Journey to Little Crater Lake
California, United States, North America

Journey to Little Crater Lake

Page Type Page Type: Trip Report
Location Lat/Lon: 41.33609°N / 122.46185°W
Date Date Climbed/Hiked: Jun 15, 2007
Activities Activities: Hiking
Seasons Season: Summer

Starting Out

It all began as an idea. Nicholas Brinker and I were bored at the end of our freshman year at UCSB and we decided to take a trip into the hills and have some good old fashioned mountain conquering fun. Our ultimate goal was to climb Mt. Shasta, but considering this was Brinker's first time at high elevation, I decided that we needed to do some serious acclimatization. So wedecided to take a side trip: to the infamous crater lake in the Eddy Mountains behind my cabin.
Heading OutHeading out from my cabin.

Journey Upwards

After several hours of strenuous hiking, getting lost and then found again. We get our first glimpse of majestic Mt. Shasta. The slope seemed relatively easy so far, and our spirits remained high.
Partway up Mt. EddyMajestic Views

Eventually we reach the top of a ridge and see a vast field of rocks that we have to negotiate. The vastness and scale of the rock field is not conveyed properly by these photos.
Field of Rocks on Mt. EddyEndless Rocks

More Rocks on Mt. EddyMore Rocks

Arrival

Finally, once we reached the top of the endless false-summits, we emerged at a flattened, forested area. We were pretty much clueless as to which direction we needed to go in order to find the elusive lake. Luckily I brought my topographic map and compass and was able to find the proper orientation and bearing. Exhausted we stumbled through the woods until finally the lake emerged below us!
Little Crater LakeLittle Crater Lake!

Refreshed and rejuvenated by the sight of the glistening, crystal clear lake, we sprinted down the shore with the intent to jump in and relieve our sweating exhausted bodies. I managed to place my toe in the water and I almost feinted the water was so icy cold. Rather than go into hypothermia we decided to build a fire and eat the delicious chili we had packed.
Once we had eaten our fill we were finally able to explore the surrounding area.
Vista of Shasta from EddyVista of Shasta from near the lake.

Another View of Little Crater LakeLittle Crater Lake again!


Images

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Comments

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Bubba Suess

Bubba Suess - Dec 10, 2012 2:33 pm - Voted 10/10

Little Crater Lake

Did you leave directly from your cabin? I would love to pick your brain on the route you took. I have come in from the south and would rather not go to the lake that way again. The USGS topo shows a trail coming in from the north. Are you familiar with it?

Thanks!

OWilderness

OWilderness - Dec 10, 2012 2:41 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Little Crater Lake

Yep we left directly from my cabin in Hammond Ranch. If you know the roads there, we pretty much took Red Fir Loop to Black Bear loop and started heading straight up the side of the mountain. There are no trails and it is a pretty burly hike involving lots of bush whacking and scrambling over enormous scree fields. I've also done a full Eddy traverse using this route. Left from my cabin, hiked up to Little Crater Lake, then climbed up the north ridge of Eddy to reach the summit, then descended using the trail to Deadfall Lakes, and we were picked up at the deadfall lakes trailhead. A long but fun day!

Viewing: 1-2 of 2

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Geography
Children

Children

Children refers to the set of objects that logically fall under a given object. For example, the Aconcagua mountain page is a child of the 'Aconcagua Group' and the 'Seven Summits.' The Aconcagua mountain itself has many routes, photos, and trip reports as children.

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