Despite the 113 °F high in Redding on July 22, the joint Shasta Chapter CNPS–Shasta Environmental Alliance field trip in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest to Caldwell Lakes had perfect hiking weather. It was about 70 °F when we started our 4.8-mile round-trip hike, and at most 85 °F when we returned to our cars. We were shaded for most of the hike as the trail was under a scattered canopy of Jeffrey pine, red and white fir, and western white pine. Only seven people showed up for this field trip, perhaps due to the predicted high temperatures, but it was a great hike in a beautiful area.
Photo taken July 22, 2023, by David Ledger.
Most of the hike is a gentle 1300-foot climb, which follows Parks Creek and goes through many sloping meadows with wildflowers and blooming shrubs. At the start, there was a thicket of blooming ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus) near the creek, and on the climb up, we were met with other pleasant floral surprises.
Photo taken July 22, 2023, by David Ledger.
One surprise was at a small creek crossing that was thick with California pitcherplant (Darlingtonia californica), with plants both flowering and in seed. Various shrubs such as Woods’ rose (Rosa woodsii), western serviceberry, red osier, common juniper, huckleberry oak, and Oregon grape were noted. Blooming wildflowers included naked mariposa-lily (Calochortus nudus), Shasta lily (Lilium pardalinum ssp. shastense), bear-grass (Xerophyllum tenax), heart-leaved arnica (Arnica cordiflolia), and many others.
The last part of the hike was up a rocky slope in the open sun to Upper Caldwell Lake, where we sat and enjoyed lunch, entertained by many dragonflies that would often land on us and kept the mosquito population down.
The upper lakes are where we had great views of Mt. Eddy and Mt. Shasta.
This is an excellent hike to enjoy the high mountains and escape the crowds—we only saw a few others on the trail. Here is a short slideshow of some of the sights we saw. Photos by David Ledger and Brigitte Robertson. Enjoy! ~David Ledger
