Length: 14 miles

Water: Lots

Access: Long, fair gravel and dirt road

Season; May through October

near Thompson Peak and Sawtooth Mountain. They are, however, forever separated by these impossibly rugged and imposing peaks and each must be approached from a different direction.

Of the 5 areas (Grizzly Lake, Caribou Lakes, Canyon Creek Lakes, Emerald/Sapphire Lakes and Papoose Lake), Papoose is the most westerly, most isolated and lies at the end of the longest trail. It offers by far the best fishing en route, in the Trinity River's North Fork.

The single, spectacular destination of the Papoose Lake Trail climaxes a leisurely journey which rises only 2100 feet in the first 13 miles. Like Grizzly Lake, the final mile, from Bear Valley Meadows to the Lake, soars 1000 feet up a glacial headwall to a hanging basin surrounded by glacierettes and topped by Mt. Hilton, the Trinity Alps' second loftiest summit at 8964 feet. The Canyon Creek Lakes lie just over the summit.

Just before the turnoff from Highway 299 to the trailhead access road, at Helena, you drive over a bridge labeled "North Fork Trinity River." The road up the North Fork is called East Fork Road, however. After 4 miles, the pavement ends and the route climbs 7 or 8 miles to a ridge top. It then crosses the ridge and follows the canyon on the other side to the North Fork trailhead.

How can the North Fork be on both sides of the ridge at the same time? A mile from 299, the North Fork veers west and crosses under the road, which continues straight ahead along what is now the East Fork.

At the road summit, you're greeted by an impressive vista of the south end of Limestone Ridge, rising across the North Fork canyon. The ridge can be reached via the New River Divide and White's Creek Lake Trails, described in this chapter. Or it can be visited from the Green Mountain trailhead (Chapter 22).

Despite its reputation for low use and isolation, the North Fork/Hobo Gulch trailhead area was a madhouse when I visited, the first weekend of hunting season. An eighth mile before the trailhead, where the road to Hobo Gulch Campground branches left, a commercial horse packer has set up operations. It's 1/4 mile from there to the campground, down a narrow road which

drops to the canyon floor.

I found the Hobo Gulch Campground unappealing, despite the riverside location and old growth forest. It is seemingly unmaintained and the dustiest place I've ever been. Since I ar-

rived late in the day (after a 5 hour drive from home), I hiked upriver a mile before turning in for the night.

From the trailhead, the path wanders high up the canyon, through a forest of giant Douglas-fir, with an understory of vine maple and dogwood. White oak in the rare open areas attests to the fact that above the cooling overstory, the canyon bakes like a Dutch oven in summer.

A path up from the campground joins the main trail after 1/4 mile. After 3/4 mile, the gently rising route crests out and begins dropping, crossing Backbone Creek at mile 1, near a large campsite decorated with an old car axle.

Just past the cobbly Backbone Creek crossing, a sign directs hikers either uphill right or downhill left, both to Papoose Lake. Uphill right climbs steeply up the nose of a ridge for 1/4 mile, then bears left and contours high up the canyon. The Backbone Creek Trail, taking off near the junction, follows the side creek 3 miles to the remains of Russell Cabin.

The left hand trail at the Backbone Creek junction, signed "Papoose Lake-Low Water Route," quickly drops down to and crosses the North Fork. This is not a good route to Papoose Lake no matter what the water level. Use it only if heading for Bear Valley Meadows, White's Creek or the New River Divide.

They must mean "Very Low Water Route." I visited in late September, well into an extended drought, at a time when the water couldn't possibly get any lower. While I managed to boulder hop across, it took some precariously long steps to accomplish this with dry shoes. Any other time of year would require taking your shoes off and fording. Prior to mid-July, it's probably wise to avoid this route.

The high trail drops back down to the water after a mile. From there, it's 3 miles to Rattlesnake Camp and the next major junction. And a fine 3 miles it is, with very little rise and frequent encounters with the North Fork-a productive trout and steelhead stream. This section boasts many large flats and campsites, beneath a canopy of old growth Douglas-fir, sugar pine, oak and madrone.

Past the remains of Strunk Cabin, you arrive at Rattlesnake camp. Turn right, up Rattlesnake Creek, for Papoose Lake, 9 miles distant. To continue up the North Fork, boulder hop or wade across Rattlesnake Creek. This will lead you directly into Chapter 1 and, ultimately, Grizzly Lake, 14 miles upstream.

Things change drastically on Rattlesnake Creek, and not just because you're now heading east instead of north. For one thing, the gradient begins to picks up, although it's still far from steep. While the trail's first 5 miles rise only 400 feet, the first 4 miles of Rattlesnake Creek gain 600 feet, to 4200 feet (still 2400 feet below the lake elevation).

Rattlesnake Creek's most notable feature is the intense gold mining activity. The area is riddled with tailings, pits and rock piles, dating from the last century and continuing to the present. Mining was the one activity exempted in the 1967 Wilderness Act and there are still a few permits to drive motorized vehicles and equipment into the area.

While the trail follows an old road bed through parts of the Rattlesnake Creek Canyon, miners drove straight up the middle of the North Fork to reach it. Most mines are now inactive and overgrown with alder brush and the area is healing.

The Rattlesnake Creek Canyon has a few narrow spots as it makes its way past Martin's Gulch to where it crosses to the north bank. You'll likely get your feet wet before emerging on the road to Brown's Mine on the other side.

At Brown's mine, look for a profusion of rusting junk and the turnoff to the Bob's Farm Trail, discussed in Chapter 1. While this route appear's to offer a shortcut to Grizzly Lake, it's horribly steep, brushy, exposed and not recommended.

Shortly beyond Brown's Mine, the trail crosses Mill Creek and bends to the southeast. From here on, it's a straight shot to Papoose Lake. The path breaks into the open and steepens considerably as views of Hilton Peak, the 8964 foot summit dominating the region, gradually take center stage. In the 4 miles from Brown's Mine to Bear Valley Meadows, the trail rises 1400 feet, to 5600 feet.

At Enni Camp, a trail takes off left, leading to Bear Valley Meadows Camp, 1200 feet up the Mountainside and nowhere near Bear Valley Meadows. This is not the way to Papoose Lake. The Bear Valley Meadows Camp Trail has been officially deactivated, especially since much of the route burned in one of the many forest fires which swept Northern California in 1987.

The true trail, and the actual Bear Valley Meadows, lies at the head of Rattlesnake Creek Canyon, in a wide basin surrounded by greenstone cliffs and ledges, with a boulder strewn floor.

Unlike Grizzly Meadows, Bear Valley Meadows are vast and beautiful-except I couldn't help wondering why they're called Bear Valley Meadows, not Rattlesnake Creek Meadows.

If the region's pioneers had their way, they'd have named every creek, mountain, meadow and lake after the area's most famous carnivore.

Twelve miles from Hobo Gulch, the trail finally gets serious. Just beyond Enni Camp and the meadows, it begins a strenuous switchback ascent up gullies, through brush fields, over boulders and around rock ledges while rising 1000 feet in 1 1/2 miles. Though well used and marked with occasional rock ducks, it's mostly a scramble trail and not nearly as obvious as the route from Grizzly Meadows to Grizzly Lake.

This is one of those places where the trail climbs a series of benches and you keep thinking the lake is at the top-only to discover another, and yet another bench still to be climbed.

When you finally arrive at the 28 acre lake, entering the basin at a ridge 1 00 feet above its narrow, "V" outlet, you find yourself inside what may be the most enclosed glacial cirque in the entire wilderness. Soaring cliffs wrap around 3/4's of the basin, with white granite on one side and greenstone on the other. Permanent snowfields and glaciereftes decorate the high ledges just below the summit of Mt. Hilton, 2300 feet straight up the rock walls.

(Actually, Mt. Hilton is set back a little. The highest point on the cirque rim is only 891 1 feet).

You'll find some great campsites, mostly to the right of the lake. The lake itself boasts a rocky shore lined with grass and, in season, a profusion of wildflowers (paintbrush, monkeyflower, etc.). A granite ledge jutting into the water offers a great spot to launch your quest for the elusive brook trout.

the New River Divide, cross the North Fork via the low water

trail at Backbone Creek, 1 mile from the North Fork trailhead.

Presuming you make it across, you'll find yourself in the dense,

cathedral forest of Keystone Flat. A half-mile later, the White's

Creek Trail to Bear Wallow Meadows takes off left and makes

its way up White's Creek.

the path leaves the alder lined canyon and heads up a rocky,

serpentine slope. The forest continues to be dominated by low elevation species-Douglas-fir, black oak and canyon liveoak.

After much zigging, a little zagging, and a several hundred foot rise, the trail arrives at a little gully choked with willow and alder, just beyond a small side creek, 3 1/2 miles from Keystone Flat. This is Bear Wallow "Meadows." While I observed neither meadows nor wallowing bears, I wouldn't bet on the continuing absence of our ursine friends.

Beyond Bear Wallow Whatchamacallit, the path contours far above White's Creek for a mile. It then climbs steeply for 1/2 mile, with excellent views of the North Fork and the high peaks to the east. At mile 6 from Keystone Flat, Hunter's Camp appears, in a wooded glade beside a small spring.

Shortly past Hunters Camp, the path finally reaches its objective-the New River Divide, at a 5600 foot saddle on Limestone Ridge, amid a majestic white fir forest. A left turn here will land you at White's Creek Lake (Chapter 22) after 2 miles. A right turn leads onto the New River Divide Trail, which follows the ridge top for 10 miles, past Cabin Peak and Rattlesnake Lake (puddle), to the main crest of the Salmon Range, just east of Mary Blaine Mountain (Chapter 23). From there, it's 5 more miles to Cecil Lake and the long, dirt road down to Cecilville, on the South Fork of the Salmon.

We're talking wilderness here. And I don't mean the weekend carnival wilderness found at places like Canyon Creek. I mean real wilderness, where you're far more likely to encounter a bigfoot than another human.