Category: Hiking

Tombstone Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/16/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 23, 2023
2 Comments on Tombstone Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/16/2023

We woke up at our campsite near West Eagle Creek early hoping to once again get a jump on the oppressive heat. I was planning on hiking from camp to Tombstone Lake and back, but Heather had yet to decide what her plans for the day were. We discussed it over breakfast, and she decided that she would instead follow the West Eagle Trail to Echo and possibly Traverse Lake. The heat had really been taking a toll on her and the shorter distance coupled with much less elevation gain seemed a smarter option all the way around. This was also one of the options for Sullivan’s Tombstone Lake featured hike so she would still be able to cross that one off the to-do-list (post).

Before we could set off we divided up our supplies making sure we each had ways to get more water (she took the pump and I took the purification tablets) and go to the bathroom if necessary. I took the Garmin inReach because let’s face it, I’m much more likely to do something stupid.

I’ll be covering my hike to Tombstone Lake for the remainder of this post. As soon as I was ready to go I said goodbye to Heather and set off on the West Eagle Trail.
The path from camp meeting the West Eagle Trail.

It was a little before 6:30am when I started.

After a brief gradual climb the trail began a series of 10 switchbacks before reaching the junction with the Tombstone Lake Trail a half mile from camp.
Switchbacks would be a theme for these last two days.

The trail junction on the ridge ahead.

I turned onto the Tombstone Lake Trail which gently climbed at first as it traversed a slope above West Eagle Creek.

After a quarter mile the trail crossed the creek and then began a long climb via 45 switchbacks to a basin.
The West Eagle Creek crossing.

There was a large waterfall on West Eagle Creek flowing from Echo Lake’s basin on the right.

Echo Lake Falls

There was a waterfall ahead at the end of the switchback here, but it was mostly obscured by vegitation.

It was fairly smokey looking ESE in the morning.

Wildflowers along the trail.

Several switchbacks were along this tributary of West Eagle Creek. This particular spot would provide me with much needed water on my descent.

It looked like there might be a bit of a waterfall along this stream as well.

Looking up the stream at another cascade.

The upper portion entered an old fire scar and sunlight which heated things up quickly.

Northern flicker

Every time I thought I was at the basin the trail would switchback to find more hillside.

Mountain bluebird

Surely that is the crest.

It was not, up I go.

Smoke to the South.

Echo Lake across the valley.

Finally done with the switchbacks I could see the next climb in the distance ahead, but for now I had a bit of a reprieve.

Sullivan’s map had made the section of trail passing through the meadowed basin appear decently long, but it turned out to be just over a half mile. This more level section still managed to include a pair of switchbacks as the trail went from a smaller lower basin to a much larger meadow.

Lousewort

Columbian ground squirrel

Gentians, one of my favorite wildflowers.

The larger meadow ahead.

We had spoken to a couple of women at the trailhead the day before, and they had mentioned that a group with llamas was heading into Tombstone Lake. I wound up passing their camp at the start of the meadow.
Their camp was uphill to the left. The stream here was lined with wildflowers.

Lewis monkeyflower, aster (or fleabane), and fringed grass of parnassus.

The trail all but disappeared on the far side of the stream, but small cairns helped mark the way.

Cairns along the trail through the meadow.

Yellow Wallowa Indian paintbrush

At the far end of the meadow the trail began another series of over 20 switchbacks as it climbed to a pass. Luckily it was quite a bit cooler near the meadow and there were a lot more flowers which made this climb a little more tolerable.
Heading up again.

Larkspur

White mariposa lily

Looking back down into the basin.

False hellebore

Coiled lousewort

As I was climbing I heard a helicopter that sounded very nearby. I wondered if it was possibly getting water from one of the lakes for a fire, but then it flew overhead from the direction of the pass.

It looked like it had stretcher not a bucket hanging underneath. Hopefully if anyone was in it they’re okay.

View of the basin headwall.

View back down the valley.

Phlox

Chipmunk

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Arriving at the pass.

Smokey view from the pass.

Tombstone Butte, Swabb Mountain, with Granite Butte behind in between, and China Cap to the right.

The pass at nearly 8200′.

After a short break at the pass I started my descent toward Tombstone Lake. After a pair of switchbacks the trail straightened out and traversed a hillside below a ridge for half a mile.

The views along this section continued to improve the further I went.
Tombstone Lake below.

Sturgill Peak

Tombstone Lake is a series of connected bodies of water.

A phacelia.

At the end of the half mile the trail turned toward the lake and descended another series of switchbacks, 16 in all, before again straightening out and gradually descending to the lakeshore.

Rosy paintbrush

Finally at the lake.

Gentian along the lakeshore.

Swamp onion along the shore of one of the smaller bodies of water.

Trout

After exploring the lakes and taking a short break I checked my water supply and decided that I still had half my supply left. I decided to hold off on getting more until I was on the other side of the pass and headed down. I headed back and began counting down the 16 switchbacks as I climbed.

All trip I had wondered if there were any pikas in the area but we hadn’t seen or heard any, so I had come to believe that maybe there weren’t any. As I passed through a granite boulder field though I spotted a brown flash carrying a clump of greens.
Pika!

At the top of the switchbacks I left the trail just below a gap in the ridge and climbed to see what the view might be like.
The Tombstone Lake Trail from the gap.

Eagle Cap in the middle and Needle Point in the distance to the right.

Eagle Cap (post) is the tallest hump in the middle.

The East Fork Elk Creek valley below.

After checking out the view I made the half mile climb to the pass where I took another break.

After the break I headed back down. I paused near the meadow to let the llama group pass as they headed for Tombstone Lake. I let them know that I hadn’t seen anyone else at the lake and then continued on into the meadow.
Starting the switchbacks down.

I spent a little more time looking at the wildflowers this time through.

Hawk

Sphinx moth visiting some Lewis monkeyflower

Some nice paintbrush

Clumps of gentians

Gentians

Swamp onion

Leaving the basins to start the giant set of switchbacks down.

The smoke had become less of an issue on the way down allowing me to see Echo Lake a little more clearly.

I ran out of water in my bladder and was down to half a hydro flask when I arrived at the stream along the switchbacks, so I stepped off the trail and took the opportunity to refill the bladder and use the Iodine tablets.
This little cascade was perfect for filling the bladder.

From my spot along the stream I could see some of the West Eagle Trail on the far hillside, so I started looking for Heather. It took a few minutes, but I eventually spotted her descending her own set of switchbacks.

After the first 5 minutes were up I shook the bladder then started another 30-minute timer and started hiking again.
Echo Lake Falls straight ahead.

Recrossing West Eagle Creek.

One last look up at where I’d come from.

My timer went off just before arriving at the junction with the West Eagle Trail where I ran into Heather who was taking a short break.

We headed back to camp together.

Small unnamed waterfall on an unnamed creek.

It was again way too hot at camp so after we rested for a bit we headed to the creek to find some shade and soak are feet in the cold water. After we’d finally cooled down a bit we replenished our water supplies and returned to camp for dinner and bed.
Sphinx moth at camp.

Not sure what type of caterpillar this is but it was pretty. It was on the same larkspur the sphinx moth was visiting.

While we don’t intentionally feed the wildlife this green comma seemed to like the sweaty socks.

The hike to Tombstone Lake wound up being 13.3 miles with 3000′ of elevation gain, and a whole lot of switchbacking.

Heather had made a good choice by passing on this one given the heat, but it was a beautiful hike. She had really enjoyed her hike which we’ll cover in the next post, and she had some helpful information for me regarding trail conditions for my outing the next morning. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tombstone Lake

Tags backpacking, eagle cap wilderness, Echo Lake Falls, hiking, Oregon, Pika, Tombstone Lake, Tombstone Lake Trail, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, West Eagle Creek, West Eagle Trail

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Bear Lake and West Eagle Meadows (Eagle Cap Wilderness)- 08/15/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 22, 2023
1 Comment on Bear Lake and West Eagle Meadows (Eagle Cap Wilderness)- 08/15/2023

For the second day of our backpacking trip we had originally planned on hiking up to Bear Lake from our campsite at Eagle Creek Meadow then returning to camp to pack up and move closer to the Bench Trail. After reestablishing camp we would then take the Bench Trail up to Arrow Lake in the afternoon/evening. We had spotted a couple of workable campsites on our way by the day before (post), but Heather had already decided by the end of that day that she would be skipping the out-and-back to Arrow Lake due to the heat.

As we set off for Bear Lake at 6:15am I was still considering attempting to reach Arrow Lake. It had actually been cool enough at camp that morning for me to put on my beanie and thicker gloves.

Doe on the other side of Eagle Creek.

From our campsite we made our way to the Lookingglass Trail and the ford of Eagle Creek. We’d seen some hikers crossing the ford the day before. They had all used their water shoes for the ford and Heather planned on doing the same. I don’t have a pair myself, so I had the choice of fording in my trail runners or making an attempt to cross on logs/rocks. I chose to try and keep my feet dry.
I started out on the small logs shown here.

Somehow I managed to make it across and after Heather changed into her hiking boots we started uphill.

We made it approximately 100 yards before realizing that I had left my car key and wallet in the tent and Heather had left her phone. I turned around and headed back to retrieve the forgotten items. After two more dry crossings I caught back up to Heather and we continued uphill toward a junction with the Bear Lake Trail.
Here comes the Sun.

Shade for us for now though.

The junction up ahead.

We arrived at the junction roughly three quarters of a mile and 650′ up from camp.

We turned onto the Bear Lake Trail which continued to climb but more gradually. After another third of a mile we took a side trail toward Culver Lake. The first trail we tried led to a marsh where a doe was having her breakfast.

Not many mushrooms of fungi along the trails but we spotted a few along this trail.

Globe penstemon

The lake proved unreachable from this first trail so we returned to the Bear Lake Trail and quickly found another side trail which did lead to Culver Lake.
Cairn marking the trail to Culver Lake.

Snow patch along Culver Lake.

We took a break at the lake. It was already getting warm and I finally decided that I was not going to be attempting the 2000′ climb to Arrow Lake later in the day. It was not necessary in order for us to check off any featured hikes and I didn’t want to risk overexerting myself when we had three more lakes to visit over the next couple of days. Our new plan was to return to camp after visiting Bear Lake, pack up and hike out, then drive to the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead. There we could either camp at the West Eagle Meadow Campground, or hike in 3ish miles and hope to find a suitable campsite. We would make our choice later on when we had a better idea of how we were feeling.

After admiring the lake we returned to the Bear Lake Trail which gained another 200 plus feet before dropping to Bear Lake after half a mile.

Needle Point from the trail.

Nuttall’s linanthus

Arrow Lake is somewhere up in the mountains on the other side of the valley.

View down the Eagle Creek Valley.

Rock Creek Butte in the Elkhorns (post).

Heading down.

Bear Lake

We made our way a little way around Bear Lake to see it from some different angles.
Mountain heather.

Cusick’s speedwell

Aster and swamp onion

Arnica and possibly alpine leafybract aster.

A bunch of globe penstemon.

Meadow at the eastern end of Bear Lake.

Needle Point from Bear Lake.

We scrambled up some granite to a viewpoint above the lake.
Looking toward Eagle Lake in the basin behind and right of Needle Point.

Eagle Creek is down there somewhere.

Eagle Creek Meadow. The Main Eagle Trail can be seen crossing the granite slope at the far end of the meadow.

We headed back down toward camp prepared to pack up and hike out.

Allum root

White mariposa lily

The Sun had reached the valley by the time we were nearing Eagle Creek.

The Eagle Creek crossing going the other direction. I’m happy (and amazed) to report that I managed a fourth dry crossing.

We packed up camp and replenished our water supply before setting off for the trailhead. It was roughly 4.5 miles back to the car where the temperature was (according to the car) 91 degrees.
Lupin along Eagle Creek where we topped off our water.

Hummingbird Mountain

Mountain coyote mint

Falls on the far side of the valley. Probably the outlet creek of Lookingglass Lake.

Nearing the Bench Trail junction.

Copper Creek Falls from the trail.

Small cascade along the trail.

Wallflower, this was the only one we spotted all trip.

Damaged footbridge over Eagle Creek.

Buck crossing the trail.

Swallowtail on nettle-leaf giant hyssop.

Bridge over Eagle Creek.

I arrived at the large bridge over Eagle Creek first and decided to bushwack up the creek a short distance to what turned out to be a really nice waterfall.

Back at the Main Eagle Trailhead.

It was 2pm when we arrived back at the car and headed for the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead. Sullivan had mentioned that the final 3.2 miles were bumpy and very slow, but it appeared that the Forest Service had been working on it and we only had a few smaller sections of rough 10mph road.

It felt every bit of 91 when we arrived at the trailhead where we searched for shaded places to sit.

We had decided not to spend the night in the campground but rather to make the 3ish mile hike to a crossing of West Eagle Creek where we hoped we’d find a campsite. Our latest version of the plan for the rest of our trip was to cut it a day short. Hiking in the 3ish miles now would leave a challenging out-and-back to Tombstone Lake for Wednesday then a 9.5-mile out-and-back to Echo and Traverse Lakes on Thursday which could be combined with the 3ish-mile hike back to the trailhead on Thursday allowing us to hopefully get home sometime Thursday evening.

We stuck around the trailhead long enough to cook an early dinner then set off a little after 4:30pm in search of a campsite.
West Eagle Trail

The West Eagle Trail passed a series of walk-in tent campsites along West Eagle Meadows before entering the forest.
One of the campsites.

Mule Peak behind to the right and Wolf Point furthest back center.

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Painted lady on the hyssop.

Frittilary butterfly

Approaching the trees.

The decommissioned Fake Creek Trail to the right at the 0.6-mile mark.

Fake Creek crossing.

Squirrel

Unnamed creek crossing.

Lewis monkeyflower

Entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness at West Eagle Creek.

West Eagle Creek Crossing. I almost made it across this one dry footed too but one of the rocks on the far side was unstable causing me to drag my right toe in the creek.

Trail maintenance.

Beyond the creek crossing the trail passed through a series of small meadows as it climbed to the second crossing of West Eagle Creek.

Coneflower

Reentering the trees after passing through a meadow.

West Eagle Creek

Another small meadow.

West Eagle Creek near the second crossing.

We were starting to worry that we might not find a decent camp site but there was one workable site on the near side of the creek. I took my pack off there and crossed the creek to see if there was anything better on the far side and was happy to find a very nice established site not far up the trail.

The campsite was approximately 2.5-miles from the trailhead which would add about a mile to each of the remaining days, but we could tell by the topo maps that there wasn’t likely to be another suitable campsite. We were also pooped and had no desire to hike any further with our full packs. It was close to 6:30pm by the time we had camp set up then we refilled our water once again before heading to bed.

The hike to Bear Lake and back to the Main Eagle Trailhead had been 9.3-miles with 1250′ of elevation gain and we wound up doing close to another 3-miles and 580′ of elevation gain from the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead by the time we were done for the day.

West Eagle Meadows track to the left in red. Bear Lake track to the right in red.

The plan for the next day was still a bit up in the air. I knew I would be heading for Tombstone Lake, but Heather was deciding between heading toward Tombstone Lake or Echo and Traverse Lakes. The hike to Tombstone Lake required approximately 3000′ of cumulative elevation gain (2200′ if she turned back at the pass above the lake), while the hike to Traverse Lake gained about half as much elevation and was nearly 3.5-miles shorter. She would decide in the morning based on how she felt after another night’s sleep. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Bear Lake

Tags backpacking, bear lake, Bear Lake Trail, Culver Lake, Eagle Creek, Eagle Creek Meadow, Fake Creek, hiking, Main Eagle Trail. Lookingglass Lake Trail, Needle Point, Oregon, West Eagle Creek, West Eagle Meadows, West Eagle Trail

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/14/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 21, 2023
3 Comments on Eagle Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/14/2023

After spending the night in Baker City (post) we set off early for the Main Eagle Trailhead. Our goal for this trip was to check off three more of Sullivan’s featured hikes (post) Tombstone Lake, Eagle Lake, and Bear Lake.

When I was originally planning this backpacking route I had envisioned a grand loop with detours to several of the lakes. The loop option went out the window after reviewing the USFS interactive map. The Fake Creek Trail which we would have used to go between the West Eagle and Main Eagle Trails had been decommissioned and was no longer being maintained which was not something we wanted to attempt on a 5-day backpacking trip. There were also several other sections of the would be loop that hadn’t been maintained for a number of years. After considering a few different options we had settled on spending two night at Eagle Creek Meadows then hiking out and driving to the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead and spending two nights along the West Eagle Trail.

We arrived at the trailhead a little before 6:30am.

It was already over 50-degrees as we set off on the trail which quickly crossed Boulder Creek.
The trail briefly followed an old roadbed.

Log bridge over Boulder Creek.

The trail climbed gradually crossing Eagle Creek on a larger bridge near the three-quarter mile mark.

The trail continued its gradual climb through the forest entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness at the 1.75-mile mark.

Sierra larkspur

Paintbrush lined trail

We were in the shade for most of the morning.

Entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

At the 2.2-mile mark the trail passed a small unnamed waterfall on Eagle Creek.
We had to leave the trail to get a view of the falls which we could hear from the trail.

As we continued on the trail passed through increasingly large meadows full of views and wildflowers.

Buckwheat and nettle-leaf giant hyssop

At the 2.7-mile mark the trail again crossed Eagle Creek, this time on a damaged footbridge.

Three miles in we crossed Copper Creek. We could hear the roar of Copper Creek Falls further up the creek.

Part of the falls were visible from the trail.

A tenth of a mile beyond the crossing of Copper Creek we detoured uphill to visit the falls.
Copper Creek Falls

We took a break at the falls amid a number of wildflowers.
Penstemon

Fringed grass of parnassus and some fading arnica.

Flowers below the falls.

After our break we returned to the trail and continued on. A quarter mile later we arrived at a junction with the Bench Trail. The current version of our plan included hiking up the Bench Trail to Arrow Lake the next day but as we passed the junction and saw the condition of the lowest portion and “Trail Not Maintained” sign we began to question that plan.
The Bench Trail is ahead on the left of the Main Eagle Trail.

We continued another 1.4-miles to another trail junction above Eagle Creek Meadow.
View up the valley.

Looking back at the hillside the Bench Trail climbs to Heart and Arrow Lakes.

Looking across the valley.

There was quite a bit of western snakeroot along the trail.

Scarlet gilia

Hummingbird Mountain

Granite hillside and peaks above the trail.

Trail signs at the Lookingglass Lake/Main Eagle Trail junction.

At the junction we forked right onto the Lookingglass Lake Trail and followed it downhill into Eagle Creek Meadow. At the far side of the meadow we located an established campsite not far from Eagle Creek.

Needle Point on the left from Eagle Creek Meadow.

Hummingbird Mountain from the campsite.

Eagle Creek near camp.

Lewis monkeyflower

After setting up camp and another short break we set off for Eagle Lake by returning to the Main Eagle Trail and continuing uphill.

Columbian ground squirrel

Pearly everlasting and Scouler’s St. John’s wort.

White mariposa lilies

Orange agoseris

Beetle on a white mariposa lily

Hillside along the trail.

Butterfly (Boisduval’s blue?) on pearly everlasting.

Monkshood

Heading toward Needle Point.

As the trail neared Needle Point it made a series of switchbacks to a junction with the Eagle Lake Trail.
One of the switchbacks.

This junction was just under 2-miles from the Lookingglass Lake Trail junction.

The Main Eagle Trail forked left toward Cache Lake. We went right on the Eagle Lake Trail following it another mile uphill to Eagle Lake.

Wildflowers along the trail.

Looking back down the valley.

Hawk

Fireweed along the trail.

Shrubby cinquefoil and paintbrush

Wildfire smoke creating a slight haze of the valley.

Granite near Eagle Lake.

Eagle Lake

Eagle Creek flowing below the dam at Eagle Lake.

We were hoping to find a nice shaded spot at the lake to take an extended break but trees were scarce and so was the shade. The lake however was beautiful.

Paintbrush

We did manage to find a couple of trees that cast enough shadow to provide a little relief from the heat as long as we occasionally moved our seats to follow the shade. Another pair of hikers arrived while we were resting. They were hoping to bushwack to the far end of the lake and catch the Perseid meteor shower that night.

We wound up staying at the lake for roughly three and a half hours. During that time Heather decided that she would not be attempting the hike to Arrow Lake the next day and would only be going up to Bear Lake with me in the morning. Bear Lake was just 1.5 miles from (and 1000′ above) our campsite. I was still planning to attempt the hike to Arrow Lake after visiting Bear Lake, but I was starting to seriously doubt that I’d actually make it up to that lake.
While sitting in the shade we spotted a herd of elk on the hillside across the valley.

Blurry photos due to the distance but it was fun to watch them.

We had brought our dinner with us and after eating that and replenishing our water supply we headed back down to camp. It was a little after 5pm when we started back and it was still uncomfortably warm. Fortunately the Sun was low enough that part of the return was in shadows which provided some relief.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Shade!

American saw-wort

Fawns

Our campsite in the trees from the Main Eagle Trail.

As we neared the junction with the Lookingglass Lake Trail we spotted a few tents around a rather large campfire at the south end of the meadow. While technically not banned at that moment in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest it seemed a completely unnecessary risk to have a campfire given the high fire danger combined with the unusually warm temperatures.

We turned in for night having hiked a total of 11.4 miles an gaining a total of 2700′ of elevation. It had been a challenging but beautiful start to our trip. Happy Trails!

The red track is Bear Lake from the next day.

Flickr: Eagle Lake

Tags backpacking, Bench Trail, Copper Creek Falls, eagle cap wilderness, Eagle Creek Meadow, Eagle Lake, Eagle Lake Trail, hiking, Lookingglass Lake Trail, Oregon, Wallow-Whitman National Forest. Main Eagle Trailhead

Blue Mountains - South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Oregon Trail Wagon Ruts – 08/13/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 20, 2023
1 Comment on Oregon Trail Wagon Ruts – 08/13/2023

The hottest week of the year so far coincided with a planned backpacking trip to the Wallowa Mountains to check off three more of Sullivan’s featured hikes (post). Our first backpacking trip in these mountains began with Heather being ill the first night due to the combination of heat and altitude (post). For that trip we had started hiking after making the six plus hour drive from Salem making it a much later start than normal for us.

We learned from that mistake and for this trip we booked a room in Baker City so we could start our backpack early in the morning. We decided to make the most of our stay in Baker City by taking a short hike on a small section of the Oregon Trail at the Ruts Access trailhead near the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. (The interpretive center is currently closed for renovations.)

A short path led to the Oregon Trail ruts.

We turned left and followed the ruts half a mile to a replica covered wagon near a paved trail.

Hoary aster

The interpretive center on Flagstaff Hill.

Map near the wagon.

It wasn’t entirely clear if the remainder of the trails were open or not, there were no posted closure signs, but the BLM website made it sound as though some of the trails might be closed. The paved Panorama Point Trail would have led us to that viewpoint and up to the Interpretive Center, but it was around 90 degrees out and we had a lot of hiking planned over the next few days. We decided to just hike the 0.3-mile Oregon Trail Ruts Loop and then return to the car and save the remaining trails for another time once the center is reopened.

Our visit here came in just under 2-miles which was a nice leg stretcher after the long drive from Salem. Neither of us can really imagine exactly what it would have been like for the pioneers who made the long trek, but this added a little more history and context.

The stop also provided us a bit of a taste for the heat that we’d be dealing with over the next few days. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Oregon Trail Ruts

Tags Baker City, National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Oregon, Oregon Trail, Oregon Trail Ruts. Hiking

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

McGee Creek Trail to McNeil Point – 08/05/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 7, 2023
1 Comment on McGee Creek Trail to McNeil Point – 08/05/2023

It had been a couple of years since we’d hiked in the Mt. Hood Wilderness so we were due for another visit. There were a few trails that lead to the Timber Line Trail that we hadn’t checked out yet so we chose the McGee Creek Trail and planned on visiting McNeil Point for the third time. The first two visits had been via the Top Spur Trailhead (Post.

We were the second car at the McGee Creek Trailhead

The McGee Creek Trail is a fairly straight trail that climbs gradually a little more than a mile and a half to the Timberline Trail. The trail is completely forested and a bit brushy in places, but it was quiet, we only saw two other hikers on the trail and that was when we were on our way back down.

Registration box and signboard at the Mt. Hood Wilderness boundary.

There were a few downed trees but nothing too difficult to navigate.

The brush was mostly huckleberry bushes.

Trail side snacks.

McGee Creek Trail junction with the Timberline Trail.

We turned left onto the Timberline Trail and followed it for approximately 2.5-miles to the McNeil Point Trail. While the McGee Creek Trail had been quiet the Timberline Trail was an expressway, even early in the morning. There were a lot of wildflowers blooming but the number of people was honestly a bit of a distraction. Add in a lot of garbage (mostly unburied TP) and at least one pair of backpackers camped on a meadow that was clearly marked no camping and it wasn’t the best experience we’ve had on a trail.

Blowdown from the September 2020 storms that also flamed the destructive wildfires across the state. For more information on the storms impact on Mt. Hood check out this Wy’East Blog post.

Looking through the trees at one of the areas that suffered severe blowdown.

It was a cloudy day. We got sprinkled on briefly a couple of times.

Fireweed

Pinedrop

Avalanche lilies

Paintbrush

Valerian, spirea, and paintbrush

Gentians

Yellow monkeyflower

A tributary of McGee Creek.

Spirea along the Timberline Trail.

Shooting star

Pink monkeyflower

Fleabane

Beargrass

False hellebore

Partridge foot

Lupine

Lewis monkeyflower along a tributary of McGee Creek.

Beardstongue

Lousewort

Dry pond surrounded by beargrass.

The idiots camped in the meadow. There is even an arrow on the “Do not camp in meadow” sign pointing at the meadow. Please DON’T be these people.

The second pond still had some water in it.

Junction with the Mazama Trail (post).

The butterflies weren’t out today but the bees were.

The clouds just wouldn’t quite raise enough.

Mountain heather

Lupine and paintbrush

Beargrass along the Timberline Trail.

Paintbrush, partridge foot and lupine

Signpost for the McNeil Point Trail.

We followed the McNeil Point Trail uphill gaining a ridge above a branch of Ladd Creek.

We’d never seen a paint colored like this before.

Western pasque flower

Lupine and two types of monkeyflower

The trail eventually curved away from the ridge traversing a hillside above the headwaters of McGee Creek.

As the trail passed through a talus slope we heard several pikas and it didn’t take long to spot one dashing across the rocks with some greens in its mouth.

Pikas spend the Summer gathering greens for the rest of the year when they remain in their homes under the snows.

We wound up seeing at least three, one of which emerged to say “hi” to Heather.

Mountain heather and paintbrush.

Saxifrage

A variety of flowers.

Avalanche lilies

Sub-alpine fleabane

Western pasque flowers

Doe that was as surprised as we were when we spotted each other.

Lewis monkeyflower

The trail forks at a small plateau out of sight of the McNeil Point Shelter. The right fork is the most direct route to the shelter but we forked left thinking we might head further up the ridge toward the Glisan Glacier like we had done in 2015.
The righthand fork.

View from the plateau.

Some low clouds to the East.

Dwarf lupine

A hiker on the righthand fork headed for the McNeil Point Shelter.

As we approached the ridge a large group of hikers headed up the ridge from the shelter. When we reached the ridge we decided not to follow them up and instead turned downhill to the shelter.

Caves below the Sandy Glacier.

Bluebells of Scotland

The shelter below to the right.

Muddy Fork

Goldenrod

With the clouds the view wouldn’t have been great from the ridge on this day.

It had been approximately 1.5 miles from the Timberline Trail to the shelter. After taking a short break at the shelter we had a choice to make. Retrace our steps or take a steep scramble trail directly below the shelter. On our previous visits we had returned the way we’d come but today we decided to try the scramble route.

It was less than half a mile and approximately 700′ down to the Timberline Trail. The views were good and despite the steepness and a couple of long step downs it wasn’t as bad as we’d pictured.

Patches of blowdown along Bald Mountain Ridge.

Columbine

Valerian

Paintbrush and bistort

Aster

Chipmunk snacking on huckleberries.

Meadow near the Timberline Trail.

Arriving back at the Timberline Trail.

By descending via the scramble route we cut approximately 1.7-miles from the hike and got to see some new scenery. We were a bit surprised by the number of hikers climbing up this way but it probably shouldn’t have been surprising given how busy the mountain was. We turned left on the Timberline Trail and followed it downhill 1.8 busy miles to the McGee Creek.
Every once in awhile the trail was clear of other users.

We’re always drawn to this rock fin above the Muddy Fork.

Canada jay

McGee Creek Trail junction.

We turned right onto the McGee Creek Trail leaving the crowds behind and descended the 1.7-miles to our car.

Bunchberry

Is that sunlight?

While the clouds never lifted from Mt. Hood we did experience a window of blue sky near the end of our hike.

Our hike came in at 9.7 miles with approximately 2700′ feet of elevation gain.

It was a bit of a mixed hike for us. The wildflowers and wildlife were great but the number of other trail users, and some of the resulting trash and lack of etiquette prevented us from fully enjoying the experience. It has been quite a while since we’d been on such a consistently busy hike. That being said the McGee Creek Trail was a nice break from the crowds providing the type of solitude (and lots of berries) that we really enjoy. Happy Trails!

Flickr: McGee Creek Trail to McNeil Point

Tags hiking, McGee Creek, McGee Creek Trailhead, McNeil Point, Mt. Hood National Forest. McGee Creek Trial, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Muddy Fork, Oregon, Pika, scramble route, timberline trail, wildflowers

Crater Lake Area High Cascades Hiking Oregon Trip report

Cleetwood Cove – 08/01/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 6, 2023
3 Comments on Cleetwood Cove – 08/01/2023

For our last morning in Crater Lake National Park we had one final stop planned before heading home. A hike down the Cleetwood Cove Trail to the lakeshore. The 1.1-mile trail is the only one in the park that takes you down to the water which we thought was a fitting way to end our trip.
Sunrise behind Llao Rock on the way to the trailhead.

Crater Lake at sunrise.

Mt. Bailey, Diamond Peak, and Mt. Thielsen behind Red Cone.

Cowhorn Mountain (post), Maiden Peak (post), the Three Sisters, and Mt. Thielsen.

We were the first car at the large parking area along East Rim Drive.

When we’d originally planned it we were going to be taking a boat tour (or at least a shuttle) over to Wizard Island to hike to the top of that cinder cone, but the boat tours weren’t open yet this year.

We crossed East Rim Drive and started down the trail which losses 700′ via a series of switchbacks.
Mt. Scott (post)

Dutton Cliffs, Sun Notch (post), Applegate Peak and Garfield Peak (post)

Looking down at the turnaround point.

Wouldn’t want a rock like this to come down on you.

Breakfast time.

There were “no stopping” signs at areas where the danger of rock fall was the greatest.

One of the tour boats.

Looking back at the dock area.

We took a break at the bottom enjoying the view and watching fish jump while we prepared to make the climb back up.
Couldn’t get an actual fish in a photo but I barely missed this one.

We did visit the lakeshore and touch the water before heading back up.

The dock at Cleetwood Cove.

It was a stiff hike back up to the parking area. We had had the lake to ourselves but were now passing the occasional hiker and fisherman on their way down the trail.
Not a hiker or fisherman.

Llao Rock from East Rim Drive.

We were back at the car before 8am and on our way back to Salem. It had been a wonderful trip. The weather had been good, the skies not too smokey, and the scenery spectacular. It was a bit of a bummer to have missed out on Wizard Island, Lady of the Woods and The Pinnacles trail due to the closures but that just gives us an excuse to return. In fact the closure didn’t impact our ability to check the featured hikes off our to-do list. We have now hiked at least part of 92 out of the 100 Southern Oregon/Northern California hikes with the remaining eight planned for later this year (post). Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cleetwood Cove

Tags Cleetwood Cove, Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park, Garfield Peak, hiking, Oregon, Wizard island

Crater Lake Area High Cascades Hiking Oregon Trip report

Castle Crest Wildflowers, Garfield Peak, Hillman Peak, Godfrey Glen, & Sinnott Memorial Overlook – 07/31/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 5, 2023
5 Comments on Castle Crest Wildflowers, Garfield Peak, Hillman Peak, Godfrey Glen, & Sinnott Memorial Overlook – 07/31/2023

For our third day in Crater Lake National Park we had another four hikes planned. We continued to try to limit the crowds we would experience so we decided on an order of the short Castle Crest Wildflower Loop first followed by Garfield Peak then a section of the Rim Trail around Hillman Peak and finally the 1-mile Godfrey Glen Loop.

The Castle Crest Wildflower Loop is part of Sullivan’s Park Headquarters featured hike along with the Lady of the Woods Trail. That latter trail was listed as closed while the Park performs renovations on the historic buildings at Park Headquarters. The trails can be connected using a tie trail which we skipped due to the closure.

We hiked the loop counterclockwise. The wildflowers were in good shape and the pink monkeyflower was spectacular.

Bog Orchid

Bistort and monkeyflower

Some sort of orchid?

Yellow monkeyflower

Monkshood

Bistort

Not sure if this is a robin or ?

After the completing the loop we drove up to Rim Village where we parked between the Visitors Center and the Crater Lake Lodge.
Crater Lake Lodge

We followed a paved path along the rim of Crater Lake behind the Lodge to signs for the Garfield Peak Trail.

Garfield Peak from behind the lodge.

The Watchman and Hillman Peak

Golden-mantled ground squirrel with a mouth full.

The trail passed a grassy meadow where a doe and her twin fawns were having breakfast.

The trail climbed steadily occasionally along the rim but more often along the cliffs below Garfield Peak.

Mt. McLoughlin (post) and Union Peak (post) to the south.

Mt. McLoughlin

Union Peak

Paintbrush

Reservoir structure (built 1931).

Mt. Bailey (post) to the left of Llao Rock and Mt. Thielsen to the right.

Mt. Bailey

Deer below the trail.

Western pasque flowers

Arnica

One of several patches of snow at the higher elevations.

Crater Lake Lodge below to the left.

Mt. Scott (post)

Clark’s nutcracker

Buckwheat

Beetle on sub-alpine fleabane.

Yellow-bellied marmot

Bench below the summit of Garfield Peak.

Partridge foot

Applegate Peak to the left and Crater Peak (post) to the right.

Arriving at the summit.

The 360-degree view from the summit was great even with a bit of haze from wildfire smoke.
Mt. Scott above the Phantom Ship.

It was a bit hard to make out but Mt. Shasta was visible to the south.

Cowhorn Mountain (post) to the left of Mt. Thielsen and Howlock Mountain to the right.

Crater Lake from the summit of Garfield Peak.

We were scanning the meadows between Garfield and Applegate Peaks and spotted what we think was a large bull elk bedded down near the tree line.

Blurry photo due to the sheer distance away it was but it looked big.

We had the summit to ourselves, except for a few locals.
Union Peak behind a marmot.

Penstemon

After a nice break at the summit we headed back down passing a few more hikers making their way up.

Painted lady

There were a lot of marmots out.

Paintbrush, phlox and buckwheat.

Stonecrop, paintbrush and pearly everlasting.

The clear blue water of the deepest lake in the United States.

Yellow-rumped warbler

Near where we had seen the doe and fawns earlier I was startled by a doe who popped out of some trees right in front of me.

False hellebore

After returning to the car we drove North on Rim Drive to The Watchman Trailhead. We’d started at this busy trailhead in 2012 when we visited the fire lookout atop The Watchman. Today we would be heading in the opposite direction hiking the Rim Trail around Hillman Peak.
Viewpoint and The Watchman from the trailhead.

Western pasque flowers above Crater Lake.

It was a short, stiff climb to start before the trail began a gradual descent passing behind Hillman Peak.

Hillman Peak ahead.

There were quite a few different colors of paintbrush along the trail.

Lounging on a rock.

Shasta knotweed

Rim Drive below the Rim Trail.

Mt. Bailey and Diamond Peak with Diamond Lake (post) below.

Red Cone with Sawtooth Mountain (post), Cowhorn Mountain, and Mt. Thielsen beyond.

Although barely visible we could make out the South Sister (post) through the haze between Cowhorn Mountain and Mt. Thielsen.

Silvery Raillardella

Snow patch on Hillman Peak.

Penstemon

Llao Rock

It took us a moment to notice the two deer ahead along the tree line.

We spotted the doe but she also had a pair of fawns nearby that bounded off.

This buck had zero concern with us as we passed by.

Phlox

Dwarf lupine

Devil’s Backbone with Mt. Scott behind.

We ended our hike at Devil’s Backbone, an exposed lava dike.
Wizard Island

Devil’s Backbone

Hillman Peak from Devil’s Backbone.

Garfield Peak across Crater Lake.

After a short break we headed back.

Saxifrage

The Watchman

If I stand perfectly still, they won’t see me.

Hillman Peak and Llao Rock from the viewpoint at The Watchman Trailhead.

Rock formations below Hillman Peak.

While the trailhead was packed with cars and people we only passed two others on our 3.7-mile hike to the Devil’s Backbone and back. We hopped back into our car and drove back toward Mazama Village stopping for one more short hike at Godfrey Glen.
Godfrey Glen Trailhead

There were a couple of cars here but nothing like what we’d encountered at The Watchman. The 1-mile loop here passes views of Godfrey Glen and Annie Creek Canyon. Hiking clockwise is the shortest route to the viewpoints but we went the opposite direction to leave ourselves a shorter hike after finishing with the viewpoints.

The ADA accessible trail made for a nice easy walk.

Super-heated volcanic gas fused ash creating these pinnacles.

First viewpoint of Godfrey Glen above Munson Creek.

Godfrey Glen

Another viewpoint.

We could hear Munson Creek but it wasn’t visible in the canyon below.

Near the last viewpoint we could see just a bit of some falls on Munson Creek.

One waterfall.

Another waterfall in the canyon.

The end of the loop.

After finishing our hikes we returned to our cabin, showered, and changed then picked up a pizza from the Annie Creek Restaurant and took it back up to Rim Village. We hoped to visit the museum at the Visitor’s Center after eating some lunch but unfortunately it was closed. Instead we took the short paved path near the Center to the Sinnott Memorial Overlook.

We’d seen the overlook from the Garfield Peak Trail that morning.
Sinnott Memorial Overlook on the rim to the left.

View from the overlook.

Mt. Scott and Garfield Peak from the overlook.

The overlook contained a number of informational signs including this one about the amount of water in the lake.
These numbers blew our minds.

After reading all the signs in the overlook we climbed back up to Rim Village and made our way through the masses of tourists. We quickly decided that the crowds weren’t for us and retreated to the car and headed back toward our cabin. We did stop once more, at Park Headquarters since that was where the Lady of the Woods hike would have taken place if not for the construction.

Swallowtail and a painted lady on penstemon.

Our day, including the walk down to the overlook came to 9.7 miles and a little under 1500′ of elevation gain. The majority of the elevation gain came from the Garfield Peak hike (just over 1000′) and it was also our longest at 3.8-miles roundtrip. The hike around Hillman Peak was 3.7-miles but only 250′ of elevation gain while Godfrey Glen only gained 100′. The wildflower hike at Castle Crest was approximately a half mile with just 70′ of elevation gain and the short path to Sinnott Memorial Overlook was about a third of a mile roundtrip requiring around 150′ climb back up to the rim.

It had been a great day of hiking and the pizza was surprisingly good. We did however come to the conclusion that we just aren’t good tourists. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Crater Lake Day 3

Tags Castle Crest Wildflowers, Crater Lake, Crater Lake Lodge, Crater Lake National Park, deer, Devil's Backbone, Garfield Peak, Godfry Glen, hiking, Hillman Peak, marmot, Mazama Village, Munson Creek, Oregon, Rim Village, the watchman, wildflowers

Crater Lake Area High Cascades Hiking Oregon Trip report

Plaikni Falls, Sun Notch, Crater Peak, Vidae Falls, and Annie Creek – 07/30/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 4, 2023
7 Comments on Plaikni Falls, Sun Notch, Crater Peak, Vidae Falls, and Annie Creek – 07/30/2023

After the difficult hike to Stuart and Red Blanket Falls (post) we had a three-stop day planned starting with Plaikni Falls. Plaikni Falls was one of two hikes included in Sullivan’s featured hike along with The Pinnacles Trail. Unfortunately Pinnacles Road was under construction and closed to any entry beyond the Plaikni Falls Trailhead.

While it was a bummer about the closure our criteria for checking off a featured hike has been hiking (or attempting) to hike just one of the options Sullivan lists in his featured hikes (post) meaning Plaikni Falls would satisfy our criteria.

We set off on the mile long ADA accessible trail just after 6:15am.

There were pikas out there in the rocks but we only heard them this time.

We did spot this western tanager though.

Pink monkeyflowers. One of our favorite wildflowers.

The trail climbed gradually along Sand Creek before rounding a corner to a view of Plaikni Falls.

Paintbrush and columbine along with lupine and groundsel.

Hummingbird visiting a paintbrush.

Monkshood

Yellow monkeyflower

We began here hoping to avoid any crowds and it worked. We were the only ones on the trail and had the falls to ourselves. The first person we saw was just getting ready to exit their car at the trailhead as we finished our hike.

We got back in our car and drove to the Sun Notch Trailhead.

Applegate Peak from the Sun Notch Trailhead.

From the parking area we hiked up the trail 0.2 to the start of a 0.6-mile loop which we hiked counter-clockwise.

There is a nice green meadow in the center of the loop.

The loop briefly follows the rim of Crater Lake passing several nice viewpoints.

The Phantom Ship.

Diamond Peak (post), Sawtooth Mountain (post), and Mt. Thielsen (post).

The Watchman (post) and Hillman Peak with Wizard Island below. Llao Rock in the center and Mt. Thielsen to the right.

Garfield Peak, The Watchman, and Hillman Peak.

Heading back down to the start of the loop.

Marmot

After completing the loop here we drove back toward Rim Village along East Rim Drive 1.4 miles to the Vidae Falls Picnic Area and parked in front of a signboard for the Crater Peak Trail.

The Crater Peak Trail travels 3.2-miles through the forest climbing to the rim of the peak’s crater. A 0.4-mile loop around the crater is possible on an unofficial but well-established path.

Vidae Creek

The first 0.6-miles paralleled East Rim Drive before turning South along a broad ridge toward Crater Peak.
East Rim Drive was up above the trail.

Crater Peak through the trees on the left.

Paintbrush

Stonecrop

Setting off on the broad ridge.

The trail was in need of a little maintenance as there were several larger trees down along the ridge.

There was a very short steep climb to reach this small meadow with a view ahead to Crater Peak.

Female western tanager

Near the 2.5-mile mark we arrived at the base of Crater Peak where the trail suddenly steepened as it began its climb.

Looking up Crater Peak.

Little prince’s pine

Views opened up as we climbed.
Union Peak (post)

Mt. McLoughlin (post) to the South.

Mt. McLoughlin behind Lee & Devil’s Peaks.

Mt. Shasta was visible, barely, through wildfire smoke.

Arriving at the crater.

We took a short break on a log to catch our breath after the climb then hiked clockwise around the crater gaining views of the peaks around Crater Lake.
Scarlet gilia lining the trail around the crater.

The Watchman to the left and Garfield Peak.

Applegate Peak and Mt. Thielsen

View south to Mt. McLoughlin with the Goose Nest to the closer to the right.

Dutton Cliffs and Mt. Scott (post)

Pussytoes

The peaks around Crater Lake.

Paintbrush

Western pasque flowers

Klamath Basin with haze from (most likely) the Golden Fire near Bonanza.

The Rabbitt Ears and Hershberger Mountain (post) along the Rogue-Umpqua Divide.

After completing the loop we headed back to the trailhead where we were stopped by a couple looking for Vidae Falls. Those falls are located along East Rim Drive, not near the picnic area so we let them know where to find the roadside pullout and then followed them to the small parking area.

It was well worth the quick stop before heading back to our cabin at Mazama Village. We had completed our hikes just after Noon and had plenty of day left so we decided to make the 30-minute drive to Union Creek and have a late lunch/early dinner at Beckie’s Cafe.

Beckie’s was busy but the food was great as usual. We each got a slice of pie to go for desert later and returned to Mazama Village. It was still pretty early so I was doing some research on our remaining hikes for our trip. Looking at the Park website I had noticed that in addition to The Pinnacles Trail two additional trails we were hoping to hike were listed as closed, Lady of the Woods and Annie Creek. Again these were both one of two featured hike options so they wouldn’t affect our ability to check off the featured hikes, but it would be a bummer to miss them nonetheless. I then looked at All Trails and saw that there were very recent trip reports from Annie Creek.

That trailhead was located next to the store in Mazama Village so after eating our pie we decided to make an evening hike out of it to see if the trail was indeed open.

We followed an unsigned path from the store/restaurant parking lot to a signed junction where we turned right.

The trail passed between Annie Creek Canyon and the Mazama Campground. We passed a junction where a 1.7-mile loop began/ends that would take us down to Annie Creek.

Signboard at the loop.

We stayed up and hiked the loop counterclockwise.
Crater Peak from the trail.

Ash pinnacles

Getting ready to drop into the canyon.

The trail had been closed for hazard tree removal and we could see that there had been some big trees that had to be cleared.

Wildflowers in the meadows below.

Annie Creek

The trail crossed Annie Creek a couple of times on footbridges before climbing steeply back up to campground.

Monkeyflower and lupine

Final pitch to end the loop.

The Annie Creek Restaurant.

Unsurprisingly this had been the busiest hike of the day. After seeing no one on the Plaikni Falls and Sun Notch Trails we’d seen just four other hikers (2 pairs) on the Crater Peak Trail. Our total mileage for the day came in at 12.3 miles (2.2, 0.9, 6.8, and 2.4 miles respectively). Total elevation gain was 1525′ with over a thousand of that coming from the Crater Peak hike. Annie Creek and Plaikni Falls were each 200′ and Sun Notch a little over 100′.

Plaikni Falls, Sun Notch and Crater Peak tracks

It was a great day of hiking and having a piece of pie from Beckie’s Cafe was the cherry on top. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Plaikni Falls, Sun Notch, Crater Peak, & Annie Creek

Tags Annie Creek, Annie Creek Canyon, Backie's Cafe, Crater Lake National Park, Crater Peak, Crater Peak Trail, hiking, Mazama Village, Oregon, Phantom Ship, Plaikni Falls, Plaikni Falls Trail., Sun Notch, Vidae Falls, Vidae Falls Picnic Area

Crater Lake Area High Cascades Hiking Oregon Sky Lakes/Mountain Lakes Area Trip report

Stuart and Red Blanket Falls – 07/29/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 3, 2023
1 Comment on Stuart and Red Blanket Falls – 07/29/2023

We spent a long weekend at Crater Lake National Park as we continue our quest to hike all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” (post). Our plans included the six remaining featured hikes in the Park that we had yet to hike, but before we got to those, we set our sights on a former featured hike. Stuart Falls had been a featured hike in Sullivan’s third edition but washouts in 2014/15 had severely impacted the western approach (April 2015 trip report by Van Marmot). The area was further damaged in the 2017 Blanket Creek Fire leaving the only viable approach to the falls from the East starting from the Pumice Flat Trailhead located at the Lodgepole Picnic Area.

It was a 4-hour drive from Salem so we arrived at the picnic area a little after 9am and set off on the Pumice Flat Trail.

The trail promptly crossed Highway 62 and then ran parallel to the highway for approximately a third of a mile before turning away (SW).
Arriving at the highway.

Trail on the far side of Hwy 62.

The Pumice Flat Trail climbed gradually for three miles through unburnt forest to the Pacific Crest Trail.

Clodius parnassian on a pussy paw.

Much of the trail followed an old roadbed.

PCT junction.

Butterfly on the Crater Lake PCT register. While I was working on getting the butterfly photo a northbound thru hiker arrived. He mentioned not having had a shower in 10 days and being really excited to reach Mazama Village and being able to take one.

After a short conversation we turned right onto the PCT for 0.1-miles to the Stuart Falls Trail.

It took us just over three miles to reach Stuart Falls from the PCT. The extensive damage from the 2017 had left the trail hard to follow in some areas. It wasn’t clear how long it had been since the trail had been maintained but even where it was obvious there was plenty of blowdown to navigate.
Older cut logs helped us locate the trail at times.

Union Peak from the trail (post). (The “trail” is not in this photo.)

It took a second to find the tread in this meadow.

Once we found it though it was easy to follow.

Big beetle. There are also three clodius parnassian butterflies behind to the right.

Typical trail conditions. I spent a good deal of time removing limbs from the larger trees and pulled some of the smaller ones off the trail.

Doe below the trail.

More messy trail.

There was one small stand of unburned forest which provided a brief break from the blowdown.

Checkerspot butterfly

Mylitta crescent and a hoary comma on spreading dogbane.

Paintbrush

I believe that is Tom Mountain and Jerry Mountain.

Bald Top to the right.

Skipper

Mt. McLoughlin

Lorquin’s admiral

This was the worst of the obstacles.

We hadn’t seen a blue diamond since before the PCT but near the SW corner of the Park boundary we spotted a couple.

Post ahead marking the boundary. The trail passed through a narrow gap here where the blowdown was heavy.

The trail left the Park and entered the Sky Lakes Wilderness.

We left the trail briefly to visit a viewpoint above Stuart Falls.

We continued downhill leaving the trail again to visit a large campsite near the base of 40′ Stuart Falls.

Arnica below the falls and fireweed above the falls added some nice color to the scene.

One-sided wintergreen

I had been toying with the idea of attempting to reach Red Blanket Falls which was another mile and a half from Stuart Falls. We discussed things while we took a break at the falls and I decided to go ahead and make the attempt despite the poor trail conditions while Heather would stay at Stuart Falls. We left it open that she would start back if she wanted and I would catch up after I turned around, whenever that wound up happening.

I struck off from Stuart Falls on some good tread that quickly disappeared.

Four tenths of a mile from the falls I arrived at a trail sign announcing that the old Red Blanket Trailhead was 4 miles away.

Another former trail forked left here that used to hook up to the Lucky Meadows Trail and eventually the PCT. I stayed right along Red Blanket Creek using it as an anchor point when I lost sight of the trail.

Small falls on Red Blanket Creek.

Pink monkeyflower

I’d lost the trail here but headed for the patch of bright orange wildflowers to see what they were.

It wound up being a spectacular patch of leopard lilies.

A little further along I came across a small patch of Crater Lake Collomia.

A very tough mile from the first trail junction I arrived at a second signed former junction.

The next tenth of a mile was spent fighting through head high fireweed and feeling around on the ground to find footing in the thick vegetation that was hiding copious amounts of blowdown.

I was a bit bloody and bruised by I made it to Red Blanket Falls and was not disappointed.

Red Blanket Falls

View down Red Blanket Creek

A spring fed waterfall along Red Blanket Creek below the falls.

A second and third tier of Red Blanket Falls just below the upper fall. I wasn’t able to get a clearer view of these two drops. I hiked a short distance down the creek but decided the poor trail conditions and loss of elevation weren’t worth going further down the trail with no guarantee of a better view.

The three drops of Red Blanket Falls

One more of Red Blanket Falls.

I headed back to Stuart Falls finding it a little easier to follow the old trail alignment going uphill. This resulted in some different views of the creek.
Another little cascade.

In my excitement to reach Red Blanket Falls I had spent a little more energy than I had intended so when I got back to Stuart Falls I took a short break. Heather had started back but I needed to cool down, put on a fresh pair of socks, and have a snack.

After recovering a bit, I set off on my quest to catch up to Heather. Several times I found myself following tread that we hadn’t been on earlier.
Along this rock outcrop I found switchbacks that I’d missed on the way to the falls.

This might be a black backed woodpecker.

This cairn was new to me as well. At this point I was quite a bit below our track from the morning and I was afraid that I might pass Heather without knowing it if she was sticking to the earlier route.

Hummingbird

Goose egg on the left.

I did wind up catching up with Heather who was also feeling fatigued from the tough trail conditions. We made our way back to the PCT where another brief break was had.

Painted lady

A checkerspot and a copper on sub-alpine fleabane.

Arriving back at the PCT. We again crossed paths with a thru hiker on the way to Mazama Village.

It was nearly all downhill from the PCT but it was three more miles and we were both pretty beat. It was a bit of trudge back to the trailhead made worse by us both running out of water about a mile from the car. We had failed to make use of our filter and refill at Stuart Falls and we paid for it.

Pussypaws

Dwarf lupine

I tried hustling back to the car to retrieve a Gatorade and water to take back up the trail to Heather but she wasn’t far behind. I met her at the Highway with the drinks but it was the thought that counted.

My hike to Red Blanket Falls wound up being 15.9 miles (0.2 was due to taking the drinks back up the trail) and approximately 2000′ of cumulative elevation gain.

For an idea of what the hike was like prior to the fire here is a report by Van Marmot from July 2017.

It was nearly 5:30pm by the time we finished the hike. Luckily we were only about three miles from Mazama Village where we checked into our cabin then grabbed dinner at the Annie Creek Restaurant and some supplies from the small store where a number of PCT thru hikers were hanging out including the two gentlemen we’d seen on the trail. Aside from the two thru hikers the only other person we saw all day was a Park Ranger on the Pumice Flat Trail on our way back to the trailhead.

It was a lot longer and harder day than we’d planned for given we had three more days of hiking lined up, but I was happy that I’d made it to Red Blanket Falls. In the end it was worth the effort. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Stuart and Red Blanket Falls

Tags Crater Lake National Park, hiking, Lodgepole Picnic Area, Mazama Village, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail, Pumice Flat Trail, Red Blanket Creek, Red Blanket Falls, Red Blanket Trail, sky lakes wilderness, Stuart Falls, Stuart Falls Trail

Bend/Redmond Central Oregon Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Metolius River Backpack – 07/22/23 & 07/23/23

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 26, 2023
No Comments on Metolius River Backpack – 07/22/23 & 07/23/23

Our first couple of planned backpacking trips didn’t happen for one reason or another but we really wanted to get at least one overnight trip in before August. We’d picked up some new gear that we hoped to give a test run before a longer outing we have planned for August.

Recent reports of a heavy mosquito presence at our plan “A” location forced us to look for a plan “B”. We turned to one of the early trips that hadn’t happened, a hike along the Metolius River starting from the Lower Bridge Campground. Matt Reeder describes 10.1-mile hike to a former trailhead that once served the Shut-In Trail in his “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region”. By all accounts the Shut-In Trail was a brushy mess, at least beyond a mile from the former trailhead. Our plan was to set up camp at the old trailhead and then explore the Shut-In Trail as far as it was passable.

Reeder mentioned that ticks could be a nuisance in the Spring but by this time they and most of the mosquito’s wouldn’t be a problem. The downside of visiting this time of year though would be the heat with highs forecast in the upper 80s. The temperature was pleasant when we arrived at the trailhead just after 7am. We parked at a small trailhead across from the Lower Bend Campground.

We’d hiked through this trailhead during a 2012 hike starting from the West Metolius Trailhead (post). Lower Bridge which we’d used to cross the river had been the northern end of that hike. For this trip we would be heading further North and then East as we rounded Green Ridge (post) at the Horn of the Metolius.

To reach the trail we had to walk through the campground to the top of its loop and pass between a couple of occupied camp sites to a trail sign.

The sign is visible from the campground road.

The trail quickly reached the banks of the Metolius. This 23-mile river is fed primarily by a series springs and spring fed creeks beginning with the Head of the Metolius (post). The river ends at Lake Billy Chinook (post) where it joins waters from the Crooked and Deschutes Rivers. The spring fed water is cold and clear which makes the Metolius a beautiful river.

The trail passes a number of large campsites early on with numerous side trails for fly fishers to access the river. Reeder mentioned the trail petering out just over a mile and a half from the campground across the river from the Candle Creek Campground and recommended veering away from the river there and joining the Lower Metolius River Road.

Common mergansers

Ouzel

Goldenrod

Passing some of the campsites.

The Candle Creek Campground across the Metolius.

The trail seemed to be in pretty good shape as we passed the campground so instead of detouring to the road we stuck to the trail which was now more of a braided fisherman’s trail than a hiker trail, but it was passable without too much effort. That is until the final 100′ where we nearly lost the trail in brush before finding a very steep trail leading up to the road.

We actually went left below the stump here but, on the way back wound up coming downhill by the stump.

More campsites.

As we got further from the campground we encountered more and more brushy sections.

Another section with an increased number of obstacles.

Getting a bit brushier.

We left the river for the road at this bend.

Heading up to the road.

The use trail from the road.

Several opportunities to head for the road prior to this had us deciding that we would look for one of those on the way back instead of returning exactly the way we came. We followed this road a total of 6.2 miles to where the GPS showed the road ending and the Shut-In Trail beginning. We actually were passed by a gentleman in an SUV who was heading for one a small number of private cabins located approximately 3.7 miles from where we’d joined the road. He stopped to ask where we were headed and wished us a good hike.

We wondered what this post signified.

They were way past blooming but there were several mountain lady slippers along the road.

Osprey nest

Rock spire on lower section of Green Ridge. There are several interesting rock features higher up on the northern end of Green Ridge that were not visible from the road.

Orchid

Scarlet gilia

Some of the private cabins from the road.

A couple more cabins.

Based on the Oregonhikers field guide we had expected the road beyond the private cabins to have downed trees but instead found they had all been cut and there were even tire tracks, bicycle most likely, all the way to the Shut-In Trail.
The end of the private land.

The clear water allows for nice views of the rocks making up the riverbed.

Even though it had received maintenance the road was not in good enough condition for larger vehicles.

Pink monkeyflower

Lorquin’s admiral

The forest opened up near the end of the road where we set up camp.

Campsite

Yellow monkeyflower

We had arrived at our campsite a little before 12:15pm and it was really heating up, so we broke out our camp chairs and rested for several hours near the river before fixing an early dinner and setting off on the Shut-In Trail.
Lizard hanging out near the campsite.

After an early dinner we set off on the Shut-In Trail which we were surprised to find had seen some recent maintenance.

Grouse

The answer to the questions is yes bears do.

The Metolius through the trees.

Sagebrush mariposa lily. There also tire tracks in the trail behind.

Recent brushing had been performed through this area.

Looking up the end of Green Ridge.

This large tree had been cut fairly recently.

Flagging marking a reroute around a downed tree.

After a little more than a mile and a half of good trail things began to deteriorate.
Starting to get brushy.

View across the river to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.

Flowers along the Metolius.

The Whitewater River was behind the rock formation on the far side. The Whitewater River begins at the Whitewater Glacier on Mt. Jefferson and flows roughly 7.5 miles through the Warm Springs Reservation to the Metolius.

More clear water.

Fireweed

Thimbleberries provided us with a few after dinner snacks.

Hedgenettle

The Shut-In Trail traveled right along the riverbank at times.

There was one section along the hillside that had experienced some pretty significant erosion.
There was a small set of boards nailed together to assist with crossing the sketchiest part, but they were just lying on the hillside and not anchored in any way.

Just under two and a half miles from our camp we arrived at County Road 64. One could continue along this closed road for 4.6 miles to a gate just beyond the Monty Campground. A seasonal gate is located another 1.7-miles from the campground along the Metolius arm of Lake Billy Chinook.

The Shut-In Trail from CR-64.

CR-64

After a short break at the road we headed back.

Frog on a skunk cabbage leaf. There were a few wet areas along the Shut-In Trail which meant a few mosquitos were present.

The Sun going down as we approached camp.

Our first day wound up being 15.3-miles, 10.5 to reach camp and a 4.8-mile round trip on the Shut-In Trail. The elevation gain was only about 800′ total.

We woke up early the next morning hoping to stay ahead of the heat. After breakfast and packing up we followed the Lower Metolius River Road a total of 8-miles before cutting down to the trail along the river.

Pinedrops

Squirrel

Bee sleeping on thistle.

Large boykinia

The gentleman that had driven passed us the day before passed us again on his way into the cabins shortly before we turned off the road.
We turned off the road here on a well-established use trail down to the water.

Red admiral. As far as I know this is the first one of this species of butterfly that we’d seen.

Common wood nymph

Across from the Candle Creek Campground.

Green Ridge through some smoke. A couple of new fires, one on the Warm Springs Reservation and one East of Eugene had started over the weekend.

Love the colors of the Metolius.

Skipper on a mariposa lily.

Lower Bridge Campground is ahead to the left in the trees.

Our return hike came in at 10.1-miles which was the distance Reeder indicated between the trailhead and Shut-In Trail. The elevation gain was under 500′ of very gradual uphill, mostly along the road.

Blue is our hike to camp. Yellow is the Shut-In Trai.
Red is our return to the trailhead.

Heat aside this turned out to be a great backpacking trip. Over the two days we only passed one fly fisher (near Lower Bridge Campground), the private landowner (2x in his car), and a pair of hikers (again near Lower Bridge Campground). There were people across the river at Candle Creek Campground and in Lower Bridge Campground itself, but it was about as much solitude as we could have asked for. The condition of the trails was also better than we’d expected despite the rough end of the Shut-In Trail toward CR-64. It was a successful test run of our new gear as well and we now feel ready for our longer trip coming up in August. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Middle Metolius River

Tags backpacking, Candle Creek Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Green Ridge, hiking, Lower Bridge Campground, Lower Metolius River Road, Metolius River, Monty Campground, Oregon, Shut-In Trail