Moments in Dirt and Ink

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2 Green and blue lines for day 2. Click for interactive map As nice as it would have been to bag Boulder Peak again, it turns out I tired myself out the prior day, and the timing expected for finishing the hike would be cutting it close. I didn't want to miss at least climbing up to the second lake, and ended up waiting to the last minute to start up the trail for it. By the time I did get up, it was quite a lovely day. Not quite so late in the morning yet. Lower Wright Lake in the light. With a minimum of gear, I headed for Upper Wright Lake. The old trail into the camp area is a failed thing with trees over it right at the top and a gully of erosion at the bottom. It's the trees that make getting on the main trail a bit of a fight. Climbing was easier once there. The flowers were at a different stage than those in the valley to Deep Lake and I was glad to have done the spur just to see the gentian blooming. The rain ...

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2 Red and orange lines for day 1. Click for interactive map We headed up to the Boulder Creek Trailhead the night before and stayed in the equestrian parking area, a much quieter camping area than the remains of the pre-bridge ford I stayed in before. It is a large, fairly flat area just past the small parking area by the trailhead sign. The trailhead was sporting a brand new sign with the same old trail behind it. The new sign at the old trailhead. Shortly after light, someone else drove up and a collection of chainsaws started up with enthusiasm, sounding like they were opening up the closed road and maybe taking their motorcycles down it, or some other decidedly illegal activity. It turned out to be a fire crew tasked with thinning the forest. We passed by many a fresh burn pile from their work of the last few days. A whole lot of burn piles, but the trail is freshly cleared too. All with the tones of half a dozen chai...