Last weekend we took advantage of the balmy weather and went
backpacking on the Blue Lake Canyon Trail in the Sky Lakes Wilderness.
From the trailhead, located north of Mt.
McLoughlin, the dusty path descends
through a forest and quickly emerges at Round Lake,
the first of several alpine lakes. Shimmering blue edged by emerald grass — of
course we had to stop, even though the mile of downhill walking hadn’t tired
us. We took the dogs’ packs off before they drenched their food and soaked up
the scenery while they splashed and tore crazy circles in the bushes (my dogs
love backpacking).
Eventually we realized we had to keep going if we wanted to
see the rest of the trail. (The hardest part of the trip? Tearing ourselves
away from picturesque lakes.) Another mile down the path we arrived at Blue Lake
(which the guidebook author claims is the prettiest of the bunch). A beautiful
campsite perched above the shore (wilderness rules: no camping within 100 feet
of the lake) tempted us, but we decided to keep going after another dip for the
dogs and a pika search.
Pikas, aka “conies” or “rock rabbits” (and they are related
to rabbits), live in rocky areas at high altitudes, and the steep rock face
fronting Blue Lake is one place they can be found in the Cascades. Pikas are
thought to be early victims of global warming, as the thick fur that enables
them to survive harsh winters also makes them heat sensitive — I’ve heard that
pikas have a difficult time surviving in temperatures higher than the mid-70s.
Some scientists call the pika the “canary in the coal mine” of global warming
in the West. Despite the cool weather Saturday afternoon, we didn’t see pikas,
but we heard their plaintive “meep” calls, and we did spot one Sunday on the
way back to the car. Picture this: You’re hundreds of feet away, squinting at
the rocks because you forgot to bring the binoculars and you don’t want your
lab/border collie/boxer mix to get any ideas about chasing pikas. A tiny blob
of fur is darting among the rocks, scampering up boulders and scurrying down
slopes. Occasionally he emits his bleating cry — in between his dashing. It was
like watching a home video shot from too far away on fast forward…but at least
we got to see our first pika.
We continued along the trail past grassy Meadow Lake another
half mile to Horseshoe Lake, and then another half mile to Pear Lake, which the
guidebook said must have been named before bananas became popular (it’s more
oblong than pear shaped). Huckleberry bushes crowded much of the trail, and it
was berry season. We picked them until our fingers and tongues were stained
purple. The dogs also enjoyed grazing the bushes. Past Pear
Lake, the trail gets drier and rockier
as it climbs and then drops down for two miles to Island Lake.
Supposedly, these mounds of rock, called “moraines,” were torn from the
mountain by glaciers.
We saw a different piece of history at Island Lake:
the Judge Waldo Tree. Judge John B. Waldo of Salem served as chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court in the 1880s, but he may
be more well known for his conservation efforts in support of the Cascades.
(Some have dubbed him “Oregon’s
John Muir.”) In 1888, Waldo and a small party traveled the length of the
Cascades on horseback, from Mt. Jefferson to Mt. Shasta.
He carved his name and the date in a tall lodgepole pine on the shore of Island
Lake, where you can still see it (albeit faintly) today.
Island
Lake contains a small
island with a couple trees, backed by a larger island with more trees. Tiny
toads crawled in the grass along the shore, and a school of fish gathered in a
lake-bottom trench where a small stream ran into the water.
We camped away from the shore in the woods to avoid the
bloodthirsty mosquitoes, which weren’t actually that terrible, according to
what I’ve heard Sky
Lakes mosquitoes are like
in midsummer.
The next day we enjoyed a lazy ramble back to the trailhead,
with plenty of swimming and huckleberry eating along the way.
To see a photo gallery of our trip, click here.
To get there: It’s an 11-mile round-trip hike from the Blue
Canyon Trailhead to Island Lake, but just two-miles round-trip to Round Lake,
and four to Blue Lake (the uphill kicks in on the way back to the car). From Medford, take Highway 62 north to the Butte Falls
turnoff near mile-marker 16. Turn right, drive about 17 miles to Butte Falls
and continue through the town about a mile to the Prospect turnoff. Turn left
and drive about 8.5 miles to Forest Road 34 (Lodgepole Road). Take Road 34 about 8.5
miles east (to just after the bridge crosses the South Fork of the Rogue River) and take the right fork of Road 37. Head
south to Road 3770 (a couple miles after the pavement ends), and follow #3770
about 5 miles to the trailhead.
