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Gailey Company, LLC 1/18/22 Gailey Company, LLC 1/18/22

NorCal Big Bucks

It’s been tough for us to get out and explore so far this year. Finances have been a little thin and we both have been ill the last few weeks. [I even tested positive for the virus.] Fortunately, we have had the ability for some shorter day trips near base camp. We have lots to explore in Southern Oregon and Northern California without having to travel too far to do so.

A pair of large mule deer stand on a ridge overlooking the Tule Lake NWR near the boundary of the Lava Beds National Monument.

Bald Eagle perched in a tree inside the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.

Felling better, I ventured out on a Sunday drive. Visiting one of my favorite locations this time of the year, the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuges.

Once again, and probably for a while, there is little water in the refuges due to the ongoing drought. But I did start off my adventure near what little water remains at the NWR’s - the southeast side of the Tule Lake NWR.

On this trip, water-based wildlife remained scarce. By this time of the year and through the month of March, the area is usually teeming with waterfowl and raptors by now. The refuges hold the largest concentration of wintering Bald Eagles in the lower 48.

This year, it’s anything but typical.

The deer have usually moved out to dryer winter ranges, but to have stayed in the refuges and not migrated.

This past Sunday, I counted:

1 Coyote
11 Bald Eagles
15 Hawks
70 Deer

Seventy deer is a pretty good number and unusual for January. Normally the deer would have moved south into more traditional winter ranges by this time. Of those seventy, half were males with large racks of unshed antlers.

I have never been good at distinguishing the difference between hawk breeds - red tail and rough-legged. So my hawk count is a combined total.

What I did not see was even more astonishing. I did not see large flocks of Speckle Belly Geese, Tundra Swans, Wood Ducks, Merganzer, or Canadian Geese. Just a few scattered duck and geese and one decent group of Snow Geese. Because the waterfowl is not present in large numbers, neither are the preditors.

I finished my near 100-mile journey with a stop at “the old shovel,” an early 1900s model excavator that was used to create the canals of the Klamath Project and wildlife refuges. This old piece of heavy equipment must have some great stories to tell.

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Gailey Company, LLC 1/2/22 Gailey Company, LLC 1/2/22

New Years Day Adventures

Today, I went on a short adventure. Roughly a 100-mile loop from basecamp to nearby refuges - Lower Klamath NWR and the Tule Lake NWR. I went with the intention of checking on the winter conditions at the refuges and counting the number of wildlife spotted.

Jack at the Peninsula in Northern California.

On New Years Day 2022, I went on a short adventure. Roughly a 100-mile loop from basecamp to nearby wildlife refuges - Lower Klamath NWR and the Tule Lake NWR. I went with the intention of checking on the winter conditions at the refuges and counting the number of wildlife spotted.

Today I counted:

Bald Eagles, 15
Rough Legged and/or Red Tail Hawks, 42
Peregrine Falcon, 3
Coyote, 6
Waterfowl: Canadian Geese, Heron

This is a low count for this time of year when compared to the same times in recent years. Sadly, the drought has left the refuges dry with the only major water area located near the far southern end of the Tule Lake NWR near the east entrance of the Lava Beds National Monument.

I also had the opportunity to visit the petroglyphs located south of Newell, California. The petroglyphs are ancient rock carvings along the edge of a former lake bed. The area is managed by the Lava Beds National Monument.

Additional Material

Additional material such as our Relive videos and Gaia GPS tracks are available to our Patreon Family.

For as little as $1/month you can help us tell the stories of our overlanding adventures and as a thank you, you receive special bonus content with extra videos and our GPS tracks.

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Gailey Company, LLC 6/30/21 Gailey Company, LLC 6/30/21

Medicine Mountain & the Lava Fire

Everything started peaceful enough, with a beautiful drive from basecamp to the Medicine Lake Campground for an overnight stay. The next day turned into an eventful situation that jerked me out of overlapping and into work in a matter of moments.

Everything started peaceful enough, with a beautiful drive from basecamp to the Medicine Lake Campground in Northern California for an overnight stay. The next day turned into an eventful situation that jerked me out of overlanding and into work in a matter of moments.

Our first stop was just north of the Lava Beds boundary at the start of the auto trail for the Tule Lake NWR. Due to extreme drought conditions in the Klamath Basin, water was diverted from the farms and refuges to support downstream fish. [It’s a long story, Google it]. Because of this, the refuge was dry, and we wanted to see just how dry it was. We both were appalled and saddened, so we decided to move on.

A dry lake bed and small channel is all that is left of the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge following diversion of water in the Klamath Basin. June 2021.

There are several ways to reach Medicine Lake on this journey, we would venture through the Lava Beds NM from the north and exit from the west side of the park. Before heading out, we made a quick stop at the park headquarters for a bathroom break and to check out the views.

Following the pitstop at HQ, we traveled out of the park and into the Modoc National Forest. While traversing the backcountry, we used the USFS map layer in Gaia GPS to locate a pinned location - the base of a cinder cone named Cinder Butte. Although we took the long and windy route, we found our pinned location and learned that the area is named Badger Basin.

Medicine Lake Campground

After a few photos from Badger Basin, the clock showed it was now after 5:30 PM. We drove a slightly more direct route to Medicine Lake where our reserved campsite awaited; arriving a couple hours later.

Medicine Lake is a beautiful location atop a shield volcano (Medicine Mountain) 6600 feet above sea level. On the north side of the lake are four Forest Service campgrounds and a day-use area. On the southside is a small community of cabins.

Once at the lake, we drove through all the adjacent campgrounds to get a feel of the area before settling into our campsite. To stretch our restless legs, a short hike to the lake was in order, before returning to camp to make dinner. Dinner was simple. Just some jarred spaghetti sauce and some freshly boiled noodles.

By this time, the sun had gone down and the air was cool, much cooler than back at base camp. Overnight temperatures were quite comfortable.

The next morning, we woke to the sounds of bluebirds in the trees above with the occasional cry of a magpie.

Awakened by nature, it was time for coffee and breakfast. Like the night before, breakfast was simple. Just a bowl of cereal.

Camp was soon packed and we were back adventuring by mid-morning.

With no real destination in mind, as the campsite was our only true destination on this trip. We headed out of Medicine Lake Campground and went westward toward Little Mt. Hoffman Lookout. We hoped to reach the lookout to see views of the Medicine Mountain area.

Unfortunately, we were met with a gate about a mile below the summit.

Disappointed with the gate, we continued on toward Little Glass Mountain, a beautiful obsidian lava flow.

The lava flows at and near Little Glass Mountain were stunning, and dotted with great little boondocking campsites. Soon we found ourselves off the dirt roads and on a paved Forest Service road that lead toward California Highway 89.

Once on CA89, it was mid-morning. Checking the map, we spotted three waterfalls to visit; the upper, middle, and lower falls of the McCloud River. We started at the lower and worked our way upriver.

Lower McCloud River Falls was very busy. The parking lot was full of cars. Many people were enjoying the area, including a few people fishing in the plunge pool. Next, we stopped into Middle McCloud River Falls and the Upper Falls areas.

Each waterfall is beautiful in its own right and easy to access.

The Middle and Upper Falls were not as busy as the lower falls but still crowded.

From here we popped into the little town of McCloud for some fresh ice for the cooler and kept moving on.

Leaving McLeod our adventure would next take us to Lake Siskiyou and Castle Lake west of Mt. Shasta City. In my opinion, some of the best views in the Siskiyous can be found at these two lakes.

Lava Fire

Returning toward Interstate 5 is when we noticed smoke from the newly ignited Lava Fire and our little trip was cut short and my occupation called me to work to report on the Lava Fire.

For those who do not know, I own and operate a small local news brand called Klamath Falls News. Part of Klamath Falls News is Cascade Firewatch, a regional wildfire news brand. Cascade Firewatch covers Northern California (north of Redding/Chico) and Southern Oregon (south of Eugene/Bend) from the Warner Mountains in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west.

What we did know, is this fire was in a beloved part of Northern California. What we did not know was just how devastating this fire would become and how it would be the beginning of several huge area wildfires. But that is another story.

We traveled up to Weed, California, just a few miles from the fire. I checked in with my wildfire contacts and a few colleagues to see what they knew. Because the fire was new, collectively we did not know much.

We traveled around Weed to find a few good vantage points but ultimately went to a spot off of US Highway 97 at USFS Road 42N15. A beautiful place where we had camped before. Little did we know, just a few hours later, the fire would turn and toast this area.

Feeling the urgency to get back home. We pulled the plug on this trip and decided to try again another time.

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