Marble Mountains: Spirit Lake to Blue Granite Lake

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 ridge. When I did, the wind was not quite so bad as the day before (which really didn't rate miserable, just uncomfortable). I noticed a pond a little way down the north side of the ridge. It looked rough, but reflected perfectly because it was already iced over.

The frozen pond is cute, but the view from a little further along is much better. Long ridge lines extend north from the east-west ridge the trail follows and the next one finishes in the high peak out there. The redder ridge is the far side of Elk Creek.

Pigeon Roost up ahead.

Looking back to Marble Mountain. Elk Peak is on the left.

I decided at the western ridge that I would go ahead and tag Pigeon Roost. It threw a more interesting climb at me than I was expecting. I encountered a couple fins toward the top that required a steep downclimb just big enough to look mildly dangerous. I chose to back up and go around them.

I didn't notice the junction, but the trail down to Burney Lake could be spotted in a few places on the slope.

On up to Pigeon Roost. Edging left gets around the vegetation easily, but I went right for the fins. That left a steep, loose hill to get up, but less than 100 feet vertical.

I wasn't expecting any benchmarks at the top, but I found a drill hole. I could see Deadman Lake as well as the Cuddihy Lakes. Far out there was a faint Mount Shasta with a few clouds and a little snow. As big as it is, it barely showed.

Burney Lake is a lot more visible from the top.

Looking down Cuddihy Fork Wooley Creek. The peak is Medicine Mountain.

Lots and lots of distant peaks. Probably the last good view of Marble Mountain, Shasta with its cloud cloak flowing, and maybe even some Trinity Alps. Probably needs clicked to see any of those.

I decided to drop off the peak going south to the trail. The surface is so loose with random bits of vegetation that it probably wouldn't have been an easier way up. It was disturbing that I couldn't even see the trail below me until I was almost on it. This bit is the brushiest along the ridge. It got better as it got closer to Cuddihy Lakes. I never found a spot to look down on Blue Granite Lake. When less than two miles away, I briefly thought about a cross country route rather than the much longer on trail route. It looks possible.

The way ahead. Trail tends to the south side of the ridge line as it approaches Cuddihy Lakes on the left.

Somewhere down there is Blue Granite Lake.

Cuddihy Valley looks quite soggy, even so late in the summer with rains/snows yet to come. Cuddihy Lakes are up in the granite. This area had fires that have left vertical bands of healthy trees between larger bands of obliterated forest.

Some fall colors in the undergrowth. I enjoyed the artistry of leaving the veins green and the touches of red in these.

Trail at the junction to Cuddihy Lakes is so heavily used just for the lakes from the other direction that I had to step over a berm. A short way more and I was on familiar trail from hiking from Monument Lake to Ukonom Lake.

Over the ridge and dropping into the Granite Creek drainage.

Horses had been to the top ridge, but there is a little bit of a view there. It's certainly worth the short spur from the well used bits of Haypress Trail. As I came down, I found the trail not quite so familiar after all. The overgrown switchback had been cleared so that people could use it. The tree mysteriously cleared 20 feet above the trail had been properly cleared along with all its buddies. Sweet. I was looking forward to the newt pond just past the stream (decent place to grab water, which I needed, and could have had a look for my bandana if I hadn't already found it in the wrong pocket) although I suspected newts find something else to do than float around once it gets cold.

Guess there's no newts in the newt pond now.

Another junction, and I was onto new (to me) trail once more, dropping down to the Granite Lakes. Did the trail work go that way? Yes, it did! Not that there weren't already trees down. All of them were small (a foot or less) except one that had broken in such a way it looked like a couple strong people could clear it without any tools at all.

There's lakes out there somewhere.

One of the small, high ponds looked iced over from the trees, but when I went off trail I found it was drying out too. I also found a camp site.

Blue Granite Lake is up that valley, but not all that far up it.

I missed the trail where it crosses the creek coming off the higher ponds. While they were drying, the creek had found some water. I continued back up the hill after crossing, getting into a meadow soggy with spring water. The trail stays down close to the creek before getting up away from the water. Other than that, the trail just flowed downhill easily.

This huge log on a steep hill looks like it was anything but easy to get past until very recently. Got to love that trail work. Who eats cedar like that?

The trail for Green and Gold Granite Lakes is easy to find at the end of a switchback. Trailhead maps show it as primary while Blue Granite Lake is secondary.

The trail for Blue Granite Lake is a few more switchbacks lower and hides a little more off the side of the trail with the sign further away.

I found the trail to Blue Granite Lake to be a little hidden, but the trail itself looked as used as the one to Green and Gold. People might just take it to the creek to find a camp on their way to Ukonom Lake. There are two crossings and I found trails meandering up and down between them. I wasn't even sure the second crossing was trail because it sort of jumps off a high bank into a deep spot. Well, relatively deep given its a small creek. I edged around the side through some thorns to use a big rock to cross. On the far side, there was a veritable canyon cut through the ash. As scrapy as the trail there looked, that seemed suspicious. It gradually turned back into distinctly built trail as I climbed up to the lake.

A bit of the trail through the granite to the lake.

The smaller lake on the way hides very well in the trees.

The trail is quite eroded as it drops the little bit to the lake. There's lots of camping space at the end of the trail. I wandered around a bit finding a well used trail through the meadow. It passed through the middle of a wide spot of one of the generally thin streams that feed the lake. Willows to the side do a good job of blocking any progress where the stream isn't a wide puddle and I didn't want to wade it, so I didn't get to see what it goes to. I had a nice enough spot anyway with a little trail down to a beach of sorts sticking out into the big lake.

One large camping area at Blue Granite Lake.

Blue Granite Lake already well in shadow. There's a little ice by the inlet water.

I settled in and watched the sky change colors and as the light failed, there was a huge crash of rockfall. I expect that spot hit freezing and a little water froze in just the right spot. Signs of rock fall are clear on the side of the lake by the camp, but it is a wide meadow away. I wasn't worried about safety. It still took a while to stop feeling jittery.

Continue to the next day. ⇒




©2020 Valerie Norton
Written 14 Nov 2020