Category: Hiking

Crabtree Lake – 9/07/2019

A less than ideal forecast had us looking for a hike that wasn’t view dependent and wouldn’t be too negatively impacted by rain. Crabtree Lake in Crabtree Valley seemed to fit the criteria and it was a featured hike in Sullivan’s 4th edition of his “100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades” guidebook.

It was a cloudy, drizzly, morning as we headed for the trailhead NE of Sweet Home, OR. Although we knew there was a nice view of Mt. Jefferson from the trail that wasn’t the main goal of the hike so missing out on it wouldn’t be too disappointing. As we climbed along the BLM road to the trailhead we emerged from one set of clouds to find that we were in between cloud layers and so were the mountains. We parked at the junction of BLM road 11-3E-35.3(aka S. Fork Packers road) and the final .9 mile gravel road to the actual trailhead.
The gravel road from the junction.

The gravel road was in pretty good shape, but we had opted to walk it primarily due to the fact that from the trailhead the hike would be under 5 miles (excluding any exploration). The extra 1.8 miles would give us enough more time hiking that we wouldn’t break our hike to drive timie ratio rule. As we walked up the road we got a nice view of Three Fingered Jack in a beautiful sunrise.

A bit later Mt. Jefferson became visible.

The actual trail begins at a berm where the road has been closed.

It then follows the road bed around a ridge end in .3 miles where the viewpoint of the mountains is.

Coming up on the viewpoint.

Instead of not having a view we were treated to a beautiful scene.
20190907_071805_HDR

Mt. Jefferson

Three Fingered Jack

After oohing and awwing over the view we rounded the ridge end and began a 1.1 mile descent to a junction. There were a few left over flowers and dozens of rough skinned newts. We had to really watch were we stepped due to their presence on the trail.

Maybe a ragwort?

Yarrow

St. John’s wort

Daisy and pearly everlasting

Beardstongue

Fireweed

Not a flower but colorful maple leaves.

A common sight on the trail.

Rough skinned newt

Although there were no mountain views on this side of the ridge there were a couple of openings to the west across Crabtree Valley.

At a barricade we turned left and dropped down to another roadbed.

We turned left and started a gradual climb along this road. It wasn’t clear what the status of this road is, at times it looked like there were some tire marks but we didn’t run into any vehicles along the .4 mile stretch to some concrete barricades.

The roadbed became more of a trail beyond the barricade continuing uphill another .3 miles to Crabtree Lake.

We found a few tents set up along the shore (there were 2 cars at the trailhead and one where we had parked along the lower road). We checked out the lake near the outlet where we found yet more rough skinned newts in the water.

We followed a trail around the lake to the left and headed down to the lake shore for another view.

We would later find out from some of the campers that there was an otter swimming in the lake while we were taking these pictures that we hadn’t seen. (I couldn’t find it in the photos either 😦

Now that we had seen the lake it was time to do a little big tree hunting. Crabtree Valley’s cliffs have protected the trees here allowing for some of Oregon’s oldest surviving trees. We followed the trail around the lake until it petered out near some empty campsites.
Old growth cedar

The basin here is home to a 270′ Douglas fir that has been dubbed “Nefertiti”. We had the GPS coordinates for the tree and decided this would be a good time to practice using our Garmins. We plugged in the coordinates and immediately ran into an issue, our devices didn’t agree even though they are the same make and model. We decided to try the location showing on my device first and made our way cross country to those coordinates. While there were many large old growth trees we weren’t convinced that any were the 8′ diameter tree we were looking for.

We turned to Heather’s location next which resulted in our best guess as to the identity of the tree.

Whether on not we actually found Nefertiti we saw a lot of massive old growth, some of which may be close to 1000 years old. We headed back and almost went out to a viewpoint that overlooks Waterdog Meadow (a small lake and meadow that Crabtree Creek passes through after leaving Crabtree Lake) but a combination of fog and campers being set up near the viewpoint kept us from checking it out.
A less impressive viewpoint near the creek but the fog below made passing through the camps to reach the viewpoint pointless.

After hearing about the otter we left the lake and headed back. Before returning to the trailhead though there was another tree in the valley we were hoping to visit. King Tut, a 9′ diameter Douglas fir, is located off trail. Sullivan described the route as rugged and not recommended so we were prepared to turn back at any point. We again used GPS coordinates, which again disagreed, to find the tree. There was at times a rough trail to follow but any sign of it ended before reaching the tree.

We remained undeterred and picked our way through and around thorny berry bushes and devil’s club to the location showing on my GPS. There was a very large cedar in the area, but no King Tut.

The cedar trunk through some branches.

We turned to Heather’s device and made our way to that location where we found what we believe to be the estimated 800 year old behemoth.

Having found this tree at the location shown by Heather’s GPS we were more confident that the tree we identified as Nefertiti using her device was probably correct as well.

Even though we were able to locate (we think) the tree, like Sullivan we wouldn’t recommend this excursion, especially without map and navigational skills.

We then headed back and climbed out of the valley along the road where the newts had been mostly replaced by other critters and the view of Mt. Jefferson was just a memory.
Fritillary butterfly

Dark eyed junco

Bumble bee

Back at the viewpoint.

It had been a great hike and despite having missed seeing our first otter we had seen a lot more than we were expecting. Between parking where we did and visiting the trees we turned the 4.6 mile hike into an 8.7 mile adventure. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Crabtree Lake

Tags Crabtree Lake, Crabtree Valley, hiking, King Tut, Nefertiti, Oregon, rough skinned newt

Hiking McKenzie River Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Olallie and Lowder Mountains – 09/01/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 6, 2019
No Comments on Olallie and Lowder Mountains – 09/01/2019

For our final outing of Labor Day Weekend we set our sights on a pair of peaks in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Both the Lowder Mountain Upper Trailhead and Pat’s Saddle Trailhead (for Olallie Mountain) are located just 2 miles apart along Forest Road 1993. These were two more featured hikes from Sullivan’s 4th edition Central Cascades guidebook that we had yet to do. (Olallie Mountain was removed from the featured hikes in the 5th edition due to a 2017 fire that burned much of the route.) On their own the hike to driving time ratios didn’t pan out, but doing them both on the same day would, and as it turns out FR 1993 was in excellent shape allowing for a driving time closer to 2 1/2 hours versus the nearly 3 hours that Google predicted.

We drove south to Eugene and took Highway 126 four miles east of Blue River where we turned right on FR 19 to Cougar Dam. After turning left on FR 1993 and crossing the dam we followed the road 11.2 miles to the Pat’s Saddle Trailhead.
We chose to start with Olallie Mountain for a couple of reasons, first we thought that the lack of tree cover due to the fire might make this a warmer hike later in the day and second it was the longer of the two hikes. There are a couple of trails that leave from this trailhead. The French Pete Creek Trail is the first trail on the right. The upper section of this trail is not maintained (according the Forest Service webpage) and the forest around the lower section was impacted by fires in both 2017 and 2018. We hiked the first 5 miles of the trail from the lower trailhead prior to the fires in 2015 (post)

The trail we were taking on this trip was the second one on the right, the Olallie Trail.

This trail promptly enters the Three Sisters Wilderness amid old growth that escaped the fire.

The signs of the fire could be seen after about a third of a mile.

At the half mile mark we arrived at a small stream flowing from Wolverine Lake which was about a quarter mile uphill on our right. The forest on the right hand side of the trail had burned pretty good while the left hand side had fared much better. There was already plenty of green vegetation growing amid the snags on the hillside though.

20190901_073350 Cone flower

Sullivan had mentioned visiting Wolverine Lake by heading uphill cross country after crossing over the stream but the vegetation here looked pretty thick so we waited until we had climbed a bit beyond the stream and angled back toward the lake.
Cross country to Wolverine Lake.

There were a fair number of trees down from the fire so it wasn’t too difficult to reach the lake, but it was tricky trying to get a good look at it due to the brushy shore.

It looked like there might have been a better vantage point around the lake to our right, but it wasn’t worth fighting through the brush and fallen trees to try and reach it so we settled for the view we had and headed back to the Olallie Trail. From above, the route down along the creek looked much more appealing and we wound up taking a track much closer to what Sullivan had shown on his map to arrive back on trail. Once we were back on trail we turned right and passed through a patch of thimbleberry bushes encroaching on the trail.

We emerged from the thimbleberries and rounded a ridge end where the forest became a bit more open and many of the trees had survived the fire.

A sooty grouse caught our attention as it crossed the trail ahead of us.

The trail climbed gradually along the hillside and we marveled at the varying effects of the fire and how the forest was in different stages of recovery already.

Baneberry

Monkshood

There were also some views that might not have been there if some of the trees hadn’t burned.

South Sister

Middle and North Sister

Mt. Washington

Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack

The line of clouds obstructing the view of the mountains wasn’t exactly a welcome sight, but we could at least see some of them and it was early so maybe they would eventually burn off.

A little over 2 miles from the trailhead we arrived at a junction in a grassy saddle.

The Olallie Trail continued straight passing an old guard station site at Olallie Meadows in .9 miles then continuing deeper (and fainter) into the Three Sisters Wilderness eventually ending at Horse Lake (post). We turned right though, onto the Olallie Mountain Trail.

This trail began with a reasonably gradual climb past a series of meadows where a few late blooming flowers remained.

Aster and pearly everlasting

Columbine

The trail briefly leveled out on top of ridge where the fire had burned intensely in some areas while sparing trees in others.

After the brief respite from climbing the trail steepened below the summit of Olallie Mountain and began to wrap up and around its rocky western face.

The tread along the steep hillside here was a little sketchy in part due to the fire but we made our way up to the summit. The remains of the Olallie Mountain lookout tower still stand on the summit having been covered by firefighters to protect it from the blaze.

The three hundred and sixty degree view was impressive and would have been more so if not for the presence of clouds to the north and in front of many of the cascade peaks. On top of that our early ascent left the Sun in a less than ideal overhead position for lighting.
IMG_8306_stitch Parts of the Cascades from Mt. Jefferson to the NE to Mt. Bachelor to the SE.

Mt. Jefferson was still tangled up in the clouds.

Just a peak at Mt. Washington (which was more than we could see of Three Fingered Jack)

Middle and North Sister behind The Husband

South Sister

Broken Top

Things were a little less cloudy to the south where Cowhorn Mountain (post) and Mt. Thielsen (post) seemed to be cloud free while Diamond Peak wasn’t so lucky.

Cowhorn Mountain and Mt. Thielsen

Diamond Peak

We were able to identify the cliffs of flat topped Lowder Mountain, our next stop, to the NW.
Lowder Mountain to the left of the tree in the foreground.

Lowder Mountain

After watching the clouds pass by (but not leave) for awhile we headed back down. We had passed a single backpacker on the way up and on the way down we encountered a trio of hikers making their way up. When we got back to the stream below Wolverine Lake we spotted a frog (no wolverines though).

We completed our 8 mile hike here and drove back the two miles to the Lowder Mountain Upper Trailhead and parked at a pullout near the trailhead signboard. The signboard announced three trails: the Quaking Aspen, Lowder Mountain, and Walker Creek Trails.

We weren’t paying close attention as we set off on a trail heading for a wilderness to the left of the signboard.

Our first clue that we were on the wrong trail should have been the location of the trail signs on the signboard but away we went following the Quaking Aspen Trail downhill parallel to FR 1993. We had a feeling something might be off but a quick glance at the GPS showed that we were almost to some switchbacks which matched up with Sullivan’s map but we were surprised that they were headed downhill and not up (the one complaint we have about Sullivan’s maps are that they are not topographic so we can’t always tell when a trail is climbing or dropping). We were zoomed in too far to see the other trail behind us that switchbacked uphill. Just after turning on the first of the switchbacks Heather figured it out and got us turned in the right direction but not until we’d covered a third of a mile.

We hiked back uphill to the trailhead and looked at the signboard and area more closely. Sure enough there was another trail and wilderness to the right of the signboard (the side listing the Lowder Mountain and Walker Creek Trails).

We now set off on the Lowder Trail and began switchbacking uphill through an old growth forest.

After a quarter mile of serious climbing the trail leveled out a bit (and straightened out) as it traversed along a hillside. We soon got a quick glimpse of Olallie Mountain across the valley.

For the next 1 3/4 miles the trail alternated between meadows and forest before arriving at a junction in one of the meadows.

Skipper

This reminded us of a torture device.

This meadow had a lot of buckwheat.

Olallie Mountain again.

The lookout tower on Olallie Mountain

Diamond Peak had shed its cloud cover momentarily.

Diamond Peak

Pollinators got to pollinate.

This junction marked the start of the Walker Creek Trail which climbed up through the meadow to the right. This was actually the trail to take in order to reach the viewpoint atop Lowder Mountain.

The Lowder Mountain Trail continued on straight but beyond the junction is no longer maintained due to “lack of use”.

A series of 12 switchbacks led steeply up through the meadow and forest to a large meadow atop Lowder Mountain.
The trail heading up through some thimbleberry.

Butterfly

Another skipper

This guy was the size of my pinky.

A few scarlet gilia still in bloom.

Pearly everlasting at the edge of the large meadow.

We followed a well worn path across the broad summit to the edge of the large meadow where it turned right passing along the tree line.

Like the Lowder Mountain Trail the Walker Creek Trail is no longer maintained beyond the meadow. The clear path along the impressively large meadow is a user trail to the viewpoint above Karl and Ruth Lakes.

Karl & Ruth Lakes

The clouds were still a bit of an issue but it was now late enough in the day for the lighting to be much better.
Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack with Horsepasture Mountain (post) in the foreground.

Mt. Washington

North and Middle Sister

South Sister and Broken Top

We made our way south along the cliffs to reach a view of Mt. Bachelor.

Mt. Bachelor

In addition to the great views there was an interesting little rock feature that looked a lot like a head of some kind.

We took a good break here before heading back. On the return trip we discovered that we had actually spent a decent amount of time losing elevation traversing along the hillside on the way to the Walker Creek Trail junction. It had been so gradual that we hadn’t noticed but it was evident that we were going uphill a lot more than we’d expected once we were back on the Lowder Mountain Trail. There were quite a few butterflies out searching for the remaining flowers which gave us something to focus on (in addition to eating quite a few ripe thimbleberries).
Butterfly with a small crab spider on the next flower head to the right.

Between taking the wrong trail from the trailhead and wandering around at the viewpoint we managed to turn a 5.6 mile hike into 6.8 miles making our total for the day 14.8 miles. The elevation gains were roughly 1400′ for Olallie Mountain and 900′ for Lowder Mountain. The views were great from both peaks and we were already talking about a return trip earlier in the Summer to see what all the meadows might look like earlier in the year. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Olallie and Lowder Mountains

Tags Butterfly, hiking, Horsepasture Mountain, Karl and Ruth Lakes, Lowder Mountain, Lowder Mountain Trail, Lowder Mountain Upper Trailhead, Olallie Mountain, Olallie Mountain Lookout, Oregon, Pat's Saddle Trailhead, Quaking Aspen Trail, Thimbleberry, Three Sisters Wilderness, Walker Creek Trail, Wolverine Lake

High Cascades Hiking Oregon Trip report Waldo Lake Area

Lillian Falls and Joe Goddard’s Old Growth Trail – 8/31/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 5, 2019
1 Comment on Lillian Falls and Joe Goddard’s Old Growth Trail – 8/31/2019

**Note a portions of these hikes burned in the 2022 Cedar Creek Fire.**

As we continue to move closer to our goal of completing all of the featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s 100 Hikes series of guidebooks (post) we have begun narrowing down the specific editions to base our progress off of. (For various reasons the featured hikes are a little different with each edition.) For the central cascades region we have decided to focus on the 4th edition from 2012. A few of the remaining featured hikes from that book are not part of the 100 hikes in the 5th edition as was the case with Lillian Falls.

It’s not always evident why Sullivan removes a hike from featured status and moves it to the back of his book (or removes it all together), but we thought it might have something to do with what he describes as “dangerous” potholes on the road to the trailhead. I checked with the Middle Fork Ranger District on the status of the road and the ranger there indicated that the road was fine for a high clearance vehicle but needed to be driven carefully. That sounded reasonable enough to us so we headed for the Black Creek Trailhead for the second hike of our long Labor Day Weekend.

We had planned on stopping at the short Joe Goodards Grove Trail first as it is located 1.6 miles before the Black Creek Trailhead on FR 2421 but we missed the unsigned turn (we saw the road but didn’t realize it was the one we wanted) and by the time we realized it we decided it was just going to be easier to do the longer hike first then end the day with the nature trail. We parked at the end of FR 2421 and took the unsigned Black Creek Trail into a second growth forest.

Less than a quarter mile from the trailhead we arrived at a signboard where we filled out a wilderness permit.

Just beyond the signboard we crossed a small stream and entered the Waldo Lake Wilderness
Looking back at the stream.

A few old footbridges remained as we passed through old growth above Black Creek.

20190831_074449 Not many flowers left but this one reminded us of fireworks.

The trail climbed gradually for just over a mile to a switchback along Nettie Creek where we could hear the roar of Lillian Falls just upstream.
Nettie Creek at the switchback.

We honestly weren’t expecting much from the falls which was described as a 150′ series of cascades. The drops visible from the switchback were nice enough and about what we had expected to see.

Working our way up alongside the cascades though revealed a much more impressive sight than we were prepared for.

20190831_081149_HDR

Lillian Falls was a worthy goal on its own, but at just over 2.5 miles round trip it was too short of a hike to justify the nearly 5 1/2 hours of driving to get to the trailhead and back so after thoroughly enjoying the falls we continued up the Black Creek Trail.

The trail veered away from Black Creek as it began a relatively steep climb up a a ridge along Nettie Creek. We leveled out a bit .7 miles from Lillian Falls passing through a section of forest with rhododendrons.

We crossed Nettie Creek on stones .4 miles later.

The trail continued its fairly level grade as it passed through more forest before arriving at a rocky hillside where it turned north and began to climb again.

The open hillside provided a view west and to a lesser extant south to Fuji Mountain (post).
SW view

Looking south

Fuji Mountain

Just before reentering the forest there was a short section of narrow tread where the hillside appeared to be slide prone.

There had been a dry creek bed below the trail but as we reached the trees we began to hear running water, faintly at first, but then suddenly there was a full creek in front of us flowing through the forest.
Klovdahl Creek

After briefly leaving the creek to pass around a small hill the trail crossed Klovdahl Creek.

A fairly steep quarter mile climb followed as the trail gained 275′ via a series of switchbacks. The trail then leveled out a bit again. Instead of rhododendron this section was full of huckleberry bushes and a sooty grouse.
Grouse on the Black Creek Trail.

Huckleberry bushes along the trail.

We kept waiting to reach a purported downhill to Waldo Lake which finally arrived about a hundred yards before arriving at a junction with the Jim Weaver Trail which loops around the lake.
Heading down to the Waldo Lake Trail (Jim Weaver Trail)

Across the lake we could see the distinct summit of Maiden Peak (post).

To the right along the shore of Klovdahl Bay the remains of an attempted diversion tunnel for hydroelectric power and irrigation.

We considered hiking the half mile to visit see the tunnel up close but opted instead to turn left and head north along the lake to visit Green Lake. Green Lake is part of a 5th edition featured hike that also includes Elbow Lake. We had visited Elbow Lake in 2013 as part of our Waldo Mountain hike. (post)

The trail climbed a bit in this direction as it veered away from Waldo Lake to pass several much smaller, unnamed lakes.

First lake on the left.

Second lake on the left.

A third lake on the left that was set back in the trees.

First lake on the right.

Ducks at the lake on the right.

Dry pond on the right.

After 1.9 miles on the Waldo Lake Trail we came to a junction with the Koch Mountain Trail where we turned right at a pointer for Green and Waldo Lakes.
Wide trail junction.

We passed by Green Lake opting to visit the shore of Waldo Lake first and followed this trail downhill a third of a mile to it’s end at the lake.
Dry creek bed along the way.

We sat on the rocky shoreline here for a bit enjoying the view of Broken Top and Mt. Bachelor.

Across the lake to the east were The Twins, a peak that we hope to hike later this year.

After the break we headed back up to the Waldo Lake Trail but first detoured to visit Green Lake which was a few hundred feet off the main trail to the north.
It was a nice little lake, enough so that it warranted a second short break.

It was close to 11am when we left Green Lake and headed back along the Waldo Lake Trail. There was a marked increase in traffic on the trail now, but after turning onto the Black Creek Trail again we didn’t see another person, but we did get a chance to watch a pileated woodpecker for a bit.

We stopped again at Lillian Falls which was now receiving more light.

20190831_130930

We then returned to our car and drove back along FR 2421 the 1.6 miles to the unsigned road (now on the left). We parked at its end after a tenth of a mile and took an unsigned path to a nice footbridge over Black Creek.
Unsigned start of the nature trail.

Black Creek

Once across the creek the trail passes briefly through a former clearcut before arriving at a sign announcing the Joe Goddard’s Nature Trail.

Just beyond the sign the trail split marking the start of the loop.

We went left here but in hindsight it might have been a little better to go right based on the direction the signs along the trail were facing. In any case after taking the left fork we quickly came to another fork where a footbridge crossed Louisie Creek near a picnic table.

We crossed the bridge and followed a path past an impressive old growth cedar.

The path appeared to end back at Black Creek although there were some faint trails in the area. This was a bit confusing because the trail that was shown on our Garmin maps appeared to be in this same area, but we knew that the location of trails on maps isn’t always correct so we crossed back over Louise Creek and continued on the clearer trail which crossed a dry creek bed.

The creek bed was followed by a large old growth Douglas Fir that a sign put at 217′ tall and over 118 inches in diameter.

Even though our GPS track was not matching up at all with the trail shown on the device the signage along the route we were following told us we were on the right path. We continued on the loop and came to a log that had been cut for the trail and subsequently marked with Joe Goddard’s birthday and the year “1776”. A little online research revealed that this tree dated back to the year 1340.

It was an interesting little loop (.5 miles total from the parking area) and well worth the stop.
Another picnic table.

Another big Doug fir.

We ended the day having covered 13 miles, 12.5 for Lillian Falls and Waldo Lake and the half mile at Joe Goddard’s Grove. We were a bit surprised that the only people we saw were along Waldo Lake given how nice the falls were, but perhaps their out of the way location and potholed road keeps them a bit less visited. The only negative on the day was Heather getting stung by a yellow jacket at Lillian Falls. Those things are just mean. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Lillian Falls and Joe Goddard’s Nature Trail

Tags Black Creek Trail, Black Creek Trailhead, Green Lake, hiking, Jim Weaver Trail, Joe Goddard's Grove, Joe Goddard's Nature Trail, Klovdahl Bay, Klovdahl Creek, Lillian falls, Nettie Creek, old growth, Oregon, Waldo Lake, Waldo Lake Trail, waldo lake wilderness

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Olallie Butte – 8/30/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 2, 2019
11 Comments on Olallie Butte – 8/30/2019

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

At the beginning of the year we had requested the Friday before Labor Day Weekend off in hopes of backpacking around Diamond Peak (With a side trip up to the summit) but with our backpacking plans on hold while we care for our elderly cats we switched our plans to day hikes instead. For our first hike we chose Olallie Butte.

Before getting into the trip report we wanted to point out that this hike is in part located on the Warm Springs Reservation. It wasn’t entirely clear whether or not non-tribal members are allowed on the trail. We did some research before heading out and discovered that this uncertainty has existed for some time. We decided to go ahead and start the hike but were prepared to turn around if there were any signs posted letting us know that the trail was off-limits. There were several other nearby hikes that are still on our to do list so we had plenty of alternate options if that did happen.

The hike starts at a nondescript pullout under some power lines. We were a little apprehensive upon arriving at the trailhead, not because we were worried the trail would be closed, but rather due to the clouds that were overhead. The forecast had called for sunny skies on the butte so we hoped that either the clouds would be burning off or we would be climbing above them. We had tried for a similar view two other times by climbing nearby Double Peaks (post) and Ruddy Hill (post), but had been foiled by clouds on both of the trips.

The actual trail was marked by some pink flagging off a dirt road across from the parking area.

After just a tenth of a mile we arrived at the Pacific Crest Trail where there was what appeared to be a newer sign for the Olallie Butte Trail.

Trail sign with the PCT heading north behind it.

We crossed the PCT and headed uphill through the forest which was very typical for the Olallie Lake Scenic Area.

After approximately a mile and a half of gradual climbing we came to a sign announcing the start of the Warm Springs Reservation.

There were no signs of restricted access so we continued on making sure that we remained on the trail and respected the area.

We did indeed emerge from the clouds not long after entering the reservation which allowed for occasional views of nearby Sisi Butte and Mt. Hood.
Sisi Butte

Lookout tower on Sisi Butte

Mt. Hood

It was too late in the year for most of the flowers but there was a little color left on a few of them.

Just beyond the three mile mark the trail leaves the forest and traverses a cinder slope beneath the summit.

The view south to Mt. Hood is unobstructed here.

Shortly before starting a series of swtichbacks we got our first look at Mt. Jefferson through some trees.

The view of Mt. Jefferson improved as we climbed and soon Olallie and Monon Lakes joined the scenery along with several more Cascade peaks further to the south.

Olallie Lake

IMG_7770_stitch Monon Lake just beyond Olallie Lake (Timber Lake is the smaller lake in the trees to the west.

Broken Top and The Three Sisters

There were also some familiar features from earlier this year.
Dinah-mo Peak and Bear Point (post)

Bear Point

After completing the switchbacks the trail arrived at a saddle atop the broad summit of Olallie Butte. To the north were the remains of a former lookout tower while a close up view of Mt. Jefferson awaited to the south.
Lookout tower remains

We started by visiting the southern end of the summit to get that close up view of Mt. Jefferson and the many lakes between that mountain and the butte.
IMG_7792_stitch Starting from the left – Trout Lake with Boulder Lake beyond, Island Lake, Dark Lake, Long Lake. The three smaller lakes are Lake Mary (closest), Lake Marie (middle), and Lake Alice (furthest). Lake Hazel is the small lake up and to the right of those three. All of these lakes are part of the Warm Springs Reservation and off-limits unless a permit to visit has been obtained.

Monon, Olallie, and Timber Lakes in the Mt. Hood National Forest to the west.

Mt. Jefferson

An interesting feature on this end of the butte is a natural rock arch.

We eventually pulled ourselves away from this view to head over to the former lookout.

We found a pair of Clark’s nutcrackers enjoying breakfast.

The clouds were receding to the north which revealed Mt. Adams behind the right shoulder of Mt. Hood and further to the west we could just make out Mt. St. Helens above the clouds.

Mt. St. Helens as a dark spot on the horizon.

Mt. Adams beyond Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson from the lookout site.

There were more rock fins on the NE side of the butte but no rock arches.

We visited the south end of the summit once more before heading back down the trail. The view was a little different on the return trip as the clouds had departed creating several additional views of Mt. Hood along the lower portions.

We had planned to pack out any litter we found on the reservation as one of the things that could easily lead to the explicit closure of the trail would be damage to the area but we didn’t see any other than the remains of the old lookout while on the reservation. On the other hand closer to the trailhead we removed a shoe sole, a couple of crushed cans, and a pile of apparently discarded clothing and a tent fly.

Other than the trash this was a spectacular hike. The views were great and we didn’t see any other hikers. For us this was roughly an 8 mile hike gaining 2700′ of elevation. Despite that number the climb was never particularly steep making it feel a little easier than might be expected. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Olallie Butte

Tags hiking, Mt. Jefferson, Olallie Butte, Olallie Butte Trail, Olallie Lake, Olallie Lake scenic area, Oregon

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Bingham Ridge (Mt. Jefferson Wilderness) – 8/24/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 26, 2019
2 Comments on Bingham Ridge (Mt. Jefferson Wilderness) – 8/24/2019

**Note the 2024 Bingham Fire burned a portion of this hike.**

After a week back at work it was time to hit the trails again. We once again turned to Matt Reeder’s “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region” for inspiration choosing the Bingham Ridge Trail as our destination.

The Bingham Ridge Trailhead is located 5 miles up Forest Road 2253 aka Minto Road. That road is just 17 miles east of Detroit, OR and was in great shape except for some water damage in the first quarter of a mile. Beyond that short stretch it was a good gravel road all the way to the parking area just before the road was gated.

The trail began opposite the little parking area where we had parked along side two other vehicles.

The trail climbed through a green forest along the dry bed of Willis Creek before briefly passing through the edge of a clear-cut.

Huckleberry bushes and beargrass in the clear-cut.

20190824_065018 Sleeping bees on some thistle.

The trail soon reentered the trees and then passed into the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness.

The bees on the thistle may have been asleep but a western toad was out and about.

After entering the wilderness the trail continued to climb very gradually as it passed through alternating sections of green trees and forest scarred by the 2006 Puzzle Creek Fire.

Mt. Jefferson through the burned trees.

Back in the green.

Three Fingered Jack through the burned trees.

Aster

Pearly everlasting

Fireweed

The longest stretch through burned forest occurred as the trail passed to the right of a rocky rise along the ridge.
Three Fingered Jack

The rock covered rise.

South Cinder Peak (post) to the left and Three Fingered Jack to the right.

Still passing the rocks.

We heard a couple of “meeps” from pikas in the rocks but we only managed to spot a golden-mantled ground squirrel.

As the trail passed around the rocky rise we reentered green forest and quickly came to the end of the Bingham Ridge Trail at a junction with the Lake of the Woods Trail 3.7 miles from the trailhead.

The Lake of the Woods Trail runs north-south between the Pamelia Limited Entry Area and Marion Lake (post). We turned left (north) onto this trail which promptly crossed over the ridge at a low saddle and began to traverse a forested hillside.
The low saddle.

The trail wound around the basin arriving at a ridge end viewpoint where we had hoped to get a view of Mt. Jefferson but soon realized that we hadn’t come far enough around yet and we were looking west not north.
Coffin and Bachelor Mountains (post).

We continued along the hillside finally coming far enough around to get a look at Mt. Jefferson.

Just a little further along we arrived at Reeder’s turn around point for the 8.8 mile hike described in his book. A cinder viewpoint of Mt. Jefferson across the Bingham Basin.

There was a strange group of clouds hanging out on the top of the mountain. We could see them moving in what appeared to be a SE direction but despite seeing the movement it never really appeared that they were going anywhere.

As we stood at this rocky viewpoint we could hear more pikas and then Heather spotted one sitting on top of some rocks, maybe enjoying the same view we were.

Even though Reeder calls this viewpoint “the most logical stopping point for dayhikers” he does provide information for those wishing to continue. Since logic sometimes goes out the window with regards to hiking we continued on. The trail dropped just a bit to a fairly level bench where it passed through a couple of meadows before arriving at an unnamed lake with a view of Mt. Jefferson on the left.

Spirea with a beetle.

Unnamed lake with Mt. Jefferson (and those pesky clouds).

From the opposite side of the lake.

A half mile later (or just under 2 miles from the Bingham Ridge Trail junction) we arrived a Papoose Lake.

The mountain was mostly hidden by trees from this lake but there were several frogs to watch and a short scramble up a rockpile on the east side of the lake did provide another look at Mt. Jefferson.
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It was actually a really impressive amount of boulders here and although we didn’t spot any, we could hear a number of resident pikas.
Looking south over the rock field.

Turning back here would have put the hike in the 11.5 mile range, but we had our sights set on a further goal – the Pacific Crest Trail. Beyond Papoose Lake the Lake of the Woods Trail passed several seasonal ponds which were now meadows where we had to watch out for tiny frogs.

One of the frogs.

Frog in the trail.

Just under three quarters of a mile from Papoose Lake (6.3ish from the trailhead) we arrived at the northern end of the Lake of the Woods Trail where it met the Hunts Creek Trail (post).

A left on this trail would lead us into the Pamelia Limited Entry Area for which we did not have a permit, but to the right the trail remained out of the limited area as it headed to the Pacific Crest Trail.

In his book Reeder describes this section of trail as “spectacular” which is what prompted us to abandon logic in the first place. We turned right and continued the theme of gradual climbs as the trail passed a hillside dotted with a few asters.

After little over a quarter of a mile we found ourselves beneath a large talus slope (by the sound of it filled with a pika army).

Here we embarked on possibly the most significant climb of the day as the trail switchbacked up through the rocks to a saddle.
Apparently the trail was rerouted at some point because we could see tread that we never used.

The Three Pyramids beyond Bingham Ridge.

As we neared the saddle we spotted what must have been the pika lookout.

There was more talus on the opposite side of the saddle, and more pikas too!

We spotted at least 4 pikas (it’s hard to keep track when they are running in and out of the rocks) and heard many more. The only thing that could tear us away from our favorite wildlife critters was the view of Mt. Jefferson looming over Hunts Cove.
(the clouds had finally vanished)

Continuing away from the saddle just a bit provided an excellent view of the mountain and Hanks Lake with a bit of Hunts Lake visible as well.
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Hanks Lake

Hunts Lake

Rock fin above Hunts Cove.

Reeder hadn’t exaggerated by using spectacular to describe this section of trail. The views of Mt. Jefferson were amazing and a variety of wildflowers (past peak) lined the trail.
Penstemon and a western pasque flower.

Western pasque flower seed heads.

20190824_101714 Hippie-on-a-stick

Paintbrush and lupine

20190824_102625 Patridge foot

Mt. Jefferson, Goat Peak (behind the tree) and the Cathedral Rocks.

As the trail crossed a cinder field glimpses to the south between trees reveled the Three Sisters (among others).

South Cinder Peak

The Three Sisters

Three Fingered Jack

The trail briefly lost sight of Mt. Jefferson as it passed around a butte, losing a little elevation as it did so.

Paintbrush in a meadow behind the butte.

Although the view of Mt. Jefferson was temporarily gone the view was still good. There was a large basin full of meadows just below the trail and occasional views of South Cinder Peak and Three Fingered Jack.
South Cinder Peak

Three Fingered Jack

The trail gained a little of the elevation back as it came around the butte regaining a view of Mt. Jefferson in the process.

After passing another sign for the Pamelia Limited Entry Area at a now abandoned (but still used) portion of the Hunts Creek Trail we arrived at the Pacific Crest Trail.

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We sat on some rocks here and rested. We were now at least 8 miles (that is the mileage Reeder assigns but with some extra exploring we’d done a bit more) from the Bingham Ridge Trailhead and needed a good break. Up until this point we’d only run into one other person, a bow hunter along the Bingham Ridge Trail. As we rested in the shade a pair of backpackers heading south on the PCT stopped briefly to talk. After they continued on we did little bit of exploring in the immediate area since there were a few flowers about and at least one tree frog.
Mostly past lupine

20190824_110312 Paintbrush

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We returned the way we’d come enjoying the views just as much on the way back as we had the first time by. We didn’t see anyone else the rest of the day and we didn’t see anymore pikas, but as always there were a few things we spotted on the way back that we hadn’t seen or noticed earlier.
Butterfly on an aster.

Never seen one of these looks so clean and smooth, it almost looked fake.

We don’t know if this was just a stunted wallflower or something we’d never seen before.

We ended the day nearly out of water (luckily for us the temperatures stayed below 70 so it wasn’t too warm) and with some sore feet. Our GPS devices both showed us having traveled nearly 17 miles which was further than we’d planned but all the little side trips and exploring can really add up. Depsite the distance this was a great hike with varied scenery, good wildlife, and a reasonable elevation gain made better by the trails having such gradual grades. Of course any trail where we see multiple pikas is going to be aces in our minds. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Bingham Ridge

Tags Bingham Basin, Bingham Ridge Trail, Bingham Ridge Trailhead, Cathedral Rocks, Frog, Hanks Lake, hiking, Hunts Cove, Hunts Creek Trail, Hunts Lake, Lake of th Woods Trail, Matt Reeder, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail, Papoose Lake, Pika, Western Toad

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Cloud Cap to Elk Cove – 8/17/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 22, 2019
1 Comment on Cloud Cap to Elk Cove – 8/17/2019

For the grand finale hike of our August vacation we headed for Mt. Hood to do the section of the Timberline Trail from Cloud Cap to Elk Cove. We had been to Cloud Cap in 2016 during our hike up Cooper Spur (post) and we’ve visited Elk Cove a couple of times (most recently in 2017 post) via a western approach on the Timberline Trail. We had not however been on the 5 mile section of the Timberline Trail between the Coe Branch (we turned back at the crossing in 2014 post) and the Cloud Cap Saddle Campground.

We had a bit of a scare on the way to the trailhead as most of the drive was spent in a light drizzle which became heavier at Government Camp. At the White River sno-park Mt. Hood was hidden behind a layer of gray clouds but as we continued north on Highway 35 we emerged from the grey. By the time we were winding our way up Cloud Cap Road the sky was blue and there were no signs of the clouds hiding on the other side of the mountain. We parked at the Cloud Cap Trailhead and hiked through the campground to a pair of signboards marking the Timberline Trail.

We turned right onto that trail and followed it through a short stretch of green trees before emerging into a recovering fire scar.

The trail turns north toward Mt. Adams and away from Mt. Hood as it prepares to drop steeply into the gorge carved by the glacial Eliot Branch which could be heard roaring in the chasm below.
Mt. Adams ahead above the clouds.

We descended a series of switchbacks which provided ample views of Mt. Hood without having to strain our necks looking behind us.
Mt. Hood

The Eliot Branch has a reputation as being one of the trickier crossing on the mountain ever since a bridge was swept away over a decade ago. In fact the Timberline Trail had “officially” been closed for years (there were still unofficial crossings) until the Forest Service completed a reroute of the trail in 2016. As we neared the stream the first looks were impressive.

The combination of the cloudy water, thundering noise, and swift current make glacial streams seem particularly daunting. Crossing earlier in the day minimizes the amount flow making morning crossings easier than those later in the afternoon or evening. We arrived at the crossing shortly before 8am so that was in our favor. There was also a promising looking log a bit downstream but it looked like it might be a tricky descent to reach it from this direction and we were (or at least I was) hoping to get a little fording practice in so we picked a reasonable looking spot and made our way through the water which was only just reaching our calves at its deepest.

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It was a fairly uneventful crossing except for having forgotten just how cold a glacial stream is. Brrrr!!

We had lost over 350′ of elevation getting down to the Eliot that needed to be made up now that we were across. The Timberline Trail gained over 500′ in the next three quarters of a mile as it climbed out of the canyon.

We entered the Mt. Hood Wilderness on the way up.

The burned trees allowed for fairly consistent views of both Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams.
Mt. Adams

Mt. Rainier peaking over the clouds to the left of Mt. Adams.

Mt. Hood

The trail leveled out near the 6000′ elevation and passed through a stand of green trees before arriving at a small wildflower lined stream. A pair of marmots ran into the rocks as we approached.

Penstemon

Monkeyflower

Jacob’s ladder

Western Pasque flower

A second stream followed shortly after.

20190817_082231 Paintbrush

20190817_082250 Lupine with a beetle.

Continuing on we passed a hillside covered with western pasque flower seed heads, often referred to as hippies on a stick.

As we rounded a ridge end we stopped to talk to a backpacker going in the other direction. He asked if we were from the area and wanted to know which mountains he had been seeing to the north. In addition to Adams and Rainier, Mt. St. Helens was just barely visible from that spot which we were able to point out to him.

We rounded the forested ridge and came to a large rock field below the Langille Crags.

Just over a mile from the Eliot crossing we arrived at the first of Compass Creeks three branches.
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Compass Creek is fed by the Langille Glacier and each branch sports a waterfall above the Timberline Trail.

A short scramble up the rocks along the creek brought us to the base of the falls.

Mt. Adams from Compass Creek.

Wildflowers along Compass Creek.

Monkeyflower and paintbrush

Hummingbird near Compass Creek.

After admiring the falls we continued on rounding two small ridges before arriving at the middle branch of Compass Creek .3 miles from the first.

This branch didn’t have nearly the amount of water as the first leaving the waterfall a little wispy.

There was yet another stream a short distance away which was putting on a wonderful wildflower display including a nice combination of pink and yellow monkeyflowers.

Lupine, paintbrush and monkeyflower.

This alpine stream was sublime and a reminder of why Mt. Hood is such a wonderful place. We kept going passing an aster covered hillside and then another meadow full of other types of flowers.

It was another .3 miles between the middle and final branches of Compass Creek where another waterfall crashed down behind a snow bridge.

After crossing the final branch of Compass Creek the trail headed down a ridge along the creek passing views of a lower waterfall.
Mt. Adams (again) from Compass Creek.

Waterfall on Compass Creek below the Timberline Trail.

In the next mile we passed through a wildflower meadow, green trees, a fire scar, and lost 350′ of elevation before arriving at yet another little stream.

The trail then headed downhill more quickly as we approached the Coe Branch.

A little over a mile and a half from Compass Creek we arrived at the Coe Branch and were pleased to find a pair of nice makeshift log bridges spanning the stream.

The crossing was no issue at all and we soon found ourselves climbing away from the Coe.

The climb away from the Coe Branch wasn’t nearly as steep as the descent had been and after three quarters of a mile we arrived at a sign for Elk Cove.

We followed the trail into the meadow where the view of Mt. Hood and Barrett Spur (post) was as impressive as always.

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We explored a bit and then rested at a familiar spot along the stream that flows through Elk Cove.

Coe Glacier

After resting and soaking in the scenery we headed back. We stopped again below Compass Creek Falls where we watched a hummingbird moth visiting the monkeyflowers.

When we had finally made it back to the Eliot crossing we used the log we’d seen that morning as suggested by some hikers who we passed shortly before reaching the stream.

We actually wouldn’t have minded the ice cold water at that point, but the flow had increased now that it was after 1pm so the log was the safest option. We made the final climb back up to Cloud Cap taking our final look at Mt. Hood and the Eliot Glacier.

The hike was 12.3 miles round trip with approximately 2700′ of cumulative elevation gain, most of which came from dropping down to and climbing up from the Eliot and Coe Branches. It was a perfect day, blue skies and cool temperatures, and there couldn’t have been a better way to end our 6 days of hiking. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cloud Cap to Elk Cove

Tags Cloud Cap, Cloud Cap Saddle Campground, Coe Branch, Coe Glacier, Compass Creek, Compass Creek Falls, Eliot Branch, Eliot Glacier, Elk Cove, hiking, Hummingbird moth, Langille Crags, Langille Glacier, marmot, Mt. Hood, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Oregon, timberline trail

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

Bull of the Woods Lookout & Pansy Lake – 8/16/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 20, 2019
6 Comments on Bull of the Woods Lookout & Pansy Lake – 8/16/2019

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

For the 5th hike of our vacation we finally got around to one of Sullivan’s featured hikes that we hadn’t done yet, Pansy Lake. Pansy Lake is located in the Bull of the Woods Wilderness in a basin below the Bull of the Woods Lookout. In his guidebook Sullivan has you start the hike from the Pansy Lake Trailhead which is just over a mile from the lake. He gives two options, a 2.4 mile out-and-back to Pansy Lake or a 7.1 mile loop past the lake up to the lookout and then back down passing Dickey Lake along the way. Either of these options would have caused us to break our self-imposed rule against driving for more time than we spend hiking due to the driving time to the Pansy Lake Trailhead being roughly 2:45 for us. Fortunately Sullivan also mentions the option of starting at the Bull of the Woods Trailhead for an easier hike to the lookout. The Bull of the Woods Trailhead was about a 15 minute closer drive and it added almost 3 miles to the round trip which provided an acceptable drive/hike ratio.

With our plan in place we set off on the drive which proved to be a bit of an anomaly. The trailhead is located at the end of Forest Road 6340. Where the road was good it was an excellent gravel road but there were a couple of ugly obstacles along the way. The first was a slide that covered the road, half of which was impassable while the spot that could be driven over required a very slow, bumpy crossing (high clearance is probably necessary until it gets cleaned up). This was prior to a fork where the right hand fork (FR 6341) continued to the Pansy Lake Trailhead. After this fork sections of FR 6340 were deeply rutted by channels created by runoff again requiring careful placement of tires. We arrived at the trailhead no worse for wear though and set off on the signed trail.

The first few hundred yards were a little brushy but soon the vegetation gave way to a huckleberry filled forest.

There were ripe berries everywhere and they were big juicy berries too. In fact for most of the day there were ripe berries available and we ate quite a few. We weren’t the only ones feasting on berries though as we counted no less than 13 piles of berry filled bear scat along the trails.

Although we kept our eyes open for a bear all we ran into on the trail was a rough skinned newt.

The Bull of the Woods Trail climbed gradually as it passed below North and South Dickey Peaks.

A little over 2.25 miles from the trailhead we arrived at a junction with the Dickey Lake Trail. We would be coming back up that trail later after visiting Pansy and Dickey Lakes.

As the trail continued to climb we were treated to a couple of different views. First was to the west across the Pansy Lake Basin.

A little further along, when the trail crested the ridge, we got a look a Mt. Hood which was rising above some clouds.

The trail left the ridge for a bit and then regained it where the view also included Mt. Jefferson to the SE.
Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson

The trail then followed a narrow rocky ridge passing below the lookout and coming up to it from the other side, 3.5 miles from the trailhead.

A lizard scurried into the rocks beneath the lookout as we approached. Aside from a bit of morning haze the view was great. The clouds to the north hid the Washington volcanoes from sight but Mt. Hood stood out just fine.

To the south Mt. Jefferson was cloud free and so was Three Fingered Jack for a bit. Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters played peek-a-boo through the clouds though.

Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters

In the basin to the NE Big Slide Lake (post) was visible.

To the SW the flat topped Battle Ax Mountain (post) rose up above the surrounding peaks.

We sat below the lookout for awhile enjoying the cool morning air as we watched the procession of clouds around us. After our break we headed steeply downhill via switchbacks for just over half a mile to the Mother Lode Trail.

Bull of the Woods Trail ending at the Mother Lode Trail.

We turned right onto the Mother Lode Trail.

We continued to descend as we followed this trail for approximately 1.25 miles, passing a viewpoint of Mt. Jefferson shortly before arriving at another junction.

We turned right again, this time onto the Pansy Lake Trail.

More downhill hiking ensued as we dropped into the basin. The trail was a bit rockier than the others and passed over a couple of talus fields.

We’re always on the lookout for pikas and have had quite a bit of luck in spotting them this year, enough so that we have started calling it “the year of the pika”. As we came to the second section of talus Heather spotted one of the little “rock rabbits” scurrying along the hillside.

After talking to the pika (I don’t know why but we tend to have a lot of one sided conversations with the wildlife) we continued on. Shortly before reaching the lake we found a couple of ripe thimbleberries, they were delicious.

First look at Pansy Lake.

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We passed by the lake and reached a junction .8 miles from the Mother Lode Trail. We turned left and quickly arrived at the lake where we were a bit surprised that we were the only people there.

We wandered around the lake passing through numerous empty campsites before finding a little log to sit on by the lake where we could watch the dragonflies and ducks.

After a short break we returned to the trail junction and turned left continuing on the Pansy Lake Trail for another .2 miles to the Dickey Lake Trail junction.

It was time to climb now and we headed up the Dickey Lake Trail which climbed relatively steeply at times. After .6 miles we came to a spur trail on the right which led down to Dickey Lake.

The lake was quite a bit smaller than Pansy Lake and a lot brushier. After getting a look we returned to the Dickey Lake Trail and continued the climb back up to the Bull of the Woods Trail. A bit beyond the lake the trail passed through a little meadow with some remaining wildflowers and a few more thimbleberries.

We gained approximately 800′ over the next .8 miles before reaching the junction. There was a few more downed trees along this trail than we had encountered on any of the others but none of them were too troublesome.

We turned left onto the Bull of the Woods Trail and followed back to the car getting one last look at Mt. Hood along the way.

With the extra exploring around the lakes we wound up doing 10.6 miles (for the third time in the week). We both thought that the elevation gain doing the loop from the Pansy Lake Trailhead would have been quite a bit worse so the extra miles were worth it in our minds, plus it gave us that much more time to eat berries. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Pansy Lake and Bull of the Woods Lookout

Tags Bull of the Woods Lookout, Bull of the Woods Trail, Bull of the Woods Trailhead, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, Dickey Lake, Dickey Lake Trail, hiking, Huckleberry, Mother Lode Trail, Mt. Hood, Oregon, Pansy Lake Trail, Pansy Lake Trailhead, Pika

Clackamas Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Old Baldy and Tumala Mountain – 8/15/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 20, 2019
2 Comments on Old Baldy and Tumala Mountain – 8/15/2019

Hike number four of our vacation week was chosen in an attempt to avoid the sound of gunfire which seems to be extremely prevalent along the Forest Service roads near Estacada. We figured our best chance to minimize that unpleasant noise would be a mid-week early morning hike so when the forecast for the area called for sunny skies Thursday we jumped on the chance and headed to the Old Baldy West Trailhead. Our plan for the day was to start by hiking up to the summit of Old Baldy then returning past the Trailhead and heading SE to the summit of Tumala Mountain, a rare double out-and-back.

A bonus for this hike are the paved roads to the trailhead which is a small pullout near some boulders.

Reminders of the penchant for shooting guns in the area were everywhere.

Just beyond the trailhead we met the Old Baldy Trail where we went left toward Old Baldy. The trail briefly follows the Forest Road before they veer away from one another.

The Old Baldy Trail runs right along the border of the Salmon-Hucklberry Wilderness through a nice quiet (on this day) old growth forest. It was too late for the Rhododendron bloom which happens in early summer but there was a great variety of mushrooms to look at as we climbed up and down for nearly 3 miles to a cliff top viewpoint.

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Wildcat Mountain (post) and Mt. Hood

The sunny forecast appeared to be being threatened by some encroaching clouds as we continued on from the viewpoint.

More varieties of mushrooms followed as we made our way toward Old Baldy.

The final pitch up Old Baldy was a steep one as the trail launched straight uphill to the site of a former lookout tower.
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A thin layer of fog had moved in over the mountain, but that didn’t matter here because there are no longer any views except for back down through the trees.

After catching our breath at the summit we headed back the 3.8 miles to the trailhead, stopping again at the viewpoint to note the creeping clouds as they moved east over the Eagle Creek Valley (post).

We walked past the spur to the trailhead and ignored the unmarked Eagle Creek Cutoff Trail that descended to the left.

The Old Blady Trail quickly launched uphill briefly entering the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness.

After a short but extremely steep climb the trail leveled out for a bit. That was both good and bad news because it was only 1.7 miles from the trailhead to the top of Tumala Mountain but we needed to gain nearly 800′ so every step that wasn’t going uphill meant that the ones that did would need to be that much steeper. Just for kicks the trail dropped about 80′ to a saddle before starting abit of a more gradual climb to a junction with the Fanton Trail.
Huge mushroom along the downhill.

Fanton Trail coming up from the right.

The trail did give back a little as we began finding ripe huckleberries to snack on.

Approximately 1.3 miles from the trailhead we ignored a semi-signed trail to the left that went to Twin Springs Campground.

We stayed right climbing briefly along a narrow rocky ridge then beneath a rock outcrop to a rocky road bed where we turned uphill.

There were a few flowers clinging to the cliffs along the road.

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A short road walk brought us to a tower just below the summit.

From the summit we had a pretty good view of Mt. Hood although the clouds had begun to get in the way.

To the south though we had a clear view of the more distant Mt. Jefferson.

Three Fingered Jack and the Three Sisters even further south.

Looking west into the cloud covered Willamette Valley.

We joined a chipmunk and took a snack break before exploring the old lookout site.

Stairs to the former lookout.

Mt. Hood from the former lookout site.

By the time we began our descent Mt. Hood had vanished behind the clouds. Our timing had been pretty good, not only for the views but we made it back to our car without seeing another person or hearing a single gunshot.

The hike was 10.6 miles and approximately 2200′ of cumulative elevation gain. Skipping the viewless summit of Old Baldy would shed 1.8 miles and a couple hundred feet of elevation and only going to one viewpoint instead of both would lower the numbers even further. It was a really nice hike so hopefully the reputation of the area doesn’t scare hikers off. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Old Baldy & Tumala Mountain

Tags Fanton Trail, hiking, Old Baldy Mountain, Old Baldy Trail, Old Baldy West Trailhead, Oregon, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, Tumala Mountain, Wildcat mountain

High Cascades Hiking Oregon Three Sisters Area Trip report

Four-In-One Cone – 8/14/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 19, 2019
6 Comments on Four-In-One Cone – 8/14/2019

The third hike of our vacation was another repeat (this time only partially) of a viewless outing. In 2012 we had embarked on “the hike that shall not be named” (post) It was an ambitious hike that went wrong in a couple of ways. First I misunderstood the guidebook and turned a 15 mile loop into an 18.6 trudge and second the persistent low cloud layer denied us of virtually any views. Our plan to hike to Four-In-One Cone would cover part of that hike.

We chose the Four-In-One Cone portion of that hike for two reasons. First Four-In-One Cone is a really cool volcanic feature and second much of the remainder of that loop passes through the Obsidian Limited Entry Area for which we didn’t have a permit nor were any available. We started the hike at the Scott Trailhead located along Highway 242 (17 miles from Highway 126 or 20.3 miles from Highway 20).

The Scott Trail briefly follows along the highway before crossing it and entering the Three Sisters Wilderness.

A third of a mile from trailhead we came to a somewhat familiar junction.

Neither of us quite remembered it looking like it did now (for one thing the trail sign was missing) but the right hand fork led to the Obsidian Trailhead and had marked the final .6 miles of THAT hike. We forked left and began to climb via several switchbacks which we had no recollection of. We also passed a viewpoint at one of the switchbacks.

After the viewpoint the trail continued to climb but more gradually as it passed through a mixed forest.

Pinesap

A very blurry deer spotted through the trees.

Three miles from the trailhead we arrived at the first of two short lava flow crossings. A large western toad was in the trail here and there was also a squirrel nearby which seemed like a suspicious combination.

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The lava crossings are separated by an island of forest that escaped the flow.

North Sister

Middle Sister

More spies watching us.

Beyond the second lava crossing we spent a little time back in the forest before once again entering a volcanic landscape as we came around the south side of Four-In-One Cone.

Unlike our previous visit the Cascade Mountains were visible.
North and Middle Sister behind the Little Brother.

Mt. Jefferson beyond Four-In-One Cone

Mt. Hood over the right shoulder of Mt. Jefferson.

Mt. Washington’s spire behind the cone with Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Jefferson.

The route up Four-In-One Cone is just under 1.5 miles from the first lava crossing and is marked by a signpost.

Before going up the cone we decided to continue another .8 miles to the Pacific Crest Trail in Scott Meadow. We had of course been to that junction during our loop in 2012 but we’d also visited it in 2013 from the north on the PCT from South Matthieu Lake (post). Lupine is said to bloom profusely from mid-July through August but we hadn’t seen much in 2013 (2012 was late September) so we thought we’d give it another try. Prior to reaching Scott Meadow we did pass a couple of hillsides with a decent amount of lupine but I don’t know that we considered it profuse

Scott Meadow

There wasn’t any lupine at all around the PCT junction but the view of Little Brother next to the North and Middle Sisters is nice.
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After a short break and pointing a group of trail runners toward Opie Dilldock along the PCT we turned around and headed back for Four-In-One Cone.

Four-In-One Cone is just that, four cinder cones which erupted at different times but are joined together creating a .4 mile long ridge.

To the SE the North and Middle Sister are closer than the Cascades to the NW the position of the Sun made the view of the further peaks a little clearer.
North Sister, Middle Sisters behind Little Brother and The Husband.

North Sister with Collier Cone in front and South Sister behind Little Brother.

The Husband

Scott Mountain (post) beyond the lava flows of Four-In-One Cone.

One of the craters.

After visiting the southern end of the cones we made our way to the northern end.
Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, and Black Crater (post)

Looking back south.

Belknap Crater (post)

Mt. Washington beyond Little Belknap Crater with Three Fingered Jack behind.

Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood

After fully exploring the cones we returned the way we’d come capping off a 12.3 mile, 1750′ elevation gain hike. We were happy to have finally gotten to see what we’d missed back in 2012. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Four-In-One Cone

Tags Belknap Crater, Collier Cone, Four in one cone, hiking, lupine, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, Scott Meadow, Scott Trail, Three Sisters, Three Sisters Wilderness, Western Toad

High Cascades Hiking Oregon Three Sisters Area Trip report

Thayer Glacial Lake – 8/13/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 19, 2019
No Comments on Thayer Glacial Lake – 8/13/2019

For the second hike of our vacation we chose the off-trail scramble to Thayer Glacial Lake. The hike is described in the second edition of Scott Cook’s “Bend, Overall” guidebook. The book is older (ours is updated for 2012) and predates the Pole Creek Fire which happened to take place in 2012. The main change on the hike is that there is a lot of travel through the fire scar so there aren’t a lot of green trees, but there are more views of the mountains.

We had had this hike on our to do list and a recent trip report in a Facebook group prompted us to move it up and do it sooner rather than later. We drove over Santiam Pass to Sisters and took Highway 242 for 1.3 miles to Forest Service Road 15 (Pole Creek Road) where we turned left. We followed FR 15 for 11 bumpy miles to the Pole Creek Trailhead.

We followed the Pole Creek Trail uphill through the burned forest for 1.5 miles to a junction with the Green Lakes Trail crossing the dry bed of Pole Creek not far from the trailhead.
Middle and North Sister

Dry bed of Pole Creek.

Black Crater, Mt. Jefferson, and Black Butte to the north.

Entering the Three Sisters Wilderness.

A few survivors amid the snags.

Green Lakes Trail junction.

We stayed straight at the junction continuing on what was now the Green Lakes Trail. This trail descended a little before arriving at Soap Creek three quarters of a mile from the junction.

Broken Top and the South Sister

Monkeyflower along Soap Creek

On the far side of the creek was a familiar junction, the Camp Lake and Green Lakes Trail junction where we had been on our 2014 loop around the South Sister (post).

Instead of crossing the creek we left the trail here and headed west. This portion of the hike requires off-trail navigational and route finding skills. There was, at times, what appeared to be a user trail but it was faint and prone to disappearing only to reappear in an unexpected place. In general we followed the directions in the guidebook although our routes there and back were quite different (at least for a 1 mile stretch). The instructions were to follow the climbers trail for 2ish miles then head cross country toward a yellow bulge on North Sister. The lack of green trees allowed for a lot more views of North Sister which assisted in keeping us oriented. We used our topographic maps to help us stick to what appeared to be the gentlest terrain and eventually found ourselves looking at the daunting moraine to the left of the yellow bulge.
Soap Creek

View of the North Sister that would not have been there pre-fire.

Soap Creek and the Middle and North Sister

Monkshood

Might be a trail in there, might not.

Decent look at the yellow bulge on North Sister.

Broken Top and South Sister

Soap Creek

Meadow where there was no discernible trail apparent.

Typical cross country obstacles.

Dry creekbed.

20190813_093156 Elephants head

The moraine to the left of the bulge.

We stopped briefly to watch what appeared to be a golden eagle soaring overhead trying to evade a smaller raptor that was annoyed by the larger birds presence.

We wound up a bit further north than intended and had to veer NW to reach the meadows around the springs feeding Soap Creek.

A clump of Monkeyflower

Penstemon

IMG_5989_stitch

After a little over two hours and approximately three miles from where we’d left the Green Lakes Trail we found ourselves resting in the shade of a large rock near the moraine.
Our shady spot.

While we rested by the rock we discussed our planned route up the moraine. The steep loose rock would not be easy and we wanted to try and find the safest route to what was hopefully the lowest point along the moraine. After agreeing on a route and picking a point to aim for we set off on the final three quarters of a mile climb to the rim above Thayer Glacial Lake.

Paintbrush growing on the moraine.

More flowers amid the rocks.

After a couple (dozen) course corrections I passed between a pair of large cinder rocks I dubbed “Thayer Gate” and a few moments later was looking at the lake.

IMG_6049_stitch

While Heather headed down to the lake shore I detoured up along the rim to the south to check out the views.
The yellow bulge, Mt. Hood, Black Crater and Black Butte to the north.

Mt. Hood

Broken Top to the north.

The rim above Thayer Lake.

North Sister and the Thayer Glacier

Heather near some large boulders in the lake.

We explored along the lake looking at the remaining ice, one piece resembled a listing boat, and admiring the textures and colors of the volcano.

The water was frigid but the temperature by the lake was pleasantly cool and we would have liked to have stayed there for hours but we still had to get back so we eventually pulled ourselves away and headed back down the moraine.

We headed toward the springs feeding Soap Creek and kept working our way north trying to stay to the left of the wildflower lined streams.

This proved to be a little trickier than expected as we kept coming upon more springs as we went.

We followed Soap Creek into a narrow canyon which turned out to be a bit of a mistake and had to climb steeply over the north ridge when it became to steep and narrow.

Starting to get too narrow and the topographic map showed it getting more so further downstream.

Climbing out of the gully.

Broken Top and South Sister from the ridge.

We descended the ridge heading NE using our GPS to hook up with our earlier route up. After a couple of ups and downs over smaller ridges we found ourselves in the general area through which we’d come up. We roughly followed our route back to the Green Lakes Trail without much excitement. The one thing that was different was the creeping wire lettuce blossoms which had opened up to the Sun and dotted the ground in places.

We then followed the trails back to the Pole Creek Trailhead which was full of cars. It surprised us a bit being a Tuesday, but it’s one of the stated reasons by the Forest Service for the permit requirements that go into effect in 2020 for many of the trailheads in the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington, and Mt. Jefferson Wilderness areas.

Cook lists the hike as 5 miles one way, but we wound up with 11.5 miles round trip with nearly 3000′ of cumulative elevation gain. The off-trail travel makes it an even harder hike than those state would indicate. All that being said it was worth the effort and we were glad we’d made the trip. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Thayer Glacial Lake

Tags Golden Eagle, Green Lakes Trail, hiking, North Sister, Oregon, pole creek fire, Pole Creek Trail, Pole Creek Trailhead, Soap Creek, Thayer Glacial Lake, Thayer Glacier, Three Sisters Wilderness