wanderingyuncks

2024 Wildflower Gallery Part 1

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 6, 2025
2 Comments on 2024 Wildflower Gallery Part 1

In 2018 we began a tradition of posting a collection of the variety of flowers that we encountered during that year’s hikes. We continue to work on learning to identify the flowers we see and remain a long way from being able to tell some of the different species apart. That doesn’t take away from our ability to enjoy the flowers though, so with that in mind here are some (but not all) of the flowers we saw this past year. We’ve split this into two posts this year due to the number of pictures (Part 2). (Any IDs provided are best guesses and any corrections or additional IDs are greatly appreciated.)

The first blooms we spotted were Indian plum during a February 24th hike at Fernhill Wetlands in Forest Grove (post).

Here are the others with date and location/hike. I’ve tried to identify non-natives as well as indicate if this was our first time (that we know of) seeing a particular flower.
Agoseris – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Allumroot – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Alpine pennycress – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

American Sawwort (Saussurea americana) – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Arnica – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Drummond’s anemone seedhead – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Columbia windflower (Anemone deltoidea) – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Apple blossoms – April 13th – St. Cloud Trail, WA

Heartleaf arnica – May 26th – Bull Prairie Lake, OR

Broadleaf arnica – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Arrowleaf buckwheat – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Western mountain aster – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Showy? aster – August 22nd – East Fork Wallowa River Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Thick-stemmed aster and buckwheat – July 21st – Granny View Overlook (Hells Canyon), OR

Another aster (or fleabane) – August 20th – Bowman Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Largeleaf avens – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Bachelor buttons (non-native) – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Ballhead sandwort – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Ballhead waterleaf – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Carey’s balsamroot – May 25th – Willow Creek Canyon, OR

Arrowleaf balsamroot – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Baneberry – May 18th – Wilson River Trail, OR

Bastard toadflax – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Woodland beardtongue – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Beargrass – June 8th – Cedar Butte, OR

Bigleaf maple – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Bindweed – August 18th – Cliff Creek Trail (Wallowa-Whitman National Forest), OR

Barestem biscuitroot – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Trailing blackberry – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Bleeding heart – April 27th – Devil’s Rest Trail, OR

Blue-eyed Mary – April 13th – Wind Mountain, WA

Bluebell-of-Scotland – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Bluehead gilia – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Bog Orchid – July 23rd – McCully Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Bolander’s Ragwort – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Daisies (non-native) – June 19th – Buckhead Nature Trail, OR

Sulphur-flower wild buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Barestem wild buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum) – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Cushion wild buckwheat – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Alpine wild buckwheat – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Buek’s groundsel – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Carolina bugbane – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Bunchberry – July 13th – Joyce Lake Trail, OR

Buttercup – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Bistort – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

California-tea – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

California cornlily – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Camas – April 20th – Jackson Bottom Wetlands, OR

Canadian milk-vetch – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Candy flower – April 13th – Sams-Walker Day Use Area, WA

Cardwell’s penstemon – June 8th – Tillamook State Forest (Road FB3), OR

Catchfly – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Ceanothus – June 15th – O’Leary Mountain Trail, OR

Chocolate lily – April 13th – Doetsch Ranch, WA

Meadow checker-mallow – May 28th – Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Rose checker-mallow – May 28th – Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Oregon checker-mallow – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Chickweed – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Cinquefoil – June 29th – Hiyu Ridge, OR

Shrubby cinquefoil – July 21st – Hat Point, OR

Farewell to spring (Clarkia amoena) – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Cliff beardtongue – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Coyote mountain mint – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Clover – August 22nd – East Fork Wallowa River Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Coastal manroot – May 11th – Crescent Beach Trail, OR

Columbian larkspur – March 16th – Middle Fork Willamette Path (Eugene), OR

Columbine – June 29th – Hiyu Ridge, OR

Common butterwort? – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Common madia – May 28th – Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Common whipplea – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Coneflower – August 17th – Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area, OR

Cusick’s speedwell – July 23rd – McCully Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Cut-leaf thelypody – May 25th – Willow Creek Trail, OR

Cutleaf anemone – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Death camas – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Desert yellow fleabane – May 25th – Willow Creek Trail, OR

Devil’s club – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Dogwood – April 20th – Rood Bridge Park, OR

Dusty maidens – July 26th – East Peak (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Dwarf alpinegold – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Dwarf lupine – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Elderberry – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Elephants head – July 25th – Minam River Trail, OR

Elkhorn clarkia – July 21st – Granny View Overlook (Hells Canyon), OR

Engilish plantain (non-native) – May 11th – Fort Stevens State Park, OR

Explorer’s gentian – September 21st – Black Wolf Meadows, OR

Fairy bells – April 27th – Wahkeena Trail, OR

Fairy lanterns – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Fairy slipper – April 13th – Wind Mountain, WA

Fawn lilies – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Felt-leaf everlasting – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Finetooth beardtongue – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Fireweed – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

False hellebore – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

A fleabane? – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Showy? fleabane – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Flett’s ragwort – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Ground-ivy (non-native) – April 13th – Sams-Walker Day Use Area, WA

Foam flower – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Fringecup – April 13th – Lower Archer Falls, WA

Fringed pinesap – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Gentian – August 19th – Pine Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Geranium – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Ghost pipe – August 22nd – East Fork Wallowa River Trail, OR

Giant purple wakerobin (Trillium kurabayashii) – April 20th – Jackson Bottom Wetlands, OR

Giant white wakerobin (Trillium albidum) – April 20th – Jackson Bottom Wetlands, OR

Wild ginger – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Glacier lilies- May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Rocky Mountain goldenrod – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Gold stars – April 27th – Wahkeena Trail, OR

Grass-of-parnassus – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Grass widows – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Gray’s licorice-root – August 3rd – Castle Crest Wildflower Trail (Crater Lake NP), OR

Greene’s goldenbush – August 3rd – The Pinnacles Trail (Crater Lake NP), OR

Groundsel – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Harebells – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Hedgenettle – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Hoary Cress (non-native) – May 25th – Barnes Butte (Prineville), OR

Honeysuckle – June 29th – Hiyu Ridge Trail, OR

Hooded ladies tresses – August 20th – Chimney Lake Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Idaho licorice-root – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Inside-out-flower – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Royal Jacob’s ladder – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Jacob’s ladder – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Jessica’s stickseed – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Lance-leaf spring beauty – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Large-flower triteleia – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Largeleaf sandwort – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain Trail, OR

Menzies’ Larkspur (Delphinium menziesii) – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Possibly rockslide larkspur (Delphinium glareosum) – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Sierra larkspur (Delphinium glaucum) – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Leafy fleabane – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Leafy miterwort – May 18th – Wilson River Trail, OR

Lemon-scented madia – May 25th – Willow Creek Canyon, OR

Lewis flax – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Lewis monkeyflower – August 3rd – Castle Crest Wildflower Trail (Crater Lake NP), OR

False lily of the valley – April 20th – Rood Bridge Park, OR

Littleleaf montia – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Little prince’s pine – June 15th – O’Leary Mountain Trail, OR

Longhorn plectritis – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Sickletop louswort – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Coiled lousewort – July 23rd – McCully Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Lupine – May 18th – Wilson River Trail, OR

Lupine – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Lyall’s goldenweed – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Microseris – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Basalt? milk-vetch – May 25th – Barnes Butte (Prineville), OR

Mock orange – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Common monkey-flower (Erythranthe guttata) – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Chickweed monkey-flower (Erythranthe alsinoides) – June 8th – Cedar Butte Road, OR

Coastal monkey-flower (Erythranthe dentata) – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Monkshood – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Mountain ash – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Mountain death camas – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Mountain heather – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Musk monkey-flower (Erythranthe moschata) – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Naked broomrape – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop – July 21st – Granny View Overlook (Hells Canyon), OR

Northern phlox – June 15th – O’Leary Mountain Trail, OR

Northwestern rabbit-tabbaco – September 13th – Pacific Crest Trail (Mt. Jefferson Wilderness), OR

Northwestern twayblade – July 13th – Nasty Rock Trail, OR

Nuttall’s linanthus – July 25th – Minam River Trail, OR

Tags hiking, Oregon, Washington, wildflowers

Hiking

The Hikes of 2024 – A Look Back

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 31, 2024
5 Comments on The Hikes of 2024 – A Look Back

2024 was a big year for us hiking wise. It wasn’t the number of hikes (55 days on trail) or mileage (496.8), but the culmination of an eight-year goal to complete all 100 hikes from a single edition of William L. Sullivan’s five regional guidebooks (post).

With our focus set on finishing the Eastern Oregon book, and in the process the 500 hikes, we primarily stuck to Oregon this year. In order to complete that goal we took three separate trips to NE Oregon and one to Central Oregon. We did spend three days hiking in Washington but failed to make it to California or Idaho this year. We also only spent four days hiking in Southern Oregon in 2024.

Our easternmost hike was at Hat Point, Oregon above Hells Canyon (post).

Our southernmost hike was an overnight trip in the Sky Lakes Wilderness (post).

As always seems to be the case our westernmost hike involved the Pacific Ocean, this time at Crescent Beach (post).

Finally, our northernmost hike was during the same day as our westernmost hike. After visiting Crescent Beach we drove north to Oregon’s Fort Stevens State Park for a hike which was further north than any of the hikes we did in Washington this year.

As mentioned above there were 55 days spent hiking which included a total of 84 stops. Twenty of the stops involved trails that we’d hiked before but none of these were exact repeats. Out of the 496.8 miles 75.4 were repeated from previous years.

One unique aspect to this year was relying on different forms of transportation for two of the hikes.
In July we took the Wallowa Lake Tramway up Mount Howard (post).

In August we traveled by boat to Wizard Island in Crater Lake National Park (post).

We were fortunate to have good weather for most of the year. It got damp at the end of October and stayed that way for most of the remainder of the year, but our November vacation took us to Disneyland (post) where the weather was close to perfect. That was our first non-hiking (albeit a lot of walking) vacation since 2012.

While weather wasn’t an issue, wildfires were. In particular smoke from a record setting 1,937,512 burned acres beginning with the Little Yamsay Fire in April. The fires really took off in July and the fire season wasn’t officially declared over until October 28th.
The Town Gulch Fire near Carson, OR was dangerously close to blocking our access to one of the featured hikes we needed to do to finish our goal (post).

Here are a some of our favorite sights from the previous year.
January – Corvallis to Sea Trail

February – Sunrise from Maple Creek Road

March – Mary’s Peak from Fitton Green

April – Bridal Veil Falls

May – Fishhawk Falls

May – Willow Creek Trail

May – Juniper Hills Preserve (The trails here were/are closed so we simply parked along the road and took pictures.)

May – Madison Butte

June – Cook Hill

June – Deception Butte Trail

June – Mt. Adams from Big Huckleberry Mountain

June – Grasshopper Meadow (Unfortunately this area burned by the Young Grasshopper Fire in September.)

July – Horsepasture Mountain

July – Nasty Rock Trail

July – Lower Bonny Lake

July – Minam Lake

July – Mount Howard

August – The Pinnacles

August – Downing Creek Falls

August – Schneider Cabin

August – Pine Lakes Trail

August – Laverty Lake

August – Aneroid Lake

September – Hidden Lake

September – Mt. Jefferson from Sprague Lake

September – Black Wolf Meadows

October – White River Canyon

October – Kinzel Lake

October – Sawtooth Trail

October – William L. Finely National Wildlife Refuge

October – Gold Lake Shelter

November – Silver Falls State Park

December – McKenzie River Trail

We couldn’t have asked for much more out of this year’s hikes and for the first time in eight years we don’t have any specific hiking goals that we are working on. Our focus will remain on visiting trails that we still haven’t hiked as well as expanding the areas we’ve visited. Happy Trails!

Tags Crater Lake, hiking, Mount Howard, Oregon, Wallowa Mountains, Washington

Hiking McKenzie River Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Lower McKenzie River Trail – 12/21/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 23, 2024
No Comments on Lower McKenzie River Trail – 12/21/2024

There haven’t been many good weather days in December and those that were dry had either been on days when we were at our desks at work, or one of us was under the weather. With Christmas right around the corner we were running out of time for a December hike so we decided that no matter what the weather we would be heading out on the winter solstice. Once again, the forecast was for a dry day Friday but rain all day Saturday. Given the forecast we opted for a river hike. Forested river hikes typically don’t have big views so cloudy skies don’t negatively impact the hike.

We headed to the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail to hike a segment of the trail we had not hiked before. We parked at the Lower McKenzie River Trailhead. (Note that the linked Forest Service page incorrectly states the trailhead is along Highway 125 instead of 126.)
The trailhead.

The trail begins at a signboard at the eastern end of the trailhead. For the first half mile the trail squeezes between the river and the highway before briefly veering away from the highway.
The caution sign was related to some pile burning that the Forest Service had been doing.

McKenzie River

Mushrooms

The trail approached the highway again across from McKenzie River Ranger Station.

After passing a junction with a spur trail coming from the ranger station at the 1 mile mark the McKenzie River Trail dropped away from the highway.
National Recreation Trail symbol on a tree to the left.

For the next 4.5 miles the trail stayed further away from the highway. At times it followed the bank of the McKenzie River and at others it veered away to avoid private property. At all times the trail passed through a lush green forest.

Private Road sign on Duffy Rd.

There was quite a bit of witches’ butter fungus along the trail.

There were a lot of other mushrooms too.

Unnamed creek crossing.

Ruby-crowned kinglet. We didn’t see much wildlife on this hike but there were several kinglets flitting among the trees here. This was the only photo of one I managed to get though.

We had not expected any blue sky so this was a treat. It had rained for most of the drive and sprinkled for a minute shortly after we started hiking, but it had been dry otherwise.

The trail switching back up a small hill.

The most significant elevation change was this decent to a footbridge over Lost Creek.

Coral fungus

Lost Creek

The footbridge over Lost Creek was a little over 4.5-miles from the Lower McKenzie Trailhead.

Lost Creek

Willamette National Forest Boundary

Approximately 5.25-miles from the trailhead we crossed Belknap Hot Springs Road.

Sign for the Belknap Hot Springs Lodge and Gardens.

Shortly after passing the lodge the trail approached the highway again for a brief time before the river veered away again and the trail followed it.

We had originally planned on turning around at 11am, but Heather’s ankle was starting to bother her, so she turned around at 10:45. I decided to keep going for another 15 or so minutes to try and reach Forest Road 2650 where the trail crosses the river to continue on the western side of the river.
Unnamed seasonal stream.

Footbridge over Scott Creek.

Scott Creek

Mushrooms

Footbridge over Boulder Creek.

Highway 126 bridge over Boulder Creek from the footbridge.

Boulder Creek flowing into the McKenzie River.

Forest Road 2650.

Boat ramp at Forest Road 2650.

The river from Forest Road 2650.

I turned around on the bridge and started back at a quick pace to try and catch up to Heather.

This short section along the road is just east of Belknap Springs Road.

Madrones

Moving at a quick pace had heated me up enough that I had to take off my rain gear which I’d been wearing the entire hike despite it being 99% dry.
A little sunlight on the forest floor.

Not 10 minutes after removing my rain gear it began to rain.
Rain shower falling over Lost Creek. It wasn’t raining hard enough to convince me to pull my rain gear back out.

I spotted Heather with a little over three and a quarter mile left back to the trailhead. (Look for a little orange in the trees ahead and to the right of the trail.)

The rain had stopped again by the time I caught up to Heather.

Ours was the only car at the trailhead when we got back.

My Garmin showed 13.8 miles for the hike to FR 2650, and I’d estimate close to 700′ of elevation gain spread out over several short climbs.

With this hike in books, we’ve now hiked much of the 26.5 McKenzie River Trail.
Red – Clear Lake, June 2014 (post). Green – Tamolitch Pool, May 2013 (post), Cyan – Middle segment, November 2020 (post).

We also started a hike at the Upper McKenzie Trailhead in July 2023 (post) but took the Santiam Wagon Road to Sand Mountain instead of the McKenzie River Trail. We are now just missing sections of the trail between the upper trailhead and Clear Lake, Clear Lake and Koosah Falls, and FR 610 and FR 2650. At some point we do plan on filling in those gaps.

This hike wraps up our 2024 hikes. We hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and as always happy trails!

Flickr: Lower McKenzie River Trail

Tags Belknap Springs, Boulder Creek, hiking, Lost Creek, Lower McKenzie River Trail, McKenzie River National Recreation Trail, McKenzie River Trail, Oregon, Scott Creek

Hiking Oregon Salem/Albany Trip report Willamette Valley

Silver Falls State Park – Thanksgiving 2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 2, 2024
1 Comment on Silver Falls State Park – Thanksgiving 2024

With November quickly coming to an end we hadn’t managed to get out on a trail yet. We skipped the first two weekends due to poor weather and then spent most of the next week at theme parks in Southern California (post). While we got plenty of walking in at the parks, I didn’t consider those days as our monthly outing. Both Heather and I came down with head colds following our return home, so another weekend came and went without a hike. The forecast was dry for Thanksgiving which provided an opportunity to get a morning hike in. I was feeling better, but Heather was still dealing with a lingering cough, so I set out alone to check out the newest trailhead at nearby Silver Falls State Park.

The North Canyon Trailhead was opened in June 2023 followed by the North Rim Trail in July 2023. I was looking forward to checking out these new features, so I parked at the new trailhead and set off following pointers for the North Rim Trail.

The route I’d planned was to take the new trail 0.8-miles to the North Falls Trailhead then take a 0.6-mile out-and-back detour on the Upper North Falls Trail to visit Upper North Falls. After returning to the North Falls Trailhead I would take the Trail of Ten Falls down into the canyon passing behind North Falls and following this trail past Twin Falls to the Winter Falls Trail where I would turn left to visit Winter Falls and then climb out of the canyon to the Winter Falls Trailhead.

At the Winter Falls Trailhead I would again pick up the Trail of Ten Falls aka the Rim Trail where I would turn right and follow it past the Nature Store. Shortly after passing the Nature Store the Trail of Ten Falls heads down into the canyon again to pass behind South Falls. The trail is also known as the Canyon Trail between this point and where it heads into the canyon near the North Falls Trailhead. I would follow the Trail of Ten Falls/Canyon Trail behind South and then Lower South Falls on the South Fork Silver Creek. The trail eventually leaves the south fork behind and then later crosses the North Fork Silver Creek before passing Lower North Falls. A short spur trail just East of North Falls leads to Double Falls on Hult Creek. After crossing Hult Creek the Trail of Ten Falls passes Drake Falls followed by Middle North Falls. I would take another short spur trail leading behind Middle North Falls before continuing another half mile to a junction with the Twin Falls Trail. Finally I would take the Twin Falls Trail uphill a half mile back to the North Canyon Trailhead. This route resulted in an approximately 8.8-mile hike with close to 1000′ of elevation gain.

I chose the route because it included roughly 1.5-miles of trail that was new to me. The new-to-me trail included the North Rim Trail, Twin Falls Trail, and a short section of the Winter Falls Trail (between Winter Falls and the Winter Falls Trailhead). I chose the direction (clockwise) because the last two times I’d visited the waterfalls I’d been going the opposite direction, so I wanted a different perspective this time around.

Onward to the pictures!
The North Rim Trail heads left at a fork with the Twin Falls Trail a short distance from the parking lot.

I stuck to the North Rim Trail here leaving another (short) trail to do next time.

The Nature Play Area along the loop trail I didn’t take.

One of two bridges along the North Rim Trail.

Railing near the North Falls Viewpoint.

North Falls from the viewpoint.

North Falls

Map located at the North Falls Trailhead.

Upper North Falls from the Upper North Falls Trail.

Upper North Falls.

The split in the Trail of Ten Falls where the Canyon Trail heads down to North Falls.

North Falls

Trail behind North Falls.

Behind North Falls.

I will always take pictures of these large boulders in the creek.

Hair ice, a phenomenon that only occurs on rotting wood when the correct mix of moisture, atmospheric conditions, and temperature combines with the fungus Exidiopsis effusa. There were quite a few occurrences this morning.

Trail marker at the Twin Falls Trail junction.

Twin Falls

Twin Falls is a tough one to get a good clear view of the full waterfall. Recent rainfall had provided good flow for this fall which helps with the visibility.

This is Twin Falls on July 7, 2006.

All the rain had the side creeks and falls flowing as well.

Nearing the Winter Falls Trail and its bridge over the creek.

The view from the bridge.

Winter Falls from the Winter Falls Trail.

Winter Falls

It’s a steep couple of tenths of a mile climb from Winter Falls up to the trailhead which warmed me up enough that I removed my beanie, buff, and made a switch to lighter gloves shortly after I’d turned back onto the Trail of Ten Falls/Rim Trail.

The forecast had called for sunny skies, but we were also dealing with an air stagnation warning. For a brief moment I thought the fog might burn off, but that never materialized and by the time I arrived at South Falls more fog had rolled in.

There are some nice big trees scattered throughout the park.

Trail of Ten Falls/Canyon Trail above South Falls.

South Falls

Behind South Falls

For a short loop just to South Falls you can cross the bridge and return to the rim.

The trail below heading for Lower South Falls.

From behind Lower South Falls. I scared a poor woman so badly as I neared the falls. She was setting her phone up on a tripod for a selfie and didn’t see me coming nor could she hear me with the roar of the falls until I was just a couple of feet away. When I said that I was just going to sneak behind her she let out the loudest scream I’ve heard in a while.

Ankle deep pools behind the falls.

Lower South Falls

The mile long Maple Trail (right) allows for a shorter loop to both the falls on South Fork Silver Creek.

This is now the North Fork Silver Creek.

Unnamed falls on a side creek.

The footbridge over the North Fork Silver Creek.

Pool below the bridge.

Lower North Falls

Footbridge over Hult Creek and the spur trail to Double Falls.

Double Falls

Back on the Canyon Trail.

More fog.

Drake Falls

Middle North Falls

Spur trail (right) to Middle North Falls.

Behind Middle North Falls.

Splash pool

The Winter Falls Trail footbridge spanning the creek ahead on the right.

Chipmunk.

I saw a few birds (and heard several more) and saw a deer on my drive through the park, but this was the only wildlife that I managed to even try and get a photo of on the hike.

Twin Falls again which meant I was nearly to the Twin Falls Trail.

Twin Falls Trail junction.

It was another stiff climb out of the canyon. There was a bench at a switchback with a somewhat obstructed view of Twin Falls.

The Twin Falls Trail leveled out near its end.

Arriving back at the junction with the North Rim Trail.

I spotted several ruffed grouse as I was driving out of the trailhead.

I really enjoyed this loop. It began and ended with waterfalls and saved Middle North Falls, which I’ve decided is my favorite of the ten, until near the end. It was also a great time of the year to visit to see the falls full from the recent rains. This was my seventh visit to the park and even with my 2022 perimeter loop (post) there are still a number of trails I’ve yet to explore away from the waterfall area. I’m already looking at possible routes for the next visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Silver Falls State Park Thanksgiving

Uncategorized

Disneyland and Universal Studios – November 2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 25, 2024
3 Comments on Disneyland and Universal Studios – November 2024

A number of years ago I had a coworker who would regularly visit Disneyland for the holidays. His description of the decorations, shows, and in particular snow over Main Street had stuck with us and we’d always wanted to experience this ourselves. We decided last year that 2024 would be the year to make it a reality and planned a trip for the week of our anniversary in November. While our anniversary is the 11th the full switch to Christmas in Disneyland occurred on the 15th this year so we scheduled our trip for the 12th through the 17th with three days in the Disney parks (13th, 15th, & 16th) and one at Universal Studios (14th). Our most recent visit had been during July 2006 so there were a number of new and updated rides that we were looking forward to checking out as well.

The weather here in Oregon has been fairly wet since our last hike in October to Marilyn and Betty Lakes (post) leading us to stay off the trails for the three plus weeks before flying out. We were happy to see that the forecast for the parks was for mostly sunny skies with highs beginning in the mid 70s and dropping to the upper 60s by the end of our visit. Chilly for the native Californians but perfect for us Oregonians.

We flew in Tuesday morning with our son Dominique and his friend Russell and after checking into our motel spent the afternoon in Downtown Disney.
The Star Wars Trading post was a must stop for us.

I had to get a picture of this butterfly to help it feel more like a hike.

Unfortunately, the Lego store was closed for refurbishment while we were there.

We ended up having a late lunch/early dinner at Black Tap Craft Burgers and Shakes before turning in early in preparation for our first day in the park.

We spent Wednesday in Disneyland with our first ride being Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
A couple of the areas in the park were closing early in preparation for the reopening of the former Splash Mountain ride as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure on Friday.

Some of the Christmas decorations were already up.

Rise of the Resistance entrance.

First Order troops.

We spent the rest of the day hitting as many rides as possible before the park closed at 10pm. While it wasn’t a hike, we did get plenty of walking in through a variety of scenery.
The Millennium Falcon

Big Thunder Mountain

Rivers of America

Jungle Cruise

Thursday was our day at Universal Studios which began with a ride through LA’s morning rush hour traffic and ended with an even longer drive back to our motel through the evening traffic. In between the car rides we enjoyed our time at Universal riding most of the rides, some multiple times, and taking in the WaterWorld Stunt Show.
Construction of what looked like it will be an amazing Fast and the Furious roller coaster was ongoing (expected to open in 2026).

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

We were the first ones on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

View from Universal Studios.

WaterWorld

The only bummer at Universal was that Jurassic Park: The Ride was closed for refurbishment. The ride lines at Universal were significantly shorter than at Disney so even though the park closed at 6pm we still managed to get plenty of rides in.

Thursday we had park hopper passes which meant that after 11am we could switch between California Adventure and Disneyland. We had to pick which park we wanted to start the day in and chose California Adventure since this was the only day we planned on spending in that park. We wound up spending nearly the entire day here with Heather and I only hopping over to Disneyland near 10pm when California would be closing. Disneyland was open until midnight Friday and Saturday, so this gave us an extra couple of hours to get a few more Disneyland rides in.

The highlights of Thursday were the Incredicoster, Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission Breakout! and the World of Color Season of Light water show.
The Incredicoaster

Overcast sky over Cars Land. The clouds broke up and gave way to blue sky.

There were some really cool cacti and other plants around the Radiator Springs Racers ride (the ride was really fun too).

Grizzly Peak

I am Groot

Another highlight was a holiday story from Deadpool.

We hadn’t expected to see a unicorn on this trip.

Our first Wolverine sighting.

The Guardians tower and Avengers Headquarters all lit up.

The Redwood Creek Challenge Trail was a good proxy for a hike.

Waterfall along the challenge trail.

We snuck a few rides in at Disneyland after leaving California Adventure.
It’s a Small World was really lit up.

The back side of Cinderella’s Castle.

Our primary goals for Saturday were to get into the virtual queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and watch the parade and fireworks from Main Street that night. We were able to get into group 2 when the first virtual queue opened at 7am so our first goal was accomplished before we arrived at the park.
Walking through the queue for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.

View of the final drop from the ride.

We took it a little slower on this day, mostly because our feet were not happy campers at this point. Standing in 20-30 minute lines had taken its toll over the previous three days, but we still managed to get a number of rides in.
One of the rides was It’s a Small World which was impressively decorated inside for the holidays.

We wound up in the right place at the right time for the parade and ended up with a bench to sit on.

Santa!

The Matterhorn from the Alice in Wonderland ride.

The first snow fall over Main Street after the lighting of Cinderella’s Castle.

Part of the fireworks show.

Heather and I decided to call it a night after the fireworks show. There would have been time for one or two more rides, but ending with the fireworks, Christmas music, and snow seemed appropriate. We hobbled back to our motel which was a little over three quarters of a mile from the park and turned in. We flew home Sunday morning and were greeted with the appropriate amount of drizzle and gray sky to remind us that we’re Oregonians.

This was a fun trip, but it was quite a shock to our systems having spent all our recent vacations either backpacking or staying in small towns and hiking trails with few to no people. While the crowds were at times almost overwhelming the wait times for the rides were shorter than they had been back in 2006 when we’d last visited. It was clear that the changes they have implemented since then have helped with that part at least.

We plan to resume our typical off-season hiking schedule of at least one outing a month now that our trip is over. Until then, Happy Trails!

Flickr: Disneyland and Universal Studios

Tags California Adventure, Disneyland California, Universal Studios Hollywood

Hiking

Marilyn Lakes and Betty Lake Trails – 10/19/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 21, 2024
2 Comments on Marilyn Lakes and Betty Lake Trails – 10/19/2024

Snow returned to Cascades earlier in the week with the white stuff falling at elevations down to 4000′. While it didn’t stick around on the roads, we suspected enough snow fell for there to be some on the forest floor at lower elevations heading into the weekend. We tested our hypothesis by driving Highway 58 to Forest Road 5897 (Waldo Lake Road) for a pair 5+ mile hikes.

Our first stop was for the Marilyn Lakes Trail. There are several potential starting points for the hike to these two lakes. Hike Oregon recommends starting at the Gold Lake Sno Park for cross-country skiing or snowshoeing in the Winter. Sullivan recommends starting at the Gold Lake Campground for the hike. (Gold Lake Road, aka FR 500, to the campground would be inaccessible due to snow in Winter.) We however chose to begin off of FR 5897 at a small pullout on the right just under 2-miles from Highway 58 where a pair of small signs marked a ski trail.
The pointer is for Gold Lake & Highway 58.

The pullout along FR 5897.

We set off on this trail and quickly came to the junction with the Gold Lake Trail where we turned right.
We were pleased to find that there was more snow left than we’d expected.

Coming up on the Gold Lake Trail.

Trail signs at this well marked junction.

The Gold Lake Trail lost a little elevation as it descended for 0.2-miles to a parking area at the end of FR 500.
Campsites on the right at the Gold Lake Campground.

Looking back up the Gold Lake Trail.

We walked up FR 500 and crossed Salt Creek.

Downstream several miles Salt Creek flows over Salt Creek Falls (post).

On the far side of Salt Creek was the day use area (and start of the Marilyn Lakes Trail) to the right and the Gold Lake Shelter on the left.

Signs ahead for the Marilyn Lakes Trail.

The trail was a bit overgrown in spots but being a ski trail there were plenty of blue diamonds to help keep us on the right path.

After 0.4-miles we came to a junction where we turned right following a pointer for Marilyn Lakes.

The left-hand fork led up to FR 500. We took this fork on our way back.

Heading toward the lakes.

We came to a second junction in just 400′.
The right-hand fork is the start of the Lower Marilyn Lakes Trail.

We went right again and in another 400′ got our first glimpses of Lower Marilyn Lake.

The trail followed the lake for a third of a mile providing a couple of nice views.

Lower Marilyn Lake

The trail veered away from Lower Marilyn Lake and passed the SW end of Upper Marilyn Lake in an overgrown meadow. It was clear that the area between the lakes would be extremely wet/boggy in late Spring/early Summer. Mosquitos are a real problem that time of year throughout the Waldo Lake area making it a less-than-ideal time for a visit.
A lot of downed trees had been logged out.

We lost the trail briefly in this area and simply headed for the diamond in the distance.

Upper Marilyn Lake

Beyond the upper lake the trail gained 200′ of elevation to reach a small parking area off FR 500.

Canada jay

The cold air and moisture started fogging up my camera lens.

The trail got very overgrown just before reaching the road. We were pretty damp after passing through this mass of huckleberries.

We turned left onto FR 500 and followed it just over three quarters of a mile to a short spur on the left that led to another signed parking area.

We picked the trail back up here and followed it downhill a quarter of a mile to Upper Marilyn Lake.

Not sure what is going on with this mushroom.

A bald eagle was circling over the lake hoping to catch a fish for breakfast.

We watched the eagle for quite a while. It swooped twice but came up empty both times.

I had about as much success getting a picture of the eagle in flight as it had fishing.

After watching the eagle for quite a while we continued on the trail which followed the lakeshore.

Common mergansers

Diamond Peak (post)

Diamond Peak and Mt. Yoran with a few of the mergansers flying overhead.

The best views of Diamond Peak were found near the northern end of the upper lake.

The eagle was now watching us.

A tenth of a mile beyond the lake we found ourselves back at the second junction we’d come to. We turned right and made our way back to the first junction.

We went straight here this time and followed this trail 0.4-miles to FR 500.

We turned left again on FR 500 and followed it a third of a mile to the Gold Lake Campground.

After crossing over Salt Creek we detoured to the right to visit Gold Lake before returning to the car. This was a 5.4-mile hike with approximately 300′ of elevation gain.
Gold Lake

We got in the car and drove another 3.5-miles up FR 5897 to the large Betty Lake Trailhead on the left.
More fogging on the lens.

The Betty Lake Trail began with a slight downhill to cross a dry creek bed then climbed briefly to a wide saddle before dropping to Betty Lake.
The dry creek bed ahead.

At an unmarked but obvious fork we veered left to visit the lake shore.

Bear tracks. We weren’t the only visitors to the shoreline.

We followed this use trail along the lake for a while before heading uphill to rejoin the official trail.
Mount Ray

The trail made another brief climb through the forest before beginning a gradual descent past a series of smaller lakes before arriving at a junction with the Jim Weaver Loop.

Howkum Lake on our left was the first lake we passed by.

Reflection in Howkum Lake.

Nearing the second lake on the left, Horsefly Lake.

Horsefly Lake

The third lake, Tiny Lake, was just off the trail to the right.

Tiny Lake

The junction with the Jim Weaver Loop was next to a small unnamed lake.

We turned left onto the Jim Weaver Loop passing the unnamed lake and following the trail four tenths of a mile to another junction near the shore of Waldo Lake.

A different bear had been wandering around this area.

We could tell it was a different bear because the prints were noticeably larger. (11 1/2 shoe size for reference.)

Signs at the junction.

We had passed this junction in 2015 during a lollipop loop into the Waldo Lake Wilderness. We started that hike from the Shadow Bay Day Use Area and used the Shadow Bay Shoreline Trail to reach the Jim Weaver Trail. There wasn’t a clear view of Waldo Lake from the junction, so we headed left on the Jim Weaver Loop to find a spot where we could access the rocky shore.
View from the junction.

I dropped down to the shore on the other side of this footbridge.

The longer hump to the right in the distance is Waldo Mountain (post). The west side of the lake and the wilderness were heavily burned in the 2022 Cedar Creek Fire.

Fuji Mountain (post) is just barely visible over the left shoulder of hump in the foreground.

After getting an unobstructed view we headed back. It was a pretty uneventful return. We dropped down to Betty Lake to hike the use trail along the shoreline instead of staying up in the forest.
Tree reflecting in snowmelt.

Betty Lake had some nice coloration.

Mount Ray from Betty Lake again.

There were about a half dozen cars at the trailhead when we got back, but we hadn’t passed anyone on the trails during either of our hikes. There had been a family loading up their car when we first arrived at this trailhead and one occupied campsite at the Gold Lake Campground, but the hikes themselves had offered solitude.

The hike to Waldo Lake and back came in at 5.3-miles with approximately 450′ of elevation gain which was very similar to the Marilyn Lakes stop.

This brought the days total to 10.7-miles and around 750′ of elevation gain.
A look at the two hikes proximity to each other.

Longer or shorter hikes could be done from either trailhead. With a number of other trailheads in the area as well it’s no wonder the Waldo Lake area is a popular destination. This was our seventh visit to the area and there are still many miles of trails we’ve yet to be on. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Marilyn and Betty Lakes

Hiking

Progress Report – 500 “Featured Hikes” – Completed September 2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 15, 2024
15 Comments on Progress Report – 500 “Featured Hikes” – Completed September 2024

We did it. This post is a long time coming. It marks the completion of a goal we set for ourselves in 2016, but actually started six years earlier. As we’ve mentioned before our hiking journey really began in 2010 when we purchased the first of William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” guidebooks. This book quickly became our go to for inspiration and prompted us to eventually pick up editions for all five areas covered in his series. The areas are the Oregon Coast & Coast Range, NW Oregon & SW Washington, Central Cascades, Southern Oregon & Northern California, and Eastern Oregon. Sullivan continues to make regular updates and today we own fifteen editions from the series, three covering each area. These updates typically mean changes to the makeup of the 100 featured hikes along with any changes affecting the remaining featured hikes.

These changes can be necessary due to a variety of factors. Closures due to wildfire, flood, or landslide damage are the main issues. Some featured hikes are on private land where the landowners may close or restrict public access. Lack of trail maintenance or abandonment by the managing agency can also be a reason for a hike to no longer be “featured”. One positive reason for a change in featured hikes is when a new trail or trail system is opened warranting inclusion. With the frequent changes to the 100 hikes lineup we initially weren’t sure how we would define the criteria for finishing this goal. In 2018 we decided that we would focus on a single edition from each area and when we’d hiked at least a portion of all 100 hikes in that edition that area would be considered completed.

Setting the single edition criteria led to three edition swaps. In 2020 we went from focusing on the 2016 4th edition of the Oregon Coast book to the earlier 2009 3rd edition due to one featured hike (Salmonberry Railroad) being closed to public access with no timetable set for reopening. The following year we changed editions of the Southern Oregon book going from the 2017 4th edition to the 2021 edition 4.2. Three hikes that had been featured in the 2017 edition had since been badly burned and were going to be closed for an extended time prompting Sullivan to replace them for the time being. Finally, in 2023 we switched from the 2015 3rd edition of the Eastern Oregon book to the newly formatted 2022 edition. (Sullivan stopped using “editions” and printing any years on the cover based on feedback from bookstores.) In the latter case he had removed Dug Bar as a featured hike, most likely due to a long drive on what he had described as a road so bad it required 2 hours to drive just 25.4 miles. We had driven the first 14 miles of this road for the featured Eureka Bar hike (post) and had zero interest in repeating those 14 miles, let alone another 11.4 that were said to be worse.

The swapping of the Eastern Oregon editions did present the largest issue to the entire quest for 500. One of the new featured hikes, Juniper Hills, was a pair of short hikes on private land owned by the Nature Conservancy. Before we had a chance to visit the Nature Conservancy revoked public access to the trails. There was some hope that they would begin allowing public access again in 2024, but after reaching out to them this past May it appears there are no plans for that in the foreseeable future. In the end we decided to drive to the two trailheads, get out and walk to the fences to take photos. The painted hills there were the main goal of the featured hike and those were at least visible from the fence line (post).

While we did not get to hike nearly any of the 3.9-miles of trails at the Juniper Hills, we did manage to hike a good majority of the miles covered in the featured hikes.

Using unique miles, that is counting 2.5-miles for a 5-mile out-and-back or 5-miles for a 5-mile loop, we’ve hiked 84% of the total miles possible over the 500 hikes. The numbers are broken down below:

Possible Completed Percent
Area Miles Miles Completed
NW Oregon 593.4 540.2 91%
Central Cascades 562.1 506.5 90%
Oregon Coast 468.9 381.8 82%
Eastern Oregon 644.4 507.3 79%
Southern Oregon 564.1 440.6 78%
Totals 2832.9 2376.4 84%

We have completed 100% of the miles for 345 of the 500 hikes and at least 50% for 458 of them. The missing miles stem from a variety of causes from closed portions of trail to some of Sullivan’s featured hikes having options of up to 40 miles (Timberline Trail loop around Mt. Hood). In the case of Eastern and Southern Oregon there were several extended backpacking trips where we visited the lakes and/or viewpoints of featured hikes, but we did not come from the trailheads for those hikes. We do plan on going back to some of these hikes to visit of the things we missed, but we have no intention to try and complete 100% of all 500 hikes.

We completed the Central Cascades in 2020 (post) just over a week before the September 8th windstorm driven fires burned over a number of the featured hikes.

The fires in 2020 created a sense of urgency for us to complete the remaining books as soon as possible. We managed to finish both the Oregon Coast (post) and NW Oregon (post) that year. As 2022 began we hoped to complete the Southern Oregon book in 2024 and Eastern in 2025.

We made good progress on Southern Oregon in 2022 completing 29 featured hikes. Those came at the expense of time spent in Eastern Oregon where we only picked up 6 featured hikes. (This became 7 when we switched Eastern editions the following year.)

In 2023 we continued to focus on Southern Oregon and were able to finish that area in October (post). We made some progress in Eastern Oregon as well picking up 10 featured hikes, but the edition swap left us with a net pick-up of just five. Six previously featured hikes that we’d completed had been removed in the new edition and one hike that we had done in 2022 was added to the featured hikes.

With just 16 remaining featured hikes, all in Eastern Oregon, we planned three full weeks of vacation in the Wallowa Mountains and to spend Memorial Day Weekend in Prineville. We ran into the aforementioned issue with Juniper Hills and almost had another due to the Town Gulch Fire near Summit Point (post), but on 9/9/24 we stepped onto the East Eagle Creek Trail (post) and the 500 were complete.
Featured hike starting locations. Blue = OR Coast, Red = NW, Black = Central Cascades, Purple = Southern OR, Yellow = Eastern OR

The best part of having taken on this goal is that we were led to many different areas that we otherwise might never had visited. The books provided us with a reason to explore much of Oregon and curated a desire to hike as many different trails as possible. We continue to turn to Sullivan’s books, using the “More Hikes” sections from the back of the books for inspiration along with various other sources and authors. As the number of trails that we haven’t hiked dwindle the frequency of revisiting previous hikes will increase, but our focus will continue to be on new destinations. Happy Trails!

Corvallis Hiking Oregon Willamette Valley

William L. Finley Wildlife Refuge – 10/10/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 13, 2024
2 Comments on William L. Finley Wildlife Refuge – 10/10/2024

After starting my week of vacation with back-to-back hikes with 4355′ and 5300′ of elevation gain, I took a day off and then picked a much more level hike to wrap up my week. I turned to the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge located just south of Corvallis, OR. Despite several visits there were still some portions of trails that I had yet to hike there. Heather and I first visited this refuge in 2017 to complete one of Sullivan’s featured hikes (post). We hiked the Homer Campbell Boardwalk, Woodpecker Loop, and Mill Hill Loop that day. We returned in 2020 to check out the SE corner of the refuge including Pigeon Butte. I returned in 2021 during a solo April vacation and re-hiked many of the trails we’d been on during our previous visits and adding a short section of trail/road that we hadn’t yet hiked. Our most recent visit was in 2023 to the Snag Boat Bend Unit which is located approximately 3-miles east of the main unit on the other side of the Willamette River.

For this visit I mapped out a route starting at the Turtle Flats Walkway Trail. This extremely short (0.02-mile) paved path was one of those trails I had not hiked, and the parking area had a restroom and was close to another trail I had not hiked in its entirety, the Prairie Trail.
Hunting information kiosk across from the Turtle Flats parking area.

The Turtle Flats restrooms. (Photo from the afternoon.)

The entire Turtle Flats Trail in one photo.

Viewpoint at the end of the trail.

From the viewpoint a mowed path continued on to Finley Refuge Road across from the start of the Prairie Trail.

The Prairie Trail starts on a roadbed for a short distance then changes to “native surface” as it follows the edge of open fields.

I had a copy of the refuge map with me which came in handy to make sure I stayed along the correct fields.
I turned right here following said map through a small section of trees.

Poison oak is hard to miss when it is sporting its Fall colors.

Emerging from the trees and staying right.

The Prairie Trail turned East shortly after the trees and pointed me toward a pretty spectacular sunrise.

McCulloch Peak (post), Dimple Hill (post), and Vineyard Mountain (post) in the McDonald-Dunn Forest to the North.

Mary’s Peak (post) with a few clouds below its summit.

One of several raptors hunting over the fields.

Pigeon Butte to the left and Green Peak in the distance.

I thought I might see deer or even elk along the edges of the fields being fairly early in the morning, but aside from some fairly fresh deer sign the raptors and lots of smaller birds were all that seemed to be around. That was until I got to the northern end of McFadden Marsh. Still no deer or elk but I spotted the first great blue heron in a field just before arriving at the marsh.

The marsh itself was full of egrets, ducks and a few more herons.
Fog and McFadden Marsh to the left.

Mallards

Geese flying overhead.

Egret and ducks

Egrets

More egrets

Heron with the egrets.

McFadden Marsh

Egrets and a murder of crows.

Great blue heron

Red-winged blackbird

Prairie Trail along McFadden Marsh.

The Prairie Trail ends at a small pullout on Bruce Road which is where we’d parked for our 2020 hike here.
I could just make out the railings along Bruce Road from here.

Nutria family near Bruce Road.

The nutria family.

The Prairie Trail at Bruce Road.

I turned right onto gravel Bruce Road of 0.2-miles to a larger parking area on the others side of Muddy Creek.

Northern flicker

Starling

Muddy Creek

Interpretive signs at the larger parking area.

At this parking area I turned right onto the first mowed path which is the Cheadle Marsh Trail.

I followed this grassy track, between Cheadle Marsh on the left and Muddy Creek on the right, for almost a mile to a junction near the Cheadle Barn.

California scrub-jay

Peregrine falcon?

Pigeon Butte across Cheadle Marsh.

While I was photographing this egret I glanced to my left and noticed a buck staring back at me.

Meanwhile a great blue heron decided it wanted the egret’s perch.

The heron and egret

American coot

The roof of the Cheadle Barn poking up from the hill.

California quail escaping into the blackberry bushes.

The small hill up to the junction below the barn. My legs let me know that even this small hill was more than they were interested in today.

Robin

Spur trail to the Cheadle Barn.

I skipped the barn this time and continued on past a small pond to a junction with the Pigeon Butte Trail.

Spotted towhee

The pond and Cheadle Barn.

Ducks in the pond.

Pied-billed grebe. I also had a yellow-rumped warbler nearly land on me, but then it disappeared into the trees across the pond.

The gravel road that serves as the Pigeon Butte Trail ahead.

I turned right on the Pigeon Butte Trail and reluctantly made the gradual climb to a junction on the shoulder of the butte.

A successful egret and unfortunate rodent.

The junction is located at the crest of the trail/road.

Spur trail to the summit of Pigeon Butte.

My legs had already declared that they were not interested in going uphill and I’d already been up the butte twice, so I skipped the spur trail and continued downhill.

This section of trail passes the Finger Ponds which were almost completely dry this time of year.

The dry ponds hosted a good number of songbirds.

It appeared that there had been a number of controlled burns performed throughout the refuge.

The 0.9-mile section ended at a junction with the Cattail Pond Trail.

I turned left onto that trail (also a roadbed) and followed it a mile to a pointer for Cattail Pond.

Viewpoint bench looking toward Cabell Marsh.

Woolly bear caterpillar sharing the trail.

Gray Creek

At the pointer the Cattail Pond Trail turns left, and the road becomes the Mid-Refuge Connection Trail. I turned left at the pointer to visit the pond and hike a 0.6-mile section of the Cattail Pond Trail that I’d yet to hike.
Mallards

More mallards

Maple Knoll on the far side of Cattail Pond.

I’m assuming nutria but am not 100% convinced on this one.

The 0.6-mile section of trail looped around the pond and connected me to the Beaver Pond Trail which is the trail I’d taken on previous visits.
This section was a mixture of the edge of fields and wooded trail.

Follow the pointer.

A cedar waxing joined by a pair of finches.

I turned right at this sign onto the Beaver Pond Trail and followed it a half mile back to the gravel roadbed.

Just under 100 yards from the Cattail Pond Trail is this unsigned junction. The left is a half mile out-and-back spur on along the side of Maple Knoll. I stayed right this time having done the spur in 2020 with Heather.

The trail passes the Beaver Pond just before arriving at the roadbed.

The Beaver Pond was pretty well deserted given its lack of water.

I turned left onto the Mid-Refuge Connecting Trail.

The connector trail climbed gradually to a signed 4-way junction that serves as the start of the Mill Hill Loop.

Authorized personnel only on the right-hand fork here.

Arriving at the junction.

The right fork is the trail I came up. The center fork is the Mill Hill Trail, and the left fork is the Mill Hill Loop Trail which loops around Mill Hill in 1.7-miles and arrives back at the junction where I took this photo from.

Having done the Mill Hill Loop twice before I decided to save myself the distance and more climbing and took the center fork which would lead me to the Intertie Trail and eventually the Woodpecker Loop Trail.

There are several junctions along this stretch, most of which are well signed.

This junction marks the start of the Intertie Trail.

Crossing Finley Refuge Road.

I was moving pretty quickly through the forest here and startled a doe that came around a bend from the other direction. She bounded into the trees but didn’t go too far.

When I arrived at the Woodpecker Hill Loop I turned left. It meant a little bit of climbing, but going this direction would lead me past the Environmental Education Shelter on Woodpecker Hill.

Signage at the Woodpecker Hill Loop.

The Woodpecker Hill Loop is a well-developed interpretive trail.

Stellar’s jay

Each of these kiosks has an informational placard inside.

Near the crest of the trail.

The shelter on Woodpecker Hill.

I took a quick break on the shaded bench at the shelter then headed downhill to the Woodpecker Hill Trailhead.

Dragon fly

Signboard at the Woodpecker Hill Trailhead.

From the trailhead I walked down the entrance road to Finley Wildlife Refuge Road and turned left. I now had a 0.7-mile gravel road walk to reach the Cabell Barn.
Yay, more uphill.

The back of a killdeer.

Bald Hill on the left.

Winkle Butte is the near rise on the left. On a clearer day Mt. Jefferson would be visible in the distance to the right of Winkle Butte.

Cabell Barn ahead.

I turned right across from the barn on Cabell Lodge Road following a pointer for the Cabell Marsh Overlook.

Historic granary

The Cabell Lodge burned on December 13, 2023.

The lodge in April, 2021.

From the parking area at the end of the road I followed a path to the overlook then descended to the marsh on the seasonal trail.

Cabell Marsh was busy with a lot of mallards and a few other species mixed in.

Geese

Pigeon Butte from the marsh.

Great blue heron towering over the ducks.

An egret along the shore to the right.

The egret facing off with the heron. The mallard appeared to be ready to act as the referee.

After a brief face off the egret moved on.

Observation blind accessed via the Homer Campbell Boardwalk.

When I reached the boardwalk I turned left and followed it a little over a third of a mile to a parking area where I picked up Finely Refuge Road again. I turned right and followed the road a half mile back to the grassy path that led to the Turtle Flats viewpoint.

Signboard at the boardwalk trailhead.

Back on the refuge road.

Muddy Creek

The path to Turtle Flats on the left and the start of the Prairie Trail ahead on the right.

The loop today came in at 13.2-miles with maybe 400′ of total elevation gain.

This was a nice mix of trail types, and as always seems to be the case here, it was full of wildlife sightings. Much of the refuge is only open seasonally (April 1 through October 31) although the Woodpecker Hill, Intertie, Mill Hill trails and the Homer Campbell Boardwalk (only to the observation blind) are open year-round. It was great to be able to hike some new to me trail and there is still a small unhiked spur off the Prairie Trail for a future visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Finley Wildlife Refuge 2024

Eugene Hiking Old Cascades Oregon

Eula Ridge to Mount June – 10/08/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 11, 2024
3 Comments on Eula Ridge to Mount June – 10/08/2024

What do you do the day after a 16.5-mile loop with 4355′ of elevation gain (post)? If you’re me, you make a questionable decision. With another sunny day in the forecast before showers moved in, I decided that I would finally check out the Eula Ridge Trail near Eugene. This 4.2-mile-long trail gains over 3000′ from Highway 58 to its end at the Hardesty Trail. The trail is very steep, so steep in fact that the Forest Service description states “After a short descent into a saddle, the really steep climb begins. This is a good place to turn back.” The saddle in question is just over 1.5-miles from the trailhead and marks the start of 16 switchbacks. The switchbacks are nowhere near as steep as the remainder of this trail. From the end of the trail it is just three quarters of a mile to the top of Hardesty Mountain (post), but there is no view from that peak. When we visited Hardesty Mountain it was on an out-and-back from the Mount June Trailhead. That hike gained approximately 2100′ of elevation. My bright idea was to combine the two to revisit Mount June where there was a view.

I set off just after 7am from the Eula Ridge Trailhead and immediately went the wrong way when I forked left on the Lawler Trail.
This trail would eventually end at the LoneWolf/Patterson Mountain Trail (post).

The small trailhead along Highway 58.

Wrong way dummy.

I got a little over a quarter mile up the Lawler Trail before realizing my mistake. The worst part was I’d climbed over 250′ in that quarter mile. I retreated to the trailhead and went right on the Eula Ridge Trail which dropped to a crossing of South Creek before climbing to a junction with the South Willamette Trail (post).

The South Willamette Trail to the right.

This trail was heavily damaged in a February 2019 storm, but it has since been cleared and was free of any blowdown for its entire length. The trail is forested with no views to speak of, but the forest is very nice. I had a lot of time to study it during my many breaks as I made my way uphill.

It was clear that mountain bikers use this trail regularly.

Near the 3.75-mile mark the trail passes a rocky spine which is actually an arch. I couldn’t see the arch from the trail, but thanks to Hike Orgon I knew it was there.

I actually waited until I was on my way down to step off trail and look at the arch.

Eula Ridge Trail sign at the Hardesty Trail junction.

I turned left on the Hardesty Trail and climbed another 240′ in 0.4-miles to a fork.

The lefthand fork leads to the viewless summit while the right is the Hardesty Cutoff Trail which bypasses the summit.

I went right forgoing the 100′ climb to the summit which would have also added a little distance to the day. In 0.2-miles I arrived at a junction with the Sawtooth Trail.

Forest below the Hardesty Cutoff Trail.

The Sawtooth Trail dropping to the right.

I briefly considered abandoning my original plan here, but it was only 9:40am. I decided to continue on, but with a turnaround time of 11:30am. If I hadn’t made it to Mt. June by then so be it. I had completely forgotten just how many ups and downs there were along the Sawtooth Trail, and how steep some of them were.
I was not looking forward to climbing back up some of these sections later.

Another saddle.

A view through the trees.

I passed the Hardesty Way Trail 1.5-miles from the Hardesty Cutoff Trail.

Just under two miles from the Hardesty Cutoff Trail the Sawtooth Trail makes two switchbacks downhill to drop below Sawtooth Rock where it enters a grassy hillside.

Mount June from the hillside.

Wallflower

I paused in the middle of the open hillside to again rethink my plan. It was now a quarter after 10am so I was fine on time but seeing Mt. June reinforced just how much more climbing lay ahead. I checked my water supply and found that I hadn’t been drinking enough. I still had close to two liters in my pack plus a Hydro Flask with extra water and a small Gatorade. I drank half the Gatorade and continued on. Two-thirds of a mile beyond Sawtooth Rock I came to a junction in yet another saddle.
Junction with the Lost Creek Trail.

The pointer for Eagles Rest (post) is the Lost Creek Trail.

Another 0.7-miles brought me to the Mt. June Trail at, you guessed it, another saddle.
I called this section “rhododendron ridge”.

The Mt. June Trail coming up from the right.

It was now just after 11am and I was facing a half mile, and nearly 550′, climb to Mt. June’s summit. I headed up and stopped at the first good sized log along the trail to finish off the Gatorade, eat some sweet and salty snack mix, and rest for a few minutes. After the break I headed up the steep trail arriving at the summit at 11:27am.

Unfortunately, the view was less than ideal. The recent warm weather had allowed the many fires still burning to pick up intensity which led to additional smoke.

If you look closely, you can see the tops of the Three Sisters poking up over the smoke in the distance. The open hillside in the foreground is the meadow below Sawtooth Rock and the hump just behind is Hardesty Mountain.

After another short break, and a change of socks, at the summit I started back. I was feeling okay on the downhills and the more level sections, but whenever the trails became at all steep my legs let me know they weren’t happy.
Heading down from the summit.

Climbing the hillside below Sawtooth Rock.

Sawtooth Rock

There was just a little smoke now and then in the forest.

The Eula Ridge Trail coming into view.

I arrived at the Eula Ridge Trail at 1:19pm and bombed down the steep trail as carefully as possible. There are a lot of loose rocks/pebbles along the trail so my trekking poles came in very handy.

There wasn’t much in the way of Fall colors along the trail, but these leaves really stood out.

Lookout Point Lake (Middle Fork Willamette River) from the trail.

There was one more small uphill on the far side of South Creek before dropping to the trailhead.

South Creek

I made it back to the car at 3:00pm. My Garmin clocked in at an even 17-miles and I estimated close to 5300′ of cumulative elevation gain.

This was a real challenge, especially the day after another difficult hike. It does make for one heck of a training hike, and I didn’t see another person the entire day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Eula Ridge to Mount June

Tags Eula Ridge, Eula Ridge Trailhead, Hardesty Cutoff Trail, hardesty mountain, Hardesty Trail, Hardesty Way Trail, Hike Oregon, hiking, Lawler Trail, Mt. June, Mt. June Trail, Oregon, Sawtooth Rock. Lost Creek Trail, Sawtooth Trail, Sout Willamette Trail, Umpqua National Forest, Willamette National Forest

Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Devil’s Peak Loop (Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness) – 10/07/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 10, 2024
4 Comments on Devil’s Peak Loop (Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness) – 10/07/2024

I have a little more vacation time than Heather which means flying solo from time to time. For those solo outings I try and pick hikes to places we’ve already visited or hikes that Heather doesn’t mind missing out on. The latter tend to either be long hikes (14+ miles) or have significant elevation gains >3000′, or a combination of both. One such hike that I’ve had my eyes on for a while was a long loop in the Salmon-Huckelberry Wilderness combining the Salmon River, Green Canyon Way, Hunchback, and Kinzel Lake Trails.

I began the loop at the Salmon River West Trailhead and started the loop clockwise on the Salmon River Trail.
Not having light until after 7am is rough for someone who likes to get an early start.

The Salmon River Trail is located next to this interpretive sign near the trailhead.

A flash was necessary as I set off.

We’d been on this section of trail in 2015. I followed this level path for half a mile to the Green Canyons Campground, another potential starting point for this hike.
There was a very brief road walk along this section.

There was also plenty of time along the Salmon River.

I veered right at this picnic table to cross into the campground.

The day use area at the campground.

I walked through the day use area to the campground entrance then crossed Salmon River Road to find the start of the Green Canyon Way Trail.
Water spigot at the day use area.

It was hard to read the date for this cougar sighting, it appeared to be from June, but I couldn’t make out the year.

The Green Canyon Way Trail gains 2400′ in 3.2-miles to reach the Hunchback Trail, a 9.1-mile-long trail traversing Hunchback Ridge. Green Canyon Way was in pretty good shape, with just a few smaller trees to step over. The climb was well graded which kept it from ever feeling too steep.
Entering the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

One of the downed trees, this one covered both sides of a switchback.

A rare viewpoint along the forested trail.

A level stretch along a narrow ridge.

A healthy looking paintbrush.

The Sun rising above Hunchback Ridge.

It was going to a be a bluebird day.

Sign ahead marking the Hunchback Trail junction.

We had hiked a 5.6-mile section of the Hunchback Trail in 2020 starting at the trails north end at the Lower Hunchback Trailhead. I turned SE (right) at the junction and followed the trail up and down (mostly up) along Hunchback Ridge for 2.4-miles to a junction below Devil’s Peak.

One of the “downs”.

This trail was also in good shape with just a few easy obstacles.

I did not go investigate the source of the “water”, it could have been a trap (there is a spring shown on the map).

Signs at the junction below Devil’s Peak.

I detoured uphill to the right for 100 yards to the Devil’s Peak Lookout.

We were here back in 2018 when the lookout was still open to the public for use. I took a short break here to take in the views before continuing the loop.
Mount Jefferson

Olallie Butte (post) and Mt. Jefferson

The lookout from the Mt. Jefferson viewpoint.

Mt. Hood from the lookout.

You can’t see Mt. Jefferson from the lookout due to trees.

I continued on the Hunchback Trail passing the Cool Creek Trail in another 105 yards and began a 1.25-mile descent to the Devil’s Peak Trailhead. Note that the drive to this trailhead requires traveling nearly 10 miles on an awful road that Sullivan describes as a “nightmare”.
Trail signs at the Cool Creek Trail junction.

Lookout Mountain(post), Gunsight Butte (post), and Bonney Butte (post) along the far ridge.

Mt. Hood from the Hunchback Trail.

Arriving at the trailhead on FR 2613.

It’s hard to make out in the photo but that is a giant pothole (crater) in the middle of the road seen from the trailhead.

A short walk along the roadbed led to the Kinzel Lake Trail on the right.
That is the trailhead at the end of the road on the right.

I turned down the Kinzel Lake Trail and after a third of a mile came to an unsigned junction with a spur trail to Kinzel Lake on the left.

I turned down the spur trail which dropped steeply then made two more steep up and downs before arriving at an old campground at the small lake in a little over a quarter mile.

After checking out the lake I climbed back up to the Kinzel Lake Trail and continued downhill another two miles where I turned right on the Salmon River Trail.
There were some nice Fall colors along the Kinzel Lake Trail.

There were also a few obstacles that were trickier than anything on the other trails involved in this loop.

Salmon Butte (post)

Nearing the Salmon River Trail.

Trail sign at the Salmon River Trail junction.

I turned right on the Salmon River Trail. We had hiked this section of trail during an overnight trip in 2018

It was approximately 6-miles from the junction back to the trailhead. I bypassed most of the viewpoints this time since we’d visited them on previous trips, and this was already a long enough hike without adding more detours.

There wasn’t much water at all in any of the side creeks.

There are several viewpoints just over 3.5-miles from the trailhead.

The furtherst hump in the center is Huckleberry Mountain (post).

Wilderness kiosk along the trail. There were self-issued permits here, but none at Green Canyon Way so I stopped and filled one out even though I was almost done with my hike (and out of the wilderness).

Salmon River

There were a couple of good-sized fish in the pool here.

The trail arriving back at the trailhead.

The first people I saw all day had been camped along the river near Goat Creek, and in total I saw less than 20 people, nearly all in the last three and a half miles. The hike itself showed 16.5-miles on the GPS and included over 4350′ of elevation gain.

This was a challenging but nice loop. My only wish is that it had been 15 to 20 degrees cooler. Clockwise was definitely the way to go in order to get the bulk of the climbing over with during the cooler morning hours. The Kinzel Lake Trail also seemed slightly steeper than the Green Canyon Way Trail making the climb up to Hunchback Ridge a little easier. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Devil’s Peak Loop

Tags Devil's Peak, Devil's Peak Lookout, Green Canyon Way Trail, Green Canyons Campground, hiking, Hunchback Ridge, Hunchback Trail, Kinzel Lake, Kinzel Lake Trail, Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon, salmon river, salmon river trail, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness