Sky Lakes Basin, Klamath Falls - Backpacking

Sky Lakes Basin, Klamath Falls

Margurette Lake

Backpacking

Distance: 12 miles

Elevation Gain: 400ft
Location: Klamath Falls (Sky Lakes Wilderness)
Attendance: Pete M, Trevor M, Wyatt M, Kris M, Cheyenne M & two pups.

Drive Time: 6 hours one way

Directions to TH: South on I5 to Eugene. Hwy 58 South to I97 South to Klamath Falls. Hwy 140 West to MP41, Turn onto FR 3651 for 11 miles to Cold Springs Trailhead

 

The gang, glowing after a great weekend.

Day 1: Headed in 2.6 miles set up camp. 

Our young lady filtering water

After a long drive, it was worth every bit of it, to see this beautiful trail and all its glory. (Ok, maybe I was just missing the trail a little bit.) Nonetheless the trail was nice, relatively flat, and easy. We hiked in the 0.6 miles down the cold Springs trail and than made the connection to the South Rock Creek Trail for 1.8 miles. Than turned on to the Sky lakes trail towards Trapper Lake (0.2 miles). We found a beautiful campsite a couple hundred from the Heavenly Twin Lakes shore. 

What a really loved about this place was for a holiday weekend (Labor Day) we barely saw anyone. 

This trip was a great opportunity to let the kids catch up and to work on some backpacking skills with the kids. My daughter didn't really have a backpack per say, but was able to use a day pack fitted for a her gear, and one of the boys was having their first adventure backpacking. 

After we got camp set up, dinner was made, and it quickly got dark and cold. This turned out to be our first night of freezing temps. It got really cold. Thankfully we were mostly prepared. None of us had cold weather camping gear, and we were all sleeping in hammocks. So its a little bit harder to stay warm in hammocks. I taught the kids how to use clean wool socks on your hands, and hand warmers, which they loved.  Thankfully everyone was prepared with warm clothes. Though most of us were still cold, even the puppies were not digging the cold.

puppies snuggling on the first cold night.

A beautiful meadow on the Sky lakes trail

Day 2: Got up and on the trail by 930am. The kids decided the packs were uncomfortable and didnt want to move camp. Being beginning packers, we agreed, we are building kids who want to go out. If they want to leave the packs behind for one day, who cares. Not us. 

Photo of the map

We headed out the Sky Lakes trail out to Trapper lake. Its 1.9 miles to the lake. We watched the kids play. We stayed for lunch, and the kids realized rather quickly that they wished they had packed up their camp and moved to Trapper Lake. They wanted to stay alot longer. (this is part of the process of learning. I love these moments). 

After lunch we took off to what we thought was a trail that wrapped around Trapper lake. We didnt have a map, as I had searched high and low for one, and after many stops at a variety of locations on the way down, No one had a map anywhere. The national forest office closed early due to the holiday weekend, so we had no map. We ran into this group of ladies who kindly let me take a picture of their map, which we are very thankful for. Unfortunately we got confused on the notes they had made on their map in which they circled the words Trapper Lake and made notation of a 7mile loop. We assumed they were referring that the loop was around the lake, since they had circled the name. But after hiking around the lake, over to Margurette lake and than No see um lake, we found out that was not the case, and that they must have been referring to the circle itself as being the loop. Thankfully we looked at the map on my phone at No see Um lake before we hit the PCT, and decided to head back the way we came. 

The kids getting a Geology lesson

We quickly made it back to camp by 330pm, with about 6.2 miles in. The kids were tired and were off to take a nap (yeah right.) I decided to make some coffee and head down to the lake for some quiet time. Pete and I had a great time catching up on life at the lake, while the kids had a blast getting play time in the hammocks and goofing off in camp. No nap was had. 

all three enjoying play time in the hammocks.

We all had a great time making dinner at camp, discussing backpacking and just hanging out. We all went to bed by dark as it was getting cold again and we wanted to try and get warm before it really got cold. Thankfully night number two was a little bit warmer, not by much, but enough that most of us were able to sleep. One of the puppies even got to sleep in a hammock (he did pretty good). Note taken. 

Even cranky puppies can enjoy a warm hammock with a kid inside to help keep him warm. Not to mention the young lady sharing the hammock had warm feet. Lol.

Total miles guessed: .2 miles to Isherwood Trail. 1.9 miles to Trapper lake. 1 mile around the lake (.2 from lunch to trail junction. .2 miles across top of trapper lake. .7 miles around to No See Um lake) 1 mile back to lunch spot. and 1.9 miles back to Isherwood Trail. .2 miles to camp = 6.2 miles

Day three: A slow morning. I really think that no one really wanted to leave. I was up early, as we went to bed so early, and enjoyed a quiet morning. We got on the trail at 11am with only 2.5 miles to go back to the trailhead and than head home. Everyone kept a great pace with lighter packs. We made it back to the trailhead by 1230pm. 

The adults held up well on this trip. The kids were struggling with packs, blisters and weight. But in the end they said they wanted to do it again. The youngest of them all said they loved it and couldn't wait until the next trip. He was totally sold. The other two said they would with a little less enthusiasm. We will be planning a trip for next year!

Note about the Klamath Basin - Wow is all i can say. Oregon does have flat trails, they are in southern Oregon, and they are beautiful! The scouts in the area have it made down there. I cant wait to go down again and really explore. I've already ordered maps, and look forward to the next trip. 

Me and the Kids after the trip. The kids were worn out but happy!

Notes about my puppies - Well this is not either dogs first trip backpacking, but things sure didnt go as i had planned. My lil boy was a wreck all weekend with the boys. He just couldnt handle it. Poor guy. He ended up being muzzled for bad behavior, and than was miserable. He continued to beat his nose against the ground trying to get the muzzle off, to the point where he blooded up his nose. Sadly he wont ever be able to be around these boys again until they are alot older. It was just to hard on him. 
Now my girl, she impressed me alot. She didnt take to the nature concept well the first trip, but this trip was like the best thing she ever experienced. She had so much fun with the boys. She even chased rocks the boys threw. Crazy girl. The most hilarious thing, is she was watching the boys skipping rocks, and couldnt understand why they were "throwing" rocks into the water. So on one attempt she went after the rock, and jumped into the lake. She was so shocked on the water depth and temperature that she quickly swam to shore and got out. But it didnt slow her down. She kept going after the rocks, just not in the water. Lol. 
Normally I dont like to have my dogs off lead while hiking, as they can terrorize the wildlife, and I dont like that. But my boy was such a wreck, that I felt it was safer for all involved if he was off lead. Again, he wont be out again with kids, that he doesnt already know, on the trail.