Near: Arnold/Lake Alpine
Trip Type: Hike
Distance: 7.5 miles
Elevation: 7,800 - 9,100 ft
Surface: Dirt and loose volcanic gravel
Vegetation: Pine forest to moonscape
Last Trip: 6/11/16
As the higher elevations started to open up for the summer, we went looking for hike with a lot of southern exposure. Wheeler ridge, runs east-west to the north of California highway 4, just east of Lake Alpine. And makes for a great early season peak. The trail winds gently up Woodchuck Basin through pine forest that gradually thins to a mostly open slope, then a completely open ridge with very little vegetation. The trail proper heads over the ridge and down a thousand feet to Wheeler Lake, but we struck east on the ridge, to a rocky high point where a little light scrambling brought us to a great perch with 360 degree views of the Mokelumne Wilderness to the north, the Pacific Crest to the East and Lake Alpine to the southwest. As a bonus, Lake Alpine makes for a great place to take a dip before the drive home.
Trailhead:
A large, but easy to miss pullout on CA hwy 4, a little over a mile east of Lake Alpine, just as the road makes a sharp bend to the right.
Route:
The trail starts from the north end of the parking area and follows a stream up through some pine forest until it opens into some meadows in the shadow of some crumbling volcanic cliffs to the north. From there the trail bends to the west and slowly angles up the increasingly open slope to Wheeler Ridge, crossing over at small saddle between minor peaks. Either follow the use trail up the small peak to the east, or cut along the ridge just south and below it to hit the open ridge. Continue east over the barren, pumice covered ridge until you hit the distinctive, stubby, crumbly spires of volcanic breccia.
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| The forest opens up under volcanic cliffs in Woodchuck Basin |
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| The trees thin on the open slopes of Wheeler Ridge |
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| Looking north to Wheeler Lake from open ridgeline. |
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| Old snow cornice on the north side of the ridge. The meadow beneath these cliffs is named "Avalanche Meadow". |
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| The volcanic outcropping at the east end of the ridge. |
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| Scrambling up to the high point. |
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| Looking northwest to Mokelumne Peak |
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