Mount Shasta rises in the background as hikers traverse a meadow on the way to Ball Mountain. 

Maybe it’s time to enter the lottery.

We were atop Ball Mountain in Siskiyou County, California, sitting in the shade alongside the summit area’s abandoned fire lookout tower. Although various sources list various elevations, trip leader Hans Kuhr claims that depending how you roll the dice, Ball Mountain’s summit elevation is a lucky one with four sevens — 7,777 feet above sea level.

For someone age 77, you bet that’s good number, one that comes with magical powers.

And there indeed was magic on the hike, including open meadows flush with fields of colorful wildflowers.

Fittingly, it was a Sunday, so for those who believe the world was created in six days and the seventh was provided for rest, a lunch break after a nearly 2.5-mile hike that gained 1,400-plus feet was truly a welcome rest.

In Las Vegas, many slot machines use 777 to identify a jackpot. We felt like we’d won the jackpot during and after our hike. Along with the wildflowers, we were lucky enough to view winning views of Mount Shasta magically and majestically towering in the distance, along with sightings of Goosenest Mountain, Butte Valley to the east and Shasta Valley to the west.

The Ball Mountain lookout hasn’t been so lucky. With its badly fading paint and its weathered appearance, it appears the deteriorating structure hasn’t been used for years. Its history is a bit fuzzy, but according to the National Historic Lookout Register, a lookout has existed atop Ball Mountain since 1922 or earlier. An open platform tower was replaced in 1940 with a lookout cabin atop a 30-foot enclosed timber tower, a type commonly used as a residence cabin with an observation only tower.

According to “Chronological History of the Klamath National Forest,” among projects undertaken by the Leaf Civilian Conservation Corps in October 1940 was building the 30-foot tower.

The lookout has also been the scene of at least one prank. According to the “Chronological History,” October 1960 recollections by Tom Winteringham reported: “When Ed Jereb, the Klamath Forest engineer, was fairly new to the Klamath (National Forest), he, Charlies Yates and Les Clark were doing an inspection of the Ball Mountain Lookout. This was a box-like structure some 60 feet tall, down one side of which hung a Jacob’s ladder that was the fire escape. Charlie told Ed this is the way to get to the top and to go first. When Ed was well on his way to the top, Charlie and Les used the inside stairs and met Ed as he climbed over the guard rail. Ed was out of breath and somewhat miffed, but he learned that it was not always necessary to take Charlie seriously.”

The Jacob’s ladder is still there, but none of us used it or tried to break the locks to go inside and take the stairs to the lookout’s top.

Our focus was hiking to Ball Mountain’s seldom-visited lookout by a route that isn’t listed in hiking guides. Hans’ rates the hike, which follows two abandoned roads along with a short bushwhack, as moderately intense. It’s obvious the roads haven’t been used for years.

The trek begins from an easy-to-miss location — see the directions below — and walking around a yellow gate that blocks vehicles.

There is another way up to Ball Mountain that begins at Juanita Lake that’s used by mountain bikers and trail runners. It’s longer and far more challenging, with a round-trip distance 15.5 miles and an elevation gain of 2,972 feet.

Compared to the Juanita Lake route, we’d hit the jackpot. Yes, we were in seventh heaven having a ball atop Ball Mountain.

To get to Ball Mountain from Medford, drive south into California on Interstate 5 to exit 789, the Henley Hornbrook exit. Take York Road and Forest Service Road 47N03 to Forest Road 46N10 to Ball Mountain. Parking is limited off the road in an area behind a yellow gate. The unmarked trail mostly follows an abandoned, sometimes hard-to-see road. The distance from Medford to the trailhead is about 70 miles.