Day hike to Winnemucca Lake and Round Top Lake

I had wanted to hike from the Wood’s Lake trailhead off of Highway 88 near Carson Pass a few weeks ago, but the road to the trailhead was still closed due to snow. Since the summer seems to be quickly slipping away, we decided to make a day-trip of driving up to Carson Pass, doing the hike, and driving home. That turned out to be more time driving than time hiking, but in the end it seemed worth it.

We were on the trail at Wood’s Lake by 11 am and quickly escaped the mosquitos by heading up the trail. In a short while we popped out of the tree cover and began ascending the shoulder of a ridge that has always proven to have a good wildflower display. This year, they were magnificent.

When we got to Winnemucca Lake we stopped for a quick lunch while watching crazy kids think they were going to swim (while snow drifts were still hanging in the edge of the lake). We could see the trail up to Round Top Lake was doable, although there were a few lengthy stretches across snow, but first we needed to negotiate a water crossing. While there were a couple of places with a small log or widely spaced stones, we elected to wade barefoot across a wide, shallow spot.

From Round Top Lake we looped back to the trailhead via the Lost Cabin Mine trail. I think it’s easier to descend this trail than to climb it. There was quite a bit of water on the trail in places, and a few snow banks to navigate. We were back at Wood’s Lake in a leisurely 4 hours having hiked 5 miles—highest elevation was about 9,200 feet.

Links
—Winnemucca Lake 2011 photo gallery