Author: derwoodynck

Jordan Craters and Leslie Gulch – SE Oregon Vacation Day 3

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 18, 2018
4 Comments on Jordan Craters and Leslie Gulch – SE Oregon Vacation Day 3

After winding up in Caldwell, ID the at the end of day 2 of our vacation we had a bit of a longer drive for our two planned hikes for day 3. The drive to the turnoff for Jordan Craters would have been just over 8 miles but from Caldwell it was a little over 55 miles. Either way that still left 27 miles of gravel and dirt roads from Highway 95 to reach the craters. The first 24 of those miles were on decent gravel roads but then the route to the craters forked left onto a rough dirt road which we followed for a mile and a half to another fork. Here we were met with a sign warning recommending 4 wheel drive vehicles only.

We decided we’d had enough of the rough roads and chose to hike the rest of the way down to the trailhead. There hadn’t been any rain in the forecast but it looked like there were some showers passing through the area.

From the road we had a good view of the 27 square mile lava flow as well as the trailhead next to Coffee Pot Crater.

As we made our way down the road we spotted a chukar and a rabbit.

When we reached the trailhead we followed a path to the right of Coffee Pot Crater.

The path led around the crater first passing a rounded cinder hill then more rugged lava rocks.

The lava flow extended south from the crater in various patterns.

As we made our way around we were soon able to see inside the 150 foot crater which was much larger than either of us had expected.

Swallows and blue birds flew in and out of the crater occasionally landing on its rim.

As we continued around we passed a smaller pit and several openings in the lava.

After just .3 miles we arrived at a scramble trail down a red cinder slope into Coffee Pot Crater.

The path was fairly steep with loose rock but we made our way down carefully and explored the inside of the crater.

After wandering around inside the crater we climbed back out and headed cross country toward a visible channel in the lava.

We followed this crack across the lava to its end near a pit where an owl startled us by suddenly appearing out of the pit and flying off further down the lava.

Heather spotted a marmot that was not able to fly off.

Just a bit further away was a second pit which we headed for. I got there first and started taking pictures.

As Heather neared the owl reappeared only this time flying in my general direction. I was able to take a few pictures as it flew by to parts unknown.

After admiring the second pit we headed back for the trail. More marmots watched us from the edge of the lava.

We were briefly back on the rim of the crater but then left the trail again to get an up close look at a row of splatter cones that extended uphill toward the road.

We had decided that after visiting the splatter cones we would just continue cross country uphill back to the road eliminating a little distance. In all there were seven cones varying in size and shape.

We followed the road back to our car and returned to Highway 95 where we headed north toward our next stops for the day at Leslie Gulch.

The hike at Jordan Craters had only been 3.8 miles even with the road walk so we had plenty of energy left for additional hikes and Leslie Gulch offered numerous opportunities. For our visit we planned on hiking into at least four of the explorable gulches. We decided to start at the western most gulch and work our way back east toward the highway. The gravel road to Leslie Gulch was easily the best of the roads we would take to trailheads while in the area and the scenery along the route was spectacular making this a worthwhile visit even if you aren’t planning on hiking.

We drove to the end of Leslie Gulch Road and parked near Slocum Campground near the boat ramp for the Owyhee Reservoir.

The trail into Slocum Gulch is not an official trail but it was easily identifiable at first.

Wildlife and wildflowers accentuated the views but it was the rock formations that were the stars.

The trail grew fainter the further we went but we managed to go a little over 1.25 miles before turning around and heading for our next stop at Timber Gulch. This was another gulch with no official trail but there was a small pullout 2.35 miles from the Slocum Campground where we parked. From the pullout we followed another clear trail into Timber Gulch.

Despite the proximity to Slocum Gulch the scenery here was quite different with more “honeycomb” rocks and even some different flowers.

The trail ended in an amphitheater of rocks with sweeping views.
20180611_134720

The hike up Timber Gulch was only 1.3 miles round trip but it was packed with scenery. After Timber Gulch we drove just 1.25 miles further back up Leslie Gulch Road to the signed Juniper Gulch Trail.

This wound up being a 1.8 mile hike with a little loop in the middle when we forked right where we should have stayed straight. Some minor scrambling up some rocks got us back on course though. This trail featured rock overhangs that we passed under and was also the only trail that we encountered other hikers on the entire trip after being at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge Headquarters.

Beyond the overhangs (and once we were back on the correct path) the trail led up to a knoll with some impressive views.

Our last stop in Leslie Gulch was at Dago Gulch, a mile from Juniper Gulch.

Here we followed an old roadbed for a mile to private land.

Although this gulch didn’t have quite as many impressive rock formations as the other gulches it had its share and it also had a lot of butterflies and cicadas.

We had considered also hiking into Upper Leslie Gulch on a .3 mile trail there but it had gotten really warm and after five hikes we were ready to head back to Caldwell to get cleaned up and cool off. On the way back to the highway we spotted a burrowing owl atop some sagebrush along McBride Road. It flew up on some rocks when we stopped but I was able to get a somewhat blurry photo of the little guy before we drove on.

It was a long day with just under six hours of hiking and almost seven and a half hours of driving but the sights had been worth it. We grabbed a fast food dinner back in Caldwell and turned in for the evening looking forward to what the next day had in store. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Jordan Craters and Leslie Gulch

Tags Burrowing Owl, Butterfly, Coffee Pot Crater, Dago Gulch, Great horned owl, hiking, Jordan Craters, Juniper Gulch, Leslie Gulch, marmot, Oregon, Slocum Gulch, Timber Gulch

Hiking Oregon SE Oregon Trip report

Malheur Wildlife Refuge, Diamond Craters, and the Peter French Round Barn – SE Oregon Vacation Day 2

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 18, 2018
7 Comments on Malheur Wildlife Refuge, Diamond Craters, and the Peter French Round Barn – SE Oregon Vacation Day 2

Day 2 of our SE Oregon vacation was set to be more of a driving day as we headed from Bend to our next destination which we had originally intended to be Jordan Valley. Instead we ended the day in Caldwell, Idaho but we’ll get to that later.

When I was planning this trip I was looking for a hike between Bend and Jordan Valley to do along the way. We had done the Oregon Badlands twice (post post) and Pine Mountain (post) previously. These were the only hikes that were listed in our “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” guidebook but the travel guide for Burns pointed us toward the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Having reopened after the occupation we were eager to visit the refuge and show our support for our Public Lands.

We left Bend bright and early and drove east on Highway 20 to Burns then followed signs to the refuge. We were quickly rewarded when we spotted a prong horn with two little ones in tow.

We suspended some of our usual rules for this trip such as taking some photos from the car of wildlife and having our driving time exceed our hiking time several of the days, but when you’re that far from home you have to be flexible. We did plan on doing a little hiking on our visit to the refuge though so we parked at the Overlook Trail just beyond the turnoff for the park headquarters.

The headquarters lay a half mile below the overlook which looked out over Malheur Lake in the distance.

We followed the trail down to the headquarters.

It was a beautiful morning and the headquarters was full of birds, ground squirrels and even a rabbit.

Rabbit behind the plants

We stopped in the visitors center where a helpful volunteer gave us several brochures and told us about the 43 mile auto-tour as well as mentioning the Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area and the Peter French Round Barn State Heritage Site. These last two sites aren’t part of the refuge but they were along the route we’d be taking to Jordan Valley so she recommended we stop and check them out. After getting this helpful information we walked over to the Museum.

The small building held a wealth of information as well as displays of the birds, bats and many of the insects that can be seen at the refuge. We spent quite a while there before moving on to the short Marsh Trail.

We stopped in the photo blind and even though there weren’t many birds on the water we did see a pair of horned grebes.

After completing the short loop we visited the gift shop. While we were inside I happened to look out the window and noticed something in the grass. I thought it was a cat but the fur didn’t look right, then it turned it’s head and I realized it was a great horned owl.

By the time I got Heather it had disappeared. From the gift shop we returned to the Overlook Trail and climbed back to our car. Before we reached the Overlook Trail though we spotted a Lewis’s Woodpecker sitting on a post.

When we got back to where we had parked we noticed that we could see Steens Mountain off to the SE. This was our first time viewing the 50 mile long fault block mountain.

Based on the information given to us in the visitors center we decided to do part of the 42 mile auto tour. There are 19 “stops” along the route. We picked up the route from the Overlook Trail (which is stop 1) and started down the gravel road. Sign posts marked the suggested stops that corresponded with the brochure given to us at the headquarters.
Stop 2 – Sod House Ranch

We followed the route for 15.8 miles passing stops 2-8. The wildlife were the stars of the drive though as we spotted various birds and several deer including three bucks near the crossing of the Blitzen River.
American Coot

White Faced Ibis

Cormorants

Yellow Warbler?

Western Meadowlark

After stop 8 (Buena Vista Ponds) we turned right toward stop 9 which is the Buena Vista Overlook. Here there was an option to hike up to the overlook on a .3 mile trail.

We chose this option and headed uphill through the sagebrush where we spotted a northern flicker and a bullock’s oriole.

From the parking area on top we followed a gravel path to the overlook.

We had forgotten to bring our binoculars up with us so we had to settle for listening to the birds below in the ponds.

Once again Steens Mountain was visible on the horizon.

We hiked down the road to make a 1.1 mile loop out of the hike and then left the auto tour which would have had us back track to where we turned off and continue south to Frenchglen. Instead we drove west to Highway 205 and turned left for 1.9 miles to Diamond Lane. Here we turned left crossing the auto tour route at stop 10 (Diamond Lane) and continued east for a total of 10 miles to a sign for the Diamond Craters Auto Tour Stops 5-11.

Prior to speaking with the volunteer at the refuge we had not planned on stopping here and had little information other than the small brochure she’d given us. We parked at a signboard where the one map had been vandalized.

We decided to give hiking a try and followed a path toward Crater 5 aka Big Bomb Crater.

The trail petered out near the bowl so we backtracked to where we’d parked and decided to hike up the road a bit to the next crater which was ahead on our right. We passed a few small desert flowers along the way before reaching a view of the crater known as the Keyhole Explosion Crater.

The road had split before we had arrived at this crater and ahead it continued to climb uphill.

Not knowing what lay ahead we opted to avoid the climb in the heat of the day and headed back to the split where we took the left hand fork to another crater, the Lava Point Crater.

A marmot was admiring this crater when we arrived.

We ended our hike here and returned to our car. A short 1.7 mile jaunt had given us a sample of what the Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area had to offer. We hope to go back some day with better information and visit more of the area.

After leaving the area we continued NE on what had started as Diamond Lane then become Lava Beds Road and was now Diamond Craters Road. Just over six and a half miles from where we’d parked we turned right at a sign for the Peter French Round Barn State Heritage Area.

We skipped the visitors center here and headed straight for the round barn.

Information signs told the story of this unique structure and of Peter French who had amassed quite an empire before being shot.

While there are no trails at this park we did walk around and through the barn.

It was another interesting and worthwhile stop. From the Round Barn we continued on to Highway 78 where we turned right following it to Highway 95 where we turned left toward Jordan Valley. As we got closer to Jordan Valley we began to talk ourselves into possibly staying in Marsing, ID instead thinking that it was a larger city and might have amenities that we wouldn’t have in Jordan Valley such as cell coverage. By the time we passed the loan motel in Jordan Valley we had pretty much made up our minds to continue on to Marsing thinking that it was only 20 miles to the north. That was a miscalculation as it was actually close to 50 miles further and when we did finally get cell reception we found that there were no real options in Marsing for places to stay. We had to continue on for another 15 miles to Caldwell, ID where we wound up staying in a hotel just off I84 which we had been on the day before when we’d driven from Salem to the Deschutes Recreation Area.

It had turned into a long day of driving with three short hikes and a couple of stops mixed in. We decided to stay in Caldwell for two nights and then go back to our original plan of staying in Jordan Valley. Things were really shaping up for this to be one adventurous vacation. Happy Trails!

Flickr: SE Oregon Road Trip Day 2

Tags American Coot, Buena Vista Overlook, Diamond Craters, Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area, hiking, Jordan Valley, Malheur Auto Tour, Malheur Lake, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon, Peter French, Peter French Round Barn, Round Barn, White Faced Ibis

Columbia River Gorge South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Lower Deschutes River – SE Oregon Vacation Day 1

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 18, 2018
4 Comments on Lower Deschutes River – SE Oregon Vacation Day 1

It’s been awhile since our last post but we have a good excuse, we were busy hiking. Eight straight days of hiking in fact. 😊

For the last two years we’ve had plans to visit SE Oregon in May but each time our vacation week arrived so did rain in the forecast. Since May wasn’t working out we decided to give June a try. A dry Spring had things looking promising but a system moved in at the end of the week prior to our leaving that had us a little worried. There was rain in the Willamette Valley (and snow in Cascades) but our destinations looked like they would escape mostly dry. At least dry enough that we could rearrange a few of our planned hikes to let things dry a bit before attempting the drives that would be impassible if wet.

Before we could even attempt those hikes we had to get to SE Oregon. Conventional wisdom would have had us driving through Bend via Santiam Pass but we aren’t conventional. First the Sisters Rodeo was happening which meant even more traffic than usual in that little town. More importantly we wanted to squeeze a hike in on the way to Bend were we planned to stay with Heather’s parents again.

Following up on our recent hike along the Deschutes River at Macks Canyon (post) we decided to kick off our eight days of hiking at the Deschutes River Recreation Area near the mouth of the river. From Salem we drove north to Portland and took Interstate 84 ten miles east of The Dalles to the park. It seems a bit odd to kick off a SE Oregon vacation with a hike near the northern border of the State, but it’s a hike we hadn’t done yet and it was sort of on the way.

We parked at the end of the park and walked across a grassy area to a trail sign at the far end where we followed a pointer for the River Trail.

Unlike the trail at Macks Canyon, the River Trail stayed close to the water.

We stayed right at junctions sticking to the River Trail where we passed several groups of Canada geese.

The trail did climb away from the river to cross over a rocky area at the 1.5 mile mark.

Pigeons kept an eye on us as we passed the rocky cliffs and a family of mergansers sat on a rock in the river below.

The trail improved again beyond the rocks and it passed below a rock arch.

A short distance beyond the arch we passed Rattlesnake Rapids.

Up to this point we’d seen a few flowers and an interesting dragon fly.

Showy milkweed

Chicory

Blanket flower

After 3 miles on the River Trail we passed by a 10 acre wheat field.

At the far end of the wheat field we followed an old dirt roadbed uphill to a gravel road where we turned right, crossed small Gordon Creek and veered right again on another dirt roadbed down to a primitive camp site.

After checking out a small beach where one could wade in the river we headed back to the gravel road.

The road led up to the same old railroad grade that we had followed on our hike at Macks Canyon.

Here the grade is in good shape and used by bicyclists as well as hikers.

We followed the old railroad grade for a mile and a half from the primitive camp to a signboard.

The unmarked Ferry Springs Trail led off to the right a little before the sign and use paths to the left of the sign led to a view of the rock arch from above.

After checking out the arch we took the Ferry Springs Trail uphill.

This trail gained nearly 500′ as it climbed up and then traversed the hillside above the Deschutes River.

As we gained elevation we also gained more wildflowers, primarily yellow blanket flower and purple lupine.

Just over three quarters of a mile along this trail we came to Ferry Springs where we crossed a brushy creek.

A lizard greeted us on the far side of the creek.

The trail then passed a less than informative sign and passed through an old fence.

Beyond the fence the trail began to descend back down toward the river. From here we had a good view of the river’s confluence with the Columbia.

Near the end, the trail follows a section of the Oregon Trail.

After almost 1.75 miles on the Ferry Springs Trail we arrived back at the railroad grade. Here we had the choice of following it back to the parking area or continuing on hiker only trails. We opted for the hiker trail and flowed a pointer on the far side of the bike path.

This trail traversed the hillside between the River Trail and the bike path and brought us back to the start of the River Trail in just under three quarters of a mile.

The hike came in just over 8 miles which was a nice way to start a week of hiking. It had been pretty windy (not unusual for the area) but the rain had stayed to the west which we took as an encouraging sign for the rest of our trip. We left the Deschutes and headed east to Biggs Junction where we took Highway 97 south to Bend and had a nice visit with Heather’s parents before heading further east (and south) for more adventures. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Lower Deschutes River

Tags Columbia River, Deschutes River, Deschutes River Recreation Area, deschutes river trail, Ferry Springs Trail, hiking, Merganser, Oregon, Oregon Trail, Rattlesnake Rapids, Rock Arch

Bend/Redmond Bull of the Woods/Opal Creek Central Oregon Hiking Mt. St. Helens Newberry Crater Old Cascades Oregon Throwback Thursday Trip report Washington Washington Cascades

Throwback Thursday – Odds and Ends

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 7, 2018
4 Comments on Throwback Thursday – Odds and Ends

With this Throwback Thursday post we will have covered all the trails that we hiked prior to starting this blog and have not been part of a subsequent hike that was featured here. We are combining several hikes in one for a couple of reasons. The remaining hikes were all relatively short, some we have few if any pictures, and one was done on the same day that we did another hike that we did again after we started the blog.

Many of our earliest hikes were centered around Bend, OR and were part of vacations prior to 2010 when we first started to be serious about hiking. These were hikes of opportunity more than conscious efforts to go on a hike.

One such was the 3 mile loop around Suttle Lake. We were staying at one of the cabins at the Suttle Lake Resort and decided to take the trail around the lake. The level hike offered views of the lake and of bald eagles and osprey as they soared over the lake watching for fish. On that hike we didn’t even carry a camera.

Another camera-less but worthwhile hike was the Lava River Cave. This mile long lava tube south of Bend is a great stop for kids and adults and can easily be combined with a visit to nearby Lava Lands or the High Desert Museum.

In 2007, while in Bend on vacation in July, we hiked up Pilot Butte. A mile long trail in the middle of town leads up to the top of the 4148′ summit which offers view on a clear day north to Mt. Adams in Washington.
Mountain locator on Pilot Butte

It was a bit hazy during this visit but the snowy peaks of the Cascades from Mt. Bachelor to the Three Sisters were still visible.
Mt. Bachelor, Tumalo Mt., Ball Butte, Broken Top, and the Three Sisters

On that same trip we took a stroll along the Deschutes River Trail from the Mt. Bachelor Village upriver to a footbridge and returned on a loop via Reed Market Road.

Geese on the Deschutes River

Scarlet gilia

Deer along the Deschutes River Trail in Bend, OR

Deschutes River

Grand Collomia

The hikes weren’t all in Central Oregon. On 7/27/2009 we completed the 1.8 mile round trip to Henline Falls from the Henline Falls Trailhead. The trail is approximately 45 minutes east of Salem and features an old mine shaft near the waterfall.

Abandoned mine shaft

Abandonded mine shaft

We also started up the nearby Henline Mountain Trail (trailhead) that day but were not in decent enough shape to make it very far.

The final short hike along Lava Canyon near Mt. St. Helens was done after our first hike to Ape Canyon on 9/17/2012. We went back to Ape Canyon in 2015 (post) but that time we did Ape Cave for the other hike.

After finishing our Ape Canyon hike in 2012 we walked from the Ape Canyon Trailhead .25 miles to the Lava Canyon Trailhead.
Trail map near Lava Canyon

A .4 mile trail leads down to the start of a short half mile loop.
Lava Canyon Trail sign

We stayed left at the start of the loop staying on the west side of the Muddy River. A footbridge led across the river above Lava Canyon Falls which was below the trail but mostly obscured.
Lava Canyon Trail sign at the start of the loop

Lava Canyon Falls

Just .2 miles from the first bridge the loop crosses the river on a suspension bridge.
Suspension Bridge over Lava Canyon

Suspension Bridge over Lava Canyon

Upstream from the suspension bridge the Muddy River careens down Triple Falls.

A .3 mile trail returns to the footbridge along the river along the eastern bank.
Muddy River

Muddy River

Upper Lava Canyon Falls

Henline Falls, Henline Mountain, and Lava Canyon are all in our future plans and reliving these and all our other Throwback Thursday hikes has been a lot of fun. Even though the information is dated hopefully they have provided some additional ideas for places to visit here in the Pacific Northwest. As always check with the managing agencies for current trail conditions before heading out. Happy Trails!

Tags Bend, deschutes river trail, Henline Falls, Henline Mountain, hiking, Lava Canyon, Lava River Cave, Mt. St. Helens, Oregon, Pilot Butte, Suttle lake, Washington

Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Salmon River Overnight

For our first overnight outing of 2018 we chose the Salmon River Trail which we had previously visited on August 30, 2015. (post) That hike included approximately 3.5 miles of the 14 mile trail from the west trailhead. This time we would start from the east trailhead with our plan being to set up camp somewhere along the trail then continue to same viewpoint where we had turned around on our previous visit to complete the trail.

Before we could start our hike though we needed to get some water since the city of Salem’s water had been testing positive for a toxin. We stopped at the Trillium Lake picnicking area on our way to the trailhead and filled our packs there. We didn’t take the time to visit the lake since we were on a mission to start hiking but we did stop again on they way home to see the lake and its view of Mt. Hood.

After filling up on water we continued to the trailhead where we were the only vehicle. The trailhead also serves as the north trailhead for the Jackpot Meadows Trail.

We took the signed Salmon River Trail and headed downhill.

The trail descended in the first quarter mile to a footbridge over Mud Creek which flows from Trillium Lake.

This was the only creek crossing with an official bridge. Over the next mile and a half the trail would cross Fir Tree Creek three separate times.
1

Between the first and second crossings the trail passed a now abandoned section of trail that led up to the Dry Fir Trail.

It also passed through some nice forest with rhododendron beginning to bloom along with a little beargrass.

Beyond the third crossing of Fir Tree Creek we entered the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness and passed through a variety of scenery.

The trail also crossed more creeks.

We had passed a few possible campsites but felt they were too close to the trailhead, but after 5.5 miles we came to a junction with the Linney Creek Trail.

We had spotted some potential campsites along the Salmon River from above just before the junction so we turned down the Linney Creek Trail to check them out.

The remnants of an old bridge could be seen on the far side of the Salmon River where the Linney Creek Trail used to cross.

There was a nice large established campsite here which we claimed and set up camp.

After getting set up we switched to our day packs and climbed the short distance back up to the Salmon River Trail and continued west. For the next three miles the trial continued above the Salmon River to a junction with the Kinzel Lake Trail. We began seeing more flowers along this stretch and also saw the first of two garter snakes for the day.

Shortly before reaching the Kinzel Lake Trail we crossed Kinzel Creek which had a small waterfall visible through trees.

Kinzel Lake Trail

The flower display continued to improve beyond the Kinzel Lake junction with the rhodies now in full bloom.

Spotted coralroot

Paintbrush and plectritis

We also passed our first other person of the day when we spotted another backpacker camped near Goat Creek. A bit over a half mile beyond Goat Creek the trail entered a grassy area with the first real viewpoint of the day.

We turned out toward the viewpoint where we found more flowers and a limited view of the Salmon River below.

Larkspur

Field chickweed

We knew from our 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon guidebook that there was a series of three viewpoints along this section of trail. The third of which (coming form the east) being the only one we had visited on our previous hike. After the first viewpoint we passed by what appeared to be a use trail and kept going for a moment before deciding to go back and make sure this wasn’t the route to the middle viewpoint. It was not, but what it turned out to be was the very steep, rugged scramble to an overlook of Frustration Falls.

We were aware that there was a use trail to a view of these falls and originally had no intention of seeking it out. We lucked out in that the conditions were perfect on this day so the trail was not wet or muddy which could make it extra slick. It was slick enough just due to the steepness and loose rocks so we relied heavily on our poles. In all the trail lost around 350 feet in less than a quarter mile. This was definitely not a trail for everyone and anyone wishing to attempt it does so at their own risk. With that said we were happy to have accidentally stumbled on the trail and sat next to a small creek with it’s own fall for a bit admiring the thundering cataract below.

Cliffs along the hillside above the Salmon River

After the break we struggled back up the scramble path.

Shortly after being back on the Salmon River Trail we came to the actual middle viewpoint which didn’t have a view of the river at all just up and down the forested canyon.

Another quarter mile brought us to the start of a familiar small loop around the final viewpoint area.

This was as far as we’d come from the west end of the trail and meant that we had now covered the entire Salmon River Trail. The grassy viewpoint here was full of June flowers which would be long gone at the end of August.

The view was quite a bit different too.

Salmon River Canyon

We finished the .4 mile loop and started back for camp. We had run into a few more hikers since Goat Creek but by the time we got back to the campsites along that creek we had passed them all. We saw one additional hiker between Goat Creek and the Kinzel Lake Trail then not another soul on the rest of the backpacking trip.

We got back to camp a quarter to five and relaxed for the rest of the evening. I had figured that it could be a 16 mile day if we decided to camp near Linney Creek, but I hadn’t figured in the side trips to viewpoints, the scramble trail down to the Frustration Falls view, or the hike up and down the Linney Creek Trail to the campsite. At the end of the day we’d covered closer to 18 miles so we were pretty well pooped. We were however excited to try out some new pieces of gear including an Enlightened Equipment quilt that Heather had recently purchased and for me it was a Thermarest Air Head pillow.

We were both pleased with our new gear and after a good nights sleep at what turned out to be a great campsite we were up at 5am ready to hike back to the trailhead. Even though we had hiked those same 5.5 miles the previous day we managed to spot some candy sticks starting to sprout that we’d missed on our way by the first time.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post we stopped by Trillium Lake on the way home where we got some more water and took a look at the lake. This time we paid a $5 day use fee that attendants were collecting, apparently we were there early enough the day before that the attendants weren’t yet out. We figured we’ve paid $5 for two bottles of water before so why not.

Were looking forward to more overnight trips in the next several months and this was a great trial run for the new gear. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Salmon River Overnight

Tags backpacking, frustration falls, hiking, Jackpot Meadows Trail, Kinzel Creek, Linney Creek Trail, Mt. Hood, Mud Creek, Oregon, salmon river, salmon river trail, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, Trillium Lake

Bull of the Woods/Opal Creek Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Throwback Thursday Trip report

Throwback Thursday – Little North Santiam River

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 31, 2018
2 Comments on Throwback Thursday – Little North Santiam River

**Note the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire burned the area covered by this hike.**

Our Throwback Thursday hike this week was the first time that we experienced snowfall while on a trail. In early April of 2012 we headed to the Little North Santiam, West Trailhead for what we hoped would be a 9 mile out-and-back hike along the Little North Santiam River.
Little North Santiam Trail sign

The area has become so popular on summer weekends that in June 2017 the Forest Service put several restrictions in place (information). Most of the issues have been north bank of the river which is easily accessed by car. Even in 2012 we knew to avoid the warm days of summer so we were there on a cold, wet Spring morning ready to go.
Little North Santiam Trail sign

Little North Santaim Trail

The Little North Santiam Trail led through a green forest along the Little North Santiam River.
Winter Creek

Little North Santaim River

Several side paths led down to the clear water.
Little North Santaim River

Little North Santaim River

Low clouds provided a light drizzle but we could see high enough up the hillside to see that snow level wasn’t all that much more above us.
Snowy trees not too much higher up

After crossing Winter Creek the trail climbed away from the river as it passed through a narrow canyon.
Little North Santaim Trail

Little North Santaim River

After passing the canyon the trail descended back down to the river through a mossy green forest.
Little North Santaim Trail

Forest along the Little North Santaim Trail

Little North Santaim River

At the 3.3 mile mark we passed above the Three Pools which are emerald pools in the river separated by small falls.
Little North Santaim River

Little North Santaim River

A little beyond the Three Pools the trail crosses Little Cedar Creek on a footbridge only the footbridge had been washed out over the winter and the creek was flowing high enough and fast enough to make the thought of fording unattractive. We were only about half a mile from the eastern trailhead but had to turn back.

As we headed back it began to snow.
Snow falling on the Little North Santaim River

Snow falling on the Little North Santaim River

It was coming down steadily and beginning to stick.
Snow along the Little North Santiam Trail

Snow falling on the Little North Santaim River

Things looked quite a bit different at the high point of the trail when we passed over on the way back.
Little North Santaim Trail

Fresh snow on the Little North Santiam Trail

As we descended the amount of snow lessened but it still made for some beautiful scenery.
Snow on the Little North Santaim River

There was even a bit of snow at the trailhead when we got back.
Fresh snow at the Little North Santiam Trailhead

The snow had surprised us and we were a little nervous at first about being able to see the trail, which was unfounded but we hadn’t hiked in snow like that before. It wound up being an exceptionally beautiful hike though and so much nicer than it would have been with hundreds of people swimming in the river. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Little North Santiam River

Tags hiking, Little Cedar Creek, Little North Santiam River, Little North Santiam Trail, Oregon, Snow, Three Pools, Winter Creek

Bend/Redmond Hiking Oregon

Black Butte – Memorial Day 2018

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 31, 2018
13 Comments on Black Butte – Memorial Day 2018

On Memorial Day we headed home from Bend and stopped to revisit a hike that we first did on October 14, 2013 (post). We covered the trailhead and route in that trip report. This entry will focus on what we saw this time around. On our previous visit the forecast had been for clear, sunny skies but what we got was a sheet of grey clouds that obscured most of the mountain views we’d hoped for. This time around things were much different.

We set off a little after 6am from the lower trailhead and headed through the forest which was a little greener in May than it had been in October.

There was some yellow clumps of balsamroot blooming along the lower trail and we also saw a little red paintbrush.

Caterpillars were busy munching on leaves but they weren’t the only insects on the plants.

We spotted a few ticks on the ends of plants and I had to flick a couple off my pants along the way.

There had been one other vehicle at the lower trailhead that morning and we found two more at the upper trailhead when we arrived there just after 7:30am.

From the upper trailhead the trail was significantly wider and we had no tick issues along this 2 mile stretch. There were however a fair number of flowers blooming including quite a bit of larkspur that for some reason I was unable to take a clear photo of. Several others proved a little more photogenic.

When I was going through the photos on the computer I noticed a little spider that had posed near a violet.

It was a beautifully sunny day and the birds were out in force singing their morning songs.

We had left the upper trailhead before the hikers in one of the two cars and we passed the owners of the other car as well as the car that had been parked at the lower trailhead on their way back down from the summit so we had the top part of Black Butte to ourselves as we finished our climb.

Our whole reason for redoing this hike had been for the missed mountain view and we were not disappointed. We had been seeing them for much of the hike but the view is never better than from the top.
The old lookout tower with Broken Top and the Three Sisters

Belknap Crater & Mt. Washington

Mt. Washington & Three Fingered Jack with the old cupola lookout

Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams

IMG_4715_stitch

It was definitely a stark contrast from the previous visit.

Cupola style lookout on Black Butte

We had the summit to ourselves for just a bit before the next hiker arrived. We took that as our queue to begin our descent and headed back down. We had not seen more than two people during any of our other hikes that weekend but on our way down we passed a steady stream of folks heading up to the summit. Most had started at the upper trailhead but there were a surprising number of hikers tackling the over 3000′ climb from the lower trailhead as well. Either way the views were more than worth it. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Black Butte 2018

Tags black butte, Black Butte Summit, hiking, Lower Black Butte Trailhead, Oregon, Upper Black Butte Trailhead

Hiking Oregon Rogue-Umpqua Divide

Muir Creek Loop – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 31, 2018
8 Comments on Muir Creek Loop – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

We had planned our most adventurous hike of Memorial Day weekend for Sunday. The goal was a long loop into the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness, one of the wilderness areas we had yet to visit in our outings. Our intended route was to begin at the Muir Creek Trailhead and complete a 15.5 mile loop described by William Sullivan in his Southern Oregon & Northern California guidebook (Hike #37 in the 2017 4th edition). We were pushing the envelope a bit by attempting the loop this early in the year given that the route would take us to an elevation just over 6000′. A May 8, 2015 variation of the loop by fellow hiker Van Marmot appeared to have been snow free (trip report). That was an extremely low snow year and although this years snow pack was well below normal it isn’t nearly as bad as it was in 2015. We hoped the extra two weeks in timing would at least make what snow might be left passable. We figured the worst case scenario would be that we would hike up the creek as far as possible and make it an out-and-back if necessary.

With plans A & B at the ready we left Bend a bit before 5am and were ready to set off on the Muir Creek Trail by 6:45.

It was a crisp 35 degrees as we set off through the forest. We were soon climbing over and around a good deal of blowdown.

It wasn’t long before we began getting our first views of the meadows along Muir Creek.

We were on the lookout for wildlife in the meadows as well as any sign of where the abandoned portion of the Meadow Creek Trail might drop us back onto the Muir Creek Trail if we were indeed able to complete the loop. We expected that junction to be somewhere near the one mile mark but never noticed anything that looked like it might be the old trail. Beyond the one mile mark we encountered what appeared to be a somewhat recently eroded section of trail.

Just under a mile and a half from the trailhead we came to a beautiful view of Muir Creek as it flowed through a meadow.

Just beyond the viewpoint we passed a nice patch of white lupine along the trail.

Then we came to Alkali Creek which proved to be a little challenging to get across dry footed but we managed to find a fairly dry route.

The trail spent most if its time in the forest but occasional openings in the trees provided meadow views and at one point we spotted a pair of deer nibbling on some bushes.

Roughly two and three quarter miles from the trailhead we spotted East Fork Muir Creek Falls. Here we also saw the only other people we would see along the trail all day, a couple of backpackers who had set up camp near the falls.

Beyond the falls the trail continued up along West Fork Muir Creek briefly joining OHV Trail 27.

We left the OHV Trail at a bridge over the creek after a couple tenths of a mile.

We were now on the Buck Canyon Trail which began at road 6560/190 on the other side of the bridge at the Buck Canyon Trailhead.

Approximately a quarter mile from the bridge we came to the first of two bridgeless crossings of the creek. We searched to no avail for a place where we could cross without getting wet and eventually decided to ford the creek which was only calf deep but it was cold.

A quarter mile later we were faced with a similar situation and plunged through the icy water again.

In a small meadow we found some tall mountain bluebells beginning to bloom and a butterfly who appeared to be waiting for the flowers.

The meadows increased as we officially entered the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness.

We soon entered Hummingbird Meadows which had a nice display of yellow glacier lilies.

We also spotted a coyote here and watched it run off into the forest and disappear. A total of 5.3 miles from the Muir Creek Trailhead we passed the signed Hummingbird Meadows Trail.

The trail continued to the large and scenic Hummingbird Meadows as it climbed gradually up Buck Canyon.

The meadows continued for a mile and a half from the Hummingbird Meadows Trail to a junction with the Wiley Camp Trail which the Forest Service Website currently lists as “area is unavailable”.

Near the upper end of the meadows we began seeing some decent amounts of snow.

We also spotted a dreaded mylar balloon which we packed out.

At the junction there was no sign for the Wiley Camp Trail but there was one for the Buck Canyon Trail pointing toward the Meadow Creek Trail (which was still quite a ways away).

Shortly after passing the Wiley Camp Trail we came to Devils Slide, a half mile long rock-slide.

We stopped to visit a small waterfall next to the rocks.

After passing Devils Slide the trail entered an upper meadow.

Here we found some large patches of marsh marigolds.

A brief stint in the trees led us to more blowdown and another small waterfall.

Then we were back in a meadow but this time there was quite a bit more snow.

A few phlox and avalanche lilies bloomed here.

We lost the trail in the snow as we left the meadow and entered the trees.

For the next couple of miles we played find the trail due to the lingering snow. There was enough left that it made things challenging but not impassable. We did a bit of postholing, especially Heather, as we zig zaged through the forest looking for signs of the trail. Sometimes old tree blazes led the way and other times it was downed logs that had been cut for the trail. Occasionally the trail itself would appear for a bit only to be swallowed again by a snow drift. Having the GPS also helped as we were able to tell where the trail was in relation to our position.

blaze in the tree

After passing over a saddle at 6000′ we descended to Alkali Meadows. From the meadows we spotted Union Peak and some of the rim of Crater Lake.
Union Peak

Hillman Peak and The Watchman

After a brief stint in the upper portion of the meadows the trail turned back into the trees for a couple of creek crossings.

Soon we were back in Alkali Meadows and staring straight at Mt. Thielsen. (post)

A little further down the meadow Mt. Bailey (post) joined the view.

We left the snow behind after Alkali Meadows where the trail turned south traversing through a drier area for a mile to Bear Camp where we found the Meadow Creek Trail.

The rim of Crater Lake

We turned left onto the Meadow Creek Trail and quickly began a steep mile long descent.

We passed through more meadows with more views.

Just before reaching road 6540-700 we left the wilderness behind.

We turned left onto this road and followed it just over a quarter of a mile to where we turned right and followed signs for OHV Trail 27.

OHV Trail 27 left the wide road in favor of a rougher, narrow track.

There had obviously been some recent maintenance done to this trail, unlike our earlier trails.

We passed a nice view of Mt. Bailey and then saw the source of some of the maintenance.

The little dozer was Forest Service but it alone couldn’t have created all the debris we’d been seeing along the trail. Broken trees and brush had lined the entire track. After passing another viewpoint, this time of Crater Lake’s rim and Union Peak we discovered what had been chewing up the vegetation.

After roughly 1.5 miles descending on the OHV Trail we arrived Road 6540-900.

As nice as it was to have an actual trail to follow from Road 6540-700 down to the next road crossing it would have been much nicer if it had been the Meadow Creek Trail which had originally continued all the way down to the Muir Creek Trail. All of that trail save the mile between Bear Camp and Road 6540-700 has been abandoned by the Forest Service and from the map OHV Trail 27 appears to have obliterated some of the original trail. Road 6540-900 is where Van Marmot had started his hike and his trip report noted that the lower portion of the Meadow Creek Trial between this road and the Muir Creek Trail was still usable.

We turned right on Road 6450-700 looking for signs of the trail. Luckily someone had placed some pink flagging at the old trail otherwise we would have probably walked right past it even though the GPS showed we were right near it.
Faded pink flagging in the tree marking the abandoned Meadow Creek Trail

The trail was approximately 100 yards from where OHV Trial 27 popped out on the road and just a short distance before a cattle guard.
Cattle guard on Road 6540-700

The old trail was faint but easy to follow, in fact it was easier to follow this trail than the Buck Canyon Trail had been in the snow.

There was pink flagging along most of the half mile route but we did finally lose track of the tread just above the Muir Creek Trail. There was enough blowdown along the hillside that we had to make the final descent up on our own. This explained why we had been unable to spot any sign of the trail on our way by in the morning. We wound up just about a mile away from the trailhead so we headed back along the Muir Creek Trail maneuvering around the downed trees along the way. The 15.5 mile loop wound up being 16.2 according to our GPS, much of difference can be attributed to the back and forth hiking we did searching for the Buck Canyon Trail in the snow.

It was a beautiful hike even with the OHV Trail thrown in and we were amazed that on a holiday weekend we had only seen the one other couple all day. It was everything we’d hoped for in our first visit to the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Muir Creek Loop

Tags Alkali Meadows, Bear Camp, Buck Canyon, Buck Canyon Trail, coyote, Devils Slide, East Fork Muir Creek Falls, hiking, Hummingbird Meadows, Meadow Creek Trail, Muir Creek, Muir Creek Trail, OHV Trail 27, Oregon, Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness, West Fork Muir Creek, Wiley Camp Trail

Bend/Redmond Central Oregon Hiking Oregon

White River Falls, Macks Canyon & Rimrock Springs

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 31, 2018
4 Comments on White River Falls, Macks Canyon & Rimrock Springs

We headed over to Bend for Memorial Day weekend to visit Heather’s parents and get a few more hikes checked off our to do list. On our drive over to Bend we hit three different locations starting with White River Falls.

In order to visit White River Falls we took what we call the long way around to Bend. From Salem we headed north through Portland to I84 then east to Highway 197 in The Dalles which we followed south to Tygh Valley. Our plan was to take Highway 216 four miles east from Tygh Valley to White River Falls State Park then continue on Hwy 216 to Sherars Bridge where we would turn for our second hike. We had about a quarter of a tank of gas left so we tried to stop in Tygh Valley to fill up not knowing for sure when we would see another gas station but the one in Tygh Valley was still closed so we decided to go to the falls then come back for gas before continuing to our second stop.

We parked at the good sized day use area and passed a large signboard warning of the dangers of the river (and also the presence of rattlesnakes).

A short paved path led to a railed overlook above White River Falls.

An interpretive sign at the viewpoint told about the 1901 hydroelectric plant that was built here.

From the viewpoint we could see the remains of the powerhouse in the canyon downstream.

From the viewpoint a path led downhill across a bridge along the settling pond damn and down into the canyon for a view upstream to the falls.

The trail continued downhill past the powerhouse where the view of the falls included a nice rainbow.

There were a few flowers blooming in the canyon.

We continued to follow the path downstream a short distance past Celestial Falls.

Beyond Celestial Falls the trail brought us to several rocky viewpoints where we could look back upstream to those falls and also further downstream.

A couple of mergansers were enjoying a beach along the river downstream.

We had gone about half a mile from the viewpoint when we decided to call it good and head back. The path had split where we turned around, one trail stayed up on the canyon hillside above the rocks and the other appeared to be a scramble down to the river. We had seen what we had come for in the falls though and had other hikes to get to, so back we went.

Once we were back at the viewpoint we followed the fence upstream through the grassy day use area to a different view of White River Falls.

We then cut through the day use area as I had seen a bullock’s oriole after getting out of the car but couldn’t get a picture and was hoping to see it again. We didn’t spot the oriole but there was a nice view of Mt. Hood where the White River originates.

We drove back to Tygh Valley to see if the gas station was open (it was now after 8am) and it was, so we filled up and then drove out Highway 216 again, past White River Falls State Park four miles to Sherars Bridge where we continued across the Deschutes River an additional three quarters of a mile to a left had turn at a Deschutes River Access sign. We followed this mostly gravel, sometimes paved, always 20mph road 17 miles to its end at Macks Canyon Campground. We parked at a small pullout at a hairpin turn just before the road dropped down to the campground.

From the road we took an unsigned trail following an old railroad grade into the Deschutes River Canyon.

Just a short distance from the pullout we arrived at Macks Canyon where a trestle once spanned the opening.

Looking up Macks Canyon

The trail scrambled downhill then crossed the canyon before scrambling steeply back up the other side to the railroad grade.

We couldn’t have asked for much better weather, the sky was mostly sunny and although it was warm a fairly steady breeze kept it from feeling to hot. We continued following the trail for nearly another mile to a second long gone trestle. The views along this section were great with some really interesting rock formations along the canyon wall and several different types of wildflowers in bloom.

A thistle

A vetch

Oregon sunshine

A penstemon

Clustered broomrape

The second missing trestle crossing was quickly followed a third, each of which involved a short scramble into and back out of small canyons.

The trail then continued along the railroad grade along a fence where we found some interesting wildflowers.

A little under a mile from the third missing trestle we arrived at a fourth at Sixteen Canyon.

Before heading down into the canyon we watched some of the many rafters float by.

Sixteen Canyon by far had the most vegetation. Some of it was nice like the mock orange which was blooming profusely. The blackberries weren’t so pleasant with their sharp thorns.

We climbed out of Sixteen Canyon and continued on another mile and a half.

At one point we found ourselves on the opposite side of a fence than the river.

Over this next stretch we did a lot of insect watching. We were seeing quite a variety of beetles and other flying insects, many of which were busying themselves on large thistle blossoms.

We turned around at a bend in the river where the trail passed above a campsite.

I had seen two snakes earlier on the trail and on the way back a third darted off the trail in front of us. None of them were rattlers though. We hadn’t seen any snakes at White River Falls that morning either but we were keeping our eyes out (or so I thought). I heard Heather gasp behind me only to turn around and see that I had somehow managed to step right over a snake in the middle of the trail and never noticed it. Luckily it was just a harmless gopher snake.

We were even more vigilant after that but the only other reptile we spotted was a lizard.

After returning to the car we headed back toward Highway 216 where we decided to get creative. We could have taken the Hwy 216 back to Hwy 197 and then headed south toward Maupin which was about 18.5 miles away going that route. The Deschutes River Access Road continued south across Hwy 216 though and a sign there indicated that Maupin was only 9 miles that way. We decided to try the access road which lived up to its name offering many access points for the river. The speed limit varied between 20 & 35mph so it was a little slower pace than the Highways would have been but it was more scenic. We ran into trouble though when we reached Maupin. When the access road ended in town, there were no signs that we could see. The road map we had appeared to show the road ending at Highway 197 where we would want to turn left (south). After initially turning right we decided to trust the map and turned around. The road we were on was narrow with tight turns as it climbed up the canyon away from Maupin. That didn’t seem right and neither did the direction we were beginning to head so we turned on our Garmin, that we use hiking, and checked it. Sure enough we were on Bakeoven Road not the highway so we turned around. Looking at the GPS we could see that if we’d have gone just a bit further when we had initially turned right we would have found 197.

After that little adventure we drove south on Hwy 197 to its junction with Highway97 and followed it to Madras. Highways 97 & 26 join in Madras before splitting again at the other end. We turned onto 26 at the southern end of Madras in order to get to our final stop of the day at Rimrock Springs Wildlife Management Area.

We drove for 9 miles to a rise where a sign pointed to the trailhead turnoff on the left. From the parking area a half mile paved trail began.

The paved portion of the trail led past interpretive signs to a viewing platform and the start of a mile long dirt trail.

The viewing platform overlooked the wetland where all we saw on this day were a couple of ducks and numerous blackbirds.

From the platform we took the Overview Trail uphill through the juniper to a spur trail that led to a second platform.

We didn’t spot anything different from the second platform and continued on the loop.

At the crest of the trail we passed a Mountain Overview sign where rock outcrops offered views across the Crooked River Grassland to the Cascade Mountains.

Broken Top and the Three Sisters

Mt. Jefferson

We got a pleasant surprise when Heather spotted a couple of bitterroot flowers blooming in the area.

Beyond the overlook the trail descended to the paved path less than a tenth of a mile from the trailhead. Along the final stretch of the Mountain Overlook Trail Mt. Hood could be seen in the distance ending our hikes as we’d begun them looking at the tallest mountain in Oregon. Happy Trails!

Flick: White River Falls, Macks Canyon, & Rimrock Springs

Tags Bitterroot, Celestial Falls, crooked river grassland, Deschutes River, deschutes river trail, Gopher Snake, hiking, Macks Canyon, Oregon, Rimrock Springs, Rimrock Springs Wildlife Management Area, Sixteen Canyon, White River Falls, White River Falls State Park

Columbia River Gorge South Hiking Oregon

Throwback Thursday – Mt. Defiance

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 24, 2018
7 Comments on Throwback Thursday – Mt. Defiance

**Note the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire burned a portion of this hike.**

This week’s hike took place on 7/15/2012 when we tackled the challenging Mt. Defiance Trail in the Columbia Gorge. Unfortunately the area was affected by the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire making it’s current status uncertain.

Our hike that day began at the Starvation Creek Trailhead.
Starvation Creek State Park sign

Prior to setting off on the Mt. Defiance Trail we made the short walk to Starvation Creek Falls.
Trial to Starvation Creek Falls

Starvation Creek Falls

After visiting the falls we followed pointers for the Mt. Defiance Trail.
Trail sign at the parking area

At the time a path followed the shoulder of the freeway for a short distance before veering away into the woods. In 2016 changes were made to the first mile plus of this hike making it wider and putting up a nicer barrier along the freeway section.
Columbia River

Just over a quarter mile from the trailhead we passed our return route, the Starvation Cutoff Trail, and just a bit beyond that we came to a small sign for Cabin Creek Falls.

That small fall was mostly hidden.
Cabin Creek Falls

A little under a half mile further though was a less obscured waterfall – Hole in the Wall Falls.

This waterfall is not a natural occurrence, it was created in 1938 when the Oregon Highway Department rerouted Warren Creek due to Warren Creek Falls being too close to the old Columbia River Highway. The falls name comes from the waters emergence from the cliff via a man made hole.
Hole in the Wall Falls

A tenth of a mile beyond Hole in the Wall Falls we passed a junction with the Starvation Ridge Trail. A left turn here would have brought us to the upper end of the Starvation Cutoff Trail in a mile allowing for a short two and a half mile loop.

Having loftier goals we continued straight passing below the lower portion of Lancaster Falls after .2 miles.

It seemed like a nice “little” waterfall but interestingly this lower portion was only a small part of a much taller fall as we would discover in 2014 when we spotted the waterfall from across the Columbia River on the Dog Mountain Trail (post).
Lancaster Falls from Dog Mountain

Another half a mile of fairly level trail brought us to the start of the 4700′ climb to the summit of Mt. Defiance. The trail passed under some powerlines up a fairly open hillside where low clouds only provided a limited view of Wind Mountain across the river.
Wind Mountain and the Columbia River

The trail then entered the trees as it gained 4000′ over approximately three nearly unrelenting miles.
Columbia River

Mt. Defiance Trail

Along the way we passed a Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness sign.
Mt. Defiance Trail entering the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness

A little further on was a viewpoint along a rocky hillside. Low clouds limited much of the view but a nice rainbow was visible in the valley below.
View along the Mt. Defiance Trail

Rainbow seen from the Mt. Defiance Trail

After gaining those 4000′ we arrived at a junction with the Mitchell Point Trail.
Trail sign for the Mitchell Point Trail

We would be taking that trail on our way back, but first more climbing.
Mt. Defiance Trail

Two tenths of a mile from the Mitchell Point Trail junction a new (at that time) trail led off to the right. The trail was unmarked except for two small rock cairns.
Mt. Defiance Trail

This mile long segment of trail traversed a talus covered hillside above Bear Lake up and around Mt. Defiance to a microwave building at its summit.
Mt. Defiance Trail

Bear Lake

Towers on Mt. Defiance

Unfortunately for us the clouds had not burned off and Mt. Hood was completely hidden.
View from Mt. Defiance

The only view we had from the summit was to the SE.
View from Mt. Defiance

After a nice rest at the summit we opted to head back down to the Mitchell Point Trail via the older summit route which shaved off .2 miles.
Sign for the Mt. Defiance Trail

When we reached the junction we turned onto the Mitchell Point Trail and headed east toward Warren Lake. The clouds to the east had been breaking up revealing some nice blue skies as we reached a viewpoint above Warren Lake.
View from Mt. Defiance

View from the Mt. Defiance Trail

We arrived at the lake .8 miles from the junction.
Warren Lake

Warren Lake

We followed the Mitchell Point Trail another half mile from Warren Lake before turning left onto the unsigned Starvation Ridge Trail.
Trail sign for the Mitchell Point Trail

Mitchell Point Trail

The Starvation Ridge Trail began heading downhill offering a view back to Mt. Defiance.

Mt. Defiance

It was still a bit cloudy for views in other directions though.
View from the Starvation Ridge Trail

View from the Starvation Ridge Trail

The view of Wind Mountain had greatly improved.
Columbia River

As the ridge narrowed the decent steepened and we were soon barreling downhill. The trail ahead would occasionally vanish as is dropped leaving us wondering if it just dropped off a cliff.
Starvation Ridge Trail

For over three miles the trail dove and yet the Columbia River didn’t seem to be getting all that closer. Then the trail came to an opening at the end of the ridge across from Dog Mountain.

Wind Mountain on the Columbia River

The view was nice except for the one down to the Starvation Creek Trailhead where our car looked smaller than a Hot Wheels.
Trailhead from the Starvation Ridge Trail

From the ridge end the trail headed downhill away from the trailhead. We turned right onto the Starvation Cutoff Trail at a signed junction and switchbacked down .3 miles to the Mt. Defiance Trail and followed the freeway back to our car.
Trial sign along the Starvation Ridge Trail

Mt. Defiance had lived up to it’s reputation as a challenge and it would have been nice to have had a view at the top but it was rewarding to know that we could accomplish it. It was a boost to our confidence going forward. We look forward to heading back someday when the skies are clearer. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Mt. Defiance