Author: derwoodynck

Paradise Park via Hidden Lake Trail

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 24, 2016
2 Comments on Paradise Park via Hidden Lake Trail

Just like our previous hike (Jefferson Park via Woodpecker Ridge) our latest outing consisted of a new way to visit a familiar area. Our goal this time was Paradise Park on Mt. Hood which we had hiked to twice previously; first in August 2012 on a day hike from Timberline Lodge and again in July 2014 during an overnight trip that started from the Burnt Lake Trailhead. This hike was originally going to be a 13.2 mile day hike consisting of a loop using the Hidden Lake, Pacific Crest, and Paradise Park Trails. The drawback to this plan was that the planned loop did not bring us to Paradise Park. We would need to add at least another mile to the hike to reach the park and even then we would only be seeing a small portion of the Paradise Park area. Our solution was to turn it into an overnight backpacking trip which would allow us to set up camp and then explore to our hearts content (or until our feet said no more).

We decided to park at the Paradise Park Trailhead and walk .9 miles along Road 39 to the Hidden Lake Trailhead.

Hidden Lake Trailhead

We turned up the Hidden Lake Trail, stopping to fill out a wilderness permit and read a nearby sign recalling the organization of the Mazamas.

Interpretive sign near the Hidden Lake Trailhead

The Hidden Lake Trail climbed at a pretty good pitch at first, eventually becoming less steep as it gained the forested ridge and approached Hidden Lake.
Entering the Mt. Hood Wilderness on the Hidden Lake Trail

Hidden Lake Trail

We reached the spur trail to Hidden Lake about 2 miles up the Hidden Lake Trail. The lake itself was not visible from the trail but the presence of a campsite just off the trail gave its presence away. We followed the spur trail past the campsite to the small forested lake.

Hidden Lake

The muddy lake shore seemed to be attracting a fair number of yellow jackets so we kept our distance and didn’t stay long. From the lake the trail climbed nearly another 2000′ in approximately 2.5 miles. The forested ridge provided no views of Mt. Hood but there was a nice supply of ripe huckleberries for us to munch on as we climbed. The trees did provide some protection from the Sun which was welcome because it was already a warm morning. Temperatures in the Willamette Valley were supposed to hit triple digits and the high at Paradise Park was forecast to be around 70 for the day. We were able to keep a decent pace though and at the Pacific Crest Trail we turned left toward Paradise Park.
Hidden Lake Trail junction with the Pacific Crest Trail

Mt. Hood finally came into view as we hiked along the PCT.
Mt. Hood from the Pacific Crest Trail

From the Hidden Lake Trail junction it was a mile and a half to the dramatic Zigzag Canyon overlook. From the overlook, Mt. Hood looms behind Mississippi Head as the Zigzag River roars below.
Mt. Hood and the Zigzag River Canyon

To the south Mt. Jefferson was visible although it was a little hazy.

The PCT drops approximately 500′ from the overlook down to the Zigzag River. We rock hopped across the water then decided to head upstream toward Zigzag Falls.

On our 2012 hike we noticed the fall but didn’t actually make it all the way there. It had seemed too far away. Our definition of “too far” has apparently changed over time. This time Zigzag Falls appeared relatively close and it didn’t take us long to arrive at the waterfall.

Zigzag Falls

We were surprised at the power of the waterfall as it crashed down into the splash pool. A nice cool mist was being generated and we took advantage by sitting nearby and taking a fairly long break. After cooling off we returned to the PCT and continued toward Paradise Park. The climb out of the northern side of the canyon was much shorter than the descent on the far side and shortly after climbing out we came to a junction with the Paradise Park Loop Trail.
Pacific Crest Trail junction with the southern end of the Paradise Park Loop Trail

The 2.4 mile Paradise Park Loop Trail climbs up to the wildflower meadows of Paradise Park and eventually rejoins the PCT further to the north. Before we headed up to Paradise Park though, we wanted to find a campsite so we could leave our heavy backpacks behind. After passing the junction we began looking for a suitable spot. We were hoping to find something near the junction with the Paradise Park Trail which was just a half mile from the Paradise Park Loop Trail. There were a couple decent spots just before we reached the Paradise Park Trail but we preferred to be a little further off the busy Pacific Crest Trail so we decided to turn down the Paradise Park Trail and see if we could find something along this trail.
Paradise Park Trail junction with the Pacific Crest Trail

As we descended the .2 miles to a junction with the Burnt Lake Trail, we agreed to turn around if we were unable to find a decent campsite. We found what we were looking for near the trail junction and were able to set up our tent.
Campsite along the Paradise Park Trail

After getting camp situated we headed back up to the Pacific Crest Trail where we faced a choice. To reach Paradise Park we could go straight up the Paradise Park Trail, turn right and take the Paradise Park Loop counterclockwise, or turn left and do the loop clockwise. We had done the loop counterclockwise in 2012 and gone straight up the Paradise Park Trail in 2014 so of course we chose clockwise this time just to be different. When we reached Lost Creek we turned off the PCT and headed up a sandy hill to visit Lost Creek Falls.

Lost Creek Falls

Continuing on from Lost Creek Falls we passed the trickle of the ironically named Rushing Water Creek.

We reached the northern end of the Paradise Park Loop Trail 2 miles from the Paradise Park Trail and turned uphill.
Pacific Crest Trail junction with the northern end of the Paradise Park Loop Trail

The northern end of the trail passes through drier meadows that were filled with aster and big views of Mt. Hood. A wider variety of flowers were present where there was more moisture.
Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Loop Trail

Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Loop Trail

Mt. Hood and split rock from the Paradise Park Loop Trail

Gentians

Cat’s ear lily
Cat's ear lily

Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Loop Trail

We stopped to get water from the wildflower lined north fork of Lost Creek.
Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Loop Trail

Wildflowers along a branch of Lost Creek

Wildflowers alogn a branch of Lost Creek

Mt. Hood was briefly hidden as we wrapped around a hillside covered in aster and fireweed that separates the branches of Lost Creek.
Fireweed and aster along the Paradise Park Loop Trail

Meadows of aster and lupine were visible below the trail.
Aster meadow

Lupine and groundsel

Beyond the hill we passed the site of the former Paradise Park Shelter before descending to the main branch of Lost Creek.

Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Loop Trail at Lost Creek

There were lots of flowers near the creek including an impressive patch of yellow and pink monkeyflower.
Wildflowers along Lost Creek

Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Loop Trail

The meadows along the trail on the south side of Lost Creek were much greener with more wildflowers.
Lupine and groundsel

Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Loop Trail

When we arrived at the junction with the Paradise Park Trail we remarked at the difference in the types of flowers present from our visit in 2012. That visit had been on August 27th and the meadow had been full of lupine and bistort.
Mt. Hood from Paradise Park

This time it was mostly aster that filled the meadow.
Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Trail

One area we had not explored on either of our previous visit was further up the Paradise Park Trail so this time we turned toward the mountain and headed up through the wildflower meadows.
Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Trail

It was interesting to see how the composition of the meadows changed along the way. We passed areas of purple aster, white bistort, and eventually dwarf lupine and yarrow.
Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Trail

Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Trail

We took a break on a large rock with a great view of Mt. Hood and Mississippi Head.
Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Trail

Mississippi Head

There was a cool breeze coming off Mt. Hood which made the temperature perfect. After a snack we followed the trail over to a ridge overlooking the upper portions of the Zigzag Canyon where a couple of waterfalls were visible.
Trail heading over to an overlook of the Zigzag River Canyon

Seeps flowing down into the Zigzag River Canyon

Waterfall in the Zigzag River Canyon

We headed back down to the Paradise Park Loop Trail and then opted to finish the loop instead of heading straight back down the Paradise Park Trail to the PCT. Once we were back on the Pacific Crest Trail we decided that we would hike back to Lost Creek Falls in order to cook dinner and then refill our water supply for the night. We cooked dinner on the sandy hill then moved to a rock with a view of the falls to eat. As the Sun lowered there was almost a rainbow effect at the base of Lost Creek Falls.

Lost Creek Falls

After dinner we filtered some water then returned to our campsite along the Paradise Park Trail. Stopping along the way at a nice huckleberry patch for dessert.
Huckleberries along the Paradise Park Trail

Huckleberries along the Paradise Park Trail

It was just after 7pm when we arrived back at camp. There were a ton of little flies out and a fair number of mosquitoes that were much more interested in Heather than myself so we quickly headed into the tent for the night which was okay because we’d somehow managed to put in 19.7 miles for the day.
Campsite along the Paradise Park Trail

It was still dark when we woke the next morning as I went to check the time on my phone. We both expected it to be somewhere around 2 or 3am so we were relieved when it turned out to be 5:23 and not too early to get up. After packing up camp we braved the bugs and prepared breakfast – instant coffee and Backpacker’s Pantry bacon and cheddar mashed potatoes. After eating we began the 6 mile downhill hike toward the Paradise Park Trailhead. We made good time despite being distracted by the abundant ripe huckleberries. The trail was just as view-less as the Hidden Lake Trail had been the day before. Where it would have been possible to filter water on that trail the Paradise Park stream crossings were basically dry. The forest was nice though and this ridge was a bit wider than the one the Hidden Lake Trail, creating a little more of an open feeling.
Paradise Park Trail

Mt. Hood Wilderness

In the middle of the trail was a long section where the trail was about as straight as a trail can be and almost looked like it was following an old road bed. As the trail approached the edge of the ridge the forest thinned and there was a viewpoint looking toward Tom, Dick, and Harry Mountain to the south.
Tom Dick and Harry Mountain

While we were at the viewpoint a Turkey Vulture passed by several times close enough to hear the wind on its wings.

Turkey Vulture

The trial then veered away from the ridgeline for .7 miles and began a final set of switchbacks down to the Zigzag River, which it followed back to the Barlow Campground and the Paradise Park Trailhead.

Zigzag River Trail

Both the Hidden Lake and Paradise Park Trails are longer, steeper routes to Paradise Park than the more popular Pacific Crest Trail from Timberline Lodge hike but they do have things to offer. Solitude and dense forest replace mountain views making these good options for quieter hikes while still bringing you to the big views at Paradise Park. If you’ve already been to Paradise Park via Timberline Lodge either of these trails make a nice alternative, especially when the berries are ripe. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157671573939900

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Jefferson Park via Woodpecker Ridge

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 14, 2016
4 Comments on Jefferson Park via Woodpecker Ridge

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

We deiced to try a new approach this year for our annual trip to Jefferson Park. Our plan was to hike the Woodpecker Ridge Trail to the Pacific Crest Trail and then on to Jefferson Park with a possible bushwack to see Russell Creek Falls on the way back. We parked at the Woodpecker Ridge Trailhead which is a little over 5 miles along Forest Road 040.

The Woodpecker Ridge Trail extends approximately 1.8 to the Pacific Crest Trail in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness. The trail starts off with a steep climb through the forest before gaining the ridge and leveling out. There were lots of juicy ripe huckleberries along this section. As we hiked along the ridge we entered the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness.
Entering the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness on the Woodpecker Ridge Trail

Unlike some of the other trails that lead to Jefferson Park Mt. Jefferson remained mostly hidden from the Woodpecker Ridge Trail. Only near the end did we get a look at the mountain.
Mt. Jefferson from the Woodpecker Ridge Trail

Shortly after getting our first look at the mountain we arrived at the Pacific Crest Trail and turned left.
Woodpecker Ridge Trail junction with the PCT

We had another Mt. Jefferson sighting from a pond not far from the junction.
Mt. Jefferson from a pond along the Pacific Crest Trail

Most of the views along the PCT were to the NW across the Whitewater Creek drainage to Triangulation Peak and Bocca Cave

Bocca Cave and Triangulation Peak

One of the other differences between this approach and the other trails leading to Jefferson Park is the presence of a sometimes tricky creek crossing. The bridge-less crossing of the glacier fed Russell Creek can be dangerous during high water flow. It was a mostly dry crossing on this morning though.
Russell Creek crossing

Monkeyflower

Russell Creek crossing

Our plan was to recross the stream before too much additional water was added to the flow as the temperatures rose during the day. A few smaller creek crossings brought us to the familiar junction with the Whitewater Creek Trail after a total of 3.2 miles on the PCT.
False hellbore

Junction with the Whitewater Creek Trail

We had come up the Whitewater Trail on our previous visit on 8/8/2015 and were anxious to compare the scenery given how dry the prior year had been. It had looked more like Fall than Mid-Summer on that visit but this year had seen more snow so we were expecting more water, more green, and more flowers. The difference was already noticeable when we arrived at the informational sign for Jefferson Park.

8/8/2015
Entering the Jefferson Park area

8/13/2016
Mt. Jefferson

Shortly after passing the sign the trail passes through a small rock field where we had seen a pika the year before. One greeted us this year in almost in the exact same spot.
Pika

A nice display of paintbrush greeted us as we entered Jefferson Park.
Paintbrush in Jefferson Park

We stuck to the Pacific Crest Trail ignoring the signed trails to Bays and Scout Lakes as we headed for Russell Lake at the far end of Jefferson Park. Along the way we passed a small pond that gave another good example of the difference a year can make.

2015
Pond in Jefferson Park

2016
Mt. Jefferson from Jefferson Park

Patches of paintbrush dotted the meadows along the way providing beautiful scenes.
Mt. Jefferson from Jefferson Park

We followed the PCT to the South Breitenbush River which was lined with wildflowers.
Wildflowers along the South Brietenbush River

Wildflowers along the South Brietenbush River

South Brietenbush River

Wildflowers along the South Brietenbush River

We turned off the PCT and crossed the river to Russell Lake where Mt. Jefferson was reflecting nicely.
Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake

Once again the difference in water level and flowers from the prior year was obvious.

2015
Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake

2016
Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake

Patches of red paintbrush lined the lake as we made our way around its shore.
Mt. Jeffferson from Russell Lake

Paintbrush along Russell Lake

Park Butte from Russell Lake

After circling Russell Lake we returned to the Pacific Crest Trail and then turned down the South Breitenbush Trail.
Junction with the South Breitenbush Trail

We followed this trail to a meadow overlooking the river.
South Breitenbush River

Wildflowers along the South Breitenbush River

At a rock cairn in the meadow we turned left and headed up a small hill to Park Lake.
Trail to Park Lake

Mt. Jefferson from Park Lake

From Park Lake we followed a trail along a dry creek bed up to Rock Lake.
Mt. Jefferson from Rock Lake

After passing by Rock Lake we crested another small hill and arrived at Bays Lake.
Mt. Jefferson from Bays Lake

We left Bays Lake after a short rest and headed toward Scout Lake passing a small unnamed lake along the way.
Mt. Jefferson from the lake between Bays and Scout Lakes

Park Butte and Scout Lake

Mt. Jefferson from Scout Lake

After visiting Scout Lake we returned to the PCT and headed out of Jefferson Park. We arrived back at the Russell Creek crossing at 11:15am and found that there hadn’t been much change in the water level yet.

The butterflies were out now though.
Skipper

Fritillary butterfly on yarrow

Butterfly on thistle

After recrossing the creek we began watching for a spot to leave the PCT in order to bushwack down to a view of Russell Creek Falls. This waterfall was on my radar based on a report by a fellow hiker and avid waterfall hunter. He had warned of a steep cliffy approach so we weren’t sure if we’d be successful or not. I had done some preliminary scouting using Google Maps and a topographic map to find what had looked like the most suitable ridge to head down. Just off the trail we found an old campsite and then plunged into the forest.
Bushwack to a view of Russell Creek Falls

The ridge was indeed extremely cliffy on the Russell Creek side so we began fighting our way through the brush on the opposite side. We were glad that at least there weren’t any rhododendron plants at that elevation. As we continued down we kept looking for a way back toward the creek but the terrain and forest pushed us further away. After getting quite a ways downstream from the falls we found what appeared to be a possible gully. I began to work on finding a way down but it was very steep and after struggling and slipping twice I began looking to see if we could side hill back upstream. That wasn’t going to happen due to the cliffs lining the creek. I climbed back up to where I had left Heather and we adjusted our plan. We headed back upstream sticking as close to the top of the ridge as possible hoping to get some sort of view of the falls. We managed to find another gully closer to the falls where another steep descent brought us to a view halfway down the cliffs.
Russell Creek Falls

Russell Creek Falls

There wasn’t any way down from the view that looked even close to safe so we declared victory here and took a break before climbing back up to the PCT. The 151′ waterfall was indeed impressive but we can’t recommend attempting to see it. The steep slopes and abrupt cliffs make this a difficult and dangerous goal.

After fighting our way back to the PCT we headed for the Woodpecker Ridge Trail saying goodbye to Mt. Jefferson as we passed the pond.
Mt. Jefferson from a pond along the Pacific Crest Trail

We made it back to the car after a total of 15.5 miles. I thought I had escaped relatively unscathed after the bushwacking adventure but after changing into a pair of shorts I was ambushed by an evil yellow jacket (or jackets) and received a pair of stings on my leg. Those things are just plain mean.

Happy (yellow jacket free) Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157672410754435

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 5 – Return to the Wallowa Lake Trailhead

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 8, 2016
1 Comment on Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 5 – Return to the Wallowa Lake Trailhead

All good things must come to an end and it was time for our visit to the Eagle Cap Wilderness to end on the fifth day. We were up before 5am and were rewarded with a soft alpenglow.

We ate some breakfast, packed up, and then made our way down to Horseshoe Lake.

We then began a 3 mile descent to Sixmile Meadow along the West Fork Wallowa River. The trail up the river to Frazier Lake had been lined with wildflower meadows but this trail passed through a forest.

A few flowers were present as well as some ripe oval leaf blueberries.

Prince’s pine

We had been discussing the fact that we hadn’t seen quite as much wildlife as we thought we might. A doe and her fawn had walked right past our tent on the first night and we’d seen a pair of mountain goats on the second day while heading up to the Matterhorn, but otherwise it had been a lot of birds, chipmunks and squirrels. As we came around a switchback we spotted a snowshoe hare.

The trail leveled out as we neared Sixmile Meadow and the temperature dropped. A light frost covered the plants along the path.

Logs allowed us to cross 2 branches of the river.

We passed through Sixmile Meadow before turning left on the West Fork Wallowa Trail.

We were now on a familiar trail but despite having seen the scenery there were some new sights in the form of wildlife.
Grouse

Buck

All in all it had been a great trip. We had had a couple of hiccups with Heather being ill the first night and having trouble finding a campsite the second and fourth nights but the weather had been wonderful and the scenery superb. After changing and doing a little bit of cleanup at the car we stopped for lunch in Joseph at the R & R Drive-In which really hit the spot. We each had a Zeke Burger and split an order of some spectacular tater-tots.

We were able to take I84 on the way home but decided to leave the Interstate at Hood River in an attempt to avoid driving through Portland during rush-hour on a Thursday. We drove past Mt. Hood on Highway 35 to Highway 26 then took State Highways through Estacada, Mollala,and Woodburn to avoid traffic. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157671217618871

Epilogue – After spending five days in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of NE Oregon we found ourselves at the beach for our annual family reunion in Gleneden Beach, OR. For the first time we brought our camera and for the first time we spotted whales off the coast.
IMG_4053 (2)

IMG_4046 (2)

In the course of a week we’d gone from seeing mountain goats on the way up a 9826′ peak to watching whales surface from sea level. Just one of the reasons why we love living in the Pacific Northwest.

Tags alpenglow, buck, eagle cap, eagle cap wilderness, gleneden beach, grouse, hiking, horseshoe lake, Oregon, r & r drive-in, sixmile meadow, snowshoe hare, wallowa lake trailhead, Wallowas, west fork wallowa river, west fork wallowa trail, whale

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 4 – Eagle Cap

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 8, 2016
9 Comments on Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 4 – Eagle Cap

The fourth day of our backpacking trip began with a nice sunrise over Moccasin Lake.

Our plan for the day was to take our day packs and hike to the summit of Eagle Cap, then pack up camp and move to Horseshoe Lake for the final night of our trip.

It had been rather breezy the day before and we were hoping that wouldn’t be the case today so that we could get catch some reflections of Eagle Cap in the lakes. A gentle breeze kept that from happening.

We hiked to the west end of Mirror Lake and followed signs toward Horton Pass at a 4-way trail junction.

The trail took us past Upper Lake set in an alpine bowl surrounded by wildflowers and backed by a scenic waterfall on the far side of the valley.

The trail climbed up from Upper Lake toward Eagle Cap.

We knew we would be encountering some patches of snow based on recent trip reports from Van Marmot and Born2BBrad over on Oregonhikers.org. We also knew that it would be fairly easy to avoid the snow which was good given our early start because the snow was still iced from the night before.

From the sign in the snow we had the choice of going right to Horton Pass and following the ridge from there or going left and making a steeper climb to a higher point on the same ridge. Looking at the trail up to Horton Pass it seemed to have not only more snow but it was on a steeper slope than staying left so we chose that route and climbed to the ridge where views opened up to the west.

To the NE lay the Lakes Basin and the Matterhorn.

The west side of the ridge was covered in short trees and we passed through this forest of miniature trees to a saddle below Eagle Cap.

From the saddle we had a nice view down the East Lostine River valley to the east and across to Blue Lake to the west.

Beyond the saddle the trail climbed Eagle Cap in a series of long switchbacks. A few alpine flowers dotted the landscape.

After passing through some whitebark pines we arrived at the broad summit of Eagle Cap.

Although Eagle Cap is a few hundred feet shorter than the Matterhorn the sky was clearer than it had been two days earlier when we had been atop the other peak. The view was so huge it was hard to take everything in.
East Lostine River, the Matterhorn, and the Lakes Basin

Glacier Lake

Looking SW

Seven Devils in Idaho

The Elkhorns

After having second breakfast on Eagle Cap we headed back down. On the way we ran into a couple from Portland who had camped near Upper Lake. They had seen a mountain goat run by their camp the day before and spotted a pair of wolves crossing a snowfield on the ridge above the lake as well. We passed several other hikers making their way up toward Eagle Cap making us glad we had started so early.

We stopped at Upper Lake to refill our water supply and decided to follow the trail around the lake thinking it would take us over to another trail that ran between Minam Pass and the 4-way junction at Mirror Lake.

The trail petered out at the far end of the lake near it’s inlet stream. Instead of backtracking we decided to rock hop up the creek to the other trail.

When we arrived at the other trail we found our first western pasque flower seed-heads.

We were also near the waterfall we had seen from across Upper Lake.

We followed the trail back down through some lovely wildflower meadows to the 4-way junction and then returned to our campsite to pack up.

From Mirror Lake we had the choice of going back past Moccasin Lake or taking a different trail past little Sunshine and Crescent Lake. The two routes rejoined at the NE end of Douglas Lake. Since we had already seen Moccasin Lake we decided to go by Sunshine Lake where we wound up getting our best reflection of Eagle Cap.

We passed a junction with the Hurricane Creek Trail after 1.1 miles and arrived at Crescent Lake after approximately another three quarter miles.

Douglas Lake was just on the other side of the trail from Crescent Lake.

We followed a pointer for the West Fork Wallowa River when we reached the trail junction at the end of Douglas Lake.

Shortly thereafter we came to another trail junction.

Here we faced another choice. Both forks would bring us to Horseshoe Lake, the left in 1.3 miles and the right in 1.5 miles passing Lee and Lily Lakes. We chose the longer route past the other two lakes and began descending toward Lee Lake.

After a brief stop at Lee Lake we continued past the aptly named Lily Lake.

The trail passed by large Horseshoe Lake along the northern shore.

We were hoping to find a campsite at east end of Horseshoe Lake which would would leave us with a shorter hike on our final day but we were unable to find a suitable site at that end of the lake. After reaching the junction with the other fork of the Lakes Basin Trail and failing to have found a good campsite we decided to head back up the other fork to see if there were any decent sites along that trail.

We had been planning on visiting nearby Unit Lake after setting up camp and knew there was a campsite there, but the trail to that lake was no longer maintained and camping there would require hauling our packs down to the lake over a lot of blowdown which we preferred not to do. As luck would have it we found a suitable spot for our tent below the trail just opposite of the unmaintained trail to Unit Lake.

After getting settled we decided to take our chairs, dinner, and water filter with us to Unit Lake and spend our evening there. The trail had definitely not been maintained from quite some time and we were glad we had chosen not to try and do the trail with our full packs.

That being said we were glad we made the side trip down to the lake.

We were a little surprised when a Dad and four kids came crashing down the trail to fish for a little while but they soon departed and we had a little more solitude before returning to our tent and watching the sunset on Eagle Cap for the final time.

Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157671183919842

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 3 – Into the Lakes Basin

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 8, 2016
4 Comments on Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 3 – Into the Lakes Basin

We woke up feeling pretty good on the third day of our trip despite the long hike searching for a campsite the day before. Heather had made it through the night without getting sick and we were up at dawn getting ready to continue on.

We were a little concerned by an influx of smoke coming up the valley behind us. We figured that the wind had shifted overnight and some of the smoke we had seen from the Matterhorn the day before had made it’s way to us but we weren’t sure. We hoped that it wouldn’t affect our visibility as we began the days hike.

The trail continued through increasingly impressive wildflower meadows to a bridgeless crossing of the West Fork Wallowa River.

At the crossing we found a single log across the river which I started to attempt to cross on before deciding it was a little too narrow and wet for my comfort.

Oddly enough there appeared to be an actual bridge way upstream but it was only a snow-bridge.

The river was only calf deep so instead of trying to balance on the log we decided to simply ford the river and deal with wet feet for awhile. On the far side of the river the trail continued up the narrowing valley past a number of side streams and waterfalls.

Once again a “Fires Prohibited Beyond This Point” sign signaled we were only quarter mile from a lake.

The trail leveled out and quickly brought us to Frazier Lake.

We didn’t see anyone camped here just a lot of tadpoles in the water.

At the far end of Frazier Lake we left the West Fork Wallowa Trail and followed a pointer for Glacier Pass.

This trail followed a branch of the river flowing down an alpine valley from Glacier Lake to Frazier Lake. Waterfalls, wildflowers and golden-mantled squirrels awaited us as we climbed ahead of the encroaching smoke that continued to make it’s way up the valley behind us.

A final wide sweeping arc completed this 2 mile section of trail bringing us just below the basin holding Glacier Lake.

The beauty and wonder of God’s creation is our main motivation for hiking and although we witness it every time we hit the trail there are moments where that beauty is indescribable and impossible to capture with a camera. Our first look at Glacier Lake was one such moment.

Backed by snowy peaks including Eagle Cap and lined with wildflowers the blue-green waters of Glacier Lake were breathtaking. We set down our packs and removed our wet shoes and socks to allow them to dry while we soaked in the unbelievable scenery.

Amazingly we only noticed one tent set up around this gem. Heather quickly decided that someday we would come back and spend at least one night here. We had more hiking to do though, so we eventually pulled ourselves away and continued past the lake and up toward Glacier Pass.

A couple of patches of snow lingered across the trail but neither were any issue to cross.

The view from Glacier Pass included Glacier Lake, Eagle Cap, and the Matterhorn.

As we began to descend from the pass we spotted Moccasin Lake and our ultimate goal for the day, Mirror Lake.
Moccasin Lake

Mirror Lake

After seeing no one at Frazier Lake and the single tent at Glacier Lake we began running into more and more hikers as we made our way down to Moccasin Lake. The landscape here contained many alpine meadows and bubbling streams.

We followed the trail to Moccasin Lake where we had to hop across it on rocks.

At a trail junction near Moccasin Lake we followed a pointer toward the East Fork Lostine River.

In another .7 miles we reached Mirror Lake and began looking for a place for our tent. After crossing the lake’s outlet creek we found a nice spot in beneath some tress near a small pond and set our packs down while we looked around a bit more.

There were already a number of tents set up around the lake and more hikers were arriving all the time. Before we had started to set up our tent a group of teenagers chaperoned by one adult began noisily setting up tents nearby. We quickly decided to move further away to avoid the unnecessary yelling this group was already doing. We settled on a rocky cliff overlooking both Mirror and Moccasin Lakes above the creek between the two lakes.

The noise from the creek below helped drown out some of the noise and we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around our campsite and exploring the rocky area between the lakes. The smoke that had been coming up the valley near Frazier Lake made a brief appearance early in the evening but it eventually rolled back and was held at bay on the horizon.

The kids wound up being quieter than expected and after watching a nice sunset we turned in for the night.

Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157671957245226

Tags eagle cap, eagle cap wilderness, East fork Lostine River, frazier lake, glacier lake, glacier pass, hiking, Mirror Lake, Moccasin Lake, Oregon, the matterhorn, west fork wallowa river

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 2 – The Matterhorn and West Fork Wallowa Trail

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 7, 2016
3 Comments on Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 2 – The Matterhorn and West Fork Wallowa Trail

When we had gone to sleep the night before we weren’t sure if we would be continuing our trip or hiking back to the car after only one night due to Heather having gotten sick during the night. She was feeling pretty good in the morning though and was fairly certain she had just overheated the day before, so we decided to move ahead with our plans and see how she held up.

We had breakfast and watched as the morning light slowly made it’s way into the Ice Lake basin.

The Matterhorn catching the morning sunlight.

Our plan for the day was to take our day packs and hike up to the 9826′ summit of the Matterhorn before packing up camp and heading further up the West Fork Wallowa River. To reach the Matterhorn we would need to follow a use trail on the west side of Ice Lake up almost 2000′. We had explored some of the south side of the lake the day before so we went around the north side of the lake to reach the use trail. This proved to be a good choice as there was no wind allowing for some beautiful reflections in the lake.

The lupine was just starting to bloom along the north shore as well.

The trail crossed an inlet creek at the west end of the lake and then grew fainter as it headed uphill.

The scenery grew more alpine like as we climbed. A few trees dotted the rocky landscape and wildflowers added color.

Alpine shooting star

Alpine springbeauty

Lewis flax and wallflowers

Ice Lake was getting further away as we continued up.

The path led to a marble outcrop that overlooked a basin where we spotted a pair of mountain goats.

In addition to Ice Lake below there were a couple of snow melt tarns visible below the trail.

The trail had been fairly easy to follow but it became more difficult after crossing a section of red rocks and starting up the marble of the Matterhorn.

Despite the rocky terrain several different wildflowers had managed to find footholds.

Once we were on the marble we worked our way up following cairns and whatever footprints we could find in the areas of dirt that were present. A couple of times we realized we had lost the shoe prints and were only following mountain goat hoof prints. We made our way up to a surprisingly wide ridge top and followed it south toward the summit of the Matterhorn.

The view of the Wallowas was amazing. Smokey skies surrounded us limiting the visible distance, but we couldn’t complain.

The Elkhorns

The Lostine Valley

Cairn marking the summit of the Matterhorn with a smoke plume from a wildfire in Idaho in the distance.

Eagle Cap in the center of the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

In addition to the great views were some interesting rock features.

We headed back down from the summit stopping along the way to chat with another hiker on his way up. After packing up we took the Ice Lake Trail back down to the West Fork Wallowa Trail. We were surprised by the number of hikers we passed heading up to Ice Lake on a Monday.

When we arrived back at the junction with the West Fork Wallowa Trail Heather was doing well so we continued with our trip and took the trail south toward Sixmile Meadow.

This 3.3 mile section of the West Fork Wallowa Trail wasn’t the most exciting trail we’d been on, but to be fair it was following up Ice Lake and the Matterhorn. We also had remembered the distance incorrectly thinking it was only about 1.5 miles to the meadow causing it to seem like it was taking forever to get there.

We had originally considered setting up camp at Sixmile meadow but after passing the junction with the Lakes Basin Trail at the edge of the meadow we only saw one campsite which was closer to the trail and more exposed than we wanted to be.

We decided to continue further along the West Fork Wallowa Trail planning on stopping at the first good campsite we found. That proved to be more difficult than we had expected. The scenery along the trail improved beyond Sixmile Meadow as open wildflower meadows replaced the forest but there was a lack of noticeable campsites and the couple we saw were already occupied.

One of the more interesting flowers we had been seeing on the trip were yellow columbine which was becoming more profuse in these higher meadows.

After passing an unsigned junction with the trail up to Polaris Pass the West Fork Wallowa Trail passed through a narrow canyon before entering another meadow.

It was getting close to 6pm and we were getting a little tired and anxious about finding a suitable campsite. Our worst case scenario was to push on to Frazier Lake but that would mean possibly fording the river, another climb and an additional mile plus of hiking. Luckily as we passed through this meadow we spotted a faint path to the left which led to a small campsite next to some trees. We quickly claimed the spot and set up the tent.

We had gone quite a bit further than we’d originally planned that day ending up having covered 16.7 miles for the day, but this site turned out to be wonderful. The sounds of the nearby river was joined by the distant roar of several waterfalls cascading down the surrounding cliffs.

Heather was starting to feel a little under the weather again as we turned in for the night and we decided that we would try and take it a little easier the next day. We had already cut down the distance we needed to go to get to our next planned stop at Mirror Lake and we decided that instead of an afternoon side trip we would just hang out around the lake. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157671954055746

Tags eagle cap wilderness, hiking, ice lake, mountain goat, Oregon, sixmile meadow, the matterhorn, Wallowas, west fork wallowa river, west fork wallowa trail, yellow columbine

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 1 – Ice Lake

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 7, 2016
4 Comments on Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 1 – Ice Lake

When I put together our hiking schedule for the year one of the most anticipated trips was our first visit to the Eagle Cap Wilderness in North Eastern Oregon. At 355,846 acres it is the largest wilderness area in Oregon and contains 31 peaks whose summits are over 8000′. A variety of wildlife is also present including wolves. Our plan was to visit during the first week of August hoping it would be early enough to see some good flowers but late enough to avoid the worst of the mosquitoes and not have issues with lingering snow. Leading up to our trip we watched the weather and fire reports making sure everything looked clear and thanks to some timely trip reports on Oregonhikers.org we knew that snow wasn’t going to be an issue.

With everything checking out we left home on July 31st and began the 6+ hour drive to the Wallowa Lake Trailhead. Our first little hiccup came as we were driving along I84 and learned that a fire had started overnight closing the interstate just beyond Pendleton, OR. We were forced to detour through the Umatilla National Forest which added a little time to our drive. Luckily we had left the house early and it was just after 11am when we finally arrived at the trailhead.

The trailhead is located at the end of Wallowa Lake State Park and the area is a very popular recreation area which was evident by the number of people. We strapped on our packs and followed signs for the West Fork Wallowa Trail and Ice Lake.

It wasn’t long before we entered the wilderness.

The trail followed the West Fork Wallowa River up a valley with occasional views.

The wildflowers were starting to fade at the lower elevations but there were still some blooming along the way.

After 2.8 miles we arrived at the junction with the Ice Lake Trail.

This trail led down to a crossing of the West Fork Wallowa River.

From this area we could see the monstrous Ice Falls on Adam Creek which flowed from Ice Lake over 4.5 miles and 2000′ away.

Ice Falls

On the far side of the river we began the long climb up to Ice Lake.

The lower section of trail passed through grassy meadows filled with two types of mariposa lilies.
Sagebrush mariposa lily

White mariposa lily

The trail then passed through a section of rock fields before reaching Adam Creek.

The climbing really started here as the trail began a series of switchbacks along the creek. After 14 of them we came to Beauty Falls.

Ice Falls was visibly beyond Beauty Falls.

The trail straightened out as it passed through another series of meadows where the wildflowers were blooming nicely.

Beyond these meadows another dozen switchbacks stood between us and our goal. Although the temperature wasn’t all that high the combination of the climb and being in the sun made it seem hot. It was slow going but we knew we were getting close when we passed the sign announcing that fires were prohibited beyond that point which meant we were about a quarter mile away.

As we came around a bend we got our first view of the marble rock of the Matterhorn in the distance.

It wasn’t much further before the blue water of Ice Lake became visible.

We’d read that most of the campsites were located on the SE side of the lake so we crossed Adam Creek and began searching for a spot.

In addition to the ban on fires camping is prohibited less than 100′ from the lake or streams. It was immediately evident by the numerous fire rings and obvious prior tent locations near the lake that some people are incapable of following the rules. We picked out an appropriate spot and got settled.

After relaxing and having dinner we did some exploring following a trail along the south side of the lake.

We spotted a few of the locals along the way.

We crossed a nice inlet creek and followed it up to a pretty alpine meadow with a waterfall.

After filtering some water from the creek we returned to camp for the night.

It had been a great first day but shortly after we turned in Heather became ill. We were up for a couple of hours as she attempted to get her stomach to settle down. When we finally were able to go back to bed we did so wondering if we would be continuing our trip.

Happy trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157669026671623

Tags adam creek, beauty falls, eagle cap wilderness, ice falls, ice lake, Oregon, sagebrush mariposa lily, the matterhorn, wallowa lake trailhead, Wallowas, west fork wallowa river, west fork wallowa trail, white mariposa lily

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Buck Peak

A week out from our somewhat cloudy visit to the Mount Margaret Backcountry we found ourselves heading back into the clouds on the Pacific Crest Trail. Our goal for the day was the viewpoint atop Buck Peak which is just off the PCT to the NW of Lost Lake in the Mt. Hood National Forest. We began our hike at the Pacific Crest Trailhead at Lolo Pass.

We headed north on the PCT which quickly passed under some power lines where we met our first clouds.

Looking back toward Mt. Hood from the power lines it looked like blue skies around the mountain.

The PCT climbed gently up a ridge where we had a few views between the clouds that were passing over.

A decent variety of flowers could be found along the more open portions of the trail.
Rhododendron

Pink pyrola

Tiger lilies

Bees on goldenrod

Columbine

Larkspur

Catchfly

Oregon sunshine

Lupine

Penstemon

The trail soon entered the trees where it remained for the majority of remainder of the hike to Buck Peak. The forest was full of huckleberries and some salmonberries.

It was increasingly foggy as we gained elevation.

Approximately 4.5 miles from Lolo Pass we arrived at a junction with the Huckleberry Mountain Trail which led down to Lost Lake.

We continued on the PCT passing a spur trail to Salvation Spring and heading further into the clouds. There were a number of downed trees across the trail after the Huckleberry Mountain junction but nothing impassable. With the forest and the clouds, views were few but we did get a couple of glimpses of Lost Lake along the way. The majority of the time we were just looking at the different flowers along the way.
Beargrass

Monkeyflower

Parrot’s beak lousewort

False hellbore

Coralroot

The trail to Buck Peak was unsigned but easy to spot as it split up and to the right from the PCT.

The trail was a little brushy and the clouds had left the plants rather damp which in turned soaked us pretty quickly.

After a half-mile on the Buck Peak Trail we arrived at the signed summit.

The panoramic viewpoint of several Cascade Mountains was on the fritz and we were lucky to get a couple of looks at Lost Lake below.

We sat on the rocky viewpoint for awhile watching the clouds pass over hoping to wait them out but finally decided it could be hours before the view cleared and headed back down. Things had already cleared up some along the PCT and the views were starting to open up as we made our return trip.
Lost Lake Butte above Lost Lake

Buck Peak still in a cloud.

Eventually the sky had cleared enough to provide some great views of Lost Lake, Mt. Hood, and even Mt. Adams in Washington.

The butterflies had come out in the afternoon and as we passed the rockier section of trail they were busy pollinating the flowers.

Mt. Hood loomed large as we passed under the power lines and finished up our hike.

The hike was over 15 miles round trip but really didn’t feel that long. The approximately 1500′ of elevation gain was gradual and spread out nicely. One item to note is that this section of the PCT and the Buck Peak Trail are in the Bull Run Watershed Management Area which is the primary source of drinking water for Portland and is closed to the public. Hikers are required to remain on the trails within the area’s boundary. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157671458188065

Tags Buck Peak, Buck Peak Trail, Bull Run Watershed Management Area, hiking, Huckleberry Mountain Trail, lolo pass, Lost Lake, Mt. Hood, Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT

Hiking Mt. St. Helens Trip report Washington Washington Cascades

Mount Margaret Backcountry – Obscurity Lake to South Coldwater Trailhead

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 22, 2016
1 Comment on Mount Margaret Backcountry – Obscurity Lake to South Coldwater Trailhead

Waking up to a third tent at Obscurity Camp wasn’t our only surprise in the morning. I awoke at 4:30am to find nearly clear skies above the lake save for one small finger of cloud creeping over the ridge behind Obscurity Lake. We were getting an extra early start due to the forecast of possible Thunderstorms after 11am. The clear sky was encouraging, but it wasn’t long before clouds began creeping into the basin from all sides.

By the time we were on our way we were hiking through fog.

It was a fairly steep climb out of the Obscurity Lake Basin but as we neared the saddle between Obscurity and Panhandle Lakes beautiful blue skies appeared through the fog giving us some hope for views.

There were some views if we looked up but when we crested the saddle it was evident that the view of Panhandle Lake would not be clear.

Down we went back into even thicker fog. The trail crossed a couple of nice streams with marsh marigolds as it wound around the lake.

As we neared the lake we spotted a mountain goat lounging just above the trail.

It sized us up and kept a close eye on us as we passed by.

We decided not to go down to the lake figuring the view couldn’t be much better than what we had along the trail.

We continued on toward Shovel Lake. Once again the trail climbed out of a basin but instead of dropping back down toward Shovel Lake the trail passed above it along a ridge. On the far side of the lake was Mt. Whittier making this one of the most dramatic lakes in the backcountry but we never saw it.
The thickest layer of clouds lay right over Shovel Lake, but as we climbed the ridge we eventually rose above the clouds.

We were pretty excited when we realized we could see the top of Mt. Rainier in the distance.

The trail to Shovel Lake was near the top of the ridge which meant we would have had to descend a half mile back into the clouds to visit this lake. Once again we passed figuring it left us one more thing to come back for.

From the Shovel Lake Trail junction though we had a great view of Mt. Adams, which appeared to be wrestling with the clouds.

The trail continued up the ridge to a saddle where it was joined by the Whittier Ridge Trail.

From this saddle we then began our descent toward Coldwater Lake. First up was Snow Lake.

We had finally found a lake without clouds and as an added bonus we had a great view beyond to Coldwater Peak.

The trail swung out around the lake and as it did so we gained a little glimpse of Mt. St. Helens as well.

This time the trail went right by Snow Lake giving us an up close look.

The other nice thing about Snow Lake was the climb out of the basin was short and not steep. We quickly crested the saddle above the lake and began to drop into another mass of clouds.

From Snow Lake it was 3.4 miles to the Coldwater Trail and a footbridge over Coldwater Creek. We were passing through the cloud layer for the first part of this section so we couldn’t see much. The trail itself was brushy with thimbleberry bushes and vine maples.

The tread was also narrow and washed out in spots but passable.

We eventually got under the clouds and could see Coldwater Creek below us.

We were also seeing more wildflowers again and finding ripe berries, including our first thimbleberries of the year.

Trailing blackberry

Thimbleberry

Red huckleberry

We passed a couple of small waterfalls along side streams, one on either side of the valley.

The trail then passed above what appeared to be a nice fall along Coldwater Creek but didn’t provide much of a view.

Just after passing the waterfall the trail entered a forested area.

Hedgenettle

From there to the Coldwater Trail junction the trial alternated between small meadows and woods with occasional views back to Coldwater Creek.

Another trail crew from the Washington Trails Association was working on the Coldwater Trail on the far side of the footbridge when we arrived there. We stopped on some rocks above the bridge for a snack break and watched them as they worked.

We were now on familiar trail, at least in theory. When we had hiked the loop around Coldwater Lake in May 2014 much of the vegetation was only beginning to produce leaves.
Coldwater Trail

This time the trail was crowded with plants.

The wildflowers were out in force as we drew nearer to Tractor Junction.

A male grouse flew out of one of the meadows and landed in a nearby tree. It was the first one we’d seen in full display and was quite colorful.

IMG_2360 (2)

The views were much better than they had been the day before at Tractor Junction and along the 3.2 miles from there back to the trailhead. Coldwater Lake was clearly visible and Mt. St. Helens even made an appearance.

For the second day in a row we’d escaped without dealing with any rain showers and the thunderstorms had not materialized before we’d made it back to the car. Despite the sometimes cloudy conditions it had turned out to be a really nice trip. The views we did miss out on can now be our excuse for return trip sometime in the future. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157670492933452

Tags Coldwater Creek, Coldwater Lake, Coldwater Peak, Coldwater Trail, hiking, Lakes trail, male sooty grouse, mount margaret backcountry, mountain goat, Mt. St. Helens, Obscurity lake, panhandle lake, shovel lake, snow lake, sooty grouse, South Coldwater Trail, Thimbleberry, Washington

Hiking Mt. St. Helens Trip report Washington Washington Cascades

Mount Margaret Backcountry – South Coldwater Trailhead to Obscurity Lake

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 21, 2016
8 Comments on Mount Margaret Backcountry – South Coldwater Trailhead to Obscurity Lake

The only backpacking trip that we had planned for this year which required a permit was an overnight stay in the Mount Margaret Backcountry near Mt. St. Helens. The area is part of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, displaying the effects of the 1980 eruption. The lateral blast from the eruption shattered trees toppling thousands of acres of forest.

Camping is limited to designated sites at eight backcountry camps where the maximum group size for camping is four. Pets and pack stock are prohibited in the Mount Margaret Backcountry and fires are not allowed. We made our reservation for Obscurity Camp on March 19th, the day the permits became available.

One drawback of a permit system is not having any idea what the weather is going to be like on the days you reserve. We were looking at the chance of showers and maybe even a thunderstorm as we were hiking out, but we liked our odds and we had spent a whole $6.00 on the permit so we decided to give it a go. It was a wet drive to the South Coldwater Trailhead which is located along the Spirit Lake Highway (SR 504).

Starting at Norway Pass would have made it a shorter hike but where is the fun in that? It also would have been a longer drive. Our plan was a lollipop route using the South Coldwater Trail 230A, Coldwater Trail 230, Boundary Trail 1, and Lakes Trail 211. We had been on some of the trails in 2013 during a May hike around Coldwater Lake, but that hike had been early enough in the season that there had been very little vegetation and almost no flowers. It was evident from the flowers at the trailhead that we’d be seeing different sights this time around.

We were under the clouds as we set off on the trail which passed through a short section of woods before emerging into wildflower filled meadows.

Although the clouds limited the view we were able to see back down to the South Coldwater Creek Valley where we spotted several elk.

The trail then crossed over the ridge we were climbing providing views of Coldwater Lake.

The wildflowers were thick along the trail, but we were starting to enter the cloud bank and quickly losing our visibility.

The trail continued to climb along the ridge passing a couple of pieces of old machinery that is left over from the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens.

We were now in the midst (or mist) of the clouds. At least it wasn’t raining and despite the low visibility there were still plenty of flowers along the trail to see and there were a couple of snowshoe hares out having breakfast.

The hares weren’t the only ones enjoying some snacks. A variety of ripe berries offered us a nice selection of treats.

After 3.2 miles we arrived at Tractor Junction. Named for another piece of nearby equipment, this junction marks the end of the South Coldwater Trail at it’s intersection with the Coldwater Trail.

We turned right at the junction and headed toward the Boundary Trail which was just over 2 miles away. After .2 miles we passed Ridge Camp, one of the designated camps in the area.

The wildflowers were once again impressive along this trail, but the visibility was even worse. We focused on finding as many different flowers as we could.
Tiger lilies

Lupine, paintbrush and yellow wildflowers

Large patch of paintbrush

Arnica

Bugbane

Corydalis

Columbine

Scouler’s bluebell

An aster or fleabane

Pussypaws

Mock orange

Bistort

Another type of aster or fleabane

Violets

Orange agoseris

Spirea

Cat’s ear lily

Avalanche lily

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the junction with the Boundary Trail overlooking St. Helens Lake. We had suddenly found a little blue sky and some better visibility.

Coldwater Peak was to our left and seemed to be acting as a cloud break.

While we were watching the clouds swirl around the back side of Coldwater Peak we noticed a mountain goat on the cliffs below the summit.

We took a nice long break at the junction watching the mountain goat and the ever changing clouds. When we finally set off again we passed by Coldwater Peak in sunlight.

We had some great views of St. Helens Lake below us as we passed the spur trail to Coldwater Peak after .4 miles.

The trail the continued around the lake with views opening up to Spirit Lake below St. Helens Lake.

For the next 3 plus miles the clouds came and went as the drifted over the ridge down toward Spirit Lake.

There was more snow along this section of trail and we started seeing more flowers that bloom soon after snow melt.

Cinquefoil

Cusick’s speedwell

White heather

Avalanche lilies

Cat’s ear lily

We crossed our first snowfield near The Dome, which was mostly hidden by the clouds.

It was a bit of a shame that we couldn’t see more of the surrounding area because the peaks and cliffs we could see where really neat.

The view downhill was a little better and we got a decent look at the outlet of St. Helens Lake, a log jam on Spirit Lake, and some elk in the valley.

We had skipped the .6 mile trail up to the summit of Coldwater Peak not wanting to make that climb with our full packs on a day when the visibility wasn’t great, but when we reached the shorter spur trail to the summit of Mt. Margaret we decided to head up. Unlike Coldwater Peak we had not been up this trail before so even if we didn’t have a view we couldn’t pass it up. The view from Mt. Margaret turned out to not be too bad. We could see Spirit Lake fairly well and the Boundary Trail below the peak. Other nearby peaks occasionally emerged from the clouds.

We could see some spots where mountain goats had been on a nearby ledge but no goats, just a swallowtail butterfly.

We took a nice long break and had some lunch on Mt. Margaret. As we were preparing to start hiking again we could hear people coming up the Boundary Trail, lots of people. Heather counted nearly 30 folks emerging from the trees below. We made it back to the junction with the Boundary Trail just as the first of these other hikers were arriving. The majority of them turned out to be members of the Mazamas, a nonprofit Mountaineering Education Organization based in Portland, Oregon.

After passing through the Mazamas we crossed another nice snowfield and reached a junction with the Whittier Ridge Trail.

The Whittier Ridge Trail was not on our to-do list on this hike. The trail is narrow and in places along exposed cliffs where the rocks had to be blasted to create a trail at all. Recent reports from members of the Oregon Hikers forum reported some snow still along the trail as well and with little visibility it wasn’t even tempting. We continued on the Boundary Trail getting our first view of some the lakes in the Mt. Margaret Backcountry.
Boot and Obscurity Lakes

We had been gradually descending since Mt. Margaret and the visibility was getting better the lower we got.

Along the way we spotted another mountain goat not far above the trail.

As we got closer it crossed the trail and disappeared over the hillside leaving us with just it’s smell. (And boy did it smell)

We had been working our way around Spirit Lake and were now just to the NE of it. Mt. St. Helens lay directly behind the lake but only the lowest portions were visible. What we could see was Windy Ridge on the Mountain’s flank.

Two miles from the Whittier Ridge Trail we arrived at the junction with the Lakes Trail at Bear Pass.

The Lakes Trail descended from Bear Pass toward Grizzly Lake.

A trail crew from the Washington Trails Association was busy brushing out the trail and restoring the tread along this section. They were doing some impressive work and we thanked them as we passed by.

Between Grizzly Lake and our final destination at Obscurity Lake were more wildflowers including a few we hadn’t seen yet that day.
Partridge foot and paintbrush

Penstemon and candyflower

Pink monkeyflower

Blue-bells of Scotland

Fireweed

Bleeding heart

As we approached Obscurity Lake a waterfall was visible along the outlet creek of the lake.

We finally arrived at Obscurity Lake after almost 16 miles of hiking.

We thought the hard part was over but then we went in search of the designated camp site. We found one tent pad already occupied and began looking for a second one. When I had made the reservation on the Recreation.gov website there had been 2 available permits for up to 4 people. There were several areas where tents had obviously been placed in the past but we couldn’t find any other tent pad or post marking another designated site. The hikers from the other tent said they had not been able to find a second one either so we picked what seemed like the most likely spot where there was no vegetation to trample and set up the tent.

We hoped that we had picked the right spot and figured if we hadn’t and a ranger came along we’d just ask them where the other designated site was and move there if we had chosen poorly. Oddly enough a third tent had appeared when we awoke the next morning. I don’t know if they were possibly with the Forest Service, but if they weren’t someone was not where they should have been.

Regardless of the confusion over the camp sites the day had been pretty spectacular. The showers had never materialized and between the wildflowers, wildlife, and scattered views we did get we’d been totally entertained. The clouds just made us more eager to come back again someday in the future so we could see what we missed this time around. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157668318616563