Sierra Nevada - Lundy Loop - Hoover Wilderness

On October 4-6, 1980 Jim White and I backpacked from Lundy Lake on a loop in the Hoover Wilderness.

We left Independence Friday evening and camped at county campground on Tioga Pass road near the Ranger Station. Got a permit at the Ranger Station Saturday morning and drove to the trailhead at the dam end of Lundy Lake.

We hit the trail between 9 and 10 a.m. Followed the road which was in current use and in good shape with easy grade up into the mouth of Lake Canyon. Continued on to Crystal Lake and the remnants of the Lundy Mine where we ate lunch.

There was one old cabin in fairly good shape and other buildings collapsed by winter snows. The old Lundy Mill which had burned in the past still contained a number of pieces of equipment - the four-stamp mills, boilers, electric motors of some kind, etc. The mine tunnel was being reworked by someone who had a bulldozer, compressor, generator and fan. They were apparently reworking the tunnel to operate the mine and had put in new shoring, laid new track to haul out ore, etc.

Lundy Mine at Crystal Lake - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Old generator house at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Jim inside old cabin at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Cabin at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Tumblers and fire box at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Mill site at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Stamp Mills at Mill site at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Boiler and Stamp Mills at Mill site at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Steam engine and electric generators at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

New work going on at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Mill remains and Crystal Lake at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

New work going on at Lundy Mine - Hoover Wilderness 1980

About 2 p.m. we headed on up the old road to Oneida Lake where we found an old wooden and rock dam from early mining days used to raise the lake level. We hiked around the south side and made camp near the inlet.

Oneida Lake dam - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Oneida Lake - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Sunday morning we hiked up the pleasant valley on an old trail staying to the north and climbing above the upper lake and into the chute leading to Dore Pass. The trail up the chute is mostly gone but some evidence is seen. It's a bit loose and steep making for a stiff climb.

We stopped for lunch at a level spot before proceeding around to the right up the slope to the top of the pass. The foreboding cliffs at the left are not even involved. It seems hard to believe they hauled mining equipment up over this route in winter.

On top of the pass we found remnants of the old "highest in the world" telephone line from Lundy to Bennetteville. A melting snow bank provided water and the weather was so good that we decided to camp near the top of the pass with great views of Mt. Conness.

Highest lake in Lake Canyon - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Lake Canyon - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Cliffs near Dore Pass - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Dore Pass/Cliffs - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Mt. Conness from camp on Dore Pass - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Mt. Conness from Dore Pass - Hoover Wilderness 1980

Monday morning we examined the top of the pass and the Dore Cliffs (heard the fan going down at Lundy mine) and then headed down toward Saddlebag Lake about 10 a.m. We descended easily and hit the lakeside road near the north end of the lake and soon turned off on the Lundy Pass Trail.

Hummingbird Lake offered very limited camping so we were glad we had stopped on top of Dore Pass. Odell Lake was not much better with limited sites as you approached. Dropping down the rocky gully to Helen Lake we came across a snow tunnel over the creek which we could walk through and which was about 50 feet long - quite interesting.

On reaching Helen Lake it appeared all good campsites were on the far side and would have required climbing up over lakeside cliffs to reach if we had camped here. At the outlet we found an old wooden structure (tunnel) in the dam made to raise the lake. It was apparently used as a sort of refrigerator since it had nails inside to hang things on. Just below the outlet were two nice small meadows with nice campsites.

While eating lunch here the only other person we had seen all weekend came off the hills across the creek and knocked down some piled up rocks - he might have been a ranger, don't think he even saw us. We headed on down the steep switchbacks descending rapidly into the main Lundy Canyon past several waterfalls. Even in late season they were interesting and would be quite spectacular in spring. They sort of cascade down but the drop is quite high and this portion of the trail offers outstanding views.

The many short switchbacks remind me of the Mt. Whitney trail. As we approached the Lundy roadhead we found fresh beaver ponds and cuttings. Arriving at an old road, we followed it as the trail for a while. At a switchback in the road, the main trail took off uphill over the cliffs. We discovered this was because the original road had been inundated by beaver ponds.

We arrived at the roadhead about 3 p.m. and hide our packs in the bushes, then walked about three miles to the car, drove back for the packs and headed home. The walk to the car took about an hour and the drive back to the packs about 30 minutes or so. We reached Independence about 7:30 after a great hike through historic country. Unusually warm weather made it even greater.