Chapter 10 - Emigrant Basin Wilderness Area
The basin is on the west side of the Sierra crest, but it adjoins the Walker River Wilderness on the east side. Emigrant Basin is administered as part of the Stanislaus National Forest, Forest Service, U.S.Department of Agriculture. You must get a wilderness permit, and group sizes are limited. If stock is used, there
is a limit on their number, and in some places stock may not be kept overnight. Access into the Basin starts at Pinecrest along the Sonora Pass Highway, (#108), and the main entrances are at Pinecrest, and Kennedy Meadow, where there are also pack stations not too far in from the highway.
Packing in with your own animal, you can do some great loops. One of our favorites for a one week trip is to go in at Crabtree Camp, and camp at Lily Creek, Cherry Creek in Louse Canyon, Jewelry or Gem Lake, Long Lake, Wire lakes, or Upper Relief Valley, and then at Chewing Gum Lake before coming out again at Crabtree. This loop is about 35 miles, and slowly goes higher in elevation until the last day, when you lose it all to get back to your starting point. Once you try the area, you will be able to design hundreds of variations that go either south or north of the main east-west trails. Going south for example, Rososco, Pingree, Big and Yellowhammer lakes are great places.
If you use the packer at Aspen Meadow, one-day-in trips can go to Grouse Lake, Cherry Creek, Gem Lake, and perhaps Wood or Deer Lake. From the Kennedy Meadows area you can get to Lower or Upper Relief Valley, Kennedy Lake, etc. If you use a two-day-in format, almost the whole basin is accessible.
One of our recent trips into the area was a one-day-in trip, using Reno Sardellas' Pack Station at Aspen Meadow. (Note: The pack station is now, 2002, owned by Josh Bloom, and is called: Aspen Meadow Pack Station). We drove up in a leisurely day from the San Francisco area. The distance is about 180 miles, and it takes about 5 hours including stops to get all the way in to Crabtree camp. Even though this camp is really now a big parking lot, you are allowed to spend one night camped at the roadhead. We had dinner at a local restaurant in Strawberry, and then went in to Crabtree for the night. We slept on our sleeping pads in our van. Next morning, we drove back to the pack station and gave them our baggage. At 120 pounds, it was just right for one pack mule. While they
packed up, we drove back to Crabtree, parked the car, and started hiking in, at about 9 AM. Our destination was only about 3 miles in at Lily Creek. The reason for the short distance was that our daughters' family, including two small grandchildren, was going to join us for a long weekend. We didn't think they could be urged to hike in more than this. (continued)