Trip Report

Sky Lakes Backpack Trip Report
Russ Davies and Andy McIvor left work not quite early enough on Friday afternoon, Aug 11, 2023, passed through the hazy armageddon of Oakridge and Willamette Pass, and rolled down Hwy 97 to the Sky Lakes Wilderness, a 113,000 acre reserve south of Crater Lake dotted with old growth pine and small lakes.  After leaving the smoke up north, it was a beautiful afternoon as we crossed the steers' paradise of Fort Klamath and arrived at the Seven Mile Marsh trailhead with only one hour of daylight left.  Off we went, soon merging with the Pacific Crest Trail, on which treading was its own secret thrill, and passed the flat expanse of Grass Lake.  In the waning light we could not tell if it was grass or lake.  No matter, headlights out, we hiked on and finally collapsed near Middle Lake after finding the first flat spot among the trees.  Although the ostensible reason for the trip was the Perseid Meteor Shower, when you see 3% of the sky through the treetops, meteors were hard to come by.
The next day dawned bright (thank you sun and Starbucks single packs) and we moved camp to Cliff Lake. A wonderful venue, a glassy uncrowded lake under a basalt massif, with shade or sun depending on your mood.  In the shallows near our sitting rock was a schoolyard of polliwogs becoming teen frogs, which we took great care not to squish as we filtered water.  
What to do that day?  By consensus, we decided to circumnavigate Devil's Peak, which took us up through the forest, then high around the backside of the peak.  Despite being flanked by Lucifer, we felt no menace, and in fact had terrific views of that whole section of Oregon, brought into focus with peanut butter sandwiches and Russ' famed fresh vegetables.  Once again we joined the PCT, and were promptly passed by several young through-hikers (Russ was young once, and did the entire trail).
After 6 miles and quite a bit of elevation gain and loss, our mojo was quite happy sleeping and reading the rest of the afternoon at camp.  That night, the mosquitoes were turned off by our freeze-dried Mexican food, and seem to have no interest in biting us as we looked again for meteors.  A few spectacular streaks were seen, but at 133,000 miles per hour, it was hard to get attached.
The next day, after a blessed 9 hour sleep, and the feeling we had left our cares at that beautiful camp, we packed up and hit the trail back.  Fortunately the car started, and we chose a different return route, coming back down the Umpqua River and lunching at the famed Steamboat Inn.  It was too hot to sit outside, and too cold inside, so we chose inside, to keep the waitresses happy.  We arrived back on Sunday, refreshed for the next week.