Print Version
Email this story
Comment
Fall hikes in the Mountain Lakes Wilderness
 |
| H&N photos by Lee Juillerat: Sparkling Harriette Lake, above and below, called “the Queen of Mountain Lakes,” is a great place for a snack, swim, break or overnight camp. |
By Lee Juillerat, H&N regional Editor
It’s fall, the season when the mosquitoes are gone and daytime
temperatures are warm but not steamy hot.
So, where’s a good place to go for someone looking for a hike in the woods or an overnight backpack?
Not the northern portion of the Sky Lakes Wilderness, which is closed or smoke-shrouded by a forest fire. Not the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, which has thousands of dead and dying trees because of a devastating mountain pine beetle infestation.
Try the Mountain Lakes Wilderness.
Oldest wilderness areas
It’s one of the nation’s oldest designated wilderness areas. Mountain Lakes was one of the Pacific Northwest’s three original “primitive areas” in 1930 and on the original list of areas included in the 1964 Wilderness Act.
Mountain Lakes is aptly named. The hiking can be challenging on frequently steep up and downhill trails in terrain shaped by vulcanism and glacial carving. Geologists say Mountain Lakes is what remains of a broad crater-like basin, the remnant of a 12,000-foot mountain that long ago exploded or collapsed.
Glaciers later carved out drainages, leaving behind more than 25 lakes and seasonal ponds, including 15 sparkling, subalpine lakes. Several are alongside the 10.5-mile Mountain Lakes Loop Trail, including Como, Eb, Zeb, Echo and Harriette, the undisputed “Queen of Mountain Lakes.”
Off the access trails
Other lakes are located off the three access trails — Storm off Varney Creek, the most easily accessed trailhead from Klamath Falls; Waban and Weston off the Mountain Lakes Trail from the Lake of the Woods area; and Clover along the Clover Creek Trail. South Pass, Paragon and Mystic are off the South Pass Lake Trail, a major spur trail off the loop route.
The Varney Creek trailhead, only four miles off Highway 140 near the Odessa area, is about a half-hour drive from Klamath Falls. It’s a steady 4.5 miles to the loop trail, where it’s only a short walk south (right at the junction) to Eb and Zeb, two small lakes that flank the trail. The other direction leads to Como, one of the area’s larger lakes. Any of the three are good for lunch breaks, with backpacking sites at Como and Eb.
Another tough mile from Como — or 6 miles from the trailhead — is Harriette, by far the largest of the Mountain Lakes. Just before descending the steep downhill grade, find the short side trail to a lake overlook. On a sunny day, the lake looks delicious. As a swim proves, it is.
Camping at Harriette
If backpacking, camp at Harriette or go another 2-plus miles to the South Pass Lakes Trail and stay at Mystic or Paragon lakes or, in another few miles, South Pass Lake.
From the Clover Creek trailhead, off the Clover Creek Road between Keno and Highway 66, it’s about 4.5 miles to the loop trail. From the junction, the trail north and west (left) gradually drops to Eb and Zeb while the route east (right) stays high on a cirque overlooking the ancient caldera before reaching the South Pass trail and going north to Harriette.
By any direction, by any trail, Mountain Lakes is a little-traveled wilderness of mountains and lakes.
temperatures are warm but not steamy hot.
So, where’s a good place to go for someone looking for a hike in the woods or an overnight backpack?
Not the northern portion of the Sky Lakes Wilderness, which is closed or smoke-shrouded by a forest fire. Not the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, which has thousands of dead and dying trees because of a devastating mountain pine beetle infestation.
Try the Mountain Lakes Wilderness.
Oldest wilderness areas
It’s one of the nation’s oldest designated wilderness areas. Mountain Lakes was one of the Pacific Northwest’s three original “primitive areas” in 1930 and on the original list of areas included in the 1964 Wilderness Act.
Mountain Lakes is aptly named. The hiking can be challenging on frequently steep up and downhill trails in terrain shaped by vulcanism and glacial carving. Geologists say Mountain Lakes is what remains of a broad crater-like basin, the remnant of a 12,000-foot mountain that long ago exploded or collapsed.
Glaciers later carved out drainages, leaving behind more than 25 lakes and seasonal ponds, including 15 sparkling, subalpine lakes. Several are alongside the 10.5-mile Mountain Lakes Loop Trail, including Como, Eb, Zeb, Echo and Harriette, the undisputed “Queen of Mountain Lakes.”
Off the access trails
Other lakes are located off the three access trails — Storm off Varney Creek, the most easily accessed trailhead from Klamath Falls; Waban and Weston off the Mountain Lakes Trail from the Lake of the Woods area; and Clover along the Clover Creek Trail. South Pass, Paragon and Mystic are off the South Pass Lake Trail, a major spur trail off the loop route.
The Varney Creek trailhead, only four miles off Highway 140 near the Odessa area, is about a half-hour drive from Klamath Falls. It’s a steady 4.5 miles to the loop trail, where it’s only a short walk south (right at the junction) to Eb and Zeb, two small lakes that flank the trail. The other direction leads to Como, one of the area’s larger lakes. Any of the three are good for lunch breaks, with backpacking sites at Como and Eb.
Another tough mile from Como — or 6 miles from the trailhead — is Harriette, by far the largest of the Mountain Lakes. Just before descending the steep downhill grade, find the short side trail to a lake overlook. On a sunny day, the lake looks delicious. As a swim proves, it is.
Camping at Harriette
If backpacking, camp at Harriette or go another 2-plus miles to the South Pass Lakes Trail and stay at Mystic or Paragon lakes or, in another few miles, South Pass Lake.
From the Clover Creek trailhead, off the Clover Creek Road between Keno and Highway 66, it’s about 4.5 miles to the loop trail. From the junction, the trail north and west (left) gradually drops to Eb and Zeb while the route east (right) stays high on a cirque overlooking the ancient caldera before reaching the South Pass trail and going north to Harriette.
By any direction, by any trail, Mountain Lakes is a little-traveled wilderness of mountains and lakes.
 |
||
| Program on Basque herders set for Christmas Valley, Lakeview |
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of HeraldAndNews.com. Comment Disclaimer: The editors of heraldandnews.com reserve the right to refuse publication of any comment posted for consideration. We may refuse for any reason, including use of profanity, disparaging comments, libelous comments, etc. Any reader who notices a comment they believe is particularly offensive, should notify us at webmaster@heraldandnews.com.
RSS