Category: Trip report

Falls Creek Falls and Indian Racetrack

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 18, 2018
5 Comments on Falls Creek Falls and Indian Racetrack

One week after spending a day hiking in California at the Lava Beds National Monument (post) we visited our neighbor to the north, Washington. On our itinerary for the day were a pair of hikes north of Carson, WA. We started with a visit to Falls Creek Falls.

We parked at the trailhead at the end of Forest Road 57 where only one other car occupied the large parking area at 7:15am. The dim morning light coupled with some low clouds made it hard to capture the fall colors with the camera but our eyes had no problems appreciating them as we set off on the trail.

We quickly passed a trail on the left which would be part of the loop we were planning on doing here and stayed straight toward the falls.

At the .4 mile mark we arrived at a short suspension bridge over Falls Creek.

Beyond the bridge the trail climbed gradually for a mile to a junction. Along the way there were several views of the creek.

At the junction we stayed right and continued to gradually climb for another .3 miles to three tiered Falls Creek Falls. The first views are of the upper and middle tiers through some trees.

The lower tier comes into view near the end of the trail at which point most of the upper tier is lost due to the angle.

We spent a few chilly minutes admiring the falls before heading back to the junction.

Here we veered uphill to the right climbing fairly steeply for about two tenths of a mile to the Falls Creek Trail.

Before continuing on the loop we turned right on the Falls Creek Trail to visit a viewpoint or two above the falls. After .6 miles on this fairly level trail we spotted a side trail heading out to the first viewpoint. We started to head out this spur but then noticed a tent set up there (we found the owners of the other car) so we continued another quarter mile to the second viewpoint.

The view from the top was just out over the valley, but a steep scramble trail led down to the top of the falls from here. We checked to see if the ground seemed muddy or slick, but it turned out to be in good shape so we made our way down to the creek just above the falls.

From the viewpoint we returned to the loop and continued down the Falls Creek Trail 1.7 miles to another bridge over Falls Creek which we hadn’t seen since the viewpoint. Despite the creek not being visible from the trail the scenery was not lacking due to the surrounding forest and fall colors.

At the far side of the bridge we turned left for a little over half a mile completing the loop and returning to our car, and a much fuller parking lot.

After the 6.3 mile hike here we were ready for the second hike of the day to the Indian Heaven Wilderness and Red Mountain. We drove back toward Carson and eventually (after missing the turn the first time) turned east on Warren Gap Road (Road 405) at a pointer for the Panther Creek Campground. We followed this road for a little under two miles to Forest Road 65 where we turned left for 8 miles, passing the parking area for Panther Creek Falls (post) along the way, to a junction with FR 60. We turned right here and followed this road for two miles to the Pacific Crest Trail and a small campground.

We followed the PCT north climbing gradually through the forest which looked quite different from the forest along Falls Creek just a few miles away.

A little over 1.75 miles from the trailhead we passed one of the small Sheep Lakes.

A quarter mile later we entered the Indian Heaven Wilderness.

Although there wasn’t as much fall color along this trail as there had been along the trails at Fall Creek there was some and there were also some interesting mushrooms to be seen.

This may named be Green Lake

As we hiked through a meadow we spotted the lookout tower on Red Mountain to the SW which was to be one of our stops on the hike.

We turned left off of the PCT 1.2 miles after entering the wilderness at a sign for Indian Racetrack.

This trail led a half mile through the forest to the large meadows at Indian Racetrack where up until 1928 tribes indeed raced horses.

We turned left in the middle of the meadows toward a trail sign for the Indian Racetrack Trail.

This trail climbed for .8 miles, steeply at times, to a road on the shoulder of Red Mountain. An opening just above a saddle along the way provided a nice view of Mt. Adams to the NE.

We followed the road uphill for .3 miles to the lookout gaining views of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier along the way.

Lemei Rock and Mt. Adams

Near the lookout Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson could be seen to the south in Oregon.

We took a nice long break at the summit gazing at Washington’s trio of volcanoes and talking with a fellow hiker from Vancouver who had tried to reach the lookout earlier in the year but had been turned back by snow.
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Mt. St. Helens

Mt. Rainier

Mt. Adams

From the lookout we headed back down the road and followed it all the way back down to FR 60 a total of 3.4 miles from the tower.

We were a half mile from the Pacfic Crest Trail so we road walked, uphill, back to our car. In hindsight it might have been nicer to do the loop in reverse in order to start with the road walks and finish the hike with a gradual descent. Either way it was a great hike, but we had been expecting it to be a 7.5 mile loop based on our guidebook, but our GPS (and our legs) put it at 9.2 miles. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Falls Creek Falls and Indian Racetrack

Tags Falls Creek Falls, Falls creek Falls Trail, Falls Creek Trail, hiking, indian heaven wilderness, Indian Racetrack, Indian Racetrack Trail, Lemei Rock, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, Red Mountain, Red Mountain Lookout, Sheep Lakes, Warren Gap Road, Washington

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

Fish Lake and Lake of the Woods

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 13, 2018
1 Comment on Fish Lake and Lake of the Woods

Sunday of Columbus Day Weekend was the only day of the four where the forecast in the Cascade Mountains looked promising so on that morning we headed west from Klamath Falls on Highway 140 to visit a pair of lakes near Mt. McLoughlin.

The skies over Klamtah were pretty much clear as was the case for most of the drive, but as we crossed over the Cascade Crest we found ourselves in a fog bank. We turned off the highway at sign for the North Fork Campground between mileposts 28 and 29. We parked at a small trailhead parking area a half mile down this road on the left.

It was a chilly morning in the fog as we set off on the Fish Lake Trail, but it wasn’t raining.

The trail began by passing through a nice fir forest with occasional views of North Fork Little Butte Creek.

After .6 miles we came to a signed spur trail which we followed 100 yards to the Fish Lake Dam.

For the better part of the next mile the Fish Lake Trail veered away from the water as it curved around some private summer homes.

When the trail did make it to the lake there wasn’t much to see due to the fog.

The trail stuck closer to the lake shore for the next .8 miles before arriving at Doe Point and the Doe Point Campground. As we made our way around Doe Point the fog began to lift revealing some of the blue sky we had seen on our morning drive.

A quarter mile after rounding Doe Point we arrived at the Fish Lake Campground and boat ramp where a variety of woodland animals were busy harvesting chinkapin.
Stellar’s jay

Chipmunk

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Our guidebook suggested turning around at the Fish Lake Resort, but we wound up losing the trail near the picnic shelter and decided not to try and walk through the campground to find the continuation of the trail and turned around.

It was a different hike on the way back as the fog had entirely lifted from the lake and was breaking up overhead.

By the time we were hiking back along the creek the sky was a beautiful blue.

Typically having a hike only clear up near the end is a bit of a bummer, but we had another hike to go and with the clear skies we knew we should have a good view of Mt. McLoughlin from Lake of the Woods.

From the Fish Lake Trailhead we drove back east on Highway 140 to a sign for Fish Lake. We turned right at the sign and followed this road for a mile and a half to the Dead Indian Memorial Highway where we turned right again. The suggested starting point for this hike in our guidebook was at the Sunset Campground which was a mile down this highway. When we arrived at the entrance road we found it was gated so we turned around and wound up parking at the Rainbow Bay Picnic Area near the Lake of the Woods Resort after obtaining a $6 parking pass.

From the parking lot we headed SE along the lake shore around Rainbow Bay where some ducks were enjoying the wonderful weather.

The first mountain to come into view was Brown Mountain across the lake.

Shortly after rounding the bay we arrived at the Sunset Campground where we did indeed have a nice view of Mt. McLoughlin. The mountain was sporting a dusting of new snow at its summit.

We could picture the route up to the summit that we’d taken a couple of years before (post).

Satisfied with our view we turned around and headed back toward the Rainbow Bay parking area. We weren’t done hiking though and we veered behind the parking lot on the Sunset Trail toward the Aspen Point Campground.

At a three way junction we turned right onto the Family Trail Loop.

The Family Trail Loop crossed the paved road we’d been on earlier after a tenth of a mile.

Just after crossing the road the Mountain Lakes Trail split off to the right while we stayed left.

Several interpretive signs were set up along this trail.
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We stayed left ignoring a tie trail that would have looped us back to the Mountian Lakes Trail junction and arrived at the Great Meadow .6 miles from the road crossing.

At a junction with the High Lakes Trail at the Great Meadow we turned left skirting the meadow in the forest for .7 miles to another road crossing across from the Aspen Point Campground.

At a junction on the other side of the road we went right keeping on the High Lakes Trail which led around Lake of the Woods to the NW. This section of trail passed some golden aspen trees and a leaf covered slough where ducks, geese, and a heron were spending their Sunday.

We followed this trail past an old Forest Service complex and planned on turning around at the guidebooks suggested location, a small canoe launch.

The canoe launch wasn’t much, but there was a nice view of some of the peaks in the Mountain Lakes Wilderness (post) across the water.

A solitary duck was swimming around in the launch and it apparently expected us to have some food because she came right up to us.

We did our best to explain that we don’t feed the wild animals and she waddled back to the water. At that point Heather asked about something on a plank in the water that I had originally thought was another duck but then decided it was just a rock set on the wood. She had taken it for something inanimate as well but then thought she saw it move. Upon closer inspection we discovered that it was a muskrat (initially we thought nutria but it was cuter than that invasive species).

It wasn’t particularly concerned by us but eventually it disappeared into the water. Then a dragon fly showed up and hovered over the water just below me.

After our unique little interaction with nature it was time to start back. We returned to the Aspen Point Campground and followed paths near the lake shore back to the Lake of The Woods Resort.

Our hike here was 6.3 miles long while the hike at Fish Lake had been 7 miles giving us a nice 13.3 mile day. After the cold, foggy start the day had turned out beautiful. We would be heading home the next morning (with a stop along the way of course) and this was a perfect way to end our time in the Klamath Falls area. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Fish Lake and Lake of the Woods

Tags Aspen Point Campground, brown mountain, Doe Point, Fish Lake, Fish lake Campground, Fish Lake Trail, Great Meadow, High Lakes Trail, hiking, Lake of the Woods, Lake of the Woods Resort, mountain lakes wilderness, Mt. Mcloughlin, Muskrat, North Fork Campground, North Fork Little Butte Fork, Oregon, Rainbow Bay, Sunset Campground

California Hiking Trip report

Lava Beds National Monument

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 12, 2018
8 Comments on Lava Beds National Monument

**Note the 2020 Caldwell Fire burned a portion of the Schonchin Butte hike and the 2021 Antelope Fire burned the area around Whitney BUtte.**

We spent the second day of our Klamath Falls trip in California visiting the Lava Beds National Monument. It had started raining Friday afternoon and continued overnight, but by morning the clouds were beginning to break up leaving scattered showers to make their way across the landscape. This made for some dramatic scenery on our drive from Klamath Falls to the National Monument, especially along Tule Lake. We took advantage of a couple of the numerous pullouts that are part of the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge to admire the colorful sky and numerous waterfowl on the lake.

The fee booth (currently $20/per car) was closed at the north entrance of the Monument so we had to drive to the Visitor Center to obtain a pass which was 9.7 miles away.

It was a little before 8am and the Visitor Center didn’t open until 9am but we were able to pay with a fee envelope. What we couldn’t do was obtain a cave permit though, which are required to visit any of the area caves. The threat of White Nose Syndrome has made screening by Park Rangers necessary. We’d need to come back for that but in the meantime we headed back north to the Black Crater Trailhead.

From this trailhead there were two destinations, Black Crater and an overlook of the Thomas-Wright battlefield.

Each destination shares the first tenth of a mile of trail. The overnight rain had brought out the sweet smell of sagebrush to which Heather pointed out that smell is one thing that you can’t capture in photos.

We decided to visit Black Crater first and took the right hand fork when the trail split.

This trail passed over a lava flow arriving at the start of a short .3 mile loop that climbed up and around part of the splatter cone. We took notice of a peak to the NW that appeared to have a cloud stuck to its summit. It turned out to be Mount Dome, and for much of the rest of the day we kept watch on this peak to see if it would ever be cloud free.

Tule Lake

Although not nearly as large, Black Crater did remind us a little of Coffee Pot Crater which we’d visited in June (post).

After completing the loop we headed for the battlefield. It was just over a mile from the fork to the viewpoint and the trail spent this time passing volcanic formations and a few lingering wildflowers.

The Thomas-Wright battle took place on April 26, 1873 when an Army patrol was defeated by the Modocs.

After reading up on the battle we headed back to the trailhead and drove back to the now open Visitor Center. We spent some time looking at the displays inside before obtaining our cave permit. We hung the permit in our car and headed for Mushpot Cave. After initially starting to drive Cave Loop Road we realized that Mushpot Cave was actually right next to the Visitor Center so we turned around and parked back once again at the center.

At the far end of the center we spotted the sign for the cave.

A .2 mile paved path led to the entrance of the lava tube.

This is the only lighted cave in the Monument and also featured a paved path lined with interpretive signs.

The lava tube is 770′ in length and does have a spot or two where we needed to duck under the low ceiling. We exited the cave and returned to our car. Since we were only there for the day we skipped the rest of the caves along the loop (a few were closed for bat mating season). Instead we drove north, once again, from the Visitor Center to a sign for Skull Cave where we turned right. After a mile we pulled into a small trailhead parking area for Symbol Bridge and Big Painted Cave.

The short trail here passes several collapsed sections of a lava tube and offers a good view of Schonchin Butte.

We turned left at a sign for Big Painted Cave.

The signed cave entrance was only about 100′ along the spur trail.

More of an overhang than a cave, a path led down to the entrance.

We honestly couldn’t make out any of the pictographs, the colored rocks made it difficult to tell what was natural and what wasn’t. It’s been a common theme for us when visiting pictograph sites.

We returned to the main trail and continued the short distance to Symbol Bridge.

Again a short path led down to the cave entrance, but this time the pictographs were clearly evident.

We headed back to the car happy to have finally been able to make out some drawings. After completing the two mile hike we continued driving north to a sign for Merrill Cave where we turned left for almost a mile to the shared Whitney Butte and Merrill Cave Trailhead.

Up until this point we had been following the recommended hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” 3rd edition, but these were from Bubba Suess’s “Hiking Northern California” book.
We started with the short path to Merrill Cave. An interpretive sign at the entrance told a familiar story, warming temperatures have led to the loss of ice in this cave like many others. 😦

We descended the metal staircase and followed a metal walkway through the cave.

Near its end there was a metal ladder dropping down into an opening.

The rails actually did have a little ice on them as we climbed down into the lower chamber where the path quickly ended.

We climbed back out of the cave and then started down the Whitney Butte Trail. One exciting prospect of the Whitney Butte Trail was that it would take us into the Lava Beds Wilderness.

This was by far the longest hike we’d tackle on the day but was still just a little under 7 miles round trip. The Whitney Butte Trail began by passing through open sagebrush then skirted around an old lava flow.

For much of the hike out, Mount Dome lay almost straight ahead and it was still holding onto its cloud cover. The trails namesake, Whitney Butte, stayed hidden for the first mile and a half before revealing itself to the left of the trail.
Whitney Butte to the left and Mount Dome to the right.

Approximately 2.2 miles into the hike we passed a trail signed for Gold Digger Road.

The clouds had actually increased a bit during the day and we were feeling occasional rain drops which weren’t a big deal, but the cloud cover did put a hamper on the views. Many lower buttes were visible but the higher peaks were hidden.

As we passed by Whitney Butte we began scouting out a route down. Our plan was to follow a suggested off trail visit to the top of the butte described in the guidebook. The most gently sloping ridge appeared to come down the eastern side of the butte.

We stayed on the Whitney Butte Trail until it ended at the Callahan Lava Flow.

From the lava we turned left and headed up Whitney Butte.

It was a relatively easy scramble which provided some nice views despite not being able to see Mt. Shasta or Mt. McLoughlin due to the cloud cover. On the other hand Mount Dome finally broke free of the last of its clouds.

In addition to the views we spotted some wildlife.

On top of the butte we stayed left around a pair of craters and attempted to descend on the ridge we’d picked out on the way by.

We actually overshot it a bit but still had no problem coming down the old cinder cone and reconnecting with the Whitney Butte Trail. The clouds were now breaking up again as we headed back to the trailhead. Our next destination, Schonchin Butte, was visible for most of the hike back.

After finishing the hike we once again drove a short distance north to a signed gravel road for Schonchin Butte. After a mile of good gravel we parked at the trailhead and started up the Schonchin Butte Trail.

The trail was well graded and the views were great making the climb feel fairly easy.
Tule Lake

Whitney Butte and Mount Dome

After .6 miles the trail split allowing for a loop around the crater and past the Schonchin Butte Lookout.

As we made our way around the loop we got a view down to the Symbol Bridge Trail.

The lookout tower was perched on lava rocks that looked like bricks.

Along the deck were identifiers for the area landmarks, some visible and some not.

After identifying the landmarks that were visible we completed the loop and returned to our car. From Schonchin Butte we drove back to the fee booth at the northern park entrance and turned right onto Rim Road for 3.2 miles to a signed pullout for Captain Jack’s Stronghold.

Here two loops (short and long) explore the area where a small force of Modoc held out against the U.S. Army in 1872-73.

We unfortunately did not grab a trail guide for the interpretive trail which we greatly regretted. After climbing a small hill a trail sign pointed out the shared beginning of both loops.

The trail led through lava formations with narrow passages and small caves. Numbered signs along the way marked items that we could have read about if we had grabbed a guide.

At the .3 mile mark the loops split with the shorter return route to the right and the longer loop to the left. We went left.

The long loop was a mile and a half versus a half mile for the short loop option. The extra mile was well worth it even without the companion trail guide. Near the end of the loop we spotted a pair of deer munching on some leaves.

We had one final stop planned before leaving the Monument for good so when we got back to our car we continued east on what became County Road 120 following signs for Petroglyph Point. Along the way we briefly reentered the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge where we wound up stopping again to gawk at the wildlife.

We left County Road 120 when prompted by the signage and soon found ourselves pulling into a large parking area near the base of Petroglyph Point.

Here we walked along a fence (to protect the thousands of petroglyphs)for .3 miles marveling at all the designs.

The cliffs above were fairly impressive on their own.

After spending quite a while contemplating the art we headed back to Klamath Falls. It was a full day for sure having spent over 10 hours in the Monument and logging around 16.5 miles but well worth the time and effort. Even with all of that there is still much left there to explore on our next visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Lava Beds National Monument

Tags Big Painted Cave, California, Captain Jack's Stronghold, hiking, Lava Beds National Monument, Lava Beds Wilderness, Merrill Cave, Mushpot Cave, Petroglphy, Petroglyph point, Pictograph, Schonchin Butte, Symbol Bridge, Thomas-Wright Battlefield, Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Whitney Butte, Whitney Butte Trail

Hiking Klamath Falls Oregon Trip report

OC&E Woods Line State Trail

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 11, 2018
4 Comments on OC&E Woods Line State Trail

We had planned our final multi-day trip for the year over Columbus Day weekend. We were hoping to have it be the backpacking trip around and up Diamond Peak that we’d planned on doing in September but changed due to the weather. Much like that long weekend the forecast was for rain or snow showers off and on over the four days. Diamond Peak will have to wait until next year at the earliest, but in the meantime we needed to find a less damp alternative.

After looking over our list of future four day trips and checking the forecast for each area we landed on the Klamath Falls area. There were still chances of rain in the forecast but it didn’t look like it would be much more than some light scattered showers.

We started our trip off with a pair of hikes along the OC&E Woods Line State Trail.

Our first stop was at the Switchback Trailhead located along Bliss Road 4 miles south of the community of Sprague River (the way we came) or 12 miles north of Highway 140 coming from Klamath Falls (drive Hwy 140 17 miles east from K-Falls to reach Bliss Rd.).

The weather was good as we set off on the trail with some blue sky still to be seen.

At this section of railroad the trains used to have to back up along the tracks in order to climb the mountain.

From the trailhead there was a good view down to the location of the old track below, but the scenery was dominated by a grove of aspen that were in full Fall color.

On the far side of the aspen was our goal for the day, Devil’s Garden, a volcanic landscape a bit off of the official trail.

We followed the trail downhill to where it leveled out beside a bit of a meadow.

About three quarters of a mile from the trailhead we turned right off of the trail onto a dirt track.

Using the GPS in conjunction with the map in our guidebook we made our way slightly SW onto a second, fainter track through an open ponderosa pine forest.

As the dirt track curved to the west we left it and continued south crossing a small gully.

On the other side of the gully we passed through a stand of pines and turned to the SE.

Soon we were entering the volcanic landscape of the Devil’s Garden.

We were now heading east with the pine trees on our left and the golden leaves of the aspen grove beyond the rock formations ahead.

It was an interesting cross country walk through the different formations.

As interesting as the rocks were we were drawn to the aspen grove.

We made our way to those trees and decided to pass through the stand and attempt to loop back to the OC&E Trail.

We had to recross the gully which had deepened immensely but remained crossable.

After navigating a second, shallower gully, we emerged from the aspen and turned left using the GPS to navigate back through the sagebrush and pondorosa to the trail.

We turned right onto the trail thinking that it was a loop, we both had pictured it that way in our minds and there had been a dirt road coming uphill from the south near the trailhead which we took for the return route.

After being back on the trail for almost three quarters of a mile though we noticed that we had passed below the trailhead and were now heading away from it. We took a quick look at the map on the GPS and noticed that it did not show any road or trail connecting up to make a loop. We then checked the map in the guidebook and sure enough it also did not show the hike as a loop, but rather an out-and-back. We were a bit confused because we were both certain it was a loop and I could even picture it on a map. In any case we backtracked to a point below the trailhead and headed cross country uphill.

A .2 mile climb brought us to the road we’d seen when we set off earlier. It was later when looking at the area on Google Maps that we realized where the loop idea had come from. The dirt road and the OC&E Trail do meet but that junction was another 300+ yards away and not shown no the GPS map. With our exploring and the extra out and back at the end our distance for this hike was 3.6 miles.

For our second hike on the OC&E Trail we returned to the community of Sprague River and turned east onto Sprague River Road for 10 miles to Highway 140. We then turned left onto this highway and followed it into Beatty (5 miles) where we again turned left onto Godowa Springs Road. Just over a half mile down this road we parked near a green gate. (There are gates on both sides of the road marking the trail.)

Here the plan was to hike east for 1.2 miles to a fork in the trail where we would complete a two mile loop, with a side trip to Brown Cemetery, before returning to Godowa Springs Road. This section of the OC&E Trail passed through pasture with the Sprague River just to the north.

At the .6 mile mark the Sprague River bent north and Spring Creek took over it’s position to the left of the trail.

We crossed Spring Creek on a bridge where we spotted something in the water.

At first we thought it was a nutria given that we see them in fields near water quite often but after looking at the pictures later we discovered that it had actually been a mink.

After watching the mink disappear into the bank we continued on to the fork where we stayed right on a fainter track.

We crossed the Sprague River on another bridge and then three tenths of a mile later arrived at a junction of dirt roads.

At the junction we made a nearly 180 degree left turn and took a right fork uphill.

As we followed this roadbed uphill we could see that the wet weather was finally on its way.

After following this road for .3 miles we turned right onto another road which led us to the Brown Cemetery in an additional .2 miles.

A couple of deer bounded away from the cemetery as we approached. We briefly explored the different grave sites then returned to the other road on continued on the loop under a light rain.

Four tenths of a mile from the cemetery entrance road we arrived at an abandoned railyard where we turned left and passed through another green gate.

In another .7 miles we had completed the loop and were on our way back to the trailhead.

The rain had let up and we remained relatively dry which was a win for us. Seeing the mink was a nice surprise and the fall colors at Devil’s Garden had been unexpectedly beautiful. Not a bad way to kickoff a last minute trip. Happy Trails!

Flickr: OC&E Woods Line State Trail

Tags Aspen, Beatty, Brown Cemetery, Devil's Garden, hiking, Mink, OC&E State Trail, OC&E Woods Line, Oregon, Sprague River, Spring Creek, Switchback Trailhead

Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Devil’s Peak

The end of September/beginning of October brings us a pair of birthday celebrations, my Grandma on 9/30 and our Son on 10/1. We planned a joint celebration dinner in Portland but before the festivities we headed out on a hike to work up an appetite.

Due to the plans we needed a hike near Portland in the 8 to 10 mile range and hiking up the Cool Creek Trail to the Devil’s Peak Lookout fit the bill perfectly. We headed out early to the Cool Creek Trailhead. Oddly our guidebook had us turn on Road 20 at the east end of Rhododendron, OR instead of west of Rohododendron on Still Creek Road which is how the Forest Service directions have you go. We followed the guidebook directions only to be turned back by a closed bridge and had to go back to Still Creek Road. After finding the open route to the trailhead we parked along the shoulder of the road and set off on the Cool Creek Trail.

The trail started with a steep incline, a reminder that it needed to gain over 3000′ over the next 4 miles. Not far from the trailhead we entered the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness.

The trail is mostly forested with a few glimpses of Mt. Hood through the trees.

The best early view came just over a mile along the trail. For about two tenths of a mile the trail passed along an open hillside with a view across the valley to Mt. Hood.

The trail then passed around to the other side of a ridge where it pretty much remained for the next two miles. The forest here still housed a good number of red and blue huckleberries.
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There were sections of more level trail in the forest which gave a nice break from the climbing, but also meant that the elevation would need to be made up on the sections of uphill.

Approximately 3.25 miles from the trailhead a spur to the left led to a rocky ridge top which provided what turned out to be the best viewpoint of the day.

The rocky ridge

From this point four Cascades were visible, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood.
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Mt. St. Helens

Mt. Rainier

Mt. Adams

Tom Dick and Harry Mountain (post) was also clearly visible to the NE.

Beyond the ridge viewpoint the trail traversed the hillside on the west side of the ridge climbing for another quarter mile past one more viewpoint of Mt. Hood to its end at the Hunchback Trail.

A spur trail to the Devil’s Peak Lookout is just 500 feet after turning right onto the Hunchback Trail.

The lookout is a little over 200 feet up this spur.

The tower is available for use on a first come, first serve basis so there was a possibility that it was occupied but it turned out to be empty.

Mt. Hood was visible from the lookout.

I had gone ahead of Heather and Dominique who had joined us for the hike so I explored Devil’s Peak while I waited for them to arrive.

Mt. Jefferson in some haze to the south.

Mt. Hood

Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Clouds coming up the Salmon River Valley

Butterflies on the lookout.

One of several birds foraging in the bushes near the lookout.

It turned out that I had gotten quite a bit ahead and wound up spending about an hour and a half at the tower watching the clouds break up above while they also moved in below.

After they joined me at the lookout they took a break as well then we headed back down. At the ridge viewpoint the view of Mt. Hood was better than it had been earlier, but not for the other Cascades.
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We continued back down stopping to gather some huckleberries to take to my Grandmas house. We wound up passing beneath the clouds losing Mt. Hood for the last mile and a half.

It was a tough 8 mile hike given the elevation gain but the views were well worth the effort. That effort was also rewarded with a nice birthday dinner and a tasty piece of cake. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Devil’s Peak

Tags Cool Creek Trail, Cool Creek Trailhead, Devil's Peak, Devil's Peak Lookout, hiking, huckleberries, Hunchback Trail, Mt. Hood, Oregon, oregon hiking, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, tom dick and harry mountain

High Cascades Hiking Oregon Trip report Waldo Lake Area

Waldo Lake Wilderness Day 2 – Rigdon Lakes

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 31, 2018
2 Comments on Waldo Lake Wilderness Day 2 – Rigdon Lakes

**Note a portion of this hike burned in the 2022 Cedar Creek Fire.**

After the 20+ mile hike the previous day we woke up at 5am feeling somewhat refreshed and happy to find that it wasn’t nearly as cold as it had been the morning before. A layer of clouds had moved in pushing out most of the smoke and trapping some heat in.
Morning at Waldo Lake 5am clouds over Waldo Lake

We ate breakfast, packed up and then briefly hopped onto the Shoreline Trail following it to the signboard for the Wahanna Trail near Dam Camp.

The Wahanna Trail quickly entered the Waldo Lake Wilderness and nearly as quickly entered the 1996 Taylor Burn fire scar.
Wahanna Trail entering the Waldo Lake Wilderness

Wahanna Trail

The Wahanna Trail passed around the west side of Rigdon Butte near the edge of a plateau above the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River. Across the river valley was Waldo Mountain with Winchester Ridge extending to the north.

Rigdon Butte

Waldo Mountain and Winchester Ridge

Although the area is still struggling to recover from the fire there was a lot of color and interesting sights along the route. We also spotted three deer as they bounded over a ridge.
Ponds along the Wahanna Trail

Pond along the Wahanna Trail

Meadow along the Wahanna Trail

Wahanna Trail

Buck

A little over a mile along the trail we spotted a larger body of water off to our right which we would later identify as Ernie Lake.

After 1.3 miles on the Wahanna Trail we arrived at a junction with the two mile long Rigdon Lakes Trail where we turned right.

We quickly got our first view of Lake Kiwa which was larger than we’d expected and turned out to be our favorite lake (not named Waldo) of the trip.

Lake Kiwa

The trail followed the lake shore south providing a nice view ahead of Rigdon Butte.
Rigdon Butte from Lake Kiwa

Beyond Lake Kiwa the trail climbed over a small ridge and arrived at Lower Rigdon Lake just a tenth of a mile later.

The trial passed around this lake to the left then climbed up and over another ridge to Upper Rigdon Lake.
Rigdon Lakes Trail along Lower Rigdon Lake

Upper and Lower Rigdon Lake

Upper Rigdon Lake

Upper Rigdon Lake was also quite nice with a couple of small islands adding character.

Beyond Upper Rigdon Lake the trail wound its way over and around small rocky ridges to the Waldo Lake Shoreline Trail.
Rigdon Lakes Trail

Rigdon Lakes Trail junction with the Waldo Lake Shoreline Trail

We turned left onto the Shoreline Trail and stayed left at forks opting to take a different (slightly shorter) route back to the trailhead instead of following the lake shore.
Jim Weaver Loop First left fork

Water for horses along the Jim Weaver Loop Trail Second fork left at a “water for horses” sign

Jim Weaver Loop Trail Third left fork at a junction with the Shoreline Trail

Jim Weaver Loop Trail Fourth left fork at another junction with the Shoreline Trail

We should have stopped with the fourth left hand fork when we arrive at a fifth fork, but the topographic map on the GPS showed we weren’t at the correct right hand fork to lead us back to the trailhead.
Jim Weaver Loop Trail Fifth left fork which should have been a right.

We realized our mistake but then spotted a faint abandoned trail near the spot the trail was shown on the topographic map so we followed it for just over 100 yards to a picnic table across the parking lot from our car. It had been a nice 5.4 mile hike with scenery that exceeded our expectations. A great way to end our August hikes and get us ready for September. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Waldo Lake Wilderness Day 2 – Rigdon Lakes

Tags backpacking, Dam Camp, Ernie Lake, hiking, Jim Weaver Loop, Lake Kiwa, Lower Rigdon Lake, Oregon, Rigdon Butte, Rigdon Lakes Trail, Shoreline Trail, Upper Rigdon Lake, Wahanna Trail, Waldo Lake, Waldo Mountain, Winchester Ridge

High Cascades Hiking Oregon Trip report Waldo Lake Area

Waldo Lake Wilderness Day 1 – Winchester Ridge and Eddeeleo Lakes Loop

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 31, 2018
4 Comments on Waldo Lake Wilderness Day 1 – Winchester Ridge and Eddeeleo Lakes Loop

**Note a portion of this hike burned in the 2022 Cedar Creek Fire.**

We ended our August hikes with an overnight stay near Waldo Lake. After several days of smokey skies the weather had shifted and most of the smoke had been pushed out of the area. The exception to that was the smoke being produced by the Terwilliger Fire burning east of Eugene along Cougar Reservior and into the Three Sisters Wilderness. 😦

We were hoping that the smoke from that fire wasn’t going to be aimed right at us all weekend. Things were off to a good start when we arrived at the Jim Weaver Trailhead at the north end of Waldo Lake. The sky was a crisp blue but the sky wasn’t the only thing that was crisp. The temperature gauge in the car had read 36 degrees when we’d parked.
Jim Weaver Loop Trailhead

Diamond Peak from Waldo Lake

From the parking area we walked down to boat ramp and turned right at a Shoreline Trail sign.

Initially the trail passed through green trees with occasional views across the lake to Diamond Peak and Fuji Mountain (post).
Shoreline Trail

Diamond Peak and Fuji Mountain from Waldo Lake

Diamond Peak and Fuji Mountain from Waldo Lake Diamond Peak to the left and Fuji Mountain directly behind the island

Soon the trail entered the fire scar of the 1996 Taylor Burn.
Waldo Lake

Diamond Peak and Fuji Mountain from Waldo Lake

Despite the frosty morning the wildlife was out in force.
Frost on the Shoreline Trail

Bluebird

Tree full of birds

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Bald eagle

After 2.3 miles we passed a trail signboard for the Rigdon Lakes Trail. We planned on returning the next day via that trail so for the time being we stuck to the Shoreline Trail for an additional 1.4 miles to another trail signboard, this time marking the Wahanna Trail. Along the way we’d passed Conim Lake on our right just a bit before leaving the Talor Burn fire scar.
Conim Lake near the edge of the 1996 Taylor Burn

Wahanna Trail

Just beyond the Wahanna Trail junction we came to the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River flowing from Waldo Lake.
Footbridge over the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River

North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River

A side trail to the left here led passed a small outbuilding to Dam Camp where we had hoped to find a camp site but that area was already spoken for so we settled for a spot further back from lake.
Some sort of monitoring station

Outlet of Waldo Lake Dam Camp is to the left in the trees and rhododendron

Campsite near Waldo Lake

This worked out to be a fine spot despite not being close to the lake as it was closer to the Wahanna Trail which we would be taking then next day on our way to the Rigdon Lakes Trail. After getting camp set up we put on our day packs and continued beyond the river crossing just a tenth of a mile to a fork where the Wahanna Trail forked downhill to the right (the Wahanna and Shoreline Trail briefly share tread).
Wahanna Trail splitting to the right from the Shoreline Trail

The trail promptly entered the Waldo Lake Wilderness.
Entering the Waldo Lake Wilderness

Just a quarter mile from the fork the trail forked again. This time the Wahanna Trail forked to the left while the right hand fork was the Six Lakes Trail.
Wahanna Trail to the left and the Six Lakes Trail to the right

Here we faced a choice. If we stayed left we could complete a long loop past Lake Chetlo and along Winchester Ridge and eventually following the Six Lakes Trail from its other end past the Quinn and Eddeeleo Lakes. Alternatively we could go right and after visiting the lakes turn back or decide to complete the loop in the opposite direction. We were feeling ambitious and felt up to the loop so we decided to go left. This way we would be saving the bulk of the lakes for the end of the loop.
Wahanna Trail

The trail remained relatively level for the next mile passing through a forest full of huckleberry bushes and several small meadows.
Wahanna Trail

Meadow along the Wahanna Trail

It was along this section that we encountered the only other people we would see during the loop. After 1.2 miles we spotted Lake Chetlo through the trees on our left.

Lake Chetlo

Expecting to find a side trail down to the lake we continued on but the trail began to climb up and away from the lake. Less than a quarter mile later we were at a junction with the Winchester Ridge Trail and that had been the only look we had at Lake Chetlo.
Wahanna Trail junction with the Winchester Ridge Trail

We turned right onto the Winchester Ridge Trail which climbed steeply for a little over half a mile to another junction. We had been on this section of trail before in 2012 as we were coming down from the Waldo Mountain Lookout and heading for Elbow Lake (post).

We turned right at this junction as well to continue on the Winchester Ridge Trail which now leveled out somewhat as it traveled along the ridge.

The blue skies from the morning were quickly being replaced by smoke from the Terwilliger Fire as we made our way along Winchester Ridge. There aren’t many views from this trail to begin with and the couple that we did get we could just barely make out the Three Sisters to the NE.
South Sister through smoke

Smoke from the Terwilliger Fire obscuring the view of South Sister South Sister

Smokey view from the Winchester Ridge Trail

The Three Sisters

View from the Winchester Ridge Trail Rigdon Butte beyond the Eddeeleo Lakes from the Winchester Ridge Trail

Not only does the Winchester Ridge Trail suffer form a lack of views, but there aren’t many distinguishable landmarks along the way. A little over two and a half miles from the fork though the Waldo Meadows Trail came up from the left.

That trail went downhill for .5 steep miles to Swann and then Gander Lakes, neither of which we could not see from the Winchester Ridge Trail. The trail climbed briefly beyond this junction before descending to yet another junction with a trail on the left. This time with the Winchester Trail, a total of 1.8 miles from the Waldo Meadows Trail.

Winchester Ridge Trail junction with the Winchester Trail

The Winchester Ridge Trail ends at the Winchester Trail. We stayed straight at the junction and followed the Winchester Trail for a half mile to its end at the Blair Lake Trail.

Blair Lake Trail sign

We turned right onto the Blair Lake Trail.

We had hiked the western end of this trail in 2015 on what remains to this day as the best beargrass hike ever. (post)

The Blair Lake Trail descended for a mile to Lower Quinn Lake which was unfortunately suffering from the increased smoke.

After a brief stop at the lake we continued on the Blair Lake Trial for another quarter mile before reaching the signed junction with the Six Lakes Trail.
Blair Lake Trail junction with the Six Lakes Trail

Six Lakes Trail

We turned right onto this trail which climbed gradually for the next half mile to a fork where we went right to visit Upper Quinn Lake.

Although the smoke wasn’t bad enough to cause us any issues with breathing or our eyes it was putting a damper on the views of the lakes. At Upper Quinn Lake we found a few empty campsites and lots of little frogs.
Frog at Upper Quinn Lake

Frog

Somewhere along the way we wound up losing the trail (most likely in one of the campsites) and had to bushwack back to the Six Lakes Trail. Once we had regained the trial we turned right and in just a tenth of a mile spotted the northern end of Long Lake beyond a grassy meadow.

Again we erroneously assumed there would be obvious side trails leading to the lake but the Six Lakes Trail passed on the opposite side of a rocky ridge for nearly a mile which hid the lake from sight.

When the GPS showed that we were nearly past the lake we decided to try and bushwack through the rhododendron to the southern end of the lake. We had managed to make it most of the way there when we spotted a tent set up near the shore. Not wanting to stumble into someones camp we settled for an obstructed view through the trees.
Long Lake

Long Lake

We left Long Lake and continued for another half mile toward Lower Eddeeleo Lake. Shortly before reaching the lake there was an obvious side trail to the left.
Side trail at Lower Eddeeleo Lake

This side trail led across a dry outlet creek to an open area along the lake shore. We took a longer break here. We could just make out the old Waldo Mountain Lookout through the smoke.
Waldo Mountain from Lower Eddeeleo Lake

Waldo Mountain

Waldo Mountain Lookout

We might have taken an even longer break if not for the yellow jackets who were just a little too interested in us for my liking. We left the lower lake and returned to the Six Lakes Trail which climbed a short way above the lower lake which was barely visible through the trees.

Lower Eddeeleo Lake

Just under one and three quarter miles from the side trail to Lower Eddeeleo Lake we came to a short side trail to Upper Eddeeleo Lake on our right. We stopped again briefly at this lake which had a little sunlight glinting off the water.
Waldo Mountain from Upper Eddeeleo Lake

The next lake on the map was Round Lake which lay below and to the east of Upper Eddeeleo Lake. The Six Lakes Trail wound around the lake but never got very close to it and the one side trail we spotted heading to the lake would have required a steeper climb back up than either of us were willing to do at that point so we once again settled for a very limited view through the trees.
Round Lake through the trees

The Six Lakes Trail climbed up a ridge away from Round Lake for the final mile of its 6.6 mile length before dumping us back out on the Wahanna Trail.

According to our GPS we had hiked a total of 19.4 miles at that point and still had the quarter mile climb back up to the Waldo Lake Shoreline Trail. We had known that this was going to be a long day but by our calculations we were expecting closer to a 17 mile day. We had also brought our dinner with us thinking we could eat it at one of the lakes, but between the smoke, yellow jackets, and a few hardy mosquitoes we hadn’t found a spot where we really wanted to sit for an extended time.

When we got back to the Shoreline Trail we turned right (away from camp) hoping to find a spot along Waldo Lake to eat. Fortunately we only had to go about 100 yards where we found a trail down to the rocky sore across from Dam Camp.
Waldo Lake with some smoke

Even better was the fact that the smoke was starting to move out of the immediate area bringing back some of the blue sky from the morning.
Waldo Lake

We tried a new meal, three cheese chicken pasta, which wound up being underwhelming. It sort of fit with much of the day. The hike was nice but nothing really stood out and the smokey conditions at the lakes didn’t help. It also seemed like most of the lakes were very similar in that they were surrounded by forested hillsides but nothing dramatic.

We sat out on the rocks for quite a while watching a paddle boarder and a canoe float around on the lake as well as having some mergansers swim by.

It was quite a bit busier at the lake than where we normally camp and after getting a little chilly and returning to our tent to put on some extra clothing we noticed that a family? that had set up camp near where we had eaten had lit a campfire. Just a couple of days earlier the Willamette National Forest had announced a ban on all campfires and we had seen numerous posted signs that morning. On top of the illegal campfire we were also being treated to the melodious (NOT) sounds of someones portable music player. Thankfully the music died down and at one point we heard someone yell to the family that they needed to put the fire out. We went to bed hoping that the next day would be just a bit better. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Waldo Lake Wilderness Day 1

Blue Mountains - South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Elkhorn Crest Trail Day 5 & Crawfish Lake

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 20, 2018
4 Comments on Elkhorn Crest Trail Day 5 & Crawfish Lake

The rain showers that had begun the previous afternoon continued into the morning as we prepared for our last day in the Elkhorns. Fortunately they were infrequent and only one quick shower provided any significant amount of precipitation.

By the time that shower rolled through we had pretty much packed everything up and had it all under the cover of trees. After eating breakfast we started up the Dutch Flat Trail to Dutch Flat Saddle. The presence of the clouds passing overhead gave things a different look that morning and had pushed some of the smoke out.

The showers had been coming from the west so we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of blue sky we found in that direction.

Instead of turning right at the saddle and following the Elkhorn Crest Trail back to the trailhead we went straight over the ridge onto the Crawfish Basin Trail.

This was a longer route back, just over 6 miles vs. 3.25 miles, but it would allow us to visit the Hoffer Lakes as well as Anthony and Lilypad Lake and only repeat a half mile of trail from our first day.

After a series of switchbacks down the Crawfish Basin Trail leveled off along the hillside above Crawfish Meadow.

It also passed below the rocky spires of Angell Peak, Lees Peak, and The Lakes Lookout.
Lees Peak

As we made our way around the hillside Crawfish Lake came into view down in Crawfish Basin.

The lake is one of the featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Easter Oregon” guidebook which put it on our list of to do hikes if we are ever going to finish all of his featured hikes. There are no trails between the lake and the Crawfish Basin Trail so we were planning on stopping at the Crawfish Lake Trail later in the day on our way from the Elkhorn Crest Trailhead to Sumpter. For now we continued along the Crawfish Basin Trail which wrapped around The Lakes Lookout before joining an old road bed after two and a half miles.

Just prior to joining the road we startled a group of elk in the trees below the trail. They were never in view long enough for a picture but we were excited to add them to the deer and mountain goats we’d already seen during the trip.

A tenth of a mile along the old roadbed we came to a fork where a trail to the right led up nearly 800′ to The Lakes Observation Point.

Rock Creek Butte had been enough climbing for us on this trip so we ignored the side trail and continued on the roadbed toward the Anthony Lakes Ski Area passing views of Anthony Lake along the way.
Anthony Lake

Ski lift on the hillside ahead.

Near the ski area we turned downhill on a steep double track instead of continuing around a much longer hairpin curve in the road.

We then turned right on the road which seemed to see plenty of use.

In a quarter mile we came to the start of the Hoffer Lakes Trail on the right.

We followed this trail for half a mile through meadows to the first Hoffer Lake.

Following the path around the first lake to SE led us across a series of footbridges to the second Hoffer Lake.

Only a narrow strip of meadow separates the lakes.

After visiting the second lake we returned to the Hoffer Lakes Trail and followed pointers for Anthony Lake.

This section of the trail was wide and full of roots. It was also surprisingly steep in places as it followed Parker Creek downhill.

After half a mile the Hoffer Lake Trail ended at another old road bed near walk-in camp sites.

We followed a path straight ahead for about 50 yards to get a look at Anthony Lake.

After making use of one of the picnic tables we followed the roadbed to the right around the lake for .3 miles to a boat ramp where the view across Anthony Lake included Gunsight Mountain.

At the boat ramp we turned right onto the Black Lake Trail.

Just 500 feet along this trail was the aptly named Lilypad Lake.

The trail made a short climb beyond Lilypad Lake before dropping us back onto the Elkhorn Crest Trail a half mile from both the boat ramp at Anthony Lake and the Elkhorn Crest Trailhead where our car awaited us.

Although we weren’t done with our hiking for the day we were glad to be done with our full backpacks. We took our day packs out and prepared them for the Crawfish Lake Trail then drove 4.5 miles west of the Anthony Lakes Ski Area to the Upper Crawfish Lake Trailhead just off of Forest Road 73.

The Crawfish Lake Trail began by diving steeply downhill to a creek crossing.

It then leveled out a bit and descended much more gradually past a variety of scenery.

There were signs of recent trail maintenance along the way, some more successful than others.
Trail maintenance fail.

Shortly before arriving at Crawfish Lake the trail entered the North Fork John Day Wilderness.

Just 1.4 miles from the trailhead we arrived at the lake.

We walked along the NW shore for .3 miles to a campsite with a view across the lake to The Lakes Lookout.

We took a break at the campsite, which was also the location of the continuation of the trail as it left the lake and headed downhill 1.3 miles to the Crawfish Creek Trailhead.

After a brief rest we returned the way we’d come and headed into Sumpter along Forest Road 73. It wasn’t noon yet but the sky was starting to fill up with some ominous looking clouds.

We were planning on staying in Sumpter for two nights. We had unfinished business from our previous visit in September 2017 when snow kept us from hiking up to the lookout atop Mt. Ireland (post). After checking into the Sumpter Stockade we walked through town to the Golden Nugget Cafe.

On the way back to our room we heard the first of the thunder. A quick check of the weather forecast showed that the area was under a red flag warning for thunderstorms through much of Friday with the chance of them occurring into Friday night. Since the top of a mountain is one of the last places you want to be during a thunder storm we decided to scrap our planned hike up Mt. Ireland and return home a day early.

In the end it was probably for the best as we were both dealing with some foot issues after having hiked for six straight days and over 76 miles. Heather was also anxious to meet her new nephew so Mt. Ireland would have to wait for another trip. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Elkhorn Crest Trail Day 5 & Crawfish Lake

Blue Mountains - South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Elkhorn Crest Trail Day 4

After we spent our third day in the Elkhorns basically retracing our steps from the second day nearly two thirds of our fourth day would be spent on new trails. Our plan was to leave Summit Lake and return to the trailhead along the jeep track near Cracker Saddle then follow that jeep track down to the Lost Lake Trail which would lead us past Meadow and Lost Lakes before climbing back up to the Elkhorn Crest Trail to the north of Mt. Ruth. From there we would follow the Elkhorn Crest Trail north just under two miles to Dutch Flat Saddle where we would take the Dutch Flat Trail down to Dutch Flat Lake for the night.

There was still a little haze in the air but the smoke didnt’t seem any worse than the day before.

We could see the haze but never really smelled anything and depending on the angle of the sun and where you looked there were still blue patches of sky to be seen as we left the lake.

After a mile and a half we arrived at the trailhead signboard and turned right down the jeep track.

It was a rough, steep road and neither of us would have even considered attempting to drive it.

It did eventually level out some and was not without some charm as it passed several meadows and through some nice forested sections.

It also crossed a few wildflower lined streams.

After one and a quarter miles along the road we came to a signed junction with the Lost Lake Trail.

Here we turned left on another double track and headed toward Meadow Lake.

Meadow Lake lay off the Lost Lake Trail to the west just over half a mile from the junction. Both the GPS and the topographic map showed a spur trail/road leading to the lake but we were unable to locate it as we passed by. We used the Garmin to bushwack through some young lodgepole pine trees in the area where the road was supposed to be. After a tenth of a mile picking our way through we came to Meadow Lake.

It was a nicer lake than we had expected and was home to many frogs.

There had also been quite an insect hatch (or alien invasion) at some point.

We walked north along the lake and found a sign near a fire pit.

A faint trail appeared to lead away from this area back toward the Lost Lake Trail so we tried following it back. It was only marginally better as it too became lost amid the small lodgepoles. Once we were back on the double track we continued north climbing above Meadow Lake to a saddle.

The old road bed then launched seemingly straight downhill. To make matters worse it was covered with fairly good sized rocks.

This lasted for about a quarter mile before the trail leveled out in a basin near a nice meadow with a view of Mt. Ruth.

The trail crossed a stream flowing from the meadow and then began to climb in an equally absurd rocky and steep manner.

The climb up this side lasted a little over half a mile before leveling off a bit on a forested ridge.

After passing over the ridge a short and less steep descent brought us to a signed junction for Lost Lake.

The sign said it was a quarter mile to the lake but it was really only about a tenth of a mile down (steeply again) to the shore.

We broke out our camp chairs and rested for about an hour. After eating a bit of food and recovering from the earlier climb we continued on. It was another steep, rocky climb for the first three tenths of a mile from Lost Lake.

The trail then leveled out as it passed a series of meadows below Lost Lake Saddle.

Gentians were abundant in the green meadows.

Roughly three quarters of a mile from Lost Lake we passed a rocky ledge where a short side trip brought us to a view of the lake below.

The trail then passed a couple more meadows before entering an old fire zone where some silver snags still stood.

A couple of switchbacks brought us back up to the Elkhorn Crest Trail a total of 1.3 miles from Lost Lake.

We turned right (north) and promptly passed through Nip & Tuck Pass where the trail now traversed along the western side of the crest above Cunningham Cove.

Just over a mile later we crossed over Cunningham Saddle to a view of Crawfish Basin.

Three quarters of a mile away we could see Dutch Flat Saddle along the ridge ahead.

At that saddle we turned right onto the Dutch Flat Trail.

A short distance down the trail we got our first good look at Dutch Flat Lake.

For a mile the trail switchbacked down past rocky cliffs and wildflower meadows to a junction.

Another quarter mile brought us to the meadow lined lake.

We went about setting up camp then started to explore a bit. I noticed a young bird along the shore so we declared that area off-limits.
I used the 30x zoom for the picture and didn’t get close to the little one.

It was an interesting little lake with a tiny island and lots of jumping fish.

We found the outlet creek to be particularly unique as it squeezed through a narrow channel between rocks.

We did find a nice pool along the creek to get water from and as we were doing that we started to feel rain drops. I raced back to the tent and threw on the rain fly just before a decent little shower passed overhead.

After the rain shower we ate dinner and then walked around the lake which came to a little under half a mile.

The SW end of the lake was particularly marshy with several inlets forcing us to swing out fairly wide.

All the wet meadows in the area provided good habitat for huckleberries.

It also appeared to be an area that would have a lot of mosquitoes but we only noticed a couple and neither of us wound up with any bites. It was the only time during the entire trip that either of us even saw any.

With the hike around the lake our days mileage came to just 10.6 which was the least so far with the following day expected to be even less. We were starting to feel a little worn down but knowing the final day was mostly downhill helped lift our spirits.

As the evening progressed I began to wonder about the possibility of thunderstorms, something that we have yet to encounter while backpacking. Heather is not a fan of thunder and lighting at all and I am not in any hurry to have our first experience with it either. It did shower off and on all night but that was the extent of it and never in any significant amounts. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Elkhorn Crest Trail Day 4

Blue Mountains - South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Elkhorn Crest Trail Day 3

As far as we know we didn’t have any mountain goat visitors during our night at Lower Twin Lake but I did wake up once and managed to see a streak across the sky which I assume was part of the Perseid meteor shower. Another goat did pass close by in the morning though as we were preparing to leave.

It wasn’t nearly as chilly as it had been the previous morning and the air had gotten quite a bit hazier overnight.

The increased smoke made us thankful that we had made our climb up Rock Creek Butte the day before instead of waiting until this morning. We had a fairly straight forward day planned as we would simply be returning the way we’d come the day before minus the side trip up to Rock Creek Butte’s summit. We were still seriously considering not going all the way back to Summit Lake which would be approximately a 13 mile hike. We figured we could shorten that by nearly a mile if we set up camp near one of the streams along the Summit Lake Trail.

As we began the mile climb from Lower Twin Lake back to the Elkhorn Crest Trail we passed the mountain goat who had stop to graze.

A little further along we spotted three deer doing the same in a patch of yellow wildflowers.

The hoofed animals weren’t the only ones out this morning.

As we climbed away from the Twin Lakes Rock Creek Butte came into view.

When we reached the Elkhorn Crest Trail we turned left and headed toward Rock Creek Butte where we spotted another mountain goat coming down the ridge where we had gone up the day before.

It turned out to be a mountain goat filled morning. As we were passing around the western side of Rock Creek Butte a herd of goats came up from the valley below. Some of them crossed the trail in front of us while others stayed down in the trees until we passed.

We had another encounter a short while later as I passed around a rock outcropping and came face to face with a goat heading south on the trail. We were both equally startled and the goat quickly leapt downhill behind more rocks.

The increased smoke limited the views on the way back so we focused more on the things along the trail.
Mt. Ruth to the north

Rock Creek Butte to the south

Looking east toward the Wallowas

Curiosity got the best of Heather as we came to a jeep track heading uphill to a ridge 9.3 miles from the Twin Lakes Trail junction and 1.2 miles before the Summit Lake junction.

Wondering if there might be a view of Summit Lake from the ridge we followed it steeply uphill only to discover that the angle was wrong and we were looking north over Little Summit Lake which was hidden in the trees below.

We were feeling relatively good all things considered so we had decided to go all the way to Summit Lake and stay there again only this time we would take the first available camp site we came too instead of going half way around the lake. We arrived at the lake to find it a little smokier than we had left it the morning before but it was still a great lake.

We were the only people there when we arrived and did indeed set up camp in the first available spot.

We were later joined by a solo backpacker who we had passed along the Summit Lake Trail. We spent the afternoon lounging around camp and hanging out with the locals.

The total distance for the day was just a bit over 13 miles but there had been a lot less elevation gain making it a fairly mild day. We were dealing with some blisters and Heather was having a little issue with an ankle that was being bruised by her shoe which told her it was time for a new pair. The good news was the next two days were only going to be around 10 miles each, but we were facing some more climbing on day four along the Lost Lake Trail which I had been told was steep and rocky. We turned in after memorizing the route for the following day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Elkhorn Crest Trail Day 3

Tags backpacking, Blue Mountains - South, Butterfly, deer, Elkhorn Crest National Recreation Trail, Elkhorn Crest Trail, Elkhorn Range, elkhorns, hiking, Lower Twin Lake, mountain goat, Mt. Ruth, Oregon, Rock Creek Butte, Summit Lake, Summit Lake Trail, Twin Lakes, Twin Lakes Trail