Moments in Dirt and Ink

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Green line for day 3. Click for interactive map Daniil decided to head up Kings Castle before heading down, but didn't get a very early start. I think he was expecting me to want to go up, but I didn't want to add the 1.5k feet of descent from it to the 4k feet already waiting for me. I got to watch the newts and read from Teddy Roosevelt about his trip through South America . The snow around us, at least that which was left, now had a very distinct crust to it as I plowed through it to the lake. Morning by the lake when the light is still colored. I can confirm that Daniil made it to the top of Kings Castle. Rough skinned newt minding its own business. Away it goes.

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....

Klamath National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Purple line for day 1. Click for interactive map In the continuing saga of going to high places because "it's like June out there", Daniil and I headed to the upper trailhead of the Kelsey Creek Trail. For this episode, however, there was a spring storm through on Wednesday, so we weren't quite sure what travel would be like in the high elevations. Copernicus sailed by after, but took pictures of clouds. Just a little mystery to keep us on our toes. Regulations and map on the left, a little history in the middle, at the trailhead. This is the easternmost portion of the Kelsey National Recreation Trail, which will take you at least as far as the west side of Siskiyou Wilderness, admittedly with a big chunk of road walking and a name change in between. The historic Kelsey Trail was a major supply route from Crescent City to Fort Jones in the 1850s. This day's travel would complete my travel along the ...

Shasta-Trinity National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Purple lines for day 3. Click for interactive map We didn't have much to do for the third day except head on out. Daniil decided he wanted to go up the mountain for the early morning rays on Mount Shasta. Shasta was a no-show, but he stayed up there a while. He was bundled up well. I decided to take a larger tour around the upper lake to visit all the little ponds of the area. No new ice on the lake this morning. There's a nice rock ramp heading up the hill from our camp, so I took that to start the big loop. It takes energy quickly, but the rocky slope is pretty stable. The curlleaf mountain mahogany 's view. Once up on the shelf I had seen above the camp, I found an unexpected bonus pond, frozen solid. A tidy little depression.

Shasta-Trinity National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Warm color lines for day 2. Click for interactive map We got up a little bit early. The peak of Mount Eddy isn't so far from the upper Deadfall Lake, but we had a lot more planned. There's a loop of trails south of the mountain we were going to explore and, if there was time, might go out to see Toad Lake. The ice grew in the night. But it was retreating again before the sun got there. We left the snowshoes in camp with the overnight gear. The microspikes still came along. We headed out before the sun had arrived, but it was up. The outflow is still flowing. There's lots of wet spots in the meadow below the mountain. Maybe not too bad a way up the lesser sloped scree, too. There was one spot with snow halfway to our knees that presented a little extra effort to walk through. Mostly it was thin and solid enough to supply a good grip for our boots.

Shasta-Trinity National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 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 ...

Klamath National Forest Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Purple line for day 3. Click for interactive map While the faint upper portion of West Fork Seiad Creek Trail wouldn't be so hard to follow now that we knew it a little and the lower part is apparently maintained by biologists interested in Baker cypress, the memory of the drenching from the bushes in the short section of the middle led us to the decision to get up early and make the rather longer road walk back down to the car. Besides, new views! Kangaroo Mountain, looming over camp, looks pretty red in the early light. Meanwhile, in the east, a shadow of a big mountain and colors. Once breakfasted and packed up, it was a little lighter and the rocks had become a little yellower compared to the Red Butte. The local pool to our camp, which is definitely has springs in the bottom. A look back to the only pond that was frozen.

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 ...

Klamath National Forest Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 Red line for day 1. Click for interactive map Daniil had the idea that exploring the Pacific Crest Trail and Boundary Trail, one a National Scenic Trail and the other a National Recreation Trail, up by Red Buttes Wilderness looked like a grand idea and noted that it offers three entry options: head north on the PCT from the lot near Seiad, head south on the PCT from the parking at Cook and Green Pass, or the middle route along West Fork Seiad Creek. The pass might not be accessible with it being winter. The route from Seiad looks a bit too long but with some peak bagging opportunities along the way. I thought, by far, the creek side route looked the most interesting and obtainable, assuming the ford isn't too scary. There is definitely a point of view that makes it the most interesting and the ford wasn't too scary. So there's that. There is a large parking area at the ...