Placid trail, growing storm
The view from that granite crag is so tranquil that it might seem difficult to believe the level of conflict over the land below.
From a Sierra crag at north Tahoe, with one sweep of the eye you can look across towering peaks and down into a valley — and take in a landscape shaping up as the next big turf battleground in California.
On one side are the worldrenowned Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski areas and their lodging, restaurants and shops. On the other side is the Granite Chief Wilderness, which abuts land where a contested 13,000-foot gondola is proposed to rise up to the ridge and link the ski areas.
In the middle, the Five Lakes Trail rises through a section of Alpine Meadows, including one stretch in which hikers walk beneath a ski lift trolley line and base. The trail then tops the ridge at 7,400 feet, passes the wilderness boundary and feeds hikers to a mosaic of five lakes, small and jeweled. It is one of the best short hikes in the High Sierra. For extended trips, the trail then connects a few miles beyond to the Pacific Crest Trail.
For Sierra Watch, an environmental group, the point of contention is that the proposed gondola would infringe on the intent of the Wilderness Act to protect the adjoining Granite Chief Wilderness, even though the gondola route would be on private land.
Alpine and Squaw hope to have the new gondola, the California Express, running in the winter of 2019-20 — that is, two years from now. Starting construction will require county, state and federal approval, including satisfying the California Environmental Quality Act, and then emerging from likely lawsuits from environmentalists.
The Five Lakes Trail, Alpine Meadows, Squaw Valley and the trailhead for the adjoining Granite Chief Wilderness are located near Highway 89, a short drive from Tahoe City (and south of Truckee) at North Lake Tahoe.
Views of now, future
Just off the Five Lakes Trail, the view from that granite crag is so tranquil that it might seem difficult to believe the level of conflict over the land below.
In the valley to your right, 1,000 feet below, is the base lodge for Alpine Meadows Ski Area at an elevation of 6,200 feet. Off to the far right is 8,637-foot Ward Peak, which crowns the slopes above Alpine Meadows.
To the left is Red Dog Ridge, the boundary at Squaw Valley. If you scramble to a higher vantage point, you can then see how Red Dog Ridge connects to the legendary KT-22 peak at 8,070 feet and its staging area for snowboarders and skiers.
Looking down from that crag, it is easy for most to envision how a gondola from the valley at Alpine Meadows could rise up and connect to Red Dog Ridge and Squaw Valley. Those who love skiing call the joint vision “Squawlpine.”
The link would create one of the largest, stellar-quality ski areas in North America. The final product would be a self-contained entity, where you stay, eat, play and, with a single pass, have access to 29 lifts at Squaw, 13 at Alpine and 6,000 acres of skiable terrain. For skier or boarder, it would be like looking into the night sky with a telescope and seeing more stars than you thought possible.
Andy Wirth, CEO of Squaw Valley, told Chronicle Sports Editor Al Saracevic that he believes the hurdles to this connection can be scaled. “If you come from Marin County, or you come from New York City, you’ll be able to ski both mountains quickly and easily.”
Wirth pointed out that the routes suggested for the gondola connection from Alpine to Squaw would pass over privately owned land, not public land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and not infringe on the wilderness area.
The wilderness buffer
The trailhead for the Five Lakes Trail is on a paved access road to Alpine Meadows, a short distance from the ski area’s parking area and lodge. It is then a 2.5-mile hike with a 1,000-foot climb to the Five Lakes Basin; a 5-mile round-trip. Like most gateways into wilderness, there is a buffer of non-wilderness land that surrounds it.
Wilderness is uncultivated land that people can visit and then leave without trace. Mechanical devices, such as bicycles, helicopters and float planes, are prohibited. You instead gain entry on foot or by horseback. The core principle is that the land is undisturbed by human activity. Building fire rings in wilderness, for instance, is illegal.
To keep it that way, most wilderness is buffered by wildlands, often a mile or two on the trail, before you pass the designated boundary, as at Granite Chief.
In many cases in the Sierra, it can take hikes of several days and 5,000-foot climbs to reach wilderness basins with several lakes. The challenge, quiet and lack of mechanization make it the ultimate escape portal. The Five Lakes Trail is an anomaly because you can get there in an hour.
And that brings lots of foot traffic. In his conversation with The Chronicle, Wirth said he would like to work with environmentalists to find ways to mitigate damage to the wilderness by the high volume of hikers.
“We’re not planning to run it (the gondola) in the summertime,” said Wirth. “This project, thankfully, has brought a lot of attention to the Five Lakes wilderness area. That part of the wilderness area is being loved to death. There’s far too much traffic. We’re looking for partners on this.”
A network of paths connects the lakes, nestled in granite amid pines. Some will make a sport of it and over the course of an hour or two, plus a trail lunch, try to find all five (some say six). Many will find a rock seat along their favorite lake and for a while feel as if it is theirs alone.
This weekend, the snow started falling on the Sierra crest. About a foot of snow settled across the Five Lakes Trail. In the next month or so, the High Sierra landscape will transform from granite and pines to a moonscape of white powder.
If only what the future holds for this land were so simple to see.