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[Click on any picture to bring up the full sized, uneditted version that you can then zoom in on]
This was a wonderful hiking trip in northern California, first along the McCloud River for a couple of days, then in the Trinity Alps. The following are pics and narrative for each day.
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Afternoon temperature is around 90 degrees, but there is plenty of shade and breeze, so comfortable. We have a picnic table and a "vault toilet" near us - quite convenient. It even includes books to read in case one has to sit a long time.
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And Reenie has brought along newly purchased REI camp chairs. Our first time having comfortable chairs at a campsite. Nice!
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We set up our tents in the shade, then go for a walk of about an hour on a trail next to the river. Very pleasant.
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There is a bridge near our campsite that spans the McCloud River. In the morning we walk over to it, then under, where there is a lot of graffiti. (See pic at top of this page)
We drive to the McCloud Ranger Station and get our Trinity Alps permit. We also get information on the waterfalls in the McCloud river. We drive to the trailhead for the Lower McCloud River Falls and take a pleasant walk along the river up to the Middle Falls.
Along the way we walk past the campground above the Lower Falls. There are lots of people, including some who are swimming at the Middle Falls. The Falls are impressive.
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We walk back to the Lower Falls where we find a place to sit among the rocks near the river and eat our picnic lunch. It's a hot day, around 90 degrees. We drive back to the Algoma Campground, take naps, and eat salmon for dinner. After dinner we walk up the nearby forest service road, then back to camp.
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We drive to the Panther Meadows Campground which has an elevation of 7,500 ft, then climb from there up to the summit of Gray Butte, elevation 8,117 ft. The trail up is about 2 miles. It is a very nice, well marked trail. We have the summit to ourselves.
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As we are going up we take photos of a couple already on top of the summit and then meet them coming down as we hike up. Bob gives them his email address and says he will send them the photos if they email him. Weather is again perfect - mid 70's.
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Aferwards we drive to the city of Mount Shasta where we eat at the Black Bear Diner. We had eaten with our friend Adele here in the past. Bob has salmon, Reenie has chicken taco salad. We share onion rings and berry cobbler covered with whipped cream. Delicious!
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We get Bob's boots which he has so far not worn today out of the car. After putting them on, Bob drives us to Upper Falls.
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We cannot find Bob's hat, so we drive back to Middle Falls, but again no luck. So we drive back to Upper Falls and hike up along the river to Laken Dam where we have a small snack/lunch at a picnic table (nuts and cheese). While driving we see a deer crossing the highway. As we drive we take a loop road and see 3 more deer together, so we stop and take pics.
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Coming home we almost run over a chipmunk who chooses to cross the road just as we approach, but we miss him/her. (Bob does put on the brakes.)
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We come back to the camp amd wash Reenie's hair (Bob dumps water on her head). We also talk to our new camp neighbors. (They have music and a generator going. They turn off the music).
We eat another wonderful dinner prepared by Reenie: home made tomato soup with crackers and avocado, cheese burrito, lemonade, and lemon poppyseed pound cake. Yum!
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Then we go to a nearby grocery store, get fresh fruit, and begin driving north through the Scott River Valley to get to the Trinity Alps.
We find the Hidden Horse Campground and set up our campsite.
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No one else is here. It is a wonderful campground normally used by people with horses. Rangers come by and say it is ok for us to stay. Including the senior discount, it costs $5/night. It starts to drizzle just as we get our tents set up. Perfect timing! We sit in the car for a few minutes, the rain stops, so we decide to try the one mile, 600' elevation, to Hidden Lake, starting at the Carter Meadows Summit (It's an entry point for the Pacific Crest Trail).
The mountainside had clearly been badly burned in the last few years.
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Still, it is a beautiful walk with great views. The last 1/4 mile is very steep. Hidden Lake is a small alpine lake in a cirque.
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We turn back with rain clouds building. Just exactly as we get to the car it begins drizzling. We drive back to camp. There are intermittent drizzles the rest of the evening. Reenie cooks dinner including quinoa, sweet potato and vegetable chili. And another salmon. We eat sitting on chairs on the front porch of the outhouse - a first for us.
We take a bit of a walk up the hill in back of our campsite. Bob talks to a couple of chipmunks. The drizzling stops. The weather is cool but not real cold.
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We hike to Trail Gulch Lake - 2.5 miles each way with a bit of being lost. The first mile is gentle, next mile is steeper, then 1/2 mile to lake. As we hike up we see granite rocks that look stunning.
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When we get to the lake there is some rain with clouds covering the cirque. There is lots of burned forest.
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Walking back to the car there is drizzle the whole way and we end up cold and wet. We are very happy to have a car heater.
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We take a beautiful drive through Scott Valley to Yreka.
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We stop at a Walmart in hopes of getting a battery for Bob's camera. No luck. So Bob can take no more pics. Bob calls Shirley and Reenie calls Bill.
We decide to eat lunch once again at the Black Bear Diner: 1 chicken avocado club sandwich that we share. It tastes quite good. After eating we stop at a gas station and fill the car tank. As we drive back through Scott Valley we see that rain clouds cover the Trinity Alps.
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Reenie drives while Bob sleeps for a bit. While driving back to our campsite we see 3 deer wandering around. Later we see a chipmunk in the corral eating dinner (pinecone). Back at the campsite it rains from 3 PM to 6 PM.
We eat dinner on our special restroom veranda - salmon, rice and fresh vegetables including carrots and brocolli.
It is quite cold, so we get in car, turn on the heater, and make hiking plans for our next two days. To entertain ourselves while sitting in the car we do a Scramble game. As the sun sets we see a beautiful landscape in the distance - trees that are red/yellow almost look like on fire.
Going to the restroom, Reenie sees a huge toad, as big as her hand.
We get in our tents.
Clear skies, no rain! After breakfast we pack up our camp and begin our drive southward through Callahan, over Scott mountain to the Eagle Creek Campground. We are the only people there and choose Camp 13.
The first mile of dirt road is a bit rough. We begin driving up to Horseflat campground, but the dirt road is so bad we return the mile back down to Eagle Creek camp. Our campsite is surrounded by big trees and near a restroom.
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After lunch we walk to the Trinity River and see the sign on a tree of a family reunion that we remember having seen 4 years ago when we were there.
A 4 PM we see two people have arrived and taken the campsite next to us.
The afternoon is cool with overcast clouds but initially with no rain. However it does begin to drizzle a bit. We meet the woman Cat and her friend Roger. They have the campsite below us. After talking for a while, Cat wants to share an essay she had put into her book "Why are we here?". We paid $10 for a color copy which included some of her paintings. She is an artist, studied Buddhism in India, and now leads meditation retreats in Eureka where she lives.
Back at camp we successfully make a fire even though it is drizzling, making twigs damp. Reenie reads the book out loud and we both find it very interesting.
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Our last full day in the Trinity Alps. We walk down to Cat and Roger's campsite, thank her for her book and converse with them. Reenie and Cat exchange contact information and Cat says she might visit Reenie. Bob gives Cat his web address.
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We then drive south on Hwy 3 to Coffee Creek, checking out the Trinity Campsite along the way (small and right on the highway, so not of interest). We go west on Coffee Creek Road and are surprised to find a small community including a school. After driving the first half mile we discover a big fire in 2021 had burned the entire Coffee Creek drainage. We drive 7 miles through burnt trees and vegetation. Only telephone poles are left along the road where homes used to be. The extent of the desolation is sad to experience.
Driving back out we notice a sign for icecream and find the restaurant - Trailhead Pizza. We go in and have very good veggie burger sandwiches and vanilla icecream. After lunch we drive north to the Bear Creek trailhead over a dirt and somewhat difficult road.
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We hike up about a mile along Bear Creek on a beautiful trail through woods. Very pleasant. We do not have time to hike the 4 and 1/2 miles to Bear Lake, so we return to our car and drive back to our Eagle Creek campsite.
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The Trinity River which has lots of river rocks runs along-side the Eagle Creek campground. Driving south, we stop at Trinity Lake which has more water in it than in previous years, a good sight.
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For lunch, we stop at the Subway in Redding, CA for veggie sandwiches and cookies, topped off by soft serve ice cream. Continuing our drive southward, we arrive in Oakmont at 5 pm. A fun and adventurous trip; happy to be home.
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Photos and narrative contributed by both Reenie and Bob
Here are all of the backpacking trips and documented adventures including Reenie and Bob
Other Websites
By The Author:
UC Berkeley in the '60's
Civil War Diaries
Mostly pre-WWII