Moments in Dirt and Ink

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Purple line (under the orange line) for day 1. Click for map. It took me a bit longer than expected to drive from the Elbow Springs Trailhead of South Kelsey National Recreation Trail , mostly because I hadn't realized how much highway is in between the two places. Then I got to wanting to check the Red Salmon Complex closure area to be sure I wasn't trying to be in it, but it wasn't posted at the junction with the highway anymore. The open campground "with host" was a bit of a clue the area was open. The host had some fire information posted, but not the closure map. She chatted about the trail based on a great gathering of things she's heard, but had never been on it herself. She told me to look out for one of her campers, a younger trail runner who she had sent up there earlier. It was already 11AM by the time I got back to the trailhead with its signs unchanged since the last time I was there inc...

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Purple line for day 3. Click for map. I took minimal water from Willis Hole knowing that there was nice flowing water just a mile away along the trail. It was even more minimal thanks to the 2 extra liters I'd carried from Bear Lake. That was, um, heavy. I felt super light as I left. On the way to the water, I walked out onto a well burned viewpoint to see that the smoke was looking settled in the valleys of Dillon Creek this morning. Misty valleys, one can hope. It's smoke. Then I walked down the hill and missed the trail I'd just walked the day before, taking a bit of tiny wash instead. I checked my track from the day before to see where I should be, then walked back a bit past a chunk of wood that had seemed familiar up to the trail once more. It was right where it should be. I built another cairn before continuing on to the water. The lower slopes of the south side of the upcoming ridge. The ...

Klamath National Forest Six Rivers National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Red line for day 2. Click for map. I had a beautiful dawn, noticing that the smoke that was high above the mountain in the evening had dropped a long way below by morning. Then I noticed that another Platypus water bag can no longer be trusted. The first ones went 10-12 years, but that one has a 2015 date on the side. Admittedly it probably has more miles on it than those first ones. All my gear is dying! My Neoair mat shows bright yellow instead of shadowed when held to the light because all the metallization has crumbled. It barely handles the fall ground temperatures. The second water bag was fine, so nothing to worry about yet. Preston Peak glowed in the first light, too. I ate in the growing light of a mild but chilly morning, then pondered my water. I was expecting a hot day and, if the map wasn't lying to me, no water until Harrington Lake. I also had a track that s...

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Orange line for day 1. Click for map. I took the easier (and likely shorter even if coming from southwest like I was) road out of Norcross to Happy Camp where I could check the most recent forest orders (because it is disconcerting to find that after 5 days, no one has obscured your tire tracks with their own) and then followed another road marked "Kelsey National Recreation Trail" on the map and signed Bear Mountain Road to the eastern end of South Kelsey Trail. Ever in search of a loop, I thought about getting in some of the Clear Creek Trail too, but the line I was looking at to connect the loops is just the wilderness boundary. Clear Creek Trail is the southern boundary of the Slater and Devil Fire closure anyway, although the closure map indicates the trailhead itself is open. This was planned as a rest day, but I figured it would be more likely I got the little extras I wanted if I added the afternoo...

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5 Red line for day 5. Click for map. There was no more rock fall in the night, at least not that I noticed. The sun was long in getting there and I took a long time to get started. I only had about 10 miles to go, which was quite a long day for this trip, and I wanted to finish it by 4PM when Norcross loses the sunshine at this time of year. I just sort of wanted to be able to be in the sun once I had wet feet, but it is all downhill so I didn't rush. I finally noticed the little bit of ice that was down by the lake inlet although it wasn't freezing up in the trees. The first sun on Blue Granite Lake hits up by the outlet. There might be another camp up there, but I didn't quite wander that far on the path around the lake. This could be the coldest bit of the lake getting the least sun all day. I got going a little before the sun finally hit the main camping a...

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5 Orange line for day 4. Click for map. My hypothesis of warmer by the lake when all is freezing around and the lake hasn't even started freezing did not seem to test well. I had a lot of below freezing hours and the water I left on the low table among the trees didn't show the smallest sign of ice in the morning. I did get the first light to hit the lake. It seemed like quite a pleasant day, but I suspected that would only last for as long as I was in the bowl of the lake. Still, more points to Spirit Lake for the pleasant microclimate and morning sun. Spirit Lake in the morning sun from the north side. The low point is the outflow and the inflow is just right of that. The camp is under the trees in front of the outflow. I was wrong again. It didn't turn miserable once I got up to the main trail. It took a little more climbing to get out of the shelter of the r...

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5 Green line for day 3. Click for map. Since my primary reason I didn't want to go up the mountain the day before was that it would get cold, it was not lost on me that although it wasn't freezing yet when I had my 3AM read before going back to sleep, it was mid-20s when I got up. Once I got out of the sheltered area of my camp, I found that that came with an arctic wind, too. I didn't bother to take off my puffy pants and jacket to start hiking. The wind was pushing a lot of moisture along for the purpose of frosting trees. From here, one can probably just chug directly toward the false peak ahead, then stay left. I chose to go around most the rocks. I suspected that shelf might have some potential sites and there are a few in the trees and off to the left behind them. They're only a little frosted in the wind. The clouds came by in waves with a general backgr...