Trip Report: Caribou Wilderness Basecamp Backpack
July 2 - 5, 2004

By Jean Higham-Sergeant

This was a trip led by Steve Sergeant. Participants were Pat, Yvonne, Terri, Toby, Myida, Magnolia, and me.

Caribou Wilderness, Lassen National Forest & Lassen Volcanic National Park
Triangle Lake, Red Cinder Cone, and Widow Lake

Friday, July 2, 2004

Before the hike, some of us started the day fueling up on a delicious, hearty breakfast at the Kopper Kettle Cafe in Chester. Afterwards we all met at the Caribou Lake trailhead near Silver Lake in the Caribou Wilderness.

Our hike to Triangle Lake, where we set up our base camp, followed a shallow ascent on Forest Service Trail 7E05, and took us past Cowboy Lake and Jewel Lake, then to the junction with Forest Service Trail 7E01, the main north-south trail in the Caribou Wilderness. Turning right onto this trail, we hiked north past Turnaround Lake and Twin Lakes, and after a total of about 5.5 mi, we arrived at Triangle Lake.

We set up our camp at a heavily used site with good access to Triangle Lake. With evidence of old fish hooks scattered around and an abandoned container of fish bait, this is obviously a popular destination with fishermen. The view of the lake was satisfyingly beautiful, but the watchword for the entire weekend was "mosquito." We made heavy use of head nets, full-coverage clothing, and DEET.

Dinners were central commissary, and for Friday night Steve prepared an extravagant-for-the-backcountry salad of fresh spinach, basil, walnuts, and sweet red onion, dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and a whole wheat macaroni goulash, served with Barefoot California merlot.

For filtering lake water, we used Steve's gravity filter, which did most of its work untended. Using this filter is a slow process, which means it couldn't provide us with much potable water upon our arrival at Triangle Lake, but during the night and during our day hikes away from camp, it continued dribbling filtered water into multi-liter Platypus bladders. This system works very well in conjunction with a supplementary system, such as chemicals or a manual filter, that can provide more instant results.

Saturday, July 3, 2004

After a hot-water commissary breakfast, we packed our day packs for an almost 5 mi jaunt over a seldom-used, but easily discernable trail into Lassen Volcanic National Park. Our destination was the Red Cinder Cone, but we encountered snowfields as we ascended the saddle between it and the Red Cinder. We decided that a cross-country hike all the way to the top of the Red Cinder Cone might be too hazardous, so most of us climbed to a shoulder instead, and enjoyed views to the west of Snag Lake and the Fantastic Lava Beds.

We returned to camp, enjoying interesting conversation and frequent stops to study plants, small animals, and fungi. Toby pointed out several interesting mushroom species, including bubble gum fungi growing on dead or dying conifers, and puffballs growing amid the forest floor duff. At camp, Steve prepared us a dinner of vegetable soup and Spanish brown rice and pinto beans. There was still some wine left over from the previous night's meal, which some of us enjoyed until it was gone.

Sunday, July 4, 2004

After another hot-water commissary breakfast, most of us decided to retrace the path back into Lassen Volcanic National Park, while two of us decided to stay behind and relax at Triangle Lake during the day when the mosquitoes were less persistent.

Instead of turning south in the park toward the Red Cinder Cone, those of us who hiked turned north and walked a short distance to Widow Lake. We had a pleasant, relaxing lunch beside the lake, watching some strikingly beautiful black and white striped dragonflies zooming around us. A coating of yellow pollen floated on the surface of the lake near the shore, dissuading some of us from entering its cool water. I ignored the pollen and waded in, and Pat, unable to resist the lure of a good swim, plunged in and amazed everyone with her passion for backcountry swimming.

Back at camp well before dinner time, some of took a dip in Triangle Lake, or went into the trees to bathe from a bucket, or used solar-warmed water from a Sun Shower to clean ourselves up. Feeling refreshed and squeaky clean, we settled around our "kitchen" to watch Steve prepare another dinner. That night we ate potato leek soup and peanut-bulgar curry.

The mosquitoes were considerate and left us in relative peace until after dinner, but then descended upon us mercilessly. Continuing to move around, of course, helps keep the little beasts off, but we became a little silly and began dancing, naming our energetic, arm-flapping dance, "the mosquito."

Monday, July 5, 2004

On our last day, we had breakfast together and packed up for departure. The hike back to the Caribou Lake trailhead was a gentle descent. Those most eager to put the return drive home behind us set a steady, quick pace, and before we knew it, we were back at our cars. After quick goodbyes, we went our separate ways, contented with our enjoyable visit to the Caribou Wilderness.