Leavitt Meadows

This past Saturday Britt, Penny, and I took a trip to Leavitt Meadows, near Sonora Pass, to do a little loop hike to Lane Lake. We were also considering taking the short walk to Sardine Falls after our hike as well. As I stated in a previous blog, I really like this area of the Sierras near Bridgeport. However, we had never been on highway 108, let alone to Leavitt Meadows. We stopped along the highway just before passing the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center (MCMWTC) to take in the beautiful scenery of Pickel Meadow. We arrived at the trailhead at the Leavitt Meadows Campground a little after 10am and started the hike by crossing over the footbridge over the West Walker River.At the loop junction we decided to go left and take the loop clockwise via the Secret Lake Trail. The Secret Lake Trail climbs the ridge east of Leavitt Meadows and offers the best views of the hike, although you generally need to leave the trail a little ways to get the best views. These views include looking northeast over Pickel Meadow and south toward Tower Peak. Just before reaching Secret Lake, I followed the ridgeline just east of the lake to get a better look at Poore Lake. As it turned out I also got a good view of Poore Falls as well. This is a waterfall that drops over 200' in several steps just east of Poore Lake. I wasn't very impressed with Poore Lake (reservoir), so I wouldn't recommend taking the trail to the lake. I walked back along the ridgeline and met Britt and Penny who were waiting for me on the trail. We followed the trail along the northern end of Secret Lake and found a nice viewpoint on the northwest shore. We were impressed with Secret Lake, which could serve as a nice camping spot, mostly because we thought it would just be a small, marshy pond. However, it was pretty much the opposite (although it is still somewhat small). There is a nice view of the unnamed peak that looms to the southeast of Poore Lake.We continued on with the hike by climbing away from Secret Lake and then descending to a trail junction. We stayed right to head toward the Leavitt Meadows Trail junction before staying left to head toward Roosevelt & Lane Lakes. Shortly after this we came upon the border of the Hoover Wilderness where there is a board with a little bit of history of the area. Emigrants in the mid-nineteenth century abandoned a trail that passed through this spot because of the rough terrain (there is a descriptive quote from one explorer). When we came upon the northern shore of Roosevelt Lake there were a few people hanging around just off of the trail, so we didn't spend too much time here. However, there were a lot of wild roses along the shore, so we took a little bit of time to smell them. When we arrived at the northwestern end of Lane Lake we found a family camped out, so we continued around the western shore to find a more secluded spot to stop and have lunch. We spotted a perfect place on the southern shore and found it devoid of any other people.Luckily, there were no mosquitoes here and we lounged for a while, enjoying the quiet and beauty of the area. After a little while I got up and headed south of the lake to find a viewpoint for a waterfall I had scouted out prior to going on the hike. I left the established trail and climbed up to a ridge and found a decent view of it (Falls Creek Falls). This waterfall cascades down over 600' from the western canyon walls. After climbing another ridge just to the south, I started to head back to the trail and Lane Lake. On my way back to the trail I stumbled upon an old plane crash site. Most of the debris was scattered along a northwest-southwest line with a pile of burnt springs, nuts, bolts, etc a little ways to the south. I found what I think is a door, the front end of the small plane, a wing, and the engine among other large pieces. After a deer jumped out of the brush nearby and scared the crap out of me, I continued walking back to the trail and Lane Lake.Back at the lake, Britt and I threw a stick for Penny a few more times before grabbing our packs to head out. Just north of Roosevelt Lake we ran into Scott, a ranger, and had a nice talk with him. I told him about the plane crash and gave him the coordinates. He told us that it was a known crash (which I suspected with the painted X's on many of the parts), but that he had never seen it. He was off on a week or so mission to check on the status of the trail and said that he would check it out on his way out.Back at the Secret Lake Trail junction we stayed left and took the Leavitt Meadows Trail to complete the loop. This trail follows the eastern edge of Leavitt Meadows and towards the northern end comes within feet of the West Walker River, which offers great views to the south. On our way back to the trailhead we decided not to go to Sardine Falls, but that we would check out Leavitt Falls at least since it didn't require a hike. After taking a few pictures from the viewpoint for Leavitt Falls, we started the drive back home. In Walker, we stopped at the local BBQ restaurant for dinner and plopped ourselves down on one of their outdoor tables. The food was decent and the waitress was nice enough to give Penny a huge bone along with the owners' dogs who were lounging outside of the restaurant, which made her very happy. Once our stomachs were satisfied, we got back in the car and continued the drive home.