With the unseasonably warm mid-January weather, we thought we’d venture a little farther north and try a trail new to us: Haystack Trail, ~10 miles east of Weed on Highway 97.
Imagine our surprise and dismay when we hit dense fog just as we entered Weed. Dense enough to warrant CalTrans warnings for Weed and surrounding areas, including Highway 97. But we’d come so far we thought we’d continue on to confirm that Haystack was socked in, too.
Happily, the fog cleared just at the foot of Haystack, exposing this lump of a mountain that is actually a volcanic dome. Good thing, too—we were counting on being able to see Haystack to find the trailhead!
The trail is an old abandoned jeep track that starts almost on Highway 97. It skirts the foot of the mountain along its southeastern edge, makes a long switchback up the eastern slope, and does a loop around the perimeter of the plateau at the top.
Just as we reached the top, dense fog enfolded us, obscuring the trail’s renowned 360-degree vistas. But that was an experience in itself—hiking through swirling fingers of fog that ebbed and flowed, sometimes parting to give us a peek at a grand view, other times reducing our view to mere yards.
Photo by Don Burk.
And just as we were ready to leave the top of Haystack, the fog receded enough to give us some truly breathtaking views of Mt. Shasta to the south.
Herd Peak, Sheep Rock, and Yellow Butte were to the northeast; and Whaleback Mountain to the southeast.
Shasta Valley to the northwest was an ocean of fog for the duration of our hike.
Photo by Don Burk.
We did not expect to find anything in bloom in this high desert juniper-sagebrush ecosystem, and indeed we didn’t, but several old stems and empty seed pods piqued our interest to come back in the spring. Calochortus macrocarpus seed pods were found in abundance, and Don is especially keen to see gray horsebrush when it is in bloom.
To get to the unmarked trailhead, drive east on Highway 97 out of Weed for just about 10.5 miles. You will see Haystack as you approach the trailhead, which is on a paved road that ends very quickly at a green pipe gate. You’ll see this road shortly after crossing Whitney Creek, almost at the end of a passing lane, on the left (northwest) side of Highway 97.
We highly recommend this short, relatively easy hike. It’s only ~2.5 miles round trip with ~350 feet of elevation gain. Short enough that you might want to go check out the lookout on Herd Peak as well. There is a road all the way up to the lookout, which is manned during fire season. Or do what we did and take a short excursion to Hedge Creek Falls in Dunsmuir on you way home. Trail improvements have been made to this short trail, with more to come!
However you do it, give Haystack a try. We think that the weekend botanist will find a lot of exciting treasures come spring. Go now for the views, and again later for the blooms! Here’s a little slideshow of some of the things you might see now, before everything blooms. All photos by Don Burk. Enjoy! ~Laurie and Don Burk
