'Twizt Red & Devils: Rattlesnake Mountain

Klamath National Forest

Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3

Yellow lines for day 2. Click for interactive map

Neither of us had quite got our boots open wide enough the night before and the frozen shapes were hard to put on in the morning in spite of preparing for it. I had elected not to bring along my waterproof socks and I was sorry for it as soon as my boots thawed out. The cold also left my camera battery devoid of sufficient energy to take sunrise pictures. The extra battery, which admittedly only registered 2 of 3 bars when I grabbed it, was also dead. I decided to leave the camera and be stuck with substandard photography equipment for the day. I was also sorry for being lazy about battery maintenance.

Leaving Kangaroo Springs, just one pool visible from here.

Shasta almost hides in the low clouds in the nearby valleys.

Upper and Middle Devils Peaks where the Pacific Crest Trail goes.

Our goal for the day was to "walk a bit of Boundary Trail" and so we headed south on the Pacific Crest Trail to the junction and turned west. Somewhere out there, the trail is rumored to turn difficult. At the junction, it is clear and even signed. The rumor comes from Bigfoot Trail Alliance people as the trail comes up the PCT from Seiad and turns off here to follow the Boundary National Recreation Trail. They probably know.

Actually, Boundary National Recreation Trail looks absolutely splendid from many points of view along here.

Not snow but the ice that froze around tree branches in the wind and cloud of the recent storm.

A look down Desolation Gulch all the way across little Red Buttes Wilderness.

Desolation Peak is the slightly higher point along this rough looking ridge.

Much bigger Kangaroo Mountain is on the other side and rises above camp.

We enjoyed the changing views as we passed each peak.

Rattlesnake Mountain hides behind a shoulder.

Still foggy in the valleys of the Klamath River.

By Rattlesnake Mountain, we decided to bag a peak and turn around. The next thing that looked attractive as a destination was Lonesome Lake, and that would be a bit long. We got past the first false peak and then cut upward along the ridge.

Not the peak.

A little higher and there's more ridge, and a pair of red bumps, to see.

Even more to see.

Peaks just a little higher than the rest on the west-southwest horizon with a familiar shape are Preston toward the right and El Capitan a little further right.

Just a little further to the top.

We did relax for a while at the top even if it was getting slightly late. We checked for the "bonus" volcano of Mount McLoughlin and eventually found its faint but tall profile. We could also see the dam on the Applegate River.

USGS benchmark at the top of Rattlesnake Mountain.

The rest of the ridge west to Lonesome Lake, which tucks in behind things one the left side of the valley.

There's a very faint Mount McLoughlin on the left of the Red Buttes and a slightly more visible Mount Shasta on the right.

We headed back down via an easier route to catch the trail a bit west of where we started up. We couldn't see the trail we were heading for until very nearly on it, which was disconcerting. Then we headed on back.

The valley between Rattlesnake Mountain and Desolation Peak settles into shadow.

Snow among the vegetation of a particularly treed high valley along the way. We should have paid more attention to the trees here.

Camp is already in shadow too.

We got back to find we no longer had any snow under our tents. The tents had acted like little greenhouses and captured the sun's warmth to melt it all. Happily, they had both been placed well enough.

Sunset again from near camp.

Happily, our boots had dried out during the daytime, so there would be no more battles with frozen boots in the morning.

Continue on to the next day ⇒


*photo album*




©2026 Valerie Norton
Published 14 Mar 2026