Category: Hiking

Buckhorn Lookout – 06/15/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 23, 2023
3 Comments on Buckhorn Lookout – 06/15/2023

We had spent Wednesday wading through poison ivy along the Imnaha River on our way to Eureka Bar (post). Thursday’s hike promised to involve a lot less poison ivy even though the trailhead was less than four miles as the crow flies from the Cow Creek Trailhead where we’d parked the day before. This was because we would be starting over 4000′ higher in elevation at Buckhorn Lookout.

Before we made it to the lookout we stopped to watch a small herd of elk cross the road and run up a hillside.

At least one bull in the herd.

We parked at the lookout and checked out the view there first then walked back along the road 0.2-miles and turned right on Forest Road 780 for another 1.2-miles to a gate.
Buckhorn Lookout

Hells Canyon

Tolmie’s onion

Pale paintbrush

Larkspur, lupine, and northern mules ears.

Prairie smoke a.k.a. old man’s whiskers

Purple sticky geranium

Paintbrush

Parsley, larkspur, large flower triteleia, and Tolmie’s onion

Phlox

We could have driven the 1.2-miles on FR 780 to the gate but the road was not in good shape and after driving to Eureka Bar the day before we weren’t interested in another rough road.

Mallow ninebark

Arnica

Large flower triteleia

Gate at the end of the road.

Marker for the Nez Perce – Nee-Mee-Poo National Historic Trail.

The trail followed an old roadbed downhill 7.6-miles to Eureka Bar, but our plan was to go just 3.6-miles to what Sullivan refers to as the “Eureka Viewpoint”. The entire route was lined with wildflowers. The mixture and types changed as we lost elevation, over 1780′ in all, to the viewpoint.

Columbian lewisia

Seven Devils in Idaho

Lupine, yarrow, buckwheat, and scarlet gilia

Scarlet gilia

Elkhorn clarkia a.k.a. ragged robin

Another impressive scarlet gilia.

Paintbrush, lupine, phacelia, thistle, and scarlet gilia

Penstemon

A phlox

Scabland penstemon

Threadleaf phacelia

Penstemon

Paintbrush

Lark sparrow

Cedar waxwing

Elkhorn clarkia

Wallflower

Skullcap

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Monkeyflower and some tiny white flowers near a seep.

Buckwheat

Mylitta crescent

Rough eyelashweed

Looking back up the trail.

At Spain Saddle the road switched to the opposite side of the ridge.

Bush penstemon

Another type of penstemon

White spiraea

Manyflower tonella

Owl’s clover

Six tenths of a mile from Spain Saddle we detoured left along a fence to a viewpoint.
The viewpoint on the far side of the fence.

Boat on the Snake River.

Salsify

We continued on from the first viewpoint and wound up having to yield the trail to a few cows that were being herded up the trail. After the cowgirl convinced them it was safe to pass by us we resumed our downhill hike.

Bindweed

Thistle with bugs.

Clouds moving in behind us.

Prickly pear cactus

The only poison ivy we saw all hike.

Eureka Viewpoint ahead to the left.

Hairy goldenaster

Fleabane

Eureka Viewpoint

Looking back

Looking down

Clustered broomrape

The most exciting part of Eureka Viewpoint wasn’t the view. It was finding some prickly pear cactus in bloom.

As for the view the three small portions of the Snake River was visible below.

A very small part of the river is visible to the left and more to right.

As we rested at the viewpoint we got to looking around and realized that there was a common nighthawk sleeping on a nearby fence post.

After a good break we began the long climb back to the lookout. The forecast had been for mostly sunny skies but it had grown increasingly hazy all day and there were now even more clouds converging overhead. It didn’t rain so the cloud cover was welcome as it kept the temperature from getting too high. The haze, which was smoke from wildfires was more problematic as it really hindered the views and by the time we’d reached the lookout we couldn’t see nearly as much as we had that morning.
Here come the clouds.

We spotted a rock arch on the way up that we’d missed earlier.

A closer look at the arch.

Common wood nymph

Spotted towhee

Northern flicker

The only time we noticed the Imnaha River from the trail.

Butterfly near the seep.

Mountain parnassian on yarrow.

A painted lady butterfly.

Chipping sparrow

We could actually smell a little smoke at times on the way back.

Tiny trumpet

Hound’s tongue and roses

Cassin’s finch

Western bluebird

Western tanager

Western wood peewee

Hairy Indian paintbrush

Hoary balsamroot

Mountain bluebird

The view in the afternoon from the lookout.

This wound up being our favorite hike of the trip despite the views not being as clear as we would have liked, and is one we would certainly revisit given the chance. We’re pretty sure we saw at least 50 different species of wildflowers and the views were good even with the smoke and clouds. Round trip was 10.8 miles with almost 1800′ of elevation gain, almost entirely on the way back.

After driving back to Enterprise we cleaned up and headed to Terminal Gravity Brewing for a nice dinner with a view of the Wallowa Mountains. The next morning we would be leaving Enterprise and heading for Pendleton via the long way around the Wallowas so we could make three stops along the Snake River. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Buckhorn Lookout

Tags Buckhorn Lookout, enterprise, Hells Canyon, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, hiking, Nee-Mee-Poo National Historic Trail. Eureka Viewpoint, Nez Perce National Historic Trail, Oregon, Prickly Pear Cactus, Terminal Gravity Brewing, wildflowers

Hells Canyon Hiking Oregon Trip report

Eureka Bar – 06/14/2023

When I first planned out our trip to Enterprise it included five featured hikes that we’d yet to do: Buckhorn Lookout, Eureka Bar, Dug Bar, Hat Point, and Imnaha Falls. During the weeks leading up to this trip we removed Hat Point due to conflicting information on the status of Hat Point Road. Sullivan’s trail updates listed the road as closed until Summer 2023 and the Forest Service pages listed the Day Use Area as closed but the trailhead as open. I tried reaching out to the USFS for clarification, but they never responded so we swapped that hike with a planned 2024 visit to Hells Creek Reservoir and Dam (two featured hikes).

The next change came when we decided to try and combine Eureka Bar and Dug Bar into a single day versus an overnight stay at Dug Bar. The original plan was to do a 10-mile hike at Eureka Bar then drive to Dug Bar where we could tent camp and do an 8.6-mile hike to Deep Creek the next day before driving back to Enterprise. This was due to the reportedly poor road conditions between Imnaha and the Cow Creek Trailhead (Eureka Bar hike) and even worse road between the Cow Creek Trailhead to Dug Bar. These 15-mile and 11.4-mile stretches of road were said to take a full hour each to drive so why drive the first stretch twice if we didn’t have to. Re-reading the description of the Dug Bar hike in preperation for the trip caused me to rethink this plan since Sullivan’s description of the Dug Bar hike included a one-mile stretch of trail wading through patches of poison ivy. He listed a shorter 1.2-mile option stopping at a viewpoint after only 0.6 miles which sounded much more appealing. This would also be short enough to add to the 10ish miles at Eureka Bar and still be a manageable distance for a single day.

With the new plan in place we left Enterprise and headed for the Cow Creek Trailhead. The road was pretty much as advertised taking an hour to get between Imnaha and the trailhead. The first mile was by far the worst section, but the entire 15-miles were tedious.
Cow Creek Bridge at the Cow Creek Trailhead.

Garbage can at the trailhead.

Before we even set out we were having doubts about Dug Bar. When we arrived there was a herd of cows being driven down Dug Bar Road and a van with bicycles on the far side of the Imnaha River. Driving that road already wasn’t appealing and the idea of encountering cattle or cyclists didn’t make it any better. That was a problem for later though and we set off on a faint trail heading for a trail sign in the distance.

At the sign we turned right on the Imnaha Trail.

We followed this trail 4.2 miles to the Snake River at Eureka Bar. Sullivan mentioned stepping around poison ivy that, along with blackberry bushes, often crowded the trail. As it turned out the brush didn’t just crowd the trail, it had taken over the trail in places. We hacked our way through the non-poison ivy vegetation and relied on our long pants to keep the sea of poison ivy at bay.
Penstemon along the trail.

Geese on the river.

Cliff swallows

Moth mullein

Hawk

Showy milkweed

Prickly pear cactus

Heading into a brushy area.

Rose

Lorquin’s admiral

We were on the lookout for rattlesnakes but didn’t see any (until one crossed the road on the drive back to Enterprise), but I did see three of what I believe were rubber boas.
Can you spot the snake?

The snake heading off the rocks into the brush.

While we fortunately didn’t encounter too many snakes there were hundreds of large crickets.

I cleared this section of trail.

Sumac along the trail.

The only marker that Sullivan mentioned along the trail was this pillar on the right at the 2.8-mile mark.

Painted lady

St. John’s wort and poison ivy.

Skullcap

Becker’s white

Our first view of the Snake River.

One of several reminders of the mining town at Eureka Bar in the early 1900’s.

The Mountain Chief Mine across the Imnaha River.

The Snake River

Chuckar in the brush across the Imnaha River.

Eureka Bar

We followed the trail along the Snake River to a trail post near Eureka Creek. At one time 2000 people lived in this area but after a sternwheeler carrying machinery for a gold processing mill crashed and sank, investors pulled out and the town disappeared.
Skipper on common bugloss.

Imnaha River emptying into the Snake.

Blanketflower

Bindweed

Sagebrush mariposa lily

Another sagebrush mariposa lily

Fleabane

Stones where the gold processing mill was going to be.

Long-leaved ground-cherry (Physalis longifolia)

Orange globe-mallow

Our turnaround point.

Another mariposa lily

Ruins at Eureka Bar.

Common merganser

We returned the way we’d come. It felt like there was somehow more poison ivy on the way back.
A prickly pear cactus near Eureka Bar.

Green cricket on poison ivy.

Lazuli bunting

Mourning cloak

We missed all of these prickly pear cacti on the first pass.

Arriving back at Dug Bar Road.

This hike ended up being 10.8 miles with 350′ of elevation gain.

On the way back to the trailhead we decided that we would not be doing Dug Bar on this day. It was already hot and we’d had enough of the poison ivy. It was also later than we’d expected due to slower hiking caused by the brushy trail. Sullivan had also removed Dug Bar from the featured hikes in his most recent “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” guidebook so we could switch editions and not have to make it back in order to complete our 100 hike goal. Making that switch did mean that there were several other hikes that we’d done that were now no longer featured hikes and we’d have to add some new ones to our plans over the next year and a half to still be on track to finish by the end of 2024.

We wiped off our poles and clothes as best as we could and hoped that we had managed to avoid any exposure to the poison ivy. As of Monday the 19th we both seem to be in the clear. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Eureka Bar

Tags Cow Creek Trailhead, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon, hiking, Imnaha River, Imnaha River Trail, Mountain Chief Mind, Oregon, Prickly Pear Cactus, Snake River

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site – 06/13/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 21, 2023
No Comments on Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site – 06/13/2023

After Monday’s round of afternoon/evening thunderstorms we wanted to make sure we weren’t out hiking during Tuesday’s forecasted storms. We had decided to play it safe and make Tuesday a light hiking day mixed with some sightseeing in Joseph, OR. We had hoped to start with breakfast from Sugar Time Bakery but it wound up being closed all week so we ate in the room and then drove to Joseph and parked at the Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site.

A short series of trails here offer views of the Wallowa Mountains and sits adjacent to the National Park Service’s Old Chief Joseph Gravesite.

The trail set off uphill gaining views of the mountains.
Lupine along the trail.

Interpretive sign along the trail.

Second from the left is Dug Peak, the pointy peak is Sawtooth Peak, and the round peak to the right is Hurricane Point.

The trail descended from the hill and leveled out along some trees.

Yellow warbler

Brown-headed cowbirds

The trail split near Knight’s Pond where we turned left and crossed Silver Lake Ditch.

On the far side of the ditch we spotted a couple of bucks on the hillside.

The trail climbed again past a bench then descended to another parking area along Highway 351.

Hounds tongue

Death camas

Oregon sunshine

Bench with a view of Point Joseph behind.

Sunflowers yet to bloom.

Fiddleneck

Descending to the highway.

We followed a bike/pedestrian path along the highway for a tenth of a mile to the entrance to the Nez Perce National Historic Park Cemetery.

Old Chief Joseph’s gravesite. His original grave near Wallowa, OR had been looted twice before he was moved here in 1926.

Wallowa Lake beyond the gravesite of Martha and Frank David McCully.

After paying our respects we returned to the Iwetemlaykin Heritage Area and returned to the junction near Knight’s Pond where we turned left past a beautiful reflection.

A sightseeing robin.

Butterfly on the trail.

Western stoneseed

Before looping around the pond and returning to our car we detoured on a spur trail to Farmer’s Ditch at the South Main Street Entrance.

Farmer’s Ditch

View from the South Main Street Entrance.

Passing back by Knight’s Pond.

Some uplift action on the clouds from the trailhead.

This was a 2.5-mile hike with maybe 200′ of elevation gain. We saw lots of birds and three deer during our outing and had some wonderful mountain views.

It was just a little after 9am when we finished so we drove back into downtown Joseph and parked at a public lot. We figured most places wouldn’t be open until 10am but we thought we could walk around and see what was there and enjoy the numerous art pieces around town in the meantime. Little did we realize that many (most) stores and restaurants were closed on Tuesday’s including the Wallowa County Museum. The lack of open storefronts combined with a bunch of sidewalk construction taking place cut our sightseeing short. Instead we drove back to our room in Enterprise and relaxed for a few hours before heading back to Joseph in the afternoon for an early dinner at Embers Brew House which was open on Tuesdays. Not quite the way we’d imagined the day going but we made it work and felt refreshed ahead of what promised to be the most stressful drive/hike(s) of our trip on Wednesday. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Area

Tags Embers Brew House, enterprise, Farmer's Ditch, hiking, Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Area, Jospeh, Knight's Pond, Nez Perce National Historic Park, Old Chief Joseph's Gravesite, Oregon, Silver Lake Ditch, Wallowa Mountains, yellow warbler

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Imnaha Falls – 06/12/2023

Our arrival in Enterprise coincided with the arrival of a couple of days with forecasted afternoon thunder storms. We did some rearraigning of the order of our hikes to avoid the storms and decided on Imnaha Falls as our Monday hike. We began at the Indian Crossing Trailhead located in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.
Indian Crossing Trailhead

Imnaha River at the trailhead.

There were quite a few wildflowers blooming at the trailhead.
Jessica’s stickseed

Hooked spur violet

Woodland star

Valerian

Arnica

We took the South Fork Imnaha Trail #1816 following pointers for Blue Hole and Twin Lakes.

Violets

We passed a pack station in the forest on our right.

Ballhead waterleaf

Lupine along the trail

Anemone

Western meadowrue

We passed a trail sign at junction with a spur trail joining from the pack station and soon after we entered the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Paintbrush along the trail.

Larkspur, lupine, and Jessica’s stickseed

After three quarters of a mile we entered a previously burned forest where the views opened up some.

Chipmunk

A nice patch of lupine.

Snow patches high up on the ridge.

The Imnaha River below the trail.

One of many small unnamed stream crossings.

Large-flower triteleia

A ponderosa pine that survived the fire.

Robin

One of several types of penstemon along the trail.

We were just sure that there should be elk, deer, or a bear down along the river here.

There were quite a few of these millipedes in the trail.

In some cases the creeks had taken over the trail.

Cinquefoil

A brushy section of the trail.

Tall bluebells

Two-tailed tiger swallowtail

At the two-mile mark we came to a signed junction for Twin Lakes Trail and Blue Hole where we detoured left.

We followed this trail downhill for a tenth of a mile to an impassable ford of the Imnaha River just below the Blue Hole.

The river was running high still so we couldn’t get a view of Blue Hole from the ford. Instead we climbed the rocks which squeeze the river through a narrow gorge before it empties into Blue Hole.

Blue Hole, not exactly blue this time of year due to the amount of silty snowmelt water swelling the river.

Wildflowers above the gorge.

The Imnaha emerging from the gorge into Blue Hole.

After a nice break at Blue Hole we returned to the South Fork Imnaha Trail and continued further into the wilderness.
Arnica along the trail.

Coming up on a small stand of aspen.

A rockcress

Juba skipper

Roundleaf alumroot

Painted lady on Oregon sunshine.

Glacier carved rock outcrops provided some excellent views and good habitat for wildflowers.

Scabland penstemon

Paintbrush

Not a flower but very colorful.

Bush penstemon

Western tanager

Western blue clematis

Brown creeper on a tree trunk.

Left is Marble Mountain and to the right further back is Honeymoon Summit.

Larkspur along the trail.

Heartleaf springbeauty

Another flooded section of a the trail.

Western tiger swallowtails on chokecherry.

Dreamy duskywing

Threeleaf lewisia

We were too late for the Brown’s peony blooms.

Balsamroot and paintbrush

Three and a third miles beyond the Twin Lakes Trail junction we left the trail to see another gorge.

On the opposite side, with a series of drops, is Rock Creek flowing into the Imnaha.

The Imnaha River leaving the gorge.

Rock Creek cascading down through the forest.

After another short break we returned to the trail and continued another third of a mile where we left the trail again to find Imnaha Falls.

Another creek cascading down.

Marble Mountain

Twinberry honeysuckle

Marsh violet

Rock outcrop above Imnaha Falls

The 8′ Imnaha Falls was difficult to get a good view of. There was a large gap in the rocks that I eventually had to climb down into and out of to get to the edge of the rock outcrop above the river.
I tried going down river first to see if I could get a view back up to the falls, but the water level was into the brush along the riverbank.

The falls were just upriver from this bench with a couple of campsites.

The gap in the outcrop.

Imnaha Falls.

The falls were more of a rapids which might have been caused by the volume of water this time of year.

We took a final break on the rocks here and then headed back toward the trailhead. We kept a lookout for any flowers we’d missed on the first pass.
Utah honeysuckle

Bee on a dandelion

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Slender phlox

Silverleaf phacelia

Vetch

Diffuse-flower evening-primrose surrounded by blue-eyed Mary.

Osprey, the fishing here must have been good because we’d seen a bald eagle in this area in the morning.

Fairy slipper

Arriving back at the trailhead.

We saw three other people on the return to the trailhead. The first gentleman we encountered asked us how far it was to the lakes. He’d already passed the Twin Lakes Trail, not that he could have forded the river there, and the next closest lake was probably Fish Lake which was a good 7-8 miles away. We let him know that there weren’t any lakes nearby but that Imnaha Falls was a couple of miles further along the trail. He didn’t have much with him but he continued on after looking at the gathering clouds and saying he thought he had time to make it there. The next couple we passed after Blue Hole and they didn’t appear to be carrying any type of food, water, or gear. The number of unprepared and uninformed people we pass on trails really makes us wonder how there aren’t more rescues/deaths every year.

Our hike came in at 12.2 miles due to some extra exploring along the river with approximately 800′ of elevation gain.

We drove back to Enterprise, got cleaned up, and headed out for an early dinner. When we opened the motel room door we were greeted by a heavy rain shower. We had planned on eating at Terminal Gravity Brewing but when we got out of the car a lightning bolt immediately followed by thunder convinced us that outdoor dining was not a good idea at the moment. We decided to save Terminal Gravity for later in the week and instead got some tasty Pad Thai to go from Thai Enterprise and took it back to our room where we listened to the evening thunderstorms roll past.

Tuesday’s forecast was for more of the same with a slightly higher chance for showers so we’d planned to do a short hike in the morning followed by some time sightseeing in Joseph. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Imnaha Falls

Tags Blue Hole, eagle cap wilderness, enterprise, Gorge, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, hiking, Imnaha Falls, Indian Crossing Trailhead, Oregon, Rock Creek, South Fork Imnaha River Trail, Twin Lakes Trail, wildflowers

Blue Mountains - North Hiking Oregon Trip report

Hat Rock State Park to McNary Beach – 06/11/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 19, 2023
No Comments on Hat Rock State Park to McNary Beach – 06/11/2023

We used our second extended vacation of the year to continue our quest to complete 100 featured hikes from William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” edition 3rd edtion (post). Heading into 2023 we had done 79 out of the 100 featured hikes and had planned to check off five more on this trip to Enterprise, OR. On the way to Enterprise, a 7 1/2-hour drive from Salem, we stopped at Hat Rock State Park. We had originally planned for this stop to be a quick leg stretcher and just hike the mile loop passing Hat Rock, but a couple of late changes to our planned hikes for the remainder of the week reduced our milage so we extended our visit by hiking the Lewis and Clark Commemorative Trail to McNary Beach. This was not one of Sullivan’s featured hikes but the Lewis and Clark Trail is covered in his additional hikes under the Columbia River Railroad.

There are several large parking areas in the park and we wound up parking near the picnic area.

We took a paved trail on the opposite side of the parking lot from the picnic area which climbed up to another parking lot and trailhead.

The parking area at the trailhead.

Signboards at the trailhead.

Trail map.

We headed counterclockwise on the loop which quickly brought us to Hat Rock.

The basalt feature is part of the Columbia Basalt eruptions, a series of lava flows that left basalt a mile thick in some places.

We continued on the loop detouring to a bench overlooking a pond.

Beyond the viewpoint the trail descended to a junction along the pond. Here we turned right which took us across a footbridge to a boat ramp.

Lake Wallula from the footbridge.

We crossed the parking lot at the boat ramp to a continuation of the trail which led uphill to the Lewis and Clark Commemorative Trail.

Eastern kingbird near the boat ramp.

Post ahead marking the junction with the Lewis and Clark Trail. There is also a deer below the cliffs ahead.

Zooming in on the doe.

We turned right on the Lewis and Clark Trail. The former railroad grade follows the shore of Lake Wallula on the Columbia River. The lake is created by the McNary Dam which was visible near the western end of the trail near McNary Beach.

Lake Wallula

We followed the trail a total of 4.8 miles to McNary Beach where we took a short break at a shaded picnic table. While the scenery didn’t change much the views were good and there were lots of birds along the way filling the air with their songs.
Raven with an egg it had snatched from some other bird.

Broad-leaved pepperweed (invasive)

Initially there were some houses on the left, but they gave way to the Wanaket Wildlife Area.

Most of the balsamroot was long past done but a few late blooms remained.

Dove

A fleabane

Swallow

Patterns on Lake Wallula

Western meadowlark signing from atop the cliffs.

Sign for the Wanaket Wildlife Area

Lark sparrow

Box Canyon

There were a couple of small hills but over all very little elevation gain.

Another western meadowlark.

Cormorant

Mallard

Showy milkweed and a bunch of bees.

Trail sign near McNary Beach

Our rest stop.

We returned to Hat Rock State Park the way we’d come.
Caspian tern

Hawk

Gray hairstreak on tall tumblemustard

Becker’s white also on tall tumblemustard.

Boat Rock to the left and behind Hat Rock from the Lewis and Clark Trail.

We recrossed the footbridge and followed the path along the pond to complete the loop back to the picnic area.

One of these is not like the others.

We ate lunch at a table in the picnic area before getting back in the car and driving to Enterprise. Our hike here came in at 10.9 miles with approximately 200′ of elevation gain.

The trail is mostly exposed to the Sun so it got a little warm but overall it was a pleasant hike. We only saw a hand full of others on the trails but there were plenty of people at Hat Rock Park itself and a fair number at McNary Beach. This was a good kick-off hike for our trip and we looked forward to more eastern Oregon scenery to come.

Two days after our visit (Tuesday 6/13) the Hat Rock Fire started near the SE corner of the park at the Highway 730/Highway 37 junction. Fortunately the fire spread away from the park. The fire is now 100% contained but it grew to over 16,800 acres before containment occurred. Happy (fire free) Trails!

Flickr: Hat Rock State Park

Tags Boat Rock, Columbia River, Hat Rock, Hat Rock Fire, Hat Rock State Park, hiking, Lake Wallula, Lewis and Clark Commemorative Trail, McNary Beach, Oregon, Wanaket Wildlife Area, Western Meadowlark

Columbia Gorge North Hiking SW Washington Trip report Washington

Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Nestor Peak – 06/03/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 5, 2023
No Comments on Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Nestor Peak – 06/03/2023

We have really come to enjoy spending time at wildlife refuges and have been looking for more to visit. I’d noticed Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge on maps when looking at the Mt. Adams area so I dug a little deeper to find that there is a trail there, the Willard Springs Trail. The refuge webpage describes the Willard Springs Trail as a “two-mile loop” then lists the trail length as 3.79 miles. The Oregonhikers.org field guide entry shows 2.3 miles as the hike length. No matter which length was correct, on it’s own the hike would be too short to warrant the 2:30 hour drive from Salem. I went looking for a way to fit a visit in and looked over my map of future trailheads and saw that the trailhead for the Nestor Peak hike was located on the way to the refuge. The Nestor Peak hike was just over 8-miles so adding the Willard Spring Loop would put the day around 11 miles which sounded manageable.

Our plan was to visit Conboy Lake first since it was the furthest from home, and an earlier start there might provide a better chance at spotting wildlife. We parked at the refuge headquarters and made our way to the historic Whitcomb-Cole Hewn Log House.

The path to the cabin on the right.

Built in 1875 the cabin was moved from its original location in 1987.

The snowy top of Mt. Hood from the cabin.

After exploring the cabin we set off on the Willard Springs Trail only we briefly went the wrong way. A grassy track lead north directly across the gravel road from the path to the cabin and we took it.

We got about 250′ before realizing that this path was just going to take us back to the parking lot so we backtracked to the gravel road and followed it toward the lakebed across a small canal. (The Garmin named this Cold Springs Ditch.)

We turned left on a wide grassy track along the ditch. Numerous colorful birds were flying in and out of the bushes and trees along the ditch, most of which would not sit still long enough for me to photograph.

There was a lot of monkeyflower in and along the ditch.

Lupine along the ditch.

Lazuli bunting

Robin

Yellow warbler (according to the Merlin app).

Red-winged blackbird

The top of Mt. Adams above the trees.

We followed the ditch for a third of a mile then crossed over it to a field with bird houses and more birds.

Swallow

Western bluebirds

We stayed right at a junction near the corner of the field following the trail through the grass then into a mixed forest.

Honeysuckle

Columbine

Rose

The lakebed was often visible through breaks in the trees.

Through one such gap in the trees we spotted a pair of greater Sandhill cranes. The refuge is the only place in Washington that supports breeding pairs of the birds.

Approximately 1.4 miles from the trailhead we came to a 4-way junction. To the left was a “shortcut trail” and to the right a viewing platform with the Willard Springs Trail continuing straight(ish).

Continuation of the Willard Springs Trail behind the sign.

More often than not on our hikes we strike out with viewing platforms/bird blinds. (We’d have better luck if we sat and waited for the wildlife to come to us.) It was a different story today with a deer making its way across the lakebed and an excellent view of Mt. Adams.

We hung around long enough that this warbling vireo came to check on us.

After a nice break at the platform we continued on the Willard Springs Trail. After another 0.5-miles we came to a signed spur trail to Willard Springs.

We followed this spur 0.2-miles to its end at a couple of benches near the springs.

Willard Sprins hidden in the vegetation. We could hear them better then we could see them.

A healthy lupine near the springs.

We returned to the junction and continued on the loop which now turned back south. It was interesting to see the change in the forest along this section that was further from the lakebed.

Cat’s ear lily

Hitchhiker

Lupine along the trail.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Swallowtail

Lorquin’s admiral

Arriving back at the refuge headquarters.

Two interesting things to note about the hike were that the Oregonhikers.org Field Guide mentioned a trailhead 0.2-miles from the HQs along the entrance road but we passed no trails coming from the road and there appeared to be a no parking sign on the side of the road near where we expected to see this other trailhead. Our guess is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department decommissioned the alternate trailhead at some point. The other oddity was that while we did pass the other end of the shortcut trail neither of us noticed another trail joining from the left closer to the headquarters which would have been the other end of the trail that had split off at the edge of the field with the bird houses. There was even a map at the trailhead showing such a trail. Possibly another recent change (or we both just missed the connector trail).
Trail map at the trailhead.

The Garmin map shows the shortcut, spur to the old trailhead, and the other connector as well as some different locations for the trails.

Between exploring the cabin and briefly going the wrong way our hike here came in at an even 4-miles with only 50′ of elevation gain. Given the 4-mile figure the 3.79 miles listed on the refuge webpage for the Willard Springs Trail is probably the most accurate of the distance we came across. We didn’t see any other people, just a lot of wildlife which made for a great first stop of the day.

After finishing at Conboy Lake we drove back south to the Buck Creek Trailhead #1.

This is one of several trailheads located along the roughly 21-mile Buck Creek Trail loop. We had hiked a segment of the Buck Creek Trail in 2020 on our Monte Carlo – Monte Cristo Loop (post). Today’s segment would be a roughly 4.2 mile climb to a former lookout site atop Nestor (Nester) Peak. We picked up the trail on West side of N-1000 across from the trailhead.

It was later in the morning than we usually get started due to visiting Conboy Lake first and even though it was a little before 10:30am it was already feeling a little warm. The trail made a steep initial ascent before leveling off a bit.

There were lots of phantom orchids blooming along the lower sections of the hike.

Thimbleberry

Spotted coralroot was also plentiful.

Wallflower

Near the 3/4-mile mark we recrossed N-1000.

The trail actually lost some elevation here as it descended toward N-1300.

The trail ran parallel to N-1300 for a mile before again turning steeply uphill.
One of only two trees that were down over the trail, both were easily manageable.

The one small stream crossing.

There was enough sunlight getting through to really heat up the trail.

While there wasn’t much there we did occasionally see poison oak throughout most of the lower 2/3rds of the hike.

After the trail steepened we passed a spring on the right at the first of three switchbacks.

Sign above the switchbacks warning mountain bikers that they were ahead.

Following a fourth switchback the trail came to another dirt road which we jogged slightly right on before finding the continuation of the Buck Creek Trail.

Buck Creek Trail to the left near the roads end.

For the next half mile the trail climbed at a healthy pace. Heather hadn’t been feeling well and the heat wasn’t helping things. We talked it over and she told me to go ahead and she would go at her own pace so we split up for now.

More spotted coralroot.

Just over a half mile from the road crossing the trail crossed another road.

After another initial steep climb the trail relented a bit as it traversed around a ridge before gaining a ridgetop and following down to a saddle below Nestor Peak. Along the way were a couple of openings hosting bright wildflowers.

Vanilla leaf

Queen’s cup

Anemone

Lupine

Mt. Hood from the Buck Creek Trail.

Mt. Hood

Cedar hairstreak on yarrow.

Paintbrush, lupine, penstemon, and balsamroot.

Moth

Penstemon

Gaining the ridge.

Paintbrush

Showy phlox

The trail dropped off the ridge and started another good climb along a hillside to a ridge end where it turned steeply uphill climbing to road N-1600 a tenth of a mile below the summit of Nestor Peak.
Approaching the start of the final climb.

Sub-alpine mariposa lily

Showy phlox

Road N-1600.

A right turn on the road led past more wildflowers with a view of Mt. Hood to the remains of a shed on top of Nestor Peak.

At the summit Mt. Adams came into view to the NE.

I took a break at the summit and followed some butterflies around trying to get pictures. While I was busy chasing butterflies Heather messaged to let me know she was at the start of the final climb so I waited for her at the summit.

Unfortunate amount of graffiti on the old shed.

Mt. Hood and balsamroot.

Mt. Hood

Oregon sunshine

Boisduval blues

Duskywing

Balsamroot

Moths

Moth

Lupine

Butterfly on cat’s ear lily.

Woodland stars

Paintbrush

After Heather got a break too, we headed back down. There was a little bit of a breeze as we went down which combined with going downhill instead of up helped it feel cooler on the way down.

Blue-head gilia

Ookow

Winecup clarkia

Mountain lady slipper

The hike here would have been between 8 and 8.5 miles but I wandered around the summit area enough to log 8.9 miles on the GPS unit.

We passed 8 others on the trail (3 hikers and 6 mountain bikers) and saw another mountain biker on Road N-1600 from the summit. It was a nice hike but it would have been a little more enjoyable in cooler temperatures. The views and wildflowers were great though. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Conboy Lake WLFR and Nestor Peak

Tags Buck Creek Trail, Buck Creek Trailhead #1, Conboy Lake, Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge, hiking, Mt. Adams, Nestor Peak, Sandhill Crane, Washington, Whitcomb-Cole Cabin, Willard Springs, Willard Springs Trail

Bend/Redmond Central Oregon Hiking Oregon Trip report

Riley Ranch Nature Preserve to Tumalo State Park – 05/29/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 2, 2023
1 Comment on Riley Ranch Nature Preserve to Tumalo State Park – 05/29/2023

On our way home from Bend we wanted to get one more hike in and had decided on exploring the Riley Ranch Nature Reserve. There are a little under 3 miles of trail at the Reserve, but a trail along the Deschutes River connects the Reserve with Tumalo State Park making a longer hike possible.

We chose to start at the Reserve trailhead primarily due to Tumalo State Park being a fee park. The Reserve is open sunrise to sunset so we arrived early (5:20am) to try and get a jump on the crowds and our drive home.

Mt. Bachelor (post) in the morning.

We stopped at the trailhead signboard to finalize our route for the day.

We planned to stay right on Juniper and Sage Flat Loops and take the Robin’s Run down to the Canyon Loop. For the Canyon Loop we decided to go left first to hike along the Deschutes River to the Tumalo State Park Day Use Area. On our way back we would complete the Canyon Loop and stay right on the Sage Flat and Juniper Loops.
The start of the Juniper Loop.

Similar to the Metro Parks we’ve recently visited there were small maps on the trail pointers here.

Middle and North Sister

We spotted our first deer of the day amid the sagebrush in the distance.

Blurry shot of the deer.

We detoured 40 yards to the Ben Newkirk Mountain Overlook where we saw a rabbit and some mountains.

Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, and the Three Sisters.

Rabbit

Mt. Bachelor and Tumalo Mountain (post)

Ball Butte

Broken Top (post)

South Sister (post)

Middle and North Sister

After checking out the overlook we continued on the Juniper Loop and spotted a second rabbit

We passed by the shared Juniper/Sage Flat Trail and continued on the Sage Flat Loop.

Sageflat Loop

We turned right on the dirt Robin’s Run Trail which led fairly steeply downhill to the Canyon Loop.

Threadleaf phacelia

Turning left on the Canyon Loop quickly brought us to the Deschutes River.
Balsamroot along the Deschutes.

The trail follows the river with occasional “official” river access points marked by posts.

After 0.4 miles on the Canyon Loop we came to an unmarked spur trail that led to the top of a rock outcrop with a bench.

Robin

Longhorn plectritis

Blackheaded grosbeak

Heather waited below while I climbed the outcrop.

The bench on top.

The top of the outcrop.

As I headed back down to Heather I encountered a deer about 30 yards from her that she hadn’t seen.

We continued along the river looking for wildlife and wildflowers.

Western stoneseed

Larkspur

I spotted something head into the river from the grass on the near bank here.

I spotted the grass moving before the animal below which turned out to be a beaver.

Beaver in the Deschutes River.

We stayed straight when the Canyon Loop turned inland. There are two cabin ruins in this area, one just a bit further along the loop and the other was just ahead on the trail along the river.
We followed the pointer for Tumalo State Park.

Cabin ruins

It was nearly 2 miles from the cabin ruins to the day use area at Tumalo State Park.

Western wallflower

Lupine

Another river access point.

Rockcress, possibly sicklepod.

The northern boundary of the Riley Ranch Nature Reserve.

Threadleaf phacelia

Tumalo Creek (post) flowing into the Deschutes River.

While we were admiring Tumalo Creek we spotted a bird high up in a snag on the far side of the river.

It turned out to be a Lewis’s woodpecker, one of the prettiest woodpeckers in Oregon.

Crossing into Tumalo State Park.

One of the neatest features along the trail was a long footbridge crossing over some boulders along the river.

Magpie

Paintbrush

Mallards

Penstemon

A quarter of a mile from the day use area we crossed a road leading to a private bridge crossing the river.

Remains of another bridge in the river.

Tumalo State Park Day Use Area

It was fun to see the day use area. In my school days some friends and I occasionally camped in the park and spent time fishing and swimming in the river.

Deschutes River at the day use area.

After reminiscing at the day use area we headed back. We kept our eyes out for more wildlife and were rewarded with a few more species of birds.
Kingfisher on the bridge remains. (A bit blurry due to being a long way off.)

A swallow and a pygmy nuthatch.

Pygmy nuthatch

We turned left onto the Canyon Loop and immediately arrived at the other cabin ruins.

Bench along the Canyon Loop.

Northern flicker

As we neared the junction with Robin’s Run we could hear a large group of trail runners making their way down.
We were distracted enough by the runners that we failed to notice the deer bedded down to the right of the trail. You can see its ears sticking up here.

We waited at the junction for the group to descend and while we were standing there we finally noticed the deer.
There were at least four deer hanging out here.

After the trail runners passed by we climbed back up to the Sage Flat Trail and turned right. After just under 500′ we came to a spur trail to the Canyon Overlook where we made a quick detour.
The Sage Flat Loop Trail.

Spur to the Canyon Overlook.

Death camas

Mt. Bachelor and Tumalo Mountain

Mt. Jefferson

We returned to the Sage Flat Loop and continued passing a few Lewis flax blossoms before arriving at another spur trail to the Sage Flat Overlook.

Lewis flax

Marker for the Sage Flat Overlook.

We skipped this overlook, primarily because I went right when the overlook was to the left but given the time of day we would have been looking directly toward the Sun.
Looking back at where the Sage Flat Overlook was.

Next up was the River Viewpoint which was just off the Sage Flat Loop to the right.

Lizard near the River Viewpoint.

After looking at the river one last time we continued on the Sage Flat Loop which then became the Juniper Loop bringing us back to the trailhead.
The Cascade Mountains

Black Crater (post) and Mt. Washington

Finishing up the Juniper Loop.

Our hike came to 7.3 miles with 350′ of elevation gain.

This was a nice, convenient hike to finish off the weekend. The early start allowed us to be finished before 9:30am which put us ahead of the bulk of holiday traffic. We made it home nice and early giving us plenty of time to catch up with the cats. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Riley Ranch Nature Reserve

Tags Bend, Broken Top, Canyon Loop Trail, Canyon Overlook, deer, Deschutes River, hiking, Juniper Loop Trail, Lewis Woodpecker, Mt. Bachelor, Oregon, Riley Ranch Nature Reserve, River Viewpiont, Robbin's Run Trail, Sage Flat Loop Trail, The Three Sisters, Tumalo Creek, Tumalo State Park

Central Oregon Hiking Oregon Trip report

Criterion Tract – 05/28/2023

Post author By yunckrunner
Post date June 1, 2023
2 Comments on Criterion Tract – 05/28/2023

Knowing that trails would be busy over the holiday weekend we looked for an option that might provide some solitude and turned to another Matt Reeder hike at BLM managed Criterion Tract (BLM map). Reeder features this hike in his “PDX Hiking 365” guidebook and lists April as the best time to visit. His reasoning is that April to early May is the usually the peak wildflower blooms. With this years blooms running a couple of weeks late we hoped that Memorial Day weekend wouldn’t be too late. I couldn’t find any information other than the map linked above on the BLM website but in addition to Reeder’s entry there is a route featured in the Oregonhikers.org field guide and Sullivan features a route starting along the Deschutes River in his 2022 “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” guidebook (not the edition we are using for our quest of his featured hikes).

While there are several possible access points we started at the Criterion North Trailhead.

Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams from the trailhead which is the high point of the hike.

Mt. Hood

The “trails” here consist of old jeep tracks that are closed to motorized use (other than BLM administrators) and not maintained so some have become faint. We passed through a green gate and onto what the Oregonhikers.org map shows as Criterion Crest Road.
Cattle sometimes graze in the area and the combination of their hooves with the unmaintained roads makes for some pretty rough surfaces.

Reeder has you follow this road for nearly four miles before turning downhill through a gate at a faint 4-way junction. He doesn’t mention any other markers along the way but the road passes under a set of power lines, followed by another gate, then the power lines again, a third gate, and passes an abandoned trailer before reaching the 4-way junction. Mountain views stretched from Mt. Bachelor to the South to Mt. Adams in Washington to the North. We saw plenty of wildflowers and a lot of birds as well as deer and elk sign, but we didn’t see any hooved mammals (including cows thankfully).

Rough-eyelashweed. There was a lot of this blooming along the road.

A couple of lomatiums.

Howell’s milkvetch

Idaho milkvetch

Western meadowlark

A buckwheat

Carey’s balsamroot

Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top and the Three Sisters

Lupine

Bumble bee on Howell’s milkvetch

Lark sparrow

We spent a lot of time heading toward Mt. Hood.

Sparrow?

Mt. Adams

Mt. Hood

We were a little too late for the large-head clover.

Western meadowlark giving a performance.

The third gate with Mt. Hood in the distance.

Yarrow

Phlox

The Deschutes River winding through the valley below.

Rough eyelashweed and lupine with Mt. Hood behind.

Caterpillar

Lupine with Mt. Jefferson in the background.

Horned lark

Mt. Jefferson behind the abandoned trailer.

Mt. Jefferson was hidden at times but this gap in the hills provided a nice view.

Oregon sunshine

Skipper

Mt. Jefferson and Olallie Butte (post) behind the lupine.

A small watering hole.

Leaning toward an Acmon blue but not sure.

Another in the Lycaenidae family.

Large marble on a fiddleneck.

The fourth gate at the 4-way junction.

Mourning dove

We took a short break by the gate before passing through. As we descended on the jeep track we came to a split where the clearer track curved to the left while a faint track headed straight downhill through a field of balsamroot. Reeder’s map showed his route was along the fainter track so we stayed straight.
The more “obvious” jeep track curving left.

The fainter track angling slightly right.

We were a couple of weeks late for the peak balsamroot bloom, but there were enough remaining blooms/petals to color the hillside yellow.

Ochre ringlet on rougheyelashweed.

We soon rejoined the other jeep track where we turned right.

The terrain had leveled out and we continued on the track watching for Stag Point, a knoll with a post on top, which was Reeder’s turn around point.
Zerene fritillary

Zerene fritillary on salsify

We thought we spied the post and used the camera to zoom in and confirm.

This was the only knoll with a juniper as well as the post.

Largeflower hawksbeard

Paintbrush

To reach Stag Point we had to go cross country, so we looked for the most gradual looking climb.

Mt. Hood from Stag Point.

The Deschutes River from Stag Point.

The view was good from Stag Point, but we were hoping to see more of the river and decided to do a little more cross country exploring by heading SE along the rim from Stag Point to a promising looking rock outcrop.
Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams from Stag Point.

Looking back over the route we’d come down.

Ladybug and an Oregon swallowtail.

Desert yellow fleabane

Heading out to the rock outcrop.

Mt. Hood and Stag Point from the outcrop.

A better view of the Deschutes.

Mt. Hood beyond the cliffs.

A buckwheat

Satisfied now with the view we took a short break on the outcrop before heading back. We made our way back to the jeep track by angling back toward the rim where we’d descended. Once we’d reached the track we simply followed it back uphill to the gate at the 4-way junction.
Stink bug

Silverleaf phacelia

Back on the jeep track.

Lupine and balsamroot

The cows had really chewed this section of the jeep track up.

The gate ahead.

Horned lark guarding the gate.

After passing through the gate we retraced our route back to the trailhead. Butterflies were now out in force and we spotted a couple of lizards.
Mt. Jefferson and Olallie Butte

Grand collomia

Time for some sun.

A butterfly and fly.

Three butterflies and a fly.

Busy bee

This swallowtail was a little rough around the edges.

Another horned lark on lookout.

Nothing brings fritillary butterflies together like a good pile of scat.

We had been trying to figure out where the Oregonhikers loop had veered off Criterion Road and as we were discussing it on the way back it donned on us that it must follow the powerlines for a short distance. Neither of us had noticed another jeep track leading off around the powerlines but it made sense because there is almost always an access road below lines. Sure enough when we arrived at the power lines there was a jeep track clear as day.
Another option for another time. We were just happy to have solved that mystery.

The Radio Towers on the hill were right next to the trailhead.

The Three Sisters (from this angle it looks like two)

Three butterflies and a beetle on buckwheat.

Another mystery was where did the trail from the South Trailhead (just on the other side of the radio towers) connect. We’d missed the track on the right on our first pass, another question answered.

Lizard with half a tail at the trailhead.

This mountain bluebird was acting odd when we arrived at the gate. It was flying back and forth with something in its mouth. (Mt. Adams is in the background.)

It turned out to be a grasshopper that it was waiting to feed its young who were apparently in a nest in some nearby rocks.

After we passed by we heard the chicks calling and watched it fly into the rocks with their meal.

This turned out to be an excellent choice for the holiday weekend. We only encountered one other person, a trail runner we passed on our way back to the 4-way junction from Stag Point. The late wildflower season played to our advantage and the weather was good. It can get really hot and/or really windy there but on this day a reasonable breeze kept the temperature down without blowing us around. The rough tread was really the only downside to the hike, but that wasn’t too bad overall.

Our hike came in at 10.6 miles with roughly 700′ of elevation gain.

We definitely plan on returning to try Sullivan’s route from below someday and possibly trying to follow the Oregonhikers loop sometime as well. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Criterion Tract

Tags balsamroot, blm, Criterion North Trailhead, Criterion Ranch, Criterion Tract, Deschutes River, hiking, horned lark, lark sparrow, lupine, mountain view, Mt. Hood, Oregon, Stag Point, Western Meadowlark

Hiking

Blowout Arm Suspension Bridge and Metolius Preserve – 05/27/23

Post author By yunckrunner
Post date May 31, 2023
No Comments on Blowout Arm Suspension Bridge and Metolius Preserve – 05/27/23

For Memorial Day weekend we headed for Bend to visit Heather’s parents and check out some new trails. We had two stops planned on the way from Salem to Bend. Originally those stops were to visit a suspension bridge over part of Detroit Lake and the Peterson Ridge Trail system in Sisters. As the weekend neared, I started questioning the wisdom of stopping at the popular trailhead in Sisters on a holiday weekend. As I was scanning Google Maps for inspiration for a new-to-us trail along Highway 20 I noticed a couple of trailheads for the Metolius Preserve. Somehow this had flown under our radar but with over 10 miles of trails and the multiple loop options it looked like a good option.

With the new plan set we got an early start Saturday morning and headed for Detroit Lake’s Blowout Arm. We were working out of Matt Reeder’s “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region” guidebook and followed his driving directions to the trailhead.

A reportedly popular spot for swimming we thought this was a good time of year (and time of day) to avoid the crowds and that proved to be correct. We followed the trail downhill for approximately 0.2-miles to the bridge.
Our first rhododendron blossom of the year.

We turned right when the trail met an old logging road.

Blowout Arm

Blowout Creek flowing into Blowout Arm.

A little post-hike research led me to a post on Oregonhikers.org by justpeachy which revealed that this had once been part of the “Volcano” Trail and connected to several other trails above Detroit Lake, but these days the trail ends not far beyond the bridge.
We found our first beargrass on the other side of the bridge.

Swimmers at Blowout Arm.

After not being able to cross the suspension bridge over the Illinois River earlier this month (post) it was nice to be able to do so here. After returning to the car we continued East on Highway 20 to Jack Lake Road (Forest Road 12) where we turned left and headed for the Metolius Preserve‘s North Trailhead.

Acquired by the Deschutes Land Trust in 2003, the Preserve is 1,240 acres with over 10 miles of trails. Our plan here was to hike the Larch, Fir, and Pine trails, each of which includes at least one loop by staying right at all trail junctions.

After looking over the trailhead signboard we walked back to the parking lot entrance which crossed the Lake Creek Trail, the only trail in the Preserve open to horses. Bike and dogs (on leash) are allowed on all trails. Following a point for the Larch Trails we started along the Lake Creek Trail and soon turned left at another pointer for the Larch Trails.
Sign for the Lake Creek Trail.

Lake Creek Trail

Pointer for the Larch Trails.

Just before reaching a footbridge across the North Fork Lake Creek we passed a junction with a return trail to the North Trailhead.
Violets

Star-flowered solomonseal

Serviceberry

North Fork Lake Creek

At another junction just beyond the bridge we turned right and followed the Larch Trail passing over the Middle Fork Lake Creek before reaching the next junction.

Middle Fork Lake Creek

Between the pointers at junctions and a few well-placed maps it was relatively easy to stay on course, as long as we were paying attention.

We stayed right again here at the start of the Fir Trails.

A seasonal tributary of Middle Fork Lake Creek.

Balsamroot

Fir Trail reaching a bridge over the South Fork Lake Creek.

Interpretive sign at the South Fork Lake Creek.

A second footbridge over another branch of the Lake Creek.

On the far side of the South Fork Lake Creek was the South Trailhead.

Shelter at the South Trailhead

After a short break at the South Trailhead we continued on the Fir Trails following pointers for the Creek Overlooks.

The first overlook didn’t have much of a view of the creek but the second one did, along with a nice bench.

The second overlook.

Interpretive sign at the second overlook.

South Fork Lake Creek

We continued from the overlooks staying right on the marked trails (there were some roadbeds that we did not turn right on).

Hound’s tongue with a caterpillar.

The Fir Trails end at Road 500 (the entrance to the South Trailhead) and the Pine Trails start on the far side.

Western stoneseed

Squirrel

Goosefoot violet

One of the non-trail roadbeds to the right along the Pine Trails.

Balsamroot along the Pine Trails.

There had been some fairly recent thinning happening along the Pine Trails.

Chirpping sparrows

Chipmunks

Deer along the Fir Trails.

The Fir Trails crossed the seasonal branch on a small footbridge.

Slender phlox and narrowleaf miner’s-lettuce.

We got a few decent views of Black Butte (post) as we returned along the Larch Trails.

I took this photo of a swallowtail and then later realized there was a second butterfly on the Oregon grape.

Lunch

Bridge over the North Fork Lake Creek.

Bench along Lake Creek near the North Trailhead.

Arriving back at the trailhead.

Our hike here came to 9.5 miles with maybe 150′ of elevation gain. (Blowout Arm was just 0.6 miles with 100′ of elevation gain.)

This turned out to be a great choice to kick off Memorial Day weekend. While there weren’t any big views, we saw less than 10 people at the Preserve which was far fewer than we would have encountered at Peterson Ridge. Between the various creek crossings, a few wildflowers here and there, and some wildlife there was plenty to make the hike enjoyable. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Blowout Arm & Metolius Preserve

Tags Blowout Arm, Blowout Creek, deer, Deschutes Land Trust, Detroit Lake, Fir Trails, hiking, Larch Trails, Metolius Preserve, Middle Fork Lake Creek, North Fork Lake Creek, North Trailhead, Oregon, Pine Trails, South Fork Lake Creek, South Trailhead, Suspension Bridge

Columbia Gorge North Hiking Trip report Washington

Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 05/20/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 22, 2023
No Comments on Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 05/20/2023

For the second week in a row, we turned to a National Wildlife Refuge System as a hiking destination. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service currently manages 568 wildlife refuges throughout the United States with the primary statutory purpose being the conservation of native species. Where and when appropriate the refuges offer access to the public for activities such as photography, wildlife viewing, hunting, fishing, paddling, and of course hiking. We have really come to enjoy our visits the various refuges, so we were looking forward to exploring a new one to us, the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Situated just East of Washougal Washington along the Columbia River, Steigerwald Lake is part of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Complex. In addition to Steigerwald Lake the complex also includes the Franz Lake, Pierce, and Ridgefield refuges. Of those Ridgefield (post) is the only one we’d previously visited. We had hoped to visit this refuge a couple of years ago, but the refuge was undergoing an extensive restoration that kept it closed until May of last year. The refuge hosts roughly 5-miles of crushed gravel trails. Two of the trails, the Mountain View and the Refuge River, are open all year. A third trail, the Wildlife Art Trail, is partially closed October 1st through April 30th. The Refuge River Trail is open to pedestrians, bicycles, jogging, horseback riding, and leashed dogs which is rare for a refuge while the other trails are hiker (pedestrian) only. To use the Refuge River Trail joggers, cyclists, equestrians and leashed dogs enter the refuge from the West via the Captain William Clark Park Trail by either starting at Steamboat Landing or Captain William Clark Park.

Our plan was to start at the refuge trailhead and hike the trails then then take the Captain William Clark Park Trail to Steamboat Landing and back. We opted for this approach because online information showed 7am and 8am as the opening times for Captain William Clark Park and Steamboat Landing respectively while the refuge website reported that it’s gate opened at 5:30am and we’d be arriving shortly after six.
The Mountain View Trail is named so because of the view of Mt. Hood, which on this morning was hiding behind the clouds on the left side of the photo.

Map and information at the trailhead.

We followed the wide gravel trail as it climbed atop a levee separating the wetlands to the east from industrial lands to the West.

View to the East.

Looking West toward Washougal.

We followed the trail atop the levee watching on both sides for wildlife.

Mallards

A duck and a goose sharing a log.

A mallard and an egret in a channel to the West.

Ducks flying over the wetlands casting clear reflections.

Water dripping from a mallards bill.

One of several rabbits we spotted to the West.

Deer across the wetlands. (The young buck may have been sticking his tongue out at us.)

Families of geese.

Wood duck mallard

When the trail split just prior to reaching the Refuge River Trail we stayed left.

Trail sign at the junction with the Refuge River Trail.

We turned left onto the Refuge River Trail following it for 0.3-miles to the Wildlife Art Trail where we again turned left.
Sparrow

Coming in for a landing.

Red Tail Lake to the right of the Wildlife Art Trail.

Pretty sure these are the same three we saw from the Mountain View Trail.

This deer laying along the shore of Red Tail Lake was new though.

Common yellow throat

One of many great blue herons that we watched fly overhead throughout the day.

The Wildlife Art Trail passing around Redtail Lake.

Gibbons Creek is in that grass somewhere with at least one deer.

Killdeer along Redtail Lake.

Turns out the deer laying on the lake shore wasn’t alone.

Roses

Purple martins

Just beyond the Cottonwood Bridge the trail forks. To the right is the seasonal section of the loop open May 1st through September 30th. The left-hand fork dead-ends in a tenth of a mile overlooking the wetlands.

We headed left to the overlook before continuing on the loop.

Egret at Scaup Pond.

Egret with a frog meal.

Mushrooms

We got a kick out of the “Birds Only Beyond This Sign”.

Kingfisher

I had been watching a kingfisher as we arrived at the overlook and after it flew off I turned to my right and thought that there was a bittern standing just a few yards away. Then my eyes adjusted and I realized it was one of the art pieces and I’d been fooled.
We’ve only seen two bitterns on our hikes and both times we only spotted them as they flew off from the grassy cover that they’d been hiding in so I was pretty disappointed when I realized I’d been duped, but kudos to the artist because it looked real at first glance to me.

We returned to the loop and passed through the seasonal gate.

The wetlands were pretty full of water to our left but between the trail and the water was a fair number of bushes and grass which was apparently popular with the deer.

You have something in your teeth.

Spotted towhee

At least two deer in the grass.

Another American goldfinch.

We left the seasonal section of trail near the junction with Refuge River Trail where we again turned left, promptly crossing a creek on Dragonfly Bridge.

Spotted sandpiper

We followed this trail to its end at the refuge boundary.
Oregon sunshine and yarrow

The Columbia River ahead.

Viewpoint along the Columbia River.

Approaching the Lampray Brdige.

Looking back from across the bridge there was a bald eagle in the dead snag along the river.

There were lots of geese along this section of trail.

Red clover in some Oregon sunshine

Another spotted sandpiper

Steigerwald Lake in the distance with a family of geese and crow on a log in the near channel.

End of the trail.

It was about 8:15am when we turned around and it was already feeling fairly warm, but there was relief on the way in the form of some clouds coming in from the Pacific.

Savannah sparrow

Here come the clouds.

Double the eagles.

For the second week in a row we got to watch an American Kestral on the hunt.

Arriving back at the Dragon Fly Bridge and the junction with the Wildlife Art Trail.

We had planned on following the Refuge River Trail all the way to the western end of the refuge but just 500′ beyond the trail junction we rounded a corner to find the trail flooded.

Since neither of us was interested in finding out how deep the water was we turned around and simply took the Wildlife Art Trail back.

Red tailed hawk

Geese nesting atop a snag.

More deer in the grass along Gibbons Creek.

Egret at Redtail Lake.

Great blue heron at Redtail Lake.

We followed the Refuge River Trail back past the junction with the Mountain View Trail and continued West.

Purple martins

When the light catches the feathers right it’s obvious where the purple martin’s name comes from.

Common yellowthroat

House finch

A mile from the Mountain View Trail we arrived at the refuge boundary with Captain William Clark Park.

The trail follows a dike to Steamboat Landing.

The main attraction at Captain William Clark Park is Cottonwood Beach where in 1806 Lewis & Clark established a camp while they secured provisions for the return trip through the Columbia River Gorge. The Provision Camp Trail leads down to the beach and picnic area.

The Provision Camp Trail

While there had been quite a few people on the Captain William Clark Park Trail there were just a few people in this area.

While the beach is extremely popular in the Summer and especially on weekends it became evident why we weren’t seeing folks today when we reached the “beach access”.

Northern flicker

Having the beach be underwater was fine with us, it meant fewer people, but the water level became an issue when the Provision Camp Trail turned back inland toward the dike to complete its loop.
Flooded trail ahead.

With the loop cut off we went back the way we’d come and returned to the dike where we turned left to continue on to Steamboat Landing.
Black headed grosbeak

Osprey

Back on the dike.

At the other end of the Provision Camp Trail was an interpretive display with replica canoes.

The flooded section of trail from above.

It was another mile from the interpretive display to Steamboat Landing. The trail was pretty busy, and we were now in the city, but we were still managing to see a good deal of wildlife.

Turtles!

Another turtle

Common merganser

Great blue heron

Steamboat Landing

At Steamboat Landing we turned down to a viewpoint along a fishing dock.

After a brief break we headed back.
A family of geese out for a float.

While it had clouded up overhead the morning clouds that had blocked any view of Mt. Hood had given way. Unfortunately, there was enough haze in the air to essentially wash the mountain out.
The large “hump” ahead is Larch Mountain (post). Mt. Hood is a little further to Larch’s right.

Grainy proof of Mt. Hood’s existence.

Silver Star Mountain (post) to the North.

We turned left onto the Mountain View Trail and headed back to the trailhead feeling really good about the amount of wildlife we’d seen although I was still a bit bummed about being fooled by the bittern art. As we neared the end of the wetlands that changed as a pair of bitterns got into a dispute over territory. The victor landed along the water below the levee.

The American bittern in the grass.

I had the chance to take way too many pictures as the bittern posed for the people on the levee.

It was an exciting ending to a great wildlife hike. We made our way down to the now nearly full trailhead. Happy Trails!
We’d been the first car in the lot that morning.

Having to retrace our steps a couple of times due to flooded trails put our hike at 12.4 miles for the day with minimal elevation gain.

Full album (Flickr): Steigerwald Lake Wildlife Refuge