Long Canyon - Trinity Alps

I had an adventurous hike through Long Canyon with Tamara Lopez on June 13th. The trail ascends somewhat steeply through woodlands interspersed with swift running streams and creeks. Views of the granite spires typical of the Trinity Alps came into view after an hour or so of hiking. Finally we broke out of the woods and found ourselves adjacent to snowy mountain slopes that transitioned to green meadows in the valley floor and a raging torrent of water slicing through and beneath deep snow pack. We eventually reached the base of a saddle that separates two prominent mountain peaks...we had to traverse a steep snow slope in order to reach dry, albeit steeper ground that we ascended by scrambling over rock outcrops and pulling ourselves upwards by grabbing onto manzanita brush. We finally got to the top of the saddle and looked farther down trail...it was full of deep snow that would lead down to Deer Lake, our final destination. We decided that reaching the high mountain saddle was a worthy end point given the snow and climbing conditions we already tackled. So we descended back down into Long Canyon and hiked 4-5 miles back to the trailhead.