Saturday, July 4, 2020
While staying at the Bolan Mountain Lookout over the holiday weekend, we did a hike in California’s Siskiyou Wilderness. The trailhead can only be accessed from Oregon. After driving south on Road 4906 we parked at the empty trailhead and started hiking south on the Black Butte Trail:
That’s Black Butte looming above us:
We had views to the west:
We were getting hot hiking in the sun so it was nice to enter a stretch of cool shady forest:
Back out into the open we got a view of Bear Mountain and Rocky Knob:
We couldn’t see it above us, but this sign indicated we were at the base of Black Butte:
I think this is Sanger Peak:
More views opening up:
Once we were past it we looked back to see Black Butte behind us:
At 1.6 miles we reached the junction with Black Butte Tie Trail #1273:
We passed a lovely cool spring:
Polar Bear Mountain rising above us:
And here is Polar Bear Gap:
We found shelter from the wind and sun under this crazy-looking tree:
We were pleasantly surprised by all the wildflowers here:
The views weren’t too shabby either. Looking north:
Looking south (the burned trees are from the 2018 Natchez Fire):
Lookout Mountain:
Another old metal sign:
Polar Bear Mountain:
Greg scrambled part of the way up:
We could see a meadow below on the south side:
Although the trail continues on, this was our turnaround point. After enjoying the flowers and views for awhile we headed back to the car. This was a great little hike and we saw no one else! The one downside is that there was uphill in both directions, but it wasn’t too bad.
Gaia stats: 4.8 miles, 1,125′ elevation gain.
A nice little bonus on the drive back was stopping to admire a darlingtonia fen along Road 4906. It was literally right beside the road. Such cool plants.
We also some California ladyslipper here:
