This Will Be

The Toughest Backpack of Your Life

Mysterious serpentine ridges with rare flowers and far out views? Check. A river that’s so clear you can’t even see the water? You got it. And it will come at a price: this is among the most challenging backpacks you’ll ever embark on.

After five-summers of continuous restoration work and 12 years after the Biscuit Fire wreaked havoc on the Kalmiopsis’s trails, after 50 years since the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area was first designated, it’s ready. The 26-mile Trans-Kalmiopsis Route is clear, passable, and 2014 backpackers have been hiking the route.

Join them as some of the first backpackers to cross this route since 2002. Our crews have been hacking away at the route for five years now, re-clearing trail sections where fire-killed trees fall year after year, cutting through a jungle of brush and camping out weeks at a time in this rugged country.

Now it’s your chance. September 26-29 we’re inviting our members and volunteers, past and present, for a victorious backpack from Vulcan Lake to Babyfoot Lake along the Trans-Kalmiopsis Route. We’ll get dropped off at Vulcan Lake on the morning of September 26, and picked up from Babyfoot Lake sometime on the 29.

Participants must be in good physical shape. Long sections of the route are steep, rocky and narrow. Call 541-708-2056 or email howegabe(a)gmail.com for trip details and to sign up. Want to sign up for another summer trip in the Kalmiopsis? Click here.