North Fork of Big Pine Creek

Summer vacation was in full swing with a trip to Florida and a week to get a few things accomplished at home. It was now time to hit the road for the annual Drake family trip. We packed everything into the Honda Fit including mountain climbing gear for a future trip up Mt. Rainier. The children were packed in tight like sardines, but it did not seem to bother them one bit.
We decided to begin our trip the same way we did last year with a trip to Big Pine Creek Campground. It was only a 6 hour drive from our house in Washington, Utah to there, but it was a completely different world. We even made the same stops on the way up at the ugly little town park in Indian Springs, Nevada. This year, it was Conrad who wanted to play soccer at our stop instead of me encouraging him to. We also stopped in Beatty, NV to get gas and ice cream. Jacqueline left her coffee on top of the car on the way out and when we drove back we got to see it splatted along the road. The drive was lonely, but before long, we were pulling into our campsite. '
We had a great site this year being right by the creek. It was the only one available when we were booking. Someone probably cancelled it and we were able to snatch it up. We had easy access to the water where I would be pumping water for drinking given that the campground still did not have any water. We ate some dinner, took a walk to the bridge to look at the mountains, and had a spirited game of Catan with the kids before retiring for the night.
After sleeping comfortably in the cool mountain air, it was time for a hiking adventure the next day. The previous year we had taken this same route to head up to Oregon to visit our friends along the McKenzie River and my family up in Washington. Instead of taking the more well traveled North Fork, we found ourselves taking the South Fork of Big Pine Creek. This was not necessarily a mistake given that the North Fork had a significant elevation change with miles and miles of trail. It was still an amazing hike, it just ended abruptly with a creek crossing that we weren't comfortable with. This year, though, we were determined, or at least I was determined, to make it up the North Fork of Big Pine Creek.
The hike started out similarly with a trip to the waterfall. This waterfall was still impressive and even more impressive was the bridge that was built right next to it. Given the large amount of snowfall in the Sierras, this river was cranking this year. At the waterfall is the place where our trails diverged. We immediately started heading uphill with many switchbacks until we finally emerged in some flatter, more open territory.
We were walking right along Big Pine Creek and the signs were not great for a successful trip to the lakes. We knew there would be significant elevation change and about 7 miles of hiking. What we did not know was that the one backpack the kids were sharing was going to become an issue when we tried to switch from Zyla carrying it to Conrad. Conrad had a mini meltdown and continually told us it was too heavy. We knew that not to be the case, so instead we had to almost drag him up the trail while the other hikers got to look on. Eventually he calmed down after we passed the next waterfall and began the uphill trudge again. We were switching backpack carrying based on step count to keep it even. Zyla was a trooper all day and after his one outburst, Conrad did great the rest of the day.

The trail was in open scenery for half the time and in the trees the other half of the time. The most consistent feature was hiking next to the creek that was flowing heavy. We eventually made it up to a forest service cabin that was likely still in use. It had been a mountain cabin from early recreationalists that had been transferred to the forest service. It was a large structure next to a big swimming hole in the creek. It would not be a bad place to spend the summer except for the many hikers that would be at your door. The trail was not what you would call busy, but for a beautiful Saturday in June, it wasn't what you would call quiet either.

After the cabin, the views really started to open up. We could see the 12-14,000 foot peaks rising steeply above. We hoped we could make it to the lake this early in the season. Given the amount of water running over the trail, I doubted it some times. One point I had to carry both kids to keep their feet dry and their spirits high. We also ran into a lady who was coming down from the lake that basically told us that there was no way the kids could make it to the lake given the snow conditions.
I wanted to see for myself, though, so we kept trucking. I was proud of them for not complaining too much about how long the hike was. We finally made it to the snow and it wasn't too long before I could see the lake. The snow did become a bit of a pain, but at that exact point, I was able to pick a way down so that we could all enjoy some lunch at the lake.
We hung out by the lake taking pictures and such for a little while. The mountains rising above were fantastic and this hike just made me want to come back in the future to do the whole loop. We played some battleship in the lake which turned out to be a mistake when Conrad stepped out on a log and then fell into the cold, cold lake. He was not happy about being cold and wet, but Jacqueline did her best to keep him warm by putting on his coat.
Given our wet child, we could not stay long. The hike back down was by the same route, but total roundtrip was 14 miles. The kids did not really complain too much about being tired. They are actually pretty tough kids. I think they were happy to go downhill because the hike back to the car was fairly enjoyable. We would not be staying another night at Big Pine even though it likely would be the most convenient. Instead when we got to the trailhead, we had to travel about an hour up 395 to French Camp. This was a large campground right off the highway with a creek and many other campers. It was a bit less scenic than Big Pine, but still an affordable and comfortable spot to spend the night. Our summer adventures had begun and I had a great crew in good spirits after a long day of hiking in the mountains.