As we continue to explore the trails in the Pacific Northwest we are working on completing a number of “goals”, one of which is having hiked in each of Oregon’s 36 counties. We began the year missing just two, Gilliam and Umatilla. We checked Gilliam off our list over Memorial Day weekend with a hike at Cottonwood Canyon State Park (post) leaving just Umatilla County. One of our other goals is to hike in the 46 Oregon wilderness areas open to visitors (post). (Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks off the Oregon Coast are off limits.) We began the year with just four wilderness areas left to visit; Black Canyon, Devil’s Staircase, Monument Rock, and North Fork Umatilla. We used a week of vacation to finish the county hikes, visit the North Fork Umatilla Wilderness, and check off three more featured hikes in one of William L. Sullivan’s guidebooks, this time his “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” (3rd edition). Our long term goal is to complete the 100 featured hikes from at least one edition of each of Sullivan’s five guidebooks; Oregon Coast, NW Oregon & SW Washington, Southern Oregon & Northern California, Central Oregon Cascades, and Eastern Oregon (post).
We started our week off by driving to Pendleton stopping along the way at the Cold Springs Wildlife Refuge near Hermiston, OR. This stop came about while I was looking for hikes in areas around Oregon where we hadn’t hiked yet. At four hours from Salem the short Memorial Marsh Trail system looked like a good leg stretcher on our way to Pendleton and it would be our first hike in Umatilla County. We parked at the trailhead for the Memorial Marsh Unit at the east end of an access road.
The brochure, which is available online and at the trailhead, is dated 2014. We didn’t realize that when we grabbed one to use as our map. What we should have done is paid more attention to the laminated map posted on the trailhead signboard.
The brochure map shows a total of three loops (see above). There is a triangular loop from the parking area, and two loops around marshes. The laminated map however only shows the triangular loop. While the brochure indicates that there are loops around both the Lower Pond and the Upper Pond the other map did not. Having missed that detail we set off with a plan of staying left at junctions to complete the non-existent loops. The trail led us through a sagebrush landscape similar to what we had seen at the nearby Umatilla Wildlife Refuge (not in Umatilla County) in 2019 (post).
Yarrow
Caterpillar
After .3 miles the dirt trail met a gravel roadbed at the Lower Pond.
Looking right down the roadbed which would lead back to the parking area.
We weren’t off to a great start as we were already confused at the roadbed. We weren’t sure exactly where we were on the brochure map and spent some time debating on which direction we should go. Before we figured that out though Heather realized that we’d left her GPS unit sitting on top of the car so she headed back to retrieve that and I wandered to the right up the road a ways where it became clear that it was going to lead back to the trailhead which let me know that it was part of the triangular loop.
Ducks in the Lower Pond
Showy milkweed
A lone phlox blossom
Having retrieved the Garmin and figured out where we were we headed left from the dirt trail along the gravel road which curved around the Lower Pond.
Female red-winged blackbirds
Blue-winged teal and a black-necked stilt.
Black-necked stilt
Red-winged blackbird
White pelican
Cinnamon teal
When we came to a “Y” junction in the road we went left.
This road led between the hidden Cold Springs Reservoir on the left and the Middle Pond on the right. We spooked a couple of deer along this stretch but they both vanished in the sagebrush before I had time to retrieve the camera.
Middle Pond
We ignored a side road on the left for hunting blind 5 and then again forked left when the road split at the Upper Pond.
Spur road to hunting blind 5. The blinds were well signed but not marked on the brochure map. The laminated map at the trailhead though did show the blinds which would have also been very helpful.
Upper Pond
Upper Pond
Yellow headed blackbirds
We wrapped around the pond to the edge of the refuge where we were carefully watched by a herd of cows on the other side of a barbed wire fence. The gravel road eventually gave way to a cut grassy track near blind 1b and then vanished altogether.
Not going to be making a loop around the Upper Pond.
A little confused we turned around and passed the equally confused looking cows. We backtracked to the fork between the Middle and Upper Ponds and went left thinking that maybe we had misread the map and this was the loop.
Killdeer
This roadbed began to loop around the Upper Pond before petering out near blind 8 (again all of this would have been clear had we used the laminated map). The saving grace here was we got to see an owl fly out of the trees along the pond (no time for a photo though) and we saw another deer which I did manage to get a picture of.
Once again we found ourselves back tracking. Having not yet learned our lesson when we made it back to the split between the Middle and Lower Ponds we once again attempted a loop and headed between them.
Great blue heron
Lazuli bunting
The road had turned into a grassy track before ending in some sagebrush where a faint trail? could be seen.
We did pass at least one sign facing the other direction which indicated that at least at one time this had been a loop but it was now very overgrown.
We passed blinds 7 and 7b which were also quite overgrown and in the process I manged to pick up at least a half dozen unwelcome guests in the form of ticks.
When we finally made it back to the gravel road we stopped for a tick check to try and make sure there were no stowaways left and then followed the roadbed .3 miles back to the trailhead. I wound up doing 4.4 miles here (Heather wound up with ) which was quite a bit more than we had planned due to the backtracking for the GPS unit and the non-existent loop around the Upper Pond.
Before we started our drive to Pendleton we did attempted another full tick check. Despite stripping and attempting to look under any flap on our clothing we somehow missed two of the little blood suckers. One we spotted crawling up my pant leg before we started driving which we quickly dispatched of but the second appeared on my knee while we were on Interstate 84. Heather attempted to get it into a container since there was nowhere for me to pull over at that moment but instead of going into the container it wound up on the floor and vanished (at least for the time being). For the rest of the drive we were on high alert watching for it to reappear.
We still had a second hike to do so after filling our gas tank (and searching in vain for the missing tick) we drove past Pendleton to a temporary trailhead along Bingham Springs Road (National Forest Road 32).
Severe flooding in February of 2020 washed out roads and trails in the area and work is still being done to repair the damage. We had actually planned on doing this trip in 2020 before the flooding (and COVID) and at that time were planning on camping at the Umatilla Forks Campground since our next three hikes all began within a half mile of the campground. Since that option was off the table staying in Pendleton (just 31 miles from the temporary trailhead) made the most sense.
After searching again for our missing tick we set off on the closed road which we followed for 1.2 miles to a fork at the far end of the campground where we turned up FR 045 for another 0.2 miles to a trailhead sign.
The road walk wasn’t all that bad as it followed the Umatilla River the whole way.
This was a popular spot with the butterflies, particularly swallowtails.
Swallowtails
Swallowtails
Lorquin’s admiral
A tortoiseshell
Dragon fly watching the butterflies
Approximately 3/4 of a mile from the gate we passed a sign for the North Fork Umatilla Trail which was our destination for the next day.
Just beyond the sign we crossed the North Fork Umatilla River.
Ouzel
FR 045 on the left.
Another gathering of butterflies
Three trails start at this trailhead, the Ninemile Ridge, Buck Creek, and Buck Mountain Trails.
Today’s plan was the Ninemile Ridge Trail. In the original plan this was the shortest of the three hikes with Sullivan listing it as a 7.2 mile out and back. Adding the road walk was going to add close to 3 miles round trip but the road walk was necessary for the other two hikes as well. We weren’t sure though how much of the trail we were going to be able to hike. While the Umatilla Forest Service listed all the trails in the area as open the most recent updates from late May 2021 indicated that only parts of the trails had been maintained since the flood damage. In the case of the Ninemile Ridge Trail the webpage stated that as of 5/20/21 the trail had not been logged out.
We headed uphill from the signboard a tenth of a mile to a 4-way junction.
Here the Ninemile Ridge Trail headed uphill to the left while the Buck Creek Trail was straight ahead and the Buck Mountain Trail was to the right. We turned uphill onto the Ninemile Ridge Trail and soon entered the North Fork Umatilla Wilderness for the first time.
It was evident fairly early on that some maintenance had been done since the last update on the webpage.
The trail climbed steeply through the forest at first but soon the trees gave way to open hillsides.
Grouse
Buckwheat
Ragged robin (Clarkia pulchella)
Lingering snow in the distance.
While manny of the flowers were well past there were quite a few ragged robins blooming and few other flowers at the lower elevations.
Ragged robins
Paintbrush
Yarrow
Bettles and a crab spider on rose
As the trail traversed up the hillside it passed through some forested gullies where some maintenance had been done to remove the worst obstacles while those that were more easily navigable were left for later.
Arnica
As we climbed the views kept getting better.
You might be able to make out the trail continuing up the far hillside.
Now on the far hillside heading for that small tree on the ridge end.
Looking back along the trail and at Ninemile Ridge.
Near the 2.25 mile mark from the trailhead signboard (3.6 from the temporary trailhead) we reached the ridge end and turned up Ninemile Ridge.
South Fork Umatilla River from near the ridge end.
Heading up to the ridge top.
Gaining the ridge and a view ahead of what’s to come.
From the turn at the ridge end it was another 1.8 miles to a cairn at the high point of Ninemile Ridge. The trail gained over 950′ in this stretch, often times in very steep sections. The steepness combined with the heat (it was a warm day) made for a challenging climb.
Balsamroot
Large-flower triteleia
A penstemon
Paintbrush and prairie smoke
Death camas
Turkey vulture checking to see if we were dead yet.
Ravens also interested in our carcasses.
An allium
There was a 20% chance of showers according to NOAA so these clouds forming weren’t a surprise.
A flat stretch along the ridge before another steep climb.
Buckwheat and Large-flower triteleia
Bush penstemon
The trail was actually down to the left but the ridge seemed like it would take less climbing.
Ball head sandwort?
Lupine
Paintbrush along the final climb.
A parsley and naked broomrape
Larkspur
Rosy pussytoes
The trail became suddenly overgrown near the high point and I left the trail and headed uphill cross-country to a cairn near the top.
Cairn on the right.
Heather had stopped a couple of climbs back under a tree unsure if she was going to attempt reaching the top or not. I wasn’t alone at the cairn though as I made friends with a local lizard.
Clouds starting to pass over.
High Ridge Lookout to the left
High Ridge Lookout
Looking back down Ninemile Ridge
I spotted Heather making her way up the trail again so I waited at the cairn for a while.
Heather making her way up.
I had just started down thinking that she may have balked at the final steep climb when I met her just below the start of the off trail climb to the cairn so back up we went. I was looking for more flowers to document.
Blue-eyed Mary and elegant mariposa lily
Slender phlox
A phacelia
Hoary balsamroot (most of it was way past)
Phlox
After a nice rest at the cairn we headed down under increasingly cloudy skies.
Spotted coralroot
Honeysuckle
A welcome. albeit brief, shower passed overhead as we were in one of the small forested sections of the trail.
Arnica and small flower miterwort
Twinflower
We were nearly out of water by the time we reached the road walk and wound up getting more from the Umatilla River before continuing on to our car. We had originally planned on a 9 to 10 mile day which we then had bumped up to 11 to 12 due to the road walk but the hike at Ninemile Ridge came in at 10.9 miles for me (I added a 1/4 mile coming down from the cairn to find Heather and go back up).
Add the 4.4 miles from the Cold Springs Wildlife Refuge and it came to a 15.3 mile day with 2200′ of elevation gain. It was also a lot later than we’d expected. We didn’t get back to the car until after 6:30pm (having left Salem at 5:00am) and it was close to 7:30pm when we finally checked into the Rugged Country Lodge in Pendleton. We did however finally find that missing tick. At some point, despite all our searching, it managed to get onto Heather’s back. I used our tick key to remove it and we kept it in a plastic container just in case but it couldn’t have been on there too long given the number of times we checked for it.
Despite that and a couple of other misadventures it was a good but tiring start to six straight days of hiking. Happy Trails!
We took this trail from the parking area to the North Ridge Trail where we turned right at a signboard.
Signboard along the North Ridge Trail at Woods Creek Road.
Iris
Near the half mile mark we ignored this pointer to the left. Looking at the map there are roads looping back to Woods Creek Road and also to Conner’s Camp but what their conditions are we don’t know.
Monkeyflower
Wren
Thimbleberry
Pacific coralroot
Anemones
Vanilla leaf along the trail.
Lots of vanilla leaf.
Douglas squirrel.
The higher we went the foggier it got.
Bench at the junction with the tie trail.
Some of the trillium still had petals.
Signboard for the overlook on the hillside to the right.
The junction from later in the morning with the Summit Trail heading uphill to the right and the East Ridge Trail down to the left.
Going to be a beargrass year.
Beargrass
Larkspur in the wet grass.
Paintbrush
Penstemon
Field chickweed
Parsley
Blue-eyed Mary
Ragwort in front of lupine that had yet to bloom.
Phlox
Lupine
Buttercups and larkspur
Heather hiding behind the summit signboard to try and keep out of the wind.
Lots of lupine yet to bloom.
As the name implies the Meadows Edge Trail occasionally entered the meadows before returning to the forest.
For a brief moment a bit of sunlight hit the forest and we thought maybe the sky would clear up.
Salmonberry bushes near Parker Creek.
Western meadowrue
Spur trail to the Mary’s Peak Campground.
Fairybells and star flower solomonseal
The sky was in fact not clearing up.
Bleeding heart and sourgrass.
Fawn lilies in the meadow.
Signs at the road junction.
The wet conditions were starting to really hinder picture taking at this point.
Striped coralroot
North Ridge Trail junction
Heather descending in the fog.
Cutleaf goldthread
Millipede
Is that some blue sky out there?
Not much but it is blue.
North Sister in the distance.
Penstemon
Chocolate lily
Sand lily
Paintbrush
Balsamroot
A Penstemon
Squirrel!
The penstemon really liked the cliff area.
Mt. Hood sighting.
Mt. Jefferson and Black Butte
Chipmunk
White breasted nuthatch
Golden mantled ground squirrel
Broken Top and the Three Sisters (bonus points for spotting the golden mantled ground squirrel)
Lewis flax at the overlook.
Buckwheat and penstemon
Whychus Creek below with the Three Sisters on the horizon.
Tam McArthur Rim (
South Sister
Middle and North Sister
Mt. Washington
Three Fingered Jack
Mt. Jefferson
Chickadee
Interpretive sign along the trail.
Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, and Black Butte
Afternoon photo of the start of the trail.
This section was so nice I did it twice.
Cottonwood Canyon State Park main area across the river.
One of the exceptions was mock orange which was blooming profusely along the trail.
Dalmation toadflax and yarrow.
Beetle on what might be hairy golden aster
A lupine
More mock orange along the trail.
Close up of the mock orange.
Butterfly on western clematis
This red winged blackbird cooperated for a photo op.
Salsify
Wild roses
We saw this viceroy on the way back to the car.
Magpie dive bombing a hawk.
Coming up on the second bench.
The otter or whatever it was was right in this area.
Cedar waxwings
The Pinnacles
Ducks
Esau Loop Trail sign.
Looking back at The Pinnacles from the Esau Loop Trail.
Unknown flower
Sagebrush mariposa lilies
The more open looking hillside to the right of the cliffs was deceptively steep so we followed the road to the left until the the terrain appeared more hospitable.
We set off from the roadbed here.
Have these gone to seed or blossoms?
Possibly a hawksbeard
Sagebrush mariposa lily
Found the fence line.
I took this photo at 10:35, it looks like I’m close to the top.
These two lizards beat us to the top.
The very top of Mt. Rainier was also visible (barely)
View SE
Descending into Esau Canyon on the jeep track.
Second climb over the fence.
Beetles on thistle.
Yarrow and lupine
Western meadowlark
The Lost Corral Trail where it passes the cliff at the ridge end.
Cottonwood Canyon State Park in the afternoon.
Kiosk and bench at the trailhead.
Tent caterpillars (and the red gate)
Mt. Washington and Black Butte (
Broken Top, The Three Sisters, Black Crater (
Whychus Creek was hidden by trees for the most part.
Balsamroot
Lupine
Paintbrush
A Penstemon
Western stoneseed
Sedum leibergii -Leiberg’s Stonecrop
Spreading stickseed
Western wallflower
Magpie playing hard to get.
Spotted towhee
Black-headed grossbeak
Ochre ringlet
Pair of bucks in Whychus Creek
Chokecherry
Star-flower false solomonseal
Trail junction at the 0.8 mile mark.
Spider on a wallflower.
Lewis flax
Heuchera cylindrica -roundleaf allumroot
Oregon sunshine
Buckwheat and penstemon
Sign post for the viewpoint.
Heading for the rock outcrop/viewpoint.
Middle and North Sister with Whychus Creek below.
A monkeyflower
Sand lilies
Trail sign in the distance for spur trail to the Santiam Wagon Road.
Death camas
Sagebrush false dandelions
Pinion jay
Mountain bluebird pair
Mourning dove
unidentified little songbird.
Lizard
Second type of lizard
Showy townsendia
Looking back up the dirt access road to the North Sister, Mt. Washington and Black Butte
The trailhead signboard.
Buckwheat
Rough eyelashweed
Yarrow
Fiddleneck
Largeflower hawksbeard
Purple cushion fleabane
Oregon sunshine
Blue mountain prairie clover
Lewis flax
Lupine
Bearded hawksbeard
Haven’t id this one yet.
The Three Sisters, Belknap Crater and Mt. Washington with some dancing clouds.
Whychus Creek Canyon
Love the different rock formations in the canyon.
Catchfly
Balsamroot
Paintbrush
Pretty sure this side creek was dry on our previous visit.
Whychus Creek at the ford.
Alder Springs
Columbine
A clarkia, possibly Lassen
Threadleaf phacelia
Unknown
Creek dogwood and a beetle covered in pollen
Grand Colloma
Deadly nightshade
Rose with crab spider
Dragon fly
Confluence of the Deschutes (left) and Whychus Creek (right).
Bald eagle
Cedar hairstreak
Turkey vulture
Mountain chickadee
Trailhead on McGrath Road.
A 300+ year old juniper named an Oregon Heritage Tree
Sagebrush, juniper and lava – my childhood 🙂
Tree blaze
Buckwheat
Ruts along the wagon road.
Skipper on Showy townsendia.
Post marking the relic fence line and turnaround point.
An old fence post and barbed wire.
Junipers are some interesting trees, they come in all shapes and sizes.
Mt. Hood partly obscured by clouds from the parking area.
Manzanita
Lupine
Mt. Hood again.
Jacob’s ladder
Red-flowering currant
Trillium (can you spot the crab spider?)
Sticky currant
Western larch tree and red-flowering currant on the left.
Larks spur and blue-eyed Mary
Columbine well before blooming.
Anemone
Largeleaf sandwort
Vanilla leaf getting ready to bloom.
Arnica
False solomons seal starting to bloom.
Star-flower false solomons seal prior to blooming.
Ballhead waterleaf
Ponderosa
Scarlet gilia not yet in bloom.
Balsamroot
Hood River Valley and Mt. St. Helens
Mt. St. Helens
Mt. Hood
Indian Mountain (
Western serviceberry
Fairy bells
Glacier lily
Shellrock Mountain from the trail.
First paintbrush of the day spotted in the little meadow.
User trail to the left.
Shellrock Badlands Basin, an eroded volcanic formation.
View east into Central Oregon.
Mt. Hood
Mill Creek Buttes with Lookout Mountain and Gunsight Butte (
Buckwheat
Bird below Shellrock Mountain.
A whole lot of trillium.
Fairy slippers
Sign at the trailhead.
parsley and popcorn flower.
Lupine
I frequently have insects hitching rides, so often that we joke about me being an Uber for bugs.
Rock out cropping in the Rim Rock section of trail.
Tailed kittentails
Western tanager female
Western tanager male
View from a rocky viewpoint just before crossing from the east side of the ridge back to the top.
Phlox
Hood River Valley
Clouds encroaching on Mt. Adams.
Mt. St. Helens
The other viewpoint had a better view.
The first roadbed crossing.
Violets
Trail signs at the second road crossing.
Coralroot sprouting
Balsamroot and paintbrush
Desert parsley
Western stoneseed
Wildflowers on the hillside.
Sign at the junction.
Spur trail to Yellowjacket Point.
No yellowjackets, just a robin.
Things like this gooseberry shrub.
Chipmunk
Townsend’s solitare?
12:40pm
12:50pm
1:00pm
1:30pm
2:04pm
Returning to the parking area at 2:11pm
Rough skinned newt
Monkeyflower
Thimbleberry
Wren below Golden Falls
Columbine
Ginger
Inside out flower
Iris
Anemone
Ouzel
Marshall’s saxifrage
Plectritis
Manroot
Stonecrop
Upper portion of Golden Falls.
Glenn Creek above Golden Falls.
Despite a cloudy morning they stayed high enough to not obstruct the view of the falls.
Epic battle between a rock and a tree.
Pacific waterleaf
Larkspur
Ouzel (might be the same one as earlier)
All the bridges had labels consisting of the first initial of the trail and then the bridge number making this the 4th bridge along the Middle Creek Trail.
Interesting seat.
That’s a fancy hat for a stump.
We saw a lot of rough skinned newts on the trails, but what we were really hopping for was a Pacific Giant Salamander. No luck there this time.
A few trillium still had petals.
Woodpecker
A hedgenettle
Tunnel Trail indeed.
Castilleja ambigua – Estuarine Paintbrush
End of the line.
South Slough
It was interesting to see how this uprooted tree peeled back a layer of the ground.
Rhoades Marsh
Sloughside Marsh
Rhododendron
Bleeding heart, fairy bells, and youth-on-age.
Cape Arago Lighthouse (not on Cape Arago) on Chiefs Island.
Salal
The group campsite.
Harbor seals in the lower right hand corner on the rocks.
Success!
Paintbrush
Sea thrift
Mariposa lilies
Iris
Former tennis courts.
View near the tennis courts.
These roots explain how some of the trees that look like they should be plunging into the ocean don’t.
Observation Building ahead on the cliff.
Prickly Rhubarb from Chile
Monkey Puzzle Tree from South America
The yet to bloom rose garden.
Looking back across Simpson Cove to the Observation Building.
Simpson Reef extending into the Pacific.
Shell Island in the middle of Simpson Reef.
Sea lions and juvenile bald eagles on Shell Island.
Harbor seals on the reef.
Coltsfoot
Woolly bear caterpillar
Looking back up the Pack Trail.
Plaque near the bench commermorating Sir Frances Drake’s visit to the area in 1579.
Our stalker while we sat at the bench hoping we would leave some food behind (we didn’t).
We thought we might be hearing things, but no it was a rooster crowing.
Stellar’s jay
North Cove (A trail down to that beach was closed for the season.)
Heading down.
Going up.
The Cape Arago Pack Trail at the highway.
Madia
Blue dicks
The poison oak trap in the afternoon.
Bridge over Billings Creek.
Del Norte iris
Tolmie’s mariposa lily
Douglas iris with insect.
More mariposa lilies (with a poison oak background)
Thimbleberry
The Rogue River from the trail during one of the climbs.
Henderson’s stars
One of dozens of lizards we saw (or heard).
Camas
Footbridge over Flea Creek
Oregon sunshine
Elegant brodiaea
Yarrow
Bindweed
Poppies
Clay Hill Lodge
Rafts in Clay Hill Rapids
Winecup clarkia
One of the dozens of photos I took trying to get the swallow tail in flight.
Thimbleberry
Salmonberry
McLeod Creek
One of the sharp turns.
Fairy bells
Columbine
Bleeding heart
Monkeyflower
Sourgrass
Star flower
Trillium
Star flower solomonseal
Twisted stalk
Wren – We heard lots of birds but didn’t see many of them.
Waterleaf
Marker for a fire scarred Douglas fir. According to the brochure the last major fire in the area was in the 1860s.
We had to climb over this big tree.
Looking at the bridge at the north end of the lake.
Canada geese
Cormorants flying above the lake.
Cormorant
Ring necked ducks
Rhododendron
Boardwalk at the south end of the lake.
Sparrow
Coming up on the bridge at the north end.
Yellow rumped warbler
Finch
The trail on the far side of the track.
One of three panels on a signboard at the start of the trails.
This bench is at the junction.
Sparrow near the junction.
Heading to the observation structure.
Looking toward Coos Bay along the Coos River.
McCullough Memorial Bridge spanning Coos Bay.
Wetlands from the end of the spur.
Bitter cherry
Crow
Turkey vulture
Cormorants overhead
Canada goose with goslings
Buttercups
Pale flax
Arriving back at the field.
Ground squirrel enjoying the view.
Twomile Creek
Shore bird in the creek.
Brass buttons (another non-native)
Whiskey Run Beach lay on the other side of the rocks with another parking area 0.8 further south.
A cormorant off Fivemile Point
View from the bench.
Coming up on the hollow trunk straight ahead.
wanderingyuncks 
![https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51186413813_b626e92da2_c.jpg"](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51186413813_b626e92da2_c.jpg"){kind=link}