Eddy: Deadfall Lakes

Shasta-Trinity National Forest

DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3

static map — Blue line for day 1. Click for interactive map

As the tallest mountain in all of the Coastal Ranges in not just California, but Oregon and Washington too, Mount Eddy boasts some impressive statistics. The summit sits at 9033 feet (2753 m) with 5153 feet (1571 m) of prominence! That makes it both high point and prominence point for Trinity County. It's a chunky mountain with a trail up to the top that once served a fire lookout, so you know the view is outstanding. With the rather dismal winter, it wasn't under all that much snow. Someone went up in October, saying they used their snowshoes not because they needed them, but because they had them and don't get to use them much. There was less snow on it in December than there had been in October. We also took our snowshoes and microspikes, although after looking around on the drive up, I was ready to leave them in the car. Daniil was bringing his, and since both members of an "expedition" should be similarly prepared, I brought mine. We started at Deadfall Meadow Trailhead, which is signed with a parking area tucked into the inside of a hairpin curve. It has also been used as a dispersed campsite.

000: trailhead sign — Trailhead and trail. The start is one of the fainter bits.

001: grassy area surrounded by trees — Across Deadfall Meadows.

002: up the meadow area — A look to things ahead.

The meadow(s) are crossed by a set of bridges that stop just short of the actual creek. Presumably it gets a bit marshy. The creek was set with stepping stones on this crossing and the next. Upward we wound past springs and more meadow, finding a bit more snow spots as we did. It all has frequent generally soggy areas.

005: creek crossing — The second crossing of Deadfall Creek with stepping stones set along the upper edge of the trail area.

006: brown grass all the way up — More of the meadows on up the valley.

007: hollow leaf — The California pitcher plants suggest this spot stays soggy.

008: peaks peeking above trees — China Mountain, or at least the south one, popping up over the trees.

010: like green heads sticking out of the grass — Another brush with the carnivorous plants.

011: short and sweet waterfall — Just a little waterfall making a bit of noise.

012: snow and pitcher plants — And yet another patch of pitcher plants.

014: closeup — Just standing in the snow.

015: overhung rock — An overhung rock makes a notable landmark.

016: water through thin snowed area — A little more snow, but still thin, as we get close to Deadfall Creek again.

When we got near the trail junction with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), we cut over to see the lower Deadfall Lake, following a faint use trail. This lake has no official trails visiting it although the PCT does pass high above it. Much of it was already in shadow; perhaps some never gets out of shadow when the sun gets low and the solstice near.

017: a few trees standing between lake and viewer — Over a low rise to the lower Deadfall Lake.

019: ice and open water — Ice extends across over half the lake.

020: darker rocks — Dark rocks show the low water of the icy lake.

021: low lake and peaks — Another angle on the low lower Deadfall Lake.

022: bird of blue feathers — Western bluebirds came by.

After wandering around the lake a little, we headed uphill through a well established camp and up the use trail that serves it, then further up to the middle, largest lake of the Deadfall Lakes. When we got near, we passed through a large camp area although it was a bit too close to the water.

023: another lake with flats nearby — Approaching the middle of the Deadfall Lakes.

024: wide water — The middle lake is neither low nor iced over. Mount Eddy is now visible as the left hand peak.

025: tall fire ring — Camps beside the lake on both sides of the big log.

Our plans would have been perfectly served by camping right there, but it was still early afternoon and there were more lakes to explore. We suspected it would be prettier above. The forecast winds for the night made us picky about camps. The use trail continued up and we followed it to an area with even more camping that was not unsuitably close to water. It also has better access to running water, which is always a plus to me.

026: water below — Looking back at the middle of the Deadfall Lakes from the huge camping area above.

027: long string of piture plats — Another stand of California pitcher plants in the snow.

028: trail through a little snow — Back on trail and heading up.

029: half and half dirt and snow/ice — A lot of the trail was snow free, but some areas were icy, sometimes on hills.

030: past hidden lakes — The lower and middle lake hide when looking back over them.

032: white depressions — A pair of small ponds are frozen solid below Mount Eddy.

033: scree slopes — Scree slopes above the upper Deadfall Lake.

034: water and ice/snow — Flow through the snow comes from an unseen pond above.

035: snowy slopes — Even the north facing slopes haven't got much snow.

036: lake through the trees — Arriving at the upper Deadfall Lake.

So would we camp at the upper lake or head back down to the numerous sites around the middle lake? We decided that we did indeed like the look of the upper lake best and took a long survey of the camps available.

037: iced over water coming to an end — Most of the upper Deadfall Lake was iced over, but the west side had open water.

038: mountain over frozen lake — Mount Eddy presides over the frozen side of the upper Deadfall Lake.

039: shallow, open water — Small open water spots can be found at the edge where we first met the lake.

040: ice with cracks — Cracks extend across the ice, apparently from the water level changing below it.

041: big ring — There's several small camps around the lake.

We found there's running water coming into the lake from above where there are more small ponds. (There's at least one more camp, too.)

042: uppermost lakes, ponds — The uppermost of the Deadfall Lakes or just ponds?

A site on the northeast side looked like it would be potentially more sheltered from the wind except a stout wind blew through it while we stood there. We settled on a site at the northwest side because I still have this determination to have the sun first. That didn't really pan out either. Still, it was by the open water, so potentially warmer by a few degrees.