Tag: backpacking

Hidden Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) Backpack – 09/09 & 09/10/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 13, 2024
4 Comments on Hidden Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) Backpack – 09/09 & 09/10/2024

After delaying the start of our planned backpack to Hidden Lake by a day (post) due to a Fire Weather Warning we had a two-day window of sunny, but smokey, weather before the next chance of thunderstorms was forecast to roll in. That was all the time we needed though to allow us to finish the 100th featured hike from William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” (2022 1st edition).

It would also mark the culmination of our goal of hiking at least a portion of all 100 featured hikes from a single edition of each of the five areas Sullivan splits his guidebooks into: Eastern Oregon, Central Oregon Cascades, Oregon Coast & Coast Range, Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington, and Southern Oregon & Northern California (post). We set our sights on that goal way back in 2016, but we started using Sullivan’s guidebooks six years earlier. We will be covering completing the Eastern Oregon book and completing our goal in separate posts later, but first we needed to hike the East Eagle Trail.

Our plan was to begin at the East Eagle Trailhead and follow the East Eagle Trail to the Hidden Lake Trail (approx. 7 miles) where we would look for a campsite not far after crossing East Fork Eagle Creek. We had been told that there was a spot or two there by a fellow hiker we’d run into during our Maxwell Lake hike in August (post). While camping at the lake sounded nice climbing 1000′ in 1.4 miles with full packs on didn’t.

We arrived at the trailhead to find a few cars parked along the turnaround loop. After filling out a free wilderness permit we followed a pointer for the East Eagle Trail.

The first 0.2-miles followed a rough spur road.

The trail starting at the 0.2-mile mark.

The trail quickly entered the Eagle Cap Wilderness as it gradually climbed, with a few short downhills, along East Fork Eagle Creek.

It was evident that Winter avalanches are common in this valley based on the amount of downed and damaged trees. Despite that the trail was in pretty good condition although there were a few obstacles to detour around.

There were still a few flowers blooming along the way.
An aster or fleabane

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Haze from wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest.

A little over 2.5-miles from the trailhead we passed small corkscrew falls.
Corkscrew Falls

One of the few trees that proved a little tricky.

We also had to be wary of falling fir cones. The resident squirrels were busy dropping them to the ground to add to their Winter stores.

Smoke hanging over the East Fork Eagle Creek Valley.

Penstemon

The different shapes and colors of the peaks in the Wallowa Mountains never cease to impress.

This section of trail appeared to have fallen victim to an avalanche that came down from the far side of the creek then up this one.

Paintbrush

Unnamed waterfall along East Fork Eagle Creek.

The view improved a little as the day progressed.

Coneflower along the trail.

Fireweed

Last of the mountain coyote mint.

California tortoiseshell

Fritillary butterfly

Post marking the junction with the Hidden Lake Trail.

We turned down the Hidden Lake Trail and rock hopped across the creek. After navigating through some more downed trees we spotted an established campsite a little off the trail.

After setting up camp we switched to our day packs and started the climb up to Hidden Lake.

View back across the East Fork Eagle Creek Valley.

More obstacles were present along the Hidden Lake Trail.

More trail damage.

A mile and a quarter from our camp we arrived at Moon Lake.

Gentians

After a brief break at Moon Lake we followed the trail steeply uphill to a pass.

Looking back down at Moon Lake.

The trail leveled out for a bit at the pass and a short spur trail on the left led to an unnamed lake.

On the other side of the ridge is Eagle Lake which we visited in 2023 (post).

Beyond the pass the trail descended briefly to an unnamed creek.

Sullivan’s description said to follow the trail to its end at the creek then cross the creek and head right over a small ridge to find Hidden Lake. I had gone ahead of Heather from Moon Lake so I arrived at the creek first and was a little confused to find a clear trail heading across but an even clearer tread continuing on the near side of the creek.

Since the Hidden Lake Trail didn’t appear to end here I thought the trail to the right simply went to a campsite and continued along the creek.
The Hidden Lake Trail continuing along the unnamed creek.

The trail followed the creek through a meadow then curved away from Hidden Lake and petered out with a view of another unnamed lake.

There were still a few mountain heather blossoms.

The unnamed lake.

I took a quick look at the GPS and realized that I was almost past Hidden Lake now so I cut cross country and found myself on a ridge about 50′ above the lake.
Heading cross country looking for the path of least resistance.

My first view of Hidden Lake.

I made my way steeply down to the lake and picked up a use trail which led me to a meadow at its western end.

Eagle Cap (post) on the left, Galcier Peak at center, and Hawkins Point to the right.

The views were amazing, but I quickly realized that Heather might have the same issue with deciding which fork to take when she arrived at the creek. We had planned to meet at the lake, but it was good sized with a network of user trails which would have made it pretty easy to miss each other. I hiked along the lake shore for a bit then cut away from the lake and made my way to the fork and waited there for Heather to arrive.

Luckily Heather had taken an extended break at Moon Lake so I hadn’t missed her. When she arrived we headed down to the lake together then I led her to the meadow so she could enjoy that view as well.

Monkeyflower

We’d brought our dinner with us so we picked out a spot along the lake where we could relax and possibly prepare dinner when it was time. We had seen two people coming off the Hidden Lake Trail near the junction with the East Eagle Trail, but we appeared to be the only people at the lake so we had our pick of spots.

We set up for the afternoon.

The lake looked to get pretty deep quickly.

View from our dinner area.

I followed a use trail to the eastern end of the lake before settling down.

Gentians

We spent a little over 2:30 hours at Hidden Lake before starting back to camp.
Last look at the lake.

Grass of parnassus

Hawkins Point on the left and Jackson Peak on the right.

Moon Lake

Big cricket

Doe

We got back to camp at a quarter to six and relaxed there for a bit until we got too chilly and decided to turn in instead of adding more layers of clothing.
Unnamed creek near our campsite.

Before we turned in we’d set up a trail cam that we’d finally remember to bring on a backpacking trip. Unfortunately we didn’t refamiliarize ourselves with how to operate it and we accidently switched it to “Test” mode instead of “On”. This turned out to be a real bummer because when nature called around 1:30am and I left the tent my headlamp picked up a pair of eyes at the far side of the small meadow that the camera was facing. It would have been fun to have gotten to see what was prowling around our camp, but at least we remembered to bring it this time.

When we got up at 5am there was no sign of the visitor as we began packing up for the hike out. It was quite a bit smokier as we set off.
View from camp in the morning. The eyes were looking at me from near the tree in the foreground to the left.

Recrossing East Fork Eagle Creek.

Heading into the haze.

A healthy looking paintbrush.

We spend a lot of time fruitlessly scanning terrain for wildlife, but every once in a while, it pays off. About ten minutes to 8am I spotted something crossing a granite outcrop across the creek. It was pretty far away, but it was clearly a black bear. I couldn’t explain to Heather where it was before it disappeared, but I did get a few very grainy photos.
The bear had been walking up the outcrop in the shade in the middle of the picture.

The bear is the black blotch on the rock in front of the tree at center.

The bear just before it vanished behind the outcrop.

That was the last of the excitement for the morning. The views got a little better as the morning progressed.

Hawk in a snag.

Corkscrew Falls

Granite Cliff

“Papa’s Camp” was located at the end of the 0.2-mile spur road.

East Fork Eagle Creek from an old bridge near Papa’s Camp.

Granite Cliff rising above East Fork Eagle Creek from the spur road to the trailhead.

It was 10:30am when we finished the 7-mile hike back to our car. My first day had been just over 12-miles with approximately 2670′ of elevation gain giving us a little over 19-miles for the trip.

This was a good trip with nice scenery and Hidden Lake was beautiful despite the hazy conditions. We can always count on a nice variety of wildlife in the Wallowas, and this trip was no exception. It was a great way to cap off our 500 featured hike goal. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Hidden Lake Backpack

Tags backpacking, eagle cap, eagle cap wilderness, East Eagle Trail, East Fork Eagle Creek, glacier peak, Hawkins Point, hidden lake, hidden lake trail, hiking, Jackson Peak, Moon Lake, Oregon, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

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

Puck Lakes Backpack – 08/31/2024 & 09/01/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 3, 2024
3 Comments on Puck Lakes Backpack – 08/31/2024 & 09/01/2024

We hadn’t managed to get out on an overnight backpacking trip in 2024 due to a combination of weather, fires, and being focused on finishing our goal of hiking at least part of 500 of William L. Sullivan’s featured hikes in his “100 Hikes” guidebook series (post). We’re now down to having just one featured hike left which we are planning to do as an overnight trip. We have that planned for September so we thought it would be a good idea to break out our backpacking gear for a test run first.

We chose the Puck Lakes in the Sky Lake Wilderness as our destination. These lakes are actually part of one of Sullivan’s featured hikes, but we had missed them due to having started at the Cold Springs Trailhead when we completed part of that hike (post). On that trip we’d combined his featured hike from that trailhead with a loop around Luther Mountain which Sullivan listed as an option for the featured hike from the Nannie Creek Trailhead. Starting at the Nannie Creek Trailhead would allow us visit the Puck Lakes and complete the remainder of Sullivan’s “Sky Lakes via Nannie Creek” hike. With the Puck Lakes being under 2.5-miles from the trailhead they provided a relatively short hike in with our full backpacks, then we could continue on to the Snow Lakes Trail and Margurette Lake which had been part of our loop during our earlier trip.

It was a 4-hour drive to the trailhead from Salem, so we got a later start than we normally would. It was a little before 9am when we set off and already warming up quickly. The forecast was for temperatures at the Puck Lakes to push 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Nannie Creek Trail gradually climbs for the first 1.6-miles making good use of switchbacks to keep the trail from ever feeling steep.

There were hundreds of dragonflies along the trails which were much more welcome than the mosquitos that are a problem here in July and early August.

The trail entering the wilderness.

After gaining approximately 500′ of elevation the trail leveled out for a bit before descending 100′ to the Puck Lakes.
To the left through the trees is Mt. McLoughlin (post).

The currently dry outlet creek of South Puck Lake.

South Puck Lake from the Nannie Creek Trail.

Just under 2.5-miles from the trailhead we turned right toward South Puck Lake at an unsigned junction with the former Puck Lakes Trail.
Someone had taken it upon themselves to craft their own sort of sign for the Puck Lakes Trail.

The Puck Lakes Trail has long since been abandoned but at one time it had covered around 6.5-miles connecting the Nannie Creek Trail and Sevenmile Trail (post). We followed this trail a little over 200′ to South Puck Lake then continued around the western side of the lake looking for a suitable campsite.

The southern end of the lake was closed to camping for site restoration.

South Puck Lake

Use trail around the lake. The alignment of the former Puck Lakes Trail is further back from the lake.

Two of three common mergansers that seemed to be calling the lake home for now.

Our campsite for the night.

We appeared to be the only ones currently at the lake. We’d passed a couple hiking out shortly after starting our hike who mentioned that there had only been one other person at the lake the night before, and then a little later that gentleman passed us. With it being Labor Day Weekend we suspected that the privacy wouldn’t last, but it was an encouraging sign that maybe it wouldn’t be too busy. After getting camp squared away, and starting a list for Hidden Lake of things that we had forgotten, we returned to the Nannie Creek Trail and continued toward the Snow Lakes Trail.

The Nannie Creek Trail made a small climb over the first 0.9-miles from the lake then began a mile long, 400′ descent to the Snow Lakes Trail.

Just after the trail began its descent it crossed a talus field.

Mt. McLoughlin behind Luther Mountain.

Shale Butte and Lucifer Peak (double hump is Lucifer).

Pelican Butte straight ahead with peaks in the Mountain Lakes Wilderness (post) behind to the right.

A faint Mt. Shasta through the haze.

Agency Lake

The trail made a couple of switchbacks through the shale before reentering the forest where we began to encounter a fair amount of blowdown.

A good representation of the trail conditions between the talus slope and the Snow Lakes Trail. Nothing was overly problematic, but it did mean more effort on our part which in turn made it feel even warmer.

Rock cairn marking the junction with the Snow Lake Trail.

Looking back at the hillside we’d descended.

We turned left onto the Snow Lakes Trail and followed it a little under 2-miles to a trail junction between Margurette and Trapper Lake. We were familiar with this trail having hiked the first 1.4-miles as part of our loop around Luther Mountain.

One of several grouse that crossed the trail in front of us.

Entering the fire scar from the 2014 “790 Fire”.

Northwestern Rabbit-tobacco

Martin Lake

Pair of Lewis’s woodpeckers.

One of the Snow Lakes below Luther Mountain.

One of the Snow Lakes.

After 1.4-miles we came to a junction with the Donna Lake Trail on the left. (Deep Lake is the lake visible below through the trees.) We’d turned down that trail on our previous visit, so we stayed right this time.

One of several small, unnamed, bodies of water between the Donna Lake Trail junction and Margurette Lake.

Blue beetle

Hardhack

Margurette Lake

Unsurprisingly there were several people at Margurette Lake so instead of taking our break there we turned left at the junction with the Sky Lakes Trail and continued on.
Margurette Lake

Coming up on the junction.

The Sky Lakes Trail.

This trail descended for 0.2-miles past the end of Trapper Lake to a junction with the Donna Lake Trail.

Trapper Lake

The Donna Lake Trail to the right.

We turned up the Donna Lake trail and climbed gradually for a quarter mile to Donna Lake.

Donna Lake

We didn’t see a shaded spot at Donna Lake where we could take a comfortable break, so we continued another tenth of a mile to Deep Lake.

Luther Mountain from Deep Lake.

There were several unoccupied campsites at Deep Lake, and we picked one with some shade to set up our chairs and finally take a break.

Tiny western toad

It was a lot warmer than we’d have liked so we spent over ninety minutes resting and refilling our water supply. We had considered cooking our dinner there as well, but another pair of backpackers came along, and we didn’t want to be prepping food anywhere near where others might be camping. We left deep lake a little after 3:30 and continued on the Donna Lake Trail to the Snow Lakes Trail.
Signs of Fall.

Lousewort

There was a slight chance of showers/thunderstorms between 5PM and 11PM and it had begun to cloud up while we were at Deep Lake. The clouds continued to build as we made our way back along the Snow Lakes Trail.

Young grouse

Martin Lake

Back at the Nannie Creek Trail junction.

We had been looking for an open flat area where we could stop to cook dinner but didn’t have any luck until we’d traveled 0.4-miles back along the Nannie Creek Trail. After eating our Mountain House yellow curry we began the climb back up through the talus slope.

The cloud cover had increased even more which helped keep the heat from feeling too oppressive.
It was increasingly looking like a shower or two might happen.

A deep zoom in at Mt. Shasta.

We returned to the trail to the Puck Lakes and after a brief stop at camp we continued on to visit North Puck Lake. We were surprised to find that we were still the only people at the lakes.

Pine white

Spotted sandpiper

The three resident mergansers.

The abandoned Puck Lakes Trail.

A dark cloud passing over the Puck Lakes (no rain).

North Puck Lake

After visiting North Puck Lake we headed back to camp and enjoyed the views that the still water and passing clouds created.

We turned in hoping to get a good night’s sleep, but neither of us had much luck for the first few hours. It was still a little too warm to be comfortable, but we eventually dozed off. It didn’t rain and we never heard any thunder which we were thankful for.

I woke up a little after 4am (that counts as sleeping in for me) and started prepping for our hike out. Heather got up about 5am and did the same.
Heather in the tent packing up.

A sliver of the Moon reflecting in the lake at 5:48am.

6:06am

North Puck Lake at 6:22am as we set off.

Luther Mountain from the Nannie Creek Trail in the morning.

We arrived back at the trailhead at 7:45am.

Day one of our trip came in just under twelve miles with a little over 1500′ of elevation gain. Day two was just 2.7-miles with less than 150′ of elevation gain.
Dark blue = day one, magenta = day two, light blue = previous visit.

This was a good test run for our first backpack this year. The heat made it much more challenging than it should have been and provided a good reminder that we’ll need to carefully consider that before heading to Hidden Lake later this month (hopefully). We were also able to make a list of things that we forgot to bring with us so we won’t forget them for that trip. Finally, it gave us a chance to try out our new water filtration system, the Sawyer Squeeze, which has replaced the pump filter that we previously used. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Puck Lakes Backpack

Tags backpacking, Deep Lake, Donna Lake, Donna Lake Trail, hiking, Luther Mountain, Margurette Lake, Martin Lake, Nannie Creek Trail, Nannie Creek Trailhead, North Puck Lake, Oregon, Puck Lakes, Sky Lakes Trail, sky lakes wilderness, Snow Lakes, Snow Lakes Trail, South Puck Lake, Trapper Lake

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

Seven Lakes Basin Backpack – 09/09/23 & 09/10/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 13, 2023
2 Comments on Seven Lakes Basin Backpack – 09/09/23 & 09/10/2023

As we near our goal of finishing at least part of all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivans “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” edition 4.2 (post) there was one backpacking trip left. Sullivan’s Seven Lakes West and Seven Lakes East (hikes 38 & 39 in edition 4.2) start at trailheads on opposite side of the Cascade Crest but both contain a loop through the Seven Lakes Basin and a climb up Devil’s Peak in the Sky Lakes Wilderness. Aside from the different trailheads the only other difference is that he includes a visit to Lake Alta from the west trailhead.

We opted to begin from the eastern trailhead – Sevenmile Marsh. The primary reason for this was the trailhead is roughly half an hour closer to Salem but the Forest Service currently shows the status of the western trailhead (Seven Lakes) as unreachable. (This may simply be an oversight when updating their webpages, but it is a good reminder that it’s always a good idea to double check with the managing agencies before heading out.)
Sevenmile Marsh Trailhead

The trail descended to a crossing of Sevenmile Creek then climbed gradually along a hillside above Sevenmile Marsh, entering the Sky Lakes Wilderness along the way.

Sevenmile Creek

Entering the wilderness

Sevenmile Marsh

The Sevenmile Trail climbed gradually through a nice forest for nearly two miles before joining the Pacific Crest Trail.
Lodgepole pines were the dominate trees along the first part of the trail.

Mountain hemlock took over as the trail gained elevation.

Junction with the PCT.

We turned left onto the PCT and found ourselves losing a bit of elevation before beginning another gradual climb.

There were a few downed trees along this section but nothing difficult to get around.

This twisted tree caught our attention.

Nice blue sky.

Lewis’s woodpecker way up in a snag.

After two miles on the PCT we arrived at Honeymoon Creek which resembled a small pond. Tadpoles splashed around in the mud while larger frogs hung out around the water.

Tadpoles

Frog in the water.

After another 0.6-miles on the PCT we arrived at a signed junction with the Seven Lakes Trail.
Trail sign ahead on the right.

Our plan was to set up camp at Cliff Lake then do the loop and summit Devil’s Peak as described by Sullivan. We could have turned right here and followed the Seven Lakes Trail 1.3-miles past Grass and Middle Lakes to Cliff Lake, but sticking to the PCT for another 0.7-miles then turning the Cliff Lake Trail would save us nearly a quarter of a mile. We decided to save Middle and Grass Lakes for our hike out the following morning and stayed straight on the PCT.

Unnamed creek along the PCT. We were surprised at how many of the seasonal creeks still had flowing water.

Grass-of-parnassus

Huckleberries, there were a lot of these around the basin which we happily sampled.

Devil’s Peak poking up above the trees.

The Cliff Lake Trail.

We turned right onto the Cliff Lake Trail and descended a third of a mile to rejoin the Seven Lakes Trail a tenth of a mile from Cliff Lake.

Prince’s pine

Another flowing seasonal creek.

Crater Lake collomia (Collomia mazama)

The Seven Lakes Trail arriving on the right.

Cliff Lake

At Cliff Lake we turned onto a use trail following it around the eastern side of the lake in search of a suitable campsite. While there were numerous sites most of the sites we were seeing were large enough for multiple tents. We didn’t want to take up one of the large sites with our single tent and we also didn’t want to wind up with neighbors if we could avoid it. We wound up getting separated in the process and after walking back and forth for a bit we found each other and settled on a campsite.

Arnica

Aster

Splash in Cliff Lake from one of many fish that were feeding on insects.

Camp

After getting set up we grabbed our daypacks and headed back to the Seven Lakes Trail. We decided to hike the loop clockwise which meant backtracking along the Seven Lakes and Cliff Lake Trails to the PCT and then turning right to continue southward.
Huckleberry bushes along the Cliff Lake Trail.

Anywhere there was water nearby there were lots of tiny Cascade toads to watch out for.

Back at the PCT.

Larger frog

Monkshood

More grass-of-parnassus

Not only were the toads tiny, they also were well camouflaged.

The PCT climbed steadily providing the first glimpses of the peaks around Crater Lake.
Mount Scott (post) between the trees.

Mount Scott

The Watchman (post) and Hillman Peak (post)

The Watchman and Hillman Peak

Devil’s Peak

Union Peak (post) in the distance.

Cliff Lake with Violet Hill beyond.

Black backed woodpecker

Getting closer to Devil’s Peak.

A much bigger Cascade toad.

Near Devil’s Peak the PCT left the trees and switchbacked up a talus field resulting on great view to the north toward Crater Lake and beyond.

Mt. Thielsen (post) in the center beyond the rim of Crater Lake.

Union Peak with Mt. Bailey (post) behind to the right.

Lots of neat rock formation on Devil’s Peak.

Western pasque flower seed heads.

Buckwheat

Two and a half miles from the Seven Lakes Trail junction the PCT arrived at a pass. The final climb was fairly steep even with switchbacks, so a brief rest was in order at the pass.

Views to the South opened up at the pass including Klamath Lake and Pelican Butte.

Klamath Lake

Devil’s Peak and the PCT coming up to the pass from the North.

Klamath Lake, Pelican Butte, Aspen Butte (post) over the right shoulder of Pelican, Brown Mountain (post) is the small cone on the right, and Mt. McLoughlin (post)

Mt. McLoughlin

A faint Mt. Shasta which, given the wildfires burning in NW California was a bit of a surprise to be able to see.

The view North.

Goose Egg and Ethel Mountain in the forefront with Llao Rock, Mt. Thielsen, and Garfield Peak (post) behind.

Devil’s Peak

While we were resting at the pass we heard a helicopter approaching from the NW. It wound up hovering low above the lakes basin before heading back the way it came.
We were a little concerned at first that it might be picking up water for a new fire but there wasn’t anything hanging from the helicopter so we have no idea what it was actually doing.

A path headed uphill from the pass toward Devil’s Peak while the PCT headed slightly downhill.
The use path to Devil’s Peak on the right and the PCT on the left.

We headed up the use trail which was fairly easy to follow with just one slightly sketchy narrow spot.

The rather ominously named Lucifer from the use trail.

A second use trail coming up from the opposite side.

Western pasque flowers on the hillside above the use trails.

The summit of Devil’s Peak ahead.

The views were excellent from the summit so we took another nice break to soak them in before heading down.
Looking North toward Crater Lake and Mt. Thielsen

Lucifer, Jupiter, and Venus

Lee Peak above the pass.

Luther Mountain (post) in the foreground with Aspen Butte, Brown Mountain and Mt. McLoughlin.

Remains of a former lookout.

The PCT below Devil’s and Lee Peaks.

Goose Egg, Llao Rock, and Mt. Thielsen

Mt. Scott

Mt. Shasta to South through a little smoke but again we felt fortunate to be able to see the mountain at all.

Colorful grasshopper at the summit.

American pipit

We headed down taking the other use trail which angled down along a ridge to the PCT approximately a third of a mile from where we had left it to climb Devil’s Peak.
The Seven Lakes Basin from the use trail down.

South, Middle, North, and Grass Lakes

Heading down the use trail.

Looking back up the use trail.

When we reached the PCT we turned right and headed toward Lucifer.

Western snakeroot along the PCT.

A comma butterfly on western snakeroot.

Painted lady

At a ridge below Lucifer we arrived at a signed trail junction.

Here the PCT forked left toward Luther Mountain while the Devil’s Peak Trail forked right. We took the Devil’s Peak Trail and followed it 1.3-miles to the Seven Lakes Trail. Passing below Jupiter and Venus along the way.
Venus from the Devil’s Peak Trail.

Looking back at Devil’s Peak.

Looking North across the Seven Lakes Basin.

Lake Alta in a bowl below Violet Hill.

Pond along the Devil’s Peak Trail.

Coming up to the Seven Lakes Trail junction. A rock cairn was the only marker.

We turned right onto the Seven Lakes Trail and descended 0.2 miles to a signed junction with the Alta Lake Trail.

We turned left onto the Alta Lake Trail. We followed this trail for a fairly level half mile to the long lake.

Heather took another break at the South end of the lake while I hiked another quarter mile along the lake to get a better look at the northern end.
I was still only about halfway along the lake after the quarter mile. There used to be a campground at the North end.

Common merganser

The southern end of Lake Alta.

On the way back to Heather I detoured to take in the view from the cliffs above the basin.
Cliff Lake below Devil’s Peak and Middle Lake.

Middle and Grass Lakes

I could hear several pikas in the rocks below the cliffs but the only thing I spotted was a chipmunk.

Chipmunk

After rejoining Heather we headed back to the Seven Lakes Trail and continued descending into the basin.
Sulphur butterfly on aster.

Gentian

Fireweed

A mile from the Alta Lake Trail we arrived at South Lake.

South Lake

Another quarter mile brought us to a view of Cliff Lake.

Devil’s Peak from the trail. There were more pikas “meeping” from the rocks here but again we failed to spot any of them.

We followed the trail around to the North side of Cliff Lake and then turned on the use trail to return to our campsite.

Back at camp we refilled our water supply and had dinner then relaxed a bit before turning in for the night. For me this had been a 15.3-mile hike with 2000′ of elevation gain. One and a quarter of those miles was hiking from the Seven Lakes Trail to our camp, and initially wandering around looking for a site and Heather.
Devil’s Peak in the evening.

So many fish in the evening.

In the morning we packed up and headed back, this time sticking to the Seven Lakes Trail to visit Middle and Grass Lakes.

Devil’s Peak in the morning.

Seven Lakes and Cliff Lake Trail junction.

We reached Middle Lake in 0.4-miles.

We detoured left at the northern end of the lake following a pointer for Lake Ivern to find a view back across Middle Lake.

Devil’s Peak from Middle Lake.

We returned to the Seven Lakes Trail and in another half mile we passed views of Grass Lake.
Stream crossing.

Monkshood and grass-of-parnassus

Grass Lake

We didn’t follow any of the use trails down to Grass Lake and instead stuck to the Seven Lakes Trail as it climbed for 0.2 miles to the Pacific Crest Trail.

Arriving at the PCT.

We turned left onto the PCT and returned to the Sevenmile Marsh Trailhead the way we’d come the day before. Of note were the ducks making use of the small pond along Honeymoon Creek.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Sevenmile Trail at the PCT to return to the Sevenmile Marsh Trailhead.

Exiting the Sky Lakes Wilderness.

The hike out came to 6.1-miles with just 200′ of elevation gain.

The red section marks our track out past Middle and Grass Lakes

This was a great trip. The temperatures were pleasant, the views great, lots of huckleberries and only a few mosquitos. We also only saw a total of eight other people all weekend. We are now down to a half dozen featured hikes from the Southern Oregon/Northern California book and if conditions cooperate we may well be finished by November. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Seven Lakes Basin

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Echo & Traverse Lakes (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/17/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 24, 2023
1 Comment on Echo & Traverse Lakes (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/17/2023

Progress Report – 500 “Featured Hikes” – January 2023 UpdateTo wrap up our backpacking trip in the Eagle Cap Wilderness we targeted the hike to Echo and Traverse Lakes along the West Eagle Trail. The heat during this trip had been an issue and Heather had skipped the challenging hike to Tombstone Lake on Wednesday and opted for this hike instead while I tackled Tombstone (post). She came back from her hike with some good information regarding the trail conditions including a tangle of downed trees between the lakes where she decided to turn around instead of attempting to scramble up and around it.

The plan for our last day was for me to visit the two lakes while Heather worked on packing up and then when I returned we would hike out and head back to Salem. After breakfast I set off hoping that it wouldn’t be too hot this morning.
It was a little before 6am when I started up to the lakes.

I kept a steady pace for the first half mile having hiked this section of trail to the Tombstone Lake Trail junction the day before. This time at the junction I stuck to the West Eagle Trail.

Another switchback filled climb followed as the trail made its way up to Echo Lake’s basin.
There was an interesting amount of sagebrush along the lower portion of this hike.

There was still some smoke in the air, but it was quite a bit less than it had been the day before.

The trail initially seemed like it is heading up this valley before it crosses over a ridge and heads for the Echo Lake basin.

From this trail the route of the Tombstone Lake Trail was visible.

Waterfall along Olive Lake’s outlet creek. One of the switchbacks along the Tombstone Lake Trail is just to the right.

Tasselflower brickellbush

There was a lot of paintbrush along the trail.

Paintbrush and I believe fading false sunflowers.

Penstemon and paintbrush

Western snakeroot

Pika!

View across the valley.

The trail approaching the outlet of Echo Lake.

Above Echo Lake Falls which wasn’t visible from this trail.

Groundsel, lupine, and fireweed along the creek.

Sunrise in the basin.

The trail arrived at a creek crossing 1.7-miles from the Tombstone Lake Trail junction.

The trail leveled out after crossing the creek as it passed through a meadow above a pond.

The pond.

Gray sagewort

Looking back toward the valley and pond.

Approximately 0.7-miles from the creek crossing I began to get views of Echo Lake.

The trail stayed above the lake but near the far end I followed a spur trail down to a campsite and then the lakeshore.

The spur trail.

Spotted sandpiper

I returned to the trail and continued toward Traverse Lake. The trail climbed via several switchbacks and crossed several inlet creeks with various flowers.
Spirea

A no fires beyond this point sign. Several of the lakes in the Eagle Cap Wilderness are in no campfire zones.

Fleabane or aster lining the trail.

Two types of lousewort.

Echo Lake hidden by the trees.

Pearly everlasting along the trail.

Just after the final switchback I arrived at the blowdown where Heather had turned around.

A short steep scramble took me over the top of the downed trees and then I side hilled back down to the trail below.
Looking down at that trail from above the blowdown.

Back on the trail it passed through a granite boulder field then rounded a ridge and descended to Traverse Lake 1.3-miles from the side trail I’d taken to Echo Lake.
Bluebells

Echo Lake from the ridge end.

The Elkhorn Mountains (post)

Arriving at Traverse Lake.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Yellow Wallowa Indian paintbrush

Columbian ground squirrel

Cusick’s speedwell

I headed for the East end of the lake hoping to minimize the effect of the Sun on the view of the lake. I took a use trail to a campsite on a granite outcrop.
Remember that no fires sign? (Sigh)

I was able to drop down to the lakeshore where I took a short break and changed into some dry socks (sweaty climb).

After my break I headed back stopping numerous times to take in the views.

Monkeyflower

Globe penstemon

Gentians along the lake.

A lone paintbrush.

The blowdown at the far end of the boulder field.

White mariposa lily

Arnica

Swamp onions

Echo Lake

The pond below on the left.

Passing through the meadow.

Paintbrush and fireweed

Above Echo Lake Falls.

West Eagle Meadows in the valley in the distance.

Zoom in on West Eagle Meadows.

Looking down at the switchbacks.

Heather had also warned me about this blowdown over one of the switchbacks. There was a steep reroute that bypassed the trees.

There were some interesting cloud formations on the way back.

There was also an increase in the smoke.

Can you spot the pika?

Pika (possible the same one from earlier given the location).

Paintbrush and buckwheat

Yellow columbine

Another pika at the end of this switchback.

The Tombstone Lake Trail junction ahead.

I had arrived back at the trail junction a little before 10:15am and arrived back at camp at 10:23am. Heather was just finishing packing up the last of our items. I changed socks once again and got my day pack into my backpack so we could head for the car. It was 10:35am when set off for the final 2.5 miles of our trip.

Swallowtail photo bomb.

West Eagle Creek Crossing.

Sphinx moth

Leaving the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Squirrel

West Eagle Meadows

It’s hard to see here but there is a trail post at this fork with a point to the left. This is for the horse camp and not the way back to the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead.

The trailhead in sight.

My mileage for the day came to 12.2 with a little over 1700′ of cumulative elevation gain.

Heather spotted a couple of flowers on her hike to Echo Lake the day before that I did not notice.
Flax

Jacob’s ladder

This was a great hike to finish the trip. For me Traverse Lake was my favorite of the week followed by Tombstone, Echo, Culver, Bear and Eagle in that order. All of them were great though. The only downside to the trip was the excessive heat. These hikes would have been even more enjoyable in reasonable temperatures. The trip did allow us to check off three more of Sullivan’s featured hike (post) putting us at 83/100 for his “100 Hikes: Eastern Oregon” guidebook. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Echo & Traverse Lakes

Tags backpacking, eagle cap wilderness, Echo Lake, hiking, Oregon, sphinx moth, Tombstone Lake Trail, Traverse Lake, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, West Eagle Meadows, West Eagle Meadows Trailhead, West Eagle Trail, wildflowers

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Tombstone Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/16/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 23, 2023
2 Comments on Tombstone Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/16/2023

We woke up at our campsite near West Eagle Creek early hoping to once again get a jump on the oppressive heat. I was planning on hiking from camp to Tombstone Lake and back, but Heather had yet to decide what her plans for the day were. We discussed it over breakfast, and she decided that she would instead follow the West Eagle Trail to Echo and possibly Traverse Lake. The heat had really been taking a toll on her and the shorter distance coupled with much less elevation gain seemed a smarter option all the way around. This was also one of the options for Sullivan’s Tombstone Lake featured hike so she would still be able to cross that one off the to-do-list (post).

Before we could set off we divided up our supplies making sure we each had ways to get more water (she took the pump and I took the purification tablets) and go to the bathroom if necessary. I took the Garmin inReach because let’s face it, I’m much more likely to do something stupid.

I’ll be covering my hike to Tombstone Lake for the remainder of this post. As soon as I was ready to go I said goodbye to Heather and set off on the West Eagle Trail.
The path from camp meeting the West Eagle Trail.

It was a little before 6:30am when I started.

After a brief gradual climb the trail began a series of 10 switchbacks before reaching the junction with the Tombstone Lake Trail a half mile from camp.
Switchbacks would be a theme for these last two days.

The trail junction on the ridge ahead.

I turned onto the Tombstone Lake Trail which gently climbed at first as it traversed a slope above West Eagle Creek.

After a quarter mile the trail crossed the creek and then began a long climb via 45 switchbacks to a basin.
The West Eagle Creek crossing.

There was a large waterfall on West Eagle Creek flowing from Echo Lake’s basin on the right.

Echo Lake Falls

There was a waterfall ahead at the end of the switchback here, but it was mostly obscured by vegitation.

It was fairly smokey looking ESE in the morning.

Wildflowers along the trail.

Several switchbacks were along this tributary of West Eagle Creek. This particular spot would provide me with much needed water on my descent.

It looked like there might be a bit of a waterfall along this stream as well.

Looking up the stream at another cascade.

The upper portion entered an old fire scar and sunlight which heated things up quickly.

Northern flicker

Every time I thought I was at the basin the trail would switchback to find more hillside.

Mountain bluebird

Surely that is the crest.

It was not, up I go.

Smoke to the South.

Echo Lake across the valley.

Finally done with the switchbacks I could see the next climb in the distance ahead, but for now I had a bit of a reprieve.

Sullivan’s map had made the section of trail passing through the meadowed basin appear decently long, but it turned out to be just over a half mile. This more level section still managed to include a pair of switchbacks as the trail went from a smaller lower basin to a much larger meadow.

Lousewort

Columbian ground squirrel

Gentians, one of my favorite wildflowers.

The larger meadow ahead.

We had spoken to a couple of women at the trailhead the day before, and they had mentioned that a group with llamas was heading into Tombstone Lake. I wound up passing their camp at the start of the meadow.
Their camp was uphill to the left. The stream here was lined with wildflowers.

Lewis monkeyflower, aster (or fleabane), and fringed grass of parnassus.

The trail all but disappeared on the far side of the stream, but small cairns helped mark the way.

Cairns along the trail through the meadow.

Yellow Wallowa Indian paintbrush

At the far end of the meadow the trail began another series of over 20 switchbacks as it climbed to a pass. Luckily it was quite a bit cooler near the meadow and there were a lot more flowers which made this climb a little more tolerable.
Heading up again.

Larkspur

White mariposa lily

Looking back down into the basin.

False hellebore

Coiled lousewort

As I was climbing I heard a helicopter that sounded very nearby. I wondered if it was possibly getting water from one of the lakes for a fire, but then it flew overhead from the direction of the pass.

It looked like it had stretcher not a bucket hanging underneath. Hopefully if anyone was in it they’re okay.

View of the basin headwall.

View back down the valley.

Phlox

Chipmunk

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Arriving at the pass.

Smokey view from the pass.

Tombstone Butte, Swabb Mountain, with Granite Butte behind in between, and China Cap to the right.

The pass at nearly 8200′.

After a short break at the pass I started my descent toward Tombstone Lake. After a pair of switchbacks the trail straightened out and traversed a hillside below a ridge for half a mile.

The views along this section continued to improve the further I went.
Tombstone Lake below.

Sturgill Peak

Tombstone Lake is a series of connected bodies of water.

A phacelia.

At the end of the half mile the trail turned toward the lake and descended another series of switchbacks, 16 in all, before again straightening out and gradually descending to the lakeshore.

Rosy paintbrush

Finally at the lake.

Gentian along the lakeshore.

Swamp onion along the shore of one of the smaller bodies of water.

Trout

After exploring the lakes and taking a short break I checked my water supply and decided that I still had half my supply left. I decided to hold off on getting more until I was on the other side of the pass and headed down. I headed back and began counting down the 16 switchbacks as I climbed.

All trip I had wondered if there were any pikas in the area but we hadn’t seen or heard any, so I had come to believe that maybe there weren’t any. As I passed through a granite boulder field though I spotted a brown flash carrying a clump of greens.
Pika!

At the top of the switchbacks I left the trail just below a gap in the ridge and climbed to see what the view might be like.
The Tombstone Lake Trail from the gap.

Eagle Cap in the middle and Needle Point in the distance to the right.

Eagle Cap (post) is the tallest hump in the middle.

The East Fork Elk Creek valley below.

After checking out the view I made the half mile climb to the pass where I took another break.

After the break I headed back down. I paused near the meadow to let the llama group pass as they headed for Tombstone Lake. I let them know that I hadn’t seen anyone else at the lake and then continued on into the meadow.
Starting the switchbacks down.

I spent a little more time looking at the wildflowers this time through.

Hawk

Sphinx moth visiting some Lewis monkeyflower

Some nice paintbrush

Clumps of gentians

Gentians

Swamp onion

Leaving the basins to start the giant set of switchbacks down.

The smoke had become less of an issue on the way down allowing me to see Echo Lake a little more clearly.

I ran out of water in my bladder and was down to half a hydro flask when I arrived at the stream along the switchbacks, so I stepped off the trail and took the opportunity to refill the bladder and use the Iodine tablets.
This little cascade was perfect for filling the bladder.

From my spot along the stream I could see some of the West Eagle Trail on the far hillside, so I started looking for Heather. It took a few minutes, but I eventually spotted her descending her own set of switchbacks.

After the first 5 minutes were up I shook the bladder then started another 30-minute timer and started hiking again.
Echo Lake Falls straight ahead.

Recrossing West Eagle Creek.

One last look up at where I’d come from.

My timer went off just before arriving at the junction with the West Eagle Trail where I ran into Heather who was taking a short break.

We headed back to camp together.

Small unnamed waterfall on an unnamed creek.

It was again way too hot at camp so after we rested for a bit we headed to the creek to find some shade and soak are feet in the cold water. After we’d finally cooled down a bit we replenished our water supplies and returned to camp for dinner and bed.
Sphinx moth at camp.

Not sure what type of caterpillar this is but it was pretty. It was on the same larkspur the sphinx moth was visiting.

While we don’t intentionally feed the wildlife this green comma seemed to like the sweaty socks.

The hike to Tombstone Lake wound up being 13.3 miles with 3000′ of elevation gain, and a whole lot of switchbacking.

Heather had made a good choice by passing on this one given the heat, but it was a beautiful hike. She had really enjoyed her hike which we’ll cover in the next post, and she had some helpful information for me regarding trail conditions for my outing the next morning. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tombstone Lake

Tags backpacking, eagle cap wilderness, Echo Lake Falls, hiking, Oregon, Pika, Tombstone Lake, Tombstone Lake Trail, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, West Eagle Creek, West Eagle Trail

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Bear Lake and West Eagle Meadows (Eagle Cap Wilderness)- 08/15/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 22, 2023
1 Comment on Bear Lake and West Eagle Meadows (Eagle Cap Wilderness)- 08/15/2023

For the second day of our backpacking trip we had originally planned on hiking up to Bear Lake from our campsite at Eagle Creek Meadow then returning to camp to pack up and move closer to the Bench Trail. After reestablishing camp we would then take the Bench Trail up to Arrow Lake in the afternoon/evening. We had spotted a couple of workable campsites on our way by the day before (post), but Heather had already decided by the end of that day that she would be skipping the out-and-back to Arrow Lake due to the heat.

As we set off for Bear Lake at 6:15am I was still considering attempting to reach Arrow Lake. It had actually been cool enough at camp that morning for me to put on my beanie and thicker gloves.

Doe on the other side of Eagle Creek.

From our campsite we made our way to the Lookingglass Trail and the ford of Eagle Creek. We’d seen some hikers crossing the ford the day before. They had all used their water shoes for the ford and Heather planned on doing the same. I don’t have a pair myself, so I had the choice of fording in my trail runners or making an attempt to cross on logs/rocks. I chose to try and keep my feet dry.
I started out on the small logs shown here.

Somehow I managed to make it across and after Heather changed into her hiking boots we started uphill.

We made it approximately 100 yards before realizing that I had left my car key and wallet in the tent and Heather had left her phone. I turned around and headed back to retrieve the forgotten items. After two more dry crossings I caught back up to Heather and we continued uphill toward a junction with the Bear Lake Trail.
Here comes the Sun.

Shade for us for now though.

The junction up ahead.

We arrived at the junction roughly three quarters of a mile and 650′ up from camp.

We turned onto the Bear Lake Trail which continued to climb but more gradually. After another third of a mile we took a side trail toward Culver Lake. The first trail we tried led to a marsh where a doe was having her breakfast.

Not many mushrooms of fungi along the trails but we spotted a few along this trail.

Globe penstemon

The lake proved unreachable from this first trail so we returned to the Bear Lake Trail and quickly found another side trail which did lead to Culver Lake.
Cairn marking the trail to Culver Lake.

Snow patch along Culver Lake.

We took a break at the lake. It was already getting warm and I finally decided that I was not going to be attempting the 2000′ climb to Arrow Lake later in the day. It was not necessary in order for us to check off any featured hikes and I didn’t want to risk overexerting myself when we had three more lakes to visit over the next couple of days. Our new plan was to return to camp after visiting Bear Lake, pack up and hike out, then drive to the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead. There we could either camp at the West Eagle Meadow Campground, or hike in 3ish miles and hope to find a suitable campsite. We would make our choice later on when we had a better idea of how we were feeling.

After admiring the lake we returned to the Bear Lake Trail which gained another 200 plus feet before dropping to Bear Lake after half a mile.

Needle Point from the trail.

Nuttall’s linanthus

Arrow Lake is somewhere up in the mountains on the other side of the valley.

View down the Eagle Creek Valley.

Rock Creek Butte in the Elkhorns (post).

Heading down.

Bear Lake

We made our way a little way around Bear Lake to see it from some different angles.
Mountain heather.

Cusick’s speedwell

Aster and swamp onion

Arnica and possibly alpine leafybract aster.

A bunch of globe penstemon.

Meadow at the eastern end of Bear Lake.

Needle Point from Bear Lake.

We scrambled up some granite to a viewpoint above the lake.
Looking toward Eagle Lake in the basin behind and right of Needle Point.

Eagle Creek is down there somewhere.

Eagle Creek Meadow. The Main Eagle Trail can be seen crossing the granite slope at the far end of the meadow.

We headed back down toward camp prepared to pack up and hike out.

Allum root

White mariposa lily

The Sun had reached the valley by the time we were nearing Eagle Creek.

The Eagle Creek crossing going the other direction. I’m happy (and amazed) to report that I managed a fourth dry crossing.

We packed up camp and replenished our water supply before setting off for the trailhead. It was roughly 4.5 miles back to the car where the temperature was (according to the car) 91 degrees.
Lupin along Eagle Creek where we topped off our water.

Hummingbird Mountain

Mountain coyote mint

Falls on the far side of the valley. Probably the outlet creek of Lookingglass Lake.

Nearing the Bench Trail junction.

Copper Creek Falls from the trail.

Small cascade along the trail.

Wallflower, this was the only one we spotted all trip.

Damaged footbridge over Eagle Creek.

Buck crossing the trail.

Swallowtail on nettle-leaf giant hyssop.

Bridge over Eagle Creek.

I arrived at the large bridge over Eagle Creek first and decided to bushwack up the creek a short distance to what turned out to be a really nice waterfall.

Back at the Main Eagle Trailhead.

It was 2pm when we arrived back at the car and headed for the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead. Sullivan had mentioned that the final 3.2 miles were bumpy and very slow, but it appeared that the Forest Service had been working on it and we only had a few smaller sections of rough 10mph road.

It felt every bit of 91 when we arrived at the trailhead where we searched for shaded places to sit.

We had decided not to spend the night in the campground but rather to make the 3ish mile hike to a crossing of West Eagle Creek where we hoped we’d find a campsite. Our latest version of the plan for the rest of our trip was to cut it a day short. Hiking in the 3ish miles now would leave a challenging out-and-back to Tombstone Lake for Wednesday then a 9.5-mile out-and-back to Echo and Traverse Lakes on Thursday which could be combined with the 3ish-mile hike back to the trailhead on Thursday allowing us to hopefully get home sometime Thursday evening.

We stuck around the trailhead long enough to cook an early dinner then set off a little after 4:30pm in search of a campsite.
West Eagle Trail

The West Eagle Trail passed a series of walk-in tent campsites along West Eagle Meadows before entering the forest.
One of the campsites.

Mule Peak behind to the right and Wolf Point furthest back center.

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Painted lady on the hyssop.

Frittilary butterfly

Approaching the trees.

The decommissioned Fake Creek Trail to the right at the 0.6-mile mark.

Fake Creek crossing.

Squirrel

Unnamed creek crossing.

Lewis monkeyflower

Entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness at West Eagle Creek.

West Eagle Creek Crossing. I almost made it across this one dry footed too but one of the rocks on the far side was unstable causing me to drag my right toe in the creek.

Trail maintenance.

Beyond the creek crossing the trail passed through a series of small meadows as it climbed to the second crossing of West Eagle Creek.

Coneflower

Reentering the trees after passing through a meadow.

West Eagle Creek

Another small meadow.

West Eagle Creek near the second crossing.

We were starting to worry that we might not find a decent camp site but there was one workable site on the near side of the creek. I took my pack off there and crossed the creek to see if there was anything better on the far side and was happy to find a very nice established site not far up the trail.

The campsite was approximately 2.5-miles from the trailhead which would add about a mile to each of the remaining days, but we could tell by the topo maps that there wasn’t likely to be another suitable campsite. We were also pooped and had no desire to hike any further with our full packs. It was close to 6:30pm by the time we had camp set up then we refilled our water once again before heading to bed.

The hike to Bear Lake and back to the Main Eagle Trailhead had been 9.3-miles with 1250′ of elevation gain and we wound up doing close to another 3-miles and 580′ of elevation gain from the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead by the time we were done for the day.

West Eagle Meadows track to the left in red. Bear Lake track to the right in red.

The plan for the next day was still a bit up in the air. I knew I would be heading for Tombstone Lake, but Heather was deciding between heading toward Tombstone Lake or Echo and Traverse Lakes. The hike to Tombstone Lake required approximately 3000′ of cumulative elevation gain (2200′ if she turned back at the pass above the lake), while the hike to Traverse Lake gained about half as much elevation and was nearly 3.5-miles shorter. She would decide in the morning based on how she felt after another night’s sleep. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Bear Lake

Tags backpacking, bear lake, Bear Lake Trail, Culver Lake, Eagle Creek, Eagle Creek Meadow, Fake Creek, hiking, Main Eagle Trail. Lookingglass Lake Trail, Needle Point, Oregon, West Eagle Creek, West Eagle Meadows, West Eagle Trail

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/14/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 21, 2023
3 Comments on Eagle Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/14/2023

After spending the night in Baker City (post) we set off early for the Main Eagle Trailhead. Our goal for this trip was to check off three more of Sullivan’s featured hikes (post) Tombstone Lake, Eagle Lake, and Bear Lake.

When I was originally planning this backpacking route I had envisioned a grand loop with detours to several of the lakes. The loop option went out the window after reviewing the USFS interactive map. The Fake Creek Trail which we would have used to go between the West Eagle and Main Eagle Trails had been decommissioned and was no longer being maintained which was not something we wanted to attempt on a 5-day backpacking trip. There were also several other sections of the would be loop that hadn’t been maintained for a number of years. After considering a few different options we had settled on spending two night at Eagle Creek Meadows then hiking out and driving to the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead and spending two nights along the West Eagle Trail.

We arrived at the trailhead a little before 6:30am.

It was already over 50-degrees as we set off on the trail which quickly crossed Boulder Creek.
The trail briefly followed an old roadbed.

Log bridge over Boulder Creek.

The trail climbed gradually crossing Eagle Creek on a larger bridge near the three-quarter mile mark.

The trail continued its gradual climb through the forest entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness at the 1.75-mile mark.

Sierra larkspur

Paintbrush lined trail

We were in the shade for most of the morning.

Entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

At the 2.2-mile mark the trail passed a small unnamed waterfall on Eagle Creek.
We had to leave the trail to get a view of the falls which we could hear from the trail.

As we continued on the trail passed through increasingly large meadows full of views and wildflowers.

Buckwheat and nettle-leaf giant hyssop

At the 2.7-mile mark the trail again crossed Eagle Creek, this time on a damaged footbridge.

Three miles in we crossed Copper Creek. We could hear the roar of Copper Creek Falls further up the creek.

Part of the falls were visible from the trail.

A tenth of a mile beyond the crossing of Copper Creek we detoured uphill to visit the falls.
Copper Creek Falls

We took a break at the falls amid a number of wildflowers.
Penstemon

Fringed grass of parnassus and some fading arnica.

Flowers below the falls.

After our break we returned to the trail and continued on. A quarter mile later we arrived at a junction with the Bench Trail. The current version of our plan included hiking up the Bench Trail to Arrow Lake the next day but as we passed the junction and saw the condition of the lowest portion and “Trail Not Maintained” sign we began to question that plan.
The Bench Trail is ahead on the left of the Main Eagle Trail.

We continued another 1.4-miles to another trail junction above Eagle Creek Meadow.
View up the valley.

Looking back at the hillside the Bench Trail climbs to Heart and Arrow Lakes.

Looking across the valley.

There was quite a bit of western snakeroot along the trail.

Scarlet gilia

Hummingbird Mountain

Granite hillside and peaks above the trail.

Trail signs at the Lookingglass Lake/Main Eagle Trail junction.

At the junction we forked right onto the Lookingglass Lake Trail and followed it downhill into Eagle Creek Meadow. At the far side of the meadow we located an established campsite not far from Eagle Creek.

Needle Point on the left from Eagle Creek Meadow.

Hummingbird Mountain from the campsite.

Eagle Creek near camp.

Lewis monkeyflower

After setting up camp and another short break we set off for Eagle Lake by returning to the Main Eagle Trail and continuing uphill.

Columbian ground squirrel

Pearly everlasting and Scouler’s St. John’s wort.

White mariposa lilies

Orange agoseris

Beetle on a white mariposa lily

Hillside along the trail.

Butterfly (Boisduval’s blue?) on pearly everlasting.

Monkshood

Heading toward Needle Point.

As the trail neared Needle Point it made a series of switchbacks to a junction with the Eagle Lake Trail.
One of the switchbacks.

This junction was just under 2-miles from the Lookingglass Lake Trail junction.

The Main Eagle Trail forked left toward Cache Lake. We went right on the Eagle Lake Trail following it another mile uphill to Eagle Lake.

Wildflowers along the trail.

Looking back down the valley.

Hawk

Fireweed along the trail.

Shrubby cinquefoil and paintbrush

Wildfire smoke creating a slight haze of the valley.

Granite near Eagle Lake.

Eagle Lake

Eagle Creek flowing below the dam at Eagle Lake.

We were hoping to find a nice shaded spot at the lake to take an extended break but trees were scarce and so was the shade. The lake however was beautiful.

Paintbrush

We did manage to find a couple of trees that cast enough shadow to provide a little relief from the heat as long as we occasionally moved our seats to follow the shade. Another pair of hikers arrived while we were resting. They were hoping to bushwack to the far end of the lake and catch the Perseid meteor shower that night.

We wound up staying at the lake for roughly three and a half hours. During that time Heather decided that she would not be attempting the hike to Arrow Lake the next day and would only be going up to Bear Lake with me in the morning. Bear Lake was just 1.5 miles from (and 1000′ above) our campsite. I was still planning to attempt the hike to Arrow Lake after visiting Bear Lake, but I was starting to seriously doubt that I’d actually make it up to that lake.
While sitting in the shade we spotted a herd of elk on the hillside across the valley.

Blurry photos due to the distance but it was fun to watch them.

We had brought our dinner with us and after eating that and replenishing our water supply we headed back down to camp. It was a little after 5pm when we started back and it was still uncomfortably warm. Fortunately the Sun was low enough that part of the return was in shadows which provided some relief.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Shade!

American saw-wort

Fawns

Our campsite in the trees from the Main Eagle Trail.

As we neared the junction with the Lookingglass Lake Trail we spotted a few tents around a rather large campfire at the south end of the meadow. While technically not banned at that moment in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest it seemed a completely unnecessary risk to have a campfire given the high fire danger combined with the unusually warm temperatures.

We turned in for night having hiked a total of 11.4 miles an gaining a total of 2700′ of elevation. It had been a challenging but beautiful start to our trip. Happy Trails!

The red track is Bear Lake from the next day.

Flickr: Eagle Lake

Tags backpacking, Bench Trail, Copper Creek Falls, eagle cap wilderness, Eagle Creek Meadow, Eagle Lake, Eagle Lake Trail, hiking, Lookingglass Lake Trail, Oregon, Wallow-Whitman National Forest. Main Eagle Trailhead

Bend/Redmond Central Oregon Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Metolius River Backpack – 07/22/23 & 07/23/23

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 26, 2023
No Comments on Metolius River Backpack – 07/22/23 & 07/23/23

Our first couple of planned backpacking trips didn’t happen for one reason or another but we really wanted to get at least one overnight trip in before August. We’d picked up some new gear that we hoped to give a test run before a longer outing we have planned for August.

Recent reports of a heavy mosquito presence at our plan “A” location forced us to look for a plan “B”. We turned to one of the early trips that hadn’t happened, a hike along the Metolius River starting from the Lower Bridge Campground. Matt Reeder describes 10.1-mile hike to a former trailhead that once served the Shut-In Trail in his “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region”. By all accounts the Shut-In Trail was a brushy mess, at least beyond a mile from the former trailhead. Our plan was to set up camp at the old trailhead and then explore the Shut-In Trail as far as it was passable.

Reeder mentioned that ticks could be a nuisance in the Spring but by this time they and most of the mosquito’s wouldn’t be a problem. The downside of visiting this time of year though would be the heat with highs forecast in the upper 80s. The temperature was pleasant when we arrived at the trailhead just after 7am. We parked at a small trailhead across from the Lower Bend Campground.

We’d hiked through this trailhead during a 2012 hike starting from the West Metolius Trailhead (post). Lower Bridge which we’d used to cross the river had been the northern end of that hike. For this trip we would be heading further North and then East as we rounded Green Ridge (post) at the Horn of the Metolius.

To reach the trail we had to walk through the campground to the top of its loop and pass between a couple of occupied camp sites to a trail sign.

The sign is visible from the campground road.

The trail quickly reached the banks of the Metolius. This 23-mile river is fed primarily by a series springs and spring fed creeks beginning with the Head of the Metolius (post). The river ends at Lake Billy Chinook (post) where it joins waters from the Crooked and Deschutes Rivers. The spring fed water is cold and clear which makes the Metolius a beautiful river.

The trail passes a number of large campsites early on with numerous side trails for fly fishers to access the river. Reeder mentioned the trail petering out just over a mile and a half from the campground across the river from the Candle Creek Campground and recommended veering away from the river there and joining the Lower Metolius River Road.

Common mergansers

Ouzel

Goldenrod

Passing some of the campsites.

The Candle Creek Campground across the Metolius.

The trail seemed to be in pretty good shape as we passed the campground so instead of detouring to the road we stuck to the trail which was now more of a braided fisherman’s trail than a hiker trail, but it was passable without too much effort. That is until the final 100′ where we nearly lost the trail in brush before finding a very steep trail leading up to the road.

We actually went left below the stump here but, on the way back wound up coming downhill by the stump.

More campsites.

As we got further from the campground we encountered more and more brushy sections.

Another section with an increased number of obstacles.

Getting a bit brushier.

We left the river for the road at this bend.

Heading up to the road.

The use trail from the road.

Several opportunities to head for the road prior to this had us deciding that we would look for one of those on the way back instead of returning exactly the way we came. We followed this road a total of 6.2 miles to where the GPS showed the road ending and the Shut-In Trail beginning. We actually were passed by a gentleman in an SUV who was heading for one a small number of private cabins located approximately 3.7 miles from where we’d joined the road. He stopped to ask where we were headed and wished us a good hike.

We wondered what this post signified.

They were way past blooming but there were several mountain lady slippers along the road.

Osprey nest

Rock spire on lower section of Green Ridge. There are several interesting rock features higher up on the northern end of Green Ridge that were not visible from the road.

Orchid

Scarlet gilia

Some of the private cabins from the road.

A couple more cabins.

Based on the Oregonhikers field guide we had expected the road beyond the private cabins to have downed trees but instead found they had all been cut and there were even tire tracks, bicycle most likely, all the way to the Shut-In Trail.
The end of the private land.

The clear water allows for nice views of the rocks making up the riverbed.

Even though it had received maintenance the road was not in good enough condition for larger vehicles.

Pink monkeyflower

Lorquin’s admiral

The forest opened up near the end of the road where we set up camp.

Campsite

Yellow monkeyflower

We had arrived at our campsite a little before 12:15pm and it was really heating up, so we broke out our camp chairs and rested for several hours near the river before fixing an early dinner and setting off on the Shut-In Trail.
Lizard hanging out near the campsite.

After an early dinner we set off on the Shut-In Trail which we were surprised to find had seen some recent maintenance.

Grouse

The answer to the questions is yes bears do.

The Metolius through the trees.

Sagebrush mariposa lily. There also tire tracks in the trail behind.

Recent brushing had been performed through this area.

Looking up the end of Green Ridge.

This large tree had been cut fairly recently.

Flagging marking a reroute around a downed tree.

After a little more than a mile and a half of good trail things began to deteriorate.
Starting to get brushy.

View across the river to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.

Flowers along the Metolius.

The Whitewater River was behind the rock formation on the far side. The Whitewater River begins at the Whitewater Glacier on Mt. Jefferson and flows roughly 7.5 miles through the Warm Springs Reservation to the Metolius.

More clear water.

Fireweed

Thimbleberries provided us with a few after dinner snacks.

Hedgenettle

The Shut-In Trail traveled right along the riverbank at times.

There was one section along the hillside that had experienced some pretty significant erosion.
There was a small set of boards nailed together to assist with crossing the sketchiest part, but they were just lying on the hillside and not anchored in any way.

Just under two and a half miles from our camp we arrived at County Road 64. One could continue along this closed road for 4.6 miles to a gate just beyond the Monty Campground. A seasonal gate is located another 1.7-miles from the campground along the Metolius arm of Lake Billy Chinook.

The Shut-In Trail from CR-64.

CR-64

After a short break at the road we headed back.

Frog on a skunk cabbage leaf. There were a few wet areas along the Shut-In Trail which meant a few mosquitos were present.

The Sun going down as we approached camp.

Our first day wound up being 15.3-miles, 10.5 to reach camp and a 4.8-mile round trip on the Shut-In Trail. The elevation gain was only about 800′ total.

We woke up early the next morning hoping to stay ahead of the heat. After breakfast and packing up we followed the Lower Metolius River Road a total of 8-miles before cutting down to the trail along the river.

Pinedrops

Squirrel

Bee sleeping on thistle.

Large boykinia

The gentleman that had driven passed us the day before passed us again on his way into the cabins shortly before we turned off the road.
We turned off the road here on a well-established use trail down to the water.

Red admiral. As far as I know this is the first one of this species of butterfly that we’d seen.

Common wood nymph

Across from the Candle Creek Campground.

Green Ridge through some smoke. A couple of new fires, one on the Warm Springs Reservation and one East of Eugene had started over the weekend.

Love the colors of the Metolius.

Skipper on a mariposa lily.

Lower Bridge Campground is ahead to the left in the trees.

Our return hike came in at 10.1-miles which was the distance Reeder indicated between the trailhead and Shut-In Trail. The elevation gain was under 500′ of very gradual uphill, mostly along the road.

Blue is our hike to camp. Yellow is the Shut-In Trai.
Red is our return to the trailhead.

Heat aside this turned out to be a great backpacking trip. Over the two days we only passed one fly fisher (near Lower Bridge Campground), the private landowner (2x in his car), and a pair of hikers (again near Lower Bridge Campground). There were people across the river at Candle Creek Campground and in Lower Bridge Campground itself, but it was about as much solitude as we could have asked for. The condition of the trails was also better than we’d expected despite the rough end of the Shut-In Trail toward CR-64. It was a successful test run of our new gear as well and we now feel ready for our longer trip coming up in August. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Middle Metolius River

Tags backpacking, Candle Creek Campground, Deschutes National Forest, Green Ridge, hiking, Lower Bridge Campground, Lower Metolius River Road, Metolius River, Monty Campground, Oregon, Shut-In Trail

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

Sky Lakes Basin Day 2 – 09/25/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 30, 2022
2 Comments on Sky Lakes Basin Day 2 – 09/25/2022

We woke up way too early for the time of year and found ourselves playing Yahtzee on Heather’s phone lest we would be hiking out from our camp at Trapper Lake in the dark. After some less than stellar scores we packed up camp and set off on the Sky Lakes Trail back toward the Cold Springs Trailhead.

Low-light at Trapper Lake.

Sunrise from the trail.

Sunlight hitting the tops of trees.

Just before reaching the Heavenly Twin Lakes we came to the Isherwood Trail where we turned right.

The Isherwood Trail passed by the larger of the Heavenly Twin Lakes.

The trail left the lake and climbed gradually through the forest to a rocky bluff above Isherwood Lake.

Heading up to the bluff.

Pelican Butte beyond Isherwood Lake.

Fall foliage above Isherwood Lake.

About half way along Isherwood Lake we detoured to the other side of the trail to visit Lake Liza.
Heading for Lake Liza through a dry bed.

Great reflection

After returning to the Isherwood Trail and passing Isherwood Lake we passed Elizabeth Lake on our left.

Elizabeth Lake was followed by Lake Notasha on the right with another nice reflection.

Lake Notasha

Depending on the angle the water was a beautiful green.

A short distance beyond Lake Notasha we came to the end of the Isherwood Trail at the Sky Lakes Trail.

We turned right for a third of a mile to a junction with the Cold Springs Trail.

We turned left this time following the Cold Springs Trail pointer. This trail climbed a lot more than we’d expected as it passed by Imagination Peak but after nearly two miles we arrived back at the junction with the South Rock Creek Trail which we had taken the day before.
Parts of the latter half of this trail passed through the 2017 fire scar.

Fireweed seeds

Pelican Butte as we descended toward the junction.

We turned right here for the final 0.6 miles to our car.

Leaving the Sky Lakes Wilderness

Dark-eyed junco seeing us off.

An as of yet unidentified flower.

Another unidentified flower.

I do know this one – bleeding heart.

Woodpecker (it was a busy final 0.6 miles).

Back at the shelter and trailhead.

Our hike out came to 6.6 miles with just over 1000′ of elevation gain.

Dark track is Day 2 while the light solid line is Day 1.

It had been a great Autumn weekend for a backpacking trip and the hikes were great. The only negative to come out of it was Heather’s knee which had been a lingering but manageable issue for most of the year finally decided it had had enough. She has some PT ahead and no hiking so I’ll be on my own for a bit. The good news her knee should be fine and we didn’t have any more featured hikes on our schedule until mid-Spring next year. It also means we might be welcoming some new kitties into our home sooner than we’d expected since she won’t be joining me on the October hikes. Happy Tails! (or Trails!)

Flickr: Sky Lakes Basin Day 2

Tags backpacking, Cold Springs Trail, Cold Springs Trailhead, Heavenly Twin Lakes, hiking, Isherwood Trail, Lake Elizabeth, Lake Liza, Lake Notasha, Oregon, Sky Lakes Trail, sky lakes wilderness, Trapper Lake

Central Oregon Hiking Ochoco Mountains Oregon Trip report

Rock Creek to Spanish Peak – 07/20/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 27, 2021
1 Comment on Rock Creek to Spanish Peak – 07/20/2021

After spending the night camped near First Creek along the Rock Creek/Ochoco Mountain Trail we got an early (6:30am) start to hopefully climb up the 2000 plus feet to the summit of Spanish Peak before the day got too hot. According to Sullivan’s map (which matched the Forest Service’s map) it was 5.3 miles to the summit.

Just 0.2 miles from where we had made our makeshift campsite we came to an established campsite in a saddle near where the Ochoco Mountain Trail supposedly turned uphill to start the climb.
Continuing along the Waterman Ditch.

If this trail sign was marking a junction it wasn’t clear where the other trail was.

Campsite at the saddle.

There was no clear tread other than the continuation of the Rock Creek Trail to the north where it ends at the National Forest Boundary in another mile. There was however a sign for the “Rim Trail” on a tree uphill from the trail.
The Rim Trail sign on a tree trunk.

We headed uphill to the sign and picked up what appeared to be a rough trail but it also looked like it could have been an elk trail.

We tried our best to follow it uphill but there were no blazes, flagging, or cut logs to indicate that it really was an actual trail and in less than a half mile we lost it in brush.

The hike had suddenly become an off-trail adventure. Between the Sullivan’s and the Forest Service map we knew the general route that the trail supposedly took so we did our best to recreate it at first. That meant a series of switchbacks up a steep hillside through a sagebrush meadow above First Creek.

The trail then supposedly wrapped around the ridge between First and Second Creeks arriving at a rock cairn along a rim 2.5 miles from the saddle. We thought that we might rediscover the tread as we switchbacked up, but we did not. As we compared the maps with our GPS we noticed that we weren’t that far below the top of the ridge and that it might be possible to simply climb over the ridge taking a more direct route to the rim cairn. We decided that was our safest bet as we weren’t sure if we would find the trail wrapping around the ridge and even if we did a large downed tree in the wrong spot could make it impassable. We followed game trails through a small stand of trees into more sagebrush on top of the ridge.

Rock Creek Lake

Gaining the ridge.

We found the trail again on top of the ridge and were soon following rock cairns to the rim.

View from the rim.

Spanish Peak

A local

The trail was easy to follow along the rim but soon it came into some trees (and past a few wildflowers) where it appeared maintenance hadn’t been performed for a bit.
Astter

Some sort of delphinium I think.

Downed trees across the trail ahead.

Interestingly camouflaged beetle on the upper onion.

Lupine

20210720_084339 A checkermallow

Some more downed trees that we had to go around.

We briefly left the trees and were back to cairns in the sagebrush but soon reentered the trees and encountered more obstacles.

After passing through a couple of meadows we came to a rocky hillside below Spanish Peak where we left the trail and headed uphill following a few scattered cairns along what was shown on the GPS as the “Mascall Jeep Track”.

We left the trail here, note the small cairn on the left.

Heading uphill.

Scarlet gilia

Paintbrush

After a third of a mile we came to Spanish Peak Road, a dirt track to the radio tower and former lookout site atop Spanish Peak.
//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

We turned left on the road and followed it another 0.3 miles up to the summit.

The site of the former lookout.

The view was impacted by the “widespread haze” that had been forecasted but we could still make out quite a bit (and at least it didn’t smell smokey).
Looking out toward the John Day River valley.

SE to Windy Point.

West to Rock Creek Lake and on the horizon the flat topped Lookout Mountain (post) and pointier Round Mountain (post) in the Ochocos.

NE to the John Day River Valley.

Lookout and Round Mountain and the rim that we had hiked up below Spanish Peak.

The Pisgah Lookout on the far side of the Bridge Creek Wilderness (post).

A hazy Mount Hood to the NW.

After taking a break at the summit we returned down the road to the jeep track and followed it back down to the Ochoco Mountain Trail where we turned left into some trees.

We passed through a meadow filled with fritiallry butterflies who were loving the remaining hyssop blossoms.

After 0.3 miles back on the Ochoco Mountain Trail we came to a signed junction with the Mascall Corral Trail.

Here we made a hard right and headed steeply downhill along the Baldy Creek drainage.

This trail was in a little better shape having seen some maintenance.

Baldy Creek was on our left.

The trail soon followed old roadbeds, including another section of the Mascall Jeep Track and just under three miles from the junction arrived at the Mascall Corrals Trailhead

Red-tailed hawk

Western tanager

Arriving at the trailhead.

Signage at the trailhead.

From this trailhead we turned right and followed Forest Road 3820 one and a quarter miles (some of which was disappointingly uphill) to Arvid Nelson Road where we turned right for another 0.8 miles to the Rock Creek Trailhead and our waiting car.
Baldy Creek below FR 3820.

A sulphur butterfly of some sort.

A watermellon or June bug as we called them growing up.

FR 3820 meeting Arvid Nelson Road.

Spanish Peak from Arvid Nelson Road.

This was an 11.5 mile hike with almost 2500′ of elevation gain. The off-trail scramble above First Creek had made the hike a lot more difficult than planned, made more so by having our full backpacks instead of a lighter day pack, but it had been fun (mostly) and despite the haze we had decent views on the day.

From the Rock Creek Trailhead we drove to Highway 26 then headed east to John Day where we checked into the Dreamers Lodge then had a nice dinner at the Outpost Pizza Pub & Grill before turning in for the night. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Spanish Peak

Tags Arvid Nelso Road, backpacking, Baldy Creek, hiking, John Day, lookout mountain, Mascall Corrals Trailhead, Mascall Jeep Track, Ochoco Mountain Trail, Ochoco Mountains, Oregon, Outpost Pizza Pub & Grill, Rock Creek, Round Mountain, Spanish Peak, Western Tanager