Читать книгу Trinity Alps & Vicinity: Including Whiskeytown, Russian Wilderness, and Castle Crags Areas. A Hiking and Backpacking Guide онлайн

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Many excellent campsites lie hidden in patches of forest interspersed with small meadows at the south end of Morris Meadow. A horse packer’s camp is in a grove of incense cedars jutting into the west side of the meadow, and more campsites can be found in the forest at the north end. Please refrain from camping directly in the meadow—plenty of more environmentally friendly sites should be available along the forest fringe. Freeloading deer, too often successful, have been a problem at Morris Meadow, as are chipmunks and ground squirrels. Make sure you either hang your food effectively or use a bear canister.

To Camp or Not to Camp at the Upper Lakes?

Before continuing up the valley, you should consider whether you want to haul your backpack all the way to Emerald or Sapphire Lake, or use Morris Meadow—or one of the other camps as far up as Portuguese Camp—as a base camp and then day hike to the high lakes. The distance from the south end of Morris Meadow to Emerald Lake is a mere 5 miles, which equates to not much more than a 2-hour hike with day packs. Campsites at Emerald and Sapphire Lakes are fair at best, accommodating only about 20 people without serious overcrowding. Campfires are banned at all of the Stuart Fork lakes and only one small campsite at Emerald Lake has any trees suitable for hanging food, which are an absolute necessity if you don’t have a bear canister.