Camping at Topsy

The Klamath River winds in lazy arcs south from Klamath Falls through wide agricultural fields, but as it approaches the California state line, the canyons begin to close and the river becomes a torrent once again. Above this wild river, however, there are several dams, some involved in the controversy over fish, both salmon and suckers, farmers, and water. Topsy is one of the dams that may or may not be removed, but in the mean time, there is a delightful little campground along the eastern shore managed by the BLM.

Mo and I thought a short overnighter in the MoHo would be fun, so we drove about an hour from home to camp. It was the first time I had been on this part of the Klamath and I look forward to exploring it all a bit more someday. But for the time being, a simple overnight with a nice wide clean space on the lake's edge, a great campfire, and a lovely cool morning hike was just perfect.




The pelicans are part of the Klamath basin, and this year it seems that there are more than usual. Kayaking Pelican Bay on the lake later in the week allowed us to slip in among some very large groups of juvenile birds, but on that day I didn't take my camera. Here at Topsy, there were pelicans and ducks, several blue herons, ospreys, and other birds that I didn't identify. The birdsong was great.







In spite of the heat, Abby was the only one who really cared to get into the green water. Because of all that farmland, or maybe because the water comes from the rich food source called Klamath Lake, there was a lot of algae and duckweed in the water. Abby swam and we lounged around in the late afternoon in the shade of huge ponderosas doing nothing. Nothing is really very nice sometimes!