Hope Valley Cross Country : Waterdog

Near: South Lake Tahoe
Trip Type: Cross-country Ski
Elevation: 7,000 - 8,000 ft
Distance: 8 miles
Vegetation: Pine Forest
Last Visit: 1/14/17

Hope Valley Cross Country center is at Pickett's Junction, where Hwy 88 meets Hwy 89 just east of Carson Pass.  It's a small-time affair with limited grooming (classic skiing only) and ski and snowshoe rentals run out of a Yurt.  Prices are great ($25 for a daily ski package, $10 per car suggested donation for folks brining their own skis).  The big attraction for me at Hope Valley is that it's the best place I've found so far for an easy back country ski experience in California.  Since most trails in the Sierra aren't marked, finding your way in the winter can be a chore.  At Hope Valley there are a mix of groomed and marked, but un-groomed trails on old roads and hiking routes around the valley.  The routes are generally easy to follow, even if the markers are a bit sparse.  It's more like skiing in the woods out east (where they believe in marking hiking trails) than at a typical cross country ski center.  This post is specifically for part of their trail system that winds up a minor ridgeline east of CA-89 on the north side of CA-88.

Trailhead:

Roadside parking on CA-89, just north of Pickett's Junction.

Permits and Rules:

Hope Valley is light on rules.  It feels family run, and there are no set trail pass fees, but a donation down at the Yurt is appreciated (and totally encouraged by yours truly, especially if you use any groomed trails).  Just be courteous and pick up after your dog!

UPDATE Jan 2020.  As of 2018, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife started requiring all hikers carry a Lands Pass on some of the wilderness areas they maintain.  Hope Valley is one of these areas (see the CDFW website for a full list).  There is no way to pay for this pass on site. You must purchase online ahead of time or get a physical pass at a limited number of authorized sellers (as of now there are several locations in South Lake Tahoe you can buy a pass).  Supposedly as of now the county is trying to stop CDFW from enforcing this rule at Hope Valley and it hasn't been enforced here yet.  But it could be enforced in the future.

Editorial content follows:
This is an extremely obnoxious move by CDFW.  I say this as someone who gladly pays to help support federal and state wildlands.  I think every Sierra trailhead should have a self-pay tube and I would gladly pay up.  What they've done here is put up an aggressively worded sign demanding you carry a pass that you can't get there.  Even if you have cell service and go online to pay, the website specifically says you MUST PRINT THE PASS.  No explanation is given as to why this is necessary or why they're working so hard to stop you from giving them money.   Given the scarcity of any infrastructure or signs of ranger activity here, we were very tempted to just go on in, but we were wary of giving a petty government official such a great excuse to exercise dominance over us.  Only after talking to the folks at the Hope Valley ski rental yurt nearby did we learn that there's local pushback and little sign of actual enforcement yet.   Of course, if you already have a hunting or fishing license, you're fine.  So my personal theory is that someone in CDFW purposefully designed this permit system to drive 'hippie' hikers not interested in killing things to other nearby trailheads.

End of rant.

Route

The route winds up an old road on an unnamed minor peak south of Armstrong Pass.  It's signed intermittently with blue diamonds, but really you  just follow the obvious, wide road up and up, probably with ski and snowshoe tracks.  The only tricky part is sometimes finding the bridge across the creek at the very start.  It's towards the northern end of the parking along Hwy 89. Just poke about a bit and you'll find it. We made it to a small outcropping of rocks around 8,000 ft that provided us excellent views.

Topo Map: http://caltopo.com/m/G1HG

Heading through open fields near the trailhead, looking for the bridge.

Climbing above the fog

The lookout point.  Waterhouse peak across the fog.

Sunset through the fog as we return to the car.