Didn’t Get Enough Snow This Winter? Then Black Lassic Is the Local Hiking Destination You’re Looking for

Snow scenes near Black Lassic

Snow as seen from Black Lassic in Trinity County. [All photos by Levi Loria/ USFS. Photos taken May 2023]

Press release from Six Rivers National Forest:

Did you know that the Black Lassic mountain in Six Rivers National Forest, CA is a popular hiking destination? This stunning mountain stands at an elevation of 5,916 feet and offers breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape, pictured here.Black Lassic

The Black Lassic mountain is also home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, including Douglas fir, western hemlock, and Pacific yew trees, as well as black bears, mountain lions, and bald eagles. Hikers can explore the mountain’s trails and discover the natural beauty of the area.

The mountains in picture #1 from left to right are: Red Lassic (pointy, elevation 5,898 ft), Mount Lassic (not pointy, elev. 5,876 ft), Black Lassic (the pointiest, elev. 5,916 ft). Mad River Rock is in the foreground at 4,603 ft.

The mountains from left to right are: Red Lassic (pointy, elevation 5,898 ft), Mount Lassic (not pointy, elev. 5,876 ft), Black Lassic (the pointiest, elev. 5,916 ft). Mad River Rock is in the foreground at 4,603 ft.

However, it’s important to remember to practice Leave No Trace principles when visiting the Black Lassic mountain. This means packing out all trash, staying on designated trails, and respecting wildlife and their habitats.

Snowfall in May.

Snowfall in May.

So if you’re looking for a challenging and rewarding hiking experience, consider visiting the Black Lassic mountain in Six Rivers National Forest.

Black Lassic and Mad River Rock

Black Lassic and Mad River Rock

Not only will you get to enjoy stunning views and nature, but you’ll also be helping to preserve this beautiful area for future generations to enjoy.

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Farce
Guest
Farce
10 months ago

Little known fact: You actually preserve it better for future generations by not going there at all. Staying away from it preserves it very well…

Dusty Spritzwater
Guest
Dusty Spritzwater
10 months ago
Reply to  Farce

Have you tried Mall Walking? I like to go one lap slow. Then I pick up the pace. Take a break for a pretzel, then usually mix it up with some skipping, or backwards speed walking.

Farce
Guest
Farce
10 months ago

Hey man- go wherever you want. I’m just pointing out a little-reported fact. The wilderness does not need you, me or any human. It will do just fine w/o us! But now I will go one step more since you’ve needled me…I think that encouraging regular townies to go out into the wilderness is a bad idea. They will inevitabily screw it up. They should watch it on TV and stay the heck away. And those who are independent and want more? Well…they don’t need encouragement- they will get out of town and find wild places and there is a much better chance of them treating those places with respect because they have already stepped away from the herd of townie fools….I don’t think that pimping out the wild places to the general public is good

tahca
Guest
tahca
10 months ago
Reply to  Farce

It isn’t good. They just bring their townie baggage with them. Few have a clue on how to be still and take in the magnificence that surrounds them.

Steve
Guest
Steve
10 months ago
Reply to  Farce

That reminds me of a time years ago, I was hiking with a buddy up to this very peak. About halfway up, we stumbled upon an abandoned campsite and piles of gear along the trail. Further up, toward Red Lassic, we passed a pickup lashed to a rock with one wheel dangling off the side of the ridge road, more gear in the back. We saw some other folks on a far ridge at one point, but couldn’t get their attention. … Hours later, on our way back down, we came upon a straggling group of adolescent boys. We stopped and asked them if they needed help. … They were a troop of cold, hungry Boy Scouts, on their way home. We crammed as many in our car as we could and headed back down the forest road … where we ran into more boys, who actually had an “adult” with them. He was pretty surly and wouldn’t share their story. But he did begrudgingly take a ride back into Bridgeville, where his wife rescued him with the minivan. … we never got much thanks for our good deed that day.

c u 2morrowD
Member
10 months ago
Reply to  Farce

human interactions are inevitable.

Wabbajack
Guest
Wabbajack
10 months ago
Reply to  Farce

I agree that wilderness does not need us, but maybe the trees do. If national forest areas are not popular and not part of a protected area, they might be opened for logging. Not that that is a bad thing in and of itself, and I don’t know if that is the case for this area. But I can’t think of another reason to state that visiting a natural landscape would protect it.

Bozo
Guest
Bozo
10 months ago

Yup… It used to be a prime deer hunting ground. Now let’s go look at all the dead trees.

Log it, graze it,… or watch it burn. We are in the ‘watch it burn’ phase.

Go figure.

Dusty Spritzwater
Guest
Dusty Spritzwater
10 months ago
Reply to  Bozo

Deer don’t eat the trees. In any case there are trees that made it through the high intensity fire up there a few years ago. There is a lot of undergrowth coming back. Under that snow is a garden of elder and gooseberries.

Bozo
Guest
Bozo
10 months ago

Hmm… not a deer hunter ? Must be ‘Watch it Burn’ camp (ala USFS) ?
The trees (well, used to anyway) provide the shady, deep, wet gullies where the deer would go during the hot summer/fall days to bed down and digest the nights feeding.
That area won’t come back for 50 years… and that is if there are no (ala USFS) brush fires, (which will likely happen every 10 years).
Go figure.

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Dusty Spritzwater
Guest
Dusty Spritzwater
9 months ago
Reply to  Bozo

Hmmm…You should go back up there. The fire was over five years ago. Tons of creeks. Plenty of big trees left. The elderberries are 8 ft tall. The deer are moving up that way this time of year as the snow melts. The “desert”, the ridge to the Northwest kinda, up there has always been kinda treeless. Do you think the Lassics didn’t burn regularly before the Forest Circus?

Dusty Spritzwater
Guest
Dusty Spritzwater
9 months ago
Reply to  Bozo

Back strap for breakfast! But no, I guess I don’t GO hunting. Anywhere. but off the front porch!

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It's Me
Guest
It's Me
10 months ago

That country was my play ground in the late seventies. My dad and I have been on top of all those peaks. On a clear day from the top of Black Lassic you can see the Pacific ocean looking west and Mt Shasta looking north.on a clear day.

c u 2morrowD
Member
10 months ago
Reply to  It's Me

more than likely, at some point you and I were atop Lassic when it was 6000 feet

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
10 months ago

If I remember correctly, the geology of these mountains is somewhat unusual. They are an example of an ophiolite sequence. It is a vertical slice of ocean floor rocks added to the continent during tectonic plate collision (subduction). The unusual soil chemistry results in unique plant communities. I don’t know, but there might be unique wildflowers this time of year. (Short disclaimer: My comment is from memory. There is a chance I’m mistaken.)

Angela Robinson
Member
Angela Robinson
10 months ago
Reply to  I like stars

You are pretty much right. (my comment is also from memory 🙂 ). I think the Lassik geology is related to California coast range geology. Though it might be part of the “Klamath Knot”. The exotic terrane that forms the Klamath/Siskiyou mountains.
There is a geology book written in the very early 1900s, by the great Thomas Condon. “The Two Islands”. Even then, without knowledge of tectonics, etc. he recognized the uniqueness of the Klamath region (one of the Islands). The other “island” is the Blues (a series of individual ranges) in NE Oregon.
There is a book, “The Klamath Knot”, published 40 years ago (OMG it’s been that long). It’s a lovely book (maybe a touch of woo) about the Klamath Mountains. I’ve owned several copies (I really need to stop lending out books). The author stresses the uniqueness of the region.

Last edited 10 months ago
Farce
Guest
Farce
10 months ago

“The Klamath Knot” was a college textbook for me and a great book. However I have always based out of northern Mendocino and so have only gotten out to that area a couple times…there’s just so many awesome places to hike and explore in my own neighborhood! Fellow students from Arcata would head out there and I would pack up and head south again…too much goodness all over

Angela Robinson
Member
Angela Robinson
10 months ago
Reply to  Farce

I can understand, though I disagree. I’ve been very fortunate to have traveled up and down the west coast from San Diego to the Aleutians. I guess I’m always looking for the big picture. Geology and the continuing new findings in geology shows just how interconnected the region is, especially above the triple junction (and the later Cascades). I feel an interconnected sense of place.
Fun fact (for me anyway): The latest exotic terrane is Siletzia, which is underlies the coast ranges of Oregon north of the “Klamath knot” It goes all the way up to a tiny bit on Vancouver Island. The fun part is that it was originally part of a bigger terrane. The upper half split off and headed north. Today it is called the Yakutat plate (micro plate maybe) and it is diving under the North American at the “hinge” of the main Alaska body and SE Alaska. It is raising up the highest coast range in the world, including Mt. St. Elias at 18,000 feet.
Anyway. Many, many years ago, I was up on some road west of Rio Dell. It was a beautiful day. Looking east I could see the Lassics, with snow still on top. It was one of those “fixed moments” in time. Beautiful.

Iliketables
Guest
Iliketables
9 months ago

Actually the highest coast range in the world is the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. It’s tallest peak is well over 18,000ft and has a year round glacier at the top. It’s a very cool hike, starting out on a tropical beach at the bottom and ending in a snowy glacier at the top, with all the microclimates in between. Colombia possesses 90% of all the microclimates that exist on earth.

Bozo
Guest
Bozo
10 months ago

BTW Mountain Road Stuff:

FH1 (Titlow Hill Road) is closed due to snow (3′ +- drift) just after the Ammon Ridge junction. Ammon Ridge is also closed by snowdrifts. I didn’t go down Friday Ridge, but I think it is also still snowed in about 1/4 mile down from FH1.