Paradise: Big Ridge

Klamath National Forest

DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3

Red and orange lines for day 2. Click for interactive map

I had a selection of possible day hikes for our middle day. We could go south to tag Box Camp Mountain that I have become fixated on (probably because its smack in the middle of everything) and maybe tag Black Marble Mountain once more. We could try hiking a loop with the old trail that passed on the west side of Kings Castle and down to Bear Lake, probably tagging the peak on the way. It's an easy up from that trail.

Morning comes to the bumps near Kings Castle.

Remembering the terrain to the south and seeing how covered with snow that sort of terrain was, anything going that way wasn't very attractive. There's similar terrain to the north, but then it opens up to a ridge, or so the map says. North to Big Ridge (or even Buckhorn Mountain, which sounds more like a "real name" but is a lower point) looked like the most pleasant use of the day. We stopped by the lake for a look before leaving.

Paradise Lake in the morning sun.

We overshot the trail under the snow on the return from the lake, but managed to find it, or close enough and start north in the snow. It was soft powder all the way down. We would find very little old snow all day.

North on the Pacific Crest Trail, also the Bigfoot Trail through here.

The water is still flowing under Kings Castle.

The first water crossing comes with a view.

We climbed up a barely snowed southerly face before dropping around to heavier snow on a north face and in the next dip. A north facing steep hillside looked a little scary at first, with a quite thick layer of snow, but turned out to be nothing to worry about.

Of course the view opens up as we climb around the edge.

Some half baked marble in a loose boulder beside the trail.

Behind, Box Camp Mountain rises above the nearby ridge. It would be followed by Boulder Peak (wilderness high point) and some Trinity Alps.

A corn lily breaks through the snow.

Rocky crags above a second stream crossing.

Mountain bluebird high on a huge snag.

Before we got into the worst of the snow for the day, I got to see what the majority of the miles would be like. North was definitely the right choice.

A preview of what lies ahead.

A look down the Kelsey Creek canyon now includes Turk Lake.

We stopped for snacks on an exposed bit of rock. From there, the trail would all be on ridge line. It was a grand viewpoint.

Drummond's Anemone.

One single spreading Phlox flower among many buds.

Preston Peak rises into the snowed layer.

The way the rock drops away here echos the way it drops off for Boulder Peak, upper right.

The nearby rock monument is a turret of the castle.

Now it's Townsend's solitaire watching us.

When we headed out again, we found that we were not through with the difficult snow, at least if we wanted to stay on trail. Pockets remained, especially when the trail got to its steepest while descending to the saddle between Bear Lake and Turk Lake.

The trail formed a pocket with some surprisingly deep snow.

Bear Lake with Preston Peak in the distance.

We found footprints when we got to the saddle. Someone had come up the day before and kept on going north, presumably for as far as they could go because the footsteps doubled back on themselves at a rather random spot. We followed their footprints a while. They were quite willing to go off trail to get out of the snow and got quite far.

The little sign marks the way to Turk Lake. The footprints rounding it aren't ours. The sense of being the only ones has been broken!

Box Camp Mountain, left of center, standing out from the nearby peaks.

Kings Castle (just left of center) from the north.

Once we had climbed from the saddle, the landscape flattened out and the snow was very little problem. We had one area with a sheet of it, not very deep, and otherwise patches. This was true in the open space and the forest.

The way ahead. The point on the left is Buckhorn Mountain and the higher bump before it is the destination.

English Peak among others popping out past Bear Creek's shoulders.

After some fairly bland hillsides where the footprints turned around and some fire scared forest, we found ourselves among very short scrub with only a long stroll to the high point of Big Ridge.

The scrub still has snow at the edge on the way to Big Ridge's high point.

While we had caught sight of the very tip of Mount Shasta earlier, it now rose up prominently. No trip within a few hundred miles of the mountain could quite be complete without Mount Shasta putting in an appearance.

Looking back from the top.

Did you see Mount Shasta in the above?

Black Marble (middle, not the apparent highest point and hard to discern as a different mass than the stuff in front of it) came out from behind the ridges somewhat.

Kangaroo Mountain and Red Buttes, only faintly snowy on the right, the next place the northbound Pacific Crest Trail will flirt with wilderness.

Panorama: All the east side view.

Look closely to find another big volcano. Mount McLoughlin with Mount Ashland off to the right.

Preston Peak in the Siskiyou Wilderness with familiar bumps to the right.

As grand as the view was, it was hard to ignore that we shared the peak with a multitude of ladybugs. Admittedly, they were far less annoying than some swarms I've found on a peak. Once in a while one or two would land on us.

A few of the Casey's lady beetles saturating the rock spaces.

After quite a long time, we did head back. There was a lot less snow on the return.

Bulbous woodland stars among the many little flowers in the sagebrush.

Generally less white overlooking Turk Lake.

Back across the saddle.

An unlucky little frog sits mummified, stuck to a rock.

What was the hard bit now a little less hard.

What was a continuous sheet except for the stream crossing.

My feet were a bit warmer while supping this evening. Their natural resting place was now free of snow. We didn't have time to add Kings Castle to the bagged peaks for the day.

Continue on to the next day ⇒


*photo album*




©2026 Valerie Norton
Published 3 May 2026