What Did You Do for the 4th of July?

After enduring two weeks (and counting) of heavy wildfire smoke in the Truckee Meadows, I decided it was about time to get out of town and find some clean air and blue skies. The 4th of July weekend presented the opportunity, so my family and some friends headed for the remote Warner Mountains in far northeast California and backpacked in to Patterson Lake in the South Warner Wilderness. We stuffed ourselves into one vehicle, making the fuel expense somewhat reasonable even considering the $4.79 a gallon found out in rural areas these days. From Reno, it's about 200 miles to the trailhead.

There are no fires that far north, but we still had a smoky haze limiting what would otherwise be impressive views. The Warner Mountains run north-south and from the crest, on clear days, you can see east into the deserts of Nevada and west to Mt. Shasta and Lassen Peak. Each day, however, there was less smoke and on the hike out Sunday the views were much better, even revealing the outline of Mt. Shasta.

If you are a wildflower person, this is a hike for you. It's spring at that elevation and we hit it just right for an incredible display of mule's ears, arrowleaf balsamroot, lupine, bitteroot, Mariposa lily, shooting star, phlox, paintbrush, and many others I'm going to have to look up.

You don't need to be a backpacker to enjoy the Warners; the trip we took from Pepperdine Camp trailhead is quite doable as a day hike. Accommodations are available in Alturas and Cedarville, both within easy driving distance to the trailhead. As the name implies, there is car camping at the trailhead if you are into roughing it a bit. The Modoc National Forest South Warner Wilderness web page has more information about this hike and others in the beautiful Warner Mountains. What did you do this 4th of July weekend?