Ted's Hiking World Mount Eddy
Shasta-Trinity National Forest

September 16, 2011

This trailhead is 250 miles from home,  The drive takes only four hours, however, including a stop in Redding to pick up hiking partner Diane.

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At the trailhead

There is a shortcut into this area just down the road.  It would save a mile of walking each way but also would necessitate an additional 500 feet of climbing, so we opt to utilize the Pacific Crest Trail.

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Easy walking on the PCT

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Harvest Brodiaea
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Spotted Locoweed

It is a relatively flat stroll along the side of a ridge for nearly three miles to a junction, where we pick up the Sisson-Callahan National Recreation Trail, which runs from here to the town of Mount Shasta.  The better part of another mile gets us up to a shrinking pond and the first good view of our objective.

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Mount Eddy, 9026'

There is not much wildlife around here today, so I shoot what I can.

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Fritillary
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This guy wants a handout

Just ahead is one of the Deadfall Lakes.  Beside it is a really beautiful flower:

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Western Tofieldia

The rocks around here have an unusual reddish tint unlike anything I have seen.

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Red rock country
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A most unnatural-looking dike

The climbing begins in earnest as we head up toward a saddle.

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I hope that those clouds don't accumulate much more

Now we're getting somewhere!  Atop this saddle, we can see just what lies ahead.

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Only a thousand feet to go

A long series of switchbacks commences.  Presently, I can see the Deadfall Lake that we passed earlier.

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Diane traverses a rare rough section
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Gaining altitude

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Deadfall Lake 7790

Suddenly I find myself in an extraordinary garden of buckwheat.  The more I see, the farther down my jaw drops.  There are too many varieties to count, so I'll not try to name them.  Bear with me as I introduce you to the entire series:

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Family gathering

The buckwheat consortium seems to have a monopoly on this hillside, for there are no other flowers nearby.

As we get higher, Lake Siskiyou comes into view well down the hill.  I am still waiting for the main attraction, however; I understand that it will be necessary to go all the way up in order to get my reward.

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Siskiyou Lake is nearly 6,000 feet below

And there it is!  Just ten feet below the summit, a favorite mountain comes into view, over the remnants of a fire lookout that was abandoned some eighty years ago.

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Mount Shasta, 14180'

Although there are vistas in every direction, the lighting is especially poor at the moment.  Through the haze I can barely make out Lake Shastina, where I resided for a while some thirty years ago.

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Lake Shastina
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Dominating the landscape from 16 miles away

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In the distance is Oregon's Mount McLoughlin
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Castle Crags to the southeast

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The Siskiyou Mountains, "California's Alps"
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Two more Deadfall Lakes

Not only is Mount Shasta revered by many as a spiritual icon, its climate is unique as well.  Of all the 100+ glaciers in California, only the seven on this mountain have actually increased in size over the last fifty years.  It seems that more moisture is funneled in here from the coast than is available in most other places.

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The snowpack is alive and well

Mount Eddy was formed of intrusive igneous rock somewhere between 400 and 65 million years ago.  It is the highest peak in Trinity County and in the Klamath Mountains.  Trivia buffs might be interested in the fact that Eddy also is the highest mountain west of Interstate-5.

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Summit marker
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Yours Truly

This the farthest north that I have hiked in California.  Not being overly familiar with the weather up here, I had feared that it might rain on us some; in fact, when we first arrived, my camera and walking stick were cold to the touch.  But now it is beginning to clear up nicely, which should make for better photographs.

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Black Butte, 6334', is dwarfed by its neighbor

Diane has finished making a dozen calls on her cell phone, and I even place one myself; so it is time to depart.  I still am seven hours from home, and that's if I don't stop somewhere for dinner.

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The many switchbacks down the mountain
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It is clear to the west now

At a rest stop, I disturb a grasshopper beside a rock.  Not reacting with its normal jump, it sort of rolls away from me.  I didn't realize why until I enlarged these photos later at home:

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Click on these pics to view nature in action

The next time I see one of those guys rolling around, I will know why.

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Foxtail Pine
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Last of the switchbacks

Back down at the lake, we find more nice flowers near the outlet stream.

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It is so much nicer with some blue sky

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Mountain Onion

Near the PCT junction are spur trails to the two biggest Deadfall Lakes, so I venture over to each one for a photograph.  The biggest lake is easily the more attractive of the two.

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Deadfall Lake 7259

We meet a young hiker who claims to be walking the Pacific Crest Trail from Washington to Tahoe.  Speaking only in terms of "I" and "me", the man never bothers to mention his father, who we later learn is traveling with him and is trailing just a short distance behind.  It seems as if their bonding ritual has not been particularly successful.

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Deadfall Lake 7139
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PCT hiker

From here we can see the trail in the distance.  It will be another relatively uneventful jaunt the rest of the way, through the thousands of cow parsnips that line the trail.

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That ridge is a long way from here

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Looking back, Mount Eddy is out of sight again


§: This hike provided some interesting, albeit unexpected features.  I had anticipated the superlative views of Mount Shasta, but I was pleasantly surprised by the unusual desert garden on the high south slope of Mount Eddy.

I just hope that I didn't wear out my feet on this longer jaunt, because I head for Half Dome in three days.

Scenery *
Difficulty *
Personality *
Flowers *
Solitude *

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