Another loop in the Sky Lakes Wilderness 23-Aug-2015

[VanMarmot]

The Sky Lakes Wilderness is as famous as the Indian Heaven Wilderness for the dense swarms of winged vampires that make hiking and backpacking there in July and August an ordeal. Well, not this year. Probably the only good thing to come from the prolonged drought and dearth of snow here in southern Oregon is the devastating effect it seems to have had on the mosquito population (oh, boo hoo ). Except for some pathetic stragglers attempting to get in a bite at the TH, mosquitos have been largely absent from the lakes this year. That, combined with most of this wilderness being on the less smoky (but far from smoke-free) side of the Cascades, has prompted several dayhike explorations of the area. Yesterday, I used the PCT to make a loop from the Cold Spring TH up to Luther Mtn and back. It was very, very smoky in the Rogue Valley but not too bad at the 6,000' TH.



The majority of the trails in this wilderness, while they are mostly in the trees, are also gentle and in good condition, allowing you to focus on the scenery rather than the tread.



I took the Cold Spring trail (#3710) N to the Sky Lakes trail (#3762) and that W past Deer Lake,



to its junction with the PCT.



The PCT going N is, of course, another easy-to-follow wonder, even if what's on the ground doesn't exactly align with what's on the map(s).



Here the PCT climbs up to the ridge on the W side of the wilderness where, if it were not for the smoke haze, I'd have gotten some good views. Best I could get was Pelican Butte to the S,



with the LO on its summit.



The return loop involves the Divide trail (#3717), which starts at the saddle below Luther Mtn and drops into the Margurette / Trapper Lakes area.



It works its way around an escarpment which overlooks Deep and White Pine Lakes and the smoke-choked Cherry Creek drainage,



and Margurette and Trapper Lakes,



before descending past Lake No-See-Um.



I had planned to loop around Deep Lake before heading back S but the smoke was starting to get to me - extra dry mouth, tightness in my chest - so I did a short XC shuffle from No-See-Um over to the Sky Lakes trail. Of course, as soon as I headed S, the wind shifted and the smoke got pushed somewhere else for a moment, giving the illusion of hiking under clear, sunny skies. Perverse!



I encountered a tiny bit of Fall foliage,



before passing Heavenly Twin Lakes,



enroute to the TH. Despite the heat and smoke, this was a good hike (14.6 mi RT, 1600' EG) that allowed me to explore a bit more of the Sky Lakes. I can have another go at the Trapper Lake area from the Cherry Ck TH once the smoke abates(?) in the fall. Again, if you want easy backpacking with lots of lakes to choose from for camping, then this is your wilderness!

[Jesse]

Great trip report! You have been getting up there a bunch lately. One of the few Oregon wilderness areas I have yet to visit.

The mosquito populations being so low is probably pretty bad for the ecosystem as a whole, I would think. They may seem like a mere nuisance to hikers, but they are food for a bunch of other things.

[VanMarmot]

Great trip report! You have been getting up there a bunch lately. One of the few Oregon wilderness areas I have yet to visit.

The mosquito populations being so low is probably pretty bad for the ecosystem as a whole, I would think. They may seem like a mere nuisance to hikers, but they are food for a bunch of other things.

Thanks! One reason Sky Lakes has been getting my attention lately is that it's close and there are no mosquitos (this year). But I agree that when something (however irritating it is to hikers) goes missing, that can't be good in the long run. So we're hoping that the El Nino predictions come true so it'll rain like crazy and we can complain about the "unusually" large mosquito populations all next summer.