Backpackin' with Dave and Nick

 This past week I had the pleasure of a little wilderness backpacking in Northern California.  Dave flew into the Bay Area from Colorado and he and Nick drove up to Yreka where I met them Sunday.  This was a halfway meeting point and about 90 minutes from our trailhead in the Marble Mountain Wilderness to the west.

Old Town Yreka is like a movie set of the 1800's.  It seems like the the gold mining back then led to some prosperity.  There were several blocks of very well maintained homes dating back into the 1800's.

Dave in front of a store.  We knew we were in the State of Jefferson.

The Shackleford Trailhead after a 6 mile drive on a narrow, rocky dirt road leading up into the mountains.

On the trail, we soon passed through several lush meadows with wildflowers in bloom.  Nick was in his glory, stopping frequently (thanks Nick!) to take photos of various flowers. 650, in fact!

 

This is Cliff Lake, where we set up camp for three nights.  It was a 6 mile hike, climbing 2,000 feet to the 6,000 foot level.  

We picked our campsite which was quite well furnished.  Dave had his own little camp about 100 feet away, which I named "Camp David".

The evening alpenglow was a pleasant distraction from the mosquitos that arrived with dusk.

The next day, Tuesday, we spent hiking.  We passed through several large meadows.

Big piles of sawdust were being formed by ants chewing into this downed tree trunk.

We arrived at Summit Lake, ate lunch, and went for a refreshing swim.

There were a lot of immature newts in the water (not the human kind).

Back on the trail, we kept seeing an amazing variety of wildflowers,  including Indian Paintbrush.

iNaturalist identified this as likely Mountain Spirea a.k.a. rose meadowsweet.

Our goal was to climb up to the ridge above the lakes and follow the Pacific Crest Trail to where we could look down on Cliff Lake where our camp was.  On the way up, we had a good view of Summit Lake down below.

On a distant peak we could see what looked like tailings from an old mine.  At the top of that ridge is a white streak that might be quartz.  I believe prospectors look for gold in veins of quartz.

When we reached the top of the ridge we entered a burn area.

iNaturalist suggests this is mountain coyote mint, a member of the mint family.  The butterfly is likely a Hydaspe Fritillary.

Killed by fire, these silvery trunks are striking against the mountain sky.

iNaturalist suggests Scarlet Gilia for this plant with fuschia-like flowers.

On the PCT.

Looking south, we could see patches of snow on the northern slopes.

A member of the buckwheat family, I believe.

That is Mt. Shasta in the background.  Its peak is at 14,179 feet elevation.

Behind Dave is Cliff Lake, where our camp was.

The Three Amigos.

Burn areas do make good habitat for flowering plants.

More buckwheat.

After our 10.6 mile hike the day before, we decided to have a relaxing day by the lake on Wednesday.  This rock was a good diving off spot, and provided warmth after getting out of the water.  The lake is 175 feet deep at its deepest point.

This Northern Alligator Lizard shared the rock with us.

Nick was first to do the Cliff dive.  The water was cool, but very tolerable.  Felt great!

Next up was Dave, with a dive in the excellent range, a 9.2 .

Because this is not a video, you don't get to see my reverse 4 1/2  somersault in the pike position that I pulled off, earning me a 9.4.

The tiger lilies were my favorite flowers.

Big, bold, and beautiful!

This was a particularly lush area due to a spring.  Turn up the volume, enlarge the screen, kick back, and soak in the ambience.

Nick was excited to see this flowering Lewisia cotyledon, also known as "cliff maids".

Nick and I fell in love with this old incense cedar which was growing out of the top of a massive boulder.  Its roots were breaking the boulder apart and extending far across the surrounding ground.  You could tell it has had a long, hard life.  Its top has been shattered, probably numerous times, and it had some charring from a past fire.  What a survivor!

Nick feeling the spirit and adding scale.

Look how those massive roots seem to flow over and through the garage size boulder.

Yes, we maintained the traditional Yahtzee tournament.  Side note:  Nick is wearing a Pendleton shirt that my Grandfather Clark wore, then I wore, and then gave to Nick around 20 years ago.  He has taken it on every backpacking trip we've done, and it is still in fine condition.  The quality of those shirts used to be outstanding.

We celebrated a successful trip back in Yreka at Strings Italian Restaurant, which was the perfect place to end our adventure.  

☺