Tag: Buck Canyon Trail

Boulder Creek Wilderness – 09/07/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 13, 2020
4 Comments on Boulder Creek Wilderness – 09/07/2020

We woke up at Wiley Camp on Labor Day and got ready to head back to the Hummingbird Meadows Trailhead. Our plan for the day was to drive back to Salem via Highway 138 and stop at the Boulder Creek Wilderness, one of the five remaining Oregon wilderness areas we had yet to visit (post) and one of Sullivan’s featured hikes.

It was the least smokey morning of the weekend which made for a pleasant 2 mile hike back to our car.
Buck Canyon Trail

View from the Buck Canyon Trail

Hummingbird Meadows Trail

West Fork Muir Creek

We drove back to Diamond Lake (post) from the trailhead then took Highway 138 toward Roseburg to milepost 55. There we turned right onto Medicine Creek Road and made an immediate left onto Soda Springs Road following it for 1.3 miles to the Soda Springs Trailhead.

From the trailhead we took the Soda Springs Trail which ducked beneath a large steel pipe diverting water from the North Umpqua River to a nearby power station.

The trail began climbing immediately after passing under the pipe and quickly arrived at a signed junction where the North Umpqua Trail forked to the right.

The trail continued to climb through previously burned woods to another junction .4 miles from the trailhead.

This was the Bradley Trail onto which we turned left following pointers for Pine Bench.

This trail climbed over 650′ in the next mile before leveling out along the broad plateau of Pine Bench. There was an increasing presence of poison oak along the trail which we kept our eyes out for. It was especially bad along the hillside after we entered a more recent (2017) fire scar.

Bradley Trail passing below some cliffs.

A lot of the poison oak was turning color which made it easier to spot.

Entering the 2017 fire scar.

Lizard

Bradley Trail arriving at Pine Bench.

It was a hot climb in the exposed sun so reaching the forest atop Pine Bench was a nice reprise from both the heat and the vast majority of poison oak.

Rock formation visible from the Bradley Trail.

A little over a mile and a half from the Soda Springs/Bradley Trail junction we arrived at the Boulder Creek Trail.

We turned right here looking for a side trail to a spring near a campsite.

Common wood nymph

Illahee Rock Lookout

We passed the campsite after .4 miles but we didn’t take the unsigned spur trail down to the spring due to the GPS map showing the trail further off.

Spur trail to the left.

We quickly realized that the trail we had seen must have been the one we wanted but decided to continue on for now. From the campsite the trail continued to Boulder Creek after 1.7 miles. We were seeing very little poison oak and it was a nice day on the bench so we opted to do Sullivan’s longer described hike to the creek. The trail made a few unexpectedly steep up and downs and it grew fainter with a few downed snags but it was passable and there were signs of recent brushing/trail maintenance.

Just over half a mile from the campsite we passed the very faint Perry Butte Trail.

Trail maintenance and ripe blackberries.

Looking up the Boulder Creek Valley

Looking down at the trail across a side drainage.

Looking across the Boulder Creek valley.

Small fall on Boulder Creek

Final drop down to Boulder Creek.

Boulder Creek

We took a short break on the rocks along the creek before turning back.

The continuation of the Boulder Creek Trail on the far side of Boulder Creek which reportedly becomes even fainter and more wild.

After cooling off a bit we started the process of climbing back up to the campsite and the spur trail to the spring.

When we made it back to the spur trail we turned down it for 100 yards to a wide open area with madrone trees.

The spring was just below some rocks on the left but there wasn’t much water flowing this time of year.

After another short break we continued back to the Bradley Trail junction. We stayed straight here following the Boulder Creek Trail downhill through the 2017 fire scar. While there had been a good deal of poison oak along the Bradley Trail this trail put that one to shame. It was all avoidable but it was thick along the trail as it switchbacked downhill. There was also one switchback near the top where we were forced to walk down a large downed tree.
Fern tree along the Boulder Creek Trail.

This log was the trail.

Another switchback with poison oak on all sides of the trail.

The bright side of going down this way was there was a wilderness sign, or at least most of one (we hadn’t seen one on the other side).

After a approximately 1.5 miles we arrived at a junction with the North Umpqua Trail where we turned left on an old roadbed.

We followed the road another tenth of a mile or so to a gate blocking the road at the Boulder Creek Trailhead.

Not too far from the gate we came to a pair of boulders blocking the road meaning the actual trailhead is inaccessible via car although there was room to park at the boulders. We continued down the road which brought us close to the North Umpqua River near the power station.

We stopped at the far end of the Soda Springs Day Use Area to read the interpretive signs before returning to our car.

We headed back to Salem and when we were back in cell range began receiving alerts about a hazardous wind event. By the time we made it back to Salem strong dry winds from the east had pushed the Lionshead and Beachie Creek Fires into the valley. Later that evening/night those fires would explode along with numerous other new fires up and down the West Coast. A slightly smokey but wonderful Labor Day Weekend turned into a nightmare for thousands. The fires continue to be a huge danger to many but the winds have shifted and rain is in the forecast so hopefully some relief is coming. Happy Trails and stay safe.

Flickr: Boulder Creek Wilderness

Tags Boulder Creek, Boulder Creek Trail, Boulder Creek Wilderness, Bradley Trail, Buck Canyon Trail, hiking, Hummingbird Meadows Trail, Hummingbird Meadows Trailhead, Illahe Rock Lookout, Oregon, Perry Butte, Pine Bench, Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness, Soda Springs Trail, Soda Springs Trailhead, Spring, Wiley Camp, Wiley Camp Trail

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Theilsen/Mt. Bailey Area Old Cascades Oregon Rogue-Umpqua Divide Trip report

Diamond Lake and Wiley Camp – 09/05/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 12, 2020
8 Comments on Diamond Lake and Wiley Camp – 09/05/2020

As I write up this trip report the Diamond Lake Resort, like many other areas in Oregon, has been evacuated due to a wildfire. The tragic loss of homes and lives happening right now is truly heartbreaking. Right now the Thielsen Fire is moving away from the lake but a shift in the winds could change that in an instant.

We visited Diamond Lake to kick off our Labor Day Weekend hiking the full loop around the 3,015 acre lake. There are numerous possible starting points for the loop and we chose to park at Horse Lake where we could follow the Horse N Teal Trail to the Dellenback Trail which is the paved trail around Diamond Lake. There was quite a bit of smoke from wildfires in California in the air which limited visibility as we set off from Horse Lake on the trail.

Horse Lake

Lesser yellowlegs

We opted not to make the short loop around Horse Lake and turned right at a junction toward Forest Road 4795 and Teal Lake.

The trail crossed the road and then descended a short distance to Teal Lake.

There is also a loop around Teal Lake so we had the choice of going left or right. We had planned on hiking counter-clockwise around Diamond Lake so we went right here and passed around the east side of Teal Lake where there was a hazy view of Mt. Bailey (post).

At the north end of the lake a very short connector trail led to the paved Dellenback Trail where we again turned right.

Northern flicker

A large meadow separates the trail from the lake here.

We followed the path through the forest ignoring side trails for a mile where we arrived at the South Shore Picnic Area.

Mt. Bailey beyond the meadow.

Mt. Thielsen from the South Shore Picnic Area

Diamond Lake underneath the smoke.

Mt. Bailey

Mt. Thielsen from the boat dock.

We had expected the lake to be busy given it was Labor Day weekend and Diamond Lake is a very popular spot and we were right. We utilized our masks as we passed through the picnic area and continued past an RV park and into the Diamond Lake Campground which stretches along most of the eastern side of the lake.
Picnic tables in the picnic area.

Short Creek (it really is short)

Resort buildings between the RV park and campground.

Sign instructing users to follow painted bike symbols through the campground.

Despite passing through the busy campground there were a number of good views of Mt. Bailey across the lake. There were also quite a few ducks in the area.

Common merganser

Goldeneyes

The trail left the campground and then in a quarter mile arrived at the Diamond Lake Lodge area.

Mt. Bailey again.

Arriving at the lodge area.

Seagulls

We passed by the lodge along the grassy lake shore and then returned to the trail on the far side. We were now far enough around the lake that we could once again see Mt. Thielsen.

This section of trail was lined with larger and more diverse trees and is also the side closest to the Thielsen Fire as of this writing.

There were fewer people along this stretch but a steady stream of bicycle riders did pass by. More entertaining though were the birds.
Bald eagle

I’ve been spotted

Chickadee with a seed or nut.

Junco in some fireweed.

The junco with Mt. Bailey in the background.

Looking back at Mt. Thielsen

More goldeneyes

Mergansers

The trail joined FR 4795 again 1.7 miles from the lodge to avoid what appeared to be an old guard station or possibly just a private cabin near Lake Creek.

After crossing the creek the trail continued with the Rodley Butte Trail on the opposite side of the road.

The trail then passed a nice little sandy beach with a view of Mt. Thielsen.

Osprey

We were now heading south along the western side of the lake which provided good views of Mt. Thielsen and Howlock Mountain despite the smoke.

Cormorant

Howlock Mountain to the left and Mt. Thielsen

The mountain views would be interrupted just over a mile from Lake Creek when the Dellenback Trail veered away from the lake to avoid the Thielsen View Campground.

We again crossed FR 4795 and continued through the trees for nearly three miles before recrossing the road.

Back on the lake side of FR 4795.

We were now passing by the large meadow at the south end of the lake, only this time it was Mt. Thielsen not Mt. Bailey beyond the meadow.

Just under a mile after recrossing FR 4795 we arrived at a scenic footbridge over Silent Creek.

A quarter mile beyond Silent Creek we arrived back at the Horse N Teal Trail junction near Teal Lake.

We turned up this trail and passed by Teal Lake on the opposite side from that morning thus completing that loop.
Canada geese at Teal Lake.

We arrived back at Horse Lake after 11.6 miles of hiking. This managed to be a somewhat easy yet hard hike at the same time. The lack of elevation change and obstacles along the trail made for easy, quick hiking, but the paved surface is a lot harder on the feet than dirt. We hadn’t stopped much at all along the way either due to the number of other trail users and our attempting to do our best to stay properly socially distanced.

Our day wasn’t done after the lake loop though. We were planning on spending the weekend in the area with Sunday’s hike being to Rattlesnake Mountain in the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness. We left Diamond Lake and took Highway 230 toward Medford to the Hummingbird Meadows Trailhead which was devoid of other vehicles.

We had brought our backpacking gear with thoughts of setting up camp somewhere between the trailhead and Wiley Camp.

We had been to Hummingbrid Meadows before (post) but on that hike we had come in on the Buck Canyon Trail. On that trip we had also not visited Wiley Camp. For this trip we were planning on spending the night in our tent then using the Wiley Camp Trail to hike up to the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Trail and complete the Rattlesnake Mountain hike described in Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” guidebook. The status of Wiley Camp and the Wiley Camp Trail was a little confusing. The Forest Service websites mention the trail but in almost every instance “area not available” followed the reference. A 2018 trip report from vanmarmot.org though showed that just two years before the trail was still there and passable.

We followed the Hummingbird Meadows Trail into the wilderness where we were quickly met with some downed trees.

The trail then passed through a meadow and dropped to a crossing of the West Fork Muir Creek where we thought we might find a campsite but there really wasn’t anything that caught our eye.

hedgenettle and aster.

Monkeyflower

The trail climbed away from the creek and in 100 yards arrived at the Buck Canyon Trail junction (approx .4 miles from the trailhead).

We turned right onto the Buck Canyon Trail which passed through Hummingbird Meadows before arriving at the Wiley Camp Trail junction in 1.6 miles. There were quite a few downed logs as trail maintenance in the area appears to be way down the Forest Service’s list of priorities but nothing was unmanageable. We had been watching for any campsites but nothing stood out so we decided to just go to Wiley Camp since it was only a little over 2 miles from the Hummingbird Meadows Trailhead.

Wiley Camp Trail on the right.

We turned down the Wiley Camp Trail which was in no worse/better shape than the Buck Canyon Trail arriving at Wiley Camp after a quarter of a mile.

Wiley Camp sign

Unlike the busy Diamond Lake area there was no one else to be seen in this area. We picked a tent site and set up camp on the hillside above the West Fork Muir Creek.

We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening down at the creek and doing a quick survey of the Wiley Camp Trail for the next day. Clear tread led up from the creek into the meadow on the far side where it quickly vanished. After heading too far left (west) into some trees we located a small cairn and some pink flagging leading the way out of the meadow.

Grass of parnassus

Frog

Trail leading up from the creek into the meadow.

Big cedar at the edge of the meadow.

Cairn and pink flagging (small tree to the right) marking the Wiley Camp Trail.

Elder berry

Twisted stalk

No one else ever showed up to Wiley Camp, at least no people. A bright Moon helped light the area where we could see many bats darting about.

Hopefully the forest and features in this trip report will look similar for years to come and this isn’t a memorial of what once was. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Diamond Lake Loop

Hiking Oregon Rogue-Umpqua Divide

Muir Creek Loop – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 31, 2018
8 Comments on Muir Creek Loop – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

We had planned our most adventurous hike of Memorial Day weekend for Sunday. The goal was a long loop into the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness, one of the wilderness areas we had yet to visit in our outings. Our intended route was to begin at the Muir Creek Trailhead and complete a 15.5 mile loop described by William Sullivan in his Southern Oregon & Northern California guidebook (Hike #37 in the 2017 4th edition). We were pushing the envelope a bit by attempting the loop this early in the year given that the route would take us to an elevation just over 6000′. A May 8, 2015 variation of the loop by fellow hiker Van Marmot appeared to have been snow free (trip report). That was an extremely low snow year and although this years snow pack was well below normal it isn’t nearly as bad as it was in 2015. We hoped the extra two weeks in timing would at least make what snow might be left passable. We figured the worst case scenario would be that we would hike up the creek as far as possible and make it an out-and-back if necessary.

With plans A & B at the ready we left Bend a bit before 5am and were ready to set off on the Muir Creek Trail by 6:45.

It was a crisp 35 degrees as we set off through the forest. We were soon climbing over and around a good deal of blowdown.

It wasn’t long before we began getting our first views of the meadows along Muir Creek.

We were on the lookout for wildlife in the meadows as well as any sign of where the abandoned portion of the Meadow Creek Trail might drop us back onto the Muir Creek Trail if we were indeed able to complete the loop. We expected that junction to be somewhere near the one mile mark but never noticed anything that looked like it might be the old trail. Beyond the one mile mark we encountered what appeared to be a somewhat recently eroded section of trail.

Just under a mile and a half from the trailhead we came to a beautiful view of Muir Creek as it flowed through a meadow.

Just beyond the viewpoint we passed a nice patch of white lupine along the trail.

Then we came to Alkali Creek which proved to be a little challenging to get across dry footed but we managed to find a fairly dry route.

The trail spent most if its time in the forest but occasional openings in the trees provided meadow views and at one point we spotted a pair of deer nibbling on some bushes.

Roughly two and three quarter miles from the trailhead we spotted East Fork Muir Creek Falls. Here we also saw the only other people we would see along the trail all day, a couple of backpackers who had set up camp near the falls.

Beyond the falls the trail continued up along West Fork Muir Creek briefly joining OHV Trail 27.

We left the OHV Trail at a bridge over the creek after a couple tenths of a mile.

We were now on the Buck Canyon Trail which began at road 6560/190 on the other side of the bridge at the Buck Canyon Trailhead.

Approximately a quarter mile from the bridge we came to the first of two bridgeless crossings of the creek. We searched to no avail for a place where we could cross without getting wet and eventually decided to ford the creek which was only calf deep but it was cold.

A quarter mile later we were faced with a similar situation and plunged through the icy water again.

In a small meadow we found some tall mountain bluebells beginning to bloom and a butterfly who appeared to be waiting for the flowers.

The meadows increased as we officially entered the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness.

We soon entered Hummingbird Meadows which had a nice display of yellow glacier lilies.

We also spotted a coyote here and watched it run off into the forest and disappear. A total of 5.3 miles from the Muir Creek Trailhead we passed the signed Hummingbird Meadows Trail.

The trail continued to the large and scenic Hummingbird Meadows as it climbed gradually up Buck Canyon.

The meadows continued for a mile and a half from the Hummingbird Meadows Trail to a junction with the Wiley Camp Trail which the Forest Service Website currently lists as “area is unavailable”.

Near the upper end of the meadows we began seeing some decent amounts of snow.

We also spotted a dreaded mylar balloon which we packed out.

At the junction there was no sign for the Wiley Camp Trail but there was one for the Buck Canyon Trail pointing toward the Meadow Creek Trail (which was still quite a ways away).

Shortly after passing the Wiley Camp Trail we came to Devils Slide, a half mile long rock-slide.

We stopped to visit a small waterfall next to the rocks.

After passing Devils Slide the trail entered an upper meadow.

Here we found some large patches of marsh marigolds.

A brief stint in the trees led us to more blowdown and another small waterfall.

Then we were back in a meadow but this time there was quite a bit more snow.

A few phlox and avalanche lilies bloomed here.

We lost the trail in the snow as we left the meadow and entered the trees.

For the next couple of miles we played find the trail due to the lingering snow. There was enough left that it made things challenging but not impassable. We did a bit of postholing, especially Heather, as we zig zaged through the forest looking for signs of the trail. Sometimes old tree blazes led the way and other times it was downed logs that had been cut for the trail. Occasionally the trail itself would appear for a bit only to be swallowed again by a snow drift. Having the GPS also helped as we were able to tell where the trail was in relation to our position.

blaze in the tree

After passing over a saddle at 6000′ we descended to Alkali Meadows. From the meadows we spotted Union Peak and some of the rim of Crater Lake.
Union Peak

Hillman Peak and The Watchman

After a brief stint in the upper portion of the meadows the trail turned back into the trees for a couple of creek crossings.

Soon we were back in Alkali Meadows and staring straight at Mt. Thielsen. (post)

A little further down the meadow Mt. Bailey (post) joined the view.

We left the snow behind after Alkali Meadows where the trail turned south traversing through a drier area for a mile to Bear Camp where we found the Meadow Creek Trail.

The rim of Crater Lake

We turned left onto the Meadow Creek Trail and quickly began a steep mile long descent.

We passed through more meadows with more views.

Just before reaching road 6540-700 we left the wilderness behind.

We turned left onto this road and followed it just over a quarter of a mile to where we turned right and followed signs for OHV Trail 27.

OHV Trail 27 left the wide road in favor of a rougher, narrow track.

There had obviously been some recent maintenance done to this trail, unlike our earlier trails.

We passed a nice view of Mt. Bailey and then saw the source of some of the maintenance.

The little dozer was Forest Service but it alone couldn’t have created all the debris we’d been seeing along the trail. Broken trees and brush had lined the entire track. After passing another viewpoint, this time of Crater Lake’s rim and Union Peak we discovered what had been chewing up the vegetation.

After roughly 1.5 miles descending on the OHV Trail we arrived Road 6540-900.

As nice as it was to have an actual trail to follow from Road 6540-700 down to the next road crossing it would have been much nicer if it had been the Meadow Creek Trail which had originally continued all the way down to the Muir Creek Trail. All of that trail save the mile between Bear Camp and Road 6540-700 has been abandoned by the Forest Service and from the map OHV Trail 27 appears to have obliterated some of the original trail. Road 6540-900 is where Van Marmot had started his hike and his trip report noted that the lower portion of the Meadow Creek Trial between this road and the Muir Creek Trail was still usable.

We turned right on Road 6450-700 looking for signs of the trail. Luckily someone had placed some pink flagging at the old trail otherwise we would have probably walked right past it even though the GPS showed we were right near it.
Faded pink flagging in the tree marking the abandoned Meadow Creek Trail

The trail was approximately 100 yards from where OHV Trial 27 popped out on the road and just a short distance before a cattle guard.
Cattle guard on Road 6540-700

The old trail was faint but easy to follow, in fact it was easier to follow this trail than the Buck Canyon Trail had been in the snow.

There was pink flagging along most of the half mile route but we did finally lose track of the tread just above the Muir Creek Trail. There was enough blowdown along the hillside that we had to make the final descent up on our own. This explained why we had been unable to spot any sign of the trail on our way by in the morning. We wound up just about a mile away from the trailhead so we headed back along the Muir Creek Trail maneuvering around the downed trees along the way. The 15.5 mile loop wound up being 16.2 according to our GPS, much of difference can be attributed to the back and forth hiking we did searching for the Buck Canyon Trail in the snow.

It was a beautiful hike even with the OHV Trail thrown in and we were amazed that on a holiday weekend we had only seen the one other couple all day. It was everything we’d hoped for in our first visit to the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Muir Creek Loop

Tags Alkali Meadows, Bear Camp, Buck Canyon, Buck Canyon Trail, coyote, Devils Slide, East Fork Muir Creek Falls, hiking, Hummingbird Meadows, Meadow Creek Trail, Muir Creek, Muir Creek Trail, OHV Trail 27, Oregon, Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness, West Fork Muir Creek, Wiley Camp Trail