South Yolla Bolly: Square Lake and the Burnt Camp Connector

Mendocino National Forest

Work DAY 1-2 | Move/Rest/Play DAY 3 | Work DAY 4-5 | Work DAY 6-7

static map — Reds for day 1, oranges for day 2: interactive map link

I signed up for the first week of Bigfoot Trail Alliance trail work in the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness at South Yolla Bolly. Traditionally, these week long trips start with getting packed out to a remote area, but the trail out of Ides Cove Trailhead wasn't quite ready for that yet. We would be two days at the trailhead, which even has an official camp site with a metal fire ring, then we would move to Long Lake and the next week would be at Cedar Basin. This plan soon crumbled, but only slightly, as it was determined that Square Lake would be the better headquarters for both. First we had to have the trail cleared to Square Lake so that stock could get there.

Saturday: 14 Jun 2025

000: burned trees standing in front of a lump of land — The view to Tomhead Mountain, middle left, and Elkhorn Peak, right. Behind are some Trinity Alps and we could make out Mount Shasta too.

We're in part of the vast area that is the middle of the 2020 August Complex, which remains California's biggest wildfire although the 2021 Dixie Fire did put up a good challenge. Trail work on Ides Cove Loop National Recreation Trail started immediately as we could see at least three trees down on the trail from the parking lot. I looked desperately around for the South Yolla Bolly Trail that start here and passes to the south of the mountain, but the only indication of another trail was the informal peak bagging track that splits the difference going to the top. (And this missing trail was road not too many decades ago.)

003: light flowers — Sticky current, flowering loveily, needed some trimming.

004: log along trail and brush and people working beyond — Work while still in view of the parking lot. One of the logs sat right along the trail.

Those trees were pretty quickly cleared. Even when along the trail, a sawyer cut and a rock bar or a collection of well placed feet, can get them moving. Then we got moving. The burn level changes and our work level changes.

005: lump of land past some green trees — Tomhead Mountain again, now with lovely green trees to look over.

007: hanging purple hearts — Huge clumps of Pacific bleeding heart marked places with moisture.

Our focus was the upper (southern) section of the loop trail along which the Bigfoot Trail makes its way, but ultimately getting the whole of the loop and the central connector cleared is the goal of the work this week and the next. After all, it is a National Recreation Trail and there are standards to be upheld.

008: metal post — The loop trail splits among some very complete burning.

010: long ridge with peaks — North Yolla Bolly, just to the right of the dip and peak with a snow patch remaining. The next big bump to the left is Blackrock Mountain and at full zoom, I could find a dilapidated lookout on it.

011: trail and burned trees and snowy peak — Feet are keeping this bit of trail in good order. Mount Linn, the named high point of South Yolla Bolly, still harbors much snow.

There was so much snow on this mountain two weeks prior, and even one week ago, that there was worry the trip would have to be canceled. There's been some high temperatures since then and we wouldn't even encounter snow on the trail except once.

012: lavender flowers with spikes — Satin lupine, part of the many flowers even in the severe burn.

013: white flowers — Tuber starwort was a new-to-us flower.

016: rocky trail and scrubby trees — A stream near the impression of a basin off to the side signals the arrival at Square Lake. The stream is seasonal.

Square Lake is a little off trail, but we had our lunch there. There's a couple rough use trails that work their way up the short way through the trees and over the low rise to the lake. Campers were staying at the lake. They knew you should hang your food, but had no knowledge of proper technique. The bag nestled against the trunk among tiny little conifer branches elicited a few comments about "baby bear bait". The campers were off day hiking. The bag would not be challenged. There are no suitable trees for hanging a bear bag in the area, but there's also not problem bears. Yet.

017: small lake — Square Lake isn't very big, but it's open.

019: downward pointing Primula — Great masses of Sierra shooting star filled the slightly drier parts of the meadows.

021: yellow flowers with a face — Goosefoot violets were up in the rocky dry spaces among sparse trees.

022: forget-me-not similar flower — Jessica's stickweed also in the dry, but sunnier spots.

There was already some picking out of where to camp should we actually camp at Square Lake.

023: high camp area — A high camp area looked more attractive than what was taken. This would eventually be our kitchen.

However, we were still aiming at Long Lake, so we finished lunch and got moving. There were more trees to clear. Some trail needed a little redefinition. Not a lot of brush, but there was some.

024: white violets — Macloskie's violets hid in the wetter areas of a meadow below the lake.

026: canyons downward to the central valley — Just a bit of the view out there to the central valley.

I had to pause and check the map when I came to the connector because cairns and cut logs seemed to indicate the lower trail to be the correct one. For now, we would want the upper one. It could use a sign like that first junction.

027: trail through manzanita — Two threads of trail leave through the manzanita and this one dropping toward North Yolla Bolly (for now) is the connector.

028: dry mountain side — Trail continues to cross the mountain side, here past a tall stump with an old blaze visible in its decaying wood.

029: hanging urns — Some of that pinemat manzanita was in bloom.

We got to a bit of trail that was having a bit of trouble with a great amount of walk around trails sort of forming, but around a second tree, they were also going off and getting lost. It had stuck itself down on a critical turn where the trail stops going along the mountain and starts heading up to a saddle by a shoulder.

030: sawyer saw at a bit tree — Nearing the finish on the first cut on the biggest tree of the day.

031: flowers and more flowers — Cat's ears in a bed of Yolla Bolly bedstraw.

032: half burned out log — And the last log of the day, after quite a bit of work removing surprisingly large branches.

033: clear trail — No one will be getting confused and wandering way off to the right now.

034: big log with a big space — And that big log got finished, too.

The day was finished but there were three more trees on the trail to Long Lake. We headed back anyway. We did have another day to get them done. Tools were stashed at the connector.

035: snowy mounain — Mount Linn on the return.

036: two colors — A patch of Pacific bleeding hearts distinctly separated into two colors.

037: flower stalks and flower pollinator — Yellow-faced bumble bee attending to some sicklekeel lupine.

038: bees and flowers — And among the one-seeded pussypaws.

041: small plastic sign — It's a small plastic one, but there's a sign for the wilderness, with the name abbreviated.

Sunday, 15 Jun 2025

Since there were only two logs left on the way to Long Lake, and they moderate ones, the group split up to allow a small crew to finish those while the majority tackled the connector trail. On older maps, this is marked as the far end of the Ides Cove Loop Trail, but now that is marked as a much larger loop and this is the Burnt Camp Loop Connector Trail. Burnt Camp is at the bottom of it.

042: trees and more trees — Back at the top of the connector trail.

Our first impression of this trail is that it is steep. Our next impression of it is that it is steep. Furthermore, it is steep. There's a rest point in the middle, and then it is steep. Maybe there's some switchbacks getting lost somewhere? Nope, it's just steep.

043: bare earth — Little wiggles while getting started on the top steep bit.

044: green meadow below — It'll take the slightly less steep slope to the right to get down to the edge of the meadow below.

045: blue-purple flowers — Snow Mountain beardtongue, which was being showy in a number of spots along the connector.

We found things mildly confusing where a monster of a tree with monster branches all along was down on several tens of feet of trail. Work before had just snipped off the end and rerouted the trail, but it was still hard to see. A great deal of work went into making it a little better before the reroute was just made clearer. We got confused again about where the trail might really be at the edge of the meadow. It should be clearer now!

046: red flower — A cardinal catchfly high on a hill where the Forest Service line passes on the map, but the trail does not.

047: yellow bird — The Wilson's warbler teased me a bit and only yielded this one photo.

We lunched in the meadow, having a very long rest in the flatter area. Then we got back to dealing with the steep.

048: big yellow flowers — Well spaced clumps of deltoid balsamroot grew on a few hills.

049: narrow red flower — Scarlet gilia just getting started.

050: green stuff among trees — More small meadows become visible toward the bottom.

051: hanging red flower — Western red columbine.

The trail comes to a bit of a rest again toward the end.

054: flat spot — A burned sign just above the junction sign marks Burnt Camp.

We had a look at the lower trail, but were not yet ready to do work on it. There was a tree down in the creek, but we would leave it for crossing on the following days. It was the end of the day anyway. We headed back up, but we stashed the tools.

056: feathers in a circle of plant fiber — We found a nest that had fallen after use.

058: little bird looks out from among branches — A fox sparrow looks around a twig.

059: a cut log — The biggest cut log of the day, but there was a stump removed, so this doesn't represent the greatest work.

060: white flower balls — Ballhead sandwort.

061: Tomhead Mountain — One more view across Tomhead Mountain from two thirds of the way up.

062: yellow flower — Rayless Arnica is a challenge to photograph.

And once up all that steep again, which is only about 0.6 miles of trail, we had to walk all the way back to the trailhead again.

Continue on to the next day ⇒
*photo album*

©2025 Valerie Norton
Written 11 Sep 2025

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