Category: Hiking

Minto-Brown Island Park and the Banks-Vernonia State Trail

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 16, 2016
2 Comments on Minto-Brown Island Park and the Banks-Vernonia State Trail

We didn’t have any hikes planned for awhile after our visit to Tamanawas Falls due to Heather having a half-marathon to run on April 10th. Her half-marathon wound up being an opportunity for a pair of short hikes on race weekend though.

On the day before the race we made the short trip to Salem’s Minto-Brown Island Park for a short walk to help make sure Heather stayed loose. We’ve spent quite a bit of time in the park, sometimes walking and other times passing through on runs. This was the first time I’d brought the camera along to get some photos though.

The area used to be islands in the Willamette River but flooding changed the course of the river so that the former islands are connected to the rest of Salem. At more than 1200 acres, the park contains 19 miles of trails, a playground, a 30 acre off-leash dog area, and fishing opportunities.

The paths are a mix of paved and soft surface trails making the park a popular place to run, walk, or bike. High water does close some of the trails at times but there is almost always a few that remain passable. Later this year a footbridge connecting this park to Salem’s Riverfront Park will make it possible to visit both of these parks as well as Wallace Marine Park without setting foot on a road.

We parked at the Shelter Parking Lot at the end of Minto Island Road SW and set off toward the shelter following signs for the Blue Heron Loop. The park has plenty of signboard maps as well as trail pointers throughout.
Signboards at the parking lot near the gazeebo.

Rabbits are plentiful and often spotted in the strips of grass along the paths.
Lots of little rabbits in the park

The Blue Heron Loop leads across a footbridge between a pair of sloughs where we spotted a Great Blue Heron searching for snacks.
Slough in Minto-Brown Island Park

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron going after a treat

Shortly after crossing the bridge a sign for the Blue Heron Loop led us off the paved path and onto one of the parks soft surface trails.
Trail in Minto-Brown Island Park

This portion of trail passed another slough on the right where we spotted Canadian Geese, a pair of wood ducks (not pictured due to fast swimming), and an Osprey sitting in its nest.
Canada Geese

Osprey in its nest

We left the wooded path and came to a trail sign at a junction near one of the many fields in the park.
Trail signs in Minto-Brown Island Park

We left the Blue Heron Loop here and headed for the Brown Island Landfill (the park has a little of everything it would seem). We skirted around it to pick up the Turtle Loop running along the north side of the landfill.
There are several connector trails running between the Turtle Loop trails making several different distances possible. We took one of these through the field to rejoin the Turtle Loop along the Willamette River. Here we found some recent beaver work.
Minto Brown Island Park

Recent beaver work

We followed the Turtle Loop back along the river to the shelter parking lot and our car. Even though the park is in Salem its size and the variety of trails makes it a nice spot to “get away” and you are almost certain to see some wildlife along the way.

On race day we headed to the Banks Middle School in Banks, OR where Heather’s race would finish and she would catch a bus up to the starting line at L.L. Stub Stewart State Park. The race would follow the Banks-Vernonia State Trail which is a converted rail bed, Oregon’s first rail-to-trail. Heather hopped on a bus at 7am and I had a couple of hours to kill before the race would start at 9am. So I took the opportunity to hike a section of the trail. I had decided to be at the Buxton Trailhead, one of several possible traileheads to access the trail, which was near the 6 mile mark of the half-marathon.

The trailhead had a large parking area with picnic tables, and a shelter.
Buxton Trailhead

Buxton Tressel from the trailhead

Building and sign at the Buxton Trailhead

I had calculated that Heather would be passing by that spot a little before 10am so I had about 2 1/2 hours available to hike. I took a path to the left of the parking lot down to a creek crossing below the Buxton Trestle.
Footbridge over Mendenhall Creek

Mendenhall Creek

Buxton Trestle

The path then led uphill joining the Banks-Vernonia State Trail just beyond the trestle.
Trail heading up to the Buxton Trestle

My plan was to head east toward the Banks end of the trail for an hour and then head back to the trestle to wait for Heather, but before I headed down the trail I wandered out onto the trestle.
Buxton Trestle

View from the Buxton Trestle

The entire 21 miles of the trail are paved which makes it popular with bicyclists, runners, walkers, and it also sees some equestrian traffic. It was still pretty early though so for the first 45 minutes I saw more wildlife than people.
Starling

Stellars Jay

Wren

The highlight happened as I passed a draw to my left and noticed something moving up the hillside through the brush. It was a decent size but it had its head down making it hard to tell what I was seeing. When it finally raised its head I could see it was a coyote. It blended really well with the brush and wouldn’t stop moving making it extremely difficult to get a decent picture. I finally made a little noise to get its attention hoping it would pause long enough for a photo, but it was quicker than I was and darted off as soon as we made eye contact.
Coyote

In addition to the wildlife there were plenty of Spring wildflowers along the trail. The forested hillside was dotted with trillium, bleeding heart, pioneer violets, and a few fairy bells.
Trilliuims

Bleeding heart

Violet

Fairybells

From the trestle the trail had gradually descended to a gravel road crossing where it left the trees and leveled out as it began to pass between pastures.
Banks-Vernonia State Trail

Birds were abundant, mostly sparrows, swallows, and robins but across one of the fields I spotted a bald eagle flying between trees.
Sparrow

Sparrow

Bald Eagle

I also spotted a single tough leafed iris and a couple of camas blossoms.
Wild iris

Camas

By 8:30am the trail had become quite a bit busier, especially as I neared the Manning Trailhead which I reached just as it was time to turn around and head back.

I had just crossed the Buxton Trestle when the first runners passed by on their way to Banks. These were the sub 6 minute milers so I figured I had about 15 to 20 minutes before Heather would be passing by. I grabbed a snack and waited along the trail for her to pass by which she did right on schedule.

After cheering her on I hopped back in the car and headed for the finish line to meet her. Her goal for this racing season was to break 2hrs in a half-marathon which she managed to do finishing in 1:52:42. With the race completed and her goal accomplished our attention now turns to our hiking season which will last for the next 6+ months. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Minto-Brown- https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157666808908512

Banks-Vernonia – https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157666857451492

Tags banks-vernonia state trail, buxton trailhead, buxton trestle, coyote, great blue heron, hiking, manning trailhead, minto-brown island park, Oregon, rabbit, salem riverfront park, wallace marine park

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Tamanawas Falls

It is our goal to eventually visit each of the featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes” series of guide books. One of the things that I have been working on during our current off-hiking season is figuring out how to accomplish this. One of the difficulties is that some of the hike distances are such that the amount of time we would spend on the trail is quite a bit less than the amount of time we’d spend driving to and from the trailhead. At first glance the hike to Tamanawas Falls fell into this category for us. At a little over two hours away the 3.8 mile round trip was too short and an alternate return route suggested by Sullivan would only extend the hike to 5.9 miles which was still likely too short to balance out the driving time. While rereading the description in the book and reviewing the accompanying map I found the solution which was to extend the hike along the East Fork Trail southward.

This trail incurred heavy damage during a flood event and no longer ties into the Robin Hood Campground to the south. It continues as far south as the Nottingham Campground but there is no bridge at that point making it the unceremonious end of the trail. We just needed some extra distance on a trail though so this would give us the ability to hike south at least a mile or two and increase our hiking time enough to top our driving time.

Now that the we had a plan that fit this hike into our hike-to-drive ratio requirement we needed to figure out when to visit. The hike to Tamanawas Falls is very popular given its shorter length and its location along Highway 35 on the east side of Mt. Hood. We decided that early Spring might be our best bet when the wildflowers had begun blooming in the Columbia Gorge and there would still be some snow along the Tamanawas Falls Trail.

We arrived at the Tamanawas Falls Trailhead just before 7am (our other trick for avoiding crowds) on what promised to be a beautiful mostly sunny day.

Tamanawas Falls Trailhead

It was a crisp 37 when we arrived and the remaining snow was packed and a little slick on the way down to a footbridge across the East Fork Hood River.

Footbridge over the East Fork Hood River

From the bridge a small waterfall cascaded down into the river and a pair of Harlequin Ducks paddled about along the far bank.
East Fork Hood River

Harlequin Ducks

We were headed north on the East Fork Trail toward a junction with the Tamanawas Falls Trail. The trail climbed a bit and was still covered in snow in sections.

After .6 miles we reached the signed trail junction and turned left on the Tamanawas Falls Trail.
East Fork Trail junction with the Tamanawas Falls Trail

We were now heading downhill toward Cold Spring Creek and another footbridge.
Footbridge over Cold Spring Creek

We then followed the trail up along picturesque Cold Spring Creek for almost a mile to a trail fork.

Tamanawas Falls Trail and Cold Spring Creek

Cold Spring Creek

The Tamanawas Falls Trail continued straight ahead at the fork, passing through a rock field while the Tamanawas Tie Trail headed uphill to the right. We would be taking the tie trail on our return trip but first we headed into the rock field and onto the slickest portions of trail we’d encountered.
View from the junction

The snow had been packed down to ice in sections and we were glad to have had our trekking poles with us. We also had brought along some traction devices for our shoes which Heather used in this section on the way back.
Tamanawas Falls Trail

We felt the falls before we could see them. As we made our way up the trail a faint breeze met us. The air had the unmistakable feel of waterfall, cool and containing a hint of moisture. I admit to not expecting much from the falls themselves. For some reason the pictures I’d seen had left me with the impression that the falls were smaller than what they turned out to be. I was pleasantly surprised when they first came into view.
Tamanawas Falls

Tamanawas Falls

We hung around for awhile exploring and having a snack. We were the only people at the falls but we were joined by an Ouzel.
Tamanawas Falls

Ouzel

After admiring the falls we made our way back to the junction with the Tamanawas Tie Trail. We turned uphill on this trail and began the short climb up to the Elk Meadows Trail.

Sign at the junction with the Elk Meadows Trail

We followed the signs for the Polallie Campground and began descending a forested ridge. The Elk Meadows Trail had obviously seen less traffic and some sections still had a decent amount of snow. There was also some light blowdown to step over or around and lots of small pine tree limbs on the trail.

Elk Meadows Trail

Although the ridge was forested we did get our only glimpses of Cascade peaks along this trail.

Mt. Adams

Mt. Hood

The trail had gradually made its way toward the Polallie Creek Canyon and we headed off trail just before the trail took a sharp right-hand turn around the ridge end to check out it out. A reported 80 foot deep flash flood scoured the canyon and washed out miles of Highway 35 in 1980 but there was no sign of that kind of power in the creek now.

After a brief descent we arrived at yet another trail junction. This was the East Fork Trail that we had been on before turning up the Tamanawas Falls Trail earlier in the morning.
Elk Meadows Trail junction with the East Fork Trail

We turned right to complete our loop. Along this 1.1 mile stretch we could often see the highway below, but it wasn’t without its sights including a neat little spring that flowed out of the ground into a small pool then quickly disappeared once again.
Spring along the East Fork Trail that disappeared back underground after a couple of feet

The trail had a few ups and downs before finally dropping down to Cold Spring Creek.

We crossed the creek on a footbridge and climbed back up to the junction with the Tamanawas Falls Trail that we had passed earlier. We had not seen anyone else on the trail yet that day but now that we were back on the main route we began to see a handful of others. When we arrived back at the East Fork Hood River crossing we stayed on the West side of the river and continued on the East Fork Trail to get our needed time in.

This section of the East Fork Trail alternated between being along the river and above it in the forest.
East Fork Hood River

East Fork Hood River

East Fork Trail

After about a mile the trail headed further uphill away from the river and entered an old snowy clear cut where the trees were much younger.
East Fork Trail

When the trail reentered older forest it switchbacked up just below an abandoned road. We had decided that we would continue on from here until the trail began to drop back down toward the river because we didn’t want to have to climb back up. We left the stand of older trees and entered another old clear cut where the trail did begin to head downhill. From this area we had a nice view of the Lookout Mountain area across Highway 35 to the East.
Looking toward Lookout Mountain from the East Fork Trail

A quick glance at the time told us that by the time we were back at the car we’d have hiked long enough to surpass our driving time so we declared victory and headed back. The parking area at the trailhead was packed but we’d encountered less than a dozen others on the trails.

All in all it was a great final off-season hike and the next time we head out our 2016 hiking season will be officially under way. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157666743878315

Tags Cold Spring Creek, East Fork Hood River, hiking, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Oregon, Tamanawas Falls

Columbia Gorge North Hiking Trip report Washington

Catherine Creek, Coyote Wall, and the Weldon Wagon Trail

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 20, 2016
5 Comments on Catherine Creek, Coyote Wall, and the Weldon Wagon Trail

** Note the 2025 Burdoin Fire burned over much of the route described here. **

Similar to last months hike our March trip consisted of shorter hikes at three separate locations. We had been waiting for a day off with decent weather to head out toward the eastern end of the Columbia Gorge to see some early wildflowers and finally got one on the day before Spring.

We started our day at the Catherine Creek Trailhead located approximately 6 miles east of Bingen, WA along Old Highway 8. We managed to arrive at the trailhead just as the sunrise began to light up with color.

We took the paved Catherine Creek Trail on the south side of the old highway toward the Columbia River. We followed the 1 mile loop past wildflowers, vernal ponds, oak woodlands, Catherine Creek Falls, and views of Mt. Hood.

Grass widows

Prairie Stars

Shooting stars and saxifrage

Lomatium

After completing the loop we crossed the road and head north on an old roadbed marked as “20”. At a fork we should have veered right on another road marked with a “21” sign but we initially missed that turn which turned out okay because we came upon a scenic vernal pond reflecting the clouds in the sky above and were serenaded by a western meadowlark.

Once we had backtracked onto the correct road bed we followed it to a crossing of Catherine Creek then on to an old corral below the Catherine Creek Arch.

The Forest Service has closed off the area near the arch with fencing but the view from below near the corral is nice.

We continued on the old road climbing gradually and after passing under a set of power lines we came to a trail junction. We took the signed trail to the right which led up a small hill to a ridge with a view of Mt. Hood.

This trail followed the ridge down toward the old highway passing the top of the Catherine Creek Arch along the way.

We arrived at the old highway about a quarter mile east of the trailhead and simply walked along the shoulder back to the car. From there we headed back toward Bingen and our next stop at the Coyote Wall Trailhead just off Courtney Road (approx. 3 miles east of Bingen). Our early start allowed us to get to this second trailhead before 9am which was nice because this is a very popular destination.

From the parking area we followed a closed section of old highway 8 east passing a nice view up Coyote Wall. After passing some cliffs the scenery shifted to rocky green hillsides dotted with wildflowers.

Our plan was to take the Labyrinth Trail up to the Rowland Creek Trail then head left from that junction to old road 20 following that left to a creek crossing and following it all the way to a junction with the Coyote Wall Trail. The Labyrinth Trail sets off from old highway 8 approx .75 miles from the trailhead, but before turning up that trail when we came to it we continued on a couple hundred yards to check out Lower Labyrinth Falls.

After returning to the Labyrinth Trail we headed uphill climbing past wildflowers and rock outcrops to a view of Labyrinth Falls near a small cave.

From the falls the trail continued to climb through a mix of grasslands and oak woods gaining better views of Mt. Hood.

We saw lots of wildflowers along the way and passed a trail crew from the Washington Trails Alliance.

Grass widows

Prairie stars

Lomatium

Larkspur

Yellow bell lilies

Toothwort

We arrived at the road 20 creek crossing as planned but things began to unravel a bit shortly afterward. Signage had been virtually non-existent and after climbing up from the creek crossing we arrived at large junction where the WTA trail crew had parked their vehicles. Several trails and old roads headed off in various directions here and were not shown on the map we were using. We first set off straight ahead on an old road bed but quickly saw a sign indicating it was private property, we turned back to the junction and began to head uphill on a clear trail. It didn’t seem like we should be going that direction though so we pulled out our guidebook and GPS before going any further. After some deliberation we returned once again to the junction and headed downhill on another old road which was the correct route. Here we passed an impressive meadow filled with yellow bell lilies and grass widows.

We passed several more junctions that were not on our map and made one more wrong turn (it appears it would have led us to the top of Coyote Wall in the end) before finally making it down to the junction we had been looking for with the Coyote Wall Trail. At this point we were about halfway up the wall and made our way over to check out the view.

Mt. Defiance (with the snow)

Mt. Hood

From there we headed downhill staying as close to the wall as possible before the trail finally veered away as it neared the old highway.

We spotted a few additional flowers on this lower portion before popping back out on the old highway and making our way back to the busy trailhead.

Woolly-pod milk vetch

Gold stars

Popcorn flower

Manroot

The unfortunately named Broomrape

Fiddleneck

Our final stop for the day was the Weldon Wagon Trail. For this hike we headed back through Bingen and continued west on Highway 14 to Alternate Highway 141 just before the White Salmon River. We followed this road north to Husum, WA where we turned right on Indian Creek Road. We followed signs for the Wagon Trail and parked at an unmarked pullout at the crest of Indian Cemetery Road. To reach the trail we needed to walk .2 miles up a logging road.

The Wagon Trail follows an old wagon road built in the early 1900’s to cart apples down to Husum. The trail began in a forest before entering more open grasslands.

The trial offers a pretty good climb gaining over 1000′ in the first 1.8 miles where a conservation sign sits in the middle of a hillside with a view of Mt. Hood.

Although the trail continues another .7 miles to another road we turned around at the sign knowing we would be over 13 miles for the day by the time we arrived back at the car and that this was the best of the views from the trail.

On our way home we made one final stop, this time for food, at Mekong Bistro in Portland. We’re blaming this one on the good folks over at Trail Keepers of Oregon for having their Winter Meet-n-Deet there last year. 🙂 We enjoyed the food enough that night to have it now be our go to spot on the way back to Salem after hiking in the Gorge. It didn’t disappoint and was a great end to a good day of hiking.

Although we did not have any issues ticks can be a problem on these hikes so be sure to keep your eyes out and check for any after your visit. Poison oak is also possible, as are rattlesnakes. Happy (and safe) Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157666169966955

Tags catherine creek, catherine creek arch, coyote wall, grass widow, hiking, labyrinth, labyrinth falls, Mt. Hood, rowland creek trail, Washington, weldon wagon road

Central Coast Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Florence Area Trails

It’s been over a month since our last hike and I was beginning to go a bit stir crazy so when the forecast called for a mostly sunny Saturday we jumped on the chance and hit the trails. We try and make sure our hikes are long enough so that we spend as much or more time hiking rather than driving. On this day we did this by visiting several shorter trails near Florence, OR.

We started the day at the Whittaker Creek Recreation Site just off Highway 126.

From there we walked through the campground and headed across Whittaker Creek on a footbridge.

A young bald eagle had flown over our heads and landed in a tree along the creek and allowed us to get fairly close before taking flight again.

Meanwhile some common mergansers were floating the creek.

From the NW end of the campground we took the Old Growth Trail 1.2 miles up to the summit of the ridge. A mix of sunlight and morning fog created some interesting lighting in the forest.

Along the way up we spotted a number of little snow queen flowers and stopped at a tall Douglas fir tree that had been struck by lighting at some point.

At the summit were benches and a sign giving the history of the trail. The low clouds and fog hid much of the view on this day.

On the way back down we turned on the signed Armantrout Loop Trail which led back to the campground in 1.5 miles.

There were a few spots of blowdown along this trail that were easily passed and numerous interpretive signs to stop and read.

After returning to our car we continued west on Highway 126 to Mapleton and turned west on Sweet Creek Road for 10.2 miles to the Homestead Trailhead.

There are a total of four trailheads that access the Sweet Creek Trail with the Homestead Trailhead being the most northerly. From there we followed the Sweet Creek Trail south for .9 miles to a junction with the connector trail from the second trailhead. Both the creek and surrounding forest were beautiful. A series of small falls and cascades line this section of Sweet Creek and on this day there was plenty of water flowing over them.

Annice Falls

Elk Wallow Falls

From the junction another scenic half mile of the Sweet Creek Trail brought us to Sweet Creek Falls and the end of the trail.

A short trail leads up to an upper viewpoint.

It is possible during lower flow times to cross the creek below the falls and pick up the continuation of the Sweet Creek Tail on the far side, but that wasn’t going to happen given the volume of water that was currently flowing over the falls. After returning to the Homestead Trailhead we drove to the Wagon Road Trailhead 1.3 miles further south along Sweet Creek Road.

The Sweet Creek Trail heads away from the road in both directions from this trailhead. We began with the segment on the west side of Sweet Creek Road which would lead bus back down to Sweet Creek Falls on the opposite side of the creek.

Near the bottom of this trail were a number of skunk cabbage flowers.

After visiting the base of Sweet Creek Falls we returned to the Wagon Road Trailhead and took the .6 mile segment of the Sweet Creek Trail to Beaver Creek Falls.

We left the Wagon Road Trailhead and headed back to Highway 126 and headed toward Florence. We made a quick stop at Florence Yamaha to pick up a Northwest Forest Pass which we needed for our final hike at the Holman Vista Day Use Area just north of Florence.

We started this hike by taking a short paved path to an overlook of Sutton Creek and a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.

Next we set off on the Sutton Creek Loop Trail which led along Sutton Creek through a coastal forest .8 miles to a trail junction near Bolduc’s Meadow.

Crazy tree along the Sutton Creek Loop Trail.

We kept straight at the junction passing Bolduc’s meadow where we spotted a lone daffodil and a single grape hyacinth.

We were now on the South Sutton Creek Trail which continued to follow the creek for 1.5 miles of short ups and downs. This trail brought us to the Sutton Campground where we picked up the continuation of the trail at a footbridge near site B16.

After crossing the footbridge we had the option to go left or right on the North Sutton Creek Trail. The left hand trail led a quarter mile to a dune while the right and would have brought us to the same dune on a .6 mile loop.

At the dune we found a swing which Heather made use of.

From the swing we followed the North Sutton Creek Trail for 1.3 miles back to the trail junction near Bolduc’s Meadow. This section of trail passed dunes with a less dense forest. Common gorse and manzanita was beginning to bloom along the trail and some areas were covered in a light green moss that reminded us of snow.

Common Gorse

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Common manzanita

Bearberry

Footbridge across Sutton Creek to the trail junction near Buldoc’s Meadow

After crossing the footbridge we turned right and then quickly turned left on an unsigned trail which led us .5 miles back to the parking lot at the Holman Vista Day Use Area.

We had a great time on these trails and it was nice that they were all very different from one another. We wound up doing a little over 13 miles of hiking but each of these trails are worthy of doing on their own. The Old Growth Ridge/Armantrout Loop hike was approximately 3.5 miles with about 800′ of elevation gain. Our first hike along Sweet Creek from the Homestead Trailhead was a little under 2.5 miles with 350′ of elevation gain while the segments from the Wagon Road Trailhead totaled just under 3 miles and 300′ of elevation gain. The hike on the Sutton Creek Trails was 4.5 miles with only about 100′ of total elevation gain. Happy Trails!

flicker: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157662585681453

Tags annice falls, beaver creek falls, florence, siuslaw national forest, siuslaw ridge, sutton creek, sweet creek, sweet creek falls, whittaker creek recreation area

Hiking Northern Coast Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Fort-To-Sea Trail – Fort Clatsop

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 13, 2016
4 Comments on Fort-To-Sea Trail – Fort Clatsop

We have officially started our 2016 hikes. As we have done for the past several years we headed to the Oregon Coast for our first hike of the year. Our goal this time was to hike the Fort-To-Sea Trail following a route initially blazed by Lewis and Clark in 1805 from Fort Clatsop to the ocean. Fort Clatsop was built near what is now the Lewis and Clark River and the Fort-To-Sea Trail was used by the expedition to gather salt by boiling saltwater. The area is now part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park complete with a replica of the original fort.

We decided to start our hike at the Sunset Beach Recreation Site near the ocean north of Gearhart, OR. From there we would take the trail to Fort Clatsop and back. Things got off to a rocky start at the trailhead when we found the restrooms devoid of toilet paper and discovered that I had not yet switched our toiletry supplies from my backpack to my daypack. After a quick trip back to Gearhart for supplies we were back at the trailhead and ready to begin.

Before heading to Fort Clatsop we headed toward the ocean on the Fort-To-Sea Trail. There used to be a viewing deck overlooking the ocean 1/3 of a mile from the parking area but it has been removed leaving a sandy circle on the grassy dune.

The Sun was still rising behind us creating some nice colors on the western horizon.

After returning to the trailhead we headed inland toward Fort Clatsop which was 6.2 miles away. The first portion of the trail passed through storm damaged trees skirting several bodies of water. Ducks paddled about on the water as it reflected the colors of the sunrise.

The path then led up and over a small sandy hill and down to an arched bridge over Neacoxie Lake.

To the SE of the lake was the Astoria Country Club’s golf course, a popular morning stop for elk. We hadn’t seen any elk during our hikes in 2015, but on the far side of the course on a small hill were three.

We watched them for a bit from the bridge as they made their way along the hillside.

Beyond the bridge the trail passed through a mile and a half of pastures. The fenced route was well marked as the trail led to East Neacoxie Lake.

Smaller than Neacoxie Lake, East Neacoxie Lake was full of wildlife. A pair of Bald Eagles watched over the many ducks and small birds enjoying the lake.

The trail crossed this lake on a floating bridge.

As we were making our way across something swam out from under the bank near the far end of the bridge. Our minds immediately went to otter or beaver, neither of which we have spotted yet during a hike. Instead it turned out to be a nutria, a large rat-like semiaquatic rodent considered an invasive species by the ODFW.

The trail then led past a pioneer church and cemetery to an underpass of Highway 101.

After passing under the highway and skirting another field we crossed the Skipanon River before heading into a forest.

At the 4.7 mile mark we reached the Clatsop Ridge Overlook which was a nice ocean viewpoint with a picnic table and several benches.

From the viewpoint the trail followed old roads down to the Fort Clatsop Visitor Center.

We passed through the center and continued 100 yards to the replica fort.

We were surprised at just how small a structure the fort was especially considering it was home to 33 people for 106 days. We spent some time poking around the fort and checking out the other nearby displays.

A 200 yard path led from the fort down to the site of the expedition’s canoe landing.

We could have turned back here and retraced our steps, but the park has several other trails which allow for various loop options. From the canoe landing we followed the Netul Trail south along the river. Part of the year a shuttle bus stop along this trail allows hikers to ride back to the fort or back to Sunset Beach. We were heading for the South Slough Trail though which we could take back to the Fort-To-Sea Trail. This trail loop around a slough filled with ducks and a couple of red-tailed hawks.

The South Slough Trail was the only trail marked as difficult on the park maps. It headed steeply uphill from the Netul Trail but the climb didn’t last long. The trail wound around the slough to a signed junction with the only real viewpoint of the trail.

From this junction we could take the Lower South Slough Trail downhill to the Fort-To-Sea Trail about a half mile from the Visitor Center, or the Upper South Slough Trail which would meet the Fort-To-Sea Trail closer to a mile from the center. We took the upper option and made our way back to the Fort-To-Sea Trail and then took a second detour. Earlier that day just after entering the forest there was a signed trail forking left from the Fort-To-Sea Trail. It was named the Kwis Kwis Trail and it wasn’t shown in our guidebook or on any of the park maps we’d seen. The park maps did show a trail by that name but that trail showed as a wide arc leading from the Fort-To-Sea Trail near the junction with the Upper South Slough Trail and rejoining the Fort-To-Sea Trail about a third of a mile from the Visitor Center. Given the name and the fact that the signage for the mystery trail matched those of the park we theorized that it was a newer trail. We had also spotted sections of trail from the Fort-To-Sea Trail on the way up to the overlook which we suspected to be part of this trail.

From the Upper South Slough Trail junction we headed east on the Fort-To-Sea Trail to the signed Kwis Kwis Trail junction.

This trail also followed an old roadbed. After winding downhill for a little more than .3 miles we spotted a sign for the Kwis Extension.

We turned up this path which ran roughly parallel to the Fort-To-Sea Trail at a lower elevation. This was indeed the path we had seen earlier. A nice long boardwalk traversed a large marshy area before rejoining the Fort-To-Sea Trail in the forest near the Skipanon River.

From there we retraced our steps along the Fort-To-Sea Trail to the Sunset Beach Trailhead. Later we learned the Kwis Kwis Trail Extension was completed in 2014. The scenery and wildlife along the trails were both quite varied, and the history surrounding the area made it a very interesting hike. The various loops and trail distances make this a great option for hikers of any age. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157662826694040

Tags Bald Eagle, Clatsop Overlook, elk, Fort Clatsop, Fort-to-Sea Trail, hiking, Lewis and Clark, Lewis and Clark National Historic Park, Lewis and Clark River, Neacoxie Lake, Netul Trail, Nutria, Oregon, Skipanon River, South Slough Trail, Sunset Beach, Sunset Beach Recreation Area

Hiking Oregon Salem/Albany Trip report Willamette Valley

Champoeg Heritage Area

Since 2010 we have been closing out the year by taking our final hike along the coast or in the coastal mountain range, but this year that streak came to an end. Recent storms and heavy rains that damaged roads and left creeks and rivers swollen caused us to rethink our original plan to visit Fort Clatsop near Astoria Oregon. Instead we decided to put our fallback hike into play and visit Champoeg State Park.

Champoeg State Park is located along the Willamette River less than a ten minute drive from Interstate 5 at the Donald exit between Portland and Salem. The 622 acre park is at the site where Oregon’s first provisional government was formed by vote in 1843. On May 2nd of that year 100 men arrived at the Hudson’s Bay store to decide if they would form an American style government or stay aligned with Britain. The group consisted of Americans, Britons, and French-Canadians. The vote was initially tied 50/50, but two undecided French-Canadians eventually chose to vote with the Americans breaking the tie.

By 1860 Champoeg consisted of 200 buildings but in December of 1861 the river flooded when it rose by 55 feet and effectively wiped out the townsite. No lives were lost in the flood but it marked the end of the bustling town.

We parked in the Riverside Parking area located at the northeast end of the park planning on starting our hike on the .5 mile riverside loop.
The recent rains had left the park a bit waterlogged and we found portions of the trail underwater.

We made our way around this first obstacle and climbed a small hill to the Pioneer Memorial Building.

A 1901 memorial commemorating the 1843 vote sits in front of the building.
We set off on the Riverside Loop next to a muddy and swollen Willamette River.

The loop wasn’t possible on this day due to several flood portions, but we walked the portions that were accessible.

We returned to the memorial and headed west on the Townsite Trail, a 1.5 mile barkdust path that led to the Park’s campground.

We followed the path to a backed up Champoeg Creek and crossed on the road bridge leading to the campground.

From the campground a paved bike path leads 2.4 miles to the Historic Butteville Store. Established in 1863 it the oldest operating store in the State although it closes in the winter.

Two short hiker only side trails split from the bike path near the far end of the campground.
The first led to the grave site of Kitty Newell while the other was the short .4 mile Nature Trail Loop.

The bike path was clear of water and we followed it along the Willamette. Houses lined the far side of the river, but on our side was a mossy forest.

The final .6 miles to the store require some road walking, first along narrow Schuler Rd then downhill on what was a busy Butteville Rd.
On our way back we remained on the paved bike path after recrossing Champoeg Creek. This route would bring us back on a loop around open farmland and the park’s Frisbee golf course.

We spotted a number of birds along this portion including an Acorn Woodpecker.

Near the end of the loop we spotted a tree with markers showing the water levels during the 1861 flood and the more recent 1996 flood.

We lived in Monmouth, OR in 1996 so we remembered the 1996 event. It was hard to fathom how much more water there would have needed to be to reach that 1861 mark. We finished up our hike and began to drive back out of the park, but as we were sitting at a stop sign I looked out the passenger window to see an American Kestrel sitting in a tree only 10 feet away. I reached back for the camera only to realize I had put it in the back of the car. As a rule I keep it in the back seat because of the amount of wildlife we seem to wind up seeing from the car instead of on the hikes, but I hadn’t this time. The kestrel flew off and landed in another tree a little further away, so I hopped out and got the camera out of the back in hopes of getting a picture. It changed trees one more time before I was able to jog over to the bike path (which just happened to pass near the road here) and get a semi decent photo.

This wasn’t one of our typical hikes, but knowing the history of the area made it an interesting hike. If you’re interested in more information on this area or for other historical Oregon hikes check out Hiking Oregon’s History by William L. Sullivan.

Happy Trails and Merry Christmas!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157660242747654

Tags 1861 flood, acron woodpecker, american kestrel, Butteville store, champoeg creek, champoeg state park, hiking, kitty newell, Oregon, willamette river

Columbia Gorge North Hiking Trip report Washington

Cape Horn

For our November hike we chose the Cape Horn trail. We had wanted a hike that was a little shorter than our normal trips since Heather had just run her first race in awhile. The 7+ mile loop around Cape Horn fit the bill perfectly and it was a good time for a visit given the full loop is closed from February 1st to July 15th due to nesting Falcons.

Just 30 minutes from the Portland airport the trailhead is located at the Skamania County Transit Park & Ride lot near milepost 26 along State Highway 14 at Salmon Falls Road. The all volunteer Cape Horn Conservancy works with the United States Forest Service (USFS), Washington Trails Association (WTA), and Friends of the Columbia Gorge (FOCG) to maintain and improve the trail here which was evident by the well maintained trail and abundant signage along the way which began at the trailhead.
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Almost immediately after crossing Salmon Falls Rd. and starting on the trail we faced the choice of going clockwise or counter-clockwise around the loop. We stayed to the right heading counter-clockwise and began climbing up toward the viewpoints on top of Cape Horn.
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Our first good views were to the north as the trail neared some power lines where several snow dusted peaks were visible.
Lookout Mountain
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Silver Star Mountain, Little Baldy, and Bluff Mountain
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The trail then crossed over to the Columbia Gorge side of Cape Horn for our first unobstructed views of the Columbia River. The Sun had just crested over Larch Mountain to the southeast and was creating some glare limiting the views. A cold wind was racing down the Gorge which made it a little too chilly to spend much time at any of the viewpoints which was too bad because they were nice enough to warrant a longer stay.
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The trail then dropped down away from the Gorge (and out of the wind) briefly joining an old roadbed and then climbing to a crossing of paved Strunk Rd. where the trail passes through grassy fields on a gravel road.
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The next viewpoint of the Columbia Gorge was the Nancy Russell Overlook which had recently undergone some repairs. A long stone bench in the overlook offered plenty of space for hikers to relax and soak in the view, but again the cold wind wasn’t going to allow us to enjoy it for long.
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The trail began to descend after the Nancy Russell Overlook switchbacking and passing yet another viewpoint on it’s way down to a tunnel beneath SR 14.
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Yet another viewpoint awaited on the other side of the highway.
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A nice waterfall cascaded down a grassy slope near the viewpoint.
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The section that is closed for the Falcons begins shortly after that viewpoint but that wasn’t an issue now so we continued on. After another series of switchbacks the trail began to head back leading us east parallel to the river. The wind was really whipping down closer to the river and we were blasted by it every time there was a break in the trees. We passed an unsigned side trail to the right and momentarily paused wondering where it might go. After continuing on for a minute or so it dawned on us that it had likely led to an overlook of the railroad tracks as they headed into the tunnel beneath Cape Horn. We began looking for the other end of that side trail to rejoin the main trail and spotted it at a set of trail signs. We turned right and headed out to check out this unsigned trail. It led to a series of grassy viewpoints and the view of the railroad tracks as we had suspected.
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The wind along here was so strong that we struggled to not be pushed around by it. It was a challenge to try and stand in one spot for anytime at all. We followed the side trail all the way back to the unmarked junction we had wondered about earlier and then resumed our hike on the main trail. Another windy viewpoint awaited not far ahead where three unique rock formations where visible. From this spot Cigar Rock, Beacon Rock, and Phoca Rock were all visible.
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Cigar Rock is the tall column of rock on the left, Beacon Rock is in the distance straight ahead, and Phoca Rock is in the middle of the Columbia to the right.
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After fighting with the wind attempting to take pictures of the rocks the trail turned uphill passing through an interesting rock field below some cliffs.
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As we crossed the rock field we got our first view of Cape Horn Falls.
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The falls were a delight. A small rainbow appeared and faded at the base of the falls as wind gusts blew the cascade from side to side. The footbridge below the falls was somewhat protected from the wind allowing us to spend some time watching the water dance in the wind.
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Beyond Cape Horn Falls the trail continues through the trees below the cliffs until it finally drops down to Cape Horn Road.
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The paved road acts as the trail for the next 1 1/4 miles passing farmland below Cape Horn.
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The trail leaves the road just prior to reaching SR 14 leading to another tunnel and than a short climb to complete the loop.
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The hike was just what we were hoping for. Not too long (7.3 miles) but packed with views and diverse scenery. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157661488144815

Tags beacon rock, Cape Horn, Cape Horn Conservancy, Cape Horn Falls, Cape Horn Trail, hiking, nancy Russell Overlook, Phoca rock. Cigar rock, Strunk Rd, Washington

Hiking Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Oregon Trip report

Oregon Caves National Monument

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 5, 2015
2 Comments on Oregon Caves National Monument

We’d slept well after our dinner in the Dining Room of the Chateau at the Oregon Caves and woke ready for the final hikes of our vacation. We had reserved tickets for the 10am cave tour so we had plenty of time to eat breakfast at the cafe, explore a little of the historic district, and work on the puzzle sitting out in the Chateau’s lobby.
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We checked in at the Visitor Information Center at 9:30 and picked up our tickets. The cave tours are limited in size to 15 people and can fill up quickly during the busy summer months, but on this day there would only be 8 of us on the tour. Like the rest of the Siskiyou Mountains the area began as part of the Pacific Ocean seafloor that was later lifted by the North American Plate as it scrapped over the ocean bottom. The Oregon Caves are mostly made up of marble which was formed by the “skeletons” of marine organisms. Later the caves formed as rainwater from the ancient forest above dissolved the surrounding marble and created a special marble cave system.

The tour was led by a ranger who let us know that bats had begun to settle into the cave for the coming winter months and not to use camera flashes where bats were present. We passed several small bats near the entrance to the cave clinging to the rocks.
Bat above the path toward the right hand side of the picture.
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Harvester spider in the gray triangle (upper left) and a bat directly ahead and above.
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Lights in the cave made it possible to get some pictures without needing a flash so I experimented with and without using one with varying degrees of success.
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Our favorite part of the tour was a side trip up to a room called Paradise Lost which is only part of the tour when time allows. Luckily we were making good time and the ranger led us up the stairs and into the room.
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Near the cave exit we were asked if anyone was deathly afraid of spiders. Harvester spiders had also begun moving into the cave and forming clumps on the walls and ceiling.
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The tour lasts 90 minutes and covers about a mile including the .3 mile walk back down to the Visitor Center after exiting the cave.
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In addition to the cave tour the monument offers a number of other hiking opportunities and we planned on checking out the Big Tree Loop before leaving.
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The highlight of the Big Tree Loop is a 14′ diameter Douglas Fir, the widest known to exist in Oregon. The trail gains a good deal of elevation over a fairly short distance making it a moderate hike.
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As we climbed through the forest we spotted several birds including an owl that silently flew by and landed in a tree ahead of us.
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Big Tree may not have been as large as some of the redwoods we’d seen at the beginning of our vacation but it’s size was more emphasized due to the much smaller surrounding trees.
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After a little more climbing we began descending back down toward the Visitor Center. Just over 1.5 miles from Big Tree we arrived at a junction with the Cliff Nature Trail.
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We faced the choice of turning right and ending our hike back at the Visitor Center in .3 miles or taking the Cliff nature Trail .4 miles past a viewpoint and then down to the Cave Exit for the additional .3 miles to the parking area. We chose the nature trail. 🙂

We climbed to the viewpoint and discovered we were not alone.
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We were nearing the end of our trip and we’d seen an amazing variety of animals during the 7 days, but one we had not seen was any black-tail deer. We had expected to see at least one in the Red Buttes Wilderness but had not and we hadn’t even seen one while driving to our various destinations. As we were coming down the paved path from the cave exit for the second time at a switchback there stood a deer.
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It had taken over 80 miles of hiking but there in the last quarter mile were two black-tail deer. They looked up at us and then went back to grazing as we passed by.
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We headed home both tired and refreshed. It had been a wonderful trip full of unique sights and beautiful scenery and was a perfect way to wrap up our main hiking season for 2015. We’ll scale back to one a hike month for a while so Heather can focus on her running and I can work on next years adventures. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157660617381321

Tags bats, big tree, black-tail deer, cave, cave tour, cliff nature trail, harvester spider, hiking, marble, Oregon, oregon cave national monument, Oregon Caves, owl, Siskiyou mountains, The Chateau at the Oregon Caves

California Hiking Klamath Mountains Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Oregon Siskiyou mountains Trip report

Red Buttes Wilderness Day 4 – Azalea Lake and beyond.

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 4, 2015
1 Comment on Red Buttes Wilderness Day 4 – Azalea Lake and beyond.

**Note the 2017 Know Fire burned a portion of this hike.**

We woke up early on the final day of our trip and began packing up under a full moon.
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We had been having a great time backpacking but we were also looking forward to our reservations for that night at the Chateau at the Oregon Caves. We said goodbye to Azalea Lake and climbed back up to the saddle between Figurehead Mountain and Buck Peak watching the sun color the clouds as it rose.
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Preston Peak
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It was a beautiful morning as we retraced our route from Monday in reverse. We skipped the .1 mile side trip to Cirque Lake and paused at Sucker Gap for a snack.
Swan Mountain from Sucker Gap
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A little over half a mile beyond Sucker Gap we spotted another pair of hikers making their way up the trail. I don’t know who was more surprised, but we all had shocked looks on our faces. They hadn’t expected to see anyone else on the trails. They were from Medford and on their way up to Sucker Gap and then going to head off-trail up either Swan Mountain or Pyramid Peak. We informed them that they had broken a tie between humans seen and bears making the final 5 to 3 in favor of people. They let us know that they had seen our car at the lower trailhead so we knew it was still waiting for us. We arrived at our car close to 1pm and headed for the Oregon Caves National Monument which was only about 20 miles away.

We arrived before check-in (3pm) so we wandered around the gift shop and had a wonderful lunch in the cafe before picking up our room keys. The Chateau was amazing. Considered one of the “Great Lodges” the six story building was originally built in 1934.
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Lobby
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Our room
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It really felt like we’d gone back in time in the rustic building and immediately felt at home. The Chateau would be closing for the season after the weekend but the staff was very friendly and helpful and dinner in the Chateau Dining Room was excellent. Oh, and Cave Creek flows right through the building which was the icing on the cake. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157660616631445/with/22658987801/

Tags Azalea Lake, Buck Peak, California, Cave Creek, Figurehead mountain, hiking, Oregon, Oregon Caves National Monument, Pyramid Peak, Red Buttes Wilderness, Sucker Gap, Swan Mountain, The Chateau at the Oregon Caves

California Hiking Klamath Mountains Siskiyou mountains Trip report

Red Buttes Wilderness Day 3 – Echo Lake back to Azalea Lake

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 4, 2015
No Comments on Red Buttes Wilderness Day 3 – Echo Lake back to Azalea Lake

**Note the 2017 Knox and Abney Fires as well as the 2020 Devil Fire burned portions of this hike.**

It was still raining when we awoke Wednesday morning and we began packing everything we could into our dry sacks. While we were figuring out our strategy on exiting the tent and taking it down, the rain stopped. God had been good and just as the rain began after we had gotten into the tent, it ended just as we were preparing to exit.
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We packed up our wet tent and cooked breakfast then headed away from the lake on the Horse Camp Trail downhill toward the Applegate River. It was the steepest trail of the hike but it was well maintained and easy to follow.
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We were following a ridge down Echo Canyon until the trail veered away to the right to go around the Butte Slide.
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As we passed the slide we descended a series of switchbacks with views of the leftover clouds drifting over the valleys.
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We stopped to watch a hawk who seemed to be just as curious about us as we were of him.
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The vegetation changed as we lost elevation and we began seeing some different trees including Madrones.
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Before reaching the river we arrived at the junction with the Butte Fork Trail which we would take back up to Azalea Lake where we had stayed on our first night. Not surprisingly the trail sign was lying on the ground.
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Now is a good time to mention that we had been using the USFS Red Buttes Wilderness topographic map during the trip. It was the only map I could find covering the area and we had it and our compasses as well as our Gamrin 62s GPS unit. The Garmin was of limited use though due to the fact that we were in California and we do not own the California Map so all it could show us was our elevation and where we were in relation to our earlier tracks and waypoints. We were checking the map often so that we were familiar with our route and any markers to expect along the way. Our markers for the first part of the Butte Fork Trail were a small side creek, passing beneath the Butte Slide, crossing the river near Echo Canyon, and then reentering the Red Buttes Wilderness.

The first side creek was a pleasant surprise as the trail passed between a series of small falls.
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Things began to get interesting soon after the falls as we arrived at Echo Creek. The trail led us straight to the creek instead of down and across the river.
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The trail was hard to see on the other side of the creek but we hopped across the rocks and found it covered in leaves.
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We left Echo creek behind and continued on looking for the river crossing we had been expecting, but instead we came to a wilderness sign.
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We had entered the wilderness on the opposite side of the river from what the map showed. We double and triple checked the map but we were clearly not where the trail on the map was. The trail crossed another side creek which we deemed to be Hello Creek and kept heading up the canyon on the south side of the river.
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As we continued on the trail condition deteriorated. Sections were overgrown and large trees had come down across the trail along the steep canyon hillsides. We climbed over some and under others. A couple of times we had to detour up the steep hillside and crash through a mass of broken limbs to continue on. At one point the trail forked and we headed downhill finally reaching the river near what appeared to be an old campsite. We were hoping that this was the river crossing, but there was no obvious sign of the trail on the far bank nor any way to cross save fording. We returned to the fork and took the left hand fork continuing to encounter numerous downed trees. We hadn’t gotten too far from the campsite when we decided to go back and do a little more searching to see if we couldn’t find away across and possible pick up the trail shown on the map on the north side of the river. As we walked up the river bank a log lying along the hillside on the far bank caught my eye. Looking the area over we could see that it had once been lining a trail but that trail was now washed out leaving a hole on the other side where the trail had been. We now suspected that the trail had been rerouted at some point and that the map had never been updated. We decided to press ahead on the south side of the river hoping that things would improve and we at least would not encounter any obstacles that would make it impossible for us to continue. We could now see sections of the trail on the far hillside lending credence to our reroute theory.

The next marker we would have been looking for after reentering the wilderness was a junction with a trail coming from the Shoofly Trailhead to the north. We had been watching the elevation on our Garmin to give us an idea of where we might be by comparing it to the topo map and we could see we were still at a lower elevation than the trail junction so we were hoping conditions might improve once we made it that far. As we got close to the correct elevation the trail suddenly arrived at a nice bridge spanning the Butte Fork Applegate River.
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We happily crossed the river and were finally on the side we had expected to be on. We noticed a trail that had been blocked off with branches coming from the direction that we would have been coming from had we been on the north side of the river which all but sold us on the reroute theory.

Not far from the bridge we arrived at another trail junction marked only by a small stake with “2 1/4” and an arrow pointing uphill written on it. We initially headed up this path thinking that the other trail was just going to lead down to the river, but Heather had a feeling this was incorrect and her gut instincts are usually right so we turned around and took the left hand fork which turned out to be correct. The other trail must have led up to the Shoofly Trailhead.

We were now on a nice trail that clearly saw more traffic than the section we had just come from. Signs of recent horse travel were evident on the trail and there was a nice little shelter along the way.
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We had been gradually climbing up the valley and were passing Fruit Mountain when we heard some noise ahead and to our right. A mama bear and a cub were racing back up the hillside and disappeared into the forest. We had now seen as many bears (3) as people on the trip.
Fruit Mountain
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Beyond Fruit Mountain our next marker was the one that had most interested us. On the map was the word “Graves” next to the trail at approximately the 4320′ elevation mark. We weren’t sure what we were looking for but it was obvious when we saw it.
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Later we learned that a plane crash in 1945 had claimed the lives of four people, the pilot and his three passengers, a husband and wife and her sister whose graves this was.

After the grave site we recrossed a now much smaller river and climbed to Cedar Basin.
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We relaxed against one of the large cedars before climbing the final .9 miles to Azalea Lake. We had half expected to find the horseback riders whose signs we’d seen on the trail but it was just us at the lake again for the night. We set up camp at the same site as before and watched the sun go down behind the ridge between Figurehead Mountain and Buck Peak.
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