for the Siskiyou Hiker
by Rob Cain, Siskiyou Out Back Race Co-Director
The Siskiyou Out Back is pleased to be a 2022 Season Sponsor of Siskiyou Mountain Club. We are a non-profit that hosts a running festival the second Saturday of July at Mount Ashland. Proceeds of our event support local non-profits that we want to support. Rob Cain was lead on this particular donation, and he writes the following.
11 JANUARY 2022 | ASHLAND, OR. – My interest in Siskiyou Mountain Club was generated through the enthusiasm of their Board Treasurer, Ryan Ghelfi. Anyone who spends any time with Ryan will hear of his backwoods exploits, whether it be fast packing or running on relatively unknown trails in the wilds of the Siskiyou Mountains. Ryan is a great ambassador for the area. Not one to ignore such passion, and in preparation for the John Muir Trail this last summer (2021), I had Ryan set me up with a 50-mile Trans Kalmiopsis Loop. While, yes, he had done it in a day, I ,on the other hand, was going to take three days, testing out my equipment and body.
This route takes you through some remarkable areas, true wilderness, with a history you can easily observe. From old miners equipment (in the middle of nowhere) to the upper reaches of the pristine Chetco River, all areas had been scorched in the last twenty years by fire. But yet, through all this, the trail was there.
Having done my share of trail work on Ashland Trails, I was impressed. While here locally, we can get to the trail in a matter of, at most, an hour, what I was walking through was miles from the nearest road, with profound climbs and, I could imagine, a trail that was probably not that visible to begin with.
The effort it takes, from just simply the logistics of food and camping, let alone the training of inexperienced people, is striking, and a tribute to the Club.
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Rob Cain is Siskiyou Out Back Race Co-Director and lives in Ashland.
