Page 22 - Walks In The Black Range, Vol. 4

Nuthatch, Mountain Chickadee, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Steller’s Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Raven (sp.?), and Brown Creeper. In the past, I have seen Clark’s Nutcracker along this section of trail.
Sawyers Peak Trail is above 8,000’ (even on this short walk the end of the trail was at 8,600’). If you are not acclimated to this elevation you may wish to take it fairly slow and remember to drink lots of water - dependable safe water is not available along the trail.
Following the Silver Fire, grass obscured footing along the trail, much worse in other parts, than shown here.
REPORT FROM JUNE 14, 2015
There is good news and bad news from Sawyers Peak Trail. This trail starts at Emory Pass at an elevation of about 8,115’ and ends at the summit of Sawyers Peak at about 9,615’. Over the 4 mile route (8 miles round-trip) there is an elevation gain of about 1,736’, the maximum grade is 18%, and about half of the route is above 9,000’ (elevation profile of the walk shown below). At 1.9 miles from Emory Pass, there is a trail junction with the Grandview trail, which returns northward a short distance. This junction is at about 8,973’, from here to the summit of Sawyers Peak the trail is above 9,000’.
This report is from a walk on Thursday, June 11, 2015 and should be viewed in conjunction with the original post on this trail (see August 28, 2014 report above).
TRAIL CONDITIONS: We found the trail easier to navigate than last year. Last year grass was growing heavily in the trail, obscuring your footing and making it a bit tricky in places. This year, perhaps because it is earlier in the season, the grass is not obscuring the trail. At .94 miles from Emory Pass there is a major washout in the trail, photo below. In the photo, the trail is barely visible on the right side, about half way down the image. This washout is navigated by following a hikers trail uphill to a crossing point. Cattle are being allowed to run free all along the trail and they are literally destroying the trail in places.
At the point near the end of the trail where the map, next page, shows a sharp turn to the northwest, there use to be (still in existence last year) a spur trail to the summit of Sawyers Peak. The trail is generally indistinguishable. Although short sections are visible on the way to the summit the trail is basically nonexistent at this time. Route finding is not difficult, walk up hill through burnt forest until you reach the summit.
LADY BUGS: One of the great draws of Sawyers Peak during the summer is the huge gathering of lady bugs at the summit. A few years ago we saw tens of thousands there. Although we were assured that it was to early for the lady bugs, and