Category: Oakridge Area

Head of Jack Creek (10/4/2025) & McCredie Hot Springs (10/5/2025)

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 6, 2025
No Comments on Head of Jack Creek (10/4/2025) & McCredie Hot Springs (10/5/2025)

Hiking took a backseat this past weekend as we headed to Bend for a joint birthday celebration for our son and Heather’s father. Both have October birthdays with a 50-year gap in between, and this year was 30 & 80 respectively. Despite those ages not seeming possible (or believable) celebrate we did.

On our way from Salem over to Bend we made a stop at Jack Creek Campground for a short leg stretching hike to the Head of Jack Creek.

From the end of the campground a wide, nearly level, 0.4-mile trail parallels Jack Creek leading to several springs.

Chipmunk

Jack Creek stays within earshot of the trail but glimpses of it are rare until near the springs.

The trail passes along the eastern end of the 2003 B & B Fire scar.

Larch tree starting to don its fall color.

Near the three-quarter mile mark we passed a bench at a junction with a spur arriving from the right. There is another possible trailhead, but there is little information on its exact location or on the condition of the access road.

Sign for the Head of Jack Creek at the end of the trail.

Head of Jack Creek

After seeing the springs we returned the way we’d come and finished our drive to Bend. We spent just over an hour on the 2.6-mile hike so there was plenty of day left to visit and celebrate with Heather’s family.

Heather had picked our son up in Eugene on Friday and we’d celebrated his birthday with my parents that night. Since we needed to drop him off back in Eugene before we headed back to Salem we took Highway 58 over Willamette Pass. I had been looking for a similar leg stretcher along this drive and decided to finally check out McCredie Hot Springs and make it a theme weekend. There is a day use area along Highway 58 just over 8-miles east of Oakridge with very short path leading to pools on the north bank of Salt Creek. A longer trail beginning at a pullout along gravel forest road 5875 leads to some pools on the south bank of the creek. This “longer” trail is just 0.4-miles making it another short hike.

Sign above the pullout.

One of two access points to the trail from the pullout.

The trail had a couple of downed trees along with some roots and rocks along with a little under 100′ of elevation change.

Salt Creek

These mushrooms were a color that we couldn’t recall seeing before.

McCredie Hot Springs. Please be aware that nudity is allowed at most hot springs in Oregon and McCredie is no exception. There were a couple of people in the hot springs on the north bank so there are no pictures of that side.

This was the largest pool. We wouldn’t call it hot but it was nice and warm.

This smaller pool was a little warmer.

Reflection in the hot springs.

After inspecting the pools we returned to the car and drove on to Eugene and then headed home. This stop was under a mile with around 75′ of cumulative elevation gain.

Both of these stops were nice breaks on the drives over the passes. It was fun to have them both involve springs but have them be such different types. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Head of Jack Creek & McCredie Hot Springs

Tags Head of Jack Creek, hiking, Jack Creek Campground, McCredie Hot Springs, Oregon, Salt Creek

Hiking Oakridge Area Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Sourgrass Mountain – 06/28/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 30, 2025
No Comments on Sourgrass Mountain – 06/28/2025

A YouTube video posted last year by Hike Oregon brought our attention to a section of the Alpine Trail near Oakridge, OR. She described an out-and-back hike along this popular mountain bike trail over Sourgrass Mountain to visit the Elk Camp Shelter.

The Alpine Trail extends a total of 15.3-miles between Westfir, OR to Forest Road 1912 with a number of potential starting points. We hiked a different section of this trail in 2014 as part of our Tire Mountain hike (post). For this hike we parked at the junction of FR 1912 and FR 661 where the Alpine Trail crossed FR 1912.

We headed north on the Alpine Trail which climbed for almost 2 miles to a large meadow on Sourgrass Mountain. The climb was fairly gradual using switchbacks on the steeper parts of the ridge. Mountain bikers ride the trail south to Westfir so we were on the lookout for bikes coming downhill but we had started early enough in the morning to not run into any. (It was a different story on the way down.) The forest along the trail was very nice and there was a nice variety of wildflowers in bloom.

Little prince’s pine

Bunchberry

Rhododendron

Wild ginger

Queen’s cup

Beargrass

Stonecrop

Larkspur

There was a large patch of blue head gilia on this rock above the trail.

Vetch

Honeysuckle

Anemone

Pacific coralroot

Valerian

Starflower

Penstemon

Tiger lilies

Columbine

As we neared the meadow on Sourgrass Mountain we began to see an increasing amount of blooming beargrass.

A member of the lily family, beargrass only blooms when conditions are right, so their bloom cycle is a bit unpredictable. Due to the unpredictability it is always exciting when a visit aligns with a bloom cycle.

At the far end of the meadow we passed a newish looking bench.

Beyond the bench the trail descended along the north ridge of Sourgrass Mountain then followed a wide ridge with some small ups and downs on its way to Elk Camp Shelter.

Sub-alpine fleabane

Sub-alpine mariposa lily

Bleeding heart

That might be rainiera behind the beargrass.

Roses

Valerian along the trail.

Anemone, bunchberry, and foam flower

At 2.8-miles from the trailhead we passed a junction with Kate’s Cut In where it appears that most mountain bikers begin their rides.

We could hear a large group of bikers on FR 1912 below getting ready for their rides as we continued straight on the Alpine Trail.

Spotted coralroot

Northwestern twayblade and foam flower

Arnica

A little over 4-miles from our trailhead we came to a 4-way junction at FR 142 which is the location of Alpine Trailhead 4.

We turned right at the 4-way junction following arrows on the road to the continuation of the trail.

Approximately a half mile from the 4-way junction we arrived at the Elk Camp Shelter.

Violets

Rhododendron and beargrass

Arnica

A short spur trail from FR 142 came in from the left shortly before arriving at the shelter.

Meadow just before the shelter.

There was a decent amount of coiled lousewort but it was all past its bloom.

First view of the shelter behind the trees.

Looking up from the shelter.

Information about the shelter on the table inside.

Hike Oregon’s entry for the hike has you turn around at the shelter making this a moderate 9-mile, 1623′ elevation gain out-and-back. The trail actually continues another nearly 2-miles to the Alpine Trailhead 5.

Looking at Google Earth it appeared that the trail passed through two more small meadows between the shelter and a road crossing approximately 0.75-miles from the shelter. It also appeared that there was minimal elevation loss along that section of the trail, so we had decided to make the road crossing our turn around point. After spending a little time at the shelter we’d attracted enough mosquitos to prompt us to move on.

Small-flowered solomonseal

Coneflower

The first meadow.

Coneflower, valerian, and columbine.

Inside-out-flower

Ragwort

Western meadow-rue

This meadow was very damp making the trail slick with mud.

Meadow fritillary

Self-heal

The second meadow.

Spirea, tiger lilies, columbine, valerian, and cinquefoil.

Sticky cinquefoil

Columbine

Bog orchids

White bog orchids

Lupine

The forest road where we turned around.

We took a break on some stumps along the road where mosquitos were not an issue and then headed back the way we’d come. We kept our eyes open for flowers we’d missed on our first pass and for mountain bikers making sure to step aside when we heard/spotted them coming.

Gold threads

Rhododendron blossoms

Clodius Parnassian

Fairy lanters

Baneberry

Arnica

There weren’t any unobstructed views at any point along this trail. We could occasionally see snow covered Cascade peaks through the trees, but the only peak we were able to identify was The Twins (post) near the junction with Kate’s Cut In.

The Twins are in the center with Waldo Mountain (post) closer and to the left.

One sided wintergreen.

Candy flower

Wallflower

Nearing the bench at the edge of the meadow on Sourgrass Mountain.

We took a break on the bench and were joined by a pair of mountain bikers who were making the ride from Kate’s Cut In to Westfir. The first gentleman explained that some cyclists head north on the trail from Kate’s Cut In and ride (mostly) downhill to the Alpine Trailhead 5 then loop back to Kate’s Cut In along FR 1912 before heading south to Westfir. That loop is known as the “Chrome Toilet” (no explanation given), but he had never ridden that loop. We had passed one group heading down the Alpine Trail as we were heading back by the shelter.

The cyclists continued on, and we followed shortly after. It was just after Noon and as we made our way through the meadow the first of several groups rode past us. They were all very polite about sharing the trail with hikers and we did our part by stepping off the trail as quickly as possible whenever we spotted them coming. This meant a lot of looking back over our shoulders and led to us hiking a little faster than we normally would have otherwise.

Looking up at the highpoint of Sourgrass Mountain.

Larkspur

Royal Jacob’s ladder

The trail dropping down to FR 1912 where we’d parked.

Our version of this hike clocked in at just over 10.5 miles with roughly 1700′ of cumulative elevation gain.

This was a really enjoyable hike made better by the beargrass bloom. Even if the beargrass had not been blooming this year there were enough other flowers to make it a good wildflower hike, and the forest along the trail was lovely. We could see why it is such a popular biking trail which is the only real drawback as a hike. Weekday mornings would probably be a good time to limit the number of bikers to watch for. If you do visit just stay aware and share the trail appropriately. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Sourgrass Mountain

Tags alpine trail, Beargrass, Elk Camp Shelter, hiking, Kate's Cut In, oakridge, Oregon, Sourgrass Mountain, tire mountain, Westfir, wildflowers

Hiking Oakridge Area Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Hiyu Ridge via Grasshopper Meadow – 06/29/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 1, 2024
No Comments on Hiyu Ridge via Grasshopper Meadow – 06/29/2024

**Note the 2024 Young Grasshopper Fire burned over a portion of this hike including Grasshopper Meadow.**

In 2017 we did an overnight backpack to Grasshopper Meadow via Chucksney Mountain (post). During that trip we hiked a 9.8-mile section of the 13.5-mile long Grasshopper Mountain Trail #3569. The section covered was from the Box Canyon Trailhead to the base of Grasshopper Mountain. The trail does not go up the mountain’s summit but instead from the saddle at the base heads around the mountain and then follows Hiyu Ridge down to the Grasshopper Trailhead (approx 4 miles from the saddle).

Grasshopper Meadow was a beautiful destination making a second visit appealing and including the remainder of the Grasshopper Mountain Trail pushed it up on our list of planned hikes. We had a decision to make regarding where to start for this second visit though. In his “100 Hikes Central Oregon Cascades” guidebook Sullivan includes the hike from the Grasshopper Trailhead along Hiyu Ridge in the more hikes section at the back of the book. He also includes a hike to Grasshopper Meadow via the Grasshopper Meadow Trail in the back of the book beginning 850′ below the ridge at the top of the meadow at what is marked on Google Maps as the Grasshopper Meadow Trailhead. Hike Oregon also covers the same hike on their website here. Interestingly the Forest Service map and website do not mention this trailhead, but they do show the Grasshopper Meadow Trail #3314. We opted to start at the Grasshopper Meadow Trailhead for two main reasons. First it would allow us to pass through Grasshopper Meadow at two different times of the day instead of it being our turnaround point. The second, and more important reason, was Sullivan’s description of the hike along Hiyu Ridge indicated that we should be prepared to step over some logs. That’s code for lack of trail maintenance which could mean that this section of the trail could be impassable. The Forest Service website didn’t provide any trail conditions. We could have called to check, but we figured worst case scenario we could redo some of the 2017 hike if necessary.

A word of warning regarding the drive to this trailhead. There was about a half mile section of Road 1929 where a good amount of gullying has occurred. We’d recommend high clearance, but somehow there was a Toyota Prius parked here (just out of frame).

The trail began with a gradual climb through a mixed conifer forest before steepening as the meadows began.
Valerian along the trail.

Vanilla leaf and anemones carpeting the forest floor.

There were wildflowers along the vast majority of this hike which resulted in our taking way too many photos. I will try and limit what I include here, just know that what gets shared will be a small portion of what we saw.
Star-flowered false solomonseal.

Coneflower with lupine behind.

Penstemon

Near the three-quarter mile mark we took a short spur trail to the left to visit a spring at the base of a post.

Monkeyflower

We continued steeply uphill from the spring for 0.3-miles where we took another short spur trail, this time to the right and a view of Diamond Peak.

Lupine

Sub-alpine mariposa lily

Moth on fleabane.

Waterleaf

Tiger lily

Pussytoes

From left to right the peaks with snow are: The Twins (post), Maiden Peak (post), Fuji Mountain (post), and Diamond Peak (post).

Diamond Peak

We continued uphill from the viewpoint following the trail to a post in a large rocky area that was filled with larkspur.

Grasshopper Mountain above the meadow.

The post in the rocky area.

When we visited in 2017 it had been mid-July, and the larkspur show was over.

The Grasshopper Meadow Trail ends at these rocks for all intents and purposes. There is no clear path from the post up to the Grasshopper Mountain Trail which is approximately 150′ above running along the ridge. We made our way uphill trying to avoid as many plants as possible and picked up the trail which was marked by periodic rock cairns.
A cairn marks the Grasshopper Mountain Trail.

We turned left on the trail and headed toward Grasshopper Mountain.

Looking out over the meadow.

Fuji Mountain and Diamond Peak

The saddle below Grasshopper Mountain.

From the ridgetop we gained a view to the NE which included the Three Sisters, Broken Top, and Mt. Bachelor (post).

The Three Sisters and Broken Top

Mt. Bachelor

We crossed over the ridge and continued on the Grasshopper Mountain Trail which was, as we had suspected, in need of some trail maintenance.
The last of the snow, at least it is all we saw.

Glacier lilies near the tiny snow patch.

It was evident that the trail does get maintained on occasion, but none of it appeared recent near Grasshopper Mountain.

Crossing over the ridge changed the mix of wildflowers we’d been seeing adding in some early season bloomers such as trillium.

Anemone

Violets

Bleeding heart

Oregon bluebells

The trail passed through a small fire scar on the backside of Grasshopper Mountain where we had to briefly leave the trail to find a way over and around blowdown.

The Three Sisters and Broken Top were visible from this area.

Back on the slightly overgrown trail.

As we made our way through the fire scar more mountains joined the view including Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Mt. Jefferson.

Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack

Bears appear to use the trail more than hikers. This was the largest of three piles we’d pass on the day.

Arnica

After navigating the fire scar we were able to more or less stay on the tread save for a couple of brief detours around blowdown. That being said there were numerous trees that we had to step, or in some cases climb over. There were also numerous burrows to watch out for along with a lot of forest debris which made for a slow and hard hike. The other thing that slowed us down was the sheer number and variety of flowers.
This is both the trail and a front (back) door.

Valerian and tall bluebells

Fairy bells

Meadowrue

Moth on valerian.

Jacob’s-ladder

While the trail was overgrown in places it was passable and the tread was in pretty good shape.

Fringecup

Possibly a speedwell but unsure and it was the only one we saw.

More blowdown to maneuver around.

Edith’s checkerspot

Trail passing through an area full of monkeyflower and larkspur.

Cinquefoil, larkspur, and buckwheat

Scarlet gilia

Paintbrush

Bluehead gilia and silverleaf phacelia

Approximately 1.5-miles from the saddle below Grasshopper Mountain the trail again crossed the ridge to avoid a rocky cliff area.
The rocky area from the trail as it crossed the ridge.

We could see that there were a lot of flowers on the rocks, but the trail dropped below the ridge quickly and my first attempt to scramble up to see the flowers was too soon and I just ended up in the brush on the ridgetop. On our way back I tried again, this time finding the correct spot where I was awarded not only with the amazing flowers but also another great mountain view.
Columbine crowding the trail.

The wildflower covered rocks on the way back.

Arrowleaf buckwheat and Oregon sunshine

The Three Sisters and Broken Top with some clouds moving in.

Paintbrush surrounded by buckwheat, bluehead gilia, and stonecrop.

Scarlet gilia

Wallflower

Wild rose

The trail stayed on the west side of the ridge for the remaining 2.3-miles. Just over a third of a mile from the rocky viewpoint the trail passed a small rock outcrop which we thought looked like and it might be a good spot for a break on the way back. Not far beyond the outcrop we came to another tricky downed log where Heather decided that was enough. She would go back to the outcrop and while I would continue. If the trail was passable I would continue for no more than 45 minutes as it looked like that would be enough time to reach the Grasshopper Trailhead based on the distance shown on the GPS.

Beargrass near the outcrop.

The outcrop from the trail.

Blowdown

More blowdown

Western meadow fritillary

Bunchberry

Recent trail maintenance! There were a couple of cut trees in the final mile, but there were also still many to step over.

I had misjudged two things when Heather and I had split up. One was just how far the trailhead was, and the other was how much elevation I would be losing to get there.
The trail dropped low enough that there were several rhododendron blooming.

Queen’s cup.

South Sister (post) and Broken Top (post).

It turned out I had been almost 2-miles from the trailhead and needed to lose over 850′ of elevation to reach it. Luckily the trail was in a little better shape at this end again. I was able to keep a good pace and I arrived at Grasshopper Saddle with a couple of minutes to spare.

Given that the Forest Service lists this as an official trailhead I was expecting a little more than a post with a road number and a faded laminated sheet of paper.
Had I not just come down the trail I might not have even noticed it was there.

Cardwell’s penstemon

I realized on my way down that while I was making good time going in that direction, I was going to be hard pressed to maintain the same pace going uphill. Fortunately for me it wasn’t a particularly warm day, so it only took me an extra five minutes to make it back to the outcrop. When I joined Heather on the outcrop she said she was just starting to wonder if she should start to worry. (I might have made a little better time had I not kept taking pictures, but then again, those breaks let me catch my breath.)
Starflower

Ginger

Mt. Bachelor through the trees.

Musk monkeyflower

Grasshopper Mountain from the outcrop.

Cliff beardtongue

After I took a much-needed break we headed back. We kept our eyes out for flowers we’d missed on our first pass while we watched the various pollinators visiting the blossoms.
Blue-eyed Mary

Cicada, not a pollinator but interesting to see.

Solomonseal

Variable-leaf collomia

Honeysuckle

Oregon grape

Pollinator 1

Pollinator 2

Pollinator 3 (Clodius parnassian)

Bees on bastard toadflax

Checkerspot on groundsel

Naked broomrape (Aphyllon purpureum)

Penstemon

Our guess is this is mile three from Grasshopper Saddle. We didn’t notice any other numbers and missed this one on our first pass.

Dwarf bramble

Strawberry

Cinquefoil

It started clouding up in the afternoon.

Back at the saddle below Grasshopper Mountain.

We took another break shortly after reaching Grasshopper Meadow then headed down to the spring where we both cooled off using the spring water.

Great artic butterfly. There were a lot of these flying about. Their dorsum is a bright orange, but they rarely would open their wings when they landed.

The checkerspots on the other hand are happy to open their wings.

False hellebore

It clouded up over Diamond Peak as well.

Lewis flax

Orange agoseris

A Lycaendae on a lupine leaf.

Moth on a mariposa lily.

Butterflies gathering at the spring.

After refreshing ourselves with the spring water we continued back to the trailhead where we found the Prius still there. We never saw or heard another person on this hike. Not seeing anyone along Hiyu Ridge isn’t all that surprising given the trail conditions, but not seeing anyone in the meadow was a little surprising.

The Prius at the TH. We parked on the shoulder in a pullout.

The hike from trailhead to trailhead came to 11.5-miles (according to the GPS) with a little over 2000′ of elevation gain (according to the topo maps, and my legs).

Despite the rough trail conditions this was a beautiful hike. The flowers were the highlight, but there were several good mountain views scattered throughout. Hopefully the gullies in FR 1929 can be repaired or at least kept from getting any worse. Forest Road 1927 at Grasshopper Saddle seemed to be a good gravel road, but for that to be a viable option for anyone other than those that don’t mind a challenge the trail needs to be cleaned up. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Hiyu Ridge via Grasshopper Meadow

Tags butterflies, Grasshopper Meadow, Grasshopper Meadow Trail, Grasshopper Mountain, Grasshopper Mountain Trail, hiking, Hiyu Ridge, mountain view, Oregon, wildflowers, Willamette National Forest

Hiking Oakridge Area Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Buckhead Nature Trail and Deception Butte – 06/19/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 22, 2024
No Comments on Buckhead Nature Trail and Deception Butte – 06/19/2024

Mt. Yoran and Diamond Peak from Deception Butte

Juneteenth provided us an opportunity for a mid-week hike, and we used that opportunity to visit a pair of trails near Westfir, OR.

We began our day by stopping at the Buckhead Nature Trailhead for a short warmup hike.

A paved interpretive loop explores a riparian zone along the Middle Fork Willamette River.

Signboard about a tenth of a mile from the trailhead.

The loop began on the far side of the footbridge.

We hiked the loop clockwise and made our way back to the car. There were a few flowers and an obstructed view of the river. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife save for a couple of birds and a snail.

As far as we could remember we’d never seen a bench on the other side of a fence before.

Middle Fork Willamette River through the vegetation.

Tiger lily

Self-heal

Snail

Mock orange

The hike here was a little over half a mile, a good warm-up for our next stop at the Deception Butte Trailhead which was only 3.5 miles away.

We had attempted this hike in October 2017 (post), but a 2014 wildfire had left the trail beyond the creek itself unpassable. The trail remained closed until 2022 when the Forest Service and volunteers were finally able to clear and make the necessary repairs to the fire damage.

The fire mostly spared the forest up to the footbridge crossing Deception Creek.

Anemone

There are a few junctions prior to reaching the footbridge. The first was the only one with any signage. We stayed on the correct trail by ignoring side trails to the left that headed uphill and on the right that led down to Deception Creek.

We turned left at the signed junction following half a sign for the Deception Butte Trail.

At the last unsigned junction there was a signboard, but with nothing on it. (We went straight.)

Warning sign for the burned area ahead.

The footbridge over Deception Creek.

Deception Creek

On the far side of the footbridge the trail entered the fire scar and climbed steeply up a small ridge.

The trail then dropped steeply down on the other side of the ridge.

Due to the fire damage the tread here and for much of the remainder of the trail is rocky and somewhat slick so trekking poles came in very handy. There were also a few spots where some of the tread was missing requiring care. The trail was free of any significant debris, and we only had to step over one small tree. From the bridge it was approximately 3 miles to the summit with around 2300′ of elevation gain. The trail used a combination of switchbacks and longer traverses to gain the elevation. The grade varied widely with a few steep sections and some gentler climbs
The amount of trail work needed to clear the trail was evident by the sheer number of cut trees along the length of the trail.

This was from 2017 near the same stretch of trail.

View up the canyon from the trail.

Clodius parnassian

There was a lot of vegetation along the trail, so we had to keep an eye out for poison oak which was present at times on the lower two-thirds of the trail. It was never much of a problem, but there were a couple of plants crowding the trail that we had to maneuver around.

Moth

Starflower

Rhododendron

Northern cloudywing

Big deervetch

Hummingbird

Kreuger Rock with Patterson Mountain (post ) behind to the left.

Groundsel

One of the damaged sections of trail.

There was some forest that survived the fire starting near the 3.5-mile mark where the fire burned less intensely.

Townsend’s solitaire

Canada jay

There were a few views of the Three Sisters through the remaining trees. (Middle & South Sister here)

Inside-out flower

Looking up as the trail neared the summit.

Woodpecker

Common whipplea

Anemone

The Deception Butte Trail arriving at Deception Butte.

Beargrass

From the actual summit the view is limited in every direction save the south.

A user trail heads SW and drops to an open saddle where you can get an unobstructed view of Diamond Peak to the SE.

Looking down at the saddle and wondering if it was really worth having to climb back up.

I had arrived before Heather and decided I needed to see the view, so I headed down to the saddle where there were I found quite a bit of wildlife and a few flowers.
Northern flicker

Lizard

Rock outcrop on the other side of the saddle.

Tolmie’s mariposa lilies

Bluehead gilia

Squirrel

Oakridge in the valley below with Diamond Peak (post) on the right. The smaller peak with snow to the left of Diamond is Mt. Yoran, the triangle shaped peak is Coyote Mountain, and the peak with a little snow to the left of that is Fuji Mountain (post).

Diamond Peak

Oakridge

Leafy fleabane

Oregon sunshine on the hillside looking up Deception Butte from the saddle.

Wild onion

One of the fritillary butterflies.

Fly inside a Tolmie’s mariposa lily.

Hether had joined me at the summit, and we took a nice break in the shade on the mossy ground before heading back down.

There is a very steep trail just below the summit that leads to an upper trailhead. The Forest Service does not recommend using these though as the trail is said to be slippery and steep. We can vouch for the steep just by having looked down from the Deception Butte Trail.

Plectris and stonecrop

It was warming up fast as we descended, a stark contrast to the cold wet descent on MacDuff Mountain (post) just four days prior. We had to be careful not to slip on the loose rocks in the steeper sections and were again thankful for our trekking poles.

Coralroot

The best view of the Three Sisters that we got all day.

Butterflies enjoying some vetch. There were at least a half dozen butterflies visiting this patch.

Brown creeper

Pink pyrola

Pearly everlasting

Turkey vulture

Fireweed

Entering the trees near the footbridge over Deception Creek.

Columbine

Tiger lilies

This was a challenging but nice hike. We only saw one other person all day, a trail runner, before reaching the footbridge in the morning. In addition to some poison oak along parts of the trail we did flick a total of three ticks off our clothing so that is something to be aware of. Our GPS track showed approximately 9.5 miles which is partially inflated by my wandering back and forth a bit at the summit.

While it’s not the most exciting hike you can find, there were enough views and variety of plants and wildlife to keep things interesting and the elevation gain made it a good training hike. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Buckhead Nature Trail and Deception Butte

Tags Buckhead Nature Trail. Lower Deception Butte Trailhead, Deception Butte, Deception Butte Trail, Deception Creek, hiking, oakridge, Oregon, wildflowers, Willamette National Forest

Hiking Oakridge Area Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Middle Fork Trail Backpack Days 2 & 3 – 5/24 & 5/25/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 30, 2020
1 Comment on Middle Fork Trail Backpack Days 2 & 3 – 5/24 & 5/25/2020

**Note the 2024 208 MF Fire burned the area around Indigo Springs and the 2025 Emigrant is currently burning near Chuckle Springs in the 2009 fire scar.**

After the 14.5 mile hike to find our campsite the day before (post) we woke up a little before 6am and ate breakfast by the river. We were excited to spend a day without our full packs. Based on my calculations we were anticipating the mileage for the day to be close to 14 miles (it was more but we’ll get to that later) so a lighter weight pack was welcome.

We set off just after 7am and the trail began to climb away from the river not far from where we’d camped. Middle Fork Trail

There was still a bit of that pesky poison oak present when the conditions were just right but we could tell we were gaining elevation by the change in the forest and some of the flowers we were starting to see. Vanilla leaf along the Middle Fork Trail

Vanilla leaf

Arnica

Middle Fork Trail

Middle Fork Willamette River from the Middle Fork Trail

Viewpoint above the river.

Stonecrop

Closer look at some stonecrop.

Just under 2.5 miles from camp we arrived at the lovely Rigdon Meadows near Sacandaga Campground (which I had begun referring to as Scandinavia because I couldn’t figure out how it was supposed to be pronounced).

Western buttercup and camas Camas and buttercups at Rigdon Meadows.

The campground remained closed due to COVID-19 and the road was gated but there were several campers parked near the meadows. Middle Fork Trail

Gate at the closed entrance to Sacandaga Campground.

We picked up the trail on the other side of the gate where it joined the route of the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road. Middle Fork Trail at the start of the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road

Oregon Central Military Wagon Road

The wagon road was planned to stretch from Eugene, OR to Fort Boise in Idaho but much of it was nothing more than a rudimentary trail (Wikipedia) that allowed private companies to acquire public lands along the stretches of road that they “completed”.

This 1.2 mile section of the wagon road passed a small unnamed lake near its crest. Oregon Central Military Wagon Road

Unnamed lake along the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road

The other end of this portion of the wagon road was located near a meadow where some idiot had driven onto the grass from a nearby forest road. Oregon Central Military Wagon Road

Middle Fork Trail

About a half mile after crossing the road the trail crossed Noisy Creek. Unnamed Creek

A short distance later we crossed another muddy forest road and then came to a decent sized creek that wasn’t on either our paper or GPS maps. Middle Fork Trail

Noisy Creek

After the mystery creek we came to the signed Swift Creek which was the widest creek we’d crossed on the trip. Footbridge over Swift Creek

Swift Creek

Former bridge over Swift Creek.

The scenery really began changing beyond Swift Creek. We hadn’t seen any poison oak since the wagon road and now we were in a drier forest with huge ponderosa pines and cedars. We were also high enough now to see some blooming rhododendrons. I did manage to pick up my second tick of the trip somewhere in this area. Dogwood along the Middle Fork Trail

Ponderosa behind a dogwood tree.

Rhododendron

Rhododendron near the dogwood tree.

Tall cedars along the Middle Fork Trail

Cedar

The trail dropped down towards the river to a wetter area between Skunk and Found Creeks. Skunk Creek

Skunk Creek

Tall bluebells

Middle Fork Trail

Slug

The Middle Fork Willamette River was a narrower here and doing it’s best to erode the riverbank. Erosion along the Middle Fork Trail

Middle Fork Willamette River

The narrower Middle Fork Willamette River

The trail soon began to climb above the river along some basalt cliffs where several springs flowed out from the rocks earning the moniker of Cliff Springs.

Cliff Springs

Middle Fork Trail near Cliff Springs

On the far side of the springs the trail dropped again to a crossing of Indigo Creek. Middle Fork Trail

Before reaching the creek we stopped to listen to a wren signing. Wren

Bridge over Indigo Creek

Bridge over Indigo Creek.

Indigo Creek flowing into the Middle Fork Willamette River

Indigo Creek empyting into the Middle Fork Willamette River.

About a tenth of a mile from Indigo Creek we arrived at a junction where a trail to the left had a pointer for Indigo Springs. Trail to Indigo Springs

We turned up this short trail and climbed to FR 21 where we again turned left and followed the paved road a short distance to the entrance of Indigo Springs Campground. Heading toward Indigo Springs

Coming to FR 21.

The status of this particular area was a bit hazy. The 3 site campground was closed as well as the restrooms, but the Willamette National Forest had opened all day-use trailheads (not the restrooms at those with toilets). We walked up the access road to the 1 parking spot trailhead (which was occupied with a second car nearby). We were proceeding under the understanding that trails and trailheads were open and it was only using the campsites, restrooms, and picnic tables that was still prohibited so we followed the 0.2 mile loop clockwise around Indigo Springs. Indigo Sprngs Trail

Indigo Sprngs

Indigo Creek

There were several springs feeding the creek amid mossy green rocks. Indigo Sprngs

Indigo Sprngs

Indigo Springs

Apparently the route of the wagon road passed here too. Another portion of the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road

After admiring the springs we returned to the Middle Fork Trail and continued up river toward Chuckle Springs.

The trail dropped down to the river and spent a good deal of time right along it with a few easy access points, something that there hadn’t been many of thus far during our trip. Middle Fork Trail

Middle Fork Willamette River

Fariy slippers

Fairy slippers

There was a bit of an up and down though and we encountered the one significant tree down of the entire trip along one of the ups. Blowdown over the Middle Fork Trail

Large tree down

Luckily it wasn’t too difficult to get around and we were soon headed back down to the riverbank.

Middle Fork Willamette River

Red rocks in the Middle Fork Willamette River

Middle Fork Trail

After just over a mile we began to enter the scar of a 2010 fire. Middle Fork Trail entering the scar of a 2010 fire

Just after entering the fire scar a butterfly landed on the Garmin followed by a second landing on my right shoe. Butterfly hitching a ride

Butterfly hitching a ride

These were much nicer insects to have on me than the ticks.

The trail had split here at one time but the right hand fork along the river was now blocked by a small log and appeared possibly abandoned although a footbridge remained in place. Closed alternate route of the Middle Fork Trail

The way to Chuckle Springs was to the left though so we headed left and soon began climbing up a narrow ridge above Chuckle Creek.

We crossed the creek on a footbridge and continued up the ridge alongside the creek. Chuckle Creek

Cascade along Chuckle Creek

Middle Fork Trail

A quarter mile from the fork we arrived at another fork where the Chuckle Springs Trail joined from the left. Middle Fork Trail junction with the Chuckle Springs Trail

A very short trail led down to a picnic table where there were two groups of people talking. We had encountered two of them before reaching Cliff Springs and the other 3 were new to us. Given social distancing guidance we took a seat on some logs near the junction and waited for them to depart before heading down to the springs. Picnic table near Chuckle Springs

Sign for Chuckle Creek

Chuckle Springs

Not quite as impressive as Indigo Springs these were still a nice green oasis amid the burn area. We didn’t stay long just in case others were on their way and sure enough we ran into another couple on their way to the springs at the junction. We left the spring to them and headed back to camp.

The return trip was livened up by a couple of snakes. Heather is not the biggest snake person but she does pretty well with them all things considered. The first snake was a garter snake stretched across the trail in one of the ponderosa pine areas. Snake in the trail

Garter snake

This snake had no intention of moving to the point that we thought it might have been dead (it wasn’t).

Then as we were passing Rigdon Meadows I walked right by a good sized gopher snake laying in the middle of the road bed. Heather spied it though and stopped in her tracks.

Gopher snake

This snake also seemed intent to stay put until Heather started to go around it. Every time she took a step it would move just a bit closer to her. After about 3 rounds of this game I moved forward and the snake took its cue to head off into the grass and let Heather pass.

We stopped about one and a quarter miles from camp along the river to cook dinner and refill our water supply which had gotten fairly low. I had managed to miscalculate the distance for the day which we had clued into on the way back. For some reason, I apparently was unable to double the first portion of our hike from camp to Sacandaga Campground. I had estimated that we were roughly 2 miles from the campground and by not doubling those 2 miles I was coming up with 13.8 miles instead of 15.8. We were actually closer to 2.5 miles from the campground which would have boosted the mileage to 16.8. Add in a little extra wandering and we wound up just over 17 miles for the day.

The spot we’d found by the river had a nice view and we were joined by a caterpillar and had a brief visit from an ouzel. Middle Fork Willamette River

Caterpillar

Ouzel

We were pooped by the time we made it back to camp and we both had developed some impressive blisters. My best was on my right pinky toe and Heather’s was on one of her big toes. It was clear that we’d be spending some time applying moleskin and bandages in the morning before heading back to the car.

We turned in for the night thinking about the long hike out. I was thinking about the way we were feeling, the extra distance due to the reroute, and the ford of Indian Creek and worrying that by the time we got to that ford the combination of the sore feet and tired legs would make it even more difficult than it had been on Saturday. Additionally coming from the opposite direction might also be trickier. On Saturday getting into the creek was fairly easy and the trickiest part was just after passing the center (and strongest current) there were several large rocks which we had to step up onto. Coming from the other direction we would need to drop off of those rocks into the strongest current. I wasn’t loving that idea so Heather and I started talking about options. Both the reroute and the fords were along the same section of trail between FR 2134 and FR 2127. We got the idea to see if it looked like road walking FR 21 between the two bridges would be any shorter and from the look of it on the maps it would be so we decided that was our plan for the hike out.

We woke up at first light and packed up our little campsite and then ate breakfast along the river before throwing our packs on and heading back. Leaving our breakfast site on the last day of our trip

Our little meal site along the river.

We stuck to the plan and when we arrived at FR 2134 we hopped up onto the shoulder of FR 21 and started pounding the pavement. FR 21 at FR 2134

The road walk was pretty brutal on our already sore feet, but there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic and we got to see some different things this way. It was also close to 2 miles shorter than if we had stuck to the trail. Youngs Rock Trail at FR 21

Youngs Rock Trail – A hike for another time.

Middle Fork Willamette River

Oregon geranium

Oregon geraniums

Oregon sunshine

Plectritis and larkspur

Plectritis and the only larkspur we spotted all trip.

Boulder Creek Falls

When we finally arrived at FR 2127 we took a break on the bridge. Road signs along FR 21

Middle Fork Willamette River from FR 2127

The highlight of the final leg of our hike was spotting a pair of harlequin ducks floating on the river. It’s only the second time we’ve seen these colorful ducks.

Harlequin ducks

Our distance for this final day was 12.1 miles giving us a total of 43.7 miles over the three days. I said to Heather “Leave it to me to turn a 4.4 mile easy hike into a nearly 44 mile hike.” I’m not sure if she found that as funny as I did. 😄

If I were to do it over (and the bridge over Indian Creek was replaced) I would have started at FR 2127 instead of 2120. That first 5+ miles didn’t have quite the scenery of the other sections, and it had the most poison oak. It also would have allowed us to camp closer to the springs making that day more reasonable. The view at Little Pine Openings sure was nice though. Middle Fork Willamette River

Overall though it was a good trip and it was just nice to be out again. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Day 2 & Day 3

Tags backpacking, Chuckle Springs, Cliff Springs, Harlequin Duck, hiking, Indigo Springs, middle fork trail, Middle Fork Willamette River, Oregon, Oregon Central Military Wagon Road, Sacandaga Campground

Hiking Oakridge Area Old Cascades Oregon

Middle Fork Trail Backpack Day 1 – 5/23/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 29, 2020
4 Comments on Middle Fork Trail Backpack Day 1 – 5/23/2020

We continued to adjust our hiking plans to allow us our best chances of social distancing and visiting areas that are actually open. In January our plans for the three day weekend had been to stay in Roseburg and take day hikes along Highway 138. With staying in motels not the greatest way to socially distance, those plans were a no-go so we looked next to our 2021 plans. Those plans were a three day backpacking trip along the 30+ mile Middle Fork Trail SE of Oakridge to complete one of Sullivan’s featured hikes in his Central Cascades book, Indigo and Chuckle Springs (hike #83 in the 5th edition). This would be our first backpacking trip together since early September 2018 having skipped 2019 so that we could take care of our ill cat Buddy. (Heather did an overnight trip with some friends to Elk Lake Creek so she had been out once in 2019.)

The hike he describes is an easy 4.4 miles starting at the trailhead by Indigo Springs Campground. Doing the hike that he describes would have violated a couple of our self imposed rules. First the driving time to that trailhead for us would have been over 3 hours and secondly the amount of time spent hiking would have been less than the driving time (by a lot). My solution was to turn it into a backpacking trip by starting just south of the Sand Prairie Campground near milepost 12 of Rigdon Road (Forest Road 21). The plan was to hike around 13 miles on Saturday and then set up a base camp. Sunday we would hike the remaining distance to Indigo and Chuckle Springs and the return to camp and hike back out Monday morning. Our itinerary remained the same for the trip, but for reasons I’ll get to later the distances were not quite what we had planned on.

The Middle Fork National Recreation Trail stretches from Sand Prairie Campground to Timpanogas Lake (post).
There are a number of trailheads and access points for the Middle Fork Trail and we chose to start at the FR 2120 Trailhead.
Middle Fork Trail south of Sand Prairie Campground

A short distance from the trailhead we crossed Buck Creek on a nice bridge.

For the first 5 miles the trail was relatively flat with a few ups and downs. This section was to the east of the Middle Fork Willamette River and to the west of Rigdon Road (FR 21). There were occasional glimpses of the river as well as some time spent along and on FR 21.
Middle Fork Trail along FR 21.

Middle Fork Willamette River One of only a couple of spots where we were able to get to the river.

Where the trail crossed roads either signs or flagging were present to identify the continuation of the trail.
Middle Fork Trail Orange flagging on the left after crossing a gravel road.

The scenery was mostly green forest with a few meadows and a couple of creek crossings along the way. There were a few woodland flowers present as well as some patches of poison oak.
Middle Fork Trail

Thimbleberry

Cone Creek

Anemones

Footbridge over Bills Creek

Queen's cup Queen’s cup

Middle Fork Trail

Middle Fork Willamette River

Columbine along the Middle Fork Trail Columbine

Yellowleaf iris along the Middle Fork Trail.

Pine Creek – At first it looked like they put the bridge in the wrong spot, but there was another branch to the creek.

View from the Middle Fork Trail Small meadow along the trail.

At the 4.4 mile mark the trail popped us onto FR 21 for a little over a quarter mile before resuming along the river.
Middle Fork Trail popping onto FR 21 for a bit

Middle Fork Trail leaving FR 21

Middle Fork Willamette River

This was short lived though as we quickly found ourselves back on FR 21 near its junction with FR 2127.
Middle Fork Trail at FR 2127

Here the trail crossed the river on the bridge.
FR 2127 crossing the Middle Fork Willamette River

Middle Fork Willamette River from FR 2127

Common merganser on the river below the bridge.

The bridge crossing marked the start of what Sullivan’s map showed to be a 5.2 mile section along the western side of the Middle Fork Willamette River before recrossing on bridge at FR 2134 (our Adventure Maps, Inc. Oakridge Oregon Trial Map showed the section as 5.4 miles).
Middle Fork Trail Sign at the Road 2127 Trailhead.

With FR 21 now on the opposite side of the river this section was a little quieter and more scenic. There was still occasional poison oak to keep an eye out for and somewhere along this stretch a tick hitched a momentary ride on my pant leg before being flicked off.
Middle Fork Trail

Middle Fork Trail Mossy stump along the trail.

Middle Fork Trail Lots of grass along portions of the trail, one of these areas was probably where the tick hopped on.

A highlight of the section was a series of rocky seeps long the river where patches of wildflowers were blooming.
Middle Fork Trail

Middle Fork Willamette River

Ookow along the Middle Fork Trail The ookow wasn’t quite blooming yet.

Tolmie's mariposa lily Tolmie’s mariposa lily

Monkeyflower and tomcat clover

Stonecrop

Plectritis and giant blue-eyed Mary

Meadow along the Middle Fork Trail

Giant blue-eyed Mary

Western buttercups Buttercups

Meadow along the Middle Fork Trail

The trail reentered the forest where we spotted a couple of different coralroots.
Middle Fork Trail

Spotted coralroot (with a caterpillar)

Striped coralroot

Two miles into this section we came to our first real obstacle of our trip. I had watched a series of Youtube videos from Hike Oregon of the trail including this section (video and in her video from a few years ago there was a footbridge over Indian Creek. No such bridge existed now. The water was flowing pretty quickly and although it looked doable it didn’t look like the easiest ford we’d done. We went ahead and gave it a go.
Fording Indian Creek

We managed to get across and continued on to find a second ford a short distance later. This one was just through some very slow moving water though.
Water covering the Middle Fork Trail

It was pretty smooth sailing for the next two miles but then we came to a sign announcing a trail closure and reroute.
Middle Fork Trail

Clear water along the Middle Fork Trail

Middle Fork Willamette River

Chocolate lilies

Sign for a reroute of the Middle Fork Trail

The reroute sent us away from the river to FR 201 where we crossed Coal Creek on a bridge to FR 2133. The Forest Service map for the reroute showed that the trail will eventually continue on the other side of FR 2133 extending to FR 2134 but for now the reroute followed FR 2133 for one and a quarter miles to FR 2134.
Middle Fork Trail Completed section of the reroute.

Signage for the Middle Fork Trail More signs at FR 201

Sign for the Middle Fork Trail FR 201 crossing Coal Creek.

Coal Creek

FR 2133 Road walking on FR 2133

Once we made it to FR 2134 we were back on the original route of the Middle Fork Trail as it once again crossed the river, this time using FR 2134’s bridge.
Bridge over the Middle Fork Willamette River

Middle Fork Willamette River

The reroute had added a mile to our hike for the day and we weren’t done yet. The next section of trail between FR 2134 and Sacandaga Campground was listed as just under 5 miles and we were hoping to find a camp site close to the middle of the section.

The trail picked up at the north end of the bridge (the river had turned and was now flowing east to west as opposed to the first section when it was flowing to the north).
Middle Fork Trail

Simpson Creek

Northern phlox

Folded fungus Don’t know what type of fungus this is but it looked neat.

We were once again between the river and FR 21 and crossed several primitive forest roads.
Middle Fork Trail

Middle Fork Trail

After 2 miles it began to veer away from the road a bit to what appeared on the topographical map as a wide relatively flat area where we were hoping to find our camp site. We hadn’t passed many established (or even semi-established sites). We had seen one near Indian Creek and we had also seen one tent set up on an rocky island separated from the trail by a small channel of the river.

We passed up a couple of possible sites along decommissioned road beds hoping to be a bit closer to the river than they had been so when we did get back along the river we started looking.
Middle Fork Trail along the Middle Fork Willamette River

There wasn’t much, the trees and underbrush was thick enough that there weren’t many areas with enough room for a tent. Heather spotted a more open area in the trees about 2.8 miles from FR 2134 that looked promising but I stubbornly continued for another quarter of a mile before turning back because her spot appeared to be the best choice. We set up camp amid the trees on the opposite side of the trail from the river.
Campsite along the Middle Fork Trail

There was a nice little opening along the river nearby where we were able to cook our meals and watch the river flow by.
Middle Fork Willamette River from our dinner/breakfast spot

Our plan for a 13 mile first day turned into 14.5 miles due to the extra mile added by the reroute and my continuing past our eventual campsite a quarter mile and having to come back to it. The lower portions of the trail had been a bit of a mixed bag. We hadn’t expected as much poison oak as we’d seen along the way and the reroute had been a bit of a bummer since road walking, even if it’s dirt/gravel is a lot harder on us than a nice trail. The scenery was nice and there had been quite a few wildflowers but being so close to paved FR 21 for much of the hike and having a large number of other road crossings where car campers were present didn’t allow for much of a remote feeling. The middle section (prior to the reroute) was probably the nicest, but having to ford Indian Creek probably isn’t for everyone.

On the plus side we only encountered one other hiker on the trail and our campsite turned out to be pretty comfortable with a nice thick layer of cushy duff to sleep on. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Middle Fork Trail Day 1

Tags backpacking, Hike Oregon, hiking, Merganser, middle fork trail, Middle Fork Willamette River, oakridge, Oregon, Willamette National Forest

Hiking Oakridge Area Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

North Fork and Buffalo Rock – 05/09/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 12, 2020
2 Comments on North Fork and Buffalo Rock – 05/09/2020

As we continue to deal with the ever changing situation presented by the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking for ways to hike responsibly. That means doing our best to follow social distancing guidelines and honoring any closures in place. The situation with closures has been especially confusing requiring a fair amount of digging to get a clear picture of just what is allowed and what isn’t. With these things in mind we have been looking for hikes that are open and lightly used to limit our interaction with other people.

After looking through our to-do hike list we decided that the best option for an acceptable outing at this point was a pair of hikes along the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River. In regards to closures, the Willamatte National Forest (as of this writing) has closed all developed recreation sites. Reviewing the March 27, 2020 announcement on their website goes on to say that those sites include “campgrounds, day-use sites, trailheads with bathrooms, Sno-parks, snow shelters, fire lookouts, hot springs, boat launch facilities, and OHV trailhead facilities.” Trails themselves are not on the list and remain open assuming proper social distancing and group size/make up is within acceptable limits.

Our first stop was to hike Segment 1 of the North Fork Trail. Since trailheads with bathrooms are part of the temporary closure the traditional trailhead for this hike was out. Our plan was to park at a small pullout along Forest Road 1910 three miles NE of Westfir along Forest Road 19 (Aufderheide Scenic Byway). A decommissioned road just after crossing the river provided the perfect spot to park and happened to be right where the North Fork Trail crossed FR 1910.
North Fork Trail at FR 1910

We headed SW into the forest where a number of different wildflowers were currently blooming.
North Fork Trail

Star-flowered solomonseal

Anemone Anemone

Trillium

Oregon grape

Starflower

Yellowleaf iris

After .2 miles we followed a path down to the riverbank.
North Fork Willamette River Looking back at FR 1910’s bridge over the River.

North Fork Willamette River

A few steps after returning to the trail we left the trail again and crossed the decommissioned FR 685 near Short Creek to check out a small slide.

We followed the relatively level trail for another 3 miles turning around at an old road about a tenth of a mile from the parking area of the closed trailhead. Like most river trails the North Fork trail spent some time along the river, above the river, and others back in the forest. There were a few changes to the scenery along the way and plenty of flowers (along with a fair amount of poison oak). Three miles from FR 1910 we passed the concrete remains of a 1930s mill pond.

Valerian

Spotted coralroot

Inside-out flower

North Fork Trail

Hookedspur violet

Fairy slipper

Dogwood blossom

Buck Brush - redstem ceanothus Buck brush

Yellow leaf iris along the North Fork Trail

North Fork Willamette River

Shed skin from a Cicada on a yellow leaf iris Shed cicada skin

Wood rose

Fairybells Fairy bells

Showy phlox Northern phlox

Snail on the North Fork Trail Trail snail

North Fork Trail

Honeysuckle

Columbine

North Fork Trail along the North Fork Willamette River

Lupine along the North Fork Trail Lupine

Youth-on-age

North Fork Willamette River Rock ledge along the river.

North Fork Willamette River View from the rock ledge.

Monkey flower

Camas Camas

North Fork Trail along the North Fork Willamette River

Dam site along the North Fork Trail Concrete tower

North Fork Trail

Pale flax

North Fork Trailhead Roadbed near the trailhead.

We returned the way we’d come keeping our eyes open for anything we missed on our first pass, and of course there were a couple of flowers that we missed.
Vanilla leaf

Wild ginger

A garter snake provided a bit of excitment when Heather noticed it coming towards her onto the trail. It eventually slithered to a fern on the other side but not before getting her to jump.

Garter snake

We wound up only encountering 4 people along the trail, a lone hiker and a group of three mountain bikers so this first stop had worked out well from a socially distancing standpoint.

After making it back to our car we returned to FR 19 and turned left (NE) for 18.1 miles to Forest Road 1939 (1.1 miles beyond Kiahania Campground). We turned left onto FR 1939 for 1.2 miles to a hiker symbol on the left marking the start of another segment of the North Fork Trail.
North Fork Trailhead at FR 1939

As best as I can tell from research this 4.5 mile segment of the North Fork Trail appears to have been completed in 2011 or possibly 2010. There is very little information online about it even though it has appeared as a featured hike (along with Segment 1) in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades” books since his 4th edition was published in 2012. I was unable to find any reference to it all on the Willamette National Forest’s website despite the Forest Service hoping to one day connect all the segements of the North Fork Trail from Westfir to Waldo Lake. In any event there is no parking area for this trailhead and there is just enough room for a couple of cars to park off the road on the shoulder nearby.

From the outset it was obvious that this was a much lighter traveled segment than the Segment 1 as the tread was narrower and there was some large trees across the trail.
North Fork Trail

North Fork Trail

There were some similarities though as we saw many wildflowers (some the same as during our earlier stop and some new for the day) and this trail also provided a few access points to the river.
Trillium

Candy flower growing out of a mossy tree trunk.

Western meadowrue

Largeleaf sandwort

North Fork Willamette River

Striped coralroot

Red flowering currant

There were several creeks to cross, the first was too wide at the trail to hop across requiring a slight detour downstream. The rest all had rocks allowing us to cross dry footed.
North Fork Trail The second creek crossing.

The trail turned away from the river to drop to the third substantial creek crossing.
North Fork Trail

Creek along the North Fork Trail

It was at this third creek that we realized we’d missed a 10 foot waterfall marked on Sullivan’s map at the 1.1 mile mark. A quick re-reading of the hike description told us it was 150 feet offtrail which explained why we hadn’t seen it. We made a mental note to look for it on the way back.

At the 2.3 mile mark the trail passed close to the river and a cobblestone beach from which the basalt outcrop of Buffalo Rock was visible.
North Fork Willamette River

Buaffalo Rock from the North Fork Willamette River

As the trail began to pass under Buffalo Rock it became even wilder than it had been beginning with a large tree blocking the trail just on the other side of a creek crossing.
North Fork Trail

After ducking under the tree the trail passed through a small hillside meadow.
North Fork Willamette River

Coastal manroot

Sticky cinquefoil

Popcorn flower Popcorn

Western yellow oxalis

The dry, rocky hillside below Buffalo Rock provided for some different types of flowers and plants and was the only spot along this trail that we noticed any poison oak.
North Fork Trail

Buffalo Rock

Collomia heterophylla - Variable Collomia Variable collomia

Western fence lizard

Giant blue-eyed Mary

Larkspur

This segment of the trail had originally extended another 2 miles from beneath Buffalo Rock with the next marker on Sullivan’s map being a “mossy pool” a mile from the end of the trail. As we continued on from Buffalo Rock though we found that the trail was quickly deteriorating. It was evident that what little maintenance this segment saw, had all been focused on the section between FR 1939 and Buffalo Rock.
North Fork Trail Had to climb over this on the left side by the standing tree.

North Fork Trail under some blowdown The only choice here was to use this tree as the trail.

North Fork Trail Minor debris on the trail.

North Fork Trail Cuts most likely from the original establishment of the trail.

North Fork Trail This one required a detour to the right around the end of the tree.

North Fork Trail Forest reclaiming the trail tread.

Given the conditions we were experiencing and the distance we were facing for the day we decided to shoot for the mossy pool and turn around there instead of trying to reach the end of the trail. Sullivan himself had suggested turning around at Buffalo Rock and other than noting the pool on his map made no mention of it so we weren’t exactly sure what to expect. The trail turned away from the river to descend to the creek crossing where we expected to find the mossy pool.
North Fork Trail

The creek had done a good job of erroding the trail which provided one final tricky obstacle to reach the little pool.
Creek along the North Fork Trail

We were pleasantly surprised by how nice this little creek and the pool were. There was a small cascade creating the pool.
Mossy pool

Small cascade

Mossy pool

It was the perfect spot for a nice break. It was the warmest day of the year thus far with temperatures expected in the mid to upper 80s and it felt every bit that hot, but here by the creek the air was cool and refreshing. Between that and the calming sound of the water we both could have easily taken a nap but alas we needed to head back.
North Fork Trail from the mossy pool

We headed back before we had time to stiffen up with a mission to find the off-trail waterfall. From Sullivan’s map it appeared that there was no creek at the trail to follow up to the waterfall and his description said to listen for the sound of water and follow it. When we thought we were in the right general area we started listening. We took one wrong turn up a small stream that we thought was too soon but didn’t want to accidently miss it again. After following this little stream a short distance we determined that there was no sound of a waterfall of any kind so we returned to the trail and continued on. After descending a series of switchbacks we were in another promising area and this time we could hear water on the opposite side of the trail from the river. We bushwacked uphill to find the little waterfall.
Small off-trail waterfall

Small off-trail waterfall

After seeing the waterfall we returned to the car and headed home. We did see one other couple on our way back to the car making it a half-dozen between the two stops for the day. The two hikes totaled 13.9 miles, 6.4 on Segment 1 and 7.5 at Buffalo Rock.

We will continue to look for responsible options to allow us to keep hiking during these unprecedented times. Please be smart and safe and as always Happy Trails!

Flickr: North Fork and Buffalo Rock

Tags Buffalo Rock, hiking, North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River, north Fork Trail, Oregon, Westfir, wildflowers, Willamette National Forest

Hiking Oakridge Area Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Bunchgrass Ridge – 7/04/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 9, 2019
5 Comments on Bunchgrass Ridge – 7/04/2019

**Note a portion of this hike burned in the 2022 Cedar Creek Fire.**

For the 4th of July this year we headed to the Oakridge area to check out a portion of the Eugene to Crest Trail. The concept of the trail is for a continuous trail from Eugene, OR to the Pacific Crest Trail east of Waldo Lake. Despite beginning in the 1970’s the trail has not been completed but a 108 mile route has been established using trails and roads with multiple access points.

We chose to begin our hike at the Eugene to Crest Trailhead #4 It was an interesting drive to the trailhead as winter storms brought extensive damage along Highway 58 causing its closure for a time due to slides and downed trees. Those same conditions affected many of the Forest Service roads and trails. As we headed up FR 2408 toward the trailhead it was apparent that the Forest Service had been busy clearing downed trees along the lower portion of the road. It was interesting to see that higher elevations hadn’t suffered near as much damage though as the number of recently cut trees decreased significantly. Then as we neared the trailhead a young black bear darted across the road in front of the car.

After the excitement of seeing the bear we pulled into the parking area where we discovered a fair number of mosquitoes waiting for us. We applied a bit of bug spray and set off on the signed trail.

In a tenth of a mile we arrived at a junction with the Eugene to Crest Trail where we turned left.

A short distance later we entered Little Bunchgrass Meadow.

The meadow had quite a bit of lupine and some white pussytoes and cat’s ear lilies blooming with tiger lilies and orange agoseris just getting started.

The only tiger lily that seemed to be open yet.

20190704_072419 orange agoseris beginning to open.

20190704_072403 Cat’s ear lily

Pussytoes

At the end of the meadow the trail entered the forest where a few vanilla leaf and a single trillium were still blooming.

It wasn’t long before we popped out into a second meadow. This one was filled with bunchgrass aka beargrass. Unfortunately it appeared that we had missed the beargrass bloom by a year as only a couple of plants had flowers while many others had dead stalks.

We repeated the meadow-forest-meadow pattern a couple of times as the trail followed the ridge SE. Occasionally there were views of the Three Sisters, Broken Top, and the top of Mt. Bachelor to the NE.
The Three Sisters and Broken Top

Larkspur along the trail.

Bunchberry

Anemone

Another meadow

The Three Sisters and Broken Top

Queen’s cup

The Three Sisters, Broken Top, and a bit of Mt. Bachelor

Rhododendron

Another meadow full of not-in-bloom beargrass.

The first mile and a half of the trail had been fairly level as it passed along the ridge but after passing through the last beargrass meadow for a while the trail began to gradually gain elevation. The trail left the ridge top in favor of the SW facing slope.
View from the SW facing hillside.

Looking SE

The trail then regained the ridge where we once again had views of the Three Sisters and Broken Top along with Mt. Jefferson and the very tip of Three Fingered Jack.

Mt. Jefferson behind the ridge extending from Mule Mountain (post). The tip of Three Fingered Jack is visible just to the left of the high point along the ridge to the far right.

After passing a knoll on our right we got our fist glimpse of Diamond Peak ahead to the SE.

Diamond Peak through the trees.

After a brief drop to a saddle we climbed past a wildflower rock garden to a nice viewpoint just over two and a quarter miles from the trailhead.
Valerian in the saddle.

Mt. Yoran, Diamond Peak, and Mt. Bailey

Mt. Yoran and Diamond Peak

Mt. Bailey

View to the NE (from the afternoon on the way back)

The Husband, Three Sisters, Broken Top, and Ball Butte(from the afternoon on the way back)

Mt. Jefferson and the tips of Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Washington

From the viewpoint the trail descended fairly steeply past what appeared to be a small spring but it is not shown on any map that I could find.

Sections of our route passed through and by the fire scar from the 1991 Warner Creek burn but as we descended from the viewpoint we were passed through a newer scar from the 2017 Kelsey Creek Fire.

In this newer scar we found one of the best clumps of western wallfower we’d ever seen.

20190704_084603

There was also a large wild ginger blossom which we don’t get to see very often so clearly.

After losing almost 500′ of elevation the trail looked to regain it as it climbed from a saddle up a ridge and around a knoll before dropping down again.

From the high point we had a nice view of the ridge behind us that our route had followed.

Ahead we could see another ridge line on the far side of Kelsey Creek which was in the valley below.

From this view we couldn’t really make out the ridge between us and the one across the valley. We began to wonder about the rest of our route. We did have two paper maps and our GPS with us but instead of looking at those we wondered if we would be curving around this valley or following an unseen ridge to our right. Whatever our route would be, it began by heading downhill. There was fairly thick vegetation along the trail but it had also recently been cut back.

We could see a green meadow ahead of and below us.

Just over three and a half miles in the trail leveled off at a saddle above the meadow. The wildflower display on the saddle was really impressive with large groups of blue-head gilia and giant blue-eyed Mary creating carpets of blue and numerous other flowers scattered about.

Giant blue-eyed Mary

20190704_091315 Giant blue-eyed Mary

Giant blue-eyed Mary and blue-head gilia

Cat’s ear lily and blue-head gilia

Coneflower

Cow parsnip

Tall mountain bluebell

More of the blue flowers

Larkspur

20190704_092323 Jacob’s ladder

20190704_092346 An aster or fleabane

Columbine and valerian

Lupine

Not sure what type of flower this one is.

Valerian filled meadow below the trail.

White yarrow, giant blue-eyed Mary, and tall mountain bluebells

Beyond the saddle the trail did not follow a ridge in any direction. It lost a little more elevation passing under a hillside dotted with pink rhododendron.

The low elevation was approximately 5250′ which the trail dipped to briefly as it started to wind around the headwaters of Kelsey Creek. As we came around we started to climb and quickly realized that the trail was going to take us up and over the ridge we had been looking at from the viewpoint across the valley. From the low point the trail gained 150′ over the first three tenths of a mile before launching uphill to gain another 450′ in the next .4 miles.
Looking back at our route so far.

The trail coming around Kelsey Creek is visible on the hillside behind us.

The trail crested in yet another bunchgrass filled meadow.

The open hillside here provided views ahead to Fuji Mountain in the Waldo Lake Wilderness (post) as well as Diamond Peak and a good look at Mt. Bailey (post).
Fuji Mountain (left), flat topped Mt. David Douglass, Mt. Yoran (shorter thumb to the left of Diamond Peak), and Diamond Peak.

Mt. Yoran and Diamond Peak

Mt. Bailey

We were particularly excited to see Mt. Bailey. It’s one we don’t often get a good view of due to its relatively low profile (8368′) and its alignment which often puts it behind Diamond Peak in the line of sight.

This meadow lasted off and on for a little over half a mile. There again wasn’t much beargrass in bloom but we did come upon a nice display of scarlet gilia, also known as skyrocket which seemed fitting on the 4th of July.

20190704_101615 A few orange agoseris were scattered about.

Scarlet gilia

More scarlet gilia

20190704_112526 Skyrocket

At the edge of the meadow we arrived at a rock outcrop.

The trail switchbacked down below the outcrop which was home to a few flowers of it’s own.

A thistle that was getting ready to bloom.

Wallflower

Below the outcrop the trail passed through more beargrass with Big Bunchgrass Meadow covering the hillside ahead with a bright green color.

We had one complaint as we headed toward our goal, the trail was losing elevation. Interestingly though we found ourselves in an entirely different type of forest than we had encountered during the hike so far. It had a drier feel with pines and a grassy forest floor.

Soon though we popped out into Big Bunchgrass Meadow which didn’t appear to have much if any bunchgrass. False hellebore, grasses, and flowers filled this meadow.

The flowers weren’t profuse but there was a nice variety and the butterflies seemed to be enjoying them.
Owl’s head clover

Larkspur, an owl’s head clover, and scarlet gilia

Aster or fleabane and an orange agoseris

Coneflower

Hyssop

Butterflies on a cat’s ear lily

20190704_105633 Wait that’s not a butterfly.

As the trail continued to lose elevation we decided to make our turnaround point a trail junction with a tie trail coming up to the meadow from the Bunchgrass Lower Trailhead. There was a post in the meadow with a pointer for the trail but it wasn’t exactly near the post and we missed it on our first pass. We turned around after rounding a small corner that gave us a nice view of Fuji Mountain.

Fuji Mountain

Looking back we realized just how far we had come down to reach the meadow.

As we came back around the small corner we spotted the faint trail veering off to the left.
The post, with an orange top, is up and to the right in front of a tree.

We headed back uphill and stopped for a break at the rock outcrop.
Heather at the rock outcrop.

I wandered up along the outcrop to see if there might be a good viewpoint atop the ridge. I was hoping for the Three Sisters and Broken Top but they were nowhere to be seen.

Big Bunchgrass Meadow and Fuji Mountain

Diamond Peak

I did find a little clump of Oregon sunshine though.

After our break we continued on looking for anything we might have missed on our first pass as well as for any wildlife.

Crab spider (probably waiting for that Washington lily to open)

Turkey vulture

Back in the valerian meadows

Not sure what this is going to be either.

We never did see that bear again, although there were several piles of scat along the trail. As for people we passed a group of three hikers at the viewpoint about 2 miles from the trailhead and a pair of mountain bikers at the junction near the trailhead. It was a little surprising to us that we didn’t see more, the trail was in great shape with good views and wildflowers. The first few miles were relatively easy too with the real climbing occuring in the latter half of the hike. We logged 11.8 miles on the GPS which seems to be right around where all our hikes have been lately. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Bunchgrass Ridge

Tags Bear, Beargrass, Bunchgrass RIdge, Butterfly, Diamond Peak, Eugene to Crest Trail, Eugene to Crest Trailhead #4, hiking, Kelsey Creek, Mt. Bailey, Mule Mountain, oakridge, Oregon, wildflowers

Hiking Oakridge Area Oregon Trip report

South Willamette Trail

A dry forecast and a day off for Presidents Day seemed like a perfect excuse to get our February hike in. For this outing we’d picked the South Willamette Trail. This was yet another trail we had yet to hike and this seemed like a good time of the year to do so because the trail lacks any highlights or views that would be impacted by inclement weather.

The South Willamette Trail is basically a five mile long connector trail between the Hardesty Trailhead and the Eula Ridge Trailhead. We began our hike at the Hardesty Trailhead which had also been the starting point for our Goodman Creek hike (post).

A single trail leaves the trailhead to the left of a large signboard.
Hardesty Trailhead

The trail is actually the Hardesty Trail which gains over 3000′ in five miles to the old lookout site atop Hardesty Mountain. Unless you’re looking for a training hike the old lookout site is now view less. For a slightly shorter and more scenic hike to that location start at the Mount June Trailhead instead as we did in 2013 (post).

Back to our current hike now. We followed the Hardesty Trail for .2 miles to the Goodman Creek Trail junction.

Junction with the Goodman Creek Trail

We stayed left continuing on the Hardesty Trail for another four tenths of a mile to the start of the South Willamette Trail.

Hardesty Trail junction with the South Willamette Trail

We stayed left again leaving the wider tread of the Hardesty Trail behind for the narrower but not overgrown South Willamette Trail.

This trail runs parallel to Highway 58 but due to the presence of some private land holdings it bends back away from the highway which kept the noise down for much of the hike. There are not any views to speak of along the trail and although it crossed several creeks there are no waterfalls either. The trail simply passes through some different types of forest on its way from one end to the other. A half mile from the Hardesty Trail a nice footbridge brought us over an unnamed seasonal creek.
South Willamette Trail

A half mile later we were crossing another unnamed creek.
South Willamette Trail

This was followed by a footbridge over Crale Creek just a tenth of a mile later and a log crossing of another stream just beyond that.
South Willamette Trail

Crossing Crale Creek

The trail then made a slight climb to cross Crale Creek Road.
South Willamette Trail crossing Crale Creek Road

The trail climbed steadily for the next 1.75 miles gaining approximately 400′ to reach its high point at an elevation just over 1400′. There was just a little left over snow scattered about along the way.
A bit of snow along the South Willamette Trail

The Sun was shining overhead as we began to descend to a footbridge over Harper Creek.
Sun behind trees in the Willamette National Forest

Footbridge over Harper Creek

From there we climbed up and around a ridge gaining 280′ in half a mile before dropping again, this time to a bridge less crossing of North Creek.

There was just enough water to prevent a dry rock hop across the creek and a pair of logs downstream were too slick and angled to be worth risking so we decided to make North Creek our impromptu turn around. We were only about a tenth of a mile from the Eula Ridge Trailhead so we had covered most of the trail and I had especially been struggling all morning.

We returned the way we’d come listening to the birds and watching for the small purple blossoms of snow queen.
Wren Wren signing along the trail

Snow queen

I had had a sore throat when I’d woken up and by the time we made it back to the car I was chilled. I spent the rest of the day and the next in bed ill which actually made me feel a little better about having struggled so much on a 10.8 mile 1600′ elevation gain hike.

The South Willamette Trail is definitely not a big reward hike, there are no views to speak of and aside from the few small creeks no real attractions along the way other than a nice green forest. That being said it was a good moderate winter hike and it’s open all year save for the worst storms. Happy Trails!

Flickr: South Willamette Trail

Tags Crale Creek, Eula Ridge, Goodman Creek, hardesty mountain, Hardesty Trailhead, hiking, Oregon, Snow queen, South Willamette Trail

Hiking Oakridge Area Old Cascades Oregon

Salmon Creek Falls

On Columbus Day morning we left Klamath Falls and headed home to Salem. We were planning on hiking on the way home, but we weren’t sure what hike we would be doing. If the weather was decent we were hoping to hike up The Twins near Waldo Lake and if it wasn’t we’d try the Salmon Creek Trail to Salmon Creek Falls near Oakridge.

It was dark at 5am as we headed north on Highway 97 but the stars where visible in the sky above. The stars were still out as we turned onto Highway 58 and began to head NW toward the Cascade Crest. The possibility of The Twins was still on the table, but by the time we had reached Crescent Junction the stars had been replaced by rain clouds. Salmon Creek Falls it was.

Just prior to reaching Oakridge we turned right onto Fish Hatchery Road and drove it’s length to Forest Road 24 where we turned right for .8 miles to the Flat Creek Road. Here we turned right and parked in a large gravel parking lot next to a small gazebo.

The Salmon Creek Trail began a short distance down the road from the gazebo.

After just a tenth of a mile we came to an unsigned junction where we turned left.

A steady light rain was falling from the low clouds overhead as we followed this trail east past the Flat Creek Work Center and along Salmon Creek.

It was an interesting trail in that it split in several areas only to rejoin a short distance later. A sort of pick your own adventure trail if you will. It also spent some time along the shoulder of FR 24 in areas where Salmon Creek had eroded the bank substantially.

At other times the trail followed roadbeds.

This led to a little confusion about the correct route, but it really didn’t matter as long as we kept heading east because the creek and FR 24 acted as rails on either side.

After a little over two and a half miles we arrived at a wide junction.

A right turn here brought us to the site of a washed out bridge that used to connect to another trail on the south side of Salmon Creek.

Just under a mile beyond the washed out bridge we arrived at the Salmon Creek Campground.

We headed through an empty camp site and followed a path down to the creek and 10′ Salmon Creek Falls.
IMG_4286_stitch

It was a good day to visit the falls, the autumn colors were nice and there were no crowds around. After spending some time by the water we headed back keeping our eyes open for the small things that are easy to miss in the forest.

It was a fairly easy 7.8 mile round trip hike and even though it rained almost the entire time we didn’t feel soaked. It was about as nice a hike as one could hope for on that kind of day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Salmon Creek Falls

Tags hiking, oakridge, Oregon, Salmon Creek, Salmon Creek Campground, Salmon Creek Falls, salmon creek trail