The Trinity Divide Mountains harbor lots of glacial mountain lakes and I’ve been to most of them. However, turns out I’ve never quite been to Upper Gumboot Lake. I’ve seen it from the Trinity Divide crest when I took a short and scenic detour from the Pacific Crest Trail on the way to Seven Lakes Basin, and I even have a few bird’s eye pics.
Enter Paul at the All Things Shasta blog. He took a recent hike to Upper Gumboot Lake and he provides everything you need to know about it, including data and a topo map, along with a bunch of good pics. If you’re a fan of the Mount Shasta area and Siskiyou County, you need to subscribe to his feed.
Here’s part of Paul’s description:
Gumboot Lake is a well-known body of water that’s been enjoyed and written about many times. Many people don’t know there’s another cool little lake just over the ridge.
Gumboot Lake gets all the press and attention because it’s beautiful and easily accessible by road. Upper Gumboot tends to get dismissed because it’s much smaller and is accessible only by trail.
Tom Stienstra, one of my favorite outdoors writers, described Upper Gumboot as “a pond with small trout”. When the lake came into view, I was really surprised because it was much bigger and prettier than what I imagined it to be.
Upper Gumboot Lake. (Photo from the All Things Shasta blog)
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Road 26 also known as South Fork to Gumboot Lake is closed right past the turn off to Toad Lake/Morgan Meadows up to the Fawn Creek Bridge. Road work is taking place throughout the month. They have been having the road open on the weekends. Alternate way is up Red Hill Road or going around Road 25 out of Castella to Road 26. It’s a very scenic and paved loop to Gumboot Lake.