Lake Siskiyou Trail: Chalet Loop

In doing research for my next set of adventures, I realized that there are several lakes near me. Of course, I decided to check them out and the first one is Lake Siskiyou. I'm not really ready to take on the 7+ mile loop around the whole lake, so I opted for the shorter Chalet Loop. With my first elevation change, and the map showing that part of the hike was on a road, I have to admit that I wasn't super excited. But I laced up my shoes and headed out, nonetheless.

Parking was super easy, there were restrooms available, and both the longer lake trail and Chalet Loop were clearly marked. Heading off into the forest, the trail greeted me in all her splendor. Coming from the desert of Southern California, I'm used to parking in a paved lot and having to walk in the sun for a while before seeing any sort of water. Not here. I might have taken ten steps, and I could see the lake through the gorgeous pines. What a pleasant surprise!

The trail on the AllTrails app looks like you're going to walk right along the shore but that's not really the case. While you are on the edge of the lake, there is a steep cliff between you and the water. Cliffs are really not my thing, and the trail was narrow, and I was on a downgrade, so I had to remind myself to stop and look up every now and then. And I'm so glad I did.

The lake was pristine, I mean like glass. And then a boat came through and I could hear the waves from its wake rhythmically rolling over the pebbly shore. What a calming sound.

Every few steps there was another gorgeous view of the lake. I could see things like the Wagon Creek Bridge, the shoreline across from a little pebbly beach, and the reflection of the forest across the way framed by the pines in front of me.

You might have already guessed this, but the trail gets its name because it loops around some chalets (it took me a minute, but I got it...once I saw one of the buildings). Even thought I was basically in someone's back yard it was really quiet, more noticeable were the off-shoots from the trail going to the chalets in one direction and down to the water in the other. I'm not about sliding down a steep hill in the dirt to get to a lake, but it's clear that someone did it because I saw a chair sitting on the shore. The bigger question for me was how they got back up.

As the trail starts heading away from the water, I came upon another parking area with a picnic table and restroom. At this point, I could have turned around and followed the lake back the way I came, but I wanted to see the whole loop, so I walked through the parking lot and headed out to the road where I found an entrance to a paved path. Even though I was walking next to the road, I was surrounded by beautiful trees and was presented with this gorgeous view of Mt. Shasta as a parting gift. I guess my lesson is that I never know what Mother Nature is going to provide when I head out of town and into her space, and I am reminded that she never disappoints.