20 JUNE 2023 | VULCAN PEAK, OR. — Join volunteer leader Luke Brandy for a traverse of the Chetco Rim this July 13 – 18. Hike about 20 miles in five days, bag five peaks, visit seven lakes, and help hang five signs.
- Seven lakes: Babyfoot, Rough & Ready, Baldface, Brink, Chetco, Vulcan, Lish
- Five peaks: Canyon, Chetco Lookout, Chetco Peak, Red Mountain, Vulcan Peak
Get dropped off at Babyfoot Lake on July 13 and picked up at Vulcan Lake July 18. You should have some recent backpacking experience but the hiking is overall moderate. Just email bonsaigoat@gmail.com now for details and to sign up.
Hike across a vast sheet of alpine redrock where few visitors ever venture. Summit peaks with commanding views from the Pacific coast to the Klamath Mountains to the distant Cascade range. Dip into ridgetop lakes hanging on the edge of the world. Follow 50-year-old directions to forgotten springs that are not shown on any maps and hang signs to help other hikers find the lifesaving water.
Swim with the newts in lakes that are like oases on Mars, where red rocks hold summer heat and the lakes are invigorating rewards after a day in the sun. Relish the rare trees and carnivorous plants that reach from this hardscrabble landscape into the bright blue sky.
Revel in the quiet stillness of the Chetco rim with long evenings as the sun sets into the Pacific Ocean and gives way to an ink black night sky full of astonishingly bright stars.
Become a wilderness legend and trail hero by lending a hand to the backwoods trails while hanging signs to keep this rarely traveled route alive for another generation of intrepid hikers and hardy explorers.
Savor strange lakes perched on the rim of the Checto and Smith River divide where tectonic movement has crumpled the ocean floor into a barren mountain range and Pacific storms dump 100 inches of water a year or more.
Summit peaks where a few rusting bolts and bits of glass from old burned up fire lookouts are the only signs of other human visitors.
Just email bonsaigoat@gmail.com now for details and to sign up.
