The Trinity Alps is a 500,000+ acre area of wilderness northeast of us in Trinity County, as close as a three-hour drive from our home. Kelvin and I (and Pep) had hiked a trail (Lake Eleanor) there once,
back in 2012, when we were new to the area. For unknown reasons, we hadn't made the time to go back, despite this area having breathtaking scenery and some of the (if not THE) best hiking trails and pristine wilderness in all of California, with very few other people around. Since Kelvin and I love to hike, we booked a cabin north of Coffee Creek for Father's Day weekend and planned to hit some trails with the kids (with whom we actually haven't done much hiking because we'd rather not have to hear whining or carry them) after we finished work on Friday.
I did a lot of pre-trip research, buying a detailed trail map and guidebook from a local bookstore, as this place is REMOTE-- remote as in very few people, no cell phone service or internet, and, as we found out the hard way, not well-marked rugged forest access roads (or trails). What we didn't really anticipate was a heat wave (there was also no A/C)! It was going to be a hundred degrees in some places, about twenty degrees more than is "normal" for their summer. Thankfully, our friend Kelly was available to watch Pepper back home, because she would have not done well on these trails or staying with us even inside in that weather.
On Saturday morning, we headed to the trailhead of Tangle Blue Lake, which my friend Lauren told us about. Thanks to the guidebook, map, and pre-trip internet research, we found the trailhead (which was totally unmarked) without getting lost. However, we started walking down what we thought was the trail, but which was clearly not, when we didn't soon reach a "gate" mentioned in the guidebook. We turned around and took the *other* path leaving the parking area, and thankfully were on our way.
(The wrong path. At 8:30 a.m., it wasn't too hot yet and everyone was still in a good mood!)
Snacks were essential to keep kids moving (Niall responds quite well to M&M bribery)! The kids loved drinking from our CamelBaks.
Iver (six and a half, our high-energy kid-that-never-tires) did
extremely well hiking, and in fact hiked the whole ~8-mile round trip on his own, while Niall (3) hitched a ride with Kelvin in the hiking backpack.
Our budding naturalist found many trail creatures, including lizards, a frog, a grasshopper, numerous butterflies, and two snakes (thankfully, he did not try to catch the reptiles).
Mid-air jumping frog!
TWO trail friends I was not excited to see!
We were thankful to have crossed paths with some other backpackers, as we would have gotten lost numerous times on the not-at-all-marked trail! We had to cross Tangle Blue Creek twice, and had we not seen the other group (who were headed to the same lake to camp), we surely would never have made it to our destination and may have gotten seriously stuck in the wilderness. I've done a lot of hiking in my life, and this was one of the hardest trails to follow on which I've ever set foot!
This is the ONE sign we saw (in a fork in the trail) the entire way (and Kelvin still walked right past the sign the first time!)!
We crossed a lovely meadow prior to reaching the lake.
Niall was soooo hot and tired by the end (so was Kelvin and all of us), but we made it (after about two and a half [including our detour] hours of hiking)! There were also a ton of bugs, but we only got a couple of bites. We thankfully had brought plenty of water (and had more waiting for us at our car).
Tangle Blue Lake
Despite the super-warm temperatures, there was still snow on top of the granite peak!
We attempted some family photos... one certain three-year-old in a defiant phase wasn't too cooperative
(Kelvin asks for things very politely like "Niall, I request...." and he says, flat out, "No." [At least it's not "Request denied.")!
Not a baby anymore!
Showing off our muscles because "We're strong. We made it!"
It was a peaceful place to rest and eat lunch.
After we returned to our cabin (where an overtired and overheated Niall refused to nap), in the afternoon, we strolled to the Little Trinity River, with access right across the street.
I'm never a fan of being cold as we often are when we plunge into bodies of water in northern CA, but the water was perfectly refreshing with it being one hundred degrees outside!
Third attempt at "cheese" (this is an interesting flotation-device outfit we call the "Oompa Loompa")...
We made dinner, which we ate outside at our own private picnic table and then made (stovetop, because we couldn't muster the energy/motivation to make a fire when it was so hot and we were so tired!) s'mores for dessert. The chocolate we'd brought was already melted from just sitting inside our cabin, which had no air conditioning, and we roasted the marshies over the burners! It was so quiet and peaceful!
On Sunday morning, after a long slumber for us all, Kelvin received his Father's day gifts...
...which included more hiking (, kid-carrying)!
We headed just south of Coffee Creek to the Boulder Lakes Trailhead, which started about ten miles up a bumpy gravel forest road off the main highway. When planning our days' hikes, it was a real challenge to find kid-friendly trails of a moderate nature which weren't too deep into the wilderness (in terms of distance from a main road), but this was a good one for a half day.
The alpine views as we ascended were really stunning (we also saw some deer and a LARGE black bear, which scampered across the road in front of us too quickly to be able to photograph!).
The Trail to Big Boulder Lake wasn't too strenuous, and was only about two miles each way.
Kelvin's legs still felt it, carrying this guy, however, after the long day we'd had on Saturday (and, as a result, we skipped the other spur to Little Boulder Lake)!
Snacktime in the forest
(Even wives need a lift sometimes. Iver took the photo!)
Big Boulder Lake (at approximately 6400 feet of elevation)
After the hike, we descended back to Highway 3 and back west to the coast, driving through 109-degree weather (per our car thermometer. Yikes!) the ~3 hours home. The kids did amazing in the car (Niall took a good nap, and Iver even snoozed, after his Dramamine, which we use for him to prevent carsickness on the Hwy 299). We welcomed our much-cooler 65-degree Humboldt weather, but relished the good memories from our hikes!
Despite the navigation challenges on our first day, it was truly a lovely weekend getaway where we unplugged and completely escaped our tech-heavy lives and stressors and forgot there is (or ever was) a pandemic. Mountains and lakes are truly my happy place, and I didn't realize how much I needed the rest (even with all the miles of hiking) and restoration that the peace of wilderness provides. We apparently have one kid who is a proven hiker and can hold his own on long trails. Maybe we can train up the other one by a few years from now (even if it takes M&M bribes to keep him moving!) so we can do more family trips like this one in such a beautiful area of our state and country!
