Category: Hiking

Mitchell Point, Lyle Cherry Orchard & Sevenmile Hill – 3/27/21

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 29, 2021
1 Comment on Mitchell Point, Lyle Cherry Orchard & Sevenmile Hill – 3/27/21

**Note – In 2025 the Rowena Fire burned over Sevenmile Hill.**

We normally only do one hike a month from November through April but a forecast of sunny skies and highs in the low to mid 60’s combined with a chance to see some early wildflowers was enough to break that rule and head to the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge. The first wildflowers (usually grass widows and/or parsleys) can show up as early as January in areas such as Catherine Creek (post) with things really picking up by late March and running through early June in the upper meadow of Dog Mountain (post). We had previously been to Catherine Creek (along with Coyote Wall), the Tom McCall Preserve (post), Columbia Hills State Park (post), Memaloose Hills (post) and Swale Canyon (post) so for this outing we decided to check out the Lyle Cherry Orchard and Sevenmile Hill.

Before we got to those wildflower hikes we planned a quick stop at the Mitchell Point Trailhead to make the 1.1 mile climb up to the top of the point. We had actually stopped here in 2018 (after our Memaloose Hills hike) to take the Wygant Trail up to a viewpoint. Originally my plan had been to do these three hikes in a different order starting at the Lyle Cherry Orchard and ending with Mitchell Point but after looking at the plan a little more I realized that it had two flaws. First the exit to the Mitchell Point Trail is only accessible from the eastbound lanes of I-84 and there is no westbound access to I-84 from the trailhead either. (I had made this mistake with the outing in 2018 leading to some extra driving.) The second issue had to do with crowds and our never ending attempt to avoid them. Leaving Mitchell Point as the last hike might have meant dealing with some crowds whereas we didn’t expect Sevenmile Hill to be busy. Our plan seemed to be working pretty well as we were the first car at the Mitchell Point Trailhead.

We headed to the left of the signboard to the Mitchell Point Trail which began climbing almost immediately.

The trail switchbacked up a forested hillside with a few blooming toothworts.
Bench at a switchback.

20210327_080649

We then crossed a talus slope beneath Mitchell Point where lots of tiny blue-eyed Mary grew amid the rocks.

Reroute below Mitchell Point

Mushrooms’ and some sedums.

Views to the west along the Columbia River opened up as we climbed.

The trail briefly reentered the forest and climbed to a set of power lines and an accompanying road.

The trail never quite reached the road instead turning east then north as it headed out toward Mitchell Point.

Houndstongue

We followed the trail out onto Mitchell Points Ridge which was dotted with wildflowers including a lot of bright grass widows.

Grass Widows

Woodland stars

Yellow bell lily

Desert parsley and woodland stars

A saxifrage

Gold stars and woodland stars

In addition to the wildflowers the view from Mitchell Point was impressive.
Looking west

North across the Columbia River into Washington

East

In typical Gorge fashion it was a bit windy (a theme that would continue throughout the day) which didn’t seem to bother the birds.
Looks like moss for a nest maybe?

We returned the way we’d come arriving back at the trailhead to find we were still the only people there, but we weren’t alone.

Turkeys on the Wygant Trail

At just over 2 miles round trip the hike to Mitchell Point made for a nice short hike but it comes at a price gaining over a thousand feet on the way up. From this trailhead we continued east to Hood River where we paid the $2 toll to cross the bridge into Washington. We continued east on SR 14 through the town of Lyle then parked at a gravel pullout on the left hand side of the road just beyond a tunnel. This was the unsigned trailhead for the Lyle Cherry Orchard Hike. There were maybe a half dozen or so cars here already which we were pleased with given the large number of cars we already passed by at the Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek Trailheads (and it wasn’t even 8:45 yet). The unsigned trail starts near the eastern end of the parking area and passing along a rock wall through oak trees with lots of poison oak.

Red leaves of poison oak behind a death camas

More poison oak behind a waterleaf

Poison oak around some balsamroot

A short distance up the trail there is a nice map and trails signboard announcing the start of land owned by the Friends of the Columbia Gorge.

From the signboard the trail continues to climb through the rock and oaks to a plateau where the poison oak is briefly left behind.

Fiddleneck

Desert parsley

Manroot

Lots of death camas blooming on the plateau.

We followed the trail as it headed gradually uphill toward a second plateau.

Looking up at the cliffs above.

Balsamroot blooming below the rim.

At a fork in the trail we detoured left for a view of the Columbia River.

20210327_091929

We returned to the main trail which began to climb the hillside below the rim. While it was still a couple of weeks from prime wildflower season here there was a good balsamroot display along with a few other flowers in bloom.
Balsamroot

Woodland stars with some lupine leaves

Columbia desert parsley

A biscuitroot

Balsamroot

20210327_092349 Balsamroot

The trail leveled out again after reaching the rim of the upper plateau where it also reentered an oak woodland.
View west (With a snow capped Mt. Defiance (post) in the distance.)

Amid the oaks were some additional types of flowers.
Larkspur

Buttercups

Glacier lilies

Yellow bell lily, woodland stars, grass widows and shooting stars.

20210327_104840 Yellow bell lilies

Toothwort

Sagebrush false dandelions

Tortoiseshell butterfly

Just under 2.5 miles from the trailhead we came to a junction which is the start of a short loop. We stayed left arriving at an old road bed a short distance later where we turned right and soon entered the site of the old orchard. Nearly all the cherry trees are gone and the few that remain only have a few branches that continue to bloom and we were too early for those.

The trail looped through the now open meadow with views east of the Columbia River.

A short spur trail on the SW part of the loop led to a viewpoint to the west.

Tom McCall Point and the Rowena Plateau with Mt. Defiance in the distance.

After checking out the view we completed the loop and headed back the way we’d come. We had only encountered a couple of other hikers up to this point (we’d seen more from afar) but the return trip was a different story. There was a lot of mask donning and stepping aside on the way back to the trailhead.
Hikers on the trailhead and below.

One bit of excitement on the return trip was spotting a couple of orange-tip butterflies. We rarely see these pretty butterflies and it’s even rarer that I manage to get any kind of picture.
Just my third photo of an orange-tip.

The hike here for us came to 5.5 miles with another 1200′ of elevation gain giving us over 2200′ for the day so far. The parking area was now a full two rows of cars with more arriving (it was between 11:30 & 12:00). We quickly packed up and opened a spot for someone else and once again headed east on SR 14. We re-crossed the Columbia River on Highway 197 into The Dalles and took I-84 west for 5 miles following the Oregon Hikers directions to the Sevenmile Hill Trailhead

We weren’t sure how popular this hike is given that there are no official trails. That question, at least for this time of the year, was answered when we pulled into the empty gravel pullout.

Our plan was to follow the entry in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide (description). The area consists of Forest Service land surrounded by private holdings (note the no trespassing sign across the road in the photo above).
We headed uphill and left, away from the blocked road passing a gravel pit on our left.

We were supposed to reach a knoll with a small windbreak made out of erratics (rocks from the Rocky Mountains deposited by the Missoula Floods). The first knoll we climbed had some erratics but no windbreak.
Mt. Hood and Columbia desert parsley from the first knoll we tried.

Top of knoll #1.

A lone balsamroot blossom.

We weren’t sure if this was the right knoll or not but we did know from the map in the field guide that we should continue uphill and to the left. We kept climbing up the grassy hillside and reached the top of another knoll where we did indeed find a small windbreak.

From the knoll we followed a faint grassy track past a spring to a stand of oak trees.
The path leading past the spring to the oaks.

The spring

There was a fence on the hillside at the oak trees. We got a bit confused here reading the hike description. It reads “Head up gradually to your left, reaching a draw. Walk across the broken fence line here and cross a small bench. Continue hiking up to your left. At some point, you should see the southwest boundary corner of the property and a fence line ahead.” We had not noticed another fence line and this fence was broken here with no signs so we continued on the faint path. That was a mistake and the fence we passed through was the boundary. When we reached a small crest where we could see everything ahead of us there was no other fence in sight.

We quickly turned and began heading uphill to the NE to relocate the fence line and get ourselves on the correct side (Our apologies to whomever that land belongs too).
Back on the right side

Now we were back on course and followed the fence line uphill. While the wildflowers here would have been better from mid to late April there were a few splashes of color here and there.

Balsamroot surrounded by some little white flowers.

Lupine thinking about blooming.

Larkspur

Yellow bell lilies

We deviated from the description as we neared the top of the hill electing not to follow the fence through a stand of oak trees, where the guide indicates there is a profusion of poison oak, opting instead to pass through the oaks lower on the hillside.

We didn’t notice any poison oak here.

On the far side of the oaks we turned almost directly uphill reaching a viewpoint where Mt. Adams rose to the north beyond the Columbia River.

A grass widow at the viewpoint.

Mt. Adams

Mt. Hood over the oak stand.

We turned right along the rim following deer and elk trails through the oaks and past more viewpoints.

From a grassy rise along the ridge we could see a faint path leading into another stand of trees where we could also make out the fence line marking the eastern boundary of the Forest Service Land.

We headed downhill and followed the path to the fence line and then followed it down.
The Dalles beyond the fence line.

Heading down the fence line.

As we lost elevation we began to see quite a few more flowers. It seemed that the flowers at this eastern end were ahead of those to the west.
20210327_143435 Large head clover

A lupine with blossoms.

Hillside covered in Columbia desert parsley

Our car had been joined by one other. (middle left of photo)

Gooseberry Creek

We turned away from the fence on an old farm road following it back to the road near the trailhead by the “No Trespassing” signs.

This loop came in at 4.3 miles according to my GPS and was at least 1250′ of elevation gain which was made more difficult by the cross country terrain. There was little to no level footing for the vast majority of this hike and coming after we had already hiked 7.6 miles and gained 2200′ it really tired us out. That being said it was a great day to be out. One thing to note is that all three hikes are in located in tick country (we were lucky enough not to pick up any) and both Sevenmile Hill and Lyle Cherry Orchard are in rattlesnake country (again didn’t see any). Happy Trails and stay safe out there!

Flickr: Mitchell Point, Lyle Cherry Orchard & Sevenmile Hill

Tags balsamroot, Columbia River Gorge, hiking, Lyle Cherry Orchard, Mitchell Point, Oregon, Sevenmile hill, The Dalles, Washington, wildflowers

Central Coast Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast

Alder Island, God’s Thumb & Roads End – 3/13/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 14, 2021
7 Comments on Alder Island, God’s Thumb & Roads End – 3/13/2021

We were hoping for some nicer weather on the Saturday before the dreaded “Spring forward” which always seems to be the harder of the two time changes to adjust to. In addition to adjusting to the struggle, adjusting to the change springing forward also meant losing an hour of light in the morning when we like to do our hiking. We got our nice weather so we headed out to Lincoln City to explore some of the nearby trails and cross off another of Sullivan’s featured hikes at Roads End Beach. The hike at Roads End (#35 in the 3rd edition “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range) was one nine remaining featured hikes in his third edition which we reverted back to this year due to not knowing when (if) the final featured hike in his 4th edition, the Salmonberry Railroad, will reopen to hikers (post).

The Roads End hike is a roughly 2.8 mile out and back along Roads End Beach at the north end of Lincoln City which gave us an opportunity to add some mileage to our day and check out two other nearby destinations. The first of which was a quick stop at the Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge just south of Lincoln City. With the time change not yet happening we were able to arrive early and start hiking by 6:30am and more importantly drive through Lincoln City without any traffic to speak of.

The refuge offers a single trail, a short lollipop loop (just under a mile) around Alder Island. Canoeing and kayaking is a popular activity here. It was in the mid 30’s as we set off from the small parking area so there were no human paddlers out yet but the frosty temperature didn’t dissuade others.
Mallard pair

Canada geese

Goose and a mallard in the channels.

While the Sun wasn’t quite above the Coast Range great blue herons were already busy working on building a nest in some trees across a channel.

It wasn’t just the bigger birds that were busy. A ruby-crowned kinglet was busy in the brush.

Approximately .2 miles north of the parking area we made a hard right turn crossing over some water to Alder Island and the start of the short loop.
Several interpretive signs were placed along the loop.

A reminder that COVID-19 is still an issue.

The trail passed through stands of alder as it followed a small branch of the Siletz River for .3 miles before reaching a bench facing the main branch of the river. There were a number of ducks a geese in the channel but the highlight came when Heather spotted something heading down to the water on the far side ahead of us. It was a river otter! This had been one of, if not the, most wanted animal sightings on our list of critters we’d yet to see while hiking (or driving to a hike). Unfortunately the otter was too quick and far enough away in the low morning light to get more than a blurry photo of it swimming across the channel.
The larger muddy area along the bank ahead on the right is where Heather spotted the otter.

Alder lined trail.

Blurry photo of a non-breeding male hooded merganser.

The blurry river otter.

Another mallard

Canada geese

Siletz River

The bench might have been a nice place to sit for awhile had it been a little warmer but we needed to keep moving so we continued on the loop which led us back along the main river channel,
Western grebe

Goose and a bufflehead (the duck not the post)

Bufflehead

Spring is coming!

We completed the loop and headed back to the car just as the Sun was cresting the foothills.

We then drove back through Lincoln City (still with very little traffic) and made our way to the parking lot at the Roads End Recreation Site.
Sentry at the Roads End entrance.

We weren’t quite ready to head out along the beach though. Before doing the featured hike we planned on visiting the increasingly popular God’s Thumb. We were hoping that 7:30am was still early enough to avoid the crowds that were sure to show up later in the day. While there are two closer trailheads (The Villages and the Sal La Sea Trailhead), parking at Roads End meant having access to bathrooms and not having to move the car again.

God’s Thumb (arrow) from the Roads End parking Area

We followed the Oregon Hikers Field Guide directions (see link for God’s Thumb above) to make our way up through the neighborhood between Roads End and the Sal La Sea Trailhead.
There weren’t any people but the neighborhood was fairly active.

We passed a single car parked at the trailhead as we continued on by a gate across an old roadbed.

We had walked up some steep hills through the neighborhood and that theme continued on the old road bed for .4 miles before leveling out at a ridge top junction.
It’s hard to tell just how much uphill this is. Fortunately it wasn’t very muddy.

A little easier to see the uphill here, this was near the top.

The junction.

We turned left at the junction following the ridge out to The Knoll, an open space overlooking Lincoln City to the south.

The Roads End parking area is the open green space in the center along the ocean.

The Pacific Ocean.

Roads End Point jutting out to the north.

The Knoll

We returned to the junction and continued straight following the ridge north.

Snow queen

More signs of Spring, salmonberry blossom and buds.

Sitka spruce and ferns along the ridge.

At the far end of the ridge (after approx 1/3 of a mile) we came to another junction with a trail coming up from the trailhead at The Villages.

Here we turned left and began a short descent that looked to be in some doubt due to several large downed trees.
The downed trees ahead in the distance.

As it turned out there was just one tree to duck under while the rest looked to have been recently taken care of.
The last of the tree fall.

The trail then dipped into an open meadow before rising again on the far side.
Mud had begun to be a bit of an annoyance at this point.

After reaching the top of the hill the trail briefly continued north before turning left in a grassy meadow.

Busy woodpecker

The trail getting nearing the turn left.

Lone tree in the meadow.

Lone robin in the lone tree.

From the meadow there was a view of Cascade Head (post) to the north and to God’s Thumb jutting out into the Pacific to the west.

The trail to God’s Thumb crosses a narrow saddle before climbing steeply to the top of the thumb. We were thankful that it hadn’t rained for a few days which eliminated any issues that mud might have made with footing. We were also pleased that we didn’t see any other hikers in the area that we might have to pass on the way there.
Heather crossing the saddle (left of the big bush)

Cascade Head from the saddle.

Final pitch up to the top.

The view of Cascade Head was great from the thumb and we were able to enjoy it by ourselves.
Not quite to ourselves, we shared the space briefly with some chestnut backed chickadees.

Cascade Head and the mouth of the Salmon River.

Roads End Point and Lincoln City

Rocks below God’s Thumb

We did actually see another hiker but he wasn’t coming down the trail to God’s Thumb, he was heading down to the ocean in the cove north of us.

After enjoying the view for a bit we headed back. We finally passed some other hikers just as we started down into the valley before climbing back up to the junction at the ridge end. It was beginning to be a fairly steady stream of hikers as we reached the junction where we forked left to make a loop out of the middle of the hike. The old road bed on this side of the ridge was much muddier than what we’d come up, but we also spotted quite a few yellow violets and a single toothwort along this route.
A reasonable representation of the wet/muddy conditions on this part of the hike.

Toothwort

A mile and a half from the junction we arrived at the very crowded trailhead at The Villages. Here we turned left on a little path which quickly joined another old roadbed.

Less than a half mile later we were passing another gate along Sal La Sea Drive.
The gate and Sal La Sea Drive in the distance.

It’s not a hike at the coast without some skunk cabbage.

At Sal La Sea Drive I suggested turning left as it looked like the road would take us back downhill almost directly to the Roads End Recreation Site but Heather wasn’t sold on that. (She was sure there was a hidden uphill that would be worse than what we were facing to get back to the Sal La Sea Trailhead.) Never one to pass up a climb we turned right and headed up Sal La Sea Drive. It was a little over 3/4 of a mile back to that trailhead (where there were now 9 cars) and somewhere in there Heather realized she had chosen poorly. We then retraced our path from earlier back down to Roads End. Along the way we saw over a half dozen more deer among the houses which we found humorous, in the woods we saw no deer and a bunch of people and in the neighborhood we saw no people and a bunch of deer.

While our plan to avoid people had worked well at Alder Island and for our visits to The Knoll and God’s Thumb there was no chance for privacy along the beach at Roads End. While it was busy it was a nice walk along the beach for almost a mile and a half to Roads End Point where continuing is only possible during low tides.

Coltsfoot

An immature bald eagle flew overhead at one point.

Little waterfall along the beach.

Roads End Point

Not going around that today.

We headed back saying one last goodbye to God’s Thumb and The Knoll before driving back home to Salem.

God’s Thumb on the right.

Hikers on The Knoll

Our mileage for the day was right around ten with a mile coming at Alder Island, two and three quarters at Roads End and the remaining six and a quarter being The Knoll and God’s Thumb. There was 1420′ of elevation gain all of which was during the portion from Roads End to God’s Thumb and back. While we’ve had good weather for all three of our hikes thus far in 2021 this hike was the first to truly feel like Winter is coming to an end. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Alder Island, God’s Thumb & Roads End

Tags beach, cascade head, deer, God's Thumb, hiking, Oregon, pacific ocean, River Otter, Roads End, Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Siletz River, The Knoll, The Villages

Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Trip report

North Fork Nehalem River – 02/20/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 21, 2021
3 Comments on North Fork Nehalem River – 02/20/2021

Like much of the U.S. we’ve had some ugly weather so far in February so when we saw the potential for a “not too wet” window of time we decided to head out for this month’s hike. On our schedule for February was the North Fork Nehalem River in the Coastal Range. This hike came from the Oregon Hikers Field Guide, my favorite online source for ideas. This particular hike utilizes roads instead of trails which was actually a good thing after an unusually destructive ice and snow storm had come through just a week before our hike. We hopped that the combination of the roads and some clearcuts along those roads would mean we wouldn’t have to deal with much if any debris from the storm. As we drove west on Highway 26 from Portland we were amazed at how much damage there was to trees in the Coastal Range. Between the damage we saw and a couple of heavy rain showers we were wondering what we might be getting ourselves into as we turned south onto Highway 53. The rain let up as we wound our way down past more damaged trees to the Nehalem Fish Hatchery. We had planned to stop at the hatchery first for a quick stop to see Umbrella Falls but signs at the hatchery indicated it was closed to visitors due to COVID-19 (the ODFW website for the hatchery didn’t mention the closure). With access to the 1/8 mile path to the falls blocked we had to skip Umbrella Falls for now and we drove the short distance north on Highway 53 to Cole Mountain Road (just north of the bridge over the North Fork Nehalem River) where we turned west (right) and kept right at a fork to reach the North Fork Nehalem Trailhead.
Trailhead on North Fork Road

We parked at a pullout before a gate marking the start of private land owned by McCracken Woodlands LLC and set off on foot.
Informational sign from McMracken Woodlands LLC

After crossing over a small stream we started getting views of the North Fork Nehalem River on our right.
Stream along North Fork Road

North Fork Nehalem River

We were soon passing one of several clearcuts.
Clearcut above North Fork Road

While we are always on the lookout for wildlife we rarely spot anything when we’re specifically looking for something. Today was no exception and after scanning the hillside and coming up empty we started walking again. I turned around to see what the view was like behind us and caught movement 2/3rds of the way up the hill. It was a pair of deer that were well aware of us and making their way in the other direction.
Deer in the clearcut

Deer moving away from us through the clearcut

A mile into the hike we crossed the river on a bridge.
North Fork Road crossing the North Fork Nehalem River

North Fork Nehalem River

Just under a half a mile from the bridge we came to North Fork Falls where some steps led down to a fish ladder.

North Fork Falls

Fish ladder at North Fork Falls

North Fork Nehalem River

After checking out the falls and fish ladder we continued on North Fork Road passing twin seasonal waterfalls, a quarry, and a pond before crossing over Gods Valley Creek near the two and three quarter mile mark of the hike.

Twin seasonal waterfalls along North Fork Road

Pond along North Fork Road

Gods Valley Creek

Just beyond Gods Valley Creek we spotted some old moss covered picnic tables. We’d be interested in the history here as there was also at least one former campsite with an old fire ring in the area as well. Our guess is that before the logging this was some sort of recreation area but we haven’t been able to find any information online about it.
Old picnic tables

Frog Frog near the old picnic tables.

After crossing the creek the road left the North Fork Nehalem as the river bent northward sticking to a straight line to another crossing of the River just before the 3.5 mile mark.
North Fork Road

North Fork Road crossing the North Fork Nehalem River

North Fork Nehalem River

A gate at the far end of this bridge marked the boundary of the private land and the start of the Clatsop State Forest. We followed North Fork Road through the forest another two miles to Fall Creek (just on the far side of another large quarry).
Not much in the way of flowers yet but there was a bit of skunk cabbage in bloom.

Skunk cabbage

North Fork Road Some low hanging trees, presumably from the storm. The roads had been cleared but occasional damage along the side of the road was evident.

North Fork Nehalem River

Snail shell

Old stump amid younger trees There were no recent clearcuts in the Clatsop State Forest section but there was evidence of past logging.

Fall Creek

After crossing Fall Creek the road (which is shown on maps as Hill Road here) turned away from the river and followed Fall Creek. We took a short detour to the right toward the river where a gated suspension bridge led to another fish ladder.
North Fork Nehalem River

Path to a closed suspension bridge over the North Fork Nehalem River Not sure why I neglected to get a picture of the bridge from the locked gate but this is the only one I took of the bridge.

The hike description in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide mentions walking along the bank to get a view of Upper North Fork Falls from the rocks below but that wasn’t going to be an option with the river level today.

After checking out the bridge we returned to the the road and continued uphill along Fall Creek to visit three more waterfalls.
Hill Road along Fall Creek

We came to the first fall after .3 miles, a side stream flowing into Fall Creek. The lack of leaves made it a little easier to see the falls than it would be later in the year.
Waterfall spilling into Fall Creek

I was able to make my way down to Fall Creek below the falls for a closer look. (I did however get slapped in the face a couple of times by the vegetation.)
Waterfall spilling into Fall Creek

Another quarter mile brought us to the final two falls. A stepped fall on Fall Creek and another side stream flowing into Fall Creek.
Falls on Fall Creek

Waterfalls on Fall Creek

Waterfall spilling into Fall Creek

We were pleasantly surprised at how nice these last three waterfalls were, especially the two on the side streams. We were also thankful that we hadn’t had any real precipitation to deal with. We headed back the way we’d come looking for anything we’d missed on our fist pass.
Thick moss on a tree We both thought that this thick moss looked like some sort of hairstyle.

Mushrooms

Rough skinned newt Rough-skinned newt

A brief mist passed over but that was it and we enjoyed some bright blue sky as we finished up our outing.
North Fork Road

The hike came in at a little under twelve and a half miles with just over 500′ of elevation gain. We passed three anglers on the road on the way back and saw two more (their fishing line anyway) down on river. This was a great winter hike and a thoroughly enjoyable outing despite being entirely on roads. It just goes to show that it’s the not the surface but the surroundings that make a good hike. Happy Trails!

Flickr: North Fork Nehalem River

Tags Clatsop State Forest, coast range, Gods Valley Creek, hiking, North Fork Falls, North Fork Nehalem River, Oregon, Oregon Coast Range, Waterfall

Hiking Uncategorized

Central Oregon Cascades

Several years ago we set a goal for ourselves to hike all 500 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” series of guidebooks (post). In 2020 we finished the first of his five guidebooks covering the Central Oregon Cascades. The achievement became bittersweet just 10 days after finishing the final featured hike at Erma Bell Lakes (post) when a freak windstorm caused the Lionshead and Beachie fires to explode burning a number of the trails that we had hiked on our journey to complete this goal. On the one hand we were fortunate enough to see these areas before they burned but it also means being more aware of what was lost, at least for the time being. The 2020 fires were not the first to burn trails that we’d hiked in the area, sometimes after and sometimes before. Fire is part of a forest’s cycle but their time frames take much longer than ours.

For this post we want to recap our journey to complete the 100 featured hikes while sharing a little of what the area looked like as we experienced it but first a little context. The area that Sullivan covers in the Central Cascades book, as well as his books for the other four areas, isn’t exactly easy to define. The vast majority of hikes could be fit into a rectangle starting with the upper left hand corner in Salem and extending east to Highway 97 then south to the junction of highways 97 & 58, then west until intersecting with a line due south from Salem. (The imaginary line follows I5 south until Cottage Grove where the freeway jogs SW.) That is over simplification though as that description overlaps at times with hikes described in the NW & Eastern books and excludes two featured hikes west of I5 and two east of Highway 97. The first snip below generally shows the described rectangle with the hiker symbols representing trailheads where we have started hikes (not limited to the featured hikes being discussed here). The second snip excludes any hikes that are included in one of the other areas that Sullivan covers.

The area is home to a variety of landscapes and ecosystems and contains at least parts of nine designated Wilderness Areas: Opal Creek, Bull of the Woods, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington, Three Sisters, Menagerie , Middle Santiam, Waldo Lake, and Diamond Peak.

The area has been hit by a number of large fires since 2000. The map below covers the same approximate area as the second map above. The colored areas represent fires with yellow being 2000-2005, light orange 2006-10, dark orange 2011-14, and red 15-19.

Not included in the map above are the Green Ridge, Beachie or Lionshead Fires from 2020. The Green Ridge fire did not burn over any of the featured hikes (it did burn part of the Green Ridge Trail) but the Beachie and Lionshead Fires impacted a number of hikes in the Mt. Jefferson, Bull of the Woods and Opal Creek Wilderness and surrounding areas.

The map below includes the Riverside Fire (large fire to the north), Beachie and Lionshead (center left and right which combined after Labor Day) and the Green Ridge Fire (SE).

We were lucky enough to complete many of the hikes prior to them being burned but we also hiked a number post fire and have seen the recovery in process. I’ve done my best to note below if a featured hike has experienced fire since 2000 with the year and name of the fire.

After all of that here are the 100 featured hikes from the 2012 4th edition of “100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades”:

#1 – Ankeny Wildlife Refuge-Hiked 4/6/2014

#2 – Silver Fall-Hiked 2006, 7/30/2010 & 3/29/2018
Middle North Falls

#3 – Shellburg Falls-Hiked 5/23/2011
Burned-2020 Beachie Fire
Shellburg Falls

#4 – Little North Santiam-Hiked 4/5/2012
Burned-2020 Beachie Fire
Snow on the Little North Santaim River

#5 – Henline Falls & Henline Mountain 7/27/2009 & 6/14/2020
Burned-2020 Beachie Fire
Henline Falls

#6 – Opal Creek 7/4/2010, 7/4/2012, 6/21/2014 & 7/24/2019
Burned-2020 Beachie Fire
Jawbone Flats

#7 – Dome Rock and Tumble Lake 7/18/2010
Burned-2020 Beachie Fire
Tumble Lake from Dome Rock

#8 – Battle Ax and Twin Lakes 9/20/2014
Olallie Butte and Mt. Jefferson with Elk Lake below Mt. Jefferson from Battle Ax

#9 – Stahlman Point 5/6/2013
Burned 2020 Beachie Fire
View from Stahlman Point

#10 – Coffin Mountain Lookout 8/2/2013 & 7/4/2016
Coffin Mountain Lookout with the Three Sisters and The Husband beyond

#11 – Three Pyramids 7/18/2020
Meadow along the Pyramids Trail Meadow below the Three Pyramids

#12 – Crescent Mt. 7/6/2014
Beargrass meadow along the Crescent Mountain Trail Beargrass on Crescent Mountain

#13 – Browder Ridge 9/9/2012 & 7/4/2018
Mt. Jefferson from Browder Ridge

#14 – Echo Basin and Fish Lake 6/19/2020
Echo Basin Trail Boardwalk in Echo Basin

#15 – Iron Mt. 7/25/2010 & 7/4/2014
Iron Mountain from the Cone Peak Meadow Iron Mountain from the trail.

#16 – House Rock 11/8/2014

#17 – Rooster Rock 6/12/2016
Rooster Rock from a viewpoint in the Menagerie Wilderness

#18 – Cascadia State Park 6/12/2016
Soda Creek Falls

#19 – Crabtree Lake 9/7/2019

#20 – McDowell Creek Park 2/16/2014
Majestic Falls

#21 – South Breitenbush Gorge 5/11/2013
Burned 2020 Lionshead Fire
Roaring Creek

#22 – Jefferson Park 9/23/2011, 10/13/2014, & 8/8/2015
Burned partly in 2017 Whitewater and rest in 2020 Lionshead Fire
Mt. Jefferson from Jefferson Park Mt. Jefferson

#23 – Pamelia Lake 9/19/2013 & 9/8/2018

#24 – Marion Lake 10/3/2014 & 9/10/2016
Burned 2002 Mt. Marion, 2003 B&B Complex, 2006 Puzzle, 2015 208SRZ Marion
Three Fingered Jack from Marion Lake

#25 – Duffy Lake 7/28/2010
Burned 2002 Mt. Marion, 2003 B&B Complex
Mowich Lake and Duffy Butte from Red Butte

#26 – Three Fingered Jack 10/13/2012
Burned 2003 B&B Complex

#27 – Canyon Creek Meadows 7/28/2013
Burned 2003 B&B Complex
The trail ahead Three Fingered Jack

#28 – Carl Lake 9/1/2018
Burned 2003, B&B Complex, 2006 Puzzle

#29 – Metolius River 7/23/2012
Wizard Falls

#30 – Black Butte 10/13/2013 & 5/28/2018
Burned 2009 Black Butte II
Cupola style lookout on Black Butte

#31 – Alder Springs 8/3/2011
Deschutes River

#32 – Scout Camp Trail 5/1/2016
Balsamroot hillside

#33 – Steelhead Falls 5/1/2016

#34 – Smith Rock 7/14/2006, 7/13/2011 & 6/5/2015
Monkey Face

#35 – Shevlin Park 8/5/2011
Hixson Crossing Covered Bridge

#36 – Tumalo Falls 9/27/2014

#37 – Dillon & Benham Falls 8/1/2013
Benham Falls

#38 – Lava Cast Forest and Lava River Cave 5/28/2017
Newberry Crater from the Lava Cast Forest

#39 – Fall River 9/16/2015

#40 – LaPine State Park 9/16/2015
Deschutes River

#41 – Poxy Falls and Linton Lake 5/3/2014(Proxy Falls) & 7/01/2017(Linton Lake)
Burned (Linton Falls) 2017 Separation Fire
Proxy Falls

#42 – Obsidian Trail 10/14/2012
Burned (tiny portion of trail) 2017 Separation Fire
Obsidian Falls

#43 – Four-in-one-Cone 10/14/2012 & 8/14/2019
View from Four-in-one Cone View from Four-in-One-Cone

#44 – Benson Lake 10/14/2012 & 8/30/2014
Burned (small section of longer loop trail) 2010 Scott Mt. Fire

#45 – Hand Lake Shelter 8/30/2014

#46 – Little Belknap Crater 9/14/2015
Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, and Mt. Jefferson from Little Belknap Crater

#47 – Matthieu Lakes 7/29/2013
Burned 2017 Milli Fire
North Sister from South Matthieu Lake

#48 – Black Crater 10/1/2016
Burned 2017 Milli Fire
Remanants of the lookout tower on Black Crater Former lookout site on Black Crater.

#49 – Chambers Lakes 8/26/2014
Burned 2012 Pole Creek Fire
South Sister from Camp Lake

#50 – Park Meadow 8/27/2014
Burned 2012 Pole Creek Fire
Middle and North Sister beyond Golden Lake Middle and North Sister from Golden Lake

#51 – Tam McArthur Rim 8/31/2013
Broken Top and Broken Hand from Tam McArthur Ridge

#52 – Tumalo Mt. 9/27/2014
Trees near the summit of Tumalo Mountain.

#53 – Todd Lake and Broken Top 8/23/2014
Broken Top from No Name Lake

#54 – Sparks Lake 10/1/2014
South Sister from Sparks Lake

#55 – Green Lakes via Fall Creek 9/15/2015
The third Green Lake

#56 – Moraine Lake and South Sister 9/1/2013
View from the South Sister Looking north from the South Sister.

#57 – Sisters Mirror Lake 9/19/2015
South Sister from Sisters Mirror Lake

#58 – Horse Lake 8/4/2011
Horse Lake

#59 – Doris & Cliff Lakes 9/29/2014
Doris Lake

#60 – Clear Lake 6/15/2014

#61 – Sahalie & Koosah Falls 9/9/2012
Sahalie Falls

#62 – Tamolitch Pool 5/27/2013

#63 – Rainbow Falls and Separation Lake 5/3/2014
Separation Lake

#64 – Horsepasture Mt. 7/7/2018
South Sister and Mt. Bachelor form Horsepasture Mountain.

#65 – Olallie Mt. 9/1/2019
Burned 2017 Olallie Lookout Fire (Lookout burned down winter 2019/20).
Olallie Mountain lookout

#66 – Lowder Mt. 9/1/2019
View from Lowder Mountain.

#67 – Tidbits Mt. 6/29/2019
View from Tidbits Mountain.

#68 – Castle Rock 6/3/2017
Monkeyflower and pletritis Monkeyflower and plectritis on Castle Rock.

#69 – French Pete Creek 5/16/2015
Burned 2017 Rebel and 2018 Terwilliger Fires

#70 – Erma Bell Lakes 8/29/2020
Middle Erma Bell Lake

#71 – Spencer Butte 2/9/2020
View from Spencer Butte Fog over Eugene.

#72 – Mt. Pisgah 10/5/2019
Summit of Mt. Pisgah Summit marker on Mt. Pisgah.

#73 – Shotgun Creek 2/9/2020

#74 – Fall Creek 3/31/2013
Burned 2003 Clark and 2017 Jones Fires

#75 – Mt. June 6/2/2013
Sawtooth Trail

#76 – Goodman Creek 11/10/2013
Small Falls on a branch of Goodman Creek

#77 – Patterson Mt. 5/5/2018
Lone Wolf Meadow

#78 – Tire Mt. 6/8/2014
Wildflowers along the Tire Mountain Trail Wildflowers along the Tire Mt. Trail.

#79 – North Fork and Buffalo Rock 5/10/2020
Buaffalo Rock from the North Fork Willamette River Buffalo Rock from the North Fork Willamette River

#80 – Grasshopper Meadow 7/15/2017

#81 – Blair Lake and Wall Creek 6/11/2015
Beargrass meadow along the Blair Lake Trail.

#82 – Chuckle Springs 5/24/2020
Burned 2009 Tumblebug Complex
Indigo Springs (These springs have not burned.)

#83 – Spirt, Moon, and Pinard Falls 6/17/2020
Moon Falls

#84 – Brice Creek 5/5/2014
Upper Trestle Creek Falls

#85 – Bohemia Mt. 8/15/2020
Bohemia Mountain

#86 – Eddeeleo Lakes 8/25/2018
Lower Eddeeleo Lake

#87 – Waldo Mt. 9/7/2013
Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, The Three Sisters and Broken Top from Waldo Mountain View from the Waldo Mountain Lookout.

#88 – Lillian Falls 8/30/2019

#89 – Fuji Mt. 10/6/2013
View from Fuji Mountain

#90 – South Waldo Lake 8/22/2015

#91 – The Twins 9/14/2019
View north from the south summit of The Twins

#92 – Rosary Lakes and Maiden Peak 9/3/2016
Pulpit Rock from Middle Rosary Lake

#93 – Salt Creek Falls 7/4/2013

#94 – Midnight & Yoran Lakes 10/18/2014
Yoran Lake

#95 – Diamond View Lake 8/22/2020
Diamond Peak from Diamond View Lake

#96 – Fawn Lake 9/22/2018
Huckleberry Bushes along Saddle Lake.

#97 – Divide Lake 8/24/2020
Notch Lake

#98 – Blue and Corrigan Lakes 8/23/2020
Diamond Peak from Corrigan Lake

#99 – Marie Lake and Diamond Peak 8/23/2020
Climbers trail to Diamond Peak Diamond Peak

#100 – Timpanogas Lake 9/17/2016
Sawtooth Mountain from Timpanogas Lake

In addition to the 100 featured hikes we’ve manged to add other hikes from Sullivan’s additional hikes located in the back of his book. In doing so we have also completed all 100 featured hikes in the 3rd edition and are just 2 hikes short of completing the 5th edition as well. There were 14 hikes from the 3rd edition that were not featured hikes in the 4th edition while the 5th edition contains 12 new featured hikes from the 4th edition (Three of these had been featured hikes in the 3rd edition.) Even with all of the hikes we’ve done, and the areas lost to fire in 2020 there are a number of trails in the Central Cascades we have yet to explore. We will continue to work those into our plans as we strive to explore as many different places as possible while we can.

Happy Trails!

Scout Lake and Mt. Jefferson

Tags Bull of the Woods Wilderness, Central Cascades, Diamond Peak Wilderness, hiking, Menagerie Wilderness, Middle Santiam Wilderness, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Mt. Washington Wilderness, opal creek wilderness, Oregon, Three Sisters Wilderness, waldo lake wilderness, William L Sullivan

Coastal Range Hiking Oregon

Banks-Vernonia State Trail – Buxton Trestle to Tophill Trailhead – 01/16/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 18, 2021
2 Comments on Banks-Vernonia State Trail – Buxton Trestle to Tophill Trailhead – 01/16/2021

We kicked off our 2021 hiking year by revisiting the Banks-Vernonia State Trail. We had run the entire trail in April 2014 as part of an ill fated marathon and I had hiked a short section between the Buxton Trestle and Manning Trailhead in April 2016 while Heather ran a half-marathon (post). We had used the marathon as our “hike” to check off hike #23 in Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range”4th edition, but the Banks-Vernonia Trail was only part of a longer lollipop loop through L.L. Stub Stewart State Park that he describes. With this visit we planned on doing the rest of his described hike as well as continuing on to the Tophill Trailhead where we plan to someday start another section hike of the trail.

We began our hike at the Buxton Trailhead where I had started my 2016 hike as well.

From the far end of the parking lot we took a path down to Mendenhall Creek below the Buxton Trestle.

The path then took us up to the Banks-Vernonia State Trail where we turned right and crossed the trestle.

We followed the paved former railroad north approximately 3/4 of a mile into L.L. Stub Stewart State Park.
Leaving the Buxton Trailhead area.

Entering Stub Stewart State Park.

We continued through the park for another mile and a half passing two marked trails to the right before arriving at a third just north of Williams Creek

This trail was just north of Logging Creek and appeared to just loop back to the Banks-Vernonia Trail a bit further north.

The Caddywhomper Way(s) Trail was signed better. We skipped the viewpoint given the amount of fog/clouds and not wanting to add another 2 miles to the days total. The Oregonhikers field guide also mentions that there isn’t much of a view left due to the presence of trees.

Trail junction just north of Williams Creek

This was our first wrong turn of 2021 although it may have been correct back in 2016 when our guidebook was released. The map in the book showed a single trail splitting off to the right just beyond the creek so we turned down what turned out to be the Shoofly Trail.

After .2 miles we arrived at a signboard with a map (it would have been more helpful up at the junction).

It was here that we realized that it was the wrong trail and that the Hares Canyon Trail was just a tenth of a mile further north.

Since we were already down there we checked out Williams Creek stopping before the bridge which was clearly marked “no hikers”.

I say that it may have been the correct trail at one point because Sullivan’s description says that “after 100 feet a spur down to the right dead ends at the creek bank” and there was a closed fork up to the left that may have at one time been part of the Hares Canyon Trail. It wasn’t now though so back up we went to the Banks-Vernonia Trail where we continued north the the signed Hares Canyon Trail.

A barricade next to the trail had signs for active logging that was occurring Monday – Friday closing the trail on those days.

We headed up this trail through the forest where we ran into a pair of rough skinned newts.

We passed a signed junction with the Brookecreek Trail and then arrived at a new logging road three quarters of a mile from the Banks-Vernonia Trail.

There were no indications of where the Hares Canyon Trail went so we used the map to decide that it must be somewhere to our right and we followed the logging road a short distance before spotting an obvious trail splitting off of it.

The trail passed through a thinned forest before popping out on another logging road.

We stayed right on the road at junctions and dropped to another barricade at the Widowmaker Way Trail.

Sign for the Widowmaker Way and Harse Canyon Trails.

Passing through the logging operation was a bit depressing to be honest. We’ve been on several trails in the last year that have passed through active or recently logged areas and combined with the trails that we’ve lost to wildfires in the last few years and other trails that are being lost to lack of funding for maintenance it’s a bit of a bummer. Ironically this is all at a time when more people then ever are heading out to the trails overloading the most popular and causing issues with litter and human waste. Enough of the doom and gloom though and back to the hike.

The Hares Canyon Trail followed a roadbed of indeterminate age through a disc golf course arriving at a signboard in a mile marking the northern end of the Mountain Bike Area at North Caddywhomper Way.

No flowers yet but plenty of mushrooms and fungi.

The trails were well signed so it was easy to stay on the Hares Canyon Trail.

Comming up on North Caddywhomper Way

We turned left here following pointers for the Hares Canyon Trail until it crossed a service road (3/4 of a mile from the signboard).

At a junction on the far side of the service road we veered left following the Unfit Settlement View Trail and pointers for the Skycar View and Boomscooter Trail.

Wet webs in the trees.

We took a detour to the Skycar View despite the fog since it was only 150 yards away.

We returned to the Unfit Settlement View Trail and followed it downhill to a junction with the Boomscooter Trail where we turned right.

The Boomscooter Trail descended past Boomscooter Pond and ended in three quarters of a mile at the Banks-Vernonia State Trail.

Chatty squirrel

Sullivan’s description would have had us turn left here and return to the Buxton Trailhead but we turned right instead in order to visit the Tophill Trailhead. There were two reasons for this, one was that if we did do more sections of the trail in the future we didn’t want to have a non-hiked gap in between our section hikes, don’t know why but we prefer them to connect. The second reason was that the Tophill Trailhead had been the halfway point of the 2014 marathon which was also the point at which the train went off the tracks. The section of trail just beyond that trailhead was the only significant uphill of the whole route and we had thought walking it would keep it from doing too much damage, but we hadn’t planned on it being 20 plus degrees warmer that day than it had been during any of our training runs. None of us recovered after the hill and the remainder of the race included a lot of walking and cramping. We were both interested in revisiting that hill and seeing if it really was a bad as it had seemed that day.

It was about 2 miles to the Tophill Trailhead where we walked to Highway 26 then turned around and headed up the hill.
Passing over Highway 47 on the way to the Tophill Trailhead.

Orange jelly fungus on a tree.

Heading up from the hill from the less steep south side.

Highway 47 at the Tophill Trailhead.

The climb back up the couple of switchbacks was underwhelming. It made us work but it also reinforced that it wasn’t the hill that had done us in that day, it had been the heat. We followed the Banks-Vernonia Trail back to the Buxton Trailhead passing back through L.L. Stub Stewart State Park along the way. The trail was fairly busy by the afternoon with joggers, hikers, bikers, and a couple of equestrians enjoying the dry day (with a bonus sighting of blue skies).
Chestnut-backed chickadee

Pond along the trail.

Entrance road to Stub Stewart.

Back at the Buxton Trailhead

Bench at the Buxton Trailhead

We had expected the hike to be around 13 miles but our GPS (and time) put it at 15.5 miles. Although not the most exciting or dramatic hike there was a nice variety of sights and the trails (except for the area being logged) were in great to good shape. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Banks-Vernonia State Trail – Buxton to Tophill TH

Tags banks-vernonia state trail, Boomscooter Ponds, Boomscooter Trail, buxton trailhead, buxton trestle, Chestnut-backed chickadee, Harse Canyon Trail, hiking, Hilltop Trailhead, L.L. Stub Stewart State Park, Oregon, Shoofly Trail, Skycar View, Unfit Settlement Trail

Hiking Uncategorized

Progress Report – 500 “Featured Hikes” – January, 2021 Update

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 10, 2021
9 Comments on Progress Report – 500 “Featured Hikes” – January, 2021 Update

In 2019 we posted about our goal to complete 500 “featured” hikes from William L. Sullivan’s “100 hikes” guidebook series. In 2020 we managed to complete the first of the books when we visited the Erma Bells Lakes (post) at the end of August. Ironically COVID-19, which caused so many issues for everyone this past year, was a big reason we were able to complete the Central Oregon Cascades book. Our original June vacation had already needed to be changed due to February flooding in the Blue Mountains but COVID kept us from taking a trip somewhere further away so we stayed home to do hikes closer by. In the end we wound up completing the 13 featured hikes that we had left from that book.

In all we were able to check off 37 featured hikes which included the 13 from the Central Cascades, 8 from NW Oregon, 7 from Eastern Oregon, and 9 from Southern Oregon. The one book that we didn’t make any headway with was the Oregon Coast. We did however visit Spruce Run and Lost Lake (post) which were two of the three hike options for the Lakes of the Coast Range (hike #12 4th edition).

Here is where we now stand at the end of 2020, having been on 401 of the 500 featured hikes:

100/100 – “100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades” 4th Edition 2012

95/100 – “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range” 4th Edition 2016

94/100 – “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” 4th Edition 2018

60/100 – “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” 3rd Edition 2015

52/100 – “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” 4th Edition 2017

The Salmonberry Railroad Trail in the Coast Range continues to be closed which has caused us to rethink using Sullivan’s 4th edition of the coastal book and reverting to the 3rd edition. In that case we would only have completed 91 of the featured hikes but at least all 9 of those hikes are open and we actually have them all scheduled for the upcoming year.

In addition to possibly finishing one of the Oregon Coast books in 2021 the remaining hikes in the NW book are on the schedule for 2021 as well. We did push completion of the Southern book back a year to 2024 due to cancelling a September backpacking trip in the Sky Lakes Wilderness due to the massive wildfires in Oregon and California that month. The Eastern Oregon book is still on track to be completed by the end of 2025.

When I wrote in last year’s post “I’m sure there will be some twists and turns along the way, but eventually we hope to reach our goal.” I had no idea what 2020 had in store. We will continue to be flexible with our plans and make the most of the opportunities as they present themselves. Happy Trails!

Tags hiking, Oregon, William L Sullivan

Hiking Year-end wrap up

The Hikes of 2020 – A Look Back

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 2, 2021
3 Comments on The Hikes of 2020 – A Look Back

Well 2020 is officially over and I think nearly everyone is glad to see it go. It was a rough year for so many between COVID-19 costing lives and jobs and wildfires claiming homes and businesses. We were fortunate in that we were able to keep working throughout the year, stayed healthy, and were just slightly inconvenienced by the fires that impacted so many after Labor Day. The most traumatic event that we personally experienced was the loss of our eldest cat, Buddy (post) in January.

With all that going on during the year, hiking became a way to try and escape and yet it seemed nearly impossible not to feel the cloud that was 2020 hanging over everything. It certainly made for a “different” year of hiking. I made more changes to our planned hikes in 2020 than in any previous year. It wasn’t just COVID and fires that triggered changes either, flooding in the Blue Mountains east of Pendleton in February damaged Forest Service Roads and trails forcing us to cancel a planned June trip. We originally had 58 days of hiking planned (as of January 1, 2020) but we cancelled a September backpacking trip in the Sky Lakes Wilderness due to heavy wildfire smoke which left us ending the year with 52 days of hiking. Of those only 19 days consisted of hikes that were on the list on January 1, and just 9 wound up happening on the day originally scheduled (an additional two happened within a day of the original plan).

During those 52 days we spent 10 nights backpacking, stopped at 70 trails/trailheads, and 3 roadside waterfalls.
2020 hikes Hiker symbol = Trails/trailheads, yellow houses = campsites, purple binoculars = roadside waterfalls

This year saw no repeated hikes and just 18 days where we were on the same part of a trail that we had hiked in a previous year, roughly 34.5 out of the 586.7 miles that hiked. That meant a lot of new trails and sights for us. Two of the hikes, Gearhart Mountain (post), and Boulder Creek (post) were in wilderness areas that we had yet to make it to.
Gearhart Mountain Wilderness Gearhart Mountain

Boulder Creek

Here are just a few highlights from the places we visited over the year. (* denotes at least some of the area burned in a 2020 fire.)

January
Cobblestones along the beach at Cape Lookout State Park Netarts Spit

February
View from Spencer Butte Spencer Butte

Shotgun Creek

Horse Rock Ridge Trail Horse Rock Ridge

March
Morning at Miller Woods Miller Woods

Trappist Abbey

April
Camas Bush Pasture Park

May
Baskett Butte Basket Slough Wildlife Refuge

North Fork Willamette River

Little Luckiamute River

Old growth at Valley of the Giants Valley of the Giants

Indigo Springs

Rigdon Meadows

Pigeon Butte Trailhead Pigeon Butte

June
East Fork South Fork McKenzie River

Sullivan Creek Falls*

Henline Falls*

Bull-of-the Woods and Whetstone Mountain from the lookout site Henline Mountain*

Spirit Falls

Pinard Falls

Moon Falls

Memaloose Lake*

Echo Basin Trail Echo Basin

Hall House Fish Lake

View from the Green Ridge Trail Green Ridge*

High Ridge Trail Table Rock Wilderness* (The Riverside fire burned at least the access road and may have encroached into the SW portion of the wilderness.)

Mt. Adams from the Monte Carlo Trail Monte Carlo Trail

July
Hunchback Trail Hunchback Mountain

Meadow along the Pyramids Trail Meadow below the Three Pyramids

North Pyramid from Daly Lake Daly Lake

View from Winter Ridge Winter Ridge

Light Peak from Fence Pass Fence Pass

Beatys Butte from Flook Lake Flook Lake

Barnhardy Road Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge

Petroglyphs around Petroglyph Lake Petroglyphs along Petroglyph Lake

Waterfall on DeGarmo Creek DeGarmo Canyon

The Palisades in the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness (This was probably our favorite area of the year amid these rock formations.)

August
View from Sleeping Beauty Sleeping Beauty

Red Butte and Mt. Adams from the Highline Trail Highline Trail

Cottonwood Creek Falls (This was probably the sketchiest hike we’ve done.)

Mt. Thielsen* (The Thielsen Creek fire burned a small part of the trails in the area.)

The old Bohemia Post Office Bohemia Post Office

Diamond Peak from Diamond View Lake Diamond View Lake

Climbers trail to Diamond Peak Diamond Peak (The sketchiest hike we didn’t do.)

Diamond Peak from Karen Lake at sunset Karen Lake

Middle Erma Bell Lake

September
Mt. Bailey from the Dellenback Trail Diamond Lake

Rattlesnake Mountain from the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Trail Rattlesnake Mountain

View from the Spruce Run Creek Trail Spruce Run Creek Trail

October
Deep Lake Trail Indian Heaven Wilderness

Deschutes River with Grizzly Mountain in the distance Wildcat Canyon

National Creek Falls

Takelma Gorge

Hershberger Mountian Lookout Hershberger Mountain

Rabbit Ears

Rogue River at Natural Bridge Natural Bridge

Old lookout tower on Abbott Butte Abbott Butte Lookout

Wild Cherry Trail Forest Park

Upper Latourell Falls

Larch Mountain from Multnomah Basin Larch Mountain

November
McKenzie River

December
Sun rays through the trees Yachats

Not all of the trails were in the greatest of shape, an issue that is unfortunately becoming more common as the agencies that manage them often lack the funding to maintain them.
Blowdown over the Swordfern Trail Swordfern Trail

East Fork Trail under blowdown East Fork Trail

Blowdown over the Riggs Lake Trail Riggs Lake Trail

Hackleman Old Growth Trail Hackleman Old Growth Loop

Howlock Mountain Trail

Shale Ridge Trail continuing on the far side of the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River Shale Ridge Trail

Acker Divide Trail covered by blowdown Acker Divide Trail

Union Creek Trail (it is straight ahead, really) Union Creek Trail

While we haven’t run out of new trails and areas to explore we are finding it harder to see wildflowers and wildlife that we haven’t already seen at some point but there always seems to be some. We spotted a bobcat for the first time (from the car) on our way to Winter Ridge (post). Lake Abert and Summer Lake hosted a few species of birds that we hadn’t run across before. (post) We plan on posting wildflower and wildlife galleries soon but for now here are those that were new to us this year.
Castilleja levisecta - Golden Paintbrush Castilleja levisecta – Golden Paintbrush at Basket Slough Wildlife Refuge (post)

Musk Thistle at Winter Ridge (Unfortunately it’s an invasive but they were impressive.)

Pandora moth catapiller Pandora moth caterpillar at Green Ridge (post)

Horned Lark at Flook Lake (post)

Gulls and American avocets at Lake Abert

Various birds including a white faced ibis and a black necked stilt Black necked stilt at Summer Lake

Frog under Heather's daypack Possibly a coastal tailed frog at Wiley Camp in the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness (post)

The most interesting thing that happened this year though was stumbling on a human mandible. It was a little unsettling but it was clearly fairly old. We left it alone and marked the coordinates the GPS and reported it to the agency in charge of the land. The agency was nice enough to keep us in the loop when archeologists were called in to confirm that it was Native American at which point they contacted the appropriate Tribe(s) so that they could decide what to do with it. We were asked no to share the location for obvious reasons. It was very interesting getting to see how that process worked.

We also hit a couple of milestones this year, our last hike at Yachats (post) was our 500th day of hiking and we reached our long term goal of hiking all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Central Oregon Cascades” (4th edition). We will talk a little more about that in a progress report on our goal to finish the 100 featured hikes in all five of his guide books covered areas.

Despite all its troubles 2020 will at least be memorable. Here is to a better 2021 with more new trail, new discoveries, and hopefully some happier stories. Happy Trails!

Tags backpacking, Boulder Creek Wilderness, Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, hiking, indian heaven wilderness, Mt. Adams, mt. thielsen, Oregon, Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Central Coast Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Yachats – 12/05/2020

We ended our 2020 hiking year by hiking a section of the Oregon Coast Trail from Yachats to Waldport (and back). Our final outing of the year also marked the 500th day with a hike since an ill prepared jaunt at Silver Falls State Park in 2006 gave us the hiking bug (post). I was extra excited for this outing having just received a replacement for our camera and looking forward to trying it out.

We started our hike at Smelt Sands State Recreation Site where the 804 Trail doubles as the Oregon Coast Trail route.

We headed north on the trail which passed between the rocky shore of the Pacific Ocean and several hotels.

Looking back south as the sunrise paints the clouds.

A house on the cliffs.

After three quarters of a mile, and crossing the private driveway of the house pictured above, the trail descends to a 6.3 mile stretch of beach between Yachats and the mouth of the Alsea River at Waldport.

It was a beautiful morning, chilly but not too cold. A slight chance of rain was in the forecast after 10am but that bank of clouds looked far off on the horizon as we struck off on the sand.

Seagulls outnumbered people in the early part of the day.

We arrived at Starr Creek shortly after descending to the beach.

One of the trickiest parts of beach hiking can be trying to judge the depth of the various creek crossings using satellite maps. This section of beach contained several named creeks so we had come prepared for barefoot fording if necessary. Starr Creek was narrow enough though that we were able to hop across with the assistance of our hiking poles.

Continuing north we passed some banded cliffs where the ocean had created a small arch.

Beyond these cliffs the beach widened and we strolled along the hard packed sand looking for wildlife (both alive and not so much).

Vinge Creek, about a mile down the beach, was crossable on small rocks.

Geese flying overhead, we couldn’t make out what kind.

At first we thought there were two weather vanes on the houses, a whale on the right and a heron on the left.

It turned out to be a real great blue heron (but the whale was a vane).

Looking south toward Cape Perpetua (post)

View north.

Sunlight on the wave tops.

Sunlight bursting through the trees.

At Reynolds Creek (approximately 3 miles down the beach) we finally had to remove our shoes and socks for an ankle deep ford.

Wavy sand.

One of the most interesting sights came about 4.75 miles up the beach when we passed the “Big Stump“. The remains of an ancient redwood. The origins of the tree are unknown, it may have been part of an ancient redwood forest that was once present here or a transplant brought by the Pacific.

A mile beyond Big Stump brought us to a short section of grassy dunes at Governor Patterson Memorial State Recreation Site.

Cape Perpetua from the dunes.

Not far beyond Governor Patterson we spotted the Alsea Bay Bridge spanning the Alsea River.

Testing the 40 zoom feature on the Canon SX740HS.

We made our way to a driftwood log near the mouth of the Alsea and took a seat.
Heading for the log.

View from the log.

More testing of the zoom function. Seagulls on the near sandbar and seals on the one on the other side of the bridge.

It was a little after 10:15am when we started back. The bank of clouds offshore came creeping in as we made our way back to Yachats but rain never materialized. We spent much of our return trip watching seals and a few birds bob along in the surf. We also decided not to worry about letting our shoes get wet so we just went straight through the creeks on the way back and may have let the ocean get us once or twice too for good measure.
Looking at the dark cloud bank over the Pacific.

Seal

A little more cloud cover to the south over Cape Perpetua.

Seagull shaking it off.

More cloud action.

Cormorant

Reynolds Creek after fording.

Finally starting to feel like it could start raining soon.

The advancing line of clouds.

Another look at the arch.

A kingfisher near the stairs up from the beach.

December blossoms on salal along the 804 Trail.

The tide was further in as we passed the rocky shoreline on the 804 Trail creating some dramatic wave crashes.

If not for our bladders we could have sat on one of the many benches along the 804 and watched the waves crashing into the rocks for hours but the restrooms at Smelt Sands beckoned. The weather had held up nicely and the hike was an entertaining one with just enough wildlife and sights not to be a tedious beach walk. It also helped that the sand was packed well and we never felt like we were having to work hard walking over it. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Yachats

Tags 804 Trail, Alsea Bay, Big Stump. Smelt Sands, Governor Patterson Memorial, Heron, hiking, Kinfisher, Oregon, oregon coast trail, pacific ocean, Reynolds Creek, Vinge Creek, Waldport, Waves, Yachats

Hiking McKenzie River Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

McKenzie River Trail (Blue Pool TH south to NF-610) – 11/21/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 22, 2020
4 Comments on McKenzie River Trail (Blue Pool TH south to NF-610) – 11/21/2020

**Note a portion of the trail north of Deer Creek burned in the 2021 Knoll Fire.**

A combination of a day off, a favorable forecast and a need to drive to Bend to pick up some Christmas items provided the perfect excuse to check out a section of the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail. This would be our third hike on this 26.4 mile long trail, all on different sections (Tamolitch Pool and Clear Lake).

We started our hike at the popular Tamolitch Blue Pool Trailhead where we had also started our hike to the Blue Pool.

This time though we headed south (left) on the McKenzie River Trail away from the Blue Pool and the crowds that would surely be arriving later in the day (we were the 2nd car at the TH on this morning).

The Sun wasn’t quite up yet, and it was still under 30 degrees, as we set off on the trail.

The trail climbed a forested hillside and crossed a forest road above Trail Bridge Reservoir (2 miles from the TH).

Forest road crossing.

The trail then descended to Forest Road 730 and a crossing of Smith River which feeds into the reservoir.

Another brief climb followed before dropping down to the Trail Bridge Dam.

The top of Three Fingered Jack is visible in the distance.

We continued on the trail which now began to follow the McKenzie River more closely.

Fall means mushrooms.

There were a couple of opportunities to get down to the river bank which we took advantage of and just over a mile and a half from the dam we stopped to admire Olallie Creek joining the river.

Anderson Creek joining the McKenzie.

Olallie Creek across from the trail.

A half mile beyond Olallie Creek the river split leaving a large forested island briefly in its center.

Beyond the island the trail passed some rocky cliffs where icicles dripped before dropping to a crossing of Deer Creek at the 5.5 mile mark of our hike.

Turning up Deer Creek to reach the footbridge.

Shortly after crossing the creek the trail arrived at Deer Creek Road (NF 782) where there is parking for the trail and Deer Creek (aka Bigelow) Hot Springs. We knew the hot springs were somewhere along our route but we didn’t know for sure where until we got home after the hike. There was no sign for the small hot spring that sits along the river bank but we did see an obvious trail heading south down to the river here. Not knowing that the hot springs were down there we visited the bridge over the McKenzie and then continued on the McKenzie River Trail.
Up river from Deer Creek Road.

Deer Creek Hot Springs would be somewhere along the right hand side of the river.

The trail briefly climbed above the river before switchbacking down and arriving at Frissel Creek just over a mile from Deer Creek Road.

We had to go around this bridge due to frost and it being at an angle.

Footbridge over Frissel Creek.

We had planned to turn around between 10 and 10:30 at either the hot springs or Forest Road 610 which the trail briefly follows. Since we didn’t realize we’d passed the hot springs we wound up making FR 610 the turnaround which was approximately three quarters of a mile beyond Frissel Creek. We arrived at the road just after 10:30.
Sun over the McKenzie River

FR 610

We turned around at the road and headed back keeping our eyes open for any sign of the hot springs and any other things we missed on the first pass. We still didn’t realize that the hot springs were where they were but we did spot a lot more mushrooms and the tops of the Middle and North Sister on the way back.

We missed this sign for slough creek the first time by.

Missed this survey marker too.

We also completely missed this sign at Deer Creek.

Still cold

Without the use of the zoom on the camera they are hard to make out but the tops of the North and Middle Sister are visible over the hills.

The Garmin showed 14.6 miles for this out and back (Google maps had indicated it would be 13.4 miles) and there was between 800 and 1000′ of cumulative elevation gain. What climbs there were weren’t ever steep and didn’t last long. We encountered a half dozen other trail users but when we arrived back at the trailhead it was full and cars were stretched all they way down the road with people heading for the Blue Pool. It has become one of “those” hikes and is getting loved to death. After changing we drove to Bend for a quick visit with Heather’s parents and then headed back over the pass to Salem. Happy Trails!

Flickr: McKenzie River Trail

Tags Bigelow Hot Springs, Blue Pool, Deer Creek, Deer Creek Hot Springs, Frissel Creek, hiking, McKenzie River, McKenzie River National Recreation Trail, McKenzie River Trail, mushroom, Olallie Creek, Oregon, Smith River, Tamolitch Pool, Trail Bridge Reservior

Columbia River Gorge South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Latourell Falls and Larch Mountain – 10/31/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 1, 2020
4 Comments on Latourell Falls and Larch Mountain – 10/31/2020

We wrapped up our “official” 2020 hiking season on Halloween with a pair of hikes in the Columbia River Gorge. Latourell Falls and Larch Mountain were two of the remaining eight featured hikes we had yet to do from Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington”. We started our morning at Guy Talbot State Park for the short loop hike to Lower and Upper Latourell Falls. We arrived before 7:30am in an attempt to avoid the crowds that would likely be arriving later in the day which worked out as the only other car that was there when we arrived soon left. The downside was that the Sun was still working it’s way up leaving the conditions less than perfect for photos.

The loop starts at the trailhead with a paved path to the right leading down to the splash pool below Lower Latourell Falls and the left hand fork leading uphill .8 miles to Upper Latourell Falls. With the lack of light we chose to head for the upper falls first to let the Sun get a little higher before visiting the lower falls. Just over a quarter mile up the trail we arrived at a viewpoint overlooking Lower Latourell Falls.

There were a few more views of the falls as the trail continued to climb beyond the viewpoint.
20201031_073247_HDR

There was also a view across the Columbia River of Silver Star Mountain (post).

Above the lower falls the trail followed Henderson Creek up a narrow canyon to the upper falls.

This 120′ waterfall consists of an upper slide before the water turns sharply right through a chute before a final plunge into the splash pool.
20201031_075834_HDR

We crossed the creek on a footbridge below the splash pool then explored behind the falls under the basalt.

Beyond the falls the trail headed downhill on the opposite side of the creek.

After a half mile a short spur trail led downhill to a viewpoint above Lower Latourell Falls (the falls were not visible from here).

Silver Star Mountain in the background with the cliffs of Cape Horn (post) along the Columbia River.

After checking out the viewpoint we continued on the loop passing another viewpoint across the Columbia a short distance later.
Looking east down the Columbia River.

Looking NW across the Columbia.

Silver Star Mountain again.

The trail crossed Historic Highway 30 before dropping into the picnic area of the park then led under a bridge to the base of Lower Latourell Falls.

At 249′ Lower Latourell Falls is the 3rd tallest fall in the Columbia River Gorge. It was at the base of the falls that we finally crossed paths with other people. There was a pair of hikers and then a wedding party arrived for pictures.

We left the falls to the photographers and climbed back up to the trailhead. This loop is approximately 2.5 miles (a little more if you do any exploring) with 600′ of elevation gain.

We then drove west on Highway 30 toward Corbett, OR turning onto Larch Mountain Road which we followed for 11.6 miles to a sharp right hand corner. At the corner is a small pullout at a gated road which is where we were planning on starting our hike. There were already a couple of cars parked here so we continued 100 yards up the road to a small pullout on the right.
Looking down toward the corner from the small pullout on the right.

The official trailhead is located at the end of Larch Mountain Road and requires a NW Forest Pass. The upper trailhead also provides for a much shorter hike to the viewpoint atop Sherrard Point.

We walked along the shoulder of Larch Mountain road to the gate, checking the posted Forest Service notice regarding closures to make sure our planned route was indeed open.

All the trails along our route were indeed open so we started up the old roadbed following it for a little over a quarter mile to the Larch Mountain Trail.

The 6.8 mile Larch Mountain Trail runs between Multnomah Falls (post) and Larch Mountain. The trails around Multnomah Falls are currently closed or limited by reservation only due to COVID-19. A right turn uphill on the Larch Mountain Trail would have brought us to the upper trailhead in 1.5 miles while turning downhill to the left would also get us to Larch Mountain in approximately 5 miles. We turned left for two reasons, first Sullivan’s description has you go that way and second we wanted to give the Sun more time to get overhead in hopes of having a better view of Mt. Hood.

The Larch Mountain Trail dropped over 300′ in the next .4 miles before arriving at a junction with the Multnomah Creek Way Trail.

Multnomah Creek Way Trail.

We followed this trail downhill for .2 miles to a footbridge over Multnomah Creek.

After crossing the creek the trail turned uphill following the creek up into the Multnomah Basin.

Larch Mountain from Multnomah Basin

The trail climbed out of the basin and eventually joined an old roadbed as it wrapped around a ridge end.

Mt. St. Helens (behind some tress) and Mt. Rainier.

A little over 2.75 miles from the footbridge we arrived at a junction with the Oneonta Trail where we turned uphill to the right.

The Oneonta Trail followed the ridge uphill to Larch Mountain Road in .9 miles. Aside from a couple and their dog at the footbridge we hadn’t seen any other hikers until this stretch when we started to occasionally pass other hikers.

Signboard near Larch Mountain Road.

Larch Mountain Road from the end of the Oneonta Trail

We turned right and followed the road uphill a half mile to the upper trailhead.

From the parking lot we followed a paved path .2 miles to Sherrard Point.

Just a few of the steps up to Sherrard Point.

It had turned out to be a beautiful day and we had clear views of 5 Cascade volcanoes; Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson.
20201031_114918 Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Adams.

Mt. Hood

The Sun was just a bit of an issue when looking at Mt. Jefferson.
Mt. Hood with Mt. Jefferson to the right.

20201031_115249 Mt. Jefferson

One neat feature at Sherrard Point are the plaques identifying the mountains, their elevations, and their distance from the viewpoint.

View east from Sherrard Point.

After enjoying the view we headed down and took an unsigned right hand fork uphill to the picnic area.

From there we stayed right at forks heading downhill until we reached the Larch Mountain Trail at another unsigned junction near some old picnic tables.

We followed the Larch Mountain Trail downhill back to the junction with road bed where we had started our loop then followed the road bed back to Larch Mountain Road and our car.

We were expecting this hike to be about 6.5 miles with 1300′ of elevation gain but both of our GPS units had us a little over 7.5 miles. Regardless it was an excellent hike with a nice variety of scenery and some great views. We were pleasantly surprised that it hadn’t been too crowded at Sherrard Point allowing for plenty of space between people. It was a great way to end what has been the strangest hiking season that we’ve had yet. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Latourell Falls and Larch Mountain

Tags Guy Talbot State Park, hiking, Larch Mountain, Larch Mountain Trail, Latourell Falls, Lower Latourell Falls, Multnomah Basin, Multnomah Creek Trail, Oneonta Trail, Oregon, Sherrard Point, Upper Latourell Falls