Mount Ashland-area PCT offers wildflower show

When triple-digit heat bakes the valley floor, it’s time to head to the high country for a breath of fresh air.

The Pacific Crest Trail west of Mount Ashland offers hikers a place to cool off as well as alpine meadows covered with wildflowers.

A 3.8-mile section of trail between Wrangle Gap and Siskiyou Gap has plenty of wildflowers this time of year. You can walk this mostly level section of trail in either direction. If your hiking party travels in two cars, this is a perfect trail to leave a shuttle car at one end of the route to avoid retracing your steps.

This section of the PCT traverses the north slope of the Siskiyou crest, so it escapes some of the blazing summer sun and retains groundwater moisture longer than the south side. The combination of limited sun and abundant water makes ideal conditions for wildflowers. The flower display changes as the brief alpine summer advances. Early in the season there are plenty of blue larkspurs and lupines as well as red paintbrush. Later there’s yellow monkeyflower, white yarrow and purple asters.

There’s also plenty of bear grass, especially in the meadows on the east end of the trail, near Siskiyou Gap.

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To get there, take Interstate 5 south to Exit 6, the Mount Ashland exit. Leave the freeway, turn left and follow Old Highway 99 a half mile to the Mount Ashland Road. Turn right; follow the road past the Mount Ashland ski area and its two parking lots. Forest Road 20 heads west at the west end of the second parking lot. Follow this road one mile past the junction with Forest Road 22, to where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Road 20. There is parking for several cars here, or you can drive three miles farther to Wrangle Gap

This section of the PCT hovers around 6,000 feet, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself huffing even though the route is relatively flat. Let the rarefied air give you a good excuse to slow down and enjoy the flowers.

With all the color on the ground, it’s easy to forget to look up and enjoy the high-country view. Along the way you’ll see Mount McLoughlin and Brown Mountain to the east, and farther south, the rim of the volcano that once dominated the Mountain Lakes Wilderness.

This area is remarkably wild despite its proximity to Southern Oregon’s only winter sports area and the city of Ashland. If you time your visit to be there in the early evening, you could see a bear wandering across the meadows below Big Red Mountain.

If a few hours in the mountains makes you want more, you can spend the night under the stars at Wrangle campground, a mile off Road 20, at the west end of the route.

Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail bkettler@mailtribune.com