Trinity Alps & Vicinity: Including Whiskeytown, Russian Wilderness, and Castle Crags Areas. Mike White
from Deep Creek, water from a fine spring spills across the trail, and about 150 yards farther, you reach the junction of Bear Creek and Alpine Lake Trails.
Turn left (west) from the junction and stroll 200 yards to where the trail drops over a steep bank to a shaded flat and a large open gravel bar beside the river. A number of excellent campsites are on the flat and beneath clumps of cottonwoods and firs on the gravel bar, where an ample supply of driftwood should provide plenty of firewood. Anglers will find the fishing better here in the Stuart Fork than above at Alpine Lake, unless the water is too high and swift, in which case you won’t be able to ford it anyway. If the river is very low, you may be able to boulder-hop upstream from the former site of an old diversion dam washed out by a flood, but more than likely you’ll have to wade across.
Up on the west bank of the Stuart Fork the trail runs south, climbing slightly almost to Boulder Creek, then turns back to climb more steeply a little west of north before turning into the north side of Boulder Creek Canyon. You soon climb higher up the side of the canyon in dense, mixed forest, amid a significant number of deadfalls, and then begin a series of moderately steep zigzags up the nose of a ridge away from Boulder Creek. As the climb eases in more open forest, about a mile from the Stuart Fork crossing, a large dead ponderosa pine snag and a nearby cairn mark the somewhat inconspicuous junction of the Alpine Lake Trail turning steeply north.
After a short steep start north up the Alpine Lake Trail through a field of granite boulders, you begin a series of long-legged switchbacks, climbing moderately in thick brush well east of the Alpine Lake outlet. About 0.75 mile from the junction, a switchback extends almost to the diminutive creek and to a good but small campsite tucked under a large Jeffrey pine. A short steep scramble down to the stream will allow you to cool your hot brow in the clear cold water, as well as get some drinking water.
Continue up the next set of switchbacks over broken granite covered with a mat of huckleberry oak, manzanita, ceanothus, and scrubby Oregon oak. About 0.5 mile from the water stop, you climb very steeply onto some granite knobs, where you can hear, but not yet see, a waterfall. Another 0.3 mile through brush and over rocks leads you to the foot of the ledge from which the creek falls, 50 yards from the trail and almost impossible to reach. Some very steep zigzags up through more rocks at the east end of the ledge lead to the top of a knob, where you can see into the cirque above Alpine Lake.
An almost level traverse across the top of the canyon takes you west through some tiny, flowery meadows to a crossing of Alpine Lake’s outlet, just below a cascade over a rock dike. Instead of climbing directly up the faint track beside this cascade, look for the trail along the base of the dike and walk 50 yards south before switchbacking over the top. Beyond the dike you reach the lower end of a beautiful green valley a little less than 0.25 mile long and about half as wide. The creek meanders in a wide still channel through lush, marshy grasses and sedges dotted with wildflowers. Little brook trout flick a series of interlocking rings that fracture the reflections of a few huge granite boulders deposited by ancient glaciers. The trail runs up the south side of the valley for almost 300 yards, then turns and crosses the creek to continue through the grass on the north side and over a low moraine to the lower end of the lake. Be sure to cross the creek, as the trail that continues up the south side of the valley leads to some vertical rock faces that block your access to the lake.
Fourteen-acre Alpine Lake fills the bottom of a deep, narrow cirque gouged out of granite and metasedimentary rock, where rows of grotesquely eroded pinnacles thrust into the sky at the top of the cliffs. Brooding, weeping spruce and firs are reflected in the dark water, while ghostly limbs of fallen snags reach from the depths near the outlet, and the entire scene, particularly on a cloudy day, can be a bit somber. Camping is limited to three fair campsites in the rocks, brush, and trees at the lower end of the lake. If all these sites happen to be full, your hope for solitude will be greatly diminished. If you’re the only one camped at the lake, enjoy the magnificent blessing. Otherwise, carefully respect the desire of others for the limited amount of privacy available.
OFF-TRAIL TO SMITH AND MORRIS LAKES
Hardy cross-country enthusiasts can reap big rewards by following a strenuous route to Smith and Morris Lakes. The first part of the route is by far the worst, involving steep bushwhacking on the climb out of Alpine Lake’s basin. Afterward, the route becomes much more straightforward. If you are carrying a backpack, plan on at least a half day for the 2-mile off-trail climb.
From the vicinity of Alpine Lake, find a path that leads east along the north edge of the meadow just below the lake. At the east end and slightly above the meadow in a clearing is a dead snag, from which a variety of faint paths lead up into the thick brush on the hillside above. The goal is to try to locate the least offensive route through this tangle of brush to the pleasantly open slopes above. Many paths come and go all along this slope, but if you
head for a spot just above or slightly below the lower set of rounded dark granitic cliffs, you should come out somewhat unscathed.
Above this demonic patch of brush, the way does indeed open up, and the climbing is much more pleasant as you ascend north through a gully over mildly sloping granite slabs interspersed with low shrubs and dotted with hemlocks and pines. While climbing to the left (west) of a small stream that drains into Alpine Lake’s outlet, head for a distinctive notch at the low point in the ridge above, as increasingly spectacular scenery unfolds with each new step.
About 1 mile from Alpine Lake you reach the notch in the ridge, where you’re met with grand views of distant Mount Shasta and much closer Sawtooth Mountain. In most years you’ll probably encounter a snowfield on the north-facing slope below the notch. Descend this slope to the west toward a group of rocks. You’ll get a glimpse of a lake from there—not Smith Lake, but the smaller and slightly higher Morris Lake (Smith Lake lies just out of view behind granite cliffs and ridges). From the rocks, make an angling descent toward a point right below the terminus of the east ridge of Sawtooth Mountain. Fixed on that point, you head over granite slabs and interlocking patches of meadow to where the outlet creek exits Smith Lake and descends through Bear Gulch.
Attempt to reach Smith Lake close to the outlet, as the slopes higher up around the lake are quite steep and difficult to descend. The outlet stream itself is wedged between granite walls 20–30 feet high, which makes the last part of the route down to the lake tricky. The easiest way across is right where the outlet leaves the lake, where you can scramble down some dirt ramps and hop across the stream. From there, the going is much easier.
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