Trip Notes - Wapama Falls to Beehive Meadow Trail

Photo: Reservoir from Beehive Trail.

Photo Album: #125.

Weather: Forecast was for the nineties but it was partly cloudy in the low seventies.

Trail Head: It's officially O'Shaughnessy Dam, but I marked it from where we parked. We parked in the lot before the dam. The one with the picnic tables and pit toilets.

Trail head elevation: 3728 ft.

This was an alternate hike to the Rancheria Falls hike because of this:** Massive rock slide just beyond Wapama Falls has cut off access to Rancheria Falls until late summer. **

The alternate route included a hike up the canyon wall toward Beehive Meadows. Those who went the full 13 miles RT turned-around at the highest point on the ridge, returned to the reservoir and went out to Wapama Falls and back, creating a Y shape.

There were three difficulty ratings and route choices.    

Easy: 5.5-mile out and back to Wapama Falls with 200 ft elevation change.

Moderate: 9-mile out and back, up the trail toward Beehive Meadows, turn-around at 3 miles, then out and back to Wapama Falls with a 1483 elevation change.

Strenuous: 13-mile out and back, up the trail toward Beehive Meadows, turn-around at 5 miles, then out and back to Wapama Falls with a 2456 elevation change.

Transportation: We carpooled and caravanned from Burger King in Oakdale.

Flora: Keckiella Breviflora, Elegant Clarkia, Butterfly Mariposa Lily, Brewer's Monkeyflower, Live-Forever.

Fauna: The reptiles were Gopher Snakes and Whiptails. Steve saw a rattlesnake and juvenile Gilbert's or Western Skink with a blue tail. Nick photographed a California Sister butterfly on Debbie's truck.

Dinner: Pot luck at the trail head.

Participants: We partnered with Jaunt on this one. They had quite a few participants but I'm only listing I/H members here. (16) Debbie, Lauren & Johnny Schickert, Barb Hayes, Kristin Swanke, Steven Fotheringham, Jeanette Farley, Stefanie Rochow, Michael Booth, Ken Keith, Nicole Cipriano (with son, Austin), Andria Hernandez, Doug Meredith, Nick, Eric & Becky Teberg.

Comments: I was dreading potential hot weather because of NOAA's misforecast, but it turned out fine. Irony: even though the Thursday before the hike i was told the Rancheria Trail would be closed until late summer, it opened the night before the hike but I didn't know. We walked through last years Rim Fire burn.