wanderingyuncks

Hiking

Yakona Nature Preserve – 02/05/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 8, 2022
8 Comments on Yakona Nature Preserve – 02/05/2022

After several hectic weeks at work for both Heather and I we celebrated the start of a new month (and a favorable forecast) by heading out on our second hike of the year. Our destination for this outing was the Yakona Nature Preserve, an area brought to our attention by our friends Susan and John. The preserve encompasses over 300 acres of a peninsula located at the south end of Newport in Yaquina Bay which as been acquired through various purchases since 2013. Several trails have been built in recent years with construction ongoing as the Yakona Nature Preserve works to fulfill its vision “to preserve and restore native forest land on the bay, with day use access for families, hikers and people of all abilities.”

I reached out to the folks at the preserve to check on any permit or reservation requirements to visit. They were quick to answer and provided me with the information we needed. As of our hike (and this report) there are two ways to visit the preserve, on a group hike led by the Yakona Nature Preserve or by obtaining a permit to hike 1.75 miles through private timber land to reach the preserve. We were informed that a group hike was tentatively planned for later in the month but we really needed to spend a day on the trails sooner rather than later and we couldn’t pass up a partly sunny day so we opted to go the permit route. If you’re interested in visiting the preserve please reach out via their contact page or message them on Facebook for more information.

With our permit obtained we headed to Newport and parked near the Wilder Dog Park and disc golf course just beyond the Wolf Tree Brewery and Taproom on SE Harborton Street. SE Harborton is gated at the start of the private land (do not block the gate) and becomes Road 200.
Permit info at the gate.

Looking back to the gate from Road 200.

From the gate we took Road 200 (the middle of three roads) and followed it for three quarters of a mile to King Slough where the road passes through the estuary.

It’s hard to get an idea of size here but the two trees growing over the large nursery stump were good sized.

Hooded Mergansers

After a brief stretch amid some trees, where we stayed left at another 3-way fork, we crossed another arm of King Slough.
Road 200 to the left.

On the far end of the slough on the right side of the road was a trail signed “3rd World”

This wasn’t the first trail we’d seen leading off to the right, we had passed at least three earlier some of which appeared to be part of the disc golf course, but this was the first that we would pass both ends of. A half mile further up Road 200 we passed the upper end of the 3rd World Trail and decided that we would take that trail on our way back. The various trails which are open to mountain bikes, trail runners and hikers can be viewed here. (Don’t forget your permit.)
Upper end of the 3rd World Trail.

We had stayed on Road 200 through which climbed uphill via a wide curve. As we gained elevation we spotted a couple of elk in the brush on the hillside above.

It turned out that there were quite a few elk in the area and for the next third of a mile or so we occasionally spotted them in the road or heard them crashing through the brush.

Two tenths of a mile beyond the upper end of the 3rd World Trail we came to a split in the road on a ridge top. Road 200 turned left while Road 250 continued straight.
Approaching the ridge top.

We turned left on Road 200 passing a sign for the Yakona Nature Preserve.

In another 0.2 miles we came to a gate which we passed around per the directions received from the preserve.

As of yet there are no maps available of the nearly 4 miles of trails here so we were operating on the directions we’d received via email: “There is a good road all the way to the edge of the forest and you’ll pass, on your right, the clear cut we’ve replanted. Most of the trails take off into the forest from there, and the road continues for another 3/4 mile, traverses forest, and ends at a wetland. There are multiple trails off that forest road. We’re still developing a trails map, but as a general rule, when you’re ready to exit Yakona and not sure where you are, head UPHILL to return to the road you hiked in on. Uphill is your way out. All of our trails connect to one another or to the road. Keep in mind that we are still in the build out stage.” We also had found a map for a 30k race that went through the preserve to give us a bit of an idea where some of the trails were located. We turned left off the main road where the race had with the plan being to work our way clockwise around the peninsula sticking as close to the edge as the trails allowed. We had one specific goal in mind which was to find the Yakona Bridge, a replica of the Yaquina Bridge spanning Yaquina Bay. We knew that the bridge had been part of the race course but were unsure where along the route it was located.
Heading off the main road.

It was clear that there had been a lot of work done to establish the trails and that that work was still continuing. The trails dipped and climbed bringing us to the bay at times and to views above at others.

Common goldeneye

Great blue heron and buffleheads

Rough skinned newt

Coral fungus

Northern pintail, heron, seagulls and some green winged teals.

American wigeons

One of a number of unique benches located along the trails.

Stone steps

A pair of footbridges.

Another rough skinned newt, there were many.

Mushroom

Another bench at a viewpoint.

Several benches were inlaid with rocks such as this which was a really neat feature.

Small footbridge ahead.

Beyond the little footbridge the trail climbed to a ridge top on the NE side of the peninsula where looking down the other side we spotted the Yakona Bridge.

Yakona Bridge.

After spending some time admiring the bridge we climbed up the other side where we came to Maryann’s Wind Phone, an unexpected surprise.

Informational sign for the wind phone.

We continued with our “stay as far to the outside as possible” plan which resulted in us passing a pair of wells before winding up at the end of the entrance road.

This trunk had split into four.

Dropping down to another estuary.

Back up we go!

Found the road.

We had covered approximately 3 miles on the trails and now we hiked back along the road which passed several trails leading off the road and another interesting bench overlooking the replanted clear cut.

Bench on the far hillside above the clear cut.

Short path to the bench.

One of the trails.

We spotted our first wildflowers of the year on our way out. A lone violet and some blooming evergreen huckleberry.

A rather damp woolly bear caterpillar.

When we reached the 3rd World Trail we turned off Road 200 and followed it downhill through the forest.

This took at least two tenths of a mile off our return trip by cutting out the wide curve in the road walk.
Back to Road 200 near Kings Slough.

Once we were back on Road 200 we followed it back to the Wilder Area. We finally saw some other people when a group of trail runners popped onto the road from the unsigned Drop Zone Trail. By the time we were back at the car we had hiked 8.8 miles with a surprising amount of ups and downs providing a decent amount of elevation gain (1000-1500′). It will be interesting to keep an eye on the progress the Yakona Nature Preserve makes in restoring and developing the area. While it was free to visit we did make a donation via their website to help them fulfill their vision. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Yakona Nature Preserve

Tags 3rd World Trail, elk, great blue heron, hiking, Hooded merganser, King Slough, Newport, Oregon, Wilder Area, Wilder Trails, Yakona Bridge, Yakona Nature Preserve, Yaquina Bay

Hiking

Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas (Completed)

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 1, 2022
8 Comments on Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas (Completed)

Several years back we set several hiking goals, one of which being to hike in all of Oregon’s federally designated wilderness areas. At that time there were 47 such areas in the State with two of those being off-limits to visitors (Three Arch Rocks & Oregon Islands are also National Wildlife Refuges that provide nesting habitat for sea birds as well as serving as pupping sites for marine mammals. To prevent disturbances public entry to any of the rocks/islands is prohibited and waters within 500 feet of the refuge are closed to all watercraft from May 1 through September 15.) In 2019 Congress added the Devils Staircase Wilderness to the list giving us a total of 46 designated wilderness areas to visit in order to complete this goal. Staring in 2019 we began posting annual updates on our progress (2020 & 2021) and we are excited to report that, unless any new wilderness areas are established in the future, this will be our last update. We managed to make it to the final four wilderness areas on our list, the North Fork Umatilla, Devils Staircase, Black Canyon, and Monument Rock, in 2021. We have to give credit to Bruce (Van Marmot) over at Boots on the Trail for not only getting to all 46 first but also providing inspiration and a lot of helpful information.

A little over 2.5 million acres are designated as wilderness throughout the State and range in size from 15 acres (Three Arch Rocks) to 355,548 acres (Eagle Cap). Oregon shares a wilderness with three of its bordering states. The Wenaha-Tuccanon is shared with Washington, Hells Canyon with Idaho, and Red Buttes with California. The areas are managed by three different federal agencies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages the Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks areas while the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages nine and the Forest Service manages forty-one. If you do the math those numbers add up to fifty-two. The reason for that is four of the areas, the Devils Staircase, Lower White River, Hells Canyon, and Wild Rogue are managed jointly by the Forest Service and BLM. Seven of the areas have no official trails, the two off-limit areas, and the Devils Staircase, Rock Creek, Lower White River, Bridge Creek, and Spring Basin wildernesses. Although irregularly shaped (except for the exactly 6 square mile Mountain Lakes Wilderness) the majority of the areas are a single unit. In addition to the Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks the Mount Hood (4), Mark O. Hatfield (2), Badger Creek (2),Salmon-Huckleberry (3), Clackamas (5), Soda Mountain (2), North Fork John Day (4), and Steens Mountain (2) consist of multiple separate areas.

We visited our first Oregon Wilderness in 2009 when we visited Henline Falls in the Opal Creek Wilderness. Since then we have spent parts of 215 days in these special places. For sixteen of the areas it was only a single day while we’ve spent part of 30 days in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Below are some of our best memories from each of the wilderness areas. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed visiting them.

Badger Creek: 28,915 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Black Canyon: 13.088 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Boulder Creek: 19,911 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Bridge Creek: 5,337 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Bull of the Woods: 36,869 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Clackamas: 9.465 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Copper-Salmon: 13,724 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Cummins Creek: 9,026 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Devils Staircase: 30,787 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Diamond Peak: 52,477 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-7

Drift Creek: 5,792 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Eagle Cap: 355,548 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5

Gearhart Mountain: 22,587 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Grassy Knob: 17,176 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Hells Canyon: 131,337 acres in OR (217,613 in ID) Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Kalmiopsis: 179,550 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Lower White River: 2,871 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Mark O. Hatfield: 65,420 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-12

Menagerie: 4,952 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Middle Santiam: 8,845 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Mill Creek: 17,173 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Monument Rock: 20,210 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Mountain Lakes: 23,036 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Mount Hood: 64,742 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-22

Mount Jefferson: 108,909 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-27

Mount Thielsen: 55,151 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5

Mount Washington: 54,410 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-7

North Fork John Day: 120,694 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-8

North Fork Umatilla: 20,225 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-3

Opal Creek: 20,774 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Oregon Badlands: 28,182 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Oregon Islands: 925 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-0

Red Buttes: 3,777 acres in OR (20,133 in CA) Days Spent in Wilderness-2 in OR, (4 in CA)

This photo is from CA but it actually shows the namesake Red Buttes

Roaring River: 36,548 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Rock Creek: 7,273 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Closest thing to a “wilderness sign” we saw for this one.

Rogue-Umpqua: 35,749 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Salmon-Huckleberry: 62,061 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-11

Sky Lakes: 113,687 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-3

Soda Mountain: 24,707 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Spring Basin: 6,404 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1

Steens Mountain: 170,202 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5

Strawberry Mountain: 69,350 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5

Table Rock: 5,784 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-3

Three Arch Rocks: 15 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-0

Three Sisters: 283,619 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-30

Waldo Lake: 36,868 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6

Wenaha-Tuccanon: 65,266 acres in OR (176,737 in WA) Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Wild Rogue: 35,221 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2

Tags Badger Creek Wilderness, Black Canyon Wilderness, Boulder Creek Wilderness, Bridge Creek Wilderness, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, Clackamas Wilderness, Copper-Salmon Wilderness, cummins creek wilderness, Devil's Staircase Wilderness, Diamond Peak Wilderness, Drift Creek Wilderness, eagle cap wilderness, Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, Grassy Knob Wilderness, Hells Canyon Wilderness, hiking, kalmiopsis wilderness, Lower White River Wilderness, Mark O Hatfield Wilderness, Menagerie Wilderness, Middle Santiam Wilderness, Mill Creek Wilderness, Monument Rock Wilderness, Mount Hood Wilderness, Mount Jefferson Wilderness, Mount Thielsen Wilderness, Mount Washington Wilderness, mountain lakes wilderness, North Fork John Day Wilderness, North Fork Umatilla Wilderness, opal creek wilderness, Oregon, oregon badlands wilderness, Oregon wilderness areas, Red Buttes Wilderness, roaring river wilderenss, Rock Creek Wilderness, Rogue-Umpqua Wilderness, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, sky lakes wilderness, soda mountain wilderness, Spring Basin Wilderness, Steens Mountain Wilderness, Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, table rock wilderness, Three Sisters Wilderness, waldo lake wilderness, Wenaha-Tuccanon Wilderness, Wild Rogue Wilderness, Wilderness Area

Hiking

Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 25, 2022
10 Comments on Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington

As we mentioned in our previous post for several years we have been working on a goal to hike all 500 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” series of guidebooks (post). In 2020 we completed the first of these books covering the Central Oregon Cascades (post). We followed that up by completing a pair of books in 2021 beginning with the 3rd edition “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast and Coast Range” on 7/31/2021. (post) A month later we crossed of the final hikes in the 4th edition “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington”.

Generally speaking in order to check a hike off our list we need to have hiked a substantial portion of Sullivan’s described hike or visited the main attraction(s) he identifies for the hike. In many cases Sullivan provides multiple options for destinations/lengths as well as listing more than one distinct hike under a featured hike. For instance hike #68 – West Zigzag Mountain consists of an 11 mile out and back to the former West Zigzag lookout site and a 1.8 mile hike to Castle Canyon (which we have not yet hiked), each starting from a different trailhead with no overlapping (or connecting) trails. For three other featured hikes we have yet to do the separate shorter hike -#2 Aerial Tram & Council Crest we have not done the 1.8 mile loop to Marquam Shelter via the Portland Ariel Tram, #13 Tualatin Hills we have not done the 2.2 mile Cooper Mountain loop and #23 Ape Cave we have not done the 0.2 mile Trail of Two Forests. Additionally for hike #6 Northern Forest Park there are two options going in different directions from the same trailhead and we have only done the longer of the two. Then there are the hikes with multiple main attractions of which there are three that we have not made it to all of the suggested destinations: #27 Lava Canyon we have yet to visit The Ship, #59 Catherine Creek we have not been to the Indian Pits, and #76 Timberline Lodge Trails we haven’t made it up to the Silcox Hut yet. Finally hike #83 lists the entire 40 mile Timberline Trail as one of four options and we have not yet hiked the entirety of that trail. That leaves 16 featured hikes that we made it to all the main attractions and 76 that were completed either as described or with additional hiking added on.

The area covered in this particular book extends north from Salem into Washington to cover both the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and Mt. Adams Wilderness. To the east the area reaches just beyond The Dalles where it overlaps slightly with his eastern book by including the Klickitat Rail Trail in the Columbia Gorge section. Further south, below the Badger Creek Wilderness the eastern reach ends roughly at the Cascade Crest/Pacific Crest Trail. The area also extends SE of Salem to encompass most of the Bull of the Woods Wilderness, the Olallie Lake Scenic Area, and the northern end of Jefferson Park in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness. Unfortunately many of the hikes in this SE corner were burned over by wildfires in 2020 and 2021.
A rectangular view of the area which also includes some hikes from the Central Cascades book at the southern end and hikes from the Eastern book along the eastern end.

Map showing only hikes from the NW book.

In addition to the four wilderness areas already mentioned 7 additional wildernesses are located in the area covered. The Mark O. Hatfield, Mt. Hood, Salmon-Huckleberry, Lower White River, Roaring River, Clackamas, and Table Rock Wilderness.

Hikes range from urban walks in the Willamette Valley to alpine strolls above the treeline in the Cascade Mountains. Rivers and waterfalls, highlighted by the Columbia River Gorge, are frequent focuses of the hikes along with lakes and wildflower covered hillsides and meadows. A mix of ecological zones are present including alpine forests, pine-oak grassland, and sagebrush flats. Elevations range from just above sea level at Warrior Point to just under 9000′ on Mt. Hood along Cooper Spur.

With all that out of the way here is a list of the 100 featured hikes along with a photo (or two where two distinctly different hikes were included in the entry) from William L. Sullivan’s 2018 4th edition “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington”:

#1 Tilikum Crossing – Hiked 12/14/2019

#2 Aerial Tram & Council Crest – Hiked 5/12/2018 (Council Crest)

#3 Washington Park – Hiked 5/12/2018

#4 Balch Creek – Hiked 10/24/2020 & 1/01/2022

#5 Maple Trail – Hiked 12/14/2019

#6 Northern Forest Park – Hiked 11/17/2018 (Germantown to Fire Lane 7a)

#7 Tryon Creek Natural Area – Hiked 4/20/2019

#8 Oaks Bottom – Hiked 12/10/2017

#9 Powell Butte – Hiked 10/1/2017

#10 Oxbow Park – Hiked 10/1/2017

#11 Willamette Mission Park – Hiked 3/23/2019

#12 Champoeg Heritage Area – Hiked 12/6/2015

#13 Tualatin Hills Nature Parks – Hiked 3/23/2019 (Tualatin Hills)

#14 Warrior Rock – Hiked 5/11/2019

#15 Ridgefield Refuge – Hiked 7/31/2021

#16 Lacamas Park – Hiked 4/19/2015

#17 Silver Star Mountain – Hiked 6/30/2013, 6/27/2015, 6/26/2019

#18 Moulton Falls – Hiked 3/1/2017
(This is Yacolt not Moulton Falls)

#19 Siouxon Creek – Hiked 6/4/2016 Burned 2020 in the Big Hollow Fire

#20 Coldwater Lake – Hiked 5/11/2014, 7/16/2019, & 7/17/2016

#21 Johnston Ridge – Hiked 8/22/2013 & 07/16/2016

#22 Sheep Canyon – Hiked 7/14/2013

#23 Ape Cave – Hiked 7/11/2025

#24 Mt. St. Helens Rim – Hiked 9/7/2014

#25 June Lake – Hiked 7/19/2014

#26 Ape Canyon – Hiked 9/17/2012 & 7/11/2015

#27 Lava Canyon – Hiked 9/17/2012

#28 Windy Ridge – Hiked 8/28/2021

#29 Spirit Lake – Hiked 7/16/16, 8/28/2021, & 8/29/21

#30 Badger Peak – Hiked 8/28/21

#31 Lewis River Falls – Hiked 5/29/2016

#32 Observation Peak – Hiked 7/7/2013 Burned 2020 in the Big Hollow Fire

#33 Falls Creek Falls – Hiked 10/13/2018

#34 Thomas Lake – Hiked 9/12/2015
Pictured: Blue Lake

#35 Junction Lake – Hiked 9/12/2015 & 10/3/2020

#36 Cultus Lake – Hiked 10/3/2020

#37 Sleeping Beauty – Hiked 8/1/2020

#38 Mt. Adams Meadows – Hiked 8/17/2014

#39 Cape Horn – Hiked 11/21/2015

#40 Hardy Ridge – Hiked 5/8/2021

#41 Beacon Rock State Park – Hiked 5/29/2013, 5/2/2015, 5/8/2021
Hamilton Mountain

Beacon Rock

#42 Gillette Lake and Greenleaf Falls – Hiked 5/4/2019

#43 Larch Mountain Crater – Hiked 10/31/2020

#44 Latourell Falls – Hiked 10/31/2020

#45 Angels Rest – Hiked 5/25/2013 Burned 2017 Eagle Creek Fire

#46 Multnomah and Wahkeena Falls – Hiked 7/2/2012 & 5/25/2013 Burned 2017 Eagle Creek Fire

#47 Oneonta and Horsetail Falls – Hiked 7/2/2012 Burned 2017 Eagle Creek Fire

#48 Wahclella and Elowah Falls – Hiked 3/21/2015 Burned 2017 Eagle Creek Fire

#49 Eagle Creek – Hiked 10/9/2012 & 5/7/2014 Burned 2017 Eagle Creek Fire

#50 Herman Creek – Hiked 10/3/2015 Burned 2017 Eagle Creek Fire

#51 Wahtum Lake – Hiked 10/26/2019

#52 Mount Defiance – Hiked 7/16/2012 Burned partially 2017 Eagle Creek Fire

#53 Mitchell Point – Hiked 3/27/2021

#54 Moiser Twin Tunnels – Hiked 4/25/2015

#55 Tom McCall Preserve – Hiked 4/25/2015

#56 Dog Mountain – 5/17/2014 & 5/7/2016

#57 Weldon Wagon Road – Hiked 3/19/2016

#58 Coyote Wall – Hiked 3/19/2016

#59 Catherine Creek – Hiked 3/19/2016

#60 Lyle Cherry Orchard – Hiked 3/27/2021

#61 Klickitat Rail Trail – Hiked 4/26/2014

#62 Wildwood Area – Hiked 5/24/2015 & 6/8/2019
Bonanza Trail

Boulder Ridge Trail

#63 Old Salmon River Trail – Hiked 8/30/2015

#64 Salmon River Trail – Hiked 8/30/2015 & 6/2/2018

#65 Salmon Butte – Hiked 6/16/2013

#66 Hunchback Mountain – Hiked 7/11/2020

#67 Devil’s Peak Lookout – Hiked 9/29/2018

#68 West Zigzag Mountain – Hiked 7/9/2012 & 7/4/2020

#69 Burnt Lake – Hiked 7/13/ 2014

#70 Ramona Falls – Hiked 7/20/2012 & 8/24/2013

#71 McNeil Point – Hiked 8/20/2012 & 7/18/2015

#72 Cairn Basin – Hiked 8/20/2012, 8/11/2013, 8/13/2017, & 6/22/2019 (Owl Point)

#73 Lost Lake – Hiked 6/15/2019

#74 Laurel Hill – 10/28/2017 & 10/30/2021

#75 Mirror Lake – Hiked 10/28/2017

#76 Timberline Lodge Trails – Hiked 8/27/2012, 7/12/2014, & 8/20/2016

#77 Timothy Lake – Hiked 9/15/2013

#78 Twin Lakes – Hiked 10/29/2016

#79 Umbrella Falls – Hiked 7/21/2013

#80 Elk Meadows – Hiked 7/21/2013

#81 Tamanawas Falls – Hiked 4/3/2016

#82 Cooper Spur – Hiked 9/24/2016

#83 Timberline Trail at Cloud Cap – Hiked 8/3/2014, 8/13/2017, 8/17/2019

#84 Bald Butte – Hiked 5/21/2017

#85 Lookout Mountain – Hiked – 6/28/2014, 10/13/2019, & 10/16/2021

#86 Fret Creek & Oval Lake – Hiked 6/28/2014 & 10/16/2021

#87 Badger Creek – Hiked 5/24/2014 & 6/28/2014

#88 Butte Creek Falls – Hiked 3/1/2015

#89 Table Rock – Hiked 10/11/2012, 7/4/2015 & 6/21/2020

#90 Memaloose Lake – Hiked 6/18/2020 Burned 2020 Riverside Fire

#91 Clackamas River Trail – Hiked 6/25/2012 Burned 2014 36 Pit and 2020 Riverside Fires

#92 Fish Creek Mountain – Hiked 6/28/2019 Burned 2020 Riverside Fire

#93 Riverside Trail – Hiked 11/9/2019 Burned 2020 Riverside Fire

#94 Shellrock and Rock Lakes – Hiked 9/22/2013
Pictured: Serene Lake

#95 Bagby Hot Springs – Hiked 7/14/2028

#96 Pansy Lake – Hiked 8/16/2019 Burned 2021 Bull Complex

#97 Red Lake – Hiked 10/10/2013 & 9/5/2015 Burned 2020 Lionshead Fire

#98 Monon Lake – Hiked 9/12/2019 Burned 2020 Lionshead Fire

#99 Top Lake – Hiked 10/10/2013, 9/5/2015 & 9/12/2019 Burned 2020 Lionshead Fire

#100 Jefferson Park Ridge – Hiked 10/7/2012 Burned 2020 Lionshead Fire

Hiking

Oregon Coast & Coast Range

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 18, 2022
10 Comments on Oregon Coast & Coast Range

Several years ago we set a goal for ourselves to hike all 500 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” series of guidebooks (post). Last year we completed the first of these books covering the Central Oregon Cascades (post). We followed that up by completing a pair of books in 2021 starting with Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast and Coast Range” 3rd edition. Up until the start of 2021 we had been intending to finish his 4th edition but the continued closure of the Salmonberry Railroad prompted us to revert to the earlier edition. That meant going from only needing to finish 5 hikes to 9 hikes but at least the 9 hikes were open and thus we were able to visit them. The last final featured hike happened to be featured hike #1 – Leadbetter Point (post) which we visited on 7/31/2021. Many of the featured hikes in this book are shorter hikes with some barely more than a half mile so we often did multiple hikes in a single day.

Generally speaking in order to check a hike off our list we need to have hiked a substantial portion of Sullivan’s described hike or visited the main attraction(s) he identifies for the hike. For 59 of the hikes we stuck to a nearly identical route to the one described in the book. For another 22 hikes we added to the hike, either following Sullivan’s “other options” or making it up on our own. Eighteen of the hikes were limited to the main attraction which typically involved hikes where there was an option for a shuttle from a second trailhead or as in the case of the Rogue River Trail there were options for multi-day backpacking trips. (We will get to more of the Rogue River Trail as we work through his Southern Oregon book.) Finally one hike, #86 Lower Rogue River, was cut very short due to trail damage. We may revisit that trail at a later date but we counted it as we went as far as we felt we could safely at the time.

The area covered by Sullivan in this book is unique in that it is the only area in which there are featured hikes in three states – Washington, Oregon, and California. It also contains the northern most featured hike the aforementioned Leadbetter Point. The area covered is a somewhat narrow strip running down the coastline from Leadbetter Point south to Redwoods National Park in California. A few hikes are located as far inland as the foothills of the Coast Range along the edge of the Willamette Valley.

Despite being a fairly narrow (approximately 60 miles east to west) area the hikes were quite varied from beach walks to mountain summits, sand dunes to temperate rain forests, and urban walks to the solitude of remote wilderness.

The area is home to several designated wilderness areas including the two areas that are off-limits to visitors, Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks. The areas open to visitors are the Drift Creek, Cummins Creek, Rock Creek, Devils Staircase, Grassy Knob, Copper-Salmon, Wild Rogue, and Kalmiopsis.

Two mountain ranges are home to several hikes. The Coast Range extends over 200 miles from the Oregon/Washington border south to the Middle Fork Coquille River. At the southern end of the Coast Range the Klamath Mountains begin extending south into California. The elevations for these hikes ranged from sea level to 4655′ atop Vulcan Peak in the Klamath Mountains (Mary’s Peak at 4097′ marked the high point in the Coast Range).

Lastly many of the hikes along the Oregon Coast follow the route of the Oregon Coast Trail.

Without further ado here is a list of the 100 featured hikes along with a photo (or two where two distinctly different hikes were included in the entry) from the 2009 3rd edition of “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range”.

#1 Leadbetter Point – Hiked 7/31/2021

#2 Long Beach – Hiked 9/11/2017

#3 North Head – Hiked 9/11/2017

#4 Cape Disappointment – Hiked 9/11/2017

#5 Fort Columbia – Hiked 9/11/2017

#6 Clatsop Spit – Hiked 9/9/2017

#7 Fort Stevens – Hiked 9/9/2017

#8 Fort Clatsop – Hiked 1/10/2016

#9 Astoria – Hiked 9/9/2017

#10 Seaside Promenade – Hiked 9/12/2017

#11 Tillamook Head – Hiked 12/8/2013

#12 Cannon Beach – Hiked 9/10/2017

#13 Saddle Mountain – Hiked 5/31/2013 & 6/23/2018

#14 Highway 26 Waysides – Hiked 6/23/2018
Four County Point

Sunset Rest Area

#15 Banks-Vernonia Railroad – Hiked – 4/10/2016 & 1/16/2021 (Also ran as a marathon in 2014.)

#16 Cape Falcon – Hiked 6/22/2012 & 4/29/2017

#17 Neahkahnie Mountain – Hiked 1/5/2014

#18 Nehalem Bay – Hiked 1/1/2018

#19 Munson Falls – Hiked 5/30/2015

#20 Bayocean Spit – Hiked 4/14/2013

#21 Cape Meares – Hiked 1/1/2018

#22 Wilson River – Hiked 3/8/2014

#23 Kings Mountain – Hiked 8/16/2010

#24 Gales Creek – Hiked 2/15/2015

#25 Hagg Lake – Hiked 9/13/2019

#26 Cape Lookout – Hiked 11/11/2011

#27 Pacific City – Hiked 10/8/2013

#28 Mount Hebo – Hiked 5/30/2011 & 5/30/2015

#29 Niagara Falls – Hiked 2/12/2017

#30 Neskowin – Hiked 2/12/2017

#31 Harts Cove – Hiked 12/6/2014

#32 Cascade Head – Hiked 8/8/2010, 6/25/2019, & 9/28/19 (Inland Trail)

Inland (Rainforest) Trail

#33 Baskett Slough Refuge – Hiked 7/11/2010, 5/3/2020 & 4/15/2021

#34 Valley of the Giants – Hiked 5/18/2020

#35 Roads End – Hiked 3/6/2021

#36 Drift Creek Falls – Hiked 12/6/2014

#37 Salishan Spit – Hiked 8/1/2015

#38 Devil’s Punchbowl – Hiked 7/12/2012

#39 Newport Lighthouses – Hiked 8/26/2017
Yaquina Head

Yaquina Bay

#40 South Beach – Hiked 8/4/2018
Estuary Trail

South Jetty

Mike Miller Trail

#41 Ona Beach and Seal Rock – Hiked 12/11/2017

#42 Drift Creek North – Hiked 9/15/2010

#43 Drift Creek South – Hiked 8/3/2019

#44 Mary’s Peak – Hiked 2009 (day unknown), 6/1/2014, & 6/5/2021

#45 Kings Valley – Hiked 6/1/2014
Fort Hoskins

Beazell Forest

#46 Peavy Arboretum – Hiked 2/19/2018

#47 Chip Ross Park & Dimple Hill – Hiked 12/18/2016 & 10/2/2021

#48 Finley Wildlife Refuge – Hiked 10/21/2017, 5/31/20, & 4/14/2021

#49 Alsea Falls – Hiked 12/19/2012

#50 Yachats – Hiked 12/5/2020

#51 Cape Perpetua – HIked 9/15/2010, 2/17/2013, & 10/27/2018

#52 Gwynn Creek – Hiked 2/17/2013

#53 Heceta Head – Hiked 12/11/2017

#54 Baker Beach – Hiked 1/15/2017

#55 Sutton Creek – Hiked 2/20/2016

#56 Cape Mountain – Hiked 9/5/2011

#57 Pawn and Pioneer Trails – Hiked 5/13/2021
Pioneer Hill Trail

Pawn Old Growth Trail

#58 Siuslaw Ridge Trails – Hiked 2/20/2016 & 11/20/2021
Old Growth Ridge Trail

Clay Creek Trail

#59 Sweet Creek Falls – Hiked 2/20/2016

#60 Kentucky Falls – Hiked 5/9/2015

#61 Honeyman Park – Hiked 12/8/2018

#62 Siltcoos Lake – Hiked 12/8/2018

#63 Siltcoos River – Hiked 12/8/2018

#64 Taylor Dunes – Hiked 9/13/2018

#65 Oregon Dunes – Hiked 1/1/2015

#66 Tahkenitch Creek – Hiked 1/1/2015 & 9/16/2018

#67 Tahkenitch Dunes – Hiked 1/1/2015

#68 Lake Marie – Hiked 9/13/2018

#69 Umpqua Dunes – Hiked 9/13/2018

#70 Golden and Silver Falls – Hiked 5/16/2021

#71 Shore Acres – Hiked 5/15/2021

#72 South Slough Estuary – Hiked 5/15/2021

#73 Fivemile Point – Hiked 5/13/2021

#74 Bullards Beach – Hiked 9/15/2018

#75 Bandon Islands – Hiked 9/14/2018

#76 New River – Hiked 9/14/2018

#77 Floras Lake – Hiked 5/8/2017

#78 Cape Blanco – Hiked 5/8/2017

#79 Port Orford Heads – Hiked 5/8/2017

#80 Humbug Mountain – Hiked 5/16/2016

#81 Sisters Rock – Hiked 5/16/2016

#82 Otter Point – Hiked 5/16/2016

#83 Coquille River Falls – Hiked 5/6/2017
Coquille River Falls

Elk Creek Falls

#84 Hanging Rock – Hiked 5/7/2017
Hanging Rock

#85 Rogue River Trail – Hiked 5/14/2021

#86 Lower Rogue River – Hiked 5/9/2017

#87 Illinois River – Hiked 5/20/2016

#88 Shrader Old Growth Trail – Hiked 5/9/2017
Shrader Old Growth Trail

Myrtle Tree Trail

#89 Cape Sebastian – Hiked 5/18/2016

#90 Boardman Park North – Hiked 5/21/2016

#91 Boardman Park South – Hiked 5/19/2016

#92 Vulcan Lake – Hiked 5/17/2016
Vulcan Lake

Vulcan Peak

#93 Redwood Nature Trail – Hiked 5/17/2016

#94 Wheeler Ridge Bomb Site – Hiked 5/19/2016

#95 Oregon Redwoods – Hiked 5/13/2021

#96 Stout Grove – Hiked 10/25/2015

#97 Boy Scout Tree – Hiked 10/25/2015

#98 Damnation Creek – Hiked 10/24/2014

#99 Hidden Beach – Hiked 5/11/2017

#100 Fern Canyon – Hiked 5/10/2017

With any luck the Salmonberry Railroad will be reopened in the not too distant future so we can say we’ve completed the 4th edition as well. In the meantime there are still other non-featured hikes to explore and trails to revisit. Happy Trails!

Tags California, hiking, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Redwoods, Washington, William L Sullivan

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2021 Wildlife Gallery

One of the most enjoyable experiences while hiking is encountering wildlife. Oddly enough it’s also one of the worst (see ticks, mosquitos, and yellow jackets). From creatures great to small we were blessed to see a wide variety of God’s creations this past year. While there remain a number of critters on our “bucket list” of animals we haven’t encountered yet in 2021 we were able to put a check mark by river otters, American bitterns, and raccoons.
River Otters on a boom at Dorena Lake

American bittern flying over Fern Ridge Wildlife Area

Raccoons at South Slough Estuary

We are working on learning to identify the various birds and butterflies we see and have made our best efforts (guesses), but as with our attempted identification of wildflowers (post) any help and or corrections is appreciated. With that here is a collection of the rest of the wildlife we encountered in 2021 starting with caterpillars, butterflies and moths.

Several species

One of the sulphurs

Another sulphur

Becker’s white

A hairstreak

Also a hairstreak

Cabbage white

California tortoiseshell

A checkerspot

Chlosyne acastus – sagebrush checkerspot, female

Chlosyne acastus – sagebrush checkerspot, male?

Cloudis parnassian

Cedar hairstreak

Green comma?

Hoary comma

Juba skipper – Hesperia juba

Langton’s Forester Moth

Lorquin’s admiral

Milbert’s tortoiseshell

Moth

A moth, possibly Gnophaela latipennis

Moth

Mylitta crescents

Ochre ringlet

Orange tip

Possibly a Boisduval’s blue – Icaricia icarioides

Propertius duskywing – Erynnis propertius

Purplish copper

Possibly another purplish copper, Steens Mountain Wilderness 8/17.

Sheep moth

Silvery blue?

A skipper

Anise swallowtail

Indra swallowtail

Possibly a pale swallowtail -Ninemile Ridge

Possibly a western swallowtail -Devil’s Staircase Wilderness

Viceroy

Wood nymphs
July 19th, Ochoco Mountains

August 17th Steens Mountain Wilderness

August 19th Steens Mountain Wilderness

One of the fritillary butterflies I think.

Flying ants at the summit of Mt. Bachelor

Cicada

Ladybug

Find the beetle

Dictyoptera aurora?

Crab spider

Spot the spider

Praying mantis

June bug

Damsel fly

Dragon fly

Alligator lizard

Ring necked snake

Turtle

Western fence lizards

Dunn’s salamander?

Rough skinned newt

Crawdad surrounded by rough skinned newts

Fish in Black Canyon Creek

Seals

Sea lions

Nutria

Hindquarters of what we believe to have been a mole.

There are several species of chipmunks in the area and I think these are two different species but I’m not sure which ones.
Indian Heaven Wilderness

Badger Creek Wilderness

Likewise there are several different squirrels and ground squirrels.
Golden mantled-ground squirrel

Pikas at first glance might seem to be related to ground squirrels but they are actually closely related to rabbits.
Pika

Mountain cottontail

Eastern cottontail

Snowshoe hare

Jack rabbit

Ring-necked duck and a lesser scaup

American coot, spotted sandpiper and mallards on a log

American wigeons

Green-winged teals

Cinnamon teal

Mallards, a cinnamon teal and a pied billed grebe

Common merganser

A female hooded merganser? and buffleheads

Northern pintails

Northern shovelers

Ducklings

Canada geese

Western grebe

Bird at the Formal Gardens at Shore Acres State Park

At least two types of egrets and a bunch of ducks at Malhuer Wildlife Refuge

Egret

Great blue heron

Black-necked stilt

Dunlins

Yellowlegs?

White faced ibis

Whimbrels

Spotted sandpiper

Another sandpiper

A couple of types of shorebirds

White pelican

Seagull

Cormorants

Kingfisher

American dipper aka ouzel

A couple of American bushtits

Bewick’s wren?

Canyon wren?

Wren? at Horsethief Butte near The Dalles.

No idea, seen along the Alder Springs Trail in Central Oregon.

Possibly a flycatcher?

A flycatcher

Flycatcher?

Another no clue, seen near a creek in the Ochoco Mountains.

Crossbills? (based on the crossed beaks)

Black headed grosebeak

Black phoebe

California scrub jays

Gray jay

Stellar’s jay

Pinyon jay

Clark’s nutcracker

Brewer’s blackbird

Yellow headed blackbird

Red winged blackbird

Starling

Cedar waxwings

Common yellowthroat

Dark eyed junco

Chestnut-backed chickadee

Mountain chickadee

Possibly an orange crowned warbler

Ruby crowned kinglet

A finch

Green-tailed towhee

Spotted towhee

Pipit

Townsend’s solitaire

Robin, western bluebird and swallows

Mountain bluebird

Lazuli bunting

Red breasted nuthatch

Yellow-rumped warbler

Western meadowlark

Western tanager – male

Western tanager – female

Western wood-pewee

Rufous sided hummingbird

Chipping sparrow?

White crowned sparrows

Savannah sparrow

Sparrow

Sparrow?

Lark sparrow

Downy woodpecker?

Lewis’s woodpecker

Northern flicker

Red breasted sapsucker

A woodpecker

Killdeer

Mourning dove

Grouse, leaning toward sooty

Not sure which type of grouse this is.

Ruffed grouse?

Sage grouse

California quail

Turkeys

Rooster at Cape Arago State Park

Crow

Turkey vulture

A magpie and some sort of hawk

A hawk

Hawk in flight

Cooper’s hawk?

Hawk in the Pueblo Mountains

Red-tailed hawk

Hawk or?

Northern harrier

Osprey (with meal)

Bald eagle

Great horned owl

American kestral

Common nightwawk

Northern shrike

Coyote

Wild horses at Steens Mountain

Not wild cows along the Little Malhuer Trail

Columbian black-tailed deer

Columbian white-tailed deer

Mule deer fawn

Elk in the Aldrich Mountains

Mountain goat

At the top of our list of animals we haven’t seen is a cougar (at a distance please), beaver, and porcupine along with a number of others. Good luck out there in 2022 and Happy Trails!

Tags butterflies, Oregon butterfiles, oregon hiking, Oregon wildlife, Wildlife

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

Forest Park – Stone House and Pittock Mansion – 01/01/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 4, 2022
4 Comments on Forest Park – Stone House and Pittock Mansion – 01/01/2022

Weather permitting we like to get our January hike in on New Years Day. A series of Winter storms had passed over the Willamette Valley starting Christmas night but while temperatures had remained cold the precipitation had ceased and the forecast for New Years Day was for another dry day with a potential for sunny skies. The only issue presented by the forecast were the temperatures which promised to be in the low 20’s for our morning start. We had our sights set on Forest Park in Portland as it didn’t require us driving over any mountain passes and allowed us to sleep in a bit since it is only an hours drive from Salem. This would be our fourth hike in the park but our first time starting from an upper trailhead in the Tualatin Mountains. One of our goals was to visit the stone ruins, sometimes referred to as the Witch’s Castle, along Balch Creek which was one of two options for Sullivan’s Balch Creek featured hike. We had chosen to do his longer option in 2020 (post) which we used to check that featured hike off our to-do list but we wanted to tie up the loose end.

We decided to begin our hike at the NW 53rd Trailhead in order to add some distance and to check out some of the trails that we had not hiked on in 2020. While the snow had left the valley floor at 800′ some still remained and the 21 degree temperature had frozen everything.

From the trailhead we immediately turned right on the Keil Trail, one of the trails we had not been on before.

The trail ended in under a quarter mile at the Dogwood Trail where we turned left.

We followed this trail downhill for a little over half a mile to a junction with the Wildwood Trail.

A bank of clouds was sitting directly over Portland but we could see the edge in the distance. We hopped that the clouds would either burn off or move along.

We turned right on the Wildwood Trail. The next 0.6 miles to a junction with the Wild Cherry Trail was a section of trail that we had been on in 2020.

We stayed straight on the Wildwood Trail ignoring all side trails for 2.5 miles to the stone ruins along Balch Creek.

Junction with the Birch Trail.

A wren busy pecking at a log.

Junction with the Aspen Trail. As we descended we left most of the snow, and the icy conditions, behind.

Holman Lane Junction.

Balch Creek and the Lower Macleay Trail (Currently closed due to construction.)

Icicles over Balch Creek.

We continued beyond the Witch’s Castle another half a mile to the Macleay Park Trailhead crossing Balch Creek and climbing up a rather slick hill along the way.

Going uphill before it got really slick.

Wilwood Trail at Macleay Park Trailhead.

We left the Wildwood Trail at the trailhead turning right past some picnic tables and taking a path along NW Cornell Road to the Portland Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary.

A network of trails loop around the sanctuary.

We began our tour here by walking past the Wildlife Care Center where we think we witnessed an escape attempt.

Aristophanes, a common raven and long time resident at the sanctuary, was being visited by another pair of ravens with questionable intent :).

We took this raven to be the “lookout”.

Beyond the ravens the trail descended to Balch Creek where we took the short Creek Trail to a turnaround at a bench before returning to the Jay Trail.

Bench at the end of the Creek Trail.

We left the Jay Trail by taking a right on the Woodpecker Trail keeping right at junctions to meet up with the other end of the Jay Trail which we then returned on making a 0.7 mile loop.
Pond along the Jay Trail,

Junction with the Woodpecker Trail.

Big Douglas fir.

I continue to struggle to get a clear photo of a varied thrush.

Jay Trail junction with the Wren Trail.

Nearing the pond from the other side.

After completing this short loop we crossed NW Cornell Road and headed up the Al Miller Founders Trail.

The Founders Trail climbed up into increasingly snowy forest before traversing around a hillside to a junction with the North and South Collins Trails in 0.6 miles.

Stairs up to the trail junction.

The South Collins Trial offered a slightly shorter loop but we turned left on the North Collins Trail which climbed a little more before winding downhill and rejoining the South Collins Trail near NW Cornell Road.

Baseball sized jelly fungus, the largest we’ve seen.

Descending to the South Collins Trail.

More ice formations.

This was a 1.5 mile “almost loop” which required a 500′ road walk to return to the Founders Trail and the Wildlife Sanctuary.

We then made our way back to the Macleay Park Trailhead and the Wildwood Trail which we followed across NW Cornell Road.

Due to tunnel construction the road was closed just beyond the trailhead so we didn’t have to worry about traffic as we crossed. On the other side of the road we continued on the Wildwood Trail but soon found ourselves facing the slickest section of trail we’d encountered yet. Luckily we had brought our Kathoola micro spikes which we put on in order to get down the little hill.
We planned on returning via the Upper Macleay Trail.

Heather descending the slick section with a trail runner behind that had attempted to get up the hill but was turning back.

The trail runner had come up the Cumberland Trail which she said had been fine but above that trail things got slick fast.
Cumberland Trail junction.

The Wildwood Trail turned uphill at a junction with the Macleay Trail which is where things started to get really interesting.

Other than the one hill where we’d put on our spikes there had always been enough clear trail to find descent footing but now the trails were pretty much ice.

We held off putting the spikes back on though until the three way junction with the Upper Macleay Trail. We watched another trail runner slip and slide as they carefully made their way downhill and decided it was time to put the spikes back on.
The trail runner in blue.

With the spikes on we were able to confidently walk uphill, marching past a number of folks struggling to come down. We saw a few falls but luckily we didn’t see anyone get injured which was a real possibility. Besides us we only came across 4 other hikers with some sort of traction devices for their shoes.

Heather coming up behind me.

Arriving at the Pittock Mansion parking lot.

We had visited the mansion in 2018 (post) having come up from the other side on the Wildwood Trail and had hoped that this time we might get a view but alas the cloud cover had not moved on.
Pittock Mansion

A line of blue sky beyond the cloud cover.

Portland from Pittock Mansion.

Snowy foothills in the sunlight beyond the Columbia River.

Deprived of a mountain view we headed back to the Wildwood Trail where we put our microspikes back on and headed downhill.

With the spikes on we had no issues reaching the junction with the Upper Macleay Trail where we turned left.

The spikes stayed on until we had descended to Macleay Park and Heather re-donned hers again to descend to the Witch’s Castle.

Entering the Macleay Park Trailhead.

One last look at the Witch’s Castle.

When we reached Holman Lane we turned left and headed uphill. We followed Holman Lane just over three quarters of a mile to NW 53 Dr. where we turned right walking a short distance along the road to the Birch Trailhead. Here we picked up the Birch Trail which descended a quarter mile back to the Wildwood Trail. Going back this way not only let us experience a new trail but it cut a half mile off the distance to the Wildwood/Birch Trail junction.
Holman Lane started out snow and ice free.

Back to the snow and ice higher up.

NW 53rd Drive

Birch Trailhead

The microspikes went back on before descending the Birch Trail and stayed on for the remainder of the hike.

Sparrow foraging on the Birch Trail.

Back to the Wildwood Trail.

We turned left on the Wildwood Trail for 0.4 to the Wild Cherry Trail where we again turned uphill. This was another new section of trail for us and it was an additional three quarters of a mile shorter than returning via the Wildwood Trail.
Wild Cherry Trail junction.

Little snowman near the junction.

Is that a bit of blue in the sky finally?

Snowy mushrooms

The Wild Cherry Trail ended at the Dogwood Trail where we turned right for a short distance before reaching its junction with the Keil Trail.

A break in the clouds provided some blue sky above the Keil/Dogwood Trail junction.

We turned left on the Keil Trail retracing our steps from the morning to the NW 53rd Trailhead.

Woodpecker that wasn’t a bit concerned about my presence.

The Subaru waiting for us at the trailhead.

According to the GPS this was a 13 mile hike with around 2500′ of elevation gain.

Aside from not getting the views we’d hoped for this was a wonderful way to kick off the new year. There was good scenery, historical structures and a good deal of wildlife (even if most of it wouldn’t stay still long enough for photos). We hope everyone had a great holiday season and here is to a great 2022. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Forest Park – Stone House and Pittock Mansion

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

Cottage Grove Hiking Oregon Trip report

Row River Trail – Mosby Creek TH to Harms Park -12/18/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 20, 2021
5 Comments on Row River Trail – Mosby Creek TH to Harms Park -12/18/2021

A combination of a busy December both at work and home and uncooperative weather left us with one final day to get our December hike in before the holiday weekend. Short of an ice storm we planned on hiking somewhere but the exact hike would depend on the weather forecast. As we got closer to the day, rain was the consensus everywhere within our day hiking radius. I looked through the hikes we hadn’t done yet for options for this time of year where a day of rain would have least impact on the hike. After coming up with a couple of possibilities, each a different direction from Salem a I looked again at the forecast for each area to see if any looked better than the others. The Row River Trail just East of Cottage Grove was the clear winner with just a chance of showers in the morning increasing to rain as the day went on.

A converted rail road, the Row River Trail is a 14 mile long paved National Recreation Trail. We hiked a portion of the trail last June during a multi-stop day (post). On that day we started at Bake Stewart Park which is on the eastern side of Dorena Lake and hiked west to Rat Creek which is just beyond Harms Park. Our plan for this outing was to park on the other side of Dorena Lake at the Mosby Creek Trailhead and hike east to Harms Park. It was overcast but not raining when we pulled into the trailhead parking area.

The trail begins in Cottage Grove approximately 3 miles to the west of this trailhead it passes through town then closely follows Mosby Creek Road to the trailhead. While the trail beyond Mosby Creek crosses several roads and follows Row River Road around Dorena Lake it is more scenic than the first 3 miles would have been. Starting at the Mosby Creek Trailhead also offers the chance to make a quick 50 yard detour to the 1920 Mosby Creek Covered Bridge which was restored in 1990 and is still in use.

The Row River Trail crosses Mosby Creek on a nearby trestle bridge.

The trail is basically as straight as an arrow for 1.3 miles from the Mosby Creek bridge to a second bridge over the Row River. The scenery along this stretch is farmland and trees.

Ivy disguising itself as a tree.

Mallards and Christmas lights.

Layng Road crossing. The lights on the signs were activated when sensors picked up something approaching.

Currin Covered Bridge on Layng Road.

Cormorants flying overhead.

Approaching the bridge over the Row River.

Row River

Lesser scaup. I would have liked a better picture but it was still early and not very light and the little guy was a ways away on the river.

A short distance beyond the river we passed under Row River Road.

20211218_113536_HDR This was a new sign to us.

Shortly after passing under Row River Road the trail began a small climb above some farms as it made a sweeping curve to the right.
Row River Road with some snowy hillsides in the distance.

Arrows and other yellow markings identified bumps and holes in the trail for equestrian and bike users.

Jelly fungus

Hamblen Creek

Turkeys in a field.

Sign along a private driveway.

Not very many mushrooms but these were good sized.

The trail crossed Row River Road again as it passed along the shoulder of Cerro Gordo, a 2112′ butte.

From the road crossing We descended slightly passing the unmarked site where the campfire scene was filmed for the 1986 movie Stand By Me before arriving at the Dorena Lake Dam.

Do squirrels jog?

Madrone along the trail.

Row River Road was overhead to the left along this rocky section.

Nearing a bench along the trail facing Dorena Lake Dam.

Interpretive sign near the bench.

A short distance beyond the bench we took a short detour down to the reservoir.

Snow in the Calapooya Mountains.

White pelicans on the other side of Dorena Lake.

We returned to the Row River Trail and continued another half a mile to a small parking area at Row Point where we again detoured to the reservoir.
Still no rain despite the clouds.

Red-tailed hawk

A kingfisher and a great blue heron.

White pelcians and other waterfowl Pelicans and other waterfowl on the move.

Cerro Gordo from Row Point.

After visiting Row Point we continued east on the trail for another 1.3 miles before arriving at the Rat Creek Bridge which had been our turn around point on our previous hike.
Not much water at all in the eastern end of the reservoir.

A great blue heron on the far left with a bunch of white pelicans and cormorants.

Actual sunlight hitting the dam.

Spotted towhee

Rat Creek Bridge

Rat Creek

It was a very different view from the bridge versus last time.
Dorena Lake June 2020 from the Rat Creek Bridge.

We continued the short distance into Harms Park to use the facilities and take a short break at a picnic table and then started back.

Gold tree in front of Cerro Gordo.

When we were nearing the dam again we could see a number of cormorants lining the boom.

I decided to detour over to the dam itself to check out the view.
The little hill to the left provides access to the north end of the dam.

Heather had semi-reluctantly followed me but as it turned out we were both very happy we’d made the short side trip. Along with the group of cormorants making use of the boom were 4 river otters.

Just drying out.

Trying to play.

No luck.

After not having seen any otters during our hikes prior to 2021 this was now the 4th time we’d seen one but the first where we were able to watch them for any extended period. It elevated what had already been a good hike into the great category. After watching the otters for awhile we headed back to the Mosby Creek Trailhead keeping our eyes open for other wildlife along the way.

Rabbit

American wigeons

Nature slowly reclaiming an old farm truck.

Red breasted sap sucker.

Mosby Creek

The hike came in a 12.4 miles after all of the little side trips with only about 150′ of elevation gain.

There are numerous possible starting/turnaround points which make it possible to break the trial up into several smaller sections and we passed a few people doing just that with their dogs/children. The rain showers never materialized making it a much more pleasant day than we’d expected to have and the variety of wildlife, especially the otters, was a great way to finish off our 2021 hikes. Happy Trails and Merry Christmas!

Flickr: Row River Trail – Mosby TH to Harms Park

Tags Cerro Gordo, Cottage Grove, Currin Covered Bridge, Dorena Lake, Dorena Lake Dam, Harms Park, hiking, Mosby Creek, Mosby Creek Covered Bridge, Mosby Creek Trailhead, Oregon, River Otter, Row Point, Row River, Row River Trail, spotted towhee, Stand By Me, White Pelican

Coastal Range Eugene Hiking Oregon Trip report Willamette Valley

Clay Creek Trail and Fern Ridge Wildlife Area – 11/20/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 22, 2021
8 Comments on Clay Creek Trail and Fern Ridge Wildlife Area – 11/20/2021

A dry forecast on my birthday provided a great excuse to head out on our November hike. We had an unusually loose plan for this outing which consisted of a stop at the Clay Creek Trail followed by a visit to the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area with a third possible stop at Meadowlark Prairie. While the 2 mile hike on the Clay Creek Trail was covered in Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range” we had very little information on the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area. There was enough information available on line to know that it was open to hiking but it was unclear just how long of a hike was possible which is why we were keeping the option of Meadowlark Prairie on the table. The mostly paved 14 mile long Fern Ridge Path passes along Meadowlark Prairie on its way into Eugene, OR which would have provided some extra hiking time if we’d felt that we needed it.

We started our morning by driving to the BLM managed Clay Creek Recreation Site. The hike here is one of two hike Sullivan lists under his Siuslaw Ridge Trails entry (featured hike #65, 4th edition). We had done the other hike at nearby Whittaker Creek in 2016 (post) and while we considered that earlier hike enough to check off the featured hike from our list completed this second short hike would complete it. We parked at a small pullout on the south side of the Siuslaw River.
The trailhead sign for the Clay Creek Trail is ahead on the opposite side of the road.

It was a foggy morning, much like it had been on our earlier visit to the Wittaker Creek Recreation Area.
Siuslaw River

Clay Creek on the left emptying into the Siuslaw.

A short use trail led down to Clay Creek and a small gravel bench.
Stairs at the Clay Creek Recreation Area across the river.

After checking out the creek we walked the short distance up the road to the start of the trail. Sullivan described the hike as a 2 mile out and back but the map on the sign at the trailhead showed a lollipop loop. (Sullivan does mention the loop in his “Trail Updates” on oregonhiking.com.)

The existence of the loop at the top was a pleasant surprise. We crossed Clay Creek on a footbridge and began the 600′ climb to the ridge top.

The Clay Creek Trail climbing above Clay Creek.

We passed a bench at the second swtichback and continued climbing to a junction 0.6 miles from the parking area.

It’s hard to tell size here but the diameter of this tree was well over 5′.

The junction for the loop.

We turned right and continued to climb through the fog to the ridge top where the trail turned left.
One of several reroutes we encountered.

On the ridge top.

The trail passed several madrone trees before arriving at a bench at the high point of the ridge.
Madrone trunk and bark, always fascinating.

Lots of mushrooms pushing up through the forest floor.

Good sized trees near the high point.

No idea what you might see on a clear day.

The trail then began to descend to another bench at a switchback where the map indicated there was a view.

The viewpoint.

The trail continued switchbacking downhill while it wound back to the junction.

Just before reaching the junction I nearly went head over heals trying to avoid stepping on a rough skinned newt that I spotted at the last minute.

After having a one sided conversation with said newt we continued downhill to the car.
Nearing the footbridge.

The fog had lifted off the river at least.

While Sullivan indicates in his update that the loop makes this a 3.6 mile hike others still list it as 2 miles and both Heather and my GPS units logged 2 miles for the hike. Despite the fog not allowing for any view it was a pleasant little hike. Sullivan does also mention that the BLM is considering a $5 parking fee for the area in the future so be sure to check the BLM site before heading out.

We spent just over an hour on the Clay Creek Trail after driving over 2 hours to get there so a second stop was a must in order to not break our rule against spending more time driving than hiking. That’s where the Fern Ridge Wildlife Area came in. Located just west of Eugene the area consists of a dozen units broken up around Fern Ridge Reservoir. We had driven by the reservoir numerous times on the way to hike in the Coast Range and around Florence and seen signs for the wildlife area which had piqued at least my curiosity. After some online research it appeared that parking at the end of Royal Avenue between the Royal Amazon and Fisher Butte units was our best bet. The ODFW website mentions possible seasonal closures but finding detailed information on them wasn’t easy. I was eventually able to determine that these two units were open to the public from 10/16 thru 1/30 from until 2pm each day (presumably starting at sunrise). Even with the earlier hike we had arrived before 9:30am so we had plenty of time to explore. There is a $10 daily fee to park in the lots which is typical for ODFW wildlife areas (although it appeared most people simply parked along the shoulder of Royal Ave to avoid the fee).

Note that Royal Ave and the trail to the viewing platform are open year around with the other restrictions listed below.

We took a picture of this map to assist us with our route.

From the signboard we continued on the gated extension of Royal Avenue. It was a lot foggier than we had expected so the visibility wasn’t good and it was in the mid 30’s so it was chilly too.

We passed a grassy path leading to the viewing platform at the 0.4 mile mark.

We opted to pass on the platform for now hoping that visibility would improve as the morning wore on and we could stop by on our way back. We continued on the old road bed watching for birds and any other animals that might be about.

White crowned sparrow

Northern harrier on the hunt.

Wetlands in the Royal Amazon unit.

As we neared sub-impoundment one a large bird flew up from the reeds. It was our first encounter with an American bittern which was on my bucket list of animals we’d yet to see.
The bittern taking off.

Not the greatest photo but enough to identify it.

We turned right on a levy/old roadbed on the other side of the sub-impoundment and followed it for 0.7 miles to Gibson Island. The highlight of this stretch was a pair of bald eagles hanging out in a snag.

A hawk on a stump.

American coots

Gibson Island (with the eagles in the snag to the far left)

A short trail at the end of the levy led onto the island before petering out.

We turned around and headed back to Royal Avenue where we turned right and continued west just to see how far we could go.
A flock of geese above the coots.

There were a number of these small birds pecking around in the mud which, with some help from Molly in the comments, are American pipits.

Continuing west.

We used the stones to the right to cross the water here.

Great blue heron (with Highway 126 in the background).

Sandpiper in the roadway.

End of the line.

We imagined that much of this stretch would be under water by late Winter/early Spring but we had managed to make make it 1.7 miles from the trailhead before being turned back. We headed back past sub-impound one to the grassy path near the viewing platform where we left the road bed.

Seagull

Perhaps the same northern harrier.

The harrier taking a break.

The path to the platform.

Dunlins (thanks again to Molly)

The platform.

From the platform dikes led west and south. Since we had just come from the west we decided to go south along a body of water in Field 5.

The first signs that the fog/clouds might be breaking up.

Looking back at a little blue sky and a visible Gibson Island

We watched a group of shore birds as the alternate between foraging in the mud and performing areal acrobatics.

A little over three quarters of a mile from the viewing platform we arrived at a 4-way junction.

We turned left continuing around Field 5 for a third of a mile before arriving at a “T” junction just beyond a ditch.
Fisher Butte is the low hill ahead to the right.

According to the map we’d taken a picture of at the trailhead continuing straight at the junction would lead us to the area’s boundary near Fisher Butte while the right hand path led past Field 2 to Field 1 and then to a parking area off Highway 126. We turned left walking between the ditch and Field 3.
Gibson Island was now lit by direct sunlight.

In another third of a mile we faced another choice. Another dike headed to the right (east) between Field 3 and Field 4.
The dike running between Fields 3 & 4.

Looking back over the ditch.

We opted to turn right having misread the map for the first time. For some reason we ignored the difference between the symbols for the dikes and boundary lines (although some online sights showed paths along the boundary lines). At first everything was fine as the dike gave way to a cut mowed track wrapping around Field 4 along the boundary. There was a pond in Field 4 where several species of ducks were gathered as well as a great blue heron and a kingfisher.
California scrub jay

Northern shovelers and a bufflehead.

Buffleheads and two hooded merganser females.

Kingfisher

American robin

After wrapping around the pond for half a mile the track we were following became increasingly muddy with standing water in areas. We were very close to a gravel road so we hopped onto it for a tenth of a mile where we were able to get back onto a grassy track at a signpost.
The gravel road and another small portion of the wildlife area on the other side.

Noisy geese.

Back on the mowed track.

We went straight here looking for a trail on the right that would leave us back to the parking area. The clouds were really breaking up now and lots of little birds were out enjoying the warmer weather.

A sparrow

Spotted towhee and friend.

Finch

As of yet unidentified little bird.

We found what we were looking for, at least what we thought we were looking for and turned right on a clear trail that dropped down into a mowed field then mostly disappeared. We skirted along the edge of the field toward the parking area and as we neared the trailhead a clear trail emerged, or more like submerged. We followed the wet trail almost to the signboards near the trailhead where a ditch of standing water stood in our way. Our only choice (aside from backtracking) was to get wet so get wet (or wetter) we did. Luckily our hike was over and we had a change of socks and shoes waiting in the car. We finished hiking just before 1pm and managed to get a full 7 miles in while leaving parts of the area unexplored. It was nice to find another option in the valley that offered a potential destination when getting up into the mountains is possible. While we did hear occasional gun shots from hunters we only saw two duck hunters, but we also saw some families and bird watchers.
This path headed north from the trailhead, something to explore on our next visit.

It was a good birthday hike and we were done early enough for my parents to treat us to a great birthday dinner at The Manilla Fiesta, a restaurant I’d been dying to try. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Clay Creek Trail and Fern Ridge Wildlife Area

Tags American Bittern, Clay Creek Recration Area, Clay Creek Trail, Eugene, Fern Ridge Wildlife Area, Fisher Butte, Fisher Butte Unit, Gibson Island, hiking, ODFW, Oregon, Royal Amazon Trail, Royal Amazon Unit, Royal Avenue Trailhead