Cold Springs, Fourmile Lake Horse Camp, and Nannie Creek, Oregon

It's October, but the temperatures feel like August. So what's a girl to do, go camping of course!

The trails in the Sky Lakes Wilderness have a lot of pluses, they are meticulously maintained and cleared, the riding is easy/ moderate, with some very nice views, and they are mostly all loops.

Mt. McLoughlin.

Fourmile Horse Camp has limited riding access into the Sky Lakes Wilderness, but there are a number of other trailheads very close by.
I stopped at Cold Springs Trailhead on the way there, which is actually a camp as well.There are five spots and anyone can camp there including horse people, although there are no corrals. There is a shelter, a bathroom and a spring for stock water, although there is a sign saying to boil the water for human consumption.

The shelter and spring at Cold Springs Trailhead.

This can be a short 7 mile loop or can be made longer by getting onto the PCT for awhile. I got to the Heavenly Twin Lakes first, then passed Isherwood Lake, Lake Elizabeth and Lake Notasha.

Heavenly Twin Lakes.

Lake Notasha.

On my way to the PCT my horse got stung.... twice. The hornets that nest in holes in the ground can be somewhat aggressive if you happen to pass by, at this time of year. I really haven't had too many problems with them in the past, but this year was a bad one, my horse also got stung on our last trip to Waldo Lake. I don't have a horse that tries to kill me in the process, she just stomps and kicks until she gets the offending little bastard off of her, and then she is fine.
But we did keep an eye out for the rest of our trip after that, and had no further problems. I rode as long as I felt like on the PCT and then went back, continuing the last part of the original loop, which is the less scenic section.

Sky Lakes Wilderness.

I then drove to Fourmile which is situated between Medford and Klamath Falls, and got set up for the evening. As you drive in, there are regular camp spots along the lake for people, and then the road does a loop, which is where the horse sites are.
There are 10 sites, they all have plenty of room for larger rigs, but only three sites have corrals. There is day use parking, a bathroom and a hand pump for water, that is potable. There is sort of a manure bin area, although it looks like campers may have made it themselves. Normally you would pay $15.00 to stay there but the camp had actually closed already as of September 8th. It may not always close that early, but I checked their website and it stated it was still available for camping. One of the bathrooms was left unlocked, although obviously not stocked with toilet paper anymore.

The sign when you get to camp.

Three of the sites are back in, the rest are all pull through. Since it was free and I had the place to myself, I parked in the double spot, since it was the nicest. The corrals are quite small, and they are all missing their gates, I had to use rope and baling twine instead. There was a note on the bathroom explaining that as of this year (2015) this camp is to be reservation only, and only horse people are allowed. The regular spots along the lake are really nice and there are 20 of them so people wouldn't be as tempted to stay in the horse area anyway, but it is nice to see that they are enforcing this.

The double site at Fourmile.

My cute pony. No gates on the corrals.

A note on the bathroom.

There were quite a few people camped at the lake and an older couple wandered by and said hi to me. I ended up chatting with them some more the next evening, and they were very sweet and dropped off some firewood for me as they were leaving the next day.

In the morning, I did the main trail that loops around the lake. It's 14 miles, although I did explore on a side trail to Island Lakes as well. On this loop I passed a great view of Mt. McLoughlin, went past Badger Lake, then Long Lake, then did my detour to Island Lakes on the Blue Canyon Trail. On this trail there are a couple of horse camping areas for people packing in. Then I got onto the PCT and headed past Christie's Spring, a nice view of Fourmile Lake from above, and back along the Twin Ponds Trail. This was hunting season but in all the days of riding, I saw only one hunter.

A person could do several out and back rides and see a few of the other side trails but it would require retracing a lot of the same miles every day. Since I planned to see the wilderness from some of the other trailheads, I did not need to do this quite as much.

The trailhead from camp that loops around Fourmile Lake and beyond.

The view of Mt. McLoughlin from the Badger Lake Trail.

Long Lake.

Island Lakes.

A welcome water source for backpackers.

On the PCT.

The view of Fourmile Lake from the PCT.

That evening I walked around near the lake, hung out with my new camping friends, and checked out the catch of the local fishermen.

A meadow beside camp.

A happy fisherman shows us his catch.

On the third day I retraced my steps along the Twin Ponds Trail to Summit Lake which turned out to be bone dry, then got back on the PCT and rode south. I was in search of another lake but decided to turn around before I got to it, conserving my horses energy for the longer ride coming up the following day. I saw some kind of weasel on my way back, but I didn't get a picture, he stuck around just long enough for me to think "what the heck was that?" and then vanished.

Squaw Lake on the Twin Ponds Trail.

What was once a large pond.

A really pretty section of the Twin Ponds Trail.

I got an early start on day four and drove over to the Nannie Creek Trailhead.

Nannie Creek Trailhead.

My plan was to do a specific 17 mile loop, but it ended up being a much longer day. I started out through thick forest, then across some shale, with views of Luther Mt.

Luther Mt. view from the Nannie Creek Trail.

Shale on a section of the Nannie Creek Trail.

After passing the beautiful Snow Lakes, I took a small loop detour past Deep Lake and Donna Lake. I got back on the main trail and kept going to Trapper Lake where I stopped for a snack and a rest.
It turns out I had missed my turnoff that, of course, happened to be on the 1/2 mile stretch I had not ridden.

Snow Lakes.

Luther Mt. and Snow Lakes.

Trapper Lake.

Reflections in Trapper Lake.

 After continuing on my way, I got to a trail junction and that's when I realized what my mistake had been, however turning back seemed like the worst option so I continued on to the PCT and headed back around that way instead, coming down the trail I was supposed to have gone up originally. This was a beautiful loop as well, but it did add approximately five miles to my ride, which got me back to my truck and trailer much later than planned, and not back home again until 10:00 pm. A friend whom I had told of my whereabouts, checked on me via text at about 5:00 pm to see if I was back yet, and I told her I was still riding! This ended up being an 8 1/2 hour day in the saddle.

Upper Klamath Lake in the distance.

Margurette and Trapper Lakes from the Divide Trail.

I was treated to an astonishingly bright pink sunset as I drove away.
Definitely a place I plan to visit again, to see more of this beautiful wilderness!


GPS COORDINATES TO COLD SPRINGS TH

GPS COORDINATES TO FOURMILE

GPS COORDINATES TO NANNIE CREEK TH

Lava Camp to Devil's Lake on the PCT, Three Sisters Wilderness, Oregon

I always thought it would be fun to do a key swap ride. A nice long distance trek through the mountains arriving on the other side, without having to camp out, or turn around and go back.
I asked my friend Krista if she would be up for it, and she was! She is an endurance rider so I knew she would have zero problem with the 24 mile distance, and also was just fine riding by herself.

Doing our PCT key swap ride.

I started the day pretty early getting to Lava Camp trailhead off of Hwy 242, on the slightly chilly morning of the last day of September. I took a little time to make sure I didn't forget any of the extra things I needed, since I would be loading my horse into a different rig on the other side. I was ready and riding by 9:00 am taking the short 1/4 mile trail from the parking area to the PCT. Lava Camp has a pretty big parking lot, but there are also a couple of convenient pull through camping spots for trailers to park in.

Starting off on the PCT from Lava Camp.

I hadn't gone very far before I ran into my first backpacker. My horse had spotted him although he was standing stock still beside the trail.
I said "hi", and he said "oh thank god, I thought you were a bear"! Not sure what his plan would have been if I had been a bear.
Normally the PCT is teeming with hikers in the summer, but this is a more quiet time of year.

Continuing on, I passed Matthieu Lakes, and then into a stretch of lava that goes on for quite some time.

North Matthieu Lake.

South Matthieu Lake.

South Matthieu Lake.

Skirting Yapoah Crater.

Views of Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Jefferson from the PCT.

Collier Cone.

The PCT goes straight, Scott Lake TH to the right.

Riding through the lava on the PCT.

There is a very brief break in the lava before getting right back into it again. I then headed down Opie Dildock Pass. I have ridden this pass before, but from the other direction. Looking up at it from the bottom it looks like there is no way through, but it's actually a perfectly good trail.
I stopped for a rest and a snack at Glacier Creek before heading into the Obsidian area.

Opie Dildock Pass.

Snack time at Glacier Creek.

On the PCT.

Just getting into the Obsidian.

The Obsidian area can be done as a loop from the Obsidian Trailhead but you have to have a permit to do it, since it is limited access. However if you are just passing through on the PCT and not veering off on any other trail, you do not need the permit.

Signs in this area for people doing the loop that need a permit.

This is a very unique area and if you hit it when the sun is shining just right on the Obsidian, it is like riding through a glittery fairyland.

The ground through here is very shiny with the Obsidian. Camera's don't quite do it justice.

I passed Obsidian Falls and then was very excited to start on the middle section of the ride, which is the "new to me" part, having ridden all of the other sections many times before.

Obsidian Falls.

Krista had started her ride much later than me, she rides a gaited horse and can cover a lot of ground quickly. Around this time I got a couple texts from her, double checking with me, to make sure she was heading in the right direction. It was nice to have cell service most of the time, to keep in touch.

I ran into five backpackers who where extremely excited to see a horse, so I paused so picture taking and nose petting could commence.

Middle Sister.

I was in between Middle Sister and The Husband and was just starting to wonder when I would meet up with Krista and then... there she was!
We stopped, let the horses graze and caught each other up on our journey so far.

The Husband.

There she is! Krista and Phoenix.

Phoenix and Rina compare notes on their rides so far.

Krista and her sweet dog Fisher.

We parted company and headed our separate ways, making sure not to forget to exchange our keys,
a rather important step in the process.
The next beautiful vista to await me was the north side of South Sister.

South Sister.

Mossy trees.

The meadow just before climbing up to Wickiup Plain.

Upon getting to Wickiup Plain the PCT veers off to the right but to get to where I needed to be, I had to take the LeConte Crater Trail instead, that goes to Devil's Lake where Krista had parked.

Wickiup Plain.

South Sister from Wickiup Plain.

This culvert goes under the highway and into Devil's Lake parking area.

I got to the parking lot at Devil's Lake, located my "new" rig, figured out how everything worked, and set off on the drive back home. I got into Bend and got a text from Krista saying she was on her way too, we timed that extremely well! We met at my house and congratulated ourselves on a great ride. We are already plotting another similar excursion!


GPS COORDINATES TO LAVA CAMP TH

GPS COORDINATES TO DEVIL'S LAKE TH