Читать книгу Trinity Alps & Vicinity: Including Whiskeytown, Russian Wilderness, and Castle Crags Areas. A Hiking and Backpacking Guide онлайн

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Another half mile brings you into an area of small meadows and willow flats, bisected by the diminishing Stuart Fork, where a few good campsites are nestled beneath groves of quaking aspen and fir. Farther on, at the head of a wide spot in the canyon and sheltered in a grove of large red firs, is Portuguese Camp, with ample room for 10–15 campers in several excellent sites. From the camp, continue along the rocky Stuart Fork Trail about 300 yards to a signed junction with the trail to Sawtooth Ridge and Caribou Lakes Basin on the left.

SIDE TRIP TO SAWTOOTH RIDGE

Opinions about the actual number of switchbacks on the 2,200-foot climb up the very steep face of Sawtooth Ridge vary between 89 and 98. Once you’ve decided to undertake the rigorous ascent, you’ll have no trouble following the trail up the ridge, as there is simply no other place to walk through the thick brush and up the steep hillside of metamorphosed rock above. The distance from the junction to Big Caribou Lake is 3.6 miles; if you are carrying a backpack, you should allow a minimum of 4 hours, including some time at the crest to absorb and photograph the incredible views. Carry plenty of water, and an early morning start will help you beat some of the heat on the south-facing ascent, which can be brutally hot by noon in midsummer. A young person died on this hill in 1982, presumably of complications associated with heat exhaustion. Horses are not allowed on this section of trail.