Category: Old Cascades

Tidbits Mountain – 6/29/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 1, 2019
4 Comments on Tidbits Mountain – 6/29/2019

**Note the 2024 Ore Fire burned over the access road for the trailhead but spared the trails.**

As we continued to let the weather dictate our vacation plans we couldn’t pass up a “sunny” morning forecast for Tidbits Mountain near Blue River, OR. Another of Sullivan’s featured hikes, the trip to the site of a former lookout tower atop Tidbits Mountain is just 4.4 miles round trip from the Tidbits South Trailhead. This was actually a bit of a problem as the drive from Salem was a little over two and a half hours which meant our hiking time would most likely not be greater than our driving time which would break our rule of not driving longer than hiking. Our original plan to solve this was going to be making a second stop at the Lower McKenzie River Trailhead where we could hike as far as we liked on the McKenzie River Trail, but while researching the Tidbits Mountain hike another option presented itself.

The Gold Hill Trail travels 3.2 miles along a ridge to a junction with the Tidbits Mountain Trail three quarters of a mile from the summit of Tidbits Mountain. Instead of driving to a different trailhead we could spend some time on the Gold Hill Trail which the Forest Service warned sees only periodic maintenance.

We started our hike not at the Tidbits South Trailhead but rather along Forest Road 1509 where FR 877 headed uphill .2 miles to the trailhead on the left.
FR 877 at FR 1509

Both the Forest Service and Sullivan pointed out that FR 877 was steep and Sullivan added that turning around at the trailhead was “awkward”, thus our decision to walk up the road.

As we hiked up the road there were a couple of views of the rocky pinnacles of Tidbits Mountain on the left.

A sign marked the start of the Tidbits Mountain Trail.

The trail climbed gradually for 1.3 miles to a junction on a ridge crest. This section of trail passed through some old growth trees and was full of rhododendron blooms. It was by far the best display of rhododendron that we had seen.

There were a few other flowers along the way as well but none in anywhere near the numbers as the rhodies.
Penstemon

Showy phlox

Anemone

Iris

Arnica

At the junction we turned left following a pointer for the Tidbits Mountain Lookout.

This section of trail traversed a rocky hillside on the north side of Tidbits Mountain. Being on the north facing slope trillium were still in bloom and a few remnants of glacial lilies remained.

20190629_080903

The talus slopes below Tidbits Mountain allowed for some previews of the views to come at the summit.

Looking west toward the Green Mountain Lookout.

Green Mountain Lookout

Mt. Jefferson

Three Fingered Jack

The talus is also home to one of our favorite wild animals, the pika! They are not particularly easy to see but once you know what you are looking for with a little luck you’ll spot one of these rabbit relatives. It was a lucky day for us as we spotted two.
There is at least one pika in this picture.

There is another one in this picture.

When we weren’t scanning the rocks for pikas we did a lot of looking up at the formations above us.

Columbine and solomonseal in the talus slope.

Last of the snow along the talus.

At a saddle a half mile from the junction with the Gold Hill Trail we came to a second junction. This one was unsigned. To the right a trail headed downhill to the Tidbits West Trailhead. The Gold Hill Trail used to continue straight here but it was so faint and overgrown that we didn’t even see it on the first pass. We turned uphill to the left and began the steep .2 mile climb to the summit.

Catchfly on the way up.

Lookout remains below the summit.

Foundation remains

Wildflowers at the summit.

The 360 degree view from the summit was very good although our timing meant the sun was overhead between us and the Cascades impacting the ability to get clear photos of those mountains.
NE we could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, and Three Fingered Jack.

Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson behind Iron Mountain and Cone Peak

Three Fingered Jack

The eastern view added Mt. Washington, The Three Sisters, and Mt. Bachelor.

Mt. Washington

Three Sisters

Mt. Bachelor

We could also just make out the lookout tower atop nearby Carpenter Mountain (post).

To the SE we could make out Maiden Peak, Mt. Thielsen, and Diamond Peak.

Maiden Peak (post)

Mt. Thielsen (post)

Diamond Peak

We spent a good amount of time on the summit taking in the view before descending to a lower viewpoint with a number of flowers.

Cat’s ear lilies

Oregon sunshine amid buckwheat

Penstemon and paintbrush

A fleabane or aster

Looking down from the lower viewpoint.

We then headed back down to the trail junction where we found the faint tread of Historical Gold Hill Trail. We followed it just far enough to get a close up view of a flower garden.

Western wallflower

Larkspur

20190629_092727 Paintbrush

20190629_093003 Cinquefoil

We returned to the Tidbits Mountain Trail and recrossed the talus slopes, this time we didn’t spot any pikas. We did stop to admire some of the flowers though.
20190629_093755 Baneberry

20190629_093642 Current

Bleeding heart, trillium and wood violets

20190629_093952 Wood violet

With the Sun starting to pass overhead Mt. Jefferson was a little more photogenic.

When we arrived back at the junction with the Gold Hill Trail we briefly searched for any sign of a former shelter that was indicated on the map.

After failing to uncover any sign of it we headed out on the Gold Hill Trail. Given the Forest Service mentioned that this trail only receives periodic maintenance we weren’t sure how far we might go but we were curious to check it out.

The trail was pretty overgrown, not crowded with brush, but it had a lot of vegetation growing in the middle of it indicating a lack of use.

We soon passed a rock outcrop where a patch of small monkeyflowers were blooming.

20190629_100226

We followed the trail a total of 2.7 miles losing a total of 800′ through a series of ups and downs as it followed a ridge to the north and east. We passed through some lovely forest filled with more blooming rhododendron and by several rock outcrops. There were occasional views of the Three Sisters and Mt. Bachelor through the trees and also spotted some deer, at least one doe and fawn, as they dashed away through the trees. Despite the lack of use and periodic maintenance the trail was in pretty good shape with just a few trees to step over.

North and Middle Sister

Mt. Bachelor

20190629_104300 Showy phlox

Washington lilies getting ready to bloom

At the 2.7 mile mark the trail began a final 400′ descent in the remaining half mile to FR 1509. We weren’t overly keen on having to climb back up that just to say we reached the road plus we had set an 11:30 turn around time and it was just after 11:20. We noticed an open knoll just off trail to the right so we decided to check it out and make this be our turn around spot.

The knoll turned out to be very interesting. In addition to some nice views there were a number of flowers.

The Two Girls

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters

Wolf Rock an Mt. Washington

North Sister

Middle Sister

South Sister

Mt. Jefferson had been overtaken by clouds but Iron Mountain and Cone Peak were still visible.

Buckwheat and paintbrush

Wallflower and cat’s ear lilies

Penstemon and paintbrush

After exploring the knoll we headed back looking for anything we missed on our first pass. We did notice a couple of interesting old tree trunks and a grouse crossed the trail in front of us.

Young tree growing out of an old trunk.

Grouse

We made our way back to the Tidbits Mountain Trail and returned to the trailhead without seeing another person until we ran into a gentleman at the trailhead who seemed to just be out for a drive and looking around. We ended up with a 10.5 mile hike which was perfect. It was a nice way to end our vacation. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tidbits Mountain

Tags Gold Hill Trail, hiking, lookout tower, Oregon, Pika, Tidbits Mountain, Tidbits Mountain Trail, Tidbits South Trailhead, Two Girls, wildflowers, Wolf rock

Clackamas Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Fish Creek Mountain and High Lake – 6/28/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 1, 2019
5 Comments on Fish Creek Mountain and High Lake – 6/28/2019

**Note the 2020 Riverside Fire burned most of this hike.**

After taking Wednesday and Thursday off from hiking due to less than favorable weather forecasts we headed out on Friday planning on hiking the Riverside Trail along the Clackamas River. The forecast was for a 40% chance of showers and partly sunny so we thought a river hike was a safe bet and the Riverside Trail was one of Sullivan’s featured hikes that we had yet to do.

As we turned onto Highway 242 at Estacada though we began to rethink our plan. The sky had been relatively clear so far and we hated wasting a good river hike on a day where there might be views to have. Prior to knowing what the weather was going to be like we had originally had Fish Creek Mountain as one of our hikes for the week and as luck would have it the trailhead for that hike was also off of Highway 242. When we reached the sign for Indian Henry Campground (just before the 4th green bridge coming from the west) we veered right onto FR 4620. We followed this one lane paved road for 5.1 miles to gravel where we forked uphill for an additional 2.6 miles to the trailhead on the left. The trailhead is an old roadbed that is only marked by a wooden sign on a tree next to the start of the Fish Creek Mountain Trail. (Note: The sign is unreadable unless up close.)

The trailhead was moved to this location following the road to the original trailhead being washed out in 1996. The trail here was constructed by volunteers who connected it to the washed out road .4 miles from the original trailhead.

The trail gains 500′ over seven tenths of a mile as it climbs through a mixed forest to the decommissioned road.

We started to question our decision as we found ourselves in a bit of fog as we arrived at the old road.

Columbine along the decommissioned road.

The trail along this stretch was a bit overgrown in places and the moisture from the plants soaked us pretty good.

After a relatively level .4 miles along the road we arrived at the original trailhead where the trail headed up a ridge past a trail marker.

The trail climbed along the ridge and as it did we began to emerge from the fog.

The ridge was mostly forested with a few views to the west through the trees, but as we climbed occasional small meadows popped up filled with wildflowers.

20190628_075839

20190628_080307

Just over a mile and a quarter from the old road we came to a rocky outcrop where the flowers were amazing. As a bonus there was a nice view of Mt. Jefferson to the SE.

It wasn’t the largest wildflower area by any means, but there was an impressive variety of flowers in bloom, so much so that we stopped again on our way down.
Buckwheat

20190628_081050 A penstemon

False sunflower

A penstemon

20190628_081334 Oregon sunshine

>Lupine among others

20190628_081532 Cliff beardstounge

20190628_081630 Catchfly

Groundsel

blue head gilia

Bleeding heart

20190628_110821 Paintbrush

20190628_110922 Woodland stars

Larkspur and ballhead waterleaf

20190628_110713 Yarrow

20190628_111116 Valerian

20190628_110406 Cat’s ear lily

20190628_110329 Wild rose

20190628_110300 Buckwheat in blue head gilia

20190628_082032 Thimbleberry

Larkspur, leafy pea, and candy flower

Rhododendron (just around the corner from the outcrop)

Beyond the viewpoint the trail gained an additional 600′ over the next .7 miles to a fork. There were a few more flowers along this stretch, mostly white forest varieties.
20190628_082236 Star-flowered solomonseal

20190628_082244 Plumed solomonseal

20190628_082253 Vanilla leaf

20190628_082630 Pussytoes

Beargrass

Trail fork

From the fork the Fish Creek Mountain Trail continues uphill a little under a half mile to the site of the former lookout tower at the summit. The fork to the right heads downhill for .7 miles to High Lake. With blue sky overhead we decided to visit the summit first and stayed left at the junction.

Some of the foundation remains from the old lookout at the overgrown summit.

Despite the blue sky overhead clouds had moved in around us effectively eliminating any mountain views (Mt. Jefferson should have been visible from the summit). We rested a bit checking out the beargrass and a green beetle that was scurrying through the grass.

20190628_091138

We started back down and noticed a side trail to the left about 110 yards from the old lookout site. We headed up this path which lead to a rocky outcrop with a survey marker.

It looked like it would have been a pretty good viewpoint but for us it was just a view of the clouds passing by.

After watching for a view of Mt. Hood that never developed in a break in the clouds as they passed by we returned to the trail fork and turned left toward High Lake.

This trail lost nearly 500′ as it wound down to the small glacial lake. Nestled in a basin below Fish Creek Mountain the vegetation along the trail was quite a bit behind that along the Fish Creek Mountain Trail. Here huckleberry bushes were still sprouting leaves and trillium were still in bloom.

We even ran into a small patch of snow hiding under some downed branches along the trail.

The small lake was quite pretty and it was also full of rough skinned newts.

We followed a rough use trail around the lake past a handful of campsites.

Curious newt

It was a little too chilly to hang out by the lake so after completing the loop we started back up to the Fish Creek Mountain Trail. Along the way we finally got a glimpse of part of Mt. Hood, albeit not much of one.

Mt. Jefferson had all but disappeared too when we stopped back at the flower filled viewpoint.

We had at least had a good view earlier and the wildflowers had made this a great hike even if we hadn’t had any views. We headed back down looking for any other flowers to take pictures of and found a few.
20190628_113006_001 Inside out flower

20190628_113615 Spotted coralroot

20190628_113701 Stripped coralroot

20190628_114624 Starflower

Candy sticks

Wild strawberries

We were happy with our decision to forgo the Riverside Trail in favor of this hike. We had not expected to see such a variety of flowers in bloom which was a pleasant surprise. The combination of the flowers, a view of Mt. Jefferson and a nice lake made for a great 8.1 mile hike. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Fish Creek Mountain

Tags Fish Creek Mountain, Fish Creek Mountain Trail, High Lake, hiking, Mt. Jefferson, Oregon, wildflowers

Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Sardine Mountain

**Note the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire burned a portion of this hike.**

Having done quite a bit of driving over our Memorial Day Weekend trip to NE Oregon we stuck close to Salem for our next hike. The hike up to the summit of Sardine Mountain from Matt Reeder’s “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mt. Jefferson Region“. Reeder recommends the hike in Winter when you can snowshoe the route, but as we have yet to get into snowshoeing (we’ve talked about it) an early June visit seemed appropriate. Located toward the western edge of the Old Cascades Sardine Mountain has an elevation of 4948′. This combination allows it to melt out sooner than some of the other peaks in the Old Cascades.

The peak is named after nearby Sardine Creek which purportedly gained that name when Thomas Henness found a sardine can in the creek in 1867. There are no official trails to the mountain but there is a scramble trail from Knutson Saddle which can be reached via Forest Road 2223 or by the route we took following Sardine Road (which becomes a 4wd track) up from Highway 22. Sardine Road is an unsigned gravel road located .4 miles east of Big Cliff Dam (2.3 miles west of Detroit Dam). In his description Reeder had parked just beyond a bridge over Sardine Creek just .2 miles up this road which is where we had planned to park but a van was already occupying it so we proceeded up the road another 150 yards to the next pullout.

There had been a “road closed ahead” sign just after we had turned onto the road and Matt had mentioned that high clearance vehicles could make it as far as 3-4 miles up the road and other cars probably shouldn’t go further than a mile up. In addition to avoiding the bumpy drive the first mile of the road follows close to Sardine Creek so by parking sooner we were able to get some good looks at the creek.

There were a lot of rough skinned newts out on the road which made us wonder how many have been on roads we’ve been driving on. 😦

A half mile from where we parked we passed an scenic unnamed side creek.

Despite being a road walk there was a lot to see between the creek, flowers, and the forest.
Paintbrush above Sardine Creek

Iris

Rhododendron

Candy flower

Approximately a mile and a half from where we had started the road veered away from Sardine Creek at a sharp switchback. In another quarter mile we arrived at a fork.

The right hand fork was the continuation of the route up to Knutson Saddle and Sardine Mountain but we detoured left on Reeder’s recommendation to visit a huge logjam. We followed this road for four tenths of a mile to one of Sardine Creeks forks where there was indeed an impressive logjam.

On the way to the logjam we came across a tennis ball and a slug and wondered if this was the worlds slowest game of fetch.

Also there were more newts.

There were even more logs jammed upstream on the creek.

We returned to the fork and continued climbing up toward the saddle. We still had about 2000′ to gain just to reach the saddle. We tried to keep our minds off the climb by focusing on the sights along the way. There was one quarter mile section (1.4 miles from the fork) where the road lost 200′ of elevation before steeply climbing again.
Beargrass

Iris

Mushroom in the middle of the road

Valerian

A hillside spring

The road deteriorated as we climbed although there were some noticeable tire tracks and there had been some recent clearing of brush.

Shortly after passing the 4000′ elevation we passed a lingering patch of snow (with tire tracks).

A total of 5.5 miles from where we’d parked (6.3 if you add in the side trip to the logjam) we arrived at Knutson Saddle where the trilliums where still white. We took a seat near some snow and rested.

Before continuing up I walked NE along the level Forest Service road 100 yards to a view of Dome Rock and Mt. Jefferson. Unfortunately it was a very hazy morning so the mountain was blending with the haze.

After our rest we located the use trail heading uphill where the 4wd track arrived at Knutson Saddle.

After a brief stint in some trees we emerged in a meadow of huckleberry bushes and beargrass.

At times the route was overgrown or became faint but pink flagging helped mark the way.

The bushes gave way to an open rocky hillside where yellow wallfowers and red paintbrush colored the slopes.

Red flowering currant

It was a fairly steep but non-technical class 2 scramble.

The combination of the haze and time (the Sun we still to the east of us) really impacted what would have been spectacular views.

Along the way up we spotted a northern alligator lizard.

We reached the summit of Sardine Mountain where a long ridge extended north toward Rocky Top.

The view west was marred by clearcuts.

To the NE Mt. Hood stood out with Mt. Adams being barely visible through the haze.

Mt. Hood with North Dicky Peak in front.

Mt. Jefferson rose to the east behind Dome Rock (post).

Beyond Tumble Lake to the SE was Three Fingered Jack behind Coffin Mountain (post), Mt. Washington, and the barely visible Three Sisters.

Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters

Tumble Lake

After another nice rest we started back down stopping to get pictures of some of the flowers we hadn’t noticed on the way up.

A saxifrage

Blue-eyed mary

Cats ears

Butterfly on red flowering currant

After picking our way down the exposed slope we made our way back to Knutson Saddle and headed back downhill on the 4wd road. We didn’t see anymore newts along the road on our descent but we did see a few other critters.
Rabbit

Snake

Another northern alligator lizard

20190601_121157 These two long legged spiders got into a brawl when they met crossing the road.

With the Sun now overhead the candy flower had opened up and many of the other flowers were showing up better so we stopped to get some pictures of them as well.

20190601_123148 Candy flower

20190601_121738 Iris

20190601_121916 Beargrass

Cinquefoil and candy flower

Fringecup

Monkeyflower

20190601_124017 Thimbleberry

20190601_124131 Stonecrop

20190601_125119 Youth-on-age with an interesting insect

The sunlight also helped bring out the colors of Sardine Creek.

Aside from the unfortunately hazy conditions the only real drawback to the hike was that we each managed to pick up a couple of ticks, likely taking pictures of the flowers and creek at the end of the day where the grass was tall along the road. A good reminder to always check thoroughly, best a couple of times as even though we did a check and knocked three off us at the car one managed to make it all the way home with Heather where a second check found it before it had started to dig in.

We did not see another person the whole day although we did hear a car drive past Knutson Saddle as we approached it. There was plenty of evidence that people do spend time along the road though based on the used shotgun shells, pieces of clay targets, and trash filled fire pits at several of the pullouts. 😦

From where we parked, with the logjam side trip, our GPS recorded a 12.8 mile hike which was a bit shorter than we’d expected based on Reeder’s book where he put it at 14.4 miles without the side trip. The stat that did agree was the 4600′ cumulative elevation gain making this a pretty good early season training hike for climbers. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Sardine Mountain

Tags Beargrass, Dome Rock, hiking, Knutson Saddle, Northern Alligator Lizard, Old Cascades, Oregon, Sardine Creek, Sardine Mountain, Tumble Lake, 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

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

French Creek Ridge

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

After visiting the Bull of the Woods Wilderness on our previous hike we paid a visit to the neighboring Opal Creek Wilderness. Our choice of trail was the French Creek Ridge Trail staring at the west trailhead. We had been to this trailhead before when we headed east from the trailhead to Phantom Bridge in 2011. (post) The road to the trailhead was in worse shape than we’d remembered including a short section of narrow road along a steep drop off with some trenching and potholes. It was only a couple hundred feet but it didn’t look like it would take much for that section of FR 2207 to become impassible.

Road 2207 was worse for the ware but that wasn’t the case at the trailhead where the sign board was in better shape than the one that had been present in 2011.

French Creek Ridge Trailhead

We headed down the trail following an old roadbed into the Opal Creek Wilderness.

The lightly used trail suffers a bit from a lack of maintenance but there were some signs that the first bit of trail had seen some recent brush removal.

The trail passes the Marten Buttes on the north side of the ridge beneath some impressive basalt cliffs. Along this stretch were some open views across the Opal Creek Wilderness.

When the trail was crossing over talus slopes it passed through a mixed forest with a few remaining wildflowers.

Washington lilies

Penstemon

False hellebore

After a mile and a half we crossed over a saddle to the south side of the ridge. Looking back to the west we could see one of the Marten Buttes.

Views from this side of the ridge also included several Cascade peaks.

Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Washington, Broken Top and the Three Sisters with Coffin Mountain in the foreground.

The brushing out of the trail only covered a bit of the trail at the beginning and now it was a bit more overgrown when it wasn’t passing through the rockier sections.

Luckily much of the trail did pass through rocky sections as it bounced from the south to north side of the ridge then back to the south again.

After approximately 2.75 miles we arrived at a signed junction with the Beachie Trail.

We took the left fork and followed the Beachie Trail steeply downhill for a little over a quarter mile before climbing an additional quarter mile back to the ridge top. This section was extremely overgrown but well marked by pink flagging.

We then followed the trail uphill along the ridge for another .7 miles. The official trail bypasses the summit of Mount Beachie but not by much and a short bushwack led us to the small flat summit.

Smoke from wildfires made for a hazy view but with the naked eye peaks from Mt. Adams south to Diamond Peak were visible except for Mt. Hood which was hidden behind Battle Ax Mountain in the Bull of the Woods Wilderness (post)
Mt. Adams

Battle Ax Mountain

We sat at the summit for a bit before heading back. On the return trip the butterflies were out and so was a friendly wren who posed for a bit before disappearing into the forest.

The round trip was approximately 8 miles with just under 2000′ of cumulative elevation gain. Most of the flowers were past so an early July visit would likely be better timing for those. There were a few mosquitoes present making stopping in the trees a bad idea but they were less of a bother along the open rocky slopes. A nice trail and one that you’re likely to have all to yourself. Happy Trails!

Flickr: French Creek Ridge

Tags battle ax mountain, Beachie Trail, Butterfly, French Creek Ridge, hiking, Marten Buttes, Mount Beachie, opal creek wilderness, Oregon, Wren

Bull of the Woods/Opal Creek Hiking Old Cascades Oregon

Bagby Trail to Silver King Lake

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 16, 2018
4 Comments on Bagby Trail to Silver King Lake

**Note a portion of this hike burned in the 2021 Bull Complex.**

There are a number of trailheads that have earned bad reputations due to the frequency of car break-ins and for years the Bagby Hot Springs Trailhead has been near the top of the list. In 2012 the Mt. Hood National Forest contracted with a private company to manage the hot springs which came with a $5 per person fee to soak in the hot springs (parking at the TH is free if you’re just hiking along the Bagby Trail), but it also allowed for someone to keep an eye on the trailhead parking lot from May through October. Even with someone patrolling the parking area we made sure to leave nothing of value in our car as we set off toward Bagby Hot Springs.

The trail almost immediately crossed Nohom Creek on a nice footbridge.

The wide trail then passes though a nice old growth forest.

Unfortunately the beauty of the scenery was somewhat lessened by the presence of glitter (why), graffiti, tree carvings, and toilet paper along this section. It was quite obvious that a portion of the people drawn to the hot springs had no regard or respect for the forest itself. Luckily the hot springs were only 1.5 miles up the trail and beyond them we didn’t see these types of issues.

Shortly before the hot springs the trail crossed the Hot Springs Fork of the Collawash River on another long footbridge.

Less than a quarter mile from the bridge the trail arrived at the Bagby Hot Springs Forest Camp. Several buildings remain from the forest camp with the bathhouse, picnic area, and hot tub on the eastern side of the trail.

Beyond the forest camp the trail entered the Bull of the Woods Wilderness.

The trail remained fairly wide as it made it’s way to Shower Creek Falls near the two mile mark.

The trail traversed the hillside above the Hot Springs Fork passing several campsites closer to the river below. Views were limited by the presence of the old growth forest which is a fine trade-off.

Whetstone Mountain (post)

We did pass through a couple of areas where there had been fire activity at some point. In these areas the huckleberries were abundant.
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The trail crossed many side creeks, some dry, others not, before arriving at a crossing of the Hot Springs Fork near the six mile mark.

The water level was low enough that we were able to rock hop across keeping our feet dry.

Not long after the crossing we spotted a waterfall through the trees. We decided to attempt to bushawack over to it to get a closer look and were rewarded with what wound up being the highlight of the hike.

The trail had been gradually climbing with a few ups and downs prior to crossing the Hot Springs Fork. The gradual climb continued for approximately another half mile and then the Bagby Trail decided it needed to gain some elevation. Over the next mile the trail gained nearly 550′. At the 7.5 mile mark we arrived a junction with the Silver King Lake Trail.

We followed this .2 mile trail uphill to Silver King Lake.

The campsite at the lake was unoccupied but the lake itself was full of rough skinned newts.

There wasn’t much of a view from the lake but from the NE side there was a good view of Sliver King Mountain across the water.

We rested on some logs at the campsite since there wasn’t really anywhere to sit along the brushy lake and there were a few more mosquitoes closer to the water. After a snack and some stretching we headed back the way we’d come. It was a fairly uneventful return trip. We had expected to see quite a few more people on the way out after only seeing a couple of people at the bathhouse and two backpackers at campsites further along that morning. We did pass a couple of hikers prior to reaching Shower Creek Falls where we encountered a small group cooling off in the falls. There were several more people at Bagby Hot Springs but it didn’t seem crowded which we attributed to the heat thinking that hot springs didn’t seem as appealing on such a hot day. We passed a handful of people between the hot springs and the trailhead where there were still plenty of parking spaces left and our car had been untouched.

Our hike was a little over 16 miles round trip due to some of the off trail activity making for a long hike but it was a nice one. The Bagby Trail beyond the hot springs was at times overgrown and had some blowdown along it, but it offered a feeling of solitude which is always a plus to us. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Bagby Trail to Silver King Lake

Tags Bagby Hot Springs, Bagby Trail, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, hiking, Hot Springs Fork, Nohom Creek, Oregon, Shower Creek Falls, Silver King Lake, Silver King Lake Trail

Hiking McKenzie River Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Horsepasture Mountain

After our last two hikes coming from Matt Reeder’s 101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region we went back to work on our goal of completing all of the featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s 100 Hikes guidebooks. We are just over 75% through his 100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades 4th edition and had our eyes set on checking off one more with a visit to the former lookout site atop Horsepasture Mountain.

The hike up Horsepasture Mountain provided a bit of a logistical challenge for a couple of reasons. First is our self imposed guideline of trying not to spend more time in the car than we do on the trail and the 1.4 mile length of the Horsepasture Mountain Trail meant we’d need to come up with some additional trail time. The second issue was the continued closure of a section of Forest Road 1993 which adds nearly 45 minutes to the drive to the Horsepasture Trailhead. Prior to the closure the drive to that trailhead would still have been over two and a half hours but with the detour Google put the time at three hours and fifteen minutes. We also have a rule against driving over three hours to any trailheads for day hikes so I began looking for alternatives. A little online research led me to a solution, the Saddle Trail which is part of the O’Leary Trail Complex.

The trail begins at the East Fork Upper Trailhead which brought the drive time from Salem under two and half hours. We parked at a small pullout on the right side of FR 1993 across from the signed Saddle Trail.

There was a caution sign on the post regarding a burn area but that was referencing portions of the O’Leary Trail Complex burned in 2017 which did not include either the Saddle Trail or the Horsepasture Mountain Trail. We were facing a nearly 1700′ climb over the next two miles to a junction at Horsepasture Saddle. Luckily the trail was well graded and in good shape as it switchbacked up through a green forest.

Wildflowers in the forest included a few washington lilies, penstemon, northern phlox and tiger lilies along with the typical group of white flowers.

As far as markers went on this trail it did cross closed Forest Road 590 after .4 miles and passed a single rocky viewpoint near the 1.75 mile mark.

Near its end the Saddle Trail passed through a small meadow with a few remaining wildflowers.

The trail ended at a signed three way junction with the Olallie Trail.

Here we turned right passing through thimbleberry bushes for a little over 100 yards to a four-way junction.

We turned onto the Horsepasture Mountain Trail which climbed gradually at first.

Flowers here included lupine, lousewort, wallflower, valerian, and fleabane.

After nearly three quarters of a mile of gradual climbing the trail steepened as it climbed through meadows with beargrass. It wasn’t quite the beargrass display we had been hoping for but there were some nice blooms along the way.

Other flowers in these meadows included coneflower, owls clover, and cat’s ear lilies.

After 1.2 miles the Horsepasture Mountain Trail began to climb the mountain’s south side through a drier wildflower meadow.

The Three Sisters and Mt. Bachelor were visible to the east as was snowy Diamond Peak to the south.
Middle Sister

Three Sisters and Mt. Bachelor

Diamond Peak

There was a nice variety of wildflowers on display.

A large cairn and remains of the old lookout marked the summit.

The view from the summit included Cascade peaks from Mt. Hood to the barely visible tip of Mt. Thielsen.
Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, and Mt. Washington.

The Three Sisters (with the top of Broken Top over South Sister’s southern shoulder) and Mt. Bachelor.

Diamond Peak(Mt. Thielsen is out there too)

Cowhorn Mountain on the left and the tip of Mt. Thielsen to the right.

We took a nice long break at the summit enjoying the views and the flowers. Birds and insects were our only company.

The only negative was seeing the fire scars left in the Three Sisters Wilderness from the awful 2017 fire season. We returned the way we’d come passing two other sets of hikers making their way up the Horsepasture Mountain Trail. We also ran into a family of grouse. A single chick flew across the trail then mama landed in the trail.

Her display of feathers and her posturing let us know that she had other chicks in the area so we stopped and waited until two more flew across the trail.

She then flew up into a tree to let us pass. The remainder of the hike was uneventful as we descended the Saddle Trail back to the trailhead. The seven mile hike and extended stay on the summit kept us within our driving to hiking time ratio but more importantly the hike had been really nice. Good views and wildflowers combined with solitude made for another great day in the Willamette National Forest. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Horsepasture Mountain

Tags Beargrass, East Fork Upper Trailhead, Forest Road 1993, grouse, hiking, Horsepasture Mountain, Horsepasture Trailhead, Horspasture Mountain Trail, O'Leary Trail Complex, Oregon, Saddle Trail, wildflowers, Willamette National Forest

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Hiking Middle Santiam Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Browder Ridge Trail to Heart Lake

Post author By derwoodynck

Post date July 7, 2018

5 Comments on Browder Ridge Trail to Heart Lake

It has become a tradition to spend the first half of our 4th of July hiking. This year we revisited the rocky viewpoint on Browder Ridge which we had previously hiked to via the Gate Creek Trail on 9/18/2012 (post). This time around we decided to start at the Browder Ridge Trailhead based on Matt Reeder’s hike description in his 101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region guidebook.

The Browder Ridge Trail set off from paved Forest Road 15 near a small parking area.

The trail climbed gently through a forest for the first half mile before steepening as it entered a series of large meadows.

These lower meadows were filled with ferns and a smattering of wildflowers.

Cone flower and columbine

Tiger lily

After two sets of switchbacks the trail began to traverse SE along the hillside below the ridge top. The wildflower display really picked up along this traverse. Purple larkspur, red paintbrush, blue gilia, and white cat’s ear lilies joined several varieties of yellow wildflowers to paint the hillside with color.

The Three Sisters could be seen at times as the trail alternated between forest and meadows.

The flower combinations always seemed to be a little different in each of the meadows. At the 3 mile mark the trail entered a short stretch of burned forest along the ridge top.

Just beyond the four mile mark there was a short side trail to a rocky viewpoint.

Beyond the viewpoint the trail climbed gradually for three tenths of a mile to its end at an unsigned junction with the Gate Creek and Heart Lake Trails.

Here we turned left regaining the ridge crest in the forest where we encountered the first downed trees of the hike and a huge cascade toad.

The Heart Lake Trail then dropped over the ridge to the NE passing beneath some basalt cliffs through another wildflower meadow.

The trail climbed through the meadow to a forested saddle a mile from the trail junction.

The saddle is the official end of the Heart Lake Trail. Here we faced a choice, we could turn left on the unofficial continuation of the Heart Lake Trail and climb up the rocky ridge crest to a summit viewpoint or we could attempt to visit Heart Lake. Heart Lake was a little under three quarter miles to the north and 750′ below the saddle. In the guidebook Reeder used the terms “not for the faint of heart” and “hell on the knees” to describe the trip down to the lake on the abandoned portion of trail. Heather had been dealing with a calf strain and it had been acting up on the hike so she decided against the side trip but I was feeling adventurous. She would head up to the summit and wait for me there so we set a time that she should expect me to meet up with her. I gave myself an hour and a half figuring that we typically hike at a 2 – 2.5 mile per hour pace and the round trip to Heart Lake should have only been about 1.5 miles.

I set off downhill from the saddle on a well defined trail.

In the first quarter of a mile the trail dropped into a basin losing 150′ at a not too steep grade. Being on the north facing side of the ridge at an elevation of 5400′ meant that there was still a decent amount of snow in this area though.

I quickly lost the tread so I turned to the Forest Service Map loaded on the GPS unit in an attempt to re-find the trail. Unfortunately this was one of those instances where the location of the trail on the map is inaccurate. Reeder had included a GPS track on the topographic map in the guidebook but I’d left that with Heather so I didn’t immediately realize that the Forest Service map was wrong. The Forest Service map showed the trail passing through a meadow (where I found some marsh marigolds and shooting stars).

At the far end of the meadow I spotted a couple of old fire rings amid the trees which made me think that maybe I was on the right track but less than 20 yards from the meadow I came to a line of impassable cliffs. Using the GPS I wandered to the right then back to the left several times looking for where the trail might possibly be. According to the GPS I had crossed and recrossed the trail multiple times but there was no way anyone was getting down that cliff. I was just about to give up when I suddenly remembered to use my brain. I thought I remembered that the track in the guidebook spent most of the time to the left of a creek and when I zoomed out a bit on the GPS I could see a creek to my left. I decided to bushwack over toward the head of the creek to see if I might be able to find something there. I could also see that the trail on the Forest Service map crossed the creek further downstream so if nothing else I might be able to follow the creek down to that point. As I neared the creek the forest opened up and I was able to spot what appeared to be a blaze on a tree on the opposite side.

I crossed the creek on a log and sidehilled my way down past the blaze where I once again spotted trail.

Once I had re-found the trail it was easy enough to follow. The tread was faint but visible with little blowdown and there were some remains of pink flagging to assist me.

I disturbed a family of grouse as I descended.

It was quite a descent too! This was one steep trail which mostly just headed straight down a ridge-line for about a quarter mile before beginning to level out as it neared a large meadow to the south of Heart Lake.

Elephant head flowers bloomed in the marshy meadow along with some other wildflowers.

The area was damp but I was able to find enough dry spots to make my way down to Heart Lake.

The old trail shown on the map had passed around the lake on its west side to a campsite on the northern end. I found a brushy path that I was able to follow through more marshy meadows and a tangle of trees to that campsite.

Due to all the wandering around I had done in the basin looking for the trail it had taken me nearly 40 minutes to reach the campsite which was 1.2 miles from the saddle. I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take me to climb back up so I didn’t stay at the campsite long before heading back. The climb back up was brutal but it only took me a half an our to reach the saddle but I still had a .3 mile climb up the ridge before I reached Heather.

I managed to make it with a little under 15 minutes to spare. The meadow at the summit didn’t have quite the impressive flower display as the lower meadows had had but the view was nice even though it was a bit hazy.
Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Washington, the Three Sisters, and Mt. Bachelor

Diamond Peak to the south

Diamond Peak

Owls clover

Penstemon

Orange agoseris

Phlox

After catching my breath we headed back returning the way we’d come. On the way back several flowers were now open making the view a little different.
Lewis flax

Jacob’s ladder

Candyflower

The pollinators were also now busy doing their things.

We only encountered 8 other people, all on our way back to the car, which was surprising to us given how great the wildflowers were. We both preferred this approach to the shorter Gate Creek Trail, but to be fair it was a different time of year. Either way the views at the top are great and for those wanting some extra adventure there’s the option to visit Heart Lake. All in all another great hike in the Pacific Northwest. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Browder Ridge Trail and Heart Lake

Tags Browder Ridge, Browder ridge trail, Browder Ridge Trailhead, Cascade Toad, Elephants head, grouse, Heart Lake, Heart Lake Trail, hiking, Oregon, paintbrush, shooting star, wildflowers

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

Elk Lake Creek – Bull of the Woods Wilderness

Post author By derwoodynck

Post date July 3, 2018

1 Comment on Elk Lake Creek – Bull of the Woods Wilderness

**Note a portion of this hike burned in the 2021 Bull Complex.**

While we continue to work on completing all of the featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s guidebooks we occasionally take a break from that pursuit and take a hike recommended from another source. Our recent hike along the Elk Lake Creek Trail was one such outing.

Using Matt Reeder’s “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region” we drove to the northern end of the Elk Lake Creek Trail.

After a short forested section the trail traversed a burnt hillside above Elk Lake Creek.

As the gap between the creek and trail narrowed we passed a pair of small waterfalls leading into green pools. A small amount of bushwhacking was required to get the best views.

The burned section ended just before entering the Bull of the Woods Wilderness near Pine Cone Creek at the 1.1 mile mark.

Beyond Pine Cone Creek the trail entered a fir forest with rhododendron and ripening huckleberries.

Just before the two mile mark we arrived at a crossing of Knob Rock Creek.

Just around a ridge end from Knob Rock Creek was Welcome Creek which had a couple of nice little waterfalls.

A short climb from Welcome Creek brought us to a junction with the Welcome Lakes Trail.

That trail climbs 2000′ in three miles through mostly burned forest to Welcome Lakes, a trip for another time. We stayed straight on the Elk Lake Creek Trail (Trail 559).

From the junction the trail descended for two tenths of a mile to a ford of Elk Lake Creek. We had originally planned to do this hike last June but the high snow pack had left creek running high well into June making the fords of Elk Lake Creek dangerous. With a much lower snow pack this year the ford was only knee deep and not swift.

On the far side of the creek I nearly stepped on a rough skinned newt. He high tailed it off the trail and tried to disguise himself as a piece of bark.

For the next three quarters of a mile the trail passed through old-growth forest just a bit away from the creek but it was always within earshot and often eye sight.

Just over 3.25 miles from the trailhead the trail arrived at a viewpoint above an emerald pool.

We spent a good deal of time marveling at the colors here on the creek before continuing on. Beyond the emerald pool a small section of trail had been claimed by a stream.

We reached the second knee deep ford of Elk Lake Creek 0.4 miles from the pool.

On the far side, the trail became a bit brushy as it continued near the creek skirting a hillside of rocks.

As soon as we were past the rock fields the trail reentered the forest.

We faced another ford near the 5 mile mark, this time of Battle Creek.

Just two tenths of a mile later we had reached our original goal – the junction with the Mother Lode Trail (Trail 558).

The Elk Lake Creek Trail continued from the junction and would have eventually brought us to Elk Lake after nearly another 4 miles but continuing from the junction meant climbing up a ridge. Instead of turning back here though we decided to hike a short distance up the Mother Lode Trail to visit Mother Lode Creek. This looked to involve much less climbing so off we went to yet another ford of Battle Creek.

We soon entered forest burned in the 2010 View Lake Fire Complex and after a half mile on this trail came to a junction with the now abandoned Geronimo Trail.

What appeared to be a homemade sign marked that trail and its tread was still visible heading uphill into the burn.

Mother Lode Creek was just a short distance away and we hiked down to it before turning back.

We returned the way we’d come stopping again at the emerald pool which was now in the sunlight. We watched fish swimming in the clear water for a bit before continuing on.

The hike was a little over 11.5 miles with approximately 1500′ of total elevation gain and 5 fords (I forded Mother Lode Creek to get a picture of its sign). One of the things we really enjoyed about the hike was that there were several “attractions” along the way with the small waterfalls, the emerald pool, and the old-growth forest in general. There were a few mosquitoes around but one spraying of DEET seemed to keep most of them at bay. This makes for a great early summer hike as long as the water levels make the fords possible. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Elk Lake Creek

Tags Battle Creek, Bull of the Woods, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, Elk Lake Creek, Elk Lake creek Trail, Emerald Pool, Geronimo Trail, hiking, Knob Rock Creek, Mother Lode Creek, Mother Lode Trail, Oregon, Pine Cone Creek, rough skinned newt, Washington lily, Waterfall, Welcome Creek, Welcome Lakes Trail

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