemon. We stayed here for a bit, enjoying the scenery and having a snack. It looked like a flat spot had been used as a campsite, and we could definitely see why, as it both had great views and was well-sheltered from the wind. We soon came to lovely Round Top Lake, the highest lake in the area according to one of my books. The Sisters and Round Top were reflected nicely on its surface. Again we found where the humans were hiding as a number of people arrived from various trails. Can't say as I blamed them - both Winnemucca and Round Top lakes have an extremely favorable effort-to-view ratio.

We continued onwards, skirting the Sisters and coming to a nice view east towards Kirkwood, which was hidden behind the next ridge. A nearby bulbous "peak" looked likely to be Fourth of July Peak, and after a consultation with my topo map, we decided it was and headed towards its obvious use trail. It was a pretty easy walk up, following the trail until it ended in a rather large snow patch. I headed more-or-less straight up the mountain while Sarah found a more comfortable route. There was a much less well-worn use trail going up on the left and before long we came to the broad summit. We had great views of Melissa Coray Peak (named for a Mormon emmigrant), Deadwood Peak, the Sisters and Round Top, and, to my surprise, Raymond, Highland, Silver, and Stanislaus and Sonora Peaks way off in the distance. We searched for a while in vain for a summit register, but one was not to be found. I was a little sad that none of the three peaks I'd visited this week had a register (at least not one that I found), but oh well. This peak must be rarely visited (indeed there's little reason to on any day but today, although it does offer nice views for small effort). I walked a little ways down the summit ridge to see if I could get a good look at Fourth of July Lake below, but turned back after it looked like more than a 10min side-trip. We took the obligatory summit pictures, then headed back to the main trail.

A group of people resting on the main trail asked us about our hike. They'd gone down to Fourth of July Lake, and found the ascent back out pretty taxing. A ranger was hiking the trail near Round Top Lake and we briefly talked to him. He said he'd never seen a register on Fourth of July Peak himself, and that its virtually un-travelled on any day but today. We soon came back to Round Top Lake, and headed back towards the car on trail 17E47. This trail was a bit less obvious due to snow patches and runoff streams, but we muddled our way along, past the Old Cabin Mine (apparently still active judging by many wannabe-threatening signs) and some junked cars and down past Woods Lake, which we never did get a good look at. Judging from the din as we neared it, it is quite a popular destination. Before long we came to the other spur of the road-paralleling trail and soon arrived back at the parking lot.

Sarah and I both thought this was a fantastic hike - the lakes were lovely, the flowers abundant (although not quite yet in full bloom), and the peak was nice and low-key. Except for the peak (which wasn't a difficult one as far as such things go), this loop should be doable by just about anyone, and is well worthwhile.

Hike Stats:

Distance:	~8mi
Total Time:	6h 36m
Elevation gain:	~1500 feet
Difficulty:	7 - skipping the peak would make an easy and lovely 6mi loop
Scenery:	9
Trail condition/markings/etc:	7 - 18E06 was very nice on the way out, 17E47 was much less so.
Overall rating:	9