Dates: August 7-9, 2009 Duration: 3 days, 2 night Mileage: ~24 miles Group Members: Nick McGuire, Amanda Eberle Pack Weights: Unknown Contacts: Pacific Ranger District - 7887 Highway 50, Pollock Pines, CA 95726 (530)-644-2349 Notes: Found this route online through a Google book on the Trinity Alps and it is also referenced on SummitPost.org Route Map Available! Outbound Travel: Left Davis Thursday evening and went up north to Cottonwood, CA and spent the night at my grandparents house. Left their place mid-morning and were at the Stoney Ridge Trailhead around noon....easy to find and the dirt road is in pretty good condition...high clearance and 4wd not required, at least at this time of year. Construction on Hwy 299 delayed us for at least 30 minutes. Day 1: Left the Stoney Ridge Trailhead around 12:25PM; The weather was slightly overcast but was forecasted to improve over the course of the weekend. Pretty straight forward hiking for the next several hours although its pretty much constant uphill although not a severe incline. Trail isn't very scenic at the beginning but goes through some pretty forests and meadows. Continue climbing up to Stonewall Pass which is the first spot with truly impressive views of the area. Reached a small pond near Echo Lake, which as sign on a tree informs you is several hundred yards away to the East, around 4PM. One group apparently camping here who had come in from the same trailhead we had started out yet but we did not check out their campsite. Continued on for a ways and climbed up Little Stonewall Pass and then Deer Creek Pass which affords you spectacular views of the surrounding mountains, Siligo Peak in particular, and Deer Lake below. Between Little Stonewall Pass and Deer Creek Pass are some phenominal meadows, including Siligo Meadow, which we noted as a potential campsite for the following night. We then began the loop part of the 4 Lakes Loop Route going clockwise towards Summit Lake which we reached around 6PM where another set of campsites was supposed to be located on the Western shore. Trekked down to the lake only to find that all the campsite had been taken. We decided to hike back up to the main trail and gamble that the next lake, Diamond Lake, which was about a mile further, would have an open campsite although it was rumored to only have one good one. Reached Diamond Lake just over 30 minutes later and luckily our gamble paid off and no one was at the one good campsite which is decently well developed (2 tent spots and a fire ring under a large white fir tree). Set up camp (which included stringing up my backpacking hammock from two small trees near the lake), collected firewood and made dinner. Beautiful view of the Trinities to the West. Much prettier spot in my opinion than Summit Lake so we were very glad we had moved on and gambled on the campsite at Diamond Lake. Day 2: Slept in for once, made breakfast and left camp around 11:15AM. Good nights sleep in the hammock and no bugs or dew to speak of. Reached the grassy saddle on the north-side of Siligo Peak that looks down on Luella Lake around 11:45AM. Decided that we had plenty of time so we climbed up Siligo Peak from the this side (there is actually a trail on the other side opposite Summit Lake). Though there is no trail, the climb is pretty straight-forward although steep and rocky in places (we left our packs at the bottom and just took the tops of them). Got to the top of the peak, or at least the highest point we felt like climbing to on the north side, around 12:45 PM. At lunch at the top before descending the way we had come up. Continued on the loop passing by Luella Lake and Round Lake before finally reaching Deer Lake around 4PM. Stopped to swim but decided to just put our feet in instead since it was breezy and slightly chilly although we had been super hot earlier climbing up from the valley below. Continued on back up Deer Creek Pass towards Siligo Meadows which we reached around 5:30PM. Explored the area a bit and decided on a campsite a few hundred yards off the trail to the East on the opposite side of the meadow near a small multi-teered set of tiny waterfalls formed by the meadow drainage. Campsite was not developed but had been used before given the presence of small fire ring. Set up the hammock again, made dinner and enjoyed some awesome stars after our small campfire went out later in the evening. Day 3: Slept in once again, made pancakes for breakfast and left camp around mid-morning to head back to the trailhead which we reached in the early afternoon. Pretty easy hike out, after the two passes are crossed, given that the entire hike is downhill after Stonewall Pass. There is an awesome spot just off the trail in the heavily wooded section where you can hike down to the creek that flows through the woods (you will hear the creek and waterfalls when you get close to it and the trail branches off to the left although its not well traveled). Its a great spot for lunch and there are some really cool pools and waterfalls to play in and sit by although they are too small for swimming in. Beautiful location though and definitely the highlight of the 3rd day. Left the trailhead to head home around 2ish. Home-bound Travel: Stopped at the Trinity Alps Resort general store off of the Stuarts Fork turnoff for ice cream before heading home. (Its open on Sundays!) Traffic delays again due to construction on Hwy 299 but other than that the return trip was uneventful.