Klamath National Forest - Siphon Lake - July 2, 1999 - Member Trip Report
| Hike Name: | Klamath National Forest - Siphon Lake |
|---|---|
| Country: | United States |
| State: | California |
| Trip Rating: |  |
| Trip Date: | July 2, 1999 |
| Duration: | 3 days |
| Trail Conditions: | Fair to Good |
| Trail Traffic: | Light |
| Trip Weather: | Sunny, Partly Sunny, Partly Cloudy |
| Trip Winds: | Moderate |
| Trip Precipitation: | Rain, Showers |
| Trip Temperature: | High: 71-80, Low: 31-40 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Trip Report: | 7/01/99: Left The Ox’s apartment around 1:30pm for a 4-5 hour drive to Mt. Shasta where we stayed in a private campground tonight. The valley temps were over 100 degrees today, but it cooled off significantly this evening. Had a few brews around the campfire and played the music version of the name game until 2am. 7/02/99: Packed up this morning and got showers at the campground then drove to Mt. Shasta for breakfast before 9am. We stopped at a local outfitter to get more gear and maps, then made it to the trailhead at Carter Meadows Summit by noon. Drove up Forest Service Road 39N08 to cut out some uphill hiking, but were stopped by a downed tree after about a mile. Hacked at it with The Ox’s Rambo knife, but discovered snow ahead during a recon mission. Decided to park at the downed tree and start the hike. (Cruised here in a brand new Ford Explorer – only 30 miles on the truck when picked-up at the San Francisco airport). Followed the PCT northbound and within the hour saw a black bear in an open clearing on the side of a hill. It spotted us too and ran away. Within 10 minutes we had another sighting as we stood on top on a small rock outcropping. The bear climbed the hill to within 50 feet of us. So, we retreated back to the PCT and hiked northbound. We never saw the bear again. After a short break for lunch, we got lost when we took Trail Creek by mistake at a trail junction. We passed an old mine and abandoned cabin, but the side hike was an energy killer since most of the trail was uphill. We finally made it to Siphon Lake - a total of 6 ½ miles – which was mostly frozen over. Decided to camp on the ridge over the Siphon Lake spur trail since deep snow surrounded the lake. The ridge had spectacular views to the north and south, but we were all too tired to do anything but catch the sunset from a near by peak. It looked directly down on the campsite and off a steep cliff. 7/03/99: Decided to stay put today and The Ox was up early to hike to Waterdog Lake to do some trout fishing. He had a hard time finding the trail in the deep snow, though. Mackie, The Joker, and I cooked up breakfast and later found him at Siphon Lake. Tried some fishing with The Ox, but no luck. A number of horses and riders came in today and tried some fishing but none of them stayed for the night. Mackie and I climbed to the peak between Russian and Siphon Lake. The views were awesome, and Russian Lake had more ice on it than Siphon. Then we cruised back to the campsite. The skies were mostly cloudy from late afternoon through the night, some wicked wind and cold rolled in after 11pm. 7/04/99: We were up by 7:15am today to pack-up and hit the trail. Made it back to the truck within 2 hours by 11am. It was much easier to hike out than hike in to Siphon Lake. Had lunch at the Burger King in Mt. Shasta, then made it back to San Francisco by 5pm. The weather was perfect for the return trip to the city. |
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