7/13/14 Sunday. The Russian Wilderness Beauty.

7/13/14 13 miles

A nice sunrise at 5am made waking easier.  We started off hiking downhill to a small branch of the Scott River where we each filtered water for the next miles.  

Colleen filling her water bottles. 

Tiger lilies were growing there along with pink fireweed and blue larkspur.

The trail took some steep climbs for 2 miles where we rested by a log that was home to a nest of hornets!  We moved along quickly to another resting place.

The air was muggy and I was feeling uncomfortably warm but we had another 2 mile climb on top of this first one so we shouldered our packs and pushed on. 

Colleen and Peggy contouring across a meadow. 

We ran into a couple Peggy & I had shared a camp site with in the desert, Grasshopper and Brakeman.  She's always raring to go and he's always putting the brakes on her enthusiasm!  When we reached the top of our climb we stopped for a short break and they passed us on their way to Canada. 

Peggy and Colleen resting at the top. 

The view from the top showed a pretty lake below.  We walked a short way to the shade and had lunch on some big granite rocks. 

Being kind to weary, dirty hiker feet means airing them out and drying socks whenever you can. Notice the KT tape, it's stretchy and protects as well as supports. 

Once we started hiking again we came to a new wilderness...

The Russian Wilderness in the Klamath National Forest. 

Little did I know what a treat we were in for...it was breathtaking.  Granite walls, vast mountains, deep valleys and a hidden lake.  Here's a picture show, mostly Colleen and I as Peggy hiked ahead of us on this section and wasn't in photo range. We all were in awe of the beauty.

Colleen on a ledge along the rock wall.

At the head of the valley.

Hopefully you can see the trail along the mountain face.

 The spires at the top of this wall are the back drop for the lake on the other side of the mountain that we visited by going off trail. 

The trail up this rugged wall of granite was pretty steep, also very hot on the exposed parts and took Colleen & I an hour of hiking, stopping for photos and stopping to rest in what shade we could find.   But oh, so worth the effort... this is why I hike.    When we reached the top Peggy was waiting for us as we had only 1/2 mile to hike to our campsite where we set up and rested our hot, tired feet.  A tiny spring nearby offered us some cooling water. 

My watch said it was almost 5 so we didn't rest long, if we wanted to eat near 6:00 we'd have to go look at the lake that Peggy suggested we find. She'd discovered it 2 years ago while hiking this section with her friend and said we should try to find it.  It was well worth the effort.   After a 15 minute climb from our campsite, leaving rock cairns to mark our path back down, we encountered huge rocks the size of motor homes. This was the place.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves. This is Statue Lake.

Panning left to right, in the next photo notice the rocks above are the backside of the tall spires we passed on the PCT.

 The rock face was covered, in places, with light green lichen and beautiful full grown trees grew on tiny ledges where  you'd never expect them to be able to grow.   Stunningly beautiful.   I explored a bit but in the end just sat with my friends on a huge rock and let the beauty speak for itself as the wind sent ripples across the surface of the water.

Our stomaches crying for dinner, we made our way down from the lake.  Daniel & Red ended up camping in a spot nearby,  they are on their way to Canada like most of the hikers we meet.