08-08-2025 An Extra Day to Explore, Medicine Lake Eagles and Visiting Eagle Lake

This post won't be a long one. I thought about adding this part of our trip to the last post, but decided that the eagles warranted their own story.  

Eagle Lake in September of 2024

I wanted Deborah to see Eagle Lake, where Mo and I camped last September.  Deb loves to fish, and Eagle Lake is well known for its spectacular Eagle Lake trout, a variety that is only found in that large, mostly shallow lake near Highway 395 in California.

At first, we thought we could pack up Friday morning and then drive south to the lake, leaving the MoHo at a rest area on the highway.  Thinking about it a bit more, we decided that was dumb, and we should simply stay one more night at Medicine Lake and return after our southern sojourn to Eagle Lake.

It was no trouble to add another night to our stay at Medicine Lake.  With the Lifetime Golden Age Pass, the fee for camping at our site was a mere $7.50 with an additional $2.50 for Deb's car.  I slept a bit restlessly the night before, worrying about just how far it was to reach Eagle Lake.  I didn't dig out the maps, which might have been the smart thing to do.  Instead, I estimated that it was probably 80 miles or so to the lake from where we were camped.  Wishful thinking.

Mo and I woke up again to see Medicine Lake silky smooth, without a trace of wind, and with gorgeous, clear skies. One last kayak before we leave.  This time, I made the effort to pack up the Nikon in the dry bag, hoping for another day with an eagle or two around to photograph.

Mo was a good sport about handling the big camera as we passed it back and forth between the kayaks.  She wanted to get a photo of me, like so many that I have taken of her with her boat reflected on the water.

Approaching the meadow on the south side of the lake, I could barely see the first eagle with its head shadowed by a branch. From a distance, the white tail is what caught my eye.

We continued along the southern shore, and by the time we reached the western side of the lake, we had spotted seven eagles.  From one vantage point, we could see five at once.

There were at least three mature birds, with the fully white head that only develops after they are four or five years old.

Several of the eagles were younger, maybe 2 or 3 years old, based on the brown feathers still showing on their heads.

Another full adult eagle on the west side of the lake

Another young one, a few hundred feet northwest of the older bird

From this point, Mo and I could see five eagles at the same time, but when I zoomed out enough to see all five, they were almost invisible.  Here you can see three if you look closely.

Mo and I spent about two hours watching the eagles from our boats, and we paddled slowly around the lake.  I kept saying, "No more photos! We have a long drive ahead of us today!"  But then another magnificent bird would appear, and I would stop and spend more time getting the perfect shot.

Deb didn't mind the time we were gone because it gave her time to relax and enjoy the lake with Mattie, have her breakfast, and do the simple morning things that she had missed on the previous day when we took off in the boats so early.

Our destination for our spontaneous day trip was Eagle Lake, which was actually 132 miles each way from our campground, just 15 miles north of Susanville, California.  We decided that having a late lunch, early supper in Susanville would be a great idea.

When Mo and I camped at Eagle Lake in September of last year, the American white pelicans had arrived for their fall migration.  We love these birds, having spent many years in their company kayaking the wildlife refuges in the Klamath Basin.

Kayaking with pelicans and grebes in 2024 at Eagle Lake, California

This year, when we reached the marina, we saw just three pelicans.  The other reason for visiting was to introduce Deborah to Gina, the proprietor at the Eagle Lake Marina.  Gina is wonderfully friendly and willing to share her knowledge about the best way to catch the famous Eagle Lake Trout.

Gina at the Eagle Lake Marina. Sadly for us, Gina was off traveling in Munich, Germany, this year.

We drove back to the Merril campground, where we stayed last year, and Deb liked how it looked.  It is VERY different from Medicine Lake, with level ground, hookups, bathrooms, and level campsites.

View of the lake from the Merril Campground in September 2024

Obviously, camping at Eagle Lake is a very different experience from camping at Medicine Lake, and we have enjoyed each, but Medicine Lake is our treasured spot.

Deb enjoyed seeing the lake and really enjoyed driving through the high desert juniper grasslands along Highway 395.  Our supper in Susanville was a bit of a bust at the Lumberjack restaurant.  The reason we stopped was for the shade where we could park for Mattie.  Restaurants with outside seating don't exist in Susanville, it seems, and the day was hot.  The menu was extensive, but the food left a lot to be desired.  My sweet potato fries were good, but the rest of our meal was completely forgettable.

The view as we left Susanville to continue north back to Medicine Lake was gorgeous.  The hill is steep with no place to pull over for photos, so I had to be content with this one from a moving car.

We realized later that neither of us had taken many photos.  Deb took a photo at the beginning of the back road to the community of Spalding on the west side of the lake.  She said she tries to get sign photos so she can remember where she has been.

When we arrived back at camp for the evening, it was almost 8 PM, and it was already beginning to get dark.

In spite of the long day and the late hour, we had no desire to miss out on the last campfire of the trip.  Once again, Mo did her campfire magic, and we settled in to watch the lake under the night sky.

Saturday morning, the three of us and Mattie bid goodbye to what we know for sure is our most favorite lake ever.  Now even more special because we could share it with Deborah.