Trail Talk – July 2021

Summer is upon us, and it’s a time to get out and explore farther afield. Trails in our local wilderness areas have opened as the snowpack has melted, and though winter storms may have created blowdown over many of the trails, intrepid hikers should still be able to get through to favorite destinations. One benefit of the dry winter and spring has been fewer mosquitos, but the opposite side of that coin is the high fire danger.

We don’t know what storms await us this summer: whether the lightning storms will pack much needed rain, or whether wind storms will fan flames into conflagrations. The valley smoke has become a yearly curse in late summer, often hanging on until fall rains arrive. Will we see multiple days of triple digit temperatures? Or are we due one of the milder summers where mid-90s is top of the range? No crystal ball, no long-range weather forecaster, no old wives’ tale can help, and tomorrow will bring exactly what tomorrow will bring.

Get out and walk the woodland trails, take that “bucket list” hike into a wild area, explore the less traveled routes, challenge yourself… But do it soon. Even if those special places don’t burn in our summer fires, the routes may be closed due to extreme fire danger.

Within an hour to an hour-and-a-half of Jacksonville, we are blessed to have 6 relatively large and easily accessible Federal Wilderness Areas. From alpine glades in the High Cascades, through the serpentine slopes of the Klamaths and even into coastal rainforest, trails await.

Eastward and northward lie Sky Lakes, Rogue-Umpqua, and Mountain Lakes. All three boast pristine high mountain glacial lake basins. Popular trails here can be well used and often in poor repair from horse traffic, so hikers are advised to look for alternate, less traveled trails. Frustratingly, these same trails often have the poorest upkeep, with many downed trees and encroaching vegetation. The plus side is that patient hikers will find themselves appreciating fewer flies and mosquitos than on heavily traveled horse trails. Many smaller lakes are less visited, providing a more authentic wild experience. Late summer brings huckleberries and almost no mosquitos, but it’s a crapshoot if wildfires will again cloud our skies with smoke or close these areas by fall.

Westward and southward lie three lesser-known wild areas: Kalmiopsis, Red Buttes, and Siskiyou Wildernesses. All within the Klamath Range, the geology itself is reason to visit. While a bit lower in elevation, the native serpentine enriched soils preclude the heavy forests of the Cascades except in pockets of stunning old growth nearer canyon bottoms and stream beds. A botanist’s paradise, many endemic plants adorn the fragile soils of the more open landscape. And pushing clear into lower elevations of Kalmiopsis Wilderness brings the intrepid hiker into coastal rainforest.

Look afield and find time to explore these special places. Be prepared to be amazed. New trails bring new adventure.