Tag: Coffin Mountain

Coffin Mountain and Bugaboo Ridge Trail – 06/07/2026

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 11, 2026
No Comments on Coffin Mountain and Bugaboo Ridge Trail – 06/07/2026

The X-rays on my back came back clear and the new stretches/exercises that PT assigned almost immediately improved my range of motion. Enough so that I felt up to giving another outing a try. We were heading into several days of precipitation, but there was a dry window on June 7th which worked out well for us since we had plans to attend my cousin’s daughter’s senior recital on the 6th.

For the hike Heather had wanted to find some wildflowers, and I was still limited to 6-8 miles, so we decided to give Coffin Mountain and the Bugaboo Ridge Trail a go. We’d last visited this area in 2016 (post) on July 4th.

We started our morning from the Coffin Mountain Trailhead.

We weren’t sure how many flowers would be blooming given we were visiting almost a full month earlier than on our previous visit, but the timing for the flowers is off this year due to the mild winter and dry spring. We were a little early, but there were still quite a few flowers blooming along the lower portion of the trail.

Beargrass at the trailhead.

Sticky currant

Yellowleaf iris

Paintbrush

A yellow paintbrush

Starry false Solomon’s seal

The morning clouds were giving way to some blue sky.

Wildflowers along the ridge.

Phlox

Onion and larkspur

Lupine and a little snow from the night before.

Oregon sunshine, larkspur, and tiny white flowers might be slender phlox.

Sub-alpine mariposa lily

Arrowleaf buckwheat

Bindweed

We knew that there had been a possibility of snow overnight, but we hadn’t expected any of it to stick but as we climbed, we began seeing more and more of the white stuff.

Trillium fading out.

Bluebells

False sunflowers

Penstemon

The large meadow below the summit of Coffin Mountain was covered with a thin layer of fresh snow.

Beargrass

Columbine

Snow covered lupine

The trail traverses uphill through the meadow toward the Coffin Mountain Lookout.

First view of the lookout.

Bleeding heart

The radio towers on the southern end of Coffin Mountain.

The lookout is staffed in the summer, but it was still empty today.

The helipad on Coffin Mountain.

The lookout tower and to the right the radio towers at the other end of the mountain.

Heather had detoured to the southern end, so when I arrived at the lookout she was arriving at the radio towers.

I pulled my Z Seat out and sat down on the helipad and had a snack while I waited for her to make her way over.

The view north which includes Mt. Hood when the clouds aren’t in the way.

Detroit Lake to the NW.

Heather joined me and we stayed a little longer enjoying the snowy summit before heading back down. It was just before 8:30am when we began our descent and much of the snow had already melted.

Junco and bleeding heart

The meadow was rapidly melting out.

Bastard toadflax

Paintbrush

Violet

Silverleaf phacelia

Yarrow

Cinquefoil, sandwort, and penstemon

Ragwort

Oregon sunshine and paintbrush

Larkspur

Violet

The trailhead signboard in view.

Roundtrip this hike comes in just under 3-miles, but with over 1000′ of elevation gain. The snow was a fun surprise and while we were a bit early to see the wildflowers at their peak, we were not disappointed. It did appear that this was not going be a huge beargrass year though. Every few years the big meadow is packed with beargrass, but conditions have to be just right.

On our two previous visits we had road walked from the Coffin Mountain Trailhead to the Bachelor Mountain Trailhead. That is a 1.2-mile walk one-way so to avoid adding unnecessary miles to my back we drove this time.

Rabbit along the road.

Bachelor Mountain Trailhead at the end of the road.

Instead of hiking to the summit of Bachelor Mountain our plan was to take the Bugaboo Ridge Trail out to a rocky viewpoint where we hoped to get a view of Mount Jefferson and see some wildflowers. We headed up the Bachelor Mountain Trail admiring the flowers and some more snow.

Lupine and paintbrush

A cloud had overtaken Coffin Mountain.

Cardwell’s penstemon

Valerian

The trail climbs steeply via switchback through the forest before rounding a ridge to more open terrain.

There were about a half dozen trees down along the trail, but none were too difficult to get over/around.

Bleeding heart

Vanilla leaf

Baneberry and arnica starting to bloom.

Rounding the ridge.

Coffin Mountain

Scarlet gilia

The trail continued to climb but less steeply as it traversed the hillside.

Three Fingered Jack hidden by clouds.

Three Fingered Jack.

Paintbrush and wild rose

Paintbrush along the trail.

Yellowleaf iris

Scarlet gilia, Oregon sunshine, and paintbrush.

A patch of false sunflowers that were just starting to bloom.

False sunflowers

This trail is a stark contrast to the Coffin Mountain Trail.

Stonecrop

Cinquefoil

Penstemon

Buckwheat and a yarrow.

The trail arrives at a large flat area where we spotted a lone rhododendron that hadn’t quite started to bloom.

These may be northern microseris (Microseris borealis).

Cloud over the summit of Bachelor Mountain.

At the far end of the flat area we reached the junction with the Bugaboo Ridge Trail.

Trail sign at the junction. It is approximately 0.8-miles (and 550′) to the summit of Bachelor Mountain. The viewpoint along the Bugaboo Ridge Trail on the other hand was 0.7-miles away with minimal elevation change.

We headed out on the Bugaboo Ridge Trail which was a little rougher and more overgrown than the Bachelor Mountain Trail. It was however mostly free of blowdown to the view point.

Coralroot

The extent of the blowdown.

Anemones

The trail actually passes through several openings along the hillside with views of the Cascade Range, but not of Mt. Jefferson.

The really snowy patch of forest is below Three Fingered Jack. Mt. Jefferson is north (left) of this and hidden by the hillside until the viewpoint where we would be turning around.

Mt. Jefferson is straight ahead hidden behind the hillside.

Jessica’s stickseed

Waterleaf

False sunflower

Jacob’s ladder

Larkspur and a butterfly

Columbine

Serviceberry

Three Fingered Jack still hiding in the clouds.

Diamond Peak was visible in the distance to the south.

Penstemon and paintbrush

Larkspur and monkeyflower

We arrived at the viewpoint for Mt. Jefferson to find it partially hidden by clouds.

We took a break here hoping for a break in the clouds and in the meantime studied the flowers in the area.

Larkspur and Oregon sunshine

Cliff beardtongue

Arrowleaf and sulphur flower buckwheat with some Oregon sunshine and stonecrop.

A sub-alpine mariposa lily hiding in arrowleaf buckwheat.

Paintbrush, larkspur, and arrowleaf buckwheat

Sticky cinquefoil

The clouds were being stubborn, but we did eventually get a little better view of Three Fingered Jack.

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters also made an appearance.

Snowy Diamond Peak in the distance to the left with peaks of the Old Cascades closer including the nearby Three Pyramids (post) and to their right Iron Mountain where I’d been the week before (post).

We started back but before we’d left the open area the clouds revealed the top of Mt. Jefferson.

After getting our view we headed back. We were treated to some better views of the other Cascades along the way.

Wallflower

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters.

One of the few Jacob’s ladder blossoms that was open.

Mt. Jefferson from the flat area.

Coffin Mountain from the Bachelor Mountain Trail.

Catchfly

Three Fingered Jack

Heading back into the forest for the descent to the trailhead.

A couple cars had joined us at the trailhead.

To hike to the viewpoint and back came in at 3.8-miles with approximately 700′ of elevation gain giving us 6.7-miles and 1750′ of elevation gain on the day.

This was a great hike despite being a little early for the peak wildflower bloom. The overnight snow more than made up for that. By the end my hips were feeling the hike a little but overall I felt better than I have for the past few months. I still have a way to go but it was encouraging. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Coffin Mountain and the Bugaboo Ridge Trail

Tags Bachelor Mountain, Bachelor Mountain Trailhead, bugaboo ridge trail, Coffin Mountain, Coffin mountain lookout, Coffin Mountain Trailhead, hiking, Oregon, wildflowers

Bull of the Woods/Opal Creek Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Throwback Thursday Trip report

Throwback Thursday – Dome Rock

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 5, 2018
3 Comments on Throwback Thursday – Dome Rock

**Note the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire burned a portion of this hike.**

In July of 2010 we made our first attempt to hike to Phantom Bridge (we finally made it in 2011 on our third try). A washout had closed access to the most popular trailheads and the trailheads shown in our guidebook, the Phantom Bridge Trailhead and the French Creek Trailhead – West. This left us looking for an alternate route to the natural arch and while I was doing some research on the Willamette National Forest website I came across the French Creek Trailhead – East. I was able to find a photo at the time online of a sign at this trailhead along Forest Road 458.

It was going to make the hike quite a bit longer than necessary but we were obsessed with seeing the Phantom Bridge. From Detroit, OR we followed the directions from the Forest Service website to FR 480. The road was narrow and exposed with steep drop-offs which made it one of the more nerve wracking drives to date. The road conditions weren’t as bad as some we’ve driven but the scare factor was high. We watched the odometer but when we had gone the correct distance we saw no sign of the trailhead. After finding a place where we could turn around (the road was blocked by a small rockslide beyond) we slowly backtracked looking for any signs of a trail.

Instead of continuing to search for a trailhead that we now weren’t even sure existed anymore we decided to get down off the scary road and try something else. When we were back down to safer roads we consulted our guidebook and discovered that just 2.3 miles west of Detroit along Highway 22 was the Tumble Creek South Trailhead. A 10.3 mile hike from this trailhead would take us to the former lookout site atop Dome Rock and back.

The thought of a trailhead that didn’t require any more driving on Forest Roads was too tempting to pass up so we drove west of Detroit on Highway 22 and parked on the north shoulder at a gated road bed nest to Tumble Creek. The actual trail started .4 miles up the closed road at a small trail sign.
Tumble Ridge Trail

The trail climbed steeply uphill making several switchbacks. Occasional views could be of Detroit Lake and several Cascade peaks.
Mt. Jefferson

Detroit Lake

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters

Park Ridge and Mt. Jefferson Mt. Jefferson

The trail passed through a brushy area at an old road bed near the Margie Dunham Spring approximately 3 1/4 miles from the old road bed along Tumble Creek.
Tumble Ridge Trail

From there the climb became more gradual as it passed a couple of interesting rock formation including one dubbed “Toilet Rock”.

About a mile from the Margie Dunham Spring we came to the junction with the trail up to Dome Rock. Here we turned right climbing a final .5 miles to the old lookout site. The view was great from the summit and included the top of Mt. Hood to the north and Tumble Lake below to the NW. It was also our first good look at the distinctively flat topped Coffin Mountain (post).
View from Dome Rock Coffin and Bachelor Mountains in front of Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, and The Three Sisters

Tumble Lake

Mt. Hood

Close up of Mt. Jefferson

After admiring the view we returned to the Tumble Lake Trail. We briefly considered continuing to Tumble Lake but it was another 1.7 miles just to get to the lake meaning 3.4 additional miles in all plus we would lose around 800′ of elevation going down to the lake and we had already climbed over 3250′. Maybe next time. Instead we retraced our steps down to Highway 22 and headed back to Salem. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Dome Rock

Tags Coffin Mountain, Detroit, Detroit Lake, Dome Rock, Dome Rock Trail, French Creek Trailhead East, hiking, Margie Dunham Spring, Oregon, phantom bridge, Toilet Rock, Tumble Creek, Tumble Lake, Tumble Lake Trail, Tumble Lake Trailhead South

Hiking Middle Santiam Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Scar Mountain

We’ve developed a tradition of using the day off of work provided by the 4th of July holiday to take a hike. One of our go to areas in the first part of July is the Old (Western) Cascades. The Old Cascades are older than the volcanic peaks of the High Cascades and rise only half as high meaning they melt out much sooner than their younger companions. These highly eroded volcanoes are home to old growth forests and top notch wildflower meadows.

This year we decided to visit the Scar Mountain Trail. The hike is listed in our usual guidebook, William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades” as hike #111. Due to it not being a featured hike the description in that book is brief so we turned to another excellent resource, “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region” by Matt Reeder.

We followed his directions to the North Pyramid Trailhead where we parked then crossed Forest Road 2266 to the signed Scar Mountain Trail.

North Pyramid Trailhead

Scar Mountain Trail

The Scar Mountain Trail is part of the approximately 30 mile long Old Cascades Loop. We had done another section of this loop in 2014 when we started at the Pyramids Trailhead and hiked to Donaca Lake for an overnight stay.

The trail climbed through a nice forest,gradually at first then more steeply as it switchbacked up toward a ridge top.

Scar Mountain Trail

The switchbacks ended after just over a mile and the trail began to traverse along the hillside below the ridge. There were occasional glimpses of the Three Pyramids to the south and Daly Lake in the valley below.

Daly Lake below the Three Pyramids

Daly Lake

For the next mile and a half the trail continued to gain elevation via a series of ups and downs as it gained the ridge top and alternated between its west and east sides providing views of several of the High Cascades to the SE, Mt. Jefferson to the NE, and Coffin & Bachelor Mountains to the north.

Mt. Washington, the Three Sisters and the Husband

Mt. Jefferson

Coffin and Bachelor Mountains

A few small patches of snow lingered on and along the trail.

Snow on the Scar Mountain Trail

The trial began to climb steeply again at the 2.5 mile mark as it headed up Trappers Butte. The forested summit offered some similar views to what we had seen on the way up but one big difference was the presence of some non-white wildflowers near the top.

Paintbrush

Penstemon

The trail then descended roughly 400′ in .8 miles to a saddle where it crossed an old roadbed in a clearing with blooming beargrass and rhododendron and view of the Three Pyramids.

The Three Pyramids

Another one and three quarter miles of ups and downs had us nearing our goal, a dramatic rock pinnacle on Scar Mountain. The trail had been in reasonably good shape with some minor blowdown and a few brushy spots which became a bit more frequent as we climbed Scar Mountain.

Scar Mountain Trail

Rock pinnacle on Scar Mountain

The flowers on and around the pinnacle might not have been as impressive as the meadows on some of the other nearby peaks but there were still some nice displays.

Valerian along the Scar Mountain Trail

Wildflower on Scar Mountain

Yellowleaf iris

Paintbrush along the Scar Mountain Trail

Columbine

Wildflowers along the Scar Mountain Trail

Stonecrop and penstemon

The real reward for this hike were the views from Scar Mountains cliffs.

Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood

Mt. Adams peaking over a ridge and Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson from Scar Mountain Mt. Jefferson

Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Washington

The Three Sisters and the Husband

The Husband and the Three Pyramids The Husband behind the Three Pyramids

Crescent Mountain, North Peak, Echo Mountain, and South Peak

North Peak, Echo Mountain, South Peak, Cone Peak, and Iron Mountain.

We took a nice break near the pinnacle where there seemed to be less mosquitoes. They hadn’t been too noticeable but with the snow still melting there were more around than we realized given the number of bites we discovered later.

Rock pinnacle along the Scar Mountain Trail

Looking down from cliffs along the Scar Mountain Trail

We returned the way we’d come passing the time on the ups and downs by admiring the many different flowers in the forest including large numbers of coralroots.

Caterpillar on coralroot

Coralroot

Round trip was just under 12 miles with a good amount of elevation gain overall but broken up enough to never feel too daunting. Like many of the trails in the Old Cascades the Scar Mountain Trail offered a good dose of solitude. We neither spotted nor heard another person during the hike. Instead we listened for the calls of sooty grouse, the singing of birds, and “meeps” of hidden pikas. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Scar Mountain

Tags 101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region, Bachelor Mountain, Coffin Mountain, Daly Lake, Donaca Lake, hiking, Matt Reeder, North Pyramids Trail, Old Cascade Crest Trail, Old Cascades, Oregon, Scar Mountain, Trappers Butte

Hiking Middle Santiam Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Coffin Mountain, Bachelor Mountain, and Bugaboo Ridge

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 8, 2016
21 Comments on Coffin Mountain, Bachelor Mountain, and Bugaboo Ridge

For the 4th of July we spent our day off revisiting Coffin and Bachelor Mountains and discovering the Bugaboo Ridge Trail. Our previous hike up Coffin and Bachelor Mountains was on a cloudy day in early August, 2013. We hadn’t experienced any mountain views that day and it was past peak for the wildflowers so we had added it to the list of hikes to redo. In addition to revisiting the two mountains we also planned on checking out the Bugaboo Ridge Trail which intersects the Bachelor Mountain Trail.

A recent presentation by Matt Reeder at Salem Summit Company had prompted us to pick up a copy of his book “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region” which provided some additional details on the Bugaboo Ridge Trail. After reading his description it seemed well worth the additional mileage to check it out.

We parked at the Coffin Mountain Trailhead which is accessed via Straight Creek Road found 2.9 miles south of Marion Forks.

On our previous visit we had parked here and started by walking 1.2 miles further along forest roads to the Bachelor Mountain Trailhead and hiking to that summit before returning and heading up Coffin Mountain. To change things up this time we headed up Coffin Mountain first. Most of the Coffin Mountain Trail passes through open wildflower meadows.

Our timing was much closer to peak for the wildflowers and there was a wide variety in various stages of bloom.
Chaparral false bindweed

Aster

Thistle

Fireweed

Cat’s ear lily

Yellow leaf iris

False sunflower and blue gilia

Scarlet gilia and paintbrush

Tall bluebell

False sunflower

Catchfly

Mountain owl’s clover

As the trail climbs views of the Cascades get increasingly better.
Mt. Jefferson

Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, Broken Top, The Three Sisters, The Husband and Diamond Peak

Diamond Peak

Mt. Washington, Broken Top, The Three Sisters and The Husband

Three Fingered Jack

The number of flowers increased the higher we got in the meadows.

Red, White, and blue for the 4th

Beargrass

The trail enters a short section with trees where the Coffin Mountain Lookout is visible on the cliffs above.

A final push uphill leads to the staffed lookout tower and helipad.

It was a little different view than we’d had in 2013.
Coffin Mountain lookout

We returned to the trailhead then set off on the road toward the Bachelor Mountain Trailhead. Although it’s possible to drive the 1.2miles we’d rather enjoy the scenery along the way.

Coffin Mountain Lookout from the road to the Bachelor Mountain TH.

The unsigned trail begins at the end of Road 430.

The trail climbs fairly steeply through a forest in two long switchbacks before losing the trees and gaining views as it rounds a ridge end.

The wildflowers on Bachelor Mountain rivaled those on Coffin although Bachelor Mountain is drier and rockier.

Washington lily

After the initial climb the trail leveled out along a plateau with views.

The trail then reentered the forest shortly before arriving at a junction with the Bugaboo Ridge Trail.

We kept to the Bachelor Mountain Trail and headed uphill toward the summit. This section of trail passed though a forest of small tightly packed trees, many of which were bent by the weight of winter snows.

Once we were above the trees the wildflowers and views returned.

Phlox

Wallflower

Another lookout used to sit atop Bachelor Mountain but it was burnt by the Forest Service years ago just leaving the views. To the north Mt. Adams was visible over Mt. Hoods shoulder.

Mt. Jefferson loomed to the east.

A little further south was Three Fingered Jack and the scars of the B & B Fire.

Then came a clump of Cascade Mountains, Washington, Broken Top and the Three Sisters.

Because Bachelor Mountain is taller than its neighbor there was also a nice view of Coffin Mountain.

We headed back down the Bugaboo Ridge Trail junction and unlike our last visit this time we turned onto that trail and headed east through the forest.

The Bugaboo Ridge Trail is a longer approach to Bachelor Mountain and it was evident that it sees much lighter usage based on the narrower tread and encroaching vegetation in places. We found it to be a great trail though. The trail left the trees and entered a series of rock gardens and meadows filled with wildflowers.

The views were pretty darn good too.

Heather spotted an interestingly colored larkspur along the trail, it was the only one we could find.

The meadows and gardens began to give way to forest as the trail descended to the Bruno Meadows Trail junction.

The Bruno Meadows Trail is yet another option to reach Bachelor Mountain, but we ignored that trail and continued to descend on the Bugaboo Ridge Trail. The descent was gentle except for a short section above the Bruno Meadows junction although there was a fair amount of blowdown to navigate. We decided to turn around at a logging road that the trail crossed in an old clear cut.

The detour along the Bugaboo Ridge Trail to the road was just under 2.5 miles adding nearly 5 miles to the days hike but it had been worth the extra effort. This visit had been a vastly different experience from our visit in 2013. It was fun to be able to see what we had not been able to on that first trip, and it was a great way to spend the 4th. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157670004507771

Tags bachelor mountain trail, bachelor mountian, Beargrass, bruno meadows trail, bugaboo ridge trail, Coffin Mountain, Coffin mountain lookout, coffin mountain trail, false sunflower, hiking, larkspur, Mt. Jefferson, Oregon

Bull of the Woods/Opal Creek Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Whetstone Mountain

**Note the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire burned the area covered by this hike.**

One of the hikes we wanted to do this year was a repeat of a hike we’d done back in 2010 when we were just getting into hiking. The goal of that hike was Whetstone Mountain. When we were done with that hike we had no idea how far we’d gone, we just knew that it kicked our derrieres. We wanted to revisit this hike to find out just how far it was and to also see how we would fare now being more prepared and experienced.

The previous hike had ended with Heather and I jogging down the closed portion of forest service road 2209. We weren’t jogging for fun, we were jogging because we couldn’t walk any longer and we desperately wanted to be back at our car. We were heading back now armed with 4 years of experience and a Garmin to find out just how difficult this hike really was. The starting point for this loop was the Opal Creek trail head which was already full of cars when we pulled up at 6am. The trail head is the main gateway into the Opal Creek Wilderness and Jawbone Flats a former mining camp turned ancient forest center. A gate at the trail head blocks any unauthorized vehicles from reaching the center.

We set off down road 2209 and followed it across Gold Creek.

Shortly after the bridge a sign and wilderness registration box announced the Whetstone Mountain Trail heading up on our left. We turned up it and quickly entered the Opal Creek Wilderness.

The trail climbed steadily through rhododendrons and beargrass. Neither Heather nor I remembered much about this portion of the hike from our first visit. It may be that we suppressed the memory of this difficult climb :). It wasn’t until we reached a small saddle with an open view of Mt. Hood to the north that anything looked familiar.

Another notable item that we remembered was an anvil shaped rock outcrop that could be seen through the trees as well as view of Mt. Jefferson.

On our first visit we had been disappointed with the mountain views. We had been told to look for a trail that forked off to the left and led to a nice view, but we never found it that first trip. We had our eyes open again this time determined to find this trail to a view, but this time we didn’t need to look very hard. A nice new sign had been put up pointing directly at a well maintained trail. It’s hard to believe either was there on our previous visit. The sign was surely new and we couldn’t believe we would have missed such an obvious trail.

The views kept getting better as we climbed toward the former lookout site. The trail passed a nice meadow below the rocky summit before winding up on top where a 360 degree view awaited.

Olallie Butte, Mt. Jefferson and Battle Ax Mountain

Mt. Hood

Broken Top, Coffin Mountain and the Three Sisters

Three Fingered Jack

Diamond Peak

Mt. Rainier

Mt. Adams

We would have liked to have stayed up on the summit for awhile but it was crowded up there. Mosquitoes were beginning to swarm us and there was no breeze to keep them at bay so we didn’t stick around very long and headed back down to the Whetstone Mountain trail to continue our loop. Not far from the summit we passed another lovely meadow filled with larkspur and paintbrush.

The trail down the east side of Whetstone Mountain had a gentler grade than the side we had come up. We didn’t remember this section either until we reached the bridge less crossing of Battle Ax Creek. On our last visit we removed our shoes and socks and made sure our pant legs would stay dry. Our attitudes about creek crossings have changed since then and this time we just plunged in.

Shortly after crossing the creek we popped back up on the old road 2209 at a trail junction. We turned toward Jawbone Flats and headed down the abandoned mining road. As we were walking I spotted a snake trying to get out of the way. It didn’t seem too concerned with us and posed for several pictures. Nique and I moved on and soon realized we’d lost Heather. When she caught back up she told us that the snake had come over to check her out.

About a mile from Jawbone Flats are the remains of the Ruth Mine. We took a moment this time to check out the old equipment and shafts.

Just before Battle Ax Creek reaches Jawbone Flats there is a nice open rocky area where we could get an up close view of the clear water that the Opal Creek Wilderness is known for.

We had gone straight through Jawbone Flats crossing Battle Ax Creek on a footbridge on our previous visit but we had made other plans this time. The bridge had recently collapsed so there was no direct route through the old camp. Instead we would take the Kopetski Trail which would take us across the Little North Santiam River and by the Opal Pool.

Closed bridge:

Old mining equipment:

Little North Santiam River:

Opal Pool:

Despite the number of cars in the parking lot that morning we had only seen one group of people up until we reached the Opal Pool. From that point on we were passing another group every couple of minutes. Since we had hiked this trail in 2012 and we’d already been hiking for over 6 hours we didn’t bother with exploring all the possible access points to the river. After a mile and a half we recrossed the river on another bridge and were back on road 2209. We had one last stop to make. There was a waterfall that we had yet to find along the trail. We knew it was somewhere behind the old Merten Mill but we had yet to actually see it. Determined to finally see Sawmill Falls we turned off the road at the old mill and followed a path next to the building. This time we found the falls easily and it was worth the side trip.

After a brief rest we returned to the road and began the home stretch. Nique and I began snacking on the Salmonberries that were ripening along the trail (Heather finds them too sour) and we passed a good patch of flowers growing in an exposed rocky section.

We ended up with the Garmin showing a 16.3 mile hike which would explain why it had seemed so hard 4 years ago, it was hard :). We’d probably gone closer to 15 that day since we hadn’t found the summit trail or taken time to explore the Ruth Mine, Opal Pool, or Sawmill Falls but up until then 7.1 had been our longest hike.

It is really a beautiful area with lots of options, but if you don’t like crowds avoid weekends, especially nice ones. When we got back to the parking area the number of cars had more than doubled. If we were to ever do this loop again I’d go the opposite direction to minimize crowds and to take advantage of a more gradual climb. Happy Trails!

flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157645240344216/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10204293169716570.1073741888.1448521051&type=1

Tags battle ax creek, battle ax mountain, Coffin Mountain, hiking, jawbone flats, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, opal creek, opal creek wilderness, opal pool, Oregon, rhododendron, ruth mine, sawmill falls, snake, whetstone mountain

Hiking Middle Santiam Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Coffin & Bachelor Mountains

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 4, 2013
1 Comment on Coffin & Bachelor Mountains

We wanted to get one last hike in on the way home from vacation and Coffin & Bachelor Mountains provided the perfect opportunity. We decided to combine these two short hikes and climb both the neighboring mountains on the same day. A two-day long spat of thunderstorms had ended, but the clouds remained in the Cascades and it quickly became clear we wouldn’t be enjoying any views from the summits on this day.

We parked at the Coffin Mt. trail head and set off on Forest Road 1168 toward the Bachelor Mt. trail. We could have driven to this trail head, but instead we decided to walk the 1.2 miles of bumpy roads and enjoy the roadside flowers.

It was an easy walk so we quickly arrived at the post (no sign) marking the start of the trail.

Since the clouds were denying us the views we had hoped for we turned our attention to the many wild flowers still on display and the abundant ripe strawberries which we sampled throughout the day.

The trail climbed up through a forested side of the mountain then turned a corner onto a drier rocky hillside. The trail then leveled out on a forested ridge. The vegetation was very damp and our shoes and pant legs were quickly soaked.

The trail split and we took the left fork toward the summit. After passing through another forested section we again found ourselves amid wildflower meadows where a few bear grass plumes remained as did some cascade lilies.

Then the trail traversed a small rock slide where a Pika stood lookout before reaching the small flat summit where a fire tower once stood.

The clouds were so thick we couldn’t even see nearby Coffin Mountain so after a quick snack we headed back down and returned to the Coffin Mountain trail head. Near the start of the trail we found a thimbleberry patch with two ripe berries. We tried the berries and unanimously decided that they were now our favorite wild berry. The trail then continued up amid what must have been a spectacular display of bear grass. Even though the bear grass was done many other flowers remained in bloom.

The number and variety of flowers increased as we made our way up the 1.5 mile trail to the staffed lookout tower.

When we reached the summit a cloud was passing over limiting visibility to several feet. From the edge of Coffin Mountains cliffs all we could see was grey making for an eerie effect. We made use of the helicopter pad and had a second breakfast.

A couple of slight breaks in the clouds gave us a view down to the forest below but it was obvious we wouldn’t be seeing any of the Cascade peaks this time around. We were anxious to get back down to the car and head home so we quickly covered the 1.5 miles back to the car. This one will be added to the list of hikes to retry when the weather is better. Happy Trails.

Facebook photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201735237249857.1073741848.1448521051&type=1
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157634901559507/

Tags Bachelor Mountain, Coffin Mountain, hiking, Oregon, Strawberries, Thimbleberry