Siskiyou Scramble Trip Report

“Okay, here is my feeble attempt at a trip report:

Wrongway Charlie and myself arrived at the trailhead at 2:00 AM Thursday night/Friday morning. After a very warm and rather short night?s sleep we hit the trail bright and early Friday.

The hike to Polar Bear gap followed a ridge of grand cedar trees and great views of our destinations. It also gave a sampling of what would follow over the next 25 miles of our journey. You go up, then you go down, then you go back up, and then you go back down. Level seems to be a concept that the original trail builders in this area did not understand.

At the gap we took a break and soaked in the scenery. The views extended from the Red Buttes of Southern Oregon to the Marble Mountains and beyond. After this short break we headed down the backside of the gap to Twin Valley loosing 1000? in about 1.5 miles. Elevation that we would need to make up before our day was done. Twin Valley is named for the two meadows that sit in the valley floor. Both offer outstanding views of the surrounding peaks amid great stands of every kind of conifer imaginable. The plan was to meet Trinity Trekker at the lower meadow.

Wrongway and I waited at the lower meadow, eating lunch, playing some cribbage and wandering around. After about 3 hours, we decided that we should go ahead and press on to the lake. The trail from the lower meadow climbs back up a ridge then heads up a valley to Private Lake. Unfortunately the trail is not too easy to find and yes we missed it. After an hour and a half of beating through the brush and climbing straight up 900? we broke out onto the ridge top. From there, we beat our way along the ridge until we found the trail. A small celebration followed! Once on the trail, it was a downhill cruise up the valley to a small meadow about ½ from the lake. Then, as if we hadn?t done enough climbing, up we went.

The lake sits at the base of a ridge called The Lieutenants. We found a great campsite, took off our boots and kicked back. Trinity Trekker showed up about an hour after we did. Seems he had some difficulties finding the trailhead caused by a ?helpful? Forest Service employee. He made pretty good time catching up to us as he found the trail up the ridge and avoided the brush. Trinity Trekker would be the only person to find the route.

The next day was a layover for us as we waited for Dunk and Eric to meet us at the Lake. While taking a walk around the lake, I saw Dunk and Eric arrive at camp. I also found the ?swimming hole.? A quick dive in and an even quicker exit followed. The rest of the day was spent lounging around.

Day three, we broke camp and headed out to Young?s Valley. You guessed it, we started the day with a 600? climb in less than a mile. And on the other side, yup, straight down the hill again. Young?s Valley is home to another awesome meadow about ½ mile long and ¼ mile wide. El Capitain stands guard over the meadow. We made camp, had lunch and packed up for a day hike up to Raspberry Lake. Raspberry Lake is set in a beautiful cirque at the base of Preston Peak about 4 miles from out camp. And yes, it reached through more of the roller coaster elevation gains that we were becoming all too familiar with. Starting it out, the clouds were rolling in low over the mountains and it looked like rain was threatening. Most of the trail to the lake follows an old mining road to a rather large now abandoned mine. Beyond that it is trail to the lake. I?ll let Dunk fill you in on the fishing. We attempted to find a cross-country route to another trail that would get us back to Young?s Valley via a different route. Unfortunately we came to a rather, vertical drop off that looked nothing like what the topo map showed. Since it was a bit late, common sense kicked in and we made our way back to the original trail and back tracked our way to camp.

We arrived back at the Young?s valley camp around 6 PM, a bit tired, sore and hungry. It was at Young?s Valley and again at Raspberry lake that we saw the first other humans on the trip. Still, not bad for a Memorial Day weekend.

Day four and it was time to pack up. We broke camp and headed down the valley to complete the loop. Oh, did I mention the up and down already? It was on the trail out that Wrongway lived up to his name.

All told we managed about 5700? of elevation gain, and 25 miles of great hiking. Well, except for Wrongway who can add about 4 miles and 800? elevation to that total. ;) It was a great weekend and I really enjoyed meeting and hiking with Trinity Trekker and Eric. And, as always, it was great to hook back up with Dunk and Wrongway.

Oh, and pictures should be up in a week or so.”

“Fun, fun ChinaChas... and say, when Wrongway says "it's THAT way" .... well, go the opposite way, huh??”

“Great trip report ChinaChas, Thanks for taking us along.”

“Just about sums it up, a nice day hike for Wrongway if he could find the trail. Thanks guys for asking me alone. And remember, "left and up"”

“Great report. I followed you every step. Mary”

“Thanks for taking us with you! Sounds like you got a real workout but also were lucky enough to enjoy much solitude. Looking forward to the pics!”

“Hey Trinity Trekker,

I'm still awaiting your card. Now I know the mail is slow, but........???

Am still trying to get my inkjet set up to totally do a card on it. Just had to change the color ink. Now if I can get the right level of color saturation. First try since changing ink was a bit overwhelming. LOL!!

Maybe I'll get your card some day and then will send one back. (might be Christmas by the time we get this done. LOL)”

“Sounds Great! looking forward to pics.”

“I wouldn't call that a feeble trip report. Especially when you're posting at almost midnight after a long hike/drive home. Good effort Chas!

Glad to hear that you guys survived your roller coaster ride through the Siskiyous! There's definitely a price to be paid in that area for the scenery and solitude. Sounds like you made the most of it!

Lookin' forward to the pictures, and Dunk's fishing report. BTW, did you happen to notice how many decent campsites there were at Raspberry? Just curious.

Where you headed next?”

“a Siskiyou scramble sounds great, I only wish I had the time to do one. Sister in ex-sister in law will have the kids for a week in august but work will be hoppin or burnin I should say, besides the Siskiyous will be hotter than ---- Sounded good though.”

“Same trip, different version:

Thursday night after work I drove up to my Mom's house in Healdsburg where EZ E would meet me the next morning. I got up early Friday and drove down to the gas station and filled up with that $1.95 / gal gas then back to mom's as E was to get there between 8:30 and 9:00. He arrived shortly before 9:00 and we were on the road heading for Eureka where we were to meet Calnatv at his restaurant around noon.

There was no traffic and the drive up Hwy 101 is scenic so the miles went by easily and after passing through Avenue of the Giants we broke out onto the coast and soon arrived in Eureka. We got to the Sweet River Grill and Bar shortly after noon and as we were being seated Calnatv came up from behind and sat down with us. We spent about 45 minutes filling up on lunch and talking of Californias Wilderness areas and fishing and the like. Eventually he got called away as the lunch rush beckoned and we finished are meal. Thanks for the hospitality and free meal Tim, it was great.

Back on the road, we approached Crescent City and again filled up on $1.95 gas before turning inland. Just a few miles down the road was a "Road work ahead - delays of 1-2 hours" sign. Well this could put a kink in our plans to hike in Friday afternoon. We passed through Gasquet (In 1983, this area documented the most rain ever recorded in the continental U.S. for one season, 257 inches). We reached the construction and to our surprise the delay was only 10 minutes. Soon we crossed the Oregon border before bending back south through the interesting hamlet of Takillma (sp) and back into California. We headed up into the mountains looking for road signs and trying to follow the maps, at times things seemed right but at other times they didn't. Eventually, after 1 hour of rough dirt roads we came to a sign and found out we were on the wrong ridgeline and would have to back track almost to Takillma. Once on the right road we quickly reached the trailhead at 6 pm. ChinaChas and Trinity Trekkers trucks were already there.

We hit the trail at about 6:15 still considering hiking all the way to Private Lk (7+ miles and over 2000' elevation gain) The trail starts out by steeply traversing the side of Black Butte and eventually Lookout Mountain. The views accross the rugged E. Fk. Illinois River were beautiful. After some unnecessary downs and more steep ups we topped out at Polar Bear Gap at about 7:30. We soaked in the view as much of northern Siskiyou Wilderness can be seen from this viewing point. Below us was Upper Twin Valley which we were now thinking would be a more feasible area to camp. Dropping down to the valley I mentioned how glad I was that we were'nt climbing up this trail as it was STEEP! Once on the valley floor we couldn't find a suitable campsite so continued towards Lower Twin Valley, hoping to find something soon as it was getting dark. Along the way we found a semi-suitable site at about 8:15 and pitched our tents and ate a quick dinner. The evening was warm and we decided we would want to get an early start the next day so it was time to hit the sack.

The next morning the trail did something not shown on the map and crossed the stream. We continued down to Lower Twin Valley and noticed a trail marker in the center of the meadow. Heading out to the marker we noticed a message on it from ChinaChas pointing to the route up and over the next ridge. We also found that Trinity Trekker did not head in with ChinaChas and Wrongway. Hiking back to the edge of the meadow we began to notice the abundance of bear tracks in the meadow and possibly one Sasquatch track according to E. Leaving the lush and beautiful Lower Twin Valley we were ready to attack the ridge seperating us from the canyon that contains Private Lk...or so we thought!

The message ChinaChas and Wrongway had left stated they were gonna Zig-zag due south until they found the trail. With this in mind we aimed to do the same thing. We never did find the trail up the ridge, E kept on saying to the left will get us to the top quicker, I said to the right will get us to the trail. We went mostly straight up and a little to the left. We climbed over trees, pushed through brush, took 3 steps and slid back 2 steps. We pulled ourselves up the ridge using the alder branches like rope and using tree trunks. We would climb 20-30' then catch our breath and look for the best route up the next 20-30'.
After an hour of fighting our way up the slope we topped the ridge and basked in the glory of making it. We headed further up the ridge fighting through the brush (I was wearing shorts and there's nothin' like pushin' through Manzanita wearing shorts) and finally found the trail and there was much rejoicing.

From the ridgeline we had a downhill stroll to the outlet stream of Private Lk. After we nudged the edge of the stream we began the approach climb to Private Lk. About half way up the climb the trail touches the edge of a beautiful meadow and then climbs steeply until leveling off for the approach to Private Lk. Soon the sparkling waters of the lake appeared through the trees. We headed along the NW shore of the lake and soon heard voices before breaking through an opening to camp. Wrongway and Trinity Trekker were kickin' back in camp and we heard ChinaChas accross the lake doin' some exploring.

The rest of the afternoon we spent lazin' around camp doin' our own thing. Wrongway and I played Cribbage, Trinity Trekker scouted out the next mornings first section of trail, ChinaChas took a quick swim and I caught some fish after dinner (I prefer catching them before dinner)

The next morning started with a steep climb (imagine that) up to an unnamed pass that again provided excellent views. The other side of the pass started out by dropping steeply before reaching an undulating stretch of open ridgeline. Soon the trail plummets down to the floor of Youngs Valley.

Youngs Valley is a large beautiful meadow and we were able to soon find a nice spacious campsite with views of the meadow. This is also where we encountered people for the first time as a family was trompling through the meadow (we were only 2.5 miles from a trailhead). After lunch we readied ourselves for a climb, steep at times, to Raspberry Lk. As we hiked towards the lake the clouds began to move in but as we reached the lake after 4 miles the sky cleared up. Raspberry Lk sits below Preston Peak (7300' +) highest point in the Siskiyou Wilderness. I took out the fishing gear and promptly caught two more 10-12" juicy trout. After hanging out for an hour or so, we decided it was time to return. We noticed a trail near the far end of the lake that if we could find it would involve less climbing. After beatin' the bush some more we couldn't find it and decided to return the way we came.

Back at camp the evening grew cooler and we were plum tuckered from the miles and climbing. As I was cooking dinner a few hikers camped elsewhere along the meadow came through camp. They asked if we would be interested in playing cards. Later that evening we visited with cards in hand but while they talked to us they seemed bothered and aloof about us being there, go figure. We woke up the next morning to layers of frost and a little ice covering the tents. On the trail we began a rollercoaster hike back to the trailhead. We reached one junction where Trintiy and ChinaChas were waiting for us. Wrongway who was way out in front was no where in site. Having hiked with him for years I guaranteed them that he had gone the wrongway. We knew we couldn't catch up to him so we continued up the trail. After another steep climb, we closed the loop and made our way back to the trailhead. As I figured, Wrongway was not there so we kicked back, had a brew, turned on some bluegrass and changed out of the trail stinkin' clothes while waiting for Wrongway. About an hour later he appeared with tales of extra steep trails and passes we'd not seen. Soon we were back on the road and headin' home. I eventually made it back to Sacramento past midnight and the knees were screamin.

In closing, I'd say the Siskiyous certainly lived up to their rugged and remote reputation. Raspberry Lk provides good fishing but I wouldn't want to camp there (trash and no good shore access). For some reason, there are skillets or grills at nearly every campsite.”

“The trip was a great early-season difficult tune up hike. I felt like I got stronger each day and we were out long enough to get in a groove. Now I have to wait 3 weeks before heading up to Desolation to bag Pyramid Peak. I can't wait, but have to move first.”

“Nice report. I have to get up there someday. I especially liked the free meal from Calnatv. Dunk, you're so right about grills. I came across three of them at differing camps in the Yolla Bolly's this past week. I assume horsepackers bring them in and leave them behind. They might come in handy sometime.”

“I've ussed them in the past and probably will in the future. At one site therre were 4 grills.

Did you snap any pics of the Bolly Bears you saw?”

“No pics of the bears. The first one came when it was too dark and I was more concerned with getting it away from camp. The second bear was gone with a flash into the forest too quick.”

“Some pics of the trip.

Siskiyou Pics”