Category: Year-end wrap up

2022 Waterfalls

The 2022 hiking season wound up being full of waterfalls. That wasn’t necessarily the plan at the beginning of the year but when Heather’s season was cut short I wound up doing three waterfall filled hikes on top of several waterfall hikes we’d done earlier in the year. By the end of the year we’d seen 50+ named waterfalls and 20 unnamed cascades. That seems like enough to warrant a post so here are the waterfalls and cascades that we saw throughout the year.

Starting with the unnamed cascades were a pair of small drops near the Nehalem Divide Railroad Tunnel.

On that same hike we visited a seasonal fall just off the Crown Zellerbach Trail.

In April we saw a series of cascades along Silvas Creek from the Klickitat Trail

During a June hike to Black Hole Falls we passed three unnamed cascades on the North Fork Siouxon Trail.

The following week we passed a nice little fall on the North Umpqua River Trail heading to Lemolo Falls.

Our next notable unnamed cascade was below Devil’s Punchbowl in the Siskiyou Wilderness which we visited on July 2nd.

On July 12th we encountered an impressive split cascade in the Eagle Cap Wilderness on the way to Burger Pass along the Buck Creek Trail.

In August we saw a few unnamed falls/cascades starting with a little slide falls along Hemlock Creek.

Unnamed waterfall along Riley Creek in the Mt. Adams Wilderness

Unnamed waterfall below East Boulder Lake in the Trinity Alps Wilderness.

A September hike along Union Creek produced several unnamed cascades.

My October waterfalls hikes produced two unnamed cascades.
Cascade on Wahkeena Creek.

Small cascade along the North Fork Silver Creek.

The final unnamed cascade came on a chilly November hike along the Eagle Creek Trail beyond Seven Mile Falls.

Now for the named waterfalls (All names come from the Northwest Waterfall Survey.)
Mosier Creek Falls (post)

Black Hole Falls (post)

Highway 138 Waterfalls (post)
Susan Creek Falls

Toketee Falls

Surprise Falls

Columnar Falls

Watson Falls

Warm Springs Falls

Lemolo Falls

Alsea Falls Recreation Area (post)
Alsea Falls

Green Peak Falls

Hemlock Creek/Lake (post)
Yasko Falls

Hemlock Falls

Tributary Falls

Middle Hemlock Falls

Clover Falls

Grotto Falls

Wolf Creek and Fall Creek Falls (post)

Fall Creek Falls

Upper tier of Wolf Creek Falls

Lower tier of Wolf Creek Falls

South Umpqua Falls (post)

Union Creek Falls (post)

Chitwood Creek Falls

Larch Mountain Trail (post)
Multnomah Falls

Lower Dutchman Falls

Upper Dutchman Falls

Wiesendanger Falls

Ecola Falls

Fairy Falls

Wahkeena Falls

Silver Falls Perimeter Loop (post)
Upper North Falls

North Falls

Twin Falls

Winter Falls

Middle North Falls

Drake Falls

Double Falls

Lower North Falls

Lower South Falls

South Falls

Eagle Creek Trail (post)
Sorenson Falls

Metlako Falls

Lower Punchbowl Falls

Punchbowl Falls

Loowit Falls

Skoonichuck Falls

Four Mile Falls

Tenas Falls

Wy’East Falls

Grand Union Falls

Tunnel Falls

Twister Falls

Seven Mile Falls

Tags alsea falls, Eagle Creek, Grotto Falls, hiking, Lemolo Falls, Mosier Falls, Multnomah Falls, Oregon, Silver Falls, Tokatee Falls, Waterfalls, Watson Falls, Yasko Falls

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 2 – Featherless Friends

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 26, 2023
No Comments on 2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 2 – Featherless Friends

This year we split our wildlife gallery into two posts starting with our feather friends (post). We now move on to our featherless friends which ranged from tiny ants to bull elk and an almost too friendly black bear. It was an especially good year for deer including several encounters with does and fawns.

We’ll start out small and work our way up to the larger mammals.
Ants dropping sawdust from a log along the Catherine Creek Trail. We sat and watched these busy ants for quite a while. They had created a good-sized pile on the ground below.

We see a lot of beetles but usually not all at once like these lady bugs on Observation Peak.

Lady bug – Upper Table Rock

Yellow & black beetle – Mule Mountain

Redish brown beetle – Siskiyou Wilderness

Green beetle – Siskiyou Wilderness

Hitchhiker – Mt. Ireland

Blueish green beetle – Catherine Creek Meadows

Small beetle – Catherine Creek Meadows

Green beetle on a geranium – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Green beetle on a wallflower – Silver Star Mountain

Stripped beetle – Spring Valley Greenway

Water skippers – Big Twin Lake

Spider on thimbleberry – Siskiyou Wilderness

Crab spider – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Another crab spider – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Cricket – Pacific Crest Trail

We are often literally struck by grasshoppers as we hike. Sometimes they stick when they hit us such as this one along the PCT.

Bee on phacelia – Mule Mountain

Wet bee on lupine – Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

Bumble bee – Hemlock Creek Trail

Lots of pollen – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Bee landing on a marsh marigold along the PCT

Bee approaching penstemon – Siskiyou Wilderness

Bee and a tiny ant in a bindweed – Siskiyou Wilderness

Insects on thistle – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Wasp? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Some sort of wasp – Silver Star Mountain

Insect along Bear Creek – Eagle Cap Wilderness

My brother and I used to call these “weird things”; I have no idea what it actually is – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Damsel fly – Denman Wildlife Area

Damsel fly – Hemlock Lake

Dragon fly – Goat Marsh Lake

Dragon fly – Siskiyou Wilderness

Dragon fly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Dragon fly along the Wallowa River – Wallowa Homeland

Dragon fly – E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Dragon fly – Hemlock Lake

Dragon fly – Sky Lakes Wilderness

Snail – Rock Creek Trail

Snail – Applegate Lake

Snail – North Siouxon Trail

Snail – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Snail – Siskiyou Wilderness

Snail – Cascade Head

Slug – Larch Mountain Trail

Slug (and a fly) – Susan Creek Trail

Slug – Fish Lake

Slug on lupine – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Slug and an unfortunate earth worm – Rock Creek Trail

Worms – Chehalem Ridge Nature Park

Millipede – North Siouxon Trail

Millipede – Rock Creek Trail

Millipede – Illahee Rock

Millipede – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Wet caterpillar – Yakona Nature Preserve

Dry version – Larch Mountain Trail

Caterpillar – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Caterpillar – Siskiyou Wilderness

Caterpillar – Larch Mountain Trail

Moth – Klickitat Trail

Moth -Eagle Cap Wilderness

Moth – Twin Lakes

Moth – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Moth – Wolf Creek Falls Trail

Moth – Cascade Head

Propertius duskywing (Erynnis propertius) – Klickitat Trail

Duskywing – Siskiyou Wilderness

Northern Cloudywing? – Siskiyou Wilderness

Silver-spotted skipper – Siskiyou Wilderness

Skipper – Grizzly Peak

Skipper – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Skipper – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Hairstreak (bramble?) – Siskiyou Mountains

Cedar hairstreak – Siskiyou Wilderness

Hairstreak (possibly thicket) – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Ochre ringlet – Jack Ash Trail

Butterfly – Siskiyou Wilderness

Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Butterfly – Upper Table Rock

Butterfly – Mule Mountain

Butterfly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Butterfly – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Butterfly – Mt. Ireland

Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

Butterfly – Russian Wilderness

Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Sara’s orangetip – Klickitat Trail

Common woodnymph – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Another woodnymph – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Orange sulphur – Siskiyou Wilderness

Mountain parnassian – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Clodius parnassian – Hemlock Lake

Western white? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Western white – Trinty Alps Wilderness

Pine white – Russian Wilderness

Butterfly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Butterfly – Russian Wilderness

Butterfly – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Butterfly – Mule Mountain

Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

Western meadow fritillary? – Silver Star Mountain

A fritillary – Silver Star Mountain

A fritillary – Trinity Alps Wilderness

A fritillary -Russian Wilderness

A fritillary – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Mourning cloak – Klickitat Trail

California tortoiseshell – Siskiyou Wilderness

Milbert’s tortoiseshell – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Lorquin’s admiral – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Common buckeye – Mt. Shasta Wilderness

Hoary comma – Sky Lakes Wilderness

Green comma? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Swallowtails:
Klickitat Trail

Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

Eagle Cap Wilderness

Tadpoles – Russian Wilderness

Tadpole transforming – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Frog – Russian Wilderness

Frog – Goat Marsh Lake

Tree frog – Siskiyou Wilderness

Frog – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Toad – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Toad – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Fish – Siphon Lake

Rough skinned newt – Yakona Nature Preserve

Western painted turtle – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Baby snake – Miller Woods

Garter snake – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Lizard – Mule Mountain

Lizard – Upper Table Rock

Lizard – Russian Wilderness

Lizard – Siskiyou Wilderness

Lizard – Klickitat Trail

Lizard – Upper Table Rock

Alligator lizard – Mule Mountain

Chipmunk – Observation Peak

Ground squirrel – Russian Wilderness

Ground squirrel – Klickitat Trail

Ground squirrel – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Ground squirrel – Upper Table Rock

Squirrel – Rock Creek Trail

Squirrel – Twin Lakes

Squirrel – Larch Mountain Trail

Marmot – Wallowa Homeland

Jack rabbit – Denman Wildlife Area

Rabbit – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Pika – Silver Star Mountain

Muskrat – Julia Butler Hansen – Wildlife Refuge

Otter – Killin Wetlands

Sea lion – Hart’s Cove

Deer – Memaloose Hills

Doe – Miller Woods

Mamma – Roxy Ann Peak

Fawn – Roxy Ann Peak

Columbian white-tailed buck – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Doe & fawn – Donomore Meadows

Three bucks – Siskiyou Wilderness

Buck – Siskiyou Wilderness

Buck – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Doe & fawn – Russian Wilderness

Buck and does – Russian Wilderness

Two bucks – Crater Lake National Park

Elk – Yakona Nature Preserve

Bull elk – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Mountain goat below the Mt. Ireland Lookout – Mt. Ireland

Domestic goat – Near the Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Black bear – Siskiyou Wilderness

The same black bear making eye contact the day before.

Tags Bear, Butterfly, California, Columbian White-tailed deer, deer, eagle cap wilderness, elk, fawn, Julia Butler Hansen Refuge, mountain goat, Oregon, Pika, Russian Wilderness, Siskiyou Wilderness, Trinity Alps Wilderness, Washington, Wildlife

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 1 – Feathered Friends

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 23, 2023
1 Comment on 2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 1 – Feathered Friends

We thought we’d do something different this year and split our 2022 wildlife gallery into two posts to keep them a little shorter. It made the most sense to us to do a post with the different birds we saw during 2022 and then one of the other wildlife. As with our wildflower post any corrections or additions to our attempts at identifying what we’ve photographed is greatly appreciated. One last note, while we really enjoy taking pictures as a way to record what we see on our hikes, we are by no means photographers. We use our phones and a point and shoot camera on the auto setting, so the pictures are far from professional, but we hope you enjoy them.

We’ll start small which, aside from some of the raptors, is where we have the most difficulty identifying the various species (ducks and sea birds can be tricky too).
Hummingbird at Memaloose Hills in May.

Hummingbird at Upper Table Rock in May.

Black capped chickadee at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon’s) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Wren (marsh?) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

White-crowned sparrow at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Sparrow? at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Common yellow throat at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Tree swallows at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

White-crowned sparrow and a wren at Miller Woods in May.

American goldfinch pair at Miller Woods in May.

Another sparrow at Miller Woods in May.

Hermit warbler? near Kings Mountain in May.

House finch? at Upper Table Rock in May.

Rock wren? at Upper Table Rock in May.

Ash-throated flycatcher at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Unknown at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Swallow at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Some sort of warbler? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Purple martins at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Another wren at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Unknown at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Sparrow? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Warbler? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Black phoebe? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Mountain bluebird near Union Peak in September.

Red-breasted nuthatch (best I could get) at Crater Lake in September.

Red crossbilss at Crater Lake in September.

Wren on the Eagle Creek Trail in November.

Dark eyed junco at Waverly Lake in December.

Going up a bit in size now (and a little easier to identify).
Canada jay (grey jay) along the Crown Zellerbach Trail in March.

California scrub jay along the Balfour-Klickitat Trail in April.

Stellar’s jay along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.

Female red-winged blackbird at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Red-winged blackbird at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Spotted towhee at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Starlings along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.

Brownheaded cowbird at Upper Table Rock in May.

American robin at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Tropical kingbird? at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Black-headed grosbeak (also all I could get) at Applegate Lake in May.

Lazuli bunting at Roxy Ann Peak in May.

Cedar waxwing at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Western tanagers, Siskiyou Wilderness in July.

American dipper (Ouzel) near South Umpqua Falls in September.

Townsends solitaire at Crater Lake National Park in September.

Clark’s nutcracker at Crater Lake National Park in September.

Varied thrush along the Eagle Creek Trail in November.

Unknown at Cascade Head in October.

We also struggle with a few of the woodpeckers.
Forest Park in January.

Northern flicker at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April. We seem to see flickers on nearly every hike, but they don’t often sit still long enough for us to get a decent picture.

Pileated woodpecker at Chehalem Ridge Nature Park in May. We rarely see these but like the flickers, when we do they are very difficult to get a photo of.

Acorn woodpecker at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Hairy? woodpecker near Twin Lakes in the Umpqua National Forst in June.

Red breasted sapsucker at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area in July.

Either a hairy or downy woodpecker along the Eagle Creek Trail in November.

Unknown, Sky Lakes Wilderness in late September.

Next up are scavengers and birds of prey including those pesky hawks.
Crow along the Crown Zellerbach Trail in March.

Raven at Upper Table Rock in May.

Turkey Vulture at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

American kestral along the Crown Zellerbach Trail in March.

Osprey along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.

Another osprey at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Bald eagle at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Eagle in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in September. Not sure if it is a bald or golden.

A bald eagle and hawk at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Pair of hawks at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Hawk at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Hawk at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Hawk along the Pacific Crest Trail near Carter Meadows Summit in August.

Hawk at Crater Lake National Park in September.

Barred owl at Noble Woods in May.

Great horned owl at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Young great horned owl at Roxy Ann Peak in May.

Moving on to game birds, a few of the species we saw this year were at the E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area at their breeding facility in June.

Ring-necked pheasant

Silver pheasant

Near the breeding facility at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area.

Mourning dove at Roxy Ann Peak a in May.

Grouse? in the Siskiyou Wilderness in July.

Grouse in the Mt. Adams Wilderness in August.

Grouse in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in September.

Bodies of water attract a lot of birds and provide us with a less obstructed view vs the forest.
Long billed dowitchers? at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Killdeer at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Sandpiper? at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Great blue heron at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Kingfisher at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge in June.

American bittern at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge in June.

White pelicans at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge in June.

Hooded mergansers at Yakona Nature Preserve in February.

Common mergansers along the Klickitat Trail in April.

American coot at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Cinnamon teal at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Ring-necked ducks (and an American coot) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Northern shoveler at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

White-fronted geese at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Mallard along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.

Wood duck at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Not sure if this is a ruddy duck at Waverly Lake in December.

Mostly American widgeons with a green winged teal and a female bufflehead or two mixed in at Talking Water Gardens in December.

Bufflehead at Talking Water Gardens in December.

Canada geese at Applegate Lake in May.

Domestic geese near the Klickitat Trail in April.

Domestic or hybrid? ducks at Waverly Lake in December.

Hiking Year-end wrap up

Progress Report – 500 “Featured Hikes” – January 2023 Update

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 9, 2023
No Comments on Progress Report – 500 “Featured Hikes” – January 2023 Update

In 2019 we posted about our goal to complete 500 “featured” hikes from William L. Sullivan’s “100 hikes” guidebook series. The following year we finished the first of the five guidebooks (post) and followed that up by completing two more in 2021 (post). That left us with just the Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon/Northern California books to complete, and while we didn’t finish either of them off in 2022, we did manage to make significant progress on the hikes to the south by checking off 28 more featured hikes. There was less progress to the east where we were completed just 6 more featured hikes.

Here is where we now stand at the end of 2022, having been on 401 of the 500 featured hikes:

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

100/100 – “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range” 3rd Edition 2009

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

79/100 – “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” 3rd Edition 2015

81/100 – “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” 4th Edition 2017

We now have just 40 more hikes to check off to complete our goal and with the progress made in 2022 coupled with some creative rearranging of our plans for the remaining hikes we are on track to finish the final hike in September 2024 at Imnaha Falls. A lot of things still need to go right for that to happen, but as of right now if things do go as planned, we will finish Southern Oregon in 2023 and have just 14 hikes in Eastern Oregon to do in 2024.

Tags hiking, Oregon, William L Sullivan

Hiking Year-end wrap up

The Hikes of 2022 – A Look Back

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 2, 2023
No Comments on The Hikes of 2022 – A Look Back

What a strange year 2022 was for us from a hiking standpoint. We have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a “normal” year knowing that there will always be surprises and things that we haven’t experienced yet. This year was full of ups and downs, sometimes on the same day. We go into every year with an initial set of hikes planned out for the year knowing that by the end of the year changes will have been made, but this year may have seen the most changes to the initial plan in the 10 years we’ve been doing this. As is the case most years weather and wildfires caused the majority of the changes but in 2022 we were the cause several as well.

Our goal is to get out once a month from Jan through April and in both November and December while taking at least one hike a week from May through October. We had managed to hike a least once a month since February 2013 but the injury bug finally got one of us this year. Heather had to shut her hiking down at the end of September but did manage to get back out for the December hike. I kept to the schedule but instead of the planned hikes which would have been new to both of us I put some new twists on some old favorites. My end of the year numbers were 61 days hiking totaling just over 660 miles with a little more than 115,200′ of elevation gain. Heather’s numbers were 55 hikes, approximately 557 miles, and 97,450′ of elevation gain.

Once again we focused on hikes that were new to us (at least in part) so no day was an exact duplicate of one we’d done before. Union Creek Falls (post) was very close for me but I did manage to see one section of Union Creek that I hadn’t bushwhacked to on my first visit (post). Heather had not been with me that day due to an injury she’d sustained earlier in the day at Abbott Butte. While our Elk and Kings Mountain Loop (post) in May was a repeated hike we added a stop at Killin Wetlands to keep the day from being a repeat. Forty-four days were completely new trail for me while forty-five of Heather’s were new.

Another focus was our continuing quest to complete 100 featured hikes from each of the five William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” books (Feb 2022 Progress Report). We’ll go into more detail on that quest in our annual progress report next month, but we managed to make significant progress in the Southern Oregon/Northern California area and inched a little closer to our goal in Eastern Oregon. We now have an outside shot of finishing all 500 by the end of 2024.

Five days were spent hiking in Washington while twelve days were, at least in part, spent in California, our first visits since 2018. We visited four designated wilderness areas in California including our first ever visit to the Siskiyou Wilderness (post).

It’s interesting to me each year to see what hikes were the furtherst in each direction on the map. This year our most southern hike was our visit to Trail and Long Gulch Lakes (post).
Long Gulch Lake. The furthest south we hiked was on the trail a short distance after leaving this lake.

To the west one of the beaches along the Pacific Ocean is typically our most western hike but this year it was just inland from the ocean at Yakona Nature Preserve (post).
Technically the western most spot we hiked at was the trailhead for this hike, but the Yaquina River was a nicer picture.

Surprisingly our northernmost hike was neither our visit to Goat Marsh Lake at Mt. St. Helens (post) or Crystal Lake in the Mt. Adams Wilderness (post) but rather a hike we did just across the Columbia River from Oregon at the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer (post).
We hit our northernmost point during the stretch of our hike that followed Brooks Slough.

Our one trip to Eastern Oregon produced our easternmost hike which was a visit to the Wallowa Homeland (post) in Wallowa, Oregon.
View of the Wallowa Mountains from our easternmost point.

While weather considerations prompted us to make a number of changes to the timing of, and sometimes destinations for, our hikes 2022 may well have been the best all-around weather conditions we’ve experienced in a year. Several hikes throughout the year had forecasts for possible rain showers yet we only experience a couple of very brief periods of precipitation. Clouds also seemed to be less of an issue this year than in years past. It seems that almost every year we have at least one “viewpoint” hike where we arrive to find ourselves in a sea of grey. This year that really didn’t happen. We did arrive at the lookouts atop Illahee Rock (post) in the clouds, but the lookouts were the goal not necessarily the view.

Furthermore, it was just the first of two stops that day and by the time we arrived at our second viewpoint of the day above Twin Lakes the views had drastically improved.

Wildfires, which there were still far too many of, also had much less of an impact on our plans than they’ve had the last couple of years. The second week of September was the only time fires forced us to get creative. Heavy smoke saw us stick close to home for a short hike at the Spring Valley Greenway (post).
That’s the Sun above the trees.

I believe the destinations for our 2022 hikes were the most diverse in terms of the type of managing agency/entity. We visited trails located on private timberland (obtaining permits ahead of time when required), in city, county, state and national parks, and privately owned nature preserves (again with permits where required). We took hikes on BLM managed lands, state and federal wildlife refuges, state and national forests, wilderness areas, and a National Volcanic Monument. Our hikes also took place on a variety of trail types and surfaces.
Iced over snow in Portland’s Forest Park.

The Crown-Zellerbach Trail, a converted logging road.

The Klickitat Trail, a converted railroad.

The Hood River Pipeline Trail.

Sidewalk, Rock Creek Trail.

Rope section of the Kings Mountain Trail.

Gravel Road at Denman Wildlife Area.

Paved Brooks Slough Road, Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge (it is open to cars).

Dirt road at Siskiyou Gap.

Cross-country to Observation Peak.

Crossing over granite to reach the Devil’s Punchbowl in the Siskiyou Wilderness.

Water covered trail at Catherine Creek Meadows.

Sandy dirt Mt. Shasta.

Rock field, Union Peak.

The remains of the Union Creek Trail.

Frozen tunnel on the Eagle Creek Trail.

As far as our destinations go waterfalls and lakes were the top two goals for the hikes this past year, and we are always on the lookout for wildlife and flowers. There were also a few unique features, both natural and man-made, that we visited.
Witch’s Castle – Forest Park, Portland, OR

Wind Telephone, Yakona Nature Preserve – Newport, OR

Erratic Rock (post)

One of several military bunkers at Ken Denman Wildlife Area – Medford, OR

Umpqua Hot Springs – Umpqua National Forest, OR

Illahee Rock Lookout – Umpqua National Forest, OR

Twin Lakes Shelter – Umpqua National Forest, OR

Donomore Cabin – Donomore Meadows, CA

Mt. Ireland Lookout – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Cabin at Catherine Creek Meadows – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Reds Horse Ranch – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Lodge ruins – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Bear Creek Guard Station – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Gazebo on Tick Hill – Wallowa, OR

Spring above Southgate Meadows – Mount Shasta Wilderness, CA

Panther Spring – Mount Shasta Wilderness, CA

Remnants of the OSU Dean’s house – McDonald Forest, Corvallis, OR

Talking Water Gardens – Water treatment wetlands, Albany, OR

I will save the flowers, wildlife, waterfalls, and lakes for their own 2022 galleries. We’re looking forward to 2023 and hoping that Heather makes a full recovery. We’ve done a bit of shuffling for the first part of 2023 to help ease her back into things. While 2022 was a good year we hope 2023 has a few less bumps along the way. Happy Trails!

Tags 2022, Bear Creek Guard Station, California, Catherine Creek Meadows, Erratic Rock, Forest Park, hiking, Mount Shasta, Mt. Ireland, Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland, Oregon, Red's Horse Ranch, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Washington, Witch's Castle

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2021 Flower Gallery

Our 2021 wildflower year was an interesting one. We took a handful of wildflower specific hikes in Spring but drought conditions contributed to a shorter wildflower season. We also spent a fair amount of time in the drier central and eastern parts of Oregon where the flowers tend to be sparser but also offers a different mix of species. We have made every effort to identify the flowers as best as possible but are by no means “experts” in any way. With that in mind any help in correctly identifying any of the flowers pictured is more than welcome.

The honor of first flower we spotted on a hike this year goes to Skunk Cabbage near the North Fork Nehalem River in February.

The last flower we saw was the non-native tansy ragwort at Fern Ridge Wildlife Area in November.

In between and in no particular order here are most of the others we were fortunate enough to see.
A delphinium

Red stem storksbill surrounding a lomatium.

A “nettle” of some sort at South Slough Estuary.

A treefoil.

A vetch

An allium on Ninemile Ridge.

Asters, fleabanes and similar flowers remain a mystery so here are some of these types spotted throughout the year.

This may be Eaton’s aster along the Deschutes River.

Purple cushion fleabane

Possibly showy fleabane, August-Steens Mountain Wilderness.

Showy townsendia

Anemonastrum deltoideum -Columbian windflower

Anemonoides oregana – Oregon anemone

Arnica

The small white flowers are miterworts while I believe the yellow is an arnica.

Avens

We believe this is ball head sandwort

Ballhead waterleaf

Pacific waterleaf

Balloon pod milk vetch

A milk-vetch, possibly Yakima

A balsamroot at Lyle Cherry Orchard

A balsamroot at Columbia Hills State Park

Hoary balsamroot on Ninemile Ridge

We think these are mules ears along the Malhuer River Trail

Baneberry

Beargrass, admittedly not the nicest specimen but this one stood out as the only still blooming stalk we saw on our hike in the Indian Heaven Wilderness on 9/5/2021.

Penstemons and beardstongue

Yarrow

Big-head clover

Big-seed lomatium surrounded by parsley.

A bindweed

Bistort

Bitter cherry

Bitterbrush

Blackberry

The only blanket flower with any petals left.

Bleeding heart

Blue dicks?

Might be ookow or blue dicks?

Large-flower triteliea

White triteliea

Henderson’s stars

Blue mountain prairie clover

Blue-bells of Scotland

Blue-eyed Mary, slender phlox, and elegant mariposa lilies.

A phlox

Phlox

A phlox

Sub-alpine mariposa lily

Tolmie’s mariposa lily

Sagebrush mariposa lily

Sand lily

Glacier lilies

Fawn lilies

Washington lily

Yellow bell lilies

Blurry photo but the only tiger lily we came across in 2021.

Chocolate lily

Water lily

Bog orchid

Phantom orchid

Lousewort

Brass buttons (non-native) along the coast near Fivemile Point.

Alpine buckwheat

A buckwheat

Another buckwheat

Sulfur? buckwheat

More buckwheat

Western snakeroot

Buttercups

Pearly everlasting

A mustard? along the John Day River

California corn lilies

False hellebore

Death camas

Mountain death camas

Candy sticks

Candy flower

Catchfly

Chamomile (non-native)

Checkermallows and/or checkerblooms:

Chicory (non-native)

Chokecherry

A cinquefoil?

Slender cinquefoil

Sticky cinquefoil

Lassen clarkia?

Elkhorn clarkia aka Ragged robin

Clarkias with an out of focus madia

Common madia

Clover

A clover (non-native)

Red clover

Coastal manroot

Coltsfoot

Columbine

Coneflower

A currant

Also a currant

Daggerpod

Dandelions in the midst of mahala mat

Sagebrush false dandelion

Deadly nightshade

Diffuse evening primrose

Hooker’s evening primrose

A primrose

Dusty maiden

Dwarf aplinegold

Elegant brodiaea

Elephants head

Fairy bells

Fairy slippers

False lily of the valley and youth-on-age

False solomonseal

Plummed solomonseal

Star flower solomonseal

Starflower

False sunflowers

Fiddleneck

Fireweed

Flower near Illahe Lodge on the Rogue River Trail

Fringecup

Fuller’s teasel

A gentian

Gentians in the Steens Mountain Wilderness

Purple sticky geranium

Ghost pipe

Giant white wakerobbin

Trillium

Gold stars

Goldenrod

Gooseberry

Grand collomia

Grass of parnassus

Grass widows

Paintbrushes:

Groundsel?

Gumweed? July, Willapa Bay

Also a gumweed? Sept, Deschutes River

Hardhack aka Douglas spirea

Hawksbeard

Heart leaved bittercress

Heuchera cylindrica -roundleaf allumroot

Orange honeysuckle

Houndstongue

Also a houndstongue I think.

Evergreen huckleberry

Hyssop

Wild iris

Jacobs ladder

Western Jacobs ladder

Jessica sticktight

Largeleaf sandwort

Larkspur

Lewis flax

Pale flax

Lupines

Sabin’s lupine

Manzanita

Marshall’s saxifrage

A saxifrage?

Saxifrage?

Mock orange

A monkeyflower

Pink monkeyflower

Monkshood

Moth mullien

Mountain bluebills

Tall bluebills

Mountain coyote mint

Mountain heather

Very sad looking mountain lady slippers

Naked broomrape

Northern bedstraw

Nuttal’s linanthus

Old man’s whiskers

Orange agoseris

Orange jewelweed

Oregon grape

Oregon sunshine

Daisies

Pacific coralroot

Spotted coralroot

Striped coralroot

Pinedrops

Two kinds of parsley

Partridgefoot

A pea?

Pea (non-native)

Pennycress

Plectritis

Popcorn flower

Poppies

Poppy

Prince’s pine

Purple deadnettle

Purple oyster

Salsify

Pussy toes

Pussy paws?

Queen’s cup

Rangers buttons

Red osier dogwood

Rhododendron

Rockfringe willowherb

Rough eyelashweed

Bunchberry

Salal

Salmonberry

Service berry

Scarlet gilia

Sea thrift

Self heal

Shooting stars

Showy milkweed

Sicklepod rockcress

Silky phacelia

Silverleaf phacelia

Threadleaf phacelia

Snow queen

Wallflower

Spreading dogbane

Sticky starwort?

Stonecrop

Strawberry

Swamp onion

Tapertip onion?

An onion

Tailed kittentails

Tassel-flowered bricklelbush – Favoite name of the year.

Thimbleberry

Thistle and thistle like flowers

Three-leaf lewisia

Threeleaf goldthreads

Twinberry honeysuckle

Twinflower

Twisted stalk

Toothwort

Valerian

Vaetch’s blazingstar

A violet

Wapato

Western clematis

Western meadowrue

Western stoneseed

Western pasque flower (seed head)

White stemmed frasera shortly before blooming.

Wild ginger

Rose

Roses

Wintergreen

Woodland stars

Below are a flowers that we’ve not been able to even come up with guesses on.
May 29th, Alder Springs Trail

May 29th, Alder Springs Trail

May 30th, Cottonwood Canyon State Park

June 14th, North Fork Umatilla Wilderness

August 29th, Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument near the Norway Pass Trailhead.

September 5th, Indian Heaven Wilderness along Falls Creek.

September 13th, Deschutes River

I apologize for the plethora of pictures but if you’ve gotten this far (without skipping) congratulations and Happy Trails regardless!

Hiking Year-end wrap up

The Hikes of 2021 – A Look Back

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 31, 2021
No Comments on The Hikes of 2021 – A Look Back

It’s hard to believe another year has passed but here we are once again looking back on 12 months worth of hikes. While 2021 was an improvement over 2020 in almost every way it still had its share of ups and downs including losing our remaining cat Hazel in June and my Grandmother in October. While the challenge of finding places to hike due to COVID in 2020 were no more, the same couldn’t be said for COVID itself and it seems like it will be around for awhile. Wildfires once again were a large factor in deciding on our destinations, another issue that doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon.

Despite these issues we had some great hikes in 2021. I slipped an extra three hikes in during the month of April to wind up hiking on 58 days for a total of 641.5 miles while Heather got 55 days in and 614.7 miles. Forty of the hikes were entirely new to us while only one, Tumalo Mountain (post), was an complete repeat. We had done that one over after failing to catch the sunrise on our first try and boy was it worth it.

Our first and final hikes of the year were on converted railroads.
Banks-Vernonia State Trail in January. (post)

Row River Trail in December. (post)

Over the course of the year we managed to complete several of our long term hiking goals. A trip to Cottonwood Canyon State Park in May marked our first hike in Gilliam County which is the last of Oregon’s 36 counties that we had not hiked in.
John Day River from the Lost Corral Trail

Trips in June and July took us to the final four of the 46 designated wilderness areas (open to visitors) that we had yet to visit in Oregon. In all we spent twenty-one days hiking in 15 different designated wilderness areas.
Ninemile Ridge in the North Fork Umatilla Wilderness in June. (post)

Devil’s Staircase Wilderness in July. (post)

Black Canyon Wilderness in July. (post)

Monument Rock Wilderness in July. (post)

By the end of July we had also completed our goal of hiking at least part of all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast” guidebook and in August we did the same with his “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington” guidebook.
Ledbetter Point, the last of the hikes from the coast book. (post)

Badger Lake, the last hike from the northwestern book. (post)

Finishing those two books in addition to the central Cascades book we completed last year (post) left just the eastern and southern books. We checked off 14 featured hikes from the eastern book but were unfortunately unable to make any headway on the southern book due to the wildfires and persistent smoke that plagued southern Oregon and northern California for much of the hiking season.

Our northern most hike was at the aforementioned Ledbetter Point while our southern most hike was on the Oregon Redwoods Trail near the California border (post).
Redwoods

The western most hike was, as usual, along the Oregon Coast at Cape Argo State Park. (post)

This marked the first time 3 hikes from the same guidebook marked the furthest in different directions. For obvious reasons the eastern most hike was not from the coast book but from the eastern book. That was our hike on the Wenaha River Trail. (post)

As we have done the last couple of years we plan on putting together 2021 wildlife and wildflower posts but we’ll leave you with a few of our favorite sights throughout the year. For the most part the weather was good but wildfire smoke often impacted views.
Falls Creek – February

Cascade Head from God’s Thumb – March

Columbia River from Mitchell Point – March

Mt. Hood from Sevenmile Hill – March

Dalles Mountain Ranch – April

Mt. Adams from Grayback Mountain – May

Navigating a downed tree along the Pawn Old Growth Trail – May

Rogue River Trail – May

Golden Falls – May

Lenticular cloud over Mt. Hood from Surveyor’s Ridge – May

Whychus Canyon – May

Deschutes River – May

Whychus Creek Overlook – May

Forest on Mary’s Peak – June

North Fork Umatilla River – June

Tower Mountain Lookout – June

Malheur River – June

Meadow on Round Mountain – June

Santiam Lake – July

Three Fingered Jack from Lower Berley Lake (and a butterfly photobomb) – July

The Husband and Three Sisters from Substitute Point – July

Ochoco
Mountain Trail – July

Red Sun through wildfire smoke from the Monument Rock Wilderness – July

Canyon Mountain Trail, Strawberry Mountain Wilderness – July

Aldrich Mountains – July

Mt. Mitchell summit on a rare poor weather day – August

Mt. Bachelor – August

Cottonwood Camp, Big Indian Gorge in the Steens Mountain Wilderness – August

Wildhorse Lake, Steens Mountain Wilderness – August

Evening at the Steens Mountain Resort – August

Little Blitzen Gorge – August

Riddle Ranch – August

Morning in the Pueblo Mountains – August

Oregon Desert Trail, Pueblo Mountains – August

Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake – August

Harmony Falls – August

Loowit Falls – August

Mt. St. Helens from Norway Pass – August

Mt. Hood from the PCT in the Indian Heaven Wilderness – September

Mt. Adams and Soda Peaks Lake, Trapper Creek Wilderness – September

Jubilee Lake – September

Rough Fork Trail, Blue Mountains – September

Heritage Landing Trail, Deschutes River – September

McDonald-Dunn Forest – October

Cascade Mountains from the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness – October

Three Fingered Jack from Round Lake – October

Mt. Hood from the Flag Point Lookout

Mt. Hood from Lookout Mountain – October

Silver Falls State Park – October

Laurel Hill Wagon Chute – October

Barlow Ridge, Mt. Hood Wilderness – October

Fern Ridge Wildlife Area – November

Here’s to an even better 2022. Happy New Year and Happy Trails!

Tags Black Canyon Wilderness, Deschutes River, Devil's Staircase Wilderness, hiking, Monument Rock Wilderness, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, North Fork Umatilla Wilderness, Oregon, Washington, Wilderness Areas, William L Sullivan

Year-end wrap up

2020 Wildflower Gallery

While 2020 was a pretty good year for wildflowers we stuck relatively close to home save for a July trip to Lakeview and a couple of visits to the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness. That meant we didn’t get to many areas where the wildflowers are much different from what we see most years so we didn’t see many new types. Nevertheless we saw a wide variety of flowers throughout the year and some very colorful displays. We also took more urban hikes so some of the flowers weren’t native wildflowers.

Once again the first flowers we encountered were on our February hike.

Wood violet Violet

Manzanita

Skunk cabbage

Some type of violet at Trappist Abbey Violet

Purple deadnettle

Tree blossoms Blossoms on a tree

Red flowering currant

Western service berry

California poppy

A checkermallow

Perriwinkle

Cultivated radish

Vetch Vetch

Annual honesty Annual honest

Giant white wakerobbin

Camas Camas

Cow parsnip

Flowering bush near Morgan Lake Flowering bush as Basket Slough Wildlife Refuge

Red clover

Tough leaved iris Iris

Columbine

Indian plum

Tolmie's mariposa lily Tolmie’s mariposa lily

Thin-leaf pea

Giant blue-eyed Mary

Golden paintbrush

Plectritis

Meadow death camas

Purple sanicle

A mustard

Star flowered solmonseal Star flowered solomseal

Starflower

Yellowleaf iris

Valerian

Spotted coralroot

Timbleberry Thimbleberry

Hookedspur violet

Fairy slipper

Dogwood blossom Dogwood

Buck Brush - redstem ceanothus Buck Brush

Fairybells

Showy phlox

Honeysuckle

A pea and poison oak

Youth-on-age Yout-on-age

Monkey flower

Snow queen

Pale flax Pale falx

Wild ginger

Oregon grape

Candy flower

Striped coralroot

Bleeding heart along the North Fork Trail Bleeding heart

Strawberry

Maple blossoms Maple

Coastal manroot

Popcorn flower?

Collomia heterophylla - Variable Collomia Variable collomia

Western yellow oxalis

Salmonberry

Pacific waterleaf

Queen's cup Queen’s cup

Western buttercups

Foam flower

Chocolate lilies Chocolate lillies

Vanilla leaf

Arnica Arnica

Stonecrop

Tall bluebells

Anemones Anemone

Oregon geranium

Vetch and daisies

Common St. John's wort Common St. John’s wort

Douglas spirea

Lupine Lupine

Flower at McFadden's Marsh

Ookow Ookow

Yellow glandweed

Fringecup

Wild roses Wild rose

Inside out flower

Largeleaf sandwort

False solomonseal

Baneberry

<Sourgrass

Beargrass

Rhododendron

Subalpine mariposa lily

Trillium

Larkspur

Woodland stars

Royal Jacob's ladder Royal Jacob’s ladder

Nightblooming false bindweed

Alpine pennycress

Twinflower

Oregon sunshine

Bunchberry

Mountain ash

Raceme pussytoes

Phlox Phlox

Henline Mountain Trail Paintbrush

Rusty saxifrage

A penstemon

Salal Salal

Pyrola A pyrola

Tiger lilies along the Swordfern Trail Tiger lily

Gold threads

Self heal

Bachelor button

Possibly a willowherb A willowherb?

Pea A pea

Pink honeysuckle

Flower along the Row River Trail

Brodeia A brodeia

Scarlet pimpernel

Poppy A poppy

Foxglove

Hedgenettle

A phacelia

Swallowtail coming in for a landing Blackberry

Lupine Lupine

Flowers along the Estacada Lake Trail

Petunia Petunia

Western meadow-rue

Shooting stars and western buttercups

Elephants head

Pacific coralroot

Musk monkeyflower

Bastard toadflax

Yarrow Yarrow

A penstemon

Silverleaf phacelia

Washington lily

A buckwheat

Pinedrops

Balsamroot

Western hound's tongue Western hound’s tongue

Diamond Clarkia next to a big seedhead Diamond clarkia

California stickseed

Tiny flowers along the Green Ridge Trail

Scarlet gilia

Salsify Salsify

Sticky cinquefoil

Gooseberry

Thistle A thistle

A buckwheat

Blue-eyed Mary

Fawn lily

Sandwort

Olympic onion

Phlox A phlox

False sunflower

Bistort and paintbrush

Wallflower

A penstemon

Phantom orchid

A penstemon

A buckwheat

Tall buckwheat

Daisies Daisies

Streambank globe mallow

Wildflowers along the road to the Monte Cristo Trail

Pussytoes

Tapertip onion

White stemmed frasera

Wildflower on Monte Cristo

Prince's pine Prince’s pine

Goats beard

Sugarstick

A saxifrage

A lousewort

Pinesap Pinesap

A stonecrop

Clarkia Clarkia

Blue-head gilia

Wildflowers along the Pyramids Trail

Cone flower

Currant A currant

Wildflower along the road to the Riggs Lake Trailhead

Large boykinia

Bog orchid

Old man's whiskers Old man’s whiskers aka prairie smoke

A paintbrush

Sticky chickweed

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

California corn lily

Musk thistle

Checker-mallow A checkermallow

Grand collomia

Rosy pussytoes

Scouler's woollyweed Scouler’s woollyweed?

An orobanche

Slender cinquefoil

Nuttall's linanthus Nuttal’s linanthus

Orange agoseris

Smooth stem blazing star

Rougheyelashweed Rough eyelashweed

A weed A weed

White water buttercups

Sagebrush mariposa lily

Tansyleaf evening primrose

Bees on dustymaidens Dustymaidens

A horkelia

Aster An aster?

Broomrape An orobanche

A paintbrush

Mountain coyote mint

Butterflies on rabbitbrush Rabbitbrush

Wildflowers at Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge

Wildflowers along the Warner Valley Overlook Loop

Butterflies on wildflowers in DeGarmo Creek

Spreading dogbane

Monkshood

Catchfly

Pussypaws

Swamp onion

A penstemon

Wildflower at Lake Abert Watchable Wildlife Area

Thistle A thistle

Common mullen

Beardtongue

Wintergreen

Monkeyflower

A lousewort

Wildflowers along the Killen Creek Trail

Lousewort and lupine

Mountain heather

White mountain heather White mountain heahter

False hellebore

Violets Violets

Wildflowers along the Pacific Crest Trail

Groundsel

A fleabane

Spirea A spirea

Gentian Gentian

A willowherb

Cutleaf daisy

Dwarf alpinegold

Jacob's ladder Jacob’s ladder

Fireweed

Monkeyflower

Butterfly on pearly everlasting Pearly everlasting

Drummond's anemone Drummond’s anemone

Wildflowers along the Blue Lake Trail

Ghost pipe

Madia Common madia

Goldenrod and other wildflowers along the Whitehorse Meadows Trail Goldenrod

Owls clover Owl’s clover

Wildflower along the Rattlesnake Mountain Trail

Flower along the 804 Trail

I’ve made my best effort to roughly identify the flowers that I could. Any help or corrections are more than welcome. Happy Trails!

Tags hiking, Oregon, wildflowers

Year-end wrap up

2020 Wildlife Gallery

Continuing a tradition that started a couple of years ago here are some photos of the wildlife that we spotted on our hikes in 2020. As always we kept our distance (thank goodness for the 30x zoom) and did our best not to disturb any of the critters. That being said there were several instances where they (mostly insects) chose not maintain social distancing.

As with 2019 (post) we’ll start out small and work our way up.

Ladybug

Ants on white tritelia

Beetles

Red beetle

Bug on a flower

California poppies

Bee on wallflower

Bee on a coneflower

Big fly

Millipede

Tent catapillers

Caterpillar

Woolley bear caterpillar

Pandora moth catapiller

Crab spider on a prince's pine

Wolf spider and babies

Bug on the bridge over Rat Creek

Grasshopper at Marie Lake

Cricket

Dragon fly

Snail

Snail on the North Fork Trail

Slug

Moth

Skipper

Butterfly on yarrow

Butterfly along the Green Ridge Trail

Butterfleis along DeGarmo Creek

Butterfly at Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge

Policecar moth and butterfly

Orange tip butterfly

Common wood nymph

Butterfly

Friendly butterfly

Butterfly

Butterfly on dustymaiden

Butterfly on Oregon sunshine

Tortoiseshell butterfly

Butterfly on self-heal

Mountain parnassian

Sheep moth

California Sister Butterfly at Natural Bridge

Lorquins admiral

Mourning cloak on clover

Butterflies and bees on wildflowers

Butterfly on the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Trail

Swallowtail

Swallowtail on a salmonberry blossom

Tadpoles

Frog in Blue Lake

Frog under Heather's daypack

Frog along the Highline Trail

Bull frog in The Mirror Pond

Rough skinned newt

Sagebrush lizard

Western fence lizard

Alligator lizard

Garter snake

Gopher snake

Hummingbrid

Wren

Small bird along Morgan Lake

Small bird at Summer Lake Wildlife Area

Bird at Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge

Common Yellowthroat

Chickadee

Junco

House finch

American goldfinch

Sparrow

Rabbit and an golden-crowned sparrow This one is here for the golden-crowned sparrow.

Swallow

Cedar waxwings

Spotted towhee

Western tanager

Western bluebird

Western meadowlark

Horned lark

Blackbird

Red-winged blackbird

Yellow headed blackbird

Ouzel

Robin at Miller Woods

Varied thrush

Scrub jay

Gray jay

Stellar's jay

Clark's nutcracker

Woodpecker

Northern flicker

Killdeer at Summer Lake Wildlife Area

Birds along the 804 Trail

Kingfisher

California quail

Rock dove

Band-tailed pigeons

Grouse

Bird at Summer Lake Wildlife Area

Black necked stilt and a white faced ibis

Birds at Summer Lake Wildlife Area

Surf scooters

Goldeneyes

Cinnamon teal pair

Pied-billed grebe family

American scooter

Harlequin ducks

Mallards at the pond in front of the SAIF building

Common merganser

Duck at Summer Lake Wildlife Area

Duck at Milo McIver State Park

Family of Canada geese

Gulls and American avocets at Lake Abert Watchable Wildlife Area

American kestrel

Owl hiding in mostly plain sight There is an owl in this photo.

Osprey landing at the Salem Audubon Nature Reserve

Hawk

Hawk along the Whitehorse Meadows Trail

Bald eagle

White faced ibis

White pelicans

Cormorant

Egret

Great blue heron at McFadden's Marsh

Sandhill crane at Summer Lake Wildlife Area

Chipmunk drying out on the rocks

Golden mantled ground squirrel

Ground squirrels

Squirrel with a cone

Squirrel at Riverfront Park

Marmot

Pika at Lower Erma Bell Lake

Rabbit

Rabbit at William L. Finely Wildlife Refuge

Jack rabbit

Bat at Wiley Camp

Cows near Government Harvey Pass

Coyote at Summer Lake Wildlife Area

Deer at Miller Woods

Elk

Pronghorn

Happy Trails!

Tags hiking, Oregon, wildlfie

Hiking Year-end wrap up

The Hikes of 2020 – A Look Back

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

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

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

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

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

Boulder Creek

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

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

February
View from Spencer Butte Spencer Butte

Shotgun Creek

Horse Rock Ridge Trail Horse Rock Ridge

March
Morning at Miller Woods Miller Woods

Trappist Abbey

April
Camas Bush Pasture Park

May
Baskett Butte Basket Slough Wildlife Refuge

North Fork Willamette River

Little Luckiamute River

Old growth at Valley of the Giants Valley of the Giants

Indigo Springs

Rigdon Meadows

Pigeon Butte Trailhead Pigeon Butte

June
East Fork South Fork McKenzie River

Sullivan Creek Falls*

Henline Falls*

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

Spirit Falls

Pinard Falls

Moon Falls

Memaloose Lake*

Echo Basin Trail Echo Basin

Hall House Fish Lake

View from the Green Ridge Trail Green Ridge*

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

Mt. Adams from the Monte Carlo Trail Monte Carlo Trail

July
Hunchback Trail Hunchback Mountain

Meadow along the Pyramids Trail Meadow below the Three Pyramids

North Pyramid from Daly Lake Daly Lake

View from Winter Ridge Winter Ridge

Light Peak from Fence Pass Fence Pass

Beatys Butte from Flook Lake Flook Lake

Barnhardy Road Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge

Petroglyphs around Petroglyph Lake Petroglyphs along Petroglyph Lake

Waterfall on DeGarmo Creek DeGarmo Canyon

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

August
View from Sleeping Beauty Sleeping Beauty

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

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

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

The old Bohemia Post Office Bohemia Post Office

Diamond Peak from Diamond View Lake Diamond View Lake

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

Diamond Peak from Karen Lake at sunset Karen Lake

Middle Erma Bell Lake

September
Mt. Bailey from the Dellenback Trail Diamond Lake

Rattlesnake Mountain from the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Trail Rattlesnake Mountain

View from the Spruce Run Creek Trail Spruce Run Creek Trail

October
Deep Lake Trail Indian Heaven Wilderness

Deschutes River with Grizzly Mountain in the distance Wildcat Canyon

National Creek Falls

Takelma Gorge

Hershberger Mountian Lookout Hershberger Mountain

Rabbit Ears

Rogue River at Natural Bridge Natural Bridge

Old lookout tower on Abbott Butte Abbott Butte Lookout

Wild Cherry Trail Forest Park

Upper Latourell Falls

Larch Mountain from Multnomah Basin Larch Mountain

November
McKenzie River

December
Sun rays through the trees Yachats

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

East Fork Trail under blowdown East Fork Trail

Blowdown over the Riggs Lake Trail Riggs Lake Trail

Hackleman Old Growth Trail Hackleman Old Growth Loop

Howlock Mountain Trail

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

Acker Divide Trail covered by blowdown Acker Divide Trail

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

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

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

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

Horned Lark at Flook Lake (post)

Gulls and American avocets at Lake Abert

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

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

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

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

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

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