Tag: cascade mountains

Yoran Lake – 09/05/2026

September began with some much-needed precipitation including snow at higher elevations. Checking the forecast for a hike to start the Labor Day weekend revealed that the Willamette Pass area was expected to be partly sunny Saturday morning before a chance of showers and thunderstorms developed later in the day. I narrowed it down to two loops, one in the northern end of the Waldo Lake Wilderness the other in the northern end of the Diamond Peak Wilderness. Both loops would have us visiting multiple lakes however the northern end of the Waldo Lake Wilderness has been through two large fires in the past 30 years while the northern end of the Diamond Peak Wilderness has not endured a large fire. There would be more views hiking through the fire scars, but we weren’t sure if the partly sunny forecast meant that the Cascade Peaks would be visible, so we opted for the Diamond Peak Wilderness.

The loop we’d chosen was Midnight and Yoran Lake, a hike we’d done back in 2014 post. We also hiked half of the loop on our longer loop around Diamond Peak (post). For both of those outings we’d parked at the Trapper Creek Trailhead. To mix things up a bit (and cut 1.4-miles from the total distance) we decided to begin the loop from the Pengra Pass Trailhead located near the Pacific Crest Trail.

The next decision to make was which direction to hike the loop in. We chose clockwise for two reasons. The first being that we would be starting out on a short downhill which would allow us to warm up a bit versus starting with a climb. The second reason was that the longest stretch without passing near a lake at almost 4-miles and we prefer getting the less exciting stretches done first. Speaking of less exciting the first 0.2-miles followed a gravel road before reaching the Whitefish Creek Trail.

The Whitefish Creek Trail coming up from the left. The trail briefly followed the road before heading uphill.

The Whitefish Creek Trail leaving the road.

The Whitefish Creek Trail immediately entered the Diamond Peak Wilderness and gradually climbed for 0.7-miles to a junction with the Yoran Lake Trail.

Footbridge over Whitefish Creek. There was a very small amount of water flowing down the creek.

The Yoran Lake Trail junction.

We turned right onto the Yoran Lake Trail and climbed steadily for 2.8-miles to the first (unnamed) lake.

The Yoran Lake Trail was well maintained with no trees down across the trail.

Coral fungus

Blue sky above.

Despite the recent precipitation the creek beds were mostly dry.

The snowy top of Diamond Peak was visible over the trees.

Diamond Peak with fresh snow.

The unnamed lake.

We continued past the unnamed lake and in just over a mile came to a familiar unsigned junction next to a dry creekbed.

The trail crosses the dry creek bed a half mile from the unnamed lake.

The unsigned junction.

The trail to the right was a user created trail until 2019 when the Forest Service officially decided to connect the Pacific Crest Trail near Lils Lake with the Yoran Lake Trail. Before continuing on the Yoran Lake Trail we veered left and climbed steeply up the hillside to Karen Lake.

We’d camped at this lake on the final night of our loop around the mountain. We took a break along the lake shore near where we’d camped before and waited to see if Diamond Peak, which was now partly shrouded by a cloud, would make a full appearance.

We spent half an hour at the lake watching the clouds tease a reveal only to have more arrive.

So close.

After 30-minutes we were starting to get cold from not moving around so we continued on our loop hoping that maybe things would clear up when we reached Yoran Lake which was less than a quarter mile away.

The trail forks near Yoran Lake. The lefthand fork leads to some campsites while the righthand fork is the official trail. We went right and soon had a view across the lake to Diamond Peak.

Mount Yoran behind the trees to the left.

The trail climbs above the lake on a rocky shelf where we again stopped to give the clouds some time to move on. It took about 15-minutes for that to happen, and we finally had a view of the full mountain.

Mount Yoran was not dealing with clouds.

Finally, a full view.

After getting the view we’d been hoping for we continued on. The trail passed several more viewpoints above Yoran Lake before passing through the forest and arriving at Lils Lake.

Island in Yoran Lake.

Pond between Yoran Lake and Lils Lake.

Lils Lake

We followed the trail past Lils Lake to its end at the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).

Signpost at the junction.

We turned right onto the PCT and started a stretch of trail that passed a number of named and unnamed bodies of water.

Diamond Peak and Lils Lake from the PCT.

The PCT passing a pond.

Maiden Peak (post) beyond the trees.

Another small pond.

The first named lake was Hidden Lake which was just off a spur trail to the right, 0.6-miles from the PCT junction.

Hidden Lake

After visiting Hidden Lake we continued on the PCT passed several more unnamed bodies of water before arriving at Arrowhead Lake a mile from Hidden Lake.

Unnamed lake

One of several ponds.

Stellar’s jay

Junction with the Deer Creek Trail.

Arrowhead Lake

Buffleheads on Arrowhead Lake.

From Arrowhead Lake it was 1.4 more downhill miles to a signed spur trail for Midnight Lake, the last of the named lakes.

Foamflower, one of the few blooming flowers remaining.

Midnight Lake sign on the spur trail.

Midnight Lake

After a short break at Midnight Lake we continued our loop. It was 0.2-miles from the lake to a junction with the Midnight Lake Trail and then another 0.9-miles to the Pengra Pass Trailhead.

The Midnight Lake Trail on the left.

Another unnamed lake at the trail junction.

I was just a bit too slow to get a picture of this belted kingfisher before it took flight.

Rhododendron along the PCT.

Ski runs at the Willmaette Pass Ski Are on the far hillside.

Fuji Mountain (post)

Leaving the wilderness area near Pengra Pass.

Wilderness permit kiosk at Pengra Pass.

The trail dropping down to the trailhead.

This loop came in at 10.8-miles with approximately 1300′ of elevation gain.

This is a nice loop with a variety of lakes and few good mountain views (when the clouds cooperate). We were a little surprised to have only run into 9 other hikers all day. The trails were also in excellent shape with only a couple of small logs to step over. The fresh snow on Diamond Peak was a nice bonus and a good reminder that Fall is on the way. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Yoran and Midnight Lakes

Tags Arrowhead lake, cascade mountains, Diamond Peak, Diamond Peak Wilderness, hidden lake, hiking, Karen Lake, Lils Lake, Midnight Lake, Mount Yoran, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, Whitefish Creek Trail, Yoran Lake, Yoran Lake Trail

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Washington Area Oregon Trip report

Santiam Wagon Road – McKenzie River TH to Sand Mountain – 07/08/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 10, 2023
6 Comments on Santiam Wagon Road – McKenzie River TH to Sand Mountain – 07/08/2023

From 1865 to 1939 the Santiam Wagon Road served as the primary means of transportation from the Willamette Valley to Central Oregon. Beginning in Lebanon the nearly 400-mile route crossed the central Cascade Mountains at Santiam Pass. Sections of the road have been preserved and now serve as trails.

We’d previously hiked sections at House Rock (post), Tombstone Pass (post), Fish Lake (post), Sand Mountain (post), and Whychus Canyon Preserve (post). For our previous hike to Sand Mountain we had started near Big Lake and followed the wagon road West for almost three miles to forest road 2690-810 which leads to Sand Mountain.

For this visit we began to the West of Sand Mountain at the McKenzie River Trailhead.

The 26.5-mile long McKenzie River Trail shares this trailhead with the Sanitam Wagon Road.

We set off on the wagon road through an old lava flow. The flow was old enough that the forest had had time to mature.

Prince’s pine

Candystick

Twinflower

Big uprooted tree.

The road climbed gradually from the trailhead for three miles to a crossing of Forest Road 2676.

A carpet of vanilla leaf leaves.

FR 2676

We jogged left on FR 2676 for approximately 50′ to a gate and the continuation of the Santiam Wagon Road.
Despite the “Closed to all Motor Vehicles” sign it was obvious, and unfortunately not surprising, that some people feel they have a right to ignore anything they disagree with.

The road continued its gradual climb but the surface now was much sandier which required a bit more effort. The forest also changed from large fir trees to smaller lodgepole pine and snowbrush.
More candysticks

The few sections that weren’t sandy consisted of lava rock.

Dwarf lupine

Pussy paws

Pygmy short-horned lizard next to a deer print.

Sand Mountain on the right.

Another pygmy short-horned lizard

Snowbrush lining the road with the northern end of Sand Mountain ahead.

Butterflies, including this hoary comma, and other pollinators love the snowbrush.

Hoary comma

Just over a mile and a half beyond FR 2676 we passed another gate at a junction with FR 890. Here the road is open to motorized vehicles as part of a large Santiam Pass OHV Trails network. The large amount of trails/roads open to these types of vehicles in the area made their usage on the closed section of the Santiam Wagon Road even more annoying.

We followed this portion of the road for 0.4-miles to the gated road to Sand Mountain.
Penstemon

The Moon over Sand Mountain.

Mt. Washington

Sign and gate at the road to Sand Mountain.

We followed this road uphill for a mile and a half to a parking area between Sand Mountains two craters. As we climbed the surrounding peaks came into view.

Buckwheat

More snowbrush

California tortoiseshell

The Sand Mountain Lookout from below.

Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Washington and the Three Sister

Western swallowtail

The Three Pyramids(post), Scar Mountain & Trappers Butte(post), and Coffin & Bachelor Mountains (post).

Echo Mountain & North Peak to the left and Crescent Mountain(post) to the right.

Browder Ridge (post) to the center-left, Iron Mountain center, and South Peak, Cone Peak, Echo Mountain & North Peak to the right.

Lorquin’s admiral

From the parking area we followed the lined trail uphill for 0.4-miles to the staffed Sand Mountain Lookout.

Mt. Washington (post), Belknap Crater (post), and the Three Sisters.

Maxwell Butte (post), Mt. Jefferson, and Three Fingered Jack.

Just a bit of snow left on the North facing slope.

Western pasque flower

It’s very faint but the top of Mt. Hood was visible over the lower left shoulder of Maxwell butte.

Penstemon

Belknap Crater, the Three Sisters, The Husband, Scott Mountain (post), and Diamond Peak (post) in the distance.

Zoom of Diamond Peak. The round looking hump in front is Fuji Moutain (post).

Hoodoo and Hayrick Buttes, Black Butte (post), and Cache Mountain.

There were quite a few bumblebees at the summit interested in the rocks in this area.

This Edith’s checkerspot joined the bees for a moment.

We stopped to talk to the current staffer who said it was the nicest morning he’d seen in almost a week. The amount of smoke/haze was indeed much less than we’d experience on the 4th at Rocky Top (post). Before continuing on we confirmed with him that the loop around the crater was still open to hiking and he said it was and also suggested that we take the closed road back to the parking area instead of looping all the way around back to the lookout. His reasoning was that the last climb up to the lookout was a bit of a scramble. On our previous visit we had actually gone down that section as we had done the loop counterclockwise. We planned on a clockwise loop this time so we thanked him and kept the road return open as an option.
Viewpoint below the lookout.

The lookout from the viewpoint.

Not sure if this is an aster or a fleabane.

The trail getting ready to drop down to a saddle. The peaks from right to left are: Browder Ridge, Twin Buttes, Latiwi Mountain, Wildcat Moutain, Tidbits Mountain (post), Bunchgrass Mountain, and Carpenter Mountain (post) followed by an unidentified ridge on the left.

We were a little surprised to find these broomrape hiding in this silverleaf phacelia.

Drummond’s anemone

Look into the crater.

A couple of penstemon blossoms with the Three Sisters in the background.

The colors around the crater add to the scenery.

Pyrola of some sort.

Starting the steep climb back toward the lookout.

View from the roadbed. We opted to do as the lookout staffer suggested and follow the road back down toward the parking area instead of back up to the lookout.

There was one good sized snow drift left encroaching on the road.

The forecast had said there was a slight chance of showers starting at Noon with another slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon beginning at 2pm. Aside from some clouds to the over Central Oregon to the East and one or two strays over Mt. Washington the sky remained was still clear as we headed back.
This little cloud wasn’t much of a threat.

If anything the views had improved now that Sun was more directly overhead.

Not long after we’d started back down the road from the parking area we spotted another hiker on her way up. It would be the only other hiker we’d see on the roads/trails all day and it turned out to be one of the strangest coincidences we’ve ever experienced. On the drive to the trailhead that morning we were having a discussion about how often we wind up doing a hike just days before or after we see one of the other hikers we follow doing the same hike. There have also been numerous times where we find out after a hike or trip that we were in the same area or even the same trails at the same time but somehow missed each other. The only person we have run into more than once is Cheryl Hill (Just Peachy), once during a 2015 hike in Jefferson Park (post) and the other near Table Lake in 2018 (post). After the whole conversation that morning we were pleasantly surprised to find it was again Cheryl. This was her first visit to this lookout and she mentioned that it would be her 91st. She is currently working on visiting all of the standing lookouts in Oregon a project that we find very interesting. We had a nice conversation then headed our respective directions.

On the way back there were somehow even more butterflies vising the snowbrush.
A checkerspot

A hairstreak

Three Fingered Jack and Hoodoo Butte

Three Fingered Jack. Note the climbers trail on the slope to the right.

Ash in the basin below Sand Mountain.

Pussy paws

Female western tanager

Moth

Snake in the trail.

The snake retreated to a nearby log when we approached.

Back in the forest.

This moth blended with the nearby fungus.

I had contemplated hiking the McKenzie River Trail down to Clear Lake (post) prior to returning to the car but that was before I knew how far our hike to Sand Mountain was going to be. The hike turned out to be 14.7 miles with 2500′ of mostly gradual elevation gain.

We have this section of the McKenzie River Trail on our to-do list so we decided to wait until then and retuned to the car to prepare for the drive home.

Although it was a little longer hike than we’d planned it was a good hike and not particularly difficult. The location of the lookout between the High Cascades and Old Cascades provides excellent views and the crater is an interesting feature. Add in the history of the Santiam Wagon Road with the solitude we experienced and you’ve got a really nice day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Santiam Wagon Road to Sand Mountain

Tags cascade mountains, hiking, Oregon, Pygmy short-horned lizard, Sand Mountain, Sand Mountain Lookout, Santiam Wagon Road, Upper McKenzie River Trailhead

Bend/Redmond Central Oregon High Cascades Hiking Oregon Three Sisters Area Trip report

Tumalo Mountain Sunrise Hike – 09/26/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 30, 2021
2 Comments on Tumalo Mountain Sunrise Hike – 09/26/2021

After missing a week of hiking due to heavy rains arriving for the one weekend we’d obtained a Central Cascade Wilderness Overnight Permit we were heading to Bend to celebrate Heather’s parents 50th wedding anniversary (congratulations again). That was possibly the first time we were excited to have to cancel our hiking plans as the rain (and snow on the mountains) continues to be greatly needed. Saturday was set aside for the anniversary party but we planned on getting a quick hike in Sunday morning before driving home.

In 2014 we attempted a to catch the sunrise from Tumalo Mountain (post) but were thwarted by low clouds which provided almost zero viability. Nearly seven years later (9/26/21 vs 9/27/14) we returned for another attempt and this time were rewarded with a colorful show. We arrived at the Dutchman Sno-park/Trailhead just after 5am and got ready to head out using our headlamps. Things already looked more promising than on our previous trip as the Moon was visible over Mt. Bachelor.

The Tumalo Mountain Trail gains 1425′ in two miles to the site of a former lookout tower. I hustled up to the lookout site as fast as my legs would allow and arrived a little after 6am to catch the first strip of color to the east beyond Bend.

After Heather joined me we continued further along the broad summit to the northern end where the view included Mt. Bachelor to the south and the Three Sisters and Broken Top immediately to the NW.
20210926_062629 Mt. Bachelor

20210926_062918 The Three Sisters and Broken Top

We spent the next half an hour watching the changing light and colors as we waited for the Sun to rise. We had brought an extra camera which I had been using the day before to photograph the anniversary. This proved interesting as each of the cameras we were using captured the sights in their own ways. As I’ve mentioned before I basically have no idea what I’m doing as far as photography and mostly I just rely on getting lucky once in awhile if I take enough photos. My usual camera is a Canon SX740HS, a small point and shoot with 40x optical zoom. Heather was using her phone, an LGE LM-G820, and the other camera, a Nikon Coolpix P900, belongs to my parents.
DSCN1128 Mt. Bachelor via the Nikon.

Heather watching the show taken with the Canon.

The Three Sisters with the Canon.

Canon

DSCN1129 Nikon

Mt. Bachelor (post) with the Canon.

Canon shortly before the Sun became visible.

DSCN1140 The Three Sister just before sunrise with the Nikon.

20210926_064832 The Three Sister just before sunrise with Heather’s phone.

Canon moments before sunrise. A line of wildfire smoke on the horizon gave it a red tint.

Canon

Canon catching the Sun.

Canon

DSCN1155 The Three Sisters and Broken Top (Nikon)

DSCN1157 South Sister (post) (Nikon)

DSCN1156 Middle and North Sister (Nikon)

DSCN1158 Broken Top (post) (Nikon)

Aline glow hitting the mountains. (Canon)

South Sister (Canon)

Middle and North Sister (Canon)

Broken Top (Canon)

Mt. Bachelor (Canon)

We started back down as soon as the sun was up.

There were lots of views of Mt. Bachelor on the way down and we could also make out Mt. Thielsen (post) and Mt. Scott (post) further south.

Mt. Scott to the left and Mt. Thielsen to the right.

Grouse

Chipmunk

Mt. Bachelor as we arrived back at the snow-park.

We finished our hike just after 7:45am and headed back to Salem. The hike had been everything we could have hoped for. There were just enough clouds in the sky to create some beautiful colors (the lingering smoke even added a bit although we would rather it wasn’t in the air) and the mountains were all clearly visible. My GPS showed a total of 4.7 miles which made sense given it was too cold to simply sit while we waited for the sunrise, spending over half an hour wandering around at the summit.

There were two other groups of hikers watching the sunrise with us and we passed many more as we descended. Tumalo Mountain is a great choice for a short hike with spectacular views. It is also just outside the Three Sisters Wilderness meaning that a Cascade Wilderness Permit is not needed. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tumalo Mountain

Tags Bend, Broken Top, cascade mountains, Central cascades Wilderness Permit, Dutchman Flat Sno-Park, grouse, hiking, Mt. Bachelor, Oregon, South Sister, sunrise, Three Sisters, Tumalo Mountain

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Berley and Santiam Lakes- 07/03/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 7, 2021
8 Comments on Berley and Santiam Lakes- 07/03/2021

For the Fourth of July weekend we had originally planned on a trip to Central Oregon but the drought conditions that were exasperated by the recent heat wave had us reconsidering not being home to guard against rogue illegal fireworks (a house in our neighborhood lost a fence and tree last year on the 4th). Our decision was made final when, following the heat wave, mostly dry thunder storms passed over the Ochoco Mountains where some of our hikes were planned. Lighting caused fires have kept firefighters busy since then as the race to contain the fires that are still cropping up from that storm system. We turned to Plan B, which was in part a modified Plan A, and spent the weekend hiking in the Central Cascades. On Saturday we stuck to our originally planned hike to Berley and Santiam Lakes but instead of continuing on to Bend afterward we drove back home.

This hike is covered in Matt Reeder’s “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region” and provided us an opportunity to revisit some places as well as discover some new ones. The hike starts at the Pacific Crest Trailhead along Highway 20 at Santiam Pass.

For now this is one of the trailheads where a Central Cascade Wilderness Day Use Permit is not required but a NW Forest Pass ($5/day or $30/annual) is, as well as completing a free self-issue permit. Note that for overnight trips a Central Cascade Wilderness Permit is needed for any visits to the Mt. Jefferson, Three Sisters or Mt. Washington Wilderness areas.

We had started another hike here in October of 2012 when we hiked to the base of Three Fingered Jack then returned on a loop past Martin, Booth, and Square Lakes (post). We were interested to not only see the area during a different season but also to see what had changed in nearly 9 years. This was particularly interesting to us due to the area having been burned badly in the 2003 B&B Complex and this would give us an idea of how the forest was recovering. Given the huge swaths that were burned in the September 2020 wildfires this might give us a small frame of reference for what to expect for some of the areas. The first thing that we noticed was that post fire trees seemed larger than we remembered which was confirmed by comparing some pictures of the Pacific Crest Trail junction with the Old Summit Trail 0.2 miles from the trailhead.
Trail sign at the junction on 10/13/2012.

Trail sign at the junction on 07/03/2021.

What we didn’t really notice though was just how many of the snags were now missing.
Entering the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness in 2012 (0.3 miles from the TH).

Entering the wilderness in 2021.

We followed the PCT a total of 1.2 miles to a junction with the Santiam Lake Trail. The view to the south was as spectacular as we had remembered with several Cascade Mountains in view along with several distinctive lesser peaks.
Cache Mountain, Black Crater (post), Tam McArthur Rim & Broken Top (post), North & Middle Sister, Mt. Washington, and Hayrick Butte (flat top on the right).

To the north the top of Three Fingered Jack was occasionally visible.

There were a few more flowers in bloom now than there had been in October.
A thistle

Penstemon

Bleeding heart

Pussytoes

California stickseed

Another penstemon

Shortly after passing a small unnamed lake we arrived at the junction.

Mountain bluebird by the lake.

We turned left onto the Santiam Lake Trail at the junction striking off on new to us trail. The Santiam Lake Trail headed slightly downhill to the north passing a series of small ponds/lakes before making a sweeping turn to the west then meeting up with the now abandoned Santiam Lodge Trail (coming uphill on the left) one mile from the PCT.

There was a good amount of scarlet gilia blooming along this section of trail.

Three Fingered Jack

One of the ponds.

Queen’s cup

Another pond with Maxwell Butte (post) behind to the right.

Unnamed lake along the trail with Maxwell Butte behind.

Lupine

Dark-eyed junco

Sub-alpine mariposa lilies

Woodpecker

The view south.

Seasonal pond

A half mile beyond the abandoned trail (there was part of a sign still hanging, partially hidden on a tree) we came to an unsigned fork.

We admittedly hadn’t read Matt’s hike description recently and had conveniently forgotten that there were no maintained trails to the Berley Lakes and this unmarked fork was where he would have had us turn. It wasn’t shown on the GPS map and since we hadn’t bothered to re-familiarize ourselves with the hike we continued on the Santiam Lake Trail but were still looking for the trail to Berley Lakes.

We crossed the nearly dry bed of Lost Lake Creek (There was enough water around to host a healthy population of mosquitos though.) and continued through a meadow filled with lupine into some unburned forest.

Beargrass

The combined presence of the trees and more water in Lost Lake Creek (which the trail was now following) was a perfect recipe for even more mosquitos. We hustled along as quickly a possible to try and keep as much of our own blood as possible.

Recent snow melt is another recipe for mosquitos.

Another creek crossing.

Shooting star

Mountain heather. Typically if we see this blooming we expect there to be mosquitos.

Fortunately the creek soon faded out in an open rocky landscape where the heat of the sun kept the buggers away and we were able to slow down a bit.

A sulphur

Alpine false dandelion

One of several snow patches at the tree line.

Nearing the end of the opening.

More snow in the trees.

A checkerspot

By the time we’d reached the open area it was obvious we had missed our turn and should have taken the fork we’d seen since we were now past the Berley Lakes. That was fine though as the original plan had been to visit those lakes first and hook up with the Santiam Lake Trail beyond Lower Berley Lake then continue on to Santiam Lake and return via the Santiam Lake Trail. Our new plan was to visit Santiam Lake then find the route to Lower Berley Lake, visit it, then check out Upper Berley Lake and return to the Santiam Lake Trail at the fork. Beyond the open plain the trail began a 250′ descent through more unburned forest to Santiam Lake.

Trees & melting snow = more mosquitos.

Not Santiam Lake but a very pretty unnamed lake just to the left of the trail approximately 0.4 miles from Santiam Lake.

Not sure what type this is but the orange on the wing was pretty.

We turned off the Santiam Lake Trail at a “No Campfires” sign and followed a familiar path down to the lake.

It had been almost 11 years since we visited this lake. On our previous visit we had come up the Santiam Lake Trail from the Duffy Lake Trail (post).

Mt. Jefferson behind Red Butte

Duffy Butte on the left.

Three Fingered Jack

Paintbrush, shooting stars, and buttercups.

We set off to hike around the west side of the lake but we encountered quite a bit of recent blowdown and decided it was a little more trouble than it was worth.

Just one of several large uprooted trees along the shore.

Taking a break along the shore and enjoying the view would have been nice but the mosquitos weren’t interested in letting us sit peacefully so when we came to the third bunch of downed trees we called it good and headed back for the Santiam Lake Trail. We followed it back to the open plain where the mosquitos hadn’t been bad and stopped to study the map in Reeder’s book (still weren’t smart enough to take the time to re-read it though) and we could see that from this end his track showed him heading for Lower Berley Lake just before a topographic feature. We made our way across the plain where butterflies were busy flying from plant to plant.

The “topographic feature” ahead on the right where we planned on turning for Lower Berley Lake.

Mountain heather along the trail, it was warm and sunny enough that the mosquitos weren’t as bad this time by.

Threeleaf lewisia

Getting closer to the hill where we planned on turning.

California tortoiseshell butterflies in the bed of Lost Lake Creek.

Later when we finally did read the hike description Reeder mentioned a cairn marking a user trail but we didn’t notice any cairn (and admittedly may have turned too soon) but we spotted what appeared to be faint tread along a hillside above a dry stream bed and took a right onto it.

The track on the map showed the route on the south side of the lake but this trail was leading to the south side of Lower Berley Lake. It led past a couple of campsites to some rocks above the lake.

Three Fingered Jack from the rocks.

We picked our way down through the rocks to the lake shore and followed a user trail west until more downed tress forced us to climb back up above the rocks.

More tortoiseshells

A butterfly photo bomb

Once we were back above the lake we came across what looked like another user trail leading away from it.

We thought it might be a side trail to Upper Berley Lake so we turned right on it but soon realized that we were following a dry bed instead of a trail.

The bed was popular with the butterflies.

A GPS check showed we were heading too much to the NNE and needed to be NNW so we left the bed and used the GPS units to find Upper Berley Lake, but not before startling a doe.
Cross country to Upper Berley Lake, the doe was in this meadow and headed in the direction of the patch of snow at the far end.

Upper Berley Lake

Reeder mentions a view of Three Fingered Jack from this lake as well but we were on the wrong side of it for that. The lake shore where we were was pretty thick with small trees so we would have needed to back track to make our way around for a view but we decided to save that for another time. We took a slightly more direct route back toward Lower Berley Lake and found what seemed to us a bit of a random Day Use Only sign.
We wound up finding the same “user trail” and followed it down to the lower lake.

What we could see was a clear trail heading south past the lake. We went down to the lake shore to see if we could pick something up since the track in the book showed it at the SW edge of the lake. We couldn’t make out any clear trail but that could have been because it was covered in butterflies.
California tortoiseshell butterflies along Lower Berley Lake.

Three Fingered Jack and about a half dozen butterflies.

We did another comparison of the track in the guidebook and the topographic map on our GPS units and came to the conclusion that we were in the right spot and just needed to hike over a saddle between two hillsides. As we made our way up we found an obvious trail.
The hillside on the right was rocky.

The trail dropping down from the saddle with Mt. Washington and the North Sister ahead.

This trail was at times easy to follow and at others non-existent.

Just under three quarters of a mile from Lower Berley Lake we ran into three hikers heading for the lake which we took as a good sign. Just a short distance later we came to the dry channel of Lost Lake Creek.

It was hard to tell where the “trail” crossed or where it was on the far side. Reeder’s track showed the alignment converging with the Santiam Lake Trail at an gradual angle but we could see that we were only about a tenth of a mile from that trail as the crow flies so we abandoned all attempts at following the user trail. We headed straight for the Santiam Lake Trail and found it without much difficulty.
Found it!

We were a tenth or two of a mile from the actual junction which wound up working in our favor. We had rejoined the Santiam Lake Trail just north of the seasonal pond where there were now dozens of butterflies hanging out and this time they weren’t all the same types.

We made our way back to the PCT then followed it south back to the trailhead but not before stopping at a viewpoint for one last look at the mountains.
Yellow beetle on lupine.

Orange agoseris

Back at the PCT.

Bumble bees on penstemon.

Cicada in the grass.

Black Crater, Broken Top, North & Middle Sister, Mt. Washington, Hayrick Butte, and Hoodoo Butte from the viewpoint.

Three Fingered Jack from the viewpoint.

Track for our 12.9 mile, 1300′ elevation gain hike

After a great day of hiking we spent the evening with my Grandma and parents. It was a great start to the holiday weekend. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Berley & Santiam Lakes

Tags Berley Lakes, butterflies, cascade mountains, hiking, Lower Berley Lake, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, Santiam Lake, Santiam Lake Trail, Three Fingered Jack, Upper Berley Lake

High Cascades Hiking Oregon Three Sisters Area Trip report

Broken Top – No Name Lake

We’re a little behind on our trip reports due to spending too much time hiking 🙂 (If that is possible). After being in Washington for our last couple of trips we headed over to Central Oregon to spend some time in the Three Sisters area. We started off with a day hike to a lake we had really been wanting to visit, a lake with no name but a spectacular view located at 8000′ on the east side of Broken Top.

We set off from Todd Lake as the Sun was rising hoping to beat the crowds up to this increasingly popular spot.

The trail from Todd Lake entered the Three Sisters Wilderness shortly after leaving the lake.

Then Broken Top made an appearance.

It wasn’t the only Cascade Peak visible from the trail.
Mt. Bachelor:

South Sister:

The trail climbed gently as it left the forest and gained better and better views as it passed by and through open meadows.

And across wildflower lined streams.

We spotted several deer grazing in the meadows near the junction with the Green Lakes Trail.

As we gained elevation the views to the south opened up and we could see Diamond Peak, Mt. Thielsen, and Mt. Bailey beyond Mt. Bachelor.

As we worked our way around Broken Top we passed several springs which were the sources of many of the green meadows we’d passed.

It was interesting to note a small section of land that was not included in the Three Sisters Wilderness surrounding Crater Ditch. The ditch channels water from glacial melt-off down into Central Oregon for irrigation purposes and predates the wilderness designation thus remaining outside of the boundary.

After crossing Crater Ditch the trail headed toward Ball Butte and the end of the Green Lakes Trail at road 380.

Shortly after crossing a creek an unofficial trail forked to the left heading between Ball Butte and Broken Top with Broken Hand dead ahead.

We then recrossed the monkeyflower lined creek and followed it up toward the no name lake passing several small but scenic falls.

The trail turned toward Broken Top and continued to climb toward the east side of the mountain. An increasing variety of wildflowers could be seen as we got closer to the lake and many birds were flying about chirping happily.

Finally the path reached a snowfield between two moraines. We climbed the snowfield to find no name lake waiting at the base of Broken Top.

The lake was as beautiful as advertised. The colors of the water and of Broken Top were spectacular.

We were surprised by several things. The lake was larger than we had expected and there was a surprising number of flowers growing on the moraines surrounding the lake.

A path around the right side of the lake led to yet more amazing views. Climbing to a viewpoint revealed mountains from Broken Top to a faint Mt. Hood on the horizon with the lake below behind us.

There was a single tent high up on the rim overlooking the lake but we didn’t see the owner and had had the lake all to ourselves for awhile before another pair of hikers arrived. On our hike out we passed a number of people heading up the trail and were once again glad we chose to get an early start. There is a shorter route to the lake but it involves what has been described as a terrible access road and it would have meant missing out on some great scenery. When we got back to Todd Lake the parking lot was full but the lake and Broken Top remained a peaceful sight and a great way to kick off a vacation.

Happy Trails!

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Tags Ball Butte, Broken Hand, Broken Top, cascade mountains, Central Oregon, Crater Ditch, Diamond Peak, Green Lakes Trail, hiking, Mt. Bachelor, No Name Lake, Oregon, Three Sisters Wilderness, Todd Lake

Hiking Middle Santiam Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Iron Mountain and the Meadows of Cone Peak

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 9, 2014
8 Comments on Iron Mountain and the Meadows of Cone Peak

July means wildflowers in the Old Cascades, the eroded peaks that are now the western foothills of the Cascade Mountains. We were headed over to Bend, OR for the 4th of July weekend so we seized the opportunity to check out a couple of the hikes on the way over and back. On the way over to Bend we decided to revisit Iron Mountain, a hike we had done in 2010 during the final week of July. We missed the wildflower peak that year by a couple of weeks so we hoped we would be hitting the area at a better time this visit.

On our previous visit we did the loop clockwise by starting at the trailhead located on road 15 and heading up Iron Mountain first then through the meadows on Cone Peak. This time around we parked at Tombstone Pass and headed counter-clockwise in order to hopefully have the meadows to ourselves before the trail got crowded.

We took a short detour on the Tombstone Nature Trail that circled around a meadow with flowers and a view of Iron Mountain.

After finishing the nature trail we crossed Highway 20 and started climbing up the Cone Peak Trail. We started seeing flowers almost immediately. It seemed every open area had an assortment of different flowers.
Lupine, Columbine & Thimbleberry

Wild Rose

Columbine

Larkspur

Penstemon & Blue Gilia

Cat’s Ear Lily

Woolly Sunflower

Flower variety

Columbia Windflower

Wallflower

Paintbrush & Larkspur

More variety packs

We’d already lost count of the number of different flower types we’d seen by the time we got to the main meadow 1.2 miles from the highway crossing. In the meadow we found even more types of flowers as well as views of Cone Peak and Iron Mountain.

Cone Peak

Cone Flower

Giant Blue-eyed Mary

Iron Mountain

Scarlet Gilia

We’d been hearing some elk off and on while we were in the meadow and as we were exploring a rocky outcrop Dominique noticed some brown spots in a meadow up on Iron Mountain. There were 7 elk moving through the brush grazing on the vegetation as they went.

We left the meadow and reentered the forest as we wound our way around Iron Mountain to the junction with the Iron Mountain Lookout Trail. There were still flowers everywhere and now we were starting to get views of the snowy Cascade Mountains.

Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson

The Three Sisters

At the site of the former lookout is a railed observation deck and bench which allowed for a relaxing rest as we took in the 360 degree view which spanned from Mt. Adams to Diamond Peak.
Mt. Adams & Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson beyond Cone Peak and the top of Three Fingered Jack behind Crescent Mountain

Mt. Washington

The Three Sisters, Mt. Bachelor & The Husband

Diamond Peak

The view was so good even a hummingbird took a break from the penstemon to take it in.

We headed back down to the trail junction and continued on our loop passing more flowers, recrossing Highway 20, and returning to Tombstone Pass on the Old Santiam Wagon Road.
Beargrass

Bunchberry & Queens Cup

The flowers had certainly been better than on our previous visit and it looked like they would be pristine for another week or two. It was a great way to start a holiday weekend. Happy Trails!

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