Descending from Heaven: Backpacking Marble Mountain Wilderness With Friends, Day 4

Oregon Checkermallow, Sidalcea oregana

Date: August 6, 2023

Place: Marble Mountain Wilderness, Yreka, California

Coordinates: 41.551258, -123.177149    

Length: 7 miles

Level: strenuous

Link to Day 3 Blogpost

Although last getting into the tent last night, and despite how tired I was, I was still the first one to wake up in the morning. Like the day before, I made my way to the lake to wash my face and to fill up the water bottles. It was very quiet. Most of the other campers in the area have left yesterday. If anyone else was there, they kept themselves.  

Sky High Lake

Our last morning of our Marble Mountain backpacking trip was relaxed. We took leisure time getting up, eating breakfast, and breaking camp. Without much ado we packed up and set out across the meadow on the same trail we took off on yesterday to go to Marble Valley. 

Over the meadow on the north loomed Marble Mountain. Gorgeous Marble Mountain, a pinnacle of beauty in northern California. I bade goodbye in my heart to Marble Mountain, with the hope of possibly making it back there one day. 

Marble Mountain

For a second day in a row, we were crossing this meadow, and the wildflowers were no less lovely than they were yesterday. We didn't stop frequently, but we walked slow enough for me to snap photos while on the move. 

Great Red Paintbrush, Castilleja miniata

It was our last day on this trip, but also the first day that was completely clear without a hind of cloud in the sky. The sun was answered with many little sunflower relatives blooming down in the meadow. 

Tarplant

We went over the little ridge that separated Sky High Valley from the next meadow on the north, this time without stopping. Marble Mountain hid behind the trees. 

The next meadow had much bloom too. I already knew that from our yesterday's walk there, but it was nice to see all the flowers again. Below the mountains the advanced summer had already parched all the wildflowers, but up here in the mountain heights, all was still green and colorful.

Fleabane, Erigeron sp.  

We crossed the little creek that hydrated the meadow, hopping on the stepping stones. Our packs were lighter, and since we had plenty of water we didn't stop to fill bottles. 

I was feeling my legs from yesterday's march up and down the Marble Rim Trail, so when we ascended the next ridge I slowed my pace a bit. It was a good excuse to look again at the murky pond below. 

The day was getting very hot. At the top of the ridge I looked back at the mountains we were leaving. They looked round and inviting. The sun was not yet in the middle of the sky, it was morning still. Soon we would go into the forest, into the welcomed shade. 

Going into the forest meant leaving behind the meadow with its full sunlight wildflowers and entering the realm of shade or partial shade loving plants. 

Curved Beak Lousewort, Pedicularis contorta

Many of these forest undergrowth plants have a very modest bloom. They don't have to advertise themselves far and wide by their looks because there is no far and wide line of vision inside the forest. 

One-sided Wintergreen, Orthilia secunda

We made it quickly down to the trail junction where we turned yesterday northwest to go to Marble Valley. Today we continued east and downhill to Lovers Camp. 

The trail leveled for some distance, then started sloping downhill, mildly at first, then at a steeper grade. One by one I was saying goodbye to the higher elevation wildflowers as I was seeing them on my way downhill, for the last time in a while. 

Windflower, Anemone deltoidea

As we made our way down I was also saying hello to lower elevation wildflowers as I was seeing them appearing, one species at a time, along the trail.  

Sierra Beardstongue, Penstemon heterodoxus 

Not all of the bloom I saw was of herbaceous plants or of small shrubs. In sunlit clearings large bushes also stood in full bloom. 

Serviceberry, Amelanchier alnifolia

Some of these plants I knew to be favoring wet environments were preceding a wide creek we were coming across. 

Monkshood, Aconitum columbianum 

This creek was the first of a series of creeks running down from the range to our north that would cross the trail. These were the creeks that the hikers couple we've met going up on our first day were referring to when they'd told us that there will be plenty of water on our way up. 

Creek

The creek displayed a lovely waterfall coming down the uphill slope, north of the trail. There was an even taller waterfall going down the downhill slope south of the trail, falling its way to join Canyon Creek. There was no good place to observe the lower waterfall, let alone photograph. 

Shortly after we crossed this creek the trail suddenly dropped in elevation. We came down an endless series of large steps which felt like they were made for mule rather than human size legs. This was true, of course, because mule caravans were and still are used to bring people and equipment up to Marble Valley. I personally was glad that we chose to hike up the Red Rock Valley Trail and didn't have to ascend the Canyon Trail through all those giant stairs. 

At the bottom of the stairs we sat for a short break near another creek that crossed the trail. It was also a good place to refill our water bottles. 

Another Creek

I detected a slight movement on the ground and I saw it was a spider. The spider was so well camouflaged that I only saw it when it was moving. 

We kept going down, now a much milder slope with no more stairs. Most of the time we hiked under the tree shade, which was a good thing because the day was hot. We crossed a good number of creeks, only a some of them I photographed. 

One more creek

There were fewer wildflowers blooming along the lower part of the trail. The season was more advanced, but the shade was deeper too. Most of the wildflowers I saw there were the forest undergrowth type. 

Alum Root, Saxifraga sp. 

There were mushrooms blooming too, some of them grew to pretty impressive size. 

We took another short break to snack and relax a bit. While we were sitting down by the side of the trail a small caravan of horse riders moved past us. We chatted with them a bit, and they told us that during summertime they take people up on horses on a regular basis. 

Canyon Creek Trail

We crossed one more creek and I filled my bottle again in this one. It was nice not to have to carry a full load of water, knowing there are many flowing creeks on our way. 

We didn't stop again. Feeling that the end is near, and thinking of the long drive home, we pushed forward at a brisk pace. We paused a little when we reached the trail junction where we had turned on our first day on Red Rock Valley Trail, had a sip of water, and continued on. We did pause briefly one more time at the sight of an interesting looking mushroom.  

Fungus

All of us were fascinated by the bright yellow mushroom, but it seemed that only me found the spiderwebs a lovely sight worth stopping for. 

Spider Web

The final stretch we walked on the hikers trail, and not on the stock trail like we did on our way up by mistake, so we didn't have to ford Canyon Creek again. Within sight of the parking lot we stopped by a picnic table that was there and cleaned ourselves up a bit. After some discussion we decided we could spend a bit more time together before going each her own way and decided to eat lunch together in Yreka. We then split into our separate cars and drove down the mountain to the town below. 

Canyon Creek Trail

 Marble Mountain Wilderness is indeed a very beautiful area. We sampled only a little of it, and there's much more to explore there. Although I do not share the guide book author's opinion that it is more striking than Yosemite, Marble Mountain Wilderness does have the whopping advantage of not needing any permits and of not being even one percent as crowded as Yosemite's wilderness.  It is however, not as well maintained and preparation and ahead planning is important. I would love visiting there again and checking out other parts of this wilderness, hopefully within the near future.