Picturesque Skyline Trail Furnishes
Recreation Area In Primitive Setting
PHOTOS AND STORY
By DICK BR1GGS
One mile high along the south
ern fringe of the Cascades ex
tends what is most certainly one
of the most picturesque and more
accessible recreational areas
along Oregon's famed Skyline
Trail.
Less than an hour's driving dis
tance from Jdamath Falls or Med
ford, the region first impresses
the visitor with its dense stands
ot conifers and the herds of curi
ous black tail deer and occasional
wary elk which move through the
thick forests as stealthily as shad
ows. Each summer thousands of
KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON,
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tourists converge into this wilder -
ness containing some 30 principal
lakes and more than 100 lesser
lakes and ponds.
Extending some 30 miles north
from Lake of the Woods, the re
gion has been virtually unchanged
since the coming of the white
man, except for the establishment
of a portion of the Skyline Trail
which meanders some 35 miles
along gently rolling terrain and
beneath the sentinels of Pelican
Butte (el: 8.026) to the southeast.
Luther Mountain (el: 7,153) on
the west, and Devils Peak (el:
7,582) to the north.
One of those who knows the area
best is Clyde Wilhelm, entrepre
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1963
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1 neur of the Cascade Pack Trip
enterprises, who provides horses
and pack animals and serves as
guide to those who would ven
ture into the region for weekends
or longer periods during the sum
mer. For those whose excursions are
limited to one day or less, shorter
trips are available through the
Mountain Lakes Wild Area or in
the vicinity of Lake of the Woods
or Fourmilc Lake.
As a parting gesture to the 196.1
tourist season, Wilhelm departed
on a final pack trip through the
Cascade Lakes country during
the middle of September to take
a final look at his favorite coun
try before it .became locked up
by the snows ipf winter.
Joining Wilhelm were Bobbe
Taylor, a Klamath Union High
School graduate and second year
student of dental technology
at Portland, and myself. Miss
Taylor served as trail hand and
camp cook, as she has done for
tun summon; xl 1 wr.l olm,n
as guest of 'the Cascade Pack!swanW meadow tl,at ranS. 'ith
Trains,
The itinerary called for our
leaving Fourmile Lake on horse
back and proceeding north along
the Skyline Trail, past the Dwarf
Lakes and Sky Lakes areas up
over Devils Peak, and into the
Seven Lakes Basin. Our course
was then to turn east and de
scend along the Seven Lakes Trail
to its starting point, where we
were to meet Mrs. Wilhelm with
a truck and pair of horse trailers
and then return to Lake of the
Woods.
But halfway along our route,
fickle weather disrupted those i
plans with an unseasonable storm
that lashed the Cascade ridge
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CONGRESSMEN PASSED HERE IN 1888 Clyde Wil
helm, professional trail guide, observes a weathered blai
on a tree near Island Lake which records that a congres
sional committee passed that point on Sept. 13, 1888.
Among the names of the five committeemen cited on the
CAMPFIRE CONCLUDES EVENTFUL RIDE Camp cook Bobbe Taylor, a dental
technician student at Portland, reflects the glow of a late evening campfire near
Wind Lake. Bobbe, a Klamath Union High School graduate, has tended horses and
served as trail cook for the Cascade pack trains during the past two summers.
with gale winds and driving rains.
At tlie outset of the journey,
clear skies and summery temper
atures were no portent of the del
uge and whistling winds that
were soon to follow.
Wilhelm slipped smoothly upon
his mount, Cindy, and 1 clam
bered aboard Calle. Next in the
procession came Chub, the pack
horse, with Bobbe following on a
steed named Phoney. We skirted
the east shore of Fourmile Lake
for less than a mile and then
ascended a rise before dropping
into a basin that formed the beds
of Woodpecker and Badger lakes.
Near the latter lake, Wilhelm
leaned forward in his saddle to
study the muddy outline of an
oval depression at the edge of the
trail. Alter a quick appraisal he
announced that it was made by
an elk, probably bound for the
isolation of the Rogue River coun
try to spend the fall.
The trail wcaved through
stands of Riant evergreens and
"' crusseu lire uppirr euu ui a
the throaty croaks of colonies of
protesting toads.
A short ride beyond the mea
dow. Long Lake (el: 5.880) spar
kled through a grove of trees, its
placid surface unbroken by the
schools of trout lurking beneath
it. Multitudes of greenish leeches.
some three jnches in length, pro
pelled themselves in the waters
near the lake's weedy shores, pro
viding substance for the lake's
abundant fish life.
We continued north along the
lake's west shore toward Island
Lake (el: 5.906) and soon after
emerged upon a campground sit'
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TRAPPER'S CABIN OFFERS
obscured in a grove of evergreens, a deserted trapper's
Horseshoe Lake offers shelter to equestrians and wayfarers traveling
along the Skyline Trail through the wonderland of the High Cascade
Lakes Area. More than 30 lakes, located along the wilderness trail
blaie is that of F. W. Isherwood, whose memory has been
perpetuated by a lake named in his honor. The historic
tree grows in the campground at the south end of the
lake.
SHELTER TO
WAYFARERS
Feature
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TREES FLOURISH IN ISLAND LAKE Lofty evergreens
thrive on tiny spits of earth dotting Island Lake, e popu
lar camping site and productive waters for trout fisher.
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Partially
cabin near
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MT. LUTHER SHOWS A GENTLE FACE A fresh breeze sends a ripple across Horse-
shoe Lake, marring the reflection of blunt toppod Mt. Luther lei: 7,1531, peaceful'
appearing giant of the southern Cascades.
stretching some 35 miles from Fourmile Lake to the start of the Seven
Lakes Basin trail, provides superlative angling to fly and spin fishermen,
as well as spectacular subjects for photographers. Thousands of back
packers and horsemen vacation in the scenic high country annually.
f &
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men. Swirls in the left foreground betray the presence
of rising Eastern Brook Trout.