May 22, 2026 - Castle Lake

 

Title: May 22, 2026 - Castle Lake
Hike Info : Description : Menu : Animals :  Flowers and Plants

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail head: Castle Lake Parking Area

Trail:  Lakeshore

Destination: end of trail

Actual Destination: Just past University Nevada testing station

Distance:  0.81 miles

Start Time: 11:45

End Time:   1:33   

Travel Time: 1:47  (0.46 mph)

Moving Time: 0:33   (1.48 mph)

Elevation Rise: 160'

Descent: 112‘

Maximum Elevation: 5,466'

GPS Tracks

Description:

McCloud River at the berm

After yesterday’s evening rain, the night was pretty calm. I slept warm and I do not think Sherri got up as many times last night. Hoping she went to sleep earlier. I got up at 6:30 and went for a walk.

After talking with our neighbor last night I have a pretty good idea where the trail is, but not so sure how to get there. I start off my walk by trying to head directly south from our camp at Cattle Camp Campground. While level and clear and easy to navigate, it quickly became evident that was not the way to go.

I then shifted to looking for a path from the other campground loop. I found a little, use trail at the end of the loop. It quickly ran into the McCloud River Trail. Decision: do I go up it like how I thought of going or down it towards the Falls. I decided down mostly because I was curious about where it crosses the road. The short answer: It does not cross the road. 

 

 

Cattle Camp Swimming Hole

It is a pleasant walk. The trail is marked at certain spots with trail markers, but nothing which shouts out at you saying this is the trail you have been searching for. For about 50 yards, the trail parallels the road, off of it by about 10 yards.Close enough to see the road, but not close enough to see it from the road, unless someone is on it.

I got to the logging road we walked to last night. The trail crosses it about 20 yards in and continues on. There are a few downed trees across the path, but nothing which cannot be easily climbed over. I came to where the trail meets the river. There is a berm there and I walk the berm. There are remnants of an old dam at the end of it. I continue on the trail. The river is nice and flowing. I come to a place where there is a large swimming hole with a rope swinging. I am thinking these people around here really love these rope swings. Well, the reason why, I have come to Cattle Camp Swimming Hole.

Now where does the trail come out? By the outhouse! The one obvious place we did not look yesterday when we were here. I turn around and retrace my steps and come back to the camp. I got to the split where there is a spot to go to the campground. I then realize I must of been on automatic pilot for a ways as I do not remember crossing the logging road. I get back to camp about 7:40.Sherri is still asleep.

Sherri gets up about 8:30 and we have our oatmeal and granola breakfast, along with the add-ins of choice. We talked about where to go and decided on some trails at Castle Lake-one of the places Steve, the ranger, mentioned yesterday. We get things cleaned up and ready to go. But you know that slow camping I mentioned yesterday? We still are slow.

It is after 10:30 before we leave. The road construction is still going on today, but in two places. Fortunately we hit both of them just right and only have to wait a few minutes.Sherri gives me instructions to get to the lake. When we get there, we find a small parking area which is mostly full. A car has just left and we take the spot. Cars are parked down the road. I can only imagine what this place will look like tomorrow.

Water Quality Cabin

We spot a trail and start on it. It says Heart and Little Castle Lake, We go about 50 yards down it and Sherri does not like the look of it. Her foot is still hurting and she is wearing tennis shoes. So we went back to the car. While doing this she reads the information sheet and notes that the starting place is a few feet down the road. So we go down there and find the trail.

This is a short trail, about a mile round trip. It goes along the northern shore of Castle Lake. There is no danger of losing track of this trail. People swim in this lake even though it looks-we did not feel it-pretty cold. We got most of the way on the trail-it is only a half mile long when we saw that people had congregated at the end of it. We turned around, found a nice place to stop and have lunch.

While eating, we observed people across the lake swimming from a raft in the middle of this part of the lake. They swim over to a granite cliff. The raft has something to do with a building behind us called Castle Station run by the University of Nevada, Reno-maybe in conjunction with UC Davis. Sherri reads that they are monitoring water purity.

I rest for half an hour and then we make our way back to the car. About 1:30 we leave and stop in Mt Shasta. I had been working out how many miles we may drive in the next few days and would we have enough gas to make it back to Redding. We filled up 6+ gallons as 6.25 a gallon. This may be the most expensive gas I have ever gotten.

On our way home, there is less construction going on. I had thought about doing three things: Going to the Mt Shasta Trailhead, walking the Military Road or hiking another part of the McCloud River Trail. The Trailhead looked like it might be a long drive. It looked like there was logging going on Military Road. So when we parked, I thought I would rest for about 15 minutes before walking some more.

One note: I reached a new high in my MPG coming back: 113.8 mpg! Our car is a gas only, so no electric assist! Of course there was special circumstances. Having put gas in the tank, I usually zero out the mpg at the station. I forgot and did not discover this until we were coming back. The location? Top of a hill with my forward momentum already going forward. Who knows, I may have already had a tail wind. The next day, the mpg returned to a more normal state.

An hour and a half later, I am still resting, writing up the blog and talking with Gwen. She said they are leaving tomorrow. We are tracking Rachel and Andrea as they are traveling.

When it looks like Rachel is 15 minutes away, I go out to Highway 89 and wait for her.Shortly after I arrive there, she comes in Once she gets settled in, as much as she can since Andrea has the tent, we have dinner. The meal is quesadeas-two per person.With that we are content. Once we clean up from dinner, we go for a walk. We headed out to the McCloud River Trail and walked about ten minutes east. Then turn around and come back to camp.

 

 

 

 

 

Around 9, Rachel and I go to Highway 89 to greet Andrea. She comes in about ten minutes after we arrive. It is good seeing both of our daughters here. Once Andrea gets refreshed, we put up her tent. They then load it up with their camp stuff and it is time to go to bed.

Menu

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Snacks
Oatmeal and add-ins, such as dried peaches, strawberries, nuts, granola.	Peanut Butter, Nutella	Quesadilla	Jelly Belly

Animals

 
Flowers and Plants