At the last minute, a friend's 70-year old father ("Chuck") joined in the fun with 48 pounds of fresh food and 30-year old backpacking gear and got a week-long education on modern fabrics and the glory of the one-pot meal. My backpacking cohort and I are not ultralight backpackers, but we have invested in new equipment that allows us to carry less than 30 pounds each (including food and 2.5 liters of water) for a 6 day trip. Needless to say, Chuck was really interested in our system after the first day of hiking.
It's a long drive to the Trinities. We cut it up into two days, driving 6 hours to Fort Jones (CA) to stay with said friend's parents for the night, and then driving another 2 hours to the trailhead just west of Trinity Lake the next morning.
Here's an important tip: you must visit a designated Ranger Station or satellite location to obtain a wilderness permit and campfire permit. There are no self-service issuance stations at most of the Trinity trailheads, like in most Oregon and Washington wilderness areas. It's not a limited entry area that requires a special permit; you just have to stop before you get to the trailhead to obtain one.
With this cohort, it's become customary to take a photograph of the group each morning of each day we're out in the backcountry. Each person in the photograph holds up the corresponding number of fingers (one for Day 1, two for Day 2, etc.) as we stand in a place near camp, like so:
But I have a function on my camera that allows you to take three successive shots with the self-timer so we started a new tradition that includes one respectable shot and two candid shots. Like so.
We had a lot of fun with this one.
Our route through the Trinities was not overly ambitious. The mileage was comparatively paltry, but there was a lot of climbing and there was a lot of opportunity for off-trail exploring and peak bagging. It ended up being perfectly suited for a fit 70-year old carrying a 48-pound pack (who had also just finished a round of radiation treatment for prostate cancer). It was also perfect for us, teaching us a slower, more methodical way to backpack that included time in camp for reading, staring at trees, and taking mini hikes.
red rock, white roots
We started our circuit at the Swift Creek TH, which is located on the eastern-most edge of the Trinities. We walked about five miles to Granite Lake, our camp for the first night, climbing about 2,000'. We met a few groups coming out of the Granite Lake basin that afternoon, but had the entire area to ourselves that night. The hike in was lovely and ended at good campsites at the lake with giant incense cedars and ponderosa pines.
Granite Lake at sunrise
Chuck and a giant incense cedar
The next day we continued up the Granite Creek Trail through open meadows to Seven Up Pass, where we got a great overview of the Trinities to the west.
gradually climbing through the meadows to Seven Up Pass
Abbey Road, Trinities style
a bird flew into my view just as I was snapping the photo
purples and yellows
the trail steepens near the pass
view from Seven Up Pass
the Red Trinities meet the White Trinities
We stopped at the pass just long enough to take off our packs and scramble up the little knob to the south.
on the knob
Then we reshouldered our packs and climbed the ridge to the north to the top of Seven Up Peak (8,120'). We took our packs because there were some very aggressive chipmunks and golden mantle squirrels at the pass who immediately jumped on and into our packs when we set them down. Chuck hung his bag from a branch; I carried up a liter of water and his lunch for him (which included a whole summer sausage, a pound of cheese, a cucumber, and a container of crackers. Clearly, I'm still building up my karma points.)
Bill on Seven Up Peak summit proper (with Mt. Shasta in background)
trying to figure out the names of other peaks from Seven Up Peak
my mountain goat husband
dead tree on Seven Up Peak
After an hour or so on the summit gawking at the incredible 360 degree view, we carefully picked our way back down to the pass and then descended the trail on many switchbacks to Deer Creek Trail. We took the Deer Creek trail about a mile north to its junction with the Black Basin Trail and an excellent campsite, where we spent nights two and three.
trail flowers
yellow lupine
impressive late season wildflowers
on the Deer Creek Trail heading to camp
Chuck sleeps out with the squirrels
sugar pine cone
makes an excellent pot scrubber
On Day 3 we secured our tents and hung our dinner bags and hiked the Four Lakes Loop as a day hike. The loop circles around Siligo Peak and either touches or comes close to Luella Lake, Diamond Lake, Summit Lake, Deer Lake, and Round Lake (which is more of a pond, really). We climbed over 2400' on this 8-mile hike and were rewarded with spectacular views and ice-cold swimming.
hiking out of the Luella Lake basin
Luella Lake
marsh flowers near Diamond Lake
there he goes again...
Diamond Lake and Sawtooth Peak in the distance
trail toll
Deer Lake and Siligo Peak
fact checking the elevation at Deer Pass
Seven Up Peak from Deer Lake
heading back to camp
telling stories around the campfire
We packed up camp and headed up to Black Basin on Day 4. Our objective was to find the unmaintained trail to Mumford Basin and hike down to the Swift Creek Trail from there. I was ready with my quad map and compass but our navigation readiness was for naught. The unmaintained trail was in great condition and was easy to find once you figured out where it went from the initial trail junction. We steadily climbed to "Mumford Pass" and then dropped very steeply into Mumford Basin, a lonesome meadow basin next to popular Horseshoe and Ward Lakes. We bagged a little unnamed peak at Mumford Pass and then dropped to camp at the large and very horsey camps in Mumford Meadow.
Chuck's brand new wool socks have been squirrelified
very large pine cones
taking a look around in Black Basin
looking for the trail
on the unmaintained trail to Mumford Pass
Mumford Pass with Mumford Basin below
Sawtooth Ridge
Mumford Basin and yellow lupine
flowers along the Swift Creek Trail
making our way into Mumford Basin
wildlife
It spit a little rain on us at camp in the evening but we woke to blue skies and sunshine on Day 5. It was an easy 5-mile hike down the Swift Creek Trail to the trailhead. We stopped along the way to admire the enormous ponderosa pine trees, the Fosters cabin, and the impressive Swift Creek gorge. We also found a pod of California pitcher plants in a wet area, which were really interesting to study.
the lower meadows feel fallish along the Swift Creek Trail
California pitcher plant
Chuck hams it up
time to get off the trail, people
Overall, this was a fantastic backpacking trip. The area is astoundingly beautiful and rugged. You could spend days off-trail roaming around. We didn't see as much wildlife as we wanted, a few deer, some pretty birds, and a little bear poop. We will be back again soon enough to explore other parts of the Trinities, which now sits higher on the list than ever before.
