Last Camp: Working Summit Trail

Mendocino National Forest

DAY 1 | WORK DAYS 2-3 | DAY 4 | WORK DAYS 5-6 | DAY 7

static map — Blue lines for day 2 and 3. Click for interactive map

The camera saga continued as I found the battery dead in the morning. I used to take this camera out on week long trips without an extra battery because it barely used any. Just charge it at the start and it'll still be going for a second week of hiking. I didn't even turn the camera off during the day. It did manage to charge up from the battery pack in the early morning and through breakfast. The battery pack could get more power from the small solar set up that the group brought.

Monday

When we left, rain was in the forecast for Monday, at least a little at middling chance in the afternoon, and it was already looking a bit dreary in the morning as we clustered in for breakfast. (That's a wide collection of yogurt, bread, oatmeal, granola, jam, nuts, and more toppings/additions that pop out daily.) I was hit by three rain drops before getting started. Giving the sky a glare to remind it that the rain was for the afternoon didn't seem to help. There was a very small chance of rain before the afternoon and we were nice and high in the mountains.

Packed now for the day hiking, we collected ourselves for safety talks and what to expect of trail and selecting tools. And more glaring at the sky. Then we took off for the further bits of Summit Trail. Just past the next flow of water, just to the west of our camp, we found what is likely the major use spot for this camping area although there are several well established sites.

054: rock table and double fire ring — A rock table, two glass jugs partly full of something, a huge fire ring split into two parts, the left crossed with heavy old tent poles and a grill, and evidence of horses eating at the trees: a well established camp.

The trail grew fainter as we left the area of Last Camp and trail work started immediately. Corn lilies were hacked back (not a long lasting piece of work, but also quick to do with a McLeod) and the stream crossing better defined. The trail was faint enough that a turn just past the crossing was causing one to at least pause before continuing. Then a long section with plenty of ceanothus to fight against. Some of it was stretching far enough to push hikers off the trail downhill. None of it was quite so bad as the ceanothus on the Humboldt Trail had been last year.

055: lots of green — The further lush green meadow along the Last Camp area, also full of corn lilies and willows.

056: cloud barely clears the peaks — The dreary morning settled across the high valley where Last Camp sits.

Thin rains, barely enough to get one wet, came and went as we worked our way down the hill. None of it seemed like much nor determined as we made a way to a treed section where we actually found something to log out.

057: same valley — The clouds were certainly here to stay for the day.

058: our upper valley camp — A look back at Last Camp.

Past a dry wash was another spot that looked very campable with plenty of flat spaces, but no sign of use. It did lack both water and views which are plentiful above.

059: spaces among trees — Flats along a dry wash. More sheltered now with trees remaining.

We had lunch under the umbrella of trees. Rain came in again, but this time with a different feel. It settled down and became a steady, slightly wetting, drizzle. And there was fresh us, just trying to get used to this trail work thing. It was decidedly not conducive to the project. Now the waves were of harder rain. It never quite let up until sometime late in the night. There was not enough tarp to stay dry for cooking and eating and no place to tie it up if there was and we were miserable.

Tuesday

The passing storm left beautiful low clouds at sunrise. The camera battery, in spite of having hardly any work at all the day before, was dead again. The fact that it was freezing with ice puddles in several spots wasn't helping. I was reduced to using the cell phone camera and those clouds wouldn't be back again this trip.

060: low clouds — The clouds of the early morning.

061: a few more clouds — The view was even better from higher up the mountain than my tent.

062: reddish light on higher peaks — The morning sun hits Solomon Peak. A bit more to wait for us.

063: brighter clouds — The light changed on the clouds below.

We headed out delighted by the promise of no more rain for the rest of the week. It was shaping into a day just warm enough to be comfortable in although the wind was still blowing at times.

064: rising clouds — The clouds had changed and risen by the time the camera had battery power again.

We headed out along the Summit Trail and started working where we'd left off.

066: big blue flowers — Some great camas along the way.

067: rocky to valley of green — Our camp area drains to Thomes Creek which flows to the Sacramento River.

068: tread in need — A slightly less sloped bit of the hillside turns back into tread.

069: tall mountain — South Yolla Bolly (and Mount Linn, its tallest peak) still preside over the local area.

072: trail through burned trees — Sometimes the fire burned far too hot. Now the pinemat manzanita is chewing at the trail, sending down roots from stretching branches.

076: burn, green, somewhat green, blue — A green patch ahead, still among very burned trees.

077: black beetles — Had to move some darkling beetles off the path for their safety.

We closed in on the end of the day as we closed in on the trail to Kingsley Lake. The first junction wasn't visible, but a little further along did look like a trail branched off because the map was wrong. On the far side of a small stream, the expected second trail branched off, but the sign on a tree was the only proof of it. Here we stashed tools for the next day and wandered a little further up trail and off on a ridge for a big view.

078: tools under trees — Tools, not quite yet as stashed.

079: sign in rocks — Just a few yards further is the signed trail to Minnie Lake, illegible, but by visible trail.

081: tiny puddle — Zoom in enough (and crop) and there's Kingsley Lake to see with a nice clear site beside. The Yolla Bolly isn't very good at lakes.

082: clearing and moungains — That "lake" is at the left side of the clearing here.

083: much to see — Our big view off trail along a ridge.

The big view included two volcanoes. Fairly northward was Mount Shasta and off toward the east was Mount Lassen.

085: closer on the mountain area — Mount Shasta over toward the left.

Admittedly, Mount Shasta was rather hard to see and Mount Lassen harder. I swapped out the lenses (turns out I can remember how) to try to get better proof.

086: distant mountain — Mount Shasta (center) looks like little more than a distant floating cloud below the other clouds.

087: another snowy peak — Mount Lassen seems striped with snow, the rest of the crater of the older Mount Tehama that it grew from off to the right.

I decided to leave the long lens on and use it for flower pictures on the way back. There was a long list of them I wanted photographs of. The slope below our viewpoint had a few. A meadow just above the tool stash point had a few more. The forest had its own collection.

088: bright red — The pointed beaks of the actual flower in among the colorful bracts of the wavyleaf paintbrush.

089: flower with a horn — These short Anthony peak larkspurs popped up in patches in the dry places.

090: light blue ball of flowers — Bluehead Gilia "towered" above the other flowers.

092: toothy blue flowers — Green's blue eyed Mary seems to have teeth.

093: tiny white flowers rolling out on stems — One of the many popcorn flowers, some sort of Crytanthas.

094: purple trumpets — Snow Mountain beardtongue finds rare spots along the trail.

095: small blue trumpets in balls — Rydberg's beardtongue populated the dry meadow above the junctions.

096: pointed flower pointing down — Sierra shooting stars populated the wet meadow below the junctions.

097: big mountain with two peaks — South Yolla Bolly with its foxtail pines in the saddle between Mount Linn and the second highest peak.

098: pink urns — A few of the pinemat manzanita had flowers.

099: winding forget-me-not — The forest held amethyst stickseed.

100: tight deep colored flowers — Western hounds tongue might have been getting a little old.

And then my camera refused to take another photo because the battery was too low again. I was reduced to cell phone pictures once more.

101: cloud low in the mountains — A lone cloud terrorizes us back at camp, but not very well.

Robins were spotted near the camp. Well, there were plenty near camp hopping about and probably picking off the very numerous grasshoppers that leaped in front of us with each step. These particular robins had a nest with 4 massive mouths stretching upward. It inspired some more photography, now with a mostly charged battery.

102: pair of robins and chicks at nest — The American robin parents generally swapped out quickly, but they stood together for a moment once.

103: bird on nest — Often the chicks were left, but they also got some warming time.

104: beak full of food — Catching critters to take back to the nest.

106: one little bird gets something — They rotate around, feeding the little chicks.

The robins weren't the only nest in the area.

108: bird at tree and another flys off — Western bluebirds were bringing food into a hole (below the one clinging to the tree) in a burned tree.

We had another great meal. Fake chicken nuggets are pretty good in a burrito, turns out. It got dark far too late, but we did ponder the planets in the sky. The app said Venus and Mercury, but it was probably Venus and Jupiter. Mercury is far too small and close.

110: big, distant mountain with some light on one side — Sunset comes to Mount Shasta, part of the view at Last Camp when the air is clear enough.

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