Key Reasons to Go: Within a 75-mile radius of Placerville, Carson Pass is probably the most worthwhile daytrip you can make! It offers such a rich mixture of plants, magnificent scenery, and a day's worth of pleasure, still allowing time to get home for dinner.

The hike to the north is quite different from the hike to the south. Head over the saddle to the pond, then head uphill either to the left or right to find alpine plants and great vistas, or gently drop down the slope to jump over the headwaters of the Truckee River (just a wide creek at this point) and continue into a chain of meadows. Once in that meadow, watch for the big obvious snag (near the stream) where mountain bluebirds are frequently seen nesting.

Best Time to Go: As soon as the snow melts, throught September and even October.

GPS users: UTM 11 239880E 4287133N (NAD27)

Leaving the self-serve pay station ($5) at the Meiss Trailhead parking lot (8550'), walk along through the junipers before finding about a half-mile of level stretch through a grove of small aspens. The trail eventually dips a bit and gives you some shaded spots; in May and June, look for western spring beauty and steers head. You need to learn to recognize the leaf to know steers head, then you too will be seeing them everywhere near melting snow patches. They do tend to finish fairly fast.

There is a small stream crossing just before you emerge from forest cover and see the sunny south-facing hillside in front of you. It's only a few hundred feet of elevation gain and in less than 30 minutes you will be up the slope, standing by the pond at 8800'. As you start up the hillside you are quickly into a display of sun-loving plants like Wyethia, mariposa lily, and paintbrush.

Near the top of the saddle, poke around in the willows and greenery on the left of the trail and see if you can find Brown's peony. This is one of only a few local places I have found them. The flowers are dark maroon and face downward, making them challenging to see, even harder to photograph. You should also see a nice display of Iris missouriensis which are pretty common along this section of the trail.

Take time to investigate the perimeter of the pond and you should find Alpine shooting-star probably hesperochiron, certainly buttercups, and geum.

You Have Three Options:

1. Continue northward on what looks like an old wagon track. In fact it is an old road that has developed into two deep ruts of trails. For several hundred yards the grassy flat area will provide excellent view of Lake Tahoe to the north and a beautiful view of Round Top behind you. Early in July you can expect to find major displays of Beckwith's violet, a Great Basin plant that has established outposts here and up the shoulder of Red Lake Peak to the east. You will have to slow down and look closely; these are not tall plants. The flowers, however, are large when compared to our other violet species, and they are the prettiest, in my opinion. UPDATE: 17 June 07: area already dried out! No violets.

The trail descends to the meadows where you will have to find your way across a growing stream (which happens to be the headwaters of the Truckee River) as the big snow pack melts off. Just beyond the meander crossing, pause to look for a noticeable big snag at the meadow edge. There is a hole near the top and standing to watch for even a few minutes may reward you with a glimpse of mountain bluebirds darting out to catch bugs.

Farther on there is an old cabin that always attracts attention. The cabin is open during winter to provide shelter for cross-country skiers. Veer off and check the area; most everyone does. The stream wanders through a willow patch behind the cabin, and there is a good chance to see pine siskins in the trees near the cabin.

Side trips offer destinations in their own right; the several lakes off-trail to the east are probably too much a mosquito haven to be worthwhile for a picnic, but go ahead and try if you must. In autumn you can hope to find wild bilberries around the marshy perimeters.

Continue along as far as you want; the trail eventually leads to Echo Summit, but of course you will likely turn around and just enjoy this as a nice day-hike. [Note that this area is also accessed from Echo Summit and a hike to Benwood Meadows, a description which will be added as I can get to it.]

2. Leave the pond and head up the grade to the west on the track for Little Round Top. It's a few miles up and over a volcanic ridge, and a semi-cross-country trip. There is a trail evident but I like to just wander to find my own way. A couple of false summits will keep you guessing; a GPS will keep you located. This is a different habitat: open, usually windy enough to make your photography harder and you grabbing at your hat. It is covered with volcanic shards and frequent sandy patches that present a changing display of flowers tuned to this harsh life. The random boulders are wonderful with fluorescent orange and lime-green lichens. Try to get there early (July) for the interesting forms of astragalus (A. whitneyi, shown), and perhaps a chance to find the very hard-to-see fritillary (F. pinetorum? I think so, but I have to go back and find them again.)

3. Leave the pond and strike out to the east, heading up to the knobby volcanic cliffs below Red Lake Peak. The first cliffs are at about the 9000-foot mark. It’s maybe better to angle for the patch of trees you will see to the left, then angle back to climb up and between the knobs to a somewhat flat area where you can enjoy a great view out into Nevada and to the Sierra south toward Yosemite. On the gravel slope around these knobs you should find some alpine plants, including both Bolander's astragalus, Pursh's astragalus, and Alpine cryptantha. The rock walls are covered in an eye-popping combination of orange and yellow lichens which you will swear should glow in the dark! On the whole, you will be glad to have made the climb even if you turn back and return to the pond.

Certainly one of my best finds of 2005 was Lewisia pygmaea, a plant that was not on my list of plants to expect at Carson Pass. I spotted it while coming back down from the knobs, and as much as I love to find Lewisias, this was an unexpected treat. I shot a few pictures, and I did find just one other plant. As seems to be the rule, the flowers were a bit bug-bit so of course I was thwarted in my attempt to get gallery-quality portraits. Now I simply have to return to Carson Pass and search yet again for these little Lewisias that were hiding in the grass on the slopes of Red Lake Peak.

Continue up to Red Lake Peak if you want to peak bag (it's just over 10,000 feet). Remember: you might end up standing exactly where John C. Frémont once stood.

What Flowers Will You See?

Some plants have very limited bloom times but others seem to carry almost through the season. Here are some almost guaranteed plants:

1. Swertia: Swertia radiata: Some books still call it Frasera (its old name was Frasera speciosa), most call it monument plant. This member of the Gentian family is usually an attention getter because it stands alone and grows perhaps four feet tall, having a single spike of large greenish flowers. This plant is more commonly found on the area around Frog Lake (see Carson South), but you can find it on the upslope approach to the saddle heading north.

2. Mountain mule-ears: Wyethia mollis: these bloom and linger on, so likely you will enjoy seeing the slopes covered with a wonderful sunny display of Wyethia. Their large fuzzy leaves have a rounded base and are widely ovate and pointed. Initially they can be confused with balsamroot, but balsamroot leaves are soft-hairy and they are arrow-shaped, this the name Balsamorhiza saggitatus.

3. Browns Peony: Paeonia brownii: This is an odd little plant because it hides so well from the prying eyes of the casual hiker. The family Paeoniaceae only has two species in California, and P. brownii is ours in northern California. The genus name honors Paeon, the physician of the gods in Homer's Iliad.

4. Steer's head: Dicentra uniflora: This elusive little member of the Poppy family is either seldom found or it’s everywhere! It only appears in damp soil, often in proximity to a snow patch. The leaves are pretty distinctive (ternately dissected) but of course the flowers are the attraction! By the way, "Dicentra" is from the Greek dis, "twice," and centron, "spur": “twice-spurred”.

5. Western juniper: Juniperus occidentalis: When you start out of the parking area and travel the first half-mile, you can't help but stop to apprciate these incredible huge trees. They remind me of broccoli with their short, thick trunks topped with dense green foliage. I wish somebody would tell me how old these trees are, but I'm happy to visit them with their cinamon-colored bark and the bright clusters of chartreuse wolf lichen (Letharia vulpina).

6. Dwarf monkeyflower: Mimulus nanus: Although the Calfora records put their upper limit at 7500 feet, M. nanus is found at the roadside across fom the main parking area (8500') and I have found it closer to 9500' on the way up to Little Round Top. One of the interesting things about this mim is that it can be either pink or yellow, all in the same patch. Remember that mims are now in the family Phrymaceae.

7. Whitney's locoweed: Astagalus whitneyi: You have to leave the trail and head up to the slopes to the right or left to find the white flowers of this astragalus. It starts around 9000 feet and is easy to find once you're in the right zone. The seeds of this flower are almost more intersting than the blossom; the seed pods are inflated and tan with red blotches. The seeds rattle inside the pod, giving it a second common name of rattlepod.

8. California hesperochiron: Hespirochiron californica: This should be abundant in the grassy areas just over the saddle."Hespero" means western; Chiron was a centaur, known for his exceptional goodness and wisdom. He was the only immortal centaur. Why is this plant so named? You figure it out and let me know!

Enjoy your hike,