Lake Ivern sits by itself at the north end of the Seven Lakes Basin in Oregon’s Sky Lakes Wilderness. While South, Cliff, and Middle Lakes get a lot of visits (particularly from hikers on the nearby Pacific Crest Trail), Ivern’s location two miles down a one-way trail leaves it kind of isolated. I wanted to visit it but was put off by the long out-and-back which that would entail.
Then I read in Lorain’s Backpacking Oregon (4th printing) that you could go cross-country from the end of the lake to the Middle Fork Trail #978 to complete a loop back to the Seven Lakes Trailhead. He made it sound easy – which should have been a warning. It didn’t help that I decided to give the old King Spruce Trail #980 one more shot – the last having been in 2015. The LovedOne, sensing unspecified levels of adventure in all this, wisely demurred and stayed home to continue work on another sweater (it better be one heck of a cold winter).
I took the Seven Lakes Trail #981 up past Frog Lake and over the divide to Middle Lake, passing South and Cliff Lakes along the way. This was all on trails that were, except for a few downed trees here and there, in good shape.
At Middle Lake, I left the Seven Lakes Trail for the Lake Ivern Trail #994 and followed it north to the lake. It’s an easy trail which passes four named springs and a boulder field with squeaking Picas. The journey was enlivened by my fifth black bear 🐻 sighting this summer! I imagine some careless campers around the lakes were presenting buffet opportunities. 🙄
From Ivern, Lorain implies that you just stroll westward over to the Middle Fork Trail. Ah, no, as the terrain north and west of the lake is very steep and heavy with brush. Instead I went up and over the bump just north of Point 5910 – staying on its brush-free slopes – then dropped down to the creek flowing out of Lake Alta. I crossed the creek and came upon an old campsite with a fire ring and cut logs. With no sign (such as an old use trail) of how anyone got to this camp, it was a tedious 0.4 mile brush and fallen tree thrash over to the Middle Fork Trail. In this particular spot, that trail has been re-routed farther northwest than where it’s shown on the Forest Service and USGS maps.
It was a 700-foot climb on the Middle Fork Trail to its junction with the Alta Lake Trail #979, then a short walk south on that to the King Spruce Trail #980. I could have taken the #979 all the way south to the Seven Lakes Trail and the trailhead but, noooo, I had to give old #980 one more shot. Well, it still sucks. The first mile and the last half-mile, while encumbered with a number of fallen trees, are still relatively easy to find and follow. The middle mile-and-a-half, particularly where it passes below the springs, is an extended exercise in slow, hunt-and-peck trail finding. It would be very easy to lose the trail here. I came across other boot prints from time to time, so there was some consolation in not being the only hiker to be fooled by old #980. But fooled twice? That’s on me. 😦
I was heartily glad to finally get back to the rocky clarity of the Seven Lakes Trail for the brief downhill hike to the trailhead. Thus ended a 13.3 mile, 2,300 feet of gain loop through the Seven Lakes Basin. Even allowing for the bushwhack from Ivern to the Middle Fork Trail, it’s not a particularly hard loop. And it’s the only way you can visit Lake Ivern without doing an out-and-back hike. BUT make your return via the Alta Lake Trail and NOT the King Spruce Trail! That trail needs to be consigned to history…
BOOTS on the TRAIL 
This is a great piece of local history! 🙂 Thanks for sharing! I saw the signs (now well weathered) for Buckley and Bigfoot Springs but missed the others. My map shows a trail from the Bigfoot Spring sign going down to a flat area which I surmise might have been the campground you mentioned. However, that trail is now pretty overgrown and I didn’t know to look for a camp ground. But the trail to Lake Ivern is still in good condition and being enjoyed by hikers (I passed 6 on my way to the lake). So you left us a wonderful legacy! 🙂
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I enjoyed reading about the Lake Ivern trail and surroundings. I know it well. During the summer of 1968 or 69, can’t remember for sure, I worked for the U.S. Forest Service out of Butte Falls. I was on a trail crew and our job was to make a trail to a remote lake in the Seven Lakes Basin – Lake Ivern. Pack mules would bring our supplies and equipment in. Food, tents, gasoline rock drill, dynamite and misc. other tools. We would hike in and spend 10 days working then 4 days off. Our first camp was at Middle Lake. After we had cut the trail about half way to Lake Ivern we moved camp there.
The first couple of weeks there was still a lot of snow and mosquitoes. We used the snow banks for our refrigerator but as the summer progressed and the snow melted we would put a large can in one of the springs. Covered the can with a wet tarp so the evaporation would keep food cool, worked pretty well.
One night as we were sitting around the fire discussing our progress on the trail we decided that some land marks needed names. We agreed on names and on one of my days off I was at the Butte Falls station and used the Forest Service sign material and made signs. The next trip in we nailed them to trees. Jahn Spring, Bigfoot Spring, Buckley Spring, Bigfoot Spring Campground, there were some others but I can’t remember them.
A few years ago I was telling my daughters about my time building a trail for the Forest Service. Cutting trees, dynamiting the stumps and blasting rock. They were curious and wanted to know where the trail was. Looking on the internet I was elated to see Buckley Spring in trail guides and topo maps. Never considered that the names would stick, real treat.
Thought you might enjoy some history of the Lakes Basin area. Also I had quite a chuckle when I saw your names. My name is Bruce and my wife is Lynda.
Thanks,
Bruce Buckley
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