On Wednesday we had 4 hikers go down to California to hike Boulder Peak from the Gumboot trail starting on the PCT. We started our hike just before 10 AM with the temperature in the upper 40s. It was a pleasant fall day with a mixture of blue sky and clouds.
We made our way through the forest with views of Mount Shasta and many lakes - Gumboot Lakes, Mumbo Lakes, Cedar Lake, Cliff Lake and Terrace Lake. After a little less than 2 ½ miles, we exited the PCT and began hiking on the Seven Lakes Trail. We could see Upper and Lower Seven Lakes. After going down the trail, we saw a sign pointing to Lake Helen. We turned and went up the trail and along the bank of Lake Helen. We then climbed up the hill and started to follow a faint trail towards Boulder Peak.
We make our way around Huckleberry, Oak and Manzanita trying to find the best path. Many times it was a guessing game. We finally were below Boulder Peak and I told everyone to pick the best route they could find going up. There is no easy trail to the top. Scott stopped just shy of the top due to dangerous loose rock and scree. Nanci, Michael H and I eventually found the path to success to reach the summit. After a few pictures, Michael went down to have lunch with Scott while Nanci and I enjoyed the summit. We could see all the way to Lassen Peak and the Castle Crags looked white due to the way the sunlight was shining. A chilly wind came up and we decided to have a short lunch. We could see an easier path down, but it still took a long time to navigate through the rocks, scree and bushes.
As we were making our way back to Lake Helen, we started feeling a few snow pellets hitting us. We picked up our pace and got back to the lake. I decided the road around the lake would be faster so we took that. By the time we got back to the PCT we could see the blue sky. The weather was different on each side of the ridge.
We continued back to the trailhead and arrived a little before 4:30pm. We had hiked 9.21 miles and climbed 1,984 feet of elevation. Our descent was 2,064 feet and was almost as difficult as the climbing. We were all tired and I had forgotten that this was not an easy hike because all of the views seem to outweigh that.