Tag: Columbia River

Lower Archer Falls, Wind Mt., Sams-Walker, & Doetsch Ranch – 4/13/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 15, 2024
1 Comment on Lower Archer Falls, Wind Mt., Sams-Walker, & Doetsch Ranch – 4/13/2024

Our first April outing was a trip to the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge to check out four short hikes. These were all new hikes for us located within 23-miles of each other.

We began our day with me realizing that I hadn’t made sure that our NW Forest Pass was in the car since one was needed for two of our planned stops. This despite thinking that I needed to do that several times over the previous several days, including the day before when I was putting the Washington Discovery Pass we needed for Doetsch Ranch in the glovebox. Fortunately we were only in downtown Salem so we weren’t too far from home. Unfortunately the pass wasn’t in the other car or any of the places that I could think (at 5am) of where I might have put it. I decided it would probably quicker and much less stressful to purchase an ePass online for the day and look for the missing annual pass later.

Once we had our pass situation straightened out we drove to our first stop at the St. Cloud Day Use Area.

The day use area has picnic tables, a 1-mile loop trail, and a vault toilet (thus the need for a NW Forest Pass). Before exploring the day use area though we wanted to check out nearby Lower Archer Falls. To reach the trail to the falls we walked back to Hwy 14 and crossed to an unsigned trail that lead into overgrown woods. The need to cross the highway was the deciding factor on us starting our day here. We figured that there would be less traffic before 8am than there would be later in the day.
The brown strip in the grass near the center of the photo is the trail.

The trail entering the woods.

Pointer for Lower Archer Falls.

The user-maintained trail was in pretty good shape up until just before the falls where a small slide has done a bit of damage and just beyond that one of the make shift bridges seemed a little sketchy.
Bridges over Gable Creek.

Big Doug Bridge (Jan 23) over Archer Creek.

Archer Creek

After crossing the creek the trail did a short climb gaining approximately 150′ of elevation.

Trillium along the trail.

One of several of these style bridges on the way to the falls.

The “sketchy” bridge. It felt pretty solid underfoot, but the rail seemed ornamental only.

The final footbridge before the falls.

The trail extends beyond the falls climbing to a junction with the Archer Mountain Trail, but that route is reportedly less maintained with blackberry, poison oak, and nettles crowding the trail at times. We weren’t interested in that much adventure today so after enjoying the falls we headed back stopping along the way to admire the Spring wildflowers.
Steps leading up from Lower Archer Falls.

Trillium

Scouler’s corydalis

Bleeding heart

Salmonberry

Fairy bell

Fringecup

After successfully recrossing the highway we hiked the mile long St. Cloud Loop.
The start of the loop.

The trail loops around a former apple orchard.

Apple blossoms

A spur trail leading down to the Columbia River.

Devil’s Rest and Multnomah Falls (post)

Multnomah Falls

Yellow-rumped warbler.

The St. Cloud Day Use Area was the westernmost stop of our day, and from there we headed for the easternmost stop at the Wind Mountain Trailhead. The trailhead is approximately a tenth of a mile downhill beyond a quarry. We parked at the quarry where two other vehicles were parked instead of continuing down the narrow, steep, slightly rutted road.
The quarry later in the morning.

Pullout at the actual trailhead.

The Wind Mountain Trail at the trailhead.

The Wind Mountain Trail gains over 1100′ in just over a mile as it climbs to the summit of Wind Mountain. The mountain’s summit is sacred to the area’s Native American tribes and signs near the summit show the areas where hikers are allowed to be.

The climb was a good workout. While the trail didn’t appear to be all that steep our legs reminded us that it was.

There was a nice variety of wildflowers on display and at the 0.4-mile mark we came to a spur trail leading out to a rock outcrop.
Slender toothwort

Trillium

Red flowering currant

Close up of red flowering currant

Pioneer violet

Fairy slipper

Blue-eyed Mary

The spur trail down to the outcrop.

The spur trail was steep a little sketchy in spots so Heather opted to skip the viewpoint while I carefully made my way down.
Looking back up the spur trail.

Serviceberry

Augspurger Mountain (post) from the outcrop.

Dog Mountain (post)

After taking in the view I returned to the trail and continued uphill.

Largeleaf sandwort

Talus slope on Wind Mountain.

Slender toothwort along the trail.

One of the signs near the summit.

Interpretive sign with a map of the areas open to hikers.

Trillium

View west down the Columbia River. Hamilton Mountain (post), Table Mountain (post), and Greenleaf Peak (post) from L to R in the center.

Mt. Defiance (post) from the summit.

Vision quest pits on Wind Mountain.

Mt. Adams beyond Augspurger Mountain.

Mt. Adams

Looking across the Columbia River.

There was a nice breeze at the summit, and we took a well-earned break before heading down. Up till that point we’d only seen five other hikers all morning, but now that it was later we found ourselves stepping aside regularly to let the uphill traffic pass. From the quarry we headed back West to our next stop at the Sams-Walker Day Use Area.

Similar to the St. Cloud Day Use Area the area is a former homestead with picnic tables, a 1.1-mile loop trail, and vault toilet. We were surprised to find the small parking lot here almost entirely full. As it turned out group from the Friends of the Columbia River Gorge were out doing some planting.

We were able to park along the edge of the trailhead entrance and set off on the loop.

There are a couple of loop options here, but no maps to assist with navigation. We had our GPS map and a map from the Oregon Hikers Field Guide, but it turns out they are both outdated so when we veered right at the first split we planned on hiking the outer loop counterclockwise.
The first split where we went right.

A tenth of a mile later we came to another split which managed to confuse us based on the maps we had available.
To continue on the counterclockwise loop we should have turned right at the junction ahead.

We veered left thinking that the righthand trail was a connector passing through the middle of the day use area. In another tenth of a mile though we arrived at “T” junction where we realized that the left at the first junction was the outer loop going in a clockwise rotation.
We turned right at the junction now doing the loop clockwise.

Coming up on one of the picnic tables along the loop.

The Columbia River from the picnic table.

Horsetail Falls (post) from the picnic table.

We continued on loop which eventually passed through a cedar grove before bringing us back to the second junction we’d passed.

Chipping sparrow

White-crowned sparrow

Bleeding heart and fringecup

The cedar grove

Completing the first loop.

When we got back to the second junction we decided to go right and then take a left at the third junction to hike the portion of the outer loop that we’d missed. It was along this quarter mile section that we passed the group from Friends of the Columbia Gorge.

Spider on perriwinkle

After hiking all the trails here we returned to Highway 14 and drove 2 miles back to the east to turn into the Doetsch Ranch Day Use area of Beacon Rock State Park.
Kiosk at Doetsch Ranch.

A 1.1-mile paved loop circles the picnic area. We set off counterclockwise from the kiosk following the paved path for a little over 3/4 of a mile to another parking area along Beacon Rock Moorage Road.

Beacon Rock (post) from the trail.

Beacon Rock and Hamilton Mountain.

Coming up on the other parking area.

We left the loop at the road and followed the road down to the river. Next we walked up the road passing under railroad tracks to find the start of the 0.75-mile River to Rock Trail.

Woodward Creek

This trail climbs over 250′ before dropping to the River to Rock Trailhead. Along the way the trail passes around Riddle Lake and an old stone structure along with many wildflowers.
Fairy bells, vine maple, and fringecup

Columbian larkspur

Trillium and voilets

Checker (chocolate) lilies

Bleeding heart

This was just one part of the best display of chocolate lilies we’d ever seen.

There were a couple of lilies with this coloration which was new to us.

Riddle Lake

Dropping down to the River to Rock Trailhead.

Looking back up the River to Rock Trail.

We hadn’t planned on re-hiking Beacon Rock and the steady stream of people we could see from the trail going up and down the stairs reenforced that choice. We returned the way we’d come and then completed the paved loop at Doetsch Ranch to finish off our day.
Passing back by the large patch of chocolate lilies.

Our first butterfly of 2024, an echo azure.

Completing the loop.

Our mileage for the day came to 9.2 with 1.6 coming at each Sams-Walker and St. Cloud, 2.7 at Wind Mountain, and 3.3 at Doestch Ranch. The elevation total was a nearly 1700′ with nearly 1200′ coming at Wind Mountain, 185′ at St. Cloud, and 270′ on the River to Rock Trail.
St. Cloud and Lower Archer Falls

Wind Mountain

Sams-Walker

Doetsch Ranch

While none of the hikes were long enough to justify the 1:30 to 2hr drive from Salem combining them made for a more than worthy outing. When we got home it took me all of 5 minutes to remember where our annual forest pass was. I’d put in a shoebox on the work bench in our garage. Apparently 5am brain isn’t up to par with 3pm brain. Happy Trails!

Flickr: St. Cloud, Wind Mt. Sams-Walker, & Doetsch Ranch

Tags beacon rock, Beacon Rock State Park, Columbia River, Columbia River Gorge, Doetsch Ranch, Doetsch Ranch Day Use Area, Friends of the Columbia River, hiking, Lower Archer Falls, River to Rock Trail, Sams-Walker, St. Cloud Day Use Area, Washington, Wind Mountain, Wind Mountain Trail

Blue Mountains - North Hiking Oregon Trip report

Hat Rock State Park to McNary Beach – 06/11/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 19, 2023
No Comments on Hat Rock State Park to McNary Beach – 06/11/2023

We used our second extended vacation of the year to continue our quest to complete 100 featured hikes from William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” edition 3rd edtion (post). Heading into 2023 we had done 79 out of the 100 featured hikes and had planned to check off five more on this trip to Enterprise, OR. On the way to Enterprise, a 7 1/2-hour drive from Salem, we stopped at Hat Rock State Park. We had originally planned for this stop to be a quick leg stretcher and just hike the mile loop passing Hat Rock, but a couple of late changes to our planned hikes for the remainder of the week reduced our milage so we extended our visit by hiking the Lewis and Clark Commemorative Trail to McNary Beach. This was not one of Sullivan’s featured hikes but the Lewis and Clark Trail is covered in his additional hikes under the Columbia River Railroad.

There are several large parking areas in the park and we wound up parking near the picnic area.

We took a paved trail on the opposite side of the parking lot from the picnic area which climbed up to another parking lot and trailhead.

The parking area at the trailhead.

Signboards at the trailhead.

Trail map.

We headed counterclockwise on the loop which quickly brought us to Hat Rock.

The basalt feature is part of the Columbia Basalt eruptions, a series of lava flows that left basalt a mile thick in some places.

We continued on the loop detouring to a bench overlooking a pond.

Beyond the viewpoint the trail descended to a junction along the pond. Here we turned right which took us across a footbridge to a boat ramp.

Lake Wallula from the footbridge.

We crossed the parking lot at the boat ramp to a continuation of the trail which led uphill to the Lewis and Clark Commemorative Trail.

Eastern kingbird near the boat ramp.

Post ahead marking the junction with the Lewis and Clark Trail. There is also a deer below the cliffs ahead.

Zooming in on the doe.

We turned right on the Lewis and Clark Trail. The former railroad grade follows the shore of Lake Wallula on the Columbia River. The lake is created by the McNary Dam which was visible near the western end of the trail near McNary Beach.

Lake Wallula

We followed the trail a total of 4.8 miles to McNary Beach where we took a short break at a shaded picnic table. While the scenery didn’t change much the views were good and there were lots of birds along the way filling the air with their songs.
Raven with an egg it had snatched from some other bird.

Broad-leaved pepperweed (invasive)

Initially there were some houses on the left, but they gave way to the Wanaket Wildlife Area.

Most of the balsamroot was long past done but a few late blooms remained.

Dove

A fleabane

Swallow

Patterns on Lake Wallula

Western meadowlark signing from atop the cliffs.

Sign for the Wanaket Wildlife Area

Lark sparrow

Box Canyon

There were a couple of small hills but over all very little elevation gain.

Another western meadowlark.

Cormorant

Mallard

Showy milkweed and a bunch of bees.

Trail sign near McNary Beach

Our rest stop.

We returned to Hat Rock State Park the way we’d come.
Caspian tern

Hawk

Gray hairstreak on tall tumblemustard

Becker’s white also on tall tumblemustard.

Boat Rock to the left and behind Hat Rock from the Lewis and Clark Trail.

We recrossed the footbridge and followed the path along the pond to complete the loop back to the picnic area.

One of these is not like the others.

We ate lunch at a table in the picnic area before getting back in the car and driving to Enterprise. Our hike here came in at 10.9 miles with approximately 200′ of elevation gain.

The trail is mostly exposed to the Sun so it got a little warm but overall it was a pleasant hike. We only saw a hand full of others on the trails but there were plenty of people at Hat Rock Park itself and a fair number at McNary Beach. This was a good kick-off hike for our trip and we looked forward to more eastern Oregon scenery to come.

Two days after our visit (Tuesday 6/13) the Hat Rock Fire started near the SE corner of the park at the Highway 730/Highway 37 junction. Fortunately the fire spread away from the park. The fire is now 100% contained but it grew to over 16,800 acres before containment occurred. Happy (fire free) Trails!

Flickr: Hat Rock State Park

Tags Boat Rock, Columbia River, Hat Rock, Hat Rock Fire, Hat Rock State Park, hiking, Lake Wallula, Lewis and Clark Commemorative Trail, McNary Beach, Oregon, Wanaket Wildlife Area, Western Meadowlark

Columbia Gorge North Hiking Trip report Washington

Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 05/20/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 22, 2023
No Comments on Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 05/20/2023

For the second week in a row, we turned to a National Wildlife Refuge System as a hiking destination. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service currently manages 568 wildlife refuges throughout the United States with the primary statutory purpose being the conservation of native species. Where and when appropriate the refuges offer access to the public for activities such as photography, wildlife viewing, hunting, fishing, paddling, and of course hiking. We have really come to enjoy our visits the various refuges, so we were looking forward to exploring a new one to us, the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Situated just East of Washougal Washington along the Columbia River, Steigerwald Lake is part of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Complex. In addition to Steigerwald Lake the complex also includes the Franz Lake, Pierce, and Ridgefield refuges. Of those Ridgefield (post) is the only one we’d previously visited. We had hoped to visit this refuge a couple of years ago, but the refuge was undergoing an extensive restoration that kept it closed until May of last year. The refuge hosts roughly 5-miles of crushed gravel trails. Two of the trails, the Mountain View and the Refuge River, are open all year. A third trail, the Wildlife Art Trail, is partially closed October 1st through April 30th. The Refuge River Trail is open to pedestrians, bicycles, jogging, horseback riding, and leashed dogs which is rare for a refuge while the other trails are hiker (pedestrian) only. To use the Refuge River Trail joggers, cyclists, equestrians and leashed dogs enter the refuge from the West via the Captain William Clark Park Trail by either starting at Steamboat Landing or Captain William Clark Park.

Our plan was to start at the refuge trailhead and hike the trails then then take the Captain William Clark Park Trail to Steamboat Landing and back. We opted for this approach because online information showed 7am and 8am as the opening times for Captain William Clark Park and Steamboat Landing respectively while the refuge website reported that it’s gate opened at 5:30am and we’d be arriving shortly after six.
The Mountain View Trail is named so because of the view of Mt. Hood, which on this morning was hiding behind the clouds on the left side of the photo.

Map and information at the trailhead.

We followed the wide gravel trail as it climbed atop a levee separating the wetlands to the east from industrial lands to the West.

View to the East.

Looking West toward Washougal.

We followed the trail atop the levee watching on both sides for wildlife.

Mallards

A duck and a goose sharing a log.

A mallard and an egret in a channel to the West.

Ducks flying over the wetlands casting clear reflections.

Water dripping from a mallards bill.

One of several rabbits we spotted to the West.

Deer across the wetlands. (The young buck may have been sticking his tongue out at us.)

Families of geese.

Wood duck mallard

When the trail split just prior to reaching the Refuge River Trail we stayed left.

Trail sign at the junction with the Refuge River Trail.

We turned left onto the Refuge River Trail following it for 0.3-miles to the Wildlife Art Trail where we again turned left.
Sparrow

Coming in for a landing.

Red Tail Lake to the right of the Wildlife Art Trail.

Pretty sure these are the same three we saw from the Mountain View Trail.

This deer laying along the shore of Red Tail Lake was new though.

Common yellow throat

One of many great blue herons that we watched fly overhead throughout the day.

The Wildlife Art Trail passing around Redtail Lake.

Gibbons Creek is in that grass somewhere with at least one deer.

Killdeer along Redtail Lake.

Turns out the deer laying on the lake shore wasn’t alone.

Roses

Purple martins

Just beyond the Cottonwood Bridge the trail forks. To the right is the seasonal section of the loop open May 1st through September 30th. The left-hand fork dead-ends in a tenth of a mile overlooking the wetlands.

We headed left to the overlook before continuing on the loop.

Egret at Scaup Pond.

Egret with a frog meal.

Mushrooms

We got a kick out of the “Birds Only Beyond This Sign”.

Kingfisher

I had been watching a kingfisher as we arrived at the overlook and after it flew off I turned to my right and thought that there was a bittern standing just a few yards away. Then my eyes adjusted and I realized it was one of the art pieces and I’d been fooled.
We’ve only seen two bitterns on our hikes and both times we only spotted them as they flew off from the grassy cover that they’d been hiding in so I was pretty disappointed when I realized I’d been duped, but kudos to the artist because it looked real at first glance to me.

We returned to the loop and passed through the seasonal gate.

The wetlands were pretty full of water to our left but between the trail and the water was a fair number of bushes and grass which was apparently popular with the deer.

You have something in your teeth.

Spotted towhee

At least two deer in the grass.

Another American goldfinch.

We left the seasonal section of trail near the junction with Refuge River Trail where we again turned left, promptly crossing a creek on Dragonfly Bridge.

Spotted sandpiper

We followed this trail to its end at the refuge boundary.
Oregon sunshine and yarrow

The Columbia River ahead.

Viewpoint along the Columbia River.

Approaching the Lampray Brdige.

Looking back from across the bridge there was a bald eagle in the dead snag along the river.

There were lots of geese along this section of trail.

Red clover in some Oregon sunshine

Another spotted sandpiper

Steigerwald Lake in the distance with a family of geese and crow on a log in the near channel.

End of the trail.

It was about 8:15am when we turned around and it was already feeling fairly warm, but there was relief on the way in the form of some clouds coming in from the Pacific.

Savannah sparrow

Here come the clouds.

Double the eagles.

For the second week in a row we got to watch an American Kestral on the hunt.

Arriving back at the Dragon Fly Bridge and the junction with the Wildlife Art Trail.

We had planned on following the Refuge River Trail all the way to the western end of the refuge but just 500′ beyond the trail junction we rounded a corner to find the trail flooded.

Since neither of us was interested in finding out how deep the water was we turned around and simply took the Wildlife Art Trail back.

Red tailed hawk

Geese nesting atop a snag.

More deer in the grass along Gibbons Creek.

Egret at Redtail Lake.

Great blue heron at Redtail Lake.

We followed the Refuge River Trail back past the junction with the Mountain View Trail and continued West.

Purple martins

When the light catches the feathers right it’s obvious where the purple martin’s name comes from.

Common yellowthroat

House finch

A mile from the Mountain View Trail we arrived at the refuge boundary with Captain William Clark Park.

The trail follows a dike to Steamboat Landing.

The main attraction at Captain William Clark Park is Cottonwood Beach where in 1806 Lewis & Clark established a camp while they secured provisions for the return trip through the Columbia River Gorge. The Provision Camp Trail leads down to the beach and picnic area.

The Provision Camp Trail

While there had been quite a few people on the Captain William Clark Park Trail there were just a few people in this area.

While the beach is extremely popular in the Summer and especially on weekends it became evident why we weren’t seeing folks today when we reached the “beach access”.

Northern flicker

Having the beach be underwater was fine with us, it meant fewer people, but the water level became an issue when the Provision Camp Trail turned back inland toward the dike to complete its loop.
Flooded trail ahead.

With the loop cut off we went back the way we’d come and returned to the dike where we turned left to continue on to Steamboat Landing.
Black headed grosbeak

Osprey

Back on the dike.

At the other end of the Provision Camp Trail was an interpretive display with replica canoes.

The flooded section of trail from above.

It was another mile from the interpretive display to Steamboat Landing. The trail was pretty busy, and we were now in the city, but we were still managing to see a good deal of wildlife.

Turtles!

Another turtle

Common merganser

Great blue heron

Steamboat Landing

At Steamboat Landing we turned down to a viewpoint along a fishing dock.

After a brief break we headed back.
A family of geese out for a float.

While it had clouded up overhead the morning clouds that had blocked any view of Mt. Hood had given way. Unfortunately, there was enough haze in the air to essentially wash the mountain out.
The large “hump” ahead is Larch Mountain (post). Mt. Hood is a little further to Larch’s right.

Grainy proof of Mt. Hood’s existence.

Silver Star Mountain (post) to the North.

We turned left onto the Mountain View Trail and headed back to the trailhead feeling really good about the amount of wildlife we’d seen although I was still a bit bummed about being fooled by the bittern art. As we neared the end of the wetlands that changed as a pair of bitterns got into a dispute over territory. The victor landed along the water below the levee.

The American bittern in the grass.

I had the chance to take way too many pictures as the bittern posed for the people on the levee.

It was an exciting ending to a great wildlife hike. We made our way down to the now nearly full trailhead. Happy Trails!
We’d been the first car in the lot that morning.

Having to retrace our steps a couple of times due to flooded trails put our hike at 12.4 miles for the day with minimal elevation gain.

Full album (Flickr): Steigerwald Lake Wildlife Refuge

Columbia River Gorge South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Multnomah Falls to Larch Mountain – 10/10/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 14, 2022
5 Comments on Multnomah Falls to Larch Mountain – 10/10/2022

With Heather still sidelined with a bum knee and a Monday holiday that most of the rest of Oregon didn’t have off I decided to tackle the climb from Multnomah Falls to Larch Mountain. Starting at the Multnomah Falls Trailhead the hike to Sherrard Point is roughly 14.5 miles out-and-back with just over 4000′ of elevation gain. If I was feeling up to it, my plan was to extend the hike just a bit by detouring on the way back to visit Fairy and Wahkeena Falls adding another 1.7 miles and 500′ of elevation to the days total.

We had hiked to Multnomah Falls on a big loop in 2012 starting at Oneonta Trailhead (post), Larch Mountain in 2020 from Road 315 Trailhead (post), and Wahkeena Falls in 2013 from the Angels Rest Trailhead (post). Even though we had visited all of these main attractions before, this route would provide several miles of trail that I had yet to be on. Two of those trips also occurred prior to the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire which burned most of the forest along the lower portion of this hike.

I arrived at the Multnomah Falls parking lot a little before 7am and was pleased to find that I was just the fourth car.

It was still a bit before sunrise but there was enough light once I had gotten everything together to set off towards the falls.

The lack of light did nothing for my point and shoot camera but that was a small price to pay to have the falls to myself (save for a few staff preparing the grounds for the day).

Multnomah Falls

The Benson Bridge.

View from the bridge.

Multnomah Falls from the bridge.

Beyond the bridge the paved trail climbs steeply via 11 switchbacks. (I’m pretty sure they squeezed a very short 12th in there.)

The Moon beyond the Columbia River and Multnomah Falls Lodge.

Beacon Rock (post) to the east on the Washington side of the Columbia.

The second switchback.

Another view of the falls. I passed a pair of hikers along this stretch then didn’t see another person for another couple of hours.

After climbing above the falls via the switchbacks I took my first detour to visit the Multnomah Falls Viewpoint.

Viewpoint trail.

This trail descends a tenth a mile to a viewpoint above the falls.

Small fall just upstream from Multnomah Falls.

Cape Horn (post) to the right across the Columbia.

I returned to the Larch Mountain Trail and continued towards Larch Mountain. After a brief descent to cross Multnomah Creek the trail began a long gradual climb along the creek.
Bridge over Multnomah Creek.

Approaching Middle Dutchman Falls.

Middle Dutchman Falls

Upper Dutchman Falls

Dutchman Tunnel

Wiesendanger Falls is located just beyond Dutchman Tunnel.

A short distance beyond Wiesendanger Falls is Ecola Falls.

Ecola Falls

A quarter mile beyond Ecola Falls (and 2 miles from the trailhead) I arrived at the Wahkeena Trail junction.

Good signage at nearly all trail junctions, especially those closest to the trailheads.

I stayed on the Larch Mountain Trail which crossed the creek on a newer (2018) steel bridge that replaced the one burnt in the Eagle Creek Fire.

Looking down the creek at sunlight starting to hit the hillside.

A few bleeding heart were still in bloom.

Penstemon

This section is flooded in late Winter/Spring. The signed High Water Trail leads up and around it for those high water times.

Sign for the High Water Trail at its southern end.

The southern end of the High Water Trail heading uphill to the right.

I couldn’t find a name for this creek but it had a good flow, in fact it was more water than what was in Multnomah Creek upstream from their confluence.

Multnomah Creek upstream from the unnamed creek.

One point two miles from the Wahkeena Trail junction I came to the Multnomah Basin Road where the Larch Mountain Trail jogged slightly left before continuing on and entering the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness.

The forest around the wilderness boundary had mostly been spared by the fire but I quickly reentered the burn before arriving at a junction with the Franklin Ridge Trail.
Reentering the fire scar.

The Franklin Ridge Trail on the left.

A tenth of a mile from the junction the trail crossed the nearly dry East Fork Multnomah Creek on a small footbridge.

The trail continued briefly through a patch of green trees up a ridge between the East and West Forks of the creek then reentered the fire scar. Four tenths of a mile from the East Fork crossing I came to a second footbridge, this one crossing the West Fork.

Beyond this second footbridge the trail crossed a large scree field where I was taunted by the distinctive “meep” of pikas. They were seemingly all around but I wasn’t ever able to spot any of the little rock rabbits this time.

Maple changing colors

I’m sure there is at least one pika in this photo somewhere.

Looking back toward Franklin Ridge.

A short distance beyond the scree field the trail left the fire scar for good arriving at a junction with the Multnomah Creek Way Trail 1.8 miles from the Multnomah Basin Road crossing.

Arriving at the junction.

I stayed left at this junction on the Larch Mountain Trail and climbed 0.4 more miles to a road crossing of gated FR 315 (Where we had started our previous Larch Mountain hike).

I crossed the road and continued climbing. The trail steepened noticeably at first but quickly relented and resumed a more gradual grade.

I was hoping for less smoke in the air but these sunbeams told me that there was still a fair amount lingering around much as it had been for the last several days.

After 1.25 miles I passed a pair of old campsites with picnic tables on the right. I stayed right at an unsigned junction with a trail that led uphill to the left. We had come down that way on our previous trip skipping a short section of the actual Larch Mountain Trail.

Another quarter mile brought me to the Larch Mountain Trailhead
There were four cars at this trailhead.

I’d passed one person with a dog followed by a pair of ladies with another dog between FR 315 and the trailhead. I turned onto the paved Sherrard Point Trail expecting to see the other car owners along this 0.3 mile path but was pleasantly surprised to find that I had Sherrard Point all to myself.
Vine maple near the Sherrard Point Trail.

One of the factors that had led me to choose this hike for the day was due to the forecast calling for clear sky at this viewpoint whereas the other hikes I had considered were expected to have widespread haze. Technically I think the forecast was correct because if I looked straight up it looked like a blue bird day. Looking out was a different story though with smoke in every direction.

Mt. St. Helens in the smoke to the left and Mt. Adams a bit above it to the right.

Mt. Hood

Mt. Adams

Mt. St. Helens

Silver Star Mountain (post)

Unbeknownst to me at the time a new fire, the Nakia Creek Fire, had started near the Larch Mountain in Clark County, WA to the SW of Silver Star less than 24 hours earlier contributing to the smokey conditions.

It wasn’t the view I’d hoped for but it was something, at least I could see parts of several mountains. I didn’t spend much time at the viewpoint given the conditions and made my way back to the old picnic tables by crossing over Larch Mountain. I took a short break at one of the tables to drink a Gatorade I had been hauling around and put on a clean pair of socks for my return hike.
Heading down.

From the picnic table I returned to the way I’d come up to the Wahkeena Trail junction. Up to that point I had only encountered a total of eight other hikers. I had however seen dozens of woolly caterpillars.

I heard fewer pikas on my way back through the scree field but saw the same number, zero. There was an encounter with a squirrel that came crashing through the brush, jumped across the trail, and climbed a snag so that it could give me a scolding.

Lots of fungi on this tree.

Hedgenettle

Ouzel

The solitude that I had been enjoying ended abruptly at the Wahkeena Trail junction where a number of hikers could be seen heading uphill on the trail ahead and a group was effectively blocking the trail at the junction as they attempted to make sense of the trail signs.

I tried to align my photos with the hikers ahead passing behind trees.

I had made the decision to take the longer way back past Wahkeena Falls since I had been making good time and I was still feeling pretty energetic. I hadn’t really paid attention to the fact that the Wahkeena Trail gains over 300′ in the first mile as it traverses up the hillside to a junction on a ridge top.
Looking back down at Multnomah Creek.

Cape Horn again across the Columbia.

I couldn’t recall seeing these before on a hike, not this color anyway.

The Devil’s Rest Trail on the left at the ridge top.

I wound up getting distracted by the different hikers coming and going atop the ridge and turned right onto the Vista Point Trail instead of staying straight on the Wahkeena Trail which had been my planned route. In the end I was glad I did. It was only about a tenth of a mile longer to take this detour which was a bit overgrown but it also passed a viewpoint that I detoured out to.
I should have followed the Wahkeena Trail Pointer here.

Instead I followed the pointer for Wahkeena 1.0.

Vista Point Trail

I could see my car in the parking lot from the viewpoint.

There is the trail I had intended to be coming down arriving at the junction with the other end of the Vista Point Trail.

The Vista Point Trail was in pretty good shape (other than the overgrowth) save for the final 10-20 feet which was now part of a stream bed. The combination of slick wet rocks and it being downhill made for a tricky descent to the junction.
Looking back at the Vista Point Trail from the junction.

After successfully navigating the wet rocks I turned down the Wahkeena Trail. I immediately was glad that I’d chosen to come this way as I had forgotten how scenic Wahkeena Creek is flowing through the narrow gorge. Even after the fire it was still beautiful.
Lots of tight switchbacks to get down the gorge.

Fairy Falls

Looking out across the Columbia River.

A half mile down this trail I took a short detour to Lemmons Viewpoint.

Cape Horn (again)

The Wahkeena Trail from Lemmons Viewpoint.

Another half mile descent brought me to the base of Wahkeena Falls where I was happy to find only a small number of other hikers.
The poison oak was really colorful.

Approaching Wahkeena Falls.

Wahkeena Falls

Wahkeena Falls.

Looking back at Wahkeena Falls.

There were plenty of folks at the trailhead as I passed by before hopping onto the Multnomah Falls Return Trail.

One last look at Wahkeena Falls through the trees.

It was roughly half a mile back to the now busy lodge at Multnomah Falls and another tenth or so to my car.

A line of cars on Historic Highway 30 in front of the lodge.

This hike came to 16.2 miles with around 4500′ of elevation gain. A tough but scenic outing with highlights at the start, mid-point, and end to help take the mind off the body.

I was on my way home at 1:45pm and looking forward to spending some time with our new kittens. After losing Buddy in 2020 (post) and Hazel in 2021 (post) we’d been cat-less for over a year. With Heather unable to hike it seemed to the perfect time to open our home up again and on Monday the 3rd Heather picked up Merry and Pippin from the Humane Society.
Merry (black) is 3 mos. and Pippin is 2 mos. Both boys from separate litters.

They have been keeping us plenty busy. Merry is a snuggler while Pippin is a ball of chaotic energy until he runs out, then he likes to snuggle too. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Multnomah Falls to Larch Mountain

SW Washington SW Washington Coast Trip report Washington

Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer – 06/11/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 12, 2022
2 Comments on Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer – 06/11/2022

Another rainy weekend was in the forecast which had us questioning whether or not it was worth heading out. Our original plan had involved a hike with mountain views so we wanted to save that for a day with a clearer forecast. This had us looking for something that wasn’t view dependent. The Julia Butler Hansen Refuge a.k.a the Columbian White-Tailed Deer Refuge fit that bill and was on our schedule during the month of June in 2025. I had it penciled in for June due to one of the trails in the refuge, the Center Road Trail, only being open to hiking from June through September. While a refuge hike is typically okay on a rainy overcast day it had poured Friday and we were expecting Saturday to be similar and weren’t keen on driving over two hours to be drenched for an entire 12 mile hike. Friday evening we had all but decided to take the weekend off but just to be sure I pulled up the NOAA forecast for the refuge. To our surprise there was just a 10% chance of showers in the morning followed by partly sunny skies and a high in the low 60s. That sold us and we got our packs ready for a 5am departure the next morning.

After a brief conversation with a very friendly Washington State Trooper (I completely missed a 45mph sign and was given a warning) we pulled into the refuge HQ (open Mon-Fri 7:30am – 4pm). We had gotten the hike for this idea from the “more hikes” section of Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range” guidebook as well as an entry in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide describes a 6.1 mile loop, which for reasons that will become evident later, is no longer possible. (I have contacted both with updated information.)

A damp and cloudy morning.

Swallow

Our plan had been to to the described loop but after reaching the far end of the loop we were going to do an out-and-back along Steamboat and Brooks Slough Roads to add a little hiking time since a six mile loop would likely violate our rule of not having our driving time be greater than our hiking time on day trips. From the HQ we walked out of the parking lot onto Steamboat Slough Road and turned right crossing Indian Jack Slough. The loop description was to then turn right through a gate into the refuge shed/garage yard.
Indian Jack Slough and the garage from Refuge HQ.

The gate, including a secondary pedestrian gate were padlocked and there were “Area Closed” signs on the driveway gate. This was a bit unexpected, but shouldn’t have been if we’d have read the Refuge website more closely. What we discovered after our hike was that at some point a 0.3 section of Center Road, from Steamboat Slough Road west, had been closed to the public making the loop impossible and leaving the Center Road Trail as a 5 mile round trip out-and-back. At this point though we weren’t sure what was going on so we decided to simply head out Steamboat Slough Road and were prepared to skip Center Road and make the hike a simple out-and-back.

Beyond the shed/garage there was a living quarters and just beyond that we spotted the first Columbian White-tailed deer of the day.

We followed this road for 2.3 miles to the start of the White-tail Trail. It is possible to drive to this trail and park at the nearby dead end of Steamboat Slough Road.
Elochoman Slough

The first of many bald eagles we spotted (atop the dead tree across the slough).

Working on drying out.

Lots of non-native yellow flag iris in the area.

Little birds such as this sparrow were everywhere but rarely sat still.

A different eagle waiting to dry.

There are at least 5 birds in the tree including four goldfinches.

A male goldfinch takes off.

The morning clouds were starting to break up as forecasted.

One of many great blue herons.

A male wood duck.

Another great blue heron with the female wood duck on the log below.

The first of several osprey.

Cattle in a field along the road.

Geese

Snail crossing the road.

Maybe a yellow warbler. I had to use the digital zoom to get between the branches so it’s not the clearest photo.

The start of the mile long White-tail trail which travels along a setback levee.

There was a pole with a bunch of bird nests hung from it near the start of the trail. We’d never seen one like it before.

It turned out to be nests for purple martins, a bird that as far as we know we hadn’t seen before.

Bald eagle in the same area.

Slug on lupine

A different type of lupine.

Lupine, daisies and yellow gland-weed.

Bumble bee needing to dry out.

We spotted more white-tailed deer along the levee, a pair of young bucks.

A look at the white tail. He gave us a better look but in that one he was also doing his business so we stuck with this uncentered, slightly blurry version.

There was also a great blue heron sitting in a nearby snag.

While we were keeping an eye on the bucks and the heron to the inland side of the levee there were geese, ducks, and various small birds all around us.
Guessing marsh wren.

Ducks

Goose with goslings.

Common yellow throat.

Male gadwall?

We eventually tore ourselves away from the wildlife bonanza and continued on.

There was pretty much non-stop bird song throughout the day.

Traffic on the Columbia River.

The Santa Maria on the Columbia.

Female brown-headed cowbird?

Flowers along the levee.

American robin

Red-winged blackbird chasing a heron.

When we reached the end of the White-tail Trail we turned right onto Steamboat Slough Road. You can also park near this end of the trail but you must come from the west as Steamboat Slough Road is missing a section (which is why you hike on the levee).

We followed this two-lane version of the road for approximately 1.25 miles to a fork and turned right on Brooks Slough Road. After just 0.2 miles we passed the western end of the Center Road Trail. This end was clearly open. We talked ourselves into believing that either we missed where we were actually supposed to go or that they just hadn’t unlocked the gate yet since we were still unaware of the updated rules for the trail and decided that we would take this trail on our way back and we could do the loop after all.
Note the sign does not indicate that you cannot reach the HQ from the road, it simply says it is 5 miles round trip. Online it adds that hikers must exit the trail the way they entered.

Roses along the road.

Muskrat

Warbler

Osprey

Brooks Slough Road junction.

We turned right and followed this narrow one-lane road along Brooks Slough. For the first mile it ran parallel to Highway 4 then it veered away becoming a quieter walk.

Another eagle sitting near the top of the first tall tree on the far side of the slough.

Interesting shrub along the road.

The partly sunny skies had indeed materialized.

Kingfisher

California scrub jay

White pelicans

Some sort of ornamental shrub/tree but it had cool flowers.

Turkey vulture

Couldn’t tell what type of ducks they were.

We followed the road for approximately 2 miles to what was shown on the GPS as Alger Creek.
Alger Creek somewhere in the grass flowing into Brooks Slough.

Pond on the other side of the road.

Black pheobe?

After a short break we headed back. It was actually starting to feel warm now but we distracted ourselves with even more wildlife.

Red-tailed hawk

American goldfinch

Swallowtail

Cedar waxwing with a salmonberry.

Goat lounging in a driveway across the highway. There had actually been a black goat in nearly the same spot on our first pass.

Caterpillar

When we got back to Center Road we reread the signage and stuck to our plan to try and complete the loop.

We had been discussing all the different wildlife that we’d seen already and I mentioned that the only thing missing was a turtle. Not long after starting down Center Road I noticed something brown (that didn’t look like a cow) in the distance near the tree line. As I was staring at it a large set of antlers raised from the grass and I realized it was a bull elk.
The elk is in the center of the photo near the tree line.

We watched him as he munched on grass for quite a while before moving on. At that point I said something to the effect of forgetting about the turtle because that was better. It wasn’t too much longer before we came to some more wetlands. Lo and behold there was a turtle.

Many pictures followed before resuming our hike.

Heather spotted a pair of egrets in a distant tree which proved impossible to get a decent picture of.
Here is a not so decent picture of the egrets.

We also startled up a pair of American bitterns.
One of the bitterns in flight.

After 2 miles we spotted a set of posts with signs where we finally understood that the Center Road Trail no longer runs the entire length of the roadbed now.

We were less than half a mile from the HQ which was visible from where we were but we obeyed the signs and turned around. It would have been about a perfect distance for us as we were at the 12.1 mile mark when we had gotten to the closed area. Now we had to backtrack two miles on Center Road before the mile long White-tail Trail and the 2.3 mile road walk back to the HQ parking lot. Not only was this a lot longer than we’d planned but the surface had been mostly paved and what wasn’t paved was packed gravel road beds so our feet were really protesting as we retraced our steps.

Heather spotted this garter snake along Center Road. Another animal to add to the days list.

Back at the White-tail Trail.

It had cooled down again which provided some relief as we trudged back.

A second turtle

Mallards

Way more water in the afternoon.

Another kingfisher. It was in the same tree as the heron had been earlier that morning when we were watching the bucks.

Family swim

By Steamboat Slough Road we had all kinds of blisters/hotspots on our feet.

Arriving back at the refuge HQ.

I got to the car first, changed shoes and drove back to pick up Heather who was only about a quarter mile behind me. My GPS read 17.5 miles of almost entirely flat hiking.

Fortunately I had thought to bring my parents camera which has more powerful zoom than my point and shoot and also our binoculars which Heather had been using since there was so much wildlife to be seen. We encountered a couple of other hikers on the White-tail Trail as well as a pair of cyclists and several cars along the various roads but for the most part it was a fairly peaceful (long) hike. The one thing we kept coming back to was that if we hadn’t done the hike the we did we wouldn’t have seen some of the wildlife that we encountered. Was it worth the blisters though? You betcha – Happy Trails!

Flickr: Columbia White-tailed Deer Refuge

Columbia Gorge North Hiking Washington

Columbia Hills State Park – 4/17/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 21, 2021
2 Comments on Columbia Hills State Park – 4/17/2021

We joined the masses of people heading to the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge to catch the wildflower display which may be brief this year due to a combination of a lack of moisture and higher than normal (what is normal anymore?) temperatures. While we try to avoid crowds the hikes in Columbia Hills State Park are a featured hike in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” (Hike #2 in the 3rd edition) and one that Heather had missed out on in 2015 when I was joined by my parents (post). Knowing that word was out on social media that the bloom was on, we left even a little earlier than typical in hopes of minimizing the number of encounters with others. We followed the same order that I had done the hikes in during my first visit stopping first at the Horsethief Butte Trailhead.
Mt. Hood from the trailhead.

We followed the trail .3 miles to a junction where, unlike the first visit, we went right first following the trail around to the south side of Horsethief Butte where a fence announced the area beyond was closed.

Death camas

Western stoneseed

20210417_065844 Fiddleneck

Large-flower tritelia

Mt. Hood beyond Horsethief Lake

Standing at the fence looking east.

Wren

Horsethief Butte

Lupine

We then walked back about a quarter of a mile to a sign at an opening in the rock formation.

Here we turned and headed up into the rocks.

There is an optional side trail to a viewpoint inside the formation but we wanted to save the time and get to our second stop sooner rather than later. We had been the only car at the trailhead but half an hour later there were another half dozen cars (mostly rock climbers) with more arriving.

We descended from Horsethief Butte and after a short detour due to a wrong turn at a junction we arrived back at our and drove east on SR 14 for 0.7 miles to the Crawford Oaks Trailhead. While the trailhead opened in May of 2014 my parents I had not parked here opting instead to park at the Dalles Mountain Ranch making this a primarily new hike for me too.

There was a small handful of cars here but not bad (it was a different story later). We followed the Entry (Access) Road Trail uphill form the parking lot past the Ice Aged Floods Viewpoint.
Horsethief Butte and Mt. Hood from the viewpoint.

After a 180 degree turn the Entry Road approached Eightmile Creek near Eightmile Creek Falls.

Purple cushion fleabane

Balsamroot

The road turned uphill along the creek where several Lewis’s woodpeckers were flying from oak to oak.

Western bluebird

We followed the road down and across Eightmile Creek to an interpretive sign at a junction.

Ground squirrel

This was the start of a couple different loop options. We chose to take the left fork which was the Military Road Trail. Going this direction is the shortest route to the Crawford Ranch Complex plus it would mean that we would be heading toward Mt. Hood as we looped around on the Vista Loop Trail (the right hand fork here). The Military Road Trail climbed away from the creek reaching another junction after .3 miles. Here we forked left again leaving the Military Road for the Eightmile Trail. (Sticking to the Military Road would have led us to the Vista Loop Trail in .4 miles.)

Lupine, balsamroot and parsley

The Crawford Ranch Complex ahead to the left.

Phlox

The Eightmile trail dropped to cross a smaller stream before finally returning to Eightmile Creek near a fence line.

Approaching the fence line.

While there was a bit of a break in the flowers at this fence line there was no shortage of birds.

Yellow-rumped warbler

Back of a scrub jay

The trail then veered away from the creek and came to another junction after passing through a fence. The flowers here were spectacular and both Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson were visible.

Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson

At the junction we went right on the Ranch Route Trail eschewing a visit to what looked like a very busy Crawford Ranch Complex. The Ranch Route meandered for 1.4 miles through the flowered covered hillsides before arriving at a junction with the Vista Loop and Military Road Trails.

Yakima milk-vetch

We turned left on the Vista Loop Trail following it a total of 1.8 miles back to the the junction near Eightmile Creek.
The Columbia River, Horsethief Butte, and Mt. Hood

Death camas

Large head clover

Approaching the junction.

We followed the Entry/Access Road back down to the now packed trailhead.
Hawk watching all the hikers.

A different hawk? watching the goings on.

Western fence lizard watching everything.

Poppy, manroot, and red-stemmed storksbill

The crowded trailhead

This stop clocked in at 6.9 miles and 900′ of elevation gain.

We opened up a spot here and drove west on SR-14 to Dalles Mountain Road where we turned north (right) and drove 3.5 miles to a fork near the Crawford Ranch Complex. Here we turned left heading uphill for another 1.4 miles (passing a number of hikers walking up along the road) to the Stacker Butte Trailhead. There were a fair number of cars but a few spots were open.

While both were part of the Crawford Ranch, Stacker Butte is not part of the Columbia Hills State Park but is part of the Columbia Hills Natural Area Preserve.

The hike here is pretty straight forward following the gravel road approximately 2.6 miles to some towers on the 3220′ summit of the butte. The flowers were thickest along the lower section of the hike with some that we had not seen down lower including paintbrush, daggerpod and some sicklepod rockcress.

Yakima milk-vetch

Paintbrush amid the balsamroot.

Phlox

Big-seed biscuitroot

Sicklepod rockcress

20210417_122704

Sagebrush false dandelions

20210417_121519 Daggerpod

Daggerpod

Slender toothwort?

Shooting stars in front of a little blue-eyed Mary

20210417_122308 Large head clover

Popcorn flower

Larkspur

20210417_131353 Woodland stars

At the summit we were treated to a clear view of Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, and Goat Rocks to the north.

Mt. Adams

Mt. Rainier

Goat Rocks

After a little rest on top we headed down admiring the flowers along the way and watching for wildlife too.
Swallowtail

Western fence lizards

White crowned sparrow

Another sparrow

Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood as we neared the trailhead.

The three hikes came to a combined 13.2 miles and 2240′ of elevation gain which is why we didn’t just hike up the road from the ranch complex. It’s a little too early in the season for a 16 mile, 3000′ hiking day. Maybe in a couple more months. Happy Trails!

Tags balsamroot, columbia hills state park, Columbia River, Columbia River Gorge, Crawford Oaks Trailhead, Crawford Ranch, Eightmile Creek, Eightmile Creek Trail, hiking, horsethief butte, Lewis's Woodpecker, Military Road, Ranch Route Trail, sicklepod rockcress, stacker butte, Vista Loop Trail, Washington, Western Meadowlark, wildflowers

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Three Hikes on Sauvie Island

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 13, 2019
2 Comments on Three Hikes on Sauvie Island

Our latest outing was a three stop trip to Sauvie Island in the Columbia River. After purchasing our $10/day parking permit online from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife we headed for our fist stop at the Wapato State Greenway.

Here a short loop trail passes around Virginia Lake and along the Multnomah Channel.

We set off on the entrance trail which quickly split (not shown on the map). We veered left on a mowed path through some grass.

Our plan had been to visit the viewing platform first thing but this left fork was not the true entrance trail and we wound up joining the loop trail a tenth of a mile south of the side trail to the platform.

We turned left onto the loop trail deciding to visit the platform near the end of our hike instead.

We passed a view of Virginia Lake and arrived at a viewing blind after a tenth of a mile.

Other than the occasional red-winged blackbird sighting we didn’t see anything from the blind on this morning. We continued on the loop ignoring a spur trail to Hadley’s Landing Dock just before arriving at the Multnomah Channel.

The trail passed through woods with occasional openings to grassy meadows. There were a few woodland flowers here and there but the most interesting thing was the wildlife. We saw a lot of birds and couple of shy rabbits. Most of the birds were busy foraging in the bushes or flitting from tree to tree so we didn’t have a lot of luck with pictures. We did appreciate the many songs they were singing as they made their morning rounds.

Black-headed grosbeak

We also spotted what we at first identified as a pair of deer under a large oak.

As we watched them disappear into the brush we kept noticing more deer and ended up counting five of them.

After passing the picnic shelter we turned right down the side trial to the viewing platfrom.

We had more luck with the wildlife from this viewpoint spotting a couple of different types of ducks, a great blue heron, and a pied-billed grebes.

Mallards with a great blue heron in the distance.

Cinnamon teal and a mallard

Pied-billed grebe

We had never heard of a pied-billed grebe and were wondering what it was. Then we took the time to read the interpretive sign at the platform.

After leaving the platform we headed back to the car. Along the way we spotted another new bird to us. A Black-throated Gray Warbler. She was hopping around on the trail gathering something for a nest it appeared so the photos are a bit blurry.

Our second stop was at Oak Island,technically a peninsula. It is part of the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area and only open to hikers from April 16 through the end of September.
From the parking area a mowed path leads past a large signboard for .3 miles to the start of a loop.

The rabbits were a little less shy here.

We had a few cattle cross our path prior to reaching the start of the loop as well.

We actually missed the start of the loop which was marked by a post with a hiker symbol on it.

We stayed straight on the obvious track past this sign as the path leading right was so faint we hadn’t noticed it. Continuing in this clockwise direction the trail leads through open grass with Steelman Lake to the west.

A number of great blue herons could be seen flying over the water and along the lakes shore we spotted a pair of white pelicans and a family of Canada geese.

The distinctive call of red-winged blackbirds was prevalent.

After passing through a gate the grass grew taller and the trail began to turn away from Steelman Lake. Here there were many butterflies and a few blooming camas.
Nature Trial at Oak Island Looking back at the gate.

Just before turning south near Sturgeon Lake a .1 mile spur path to the left led to the narrows, a narrow channel connecting Steelman and Sturgeon Lakes.
Looking toward Steelman Lake from the Narrows.

The Narrows. Another lake, Mud Lake, is on the other side of the trees.

As we were returning to the loop we spotted a pretty yellow warbler and a wood duck.

Shortly after rejoining the loop Heather spotted a path down to a small beach along Sturgeon Lake where both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams were visible but due to the lighting very hard to make out.
Mt. Adams (it is really there)

Mt. St. Helens

We had been similarly unsuccessful at getting a picture of Mt. Hood earlier from the Narrows. We finished up the loop and returned to our car ready to head to our final stop at the Warrior Point Trailhead. A coyote raced across the road near the parking are for the clothing optional Collin’s Beach. We’re not sure what it had been up to but it looked like it thought it was being chased. We had some fun imagining it had tried to run off with someones clothes.

After that excitement we parked at the trailhead and before setting off walked down the the sandy beach along the Columbia River.

As we began hiking a bald eagle flew overhead.

The trail had occasional views of the River as well as Mt. St. Helens which was now a little easier to make out.

Mt. St. Helens and an Osprey nest.

Our visit to the Island had already been on of the most diverse for birds and the Warrior Rock Lighthouse Trail just added to this. After the bald eagle and osprey we spotted a pair of American goldfinches.
Female

Male

These were followed by a Bullock’s Oriole and a yellow throated warbler.

The trail itself varied as it spent some time in the woods, some along the river, and other passing through tall grass.

Considering the combination of grass, nearby water, and warm sunshine it seemed like the perfect conditions for snakes but we only spotted one.

After three miles we arrived at a sandy beach near the Warrior Rock Lighthouse

Mt. St. Helens again.

After a short rest on the beach we continued north on the sand to an old concrete gun mount.

This is where things got a little interesting. Our guidebook said to turn inland here on a small access road to a T-shaped junction. The map accompanying the description on Oregonhikers.org appeared to show the track continuing north from this point along the river. We couldn’t see any sign of the small access road so we continued north along the beach until it was no longer possible. We faced the choice of backtracking or following a faint path inland to try and connect to an old road bed that would take us to Warrior Point. We headed inland.

There was a faint path, we’re guessing it was more of a game trail than anything but it wouldn’t have been too hard to follow except for all the blackberry bushes. We managed to push through what turned out to only be a tenth of a mile to arrive at the grassy road bed.

A brief detour right led us to a viewpoint at Warrior Point of the town of St. Helens.

1905 Columbia County Courthouse

We followed the old road bed back from Warrior Point for a half mile where it met the Warrior Point Trail near the beach at the lighthouse.

We had only seen a handful of other hikers all day but on the way back to the car (it was only now a little after 11am) we passed a number of people heading toward the lighthouse. We were once again thankful to have gotten an early start.

Our distances for the day were 2.6 miles at Wapato Greenway, 3.3 miles at Oak Island, and 7.3 miles at Warrior Point for a total of 13.2. It had been a great day for wildlife and another enjoyable set of hikes in the Portland area. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Sauvie Island Hikes

Tags american goldfinch, black-headed grosbeak, black-throated warble, Bullock's Oriole, Columbia River, hiking, Oak Island, Oregon, Pied-billed grebe, Sauvie Island, Steelman lake, Sturgeon Lake, Wapato Greenway, Warior Point, Warrior Rock, Warrior Rock Lighthouse, yellow warbler, yellow-throated warbler

Columbia River Gorge South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Lower Deschutes River – SE Oregon Vacation Day 1

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 18, 2018
3 Comments on Lower Deschutes River – SE Oregon Vacation Day 1

It’s been awhile since our last post but we have a good excuse, we were busy hiking. Eight straight days of hiking in fact. 😊

For the last two years we’ve had plans to visit SE Oregon in May but each time our vacation week arrived so did rain in the forecast. Since May wasn’t working out we decided to give June a try. A dry Spring had things looking promising but a system moved in at the end of the week prior to our leaving that had us a little worried. There was rain in the Willamette Valley (and snow in Cascades) but our destinations looked like they would escape mostly dry. At least dry enough that we could rearrange a few of our planned hikes to let things dry a bit before attempting the drives that would be impassible if wet.

Before we could even attempt those hikes we had to get to SE Oregon. Conventional wisdom would have had us driving through Bend via Santiam Pass but we aren’t conventional. First the Sisters Rodeo was happening which meant even more traffic than usual in that little town. More importantly we wanted to squeeze a hike in on the way to Bend were we planned to stay with Heather’s parents again.

Following up on our recent hike along the Deschutes River at Macks Canyon (post) we decided to kick off our eight days of hiking at the Deschutes River Recreation Area near the mouth of the river. From Salem we drove north to Portland and took Interstate 84 ten miles east of The Dalles to the park. It seems a bit odd to kick off a SE Oregon vacation with a hike near the northern border of the State, but it’s a hike we hadn’t done yet and it was sort of on the way.

We parked at the end of the park and walked across a grassy area to a trail sign at the far end where we followed a pointer for the River Trail.

Unlike the trail at Macks Canyon, the River Trail stayed close to the water.

We stayed right at junctions sticking to the River Trail where we passed several groups of Canada geese.

The trail did climb away from the river to cross over a rocky area at the 1.5 mile mark.

Pigeons kept an eye on us as we passed the rocky cliffs and a family of mergansers sat on a rock in the river below.

The trail improved again beyond the rocks and it passed below a rock arch.

A short distance beyond the arch we passed Rattlesnake Rapids.

Up to this point we’d seen a few flowers and an interesting dragon fly.

Showy milkweed

Chicory

Blanket flower

After 3 miles on the River Trail we passed by a 10 acre wheat field.

At the far end of the wheat field we followed an old dirt roadbed uphill to a gravel road where we turned right, crossed small Gordon Creek and veered right again on another dirt roadbed down to a primitive camp site.

After checking out a small beach where one could wade in the river we headed back to the gravel road.

The road led up to the same old railroad grade that we had followed on our hike at Macks Canyon.

Here the grade is in good shape and used by bicyclists as well as hikers.

We followed the old railroad grade for a mile and a half from the primitive camp to a signboard.

The unmarked Ferry Springs Trail led off to the right a little before the sign and use paths to the left of the sign led to a view of the rock arch from above.

After checking out the arch we took the Ferry Springs Trail uphill.

This trail gained nearly 500′ as it climbed up and then traversed the hillside above the Deschutes River.

As we gained elevation we also gained more wildflowers, primarily yellow blanket flower and purple lupine.

Just over three quarters of a mile along this trail we came to Ferry Springs where we crossed a brushy creek.

A lizard greeted us on the far side of the creek.

The trail then passed a less than informative sign and passed through an old fence.

Beyond the fence the trail began to descend back down toward the river. From here we had a good view of the river’s confluence with the Columbia.

Near the end, the trail follows a section of the Oregon Trail.

After almost 1.75 miles on the Ferry Springs Trail we arrived back at the railroad grade. Here we had the choice of following it back to the parking area or continuing on hiker only trails. We opted for the hiker trail and flowed a pointer on the far side of the bike path.

This trail traversed the hillside between the River Trail and the bike path and brought us back to the start of the River Trail in just under three quarters of a mile.

The hike came in just over 8 miles which was a nice way to start a week of hiking. It had been pretty windy (not unusual for the area) but the rain had stayed to the west which we took as an encouraging sign for the rest of our trip. We left the Deschutes and headed east to Biggs Junction where we took Highway 97 south to Bend and had a nice visit with Heather’s parents before heading further east (and south) for more adventures. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Lower Deschutes River

Tags Columbia River, Deschutes River, Deschutes River Recreation Area, deschutes river trail, Ferry Springs Trail, hiking, Merganser, Oregon, Oregon Trail, Rattlesnake Rapids, Rock Arch

Columbia River Gorge South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Memaloose Hills & Wygant Viewpoint

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date April 30, 2018
6 Comments on Memaloose Hills & Wygant Viewpoint

We officially kicked off our 2018 hiking season with a pair of hikes toward the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge. We started our day off by driving east of Mosier on I84 and parking at the Memaloose Rest Area. At the western end of the rest area a gated service road serves as the trailhead.

We followed the forested old road uphill past some old structures.

Arnica

20180428_070754 Fairy slippers

As we climbed the forest began to give way to an oak grassland.

The old road passed by the Memaloose Pinnacles, a group of basalt towers.

Just over a half mile from the rest area the trail left the old road. Here a small viewpoint looked across the Columbia River to the Coyote Wall/Catherine Creek (2016 trip report) areas of Washington.

We turned uphill to the left climbing up toward the Memaloose Overlook.

Our pace was slowed as we searched the grassland for different wildflowers. It felt good to get reacquainted with our old friends some of which we hadn’t seen in quite some time.
20180428_072117 Paintbrush

20180428_072134 Desert parsley

20180428_071825 Larkspur

20180428_072234 Vetch

20180428_072416 Lupine

Broomrape

20180428_072846 Shooting star

20180428_072906 Manroot

We arrived at the overlook a mere .8 miles from the rest area.

The overlook is along Highway 30 which makes it a possible alternate trailhead.

There was a large patch of fiddleneck near the overlook.
20180428_073421

20180428_073259

After admiring the view from the overlook we crossed the highway and continued uphill.

The flower show not only continued but it picked up as we climbed.
Prairie star

Balsamroot

Even some of the seed heads were photogenic.
20180428_073806

The forecast had called for a chance of showers but the showers weren’t materializing and instead we got some nice sun breaks.

With all the flowers we had been discussing there were some we had yet to spot. One such flower was the chocolate lily which we suddenly began seeing with some frequency.

The star of the hike though was the balsamroot which was thick in areas.

The trail crossed a small stream which we hopped across.

Not far from the stream crossing was a four-way junction. The right hand path would have eventually led to the top of 957′ Chatfield Hill which on a clearer day would have offered views of Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood along with wildflower meadows. The left hand path would have led to nowhere in particular. We went straight and headed up 822′ Marsh Hill.

As we began our climb a pair of hawks flew overhead engaged in an aerial duel. I did my best to capture some of it but it’s not easy with a point and shoot camera.

Much of Marsh Hill was covered in yellow balsamroot with purple lupine and white large-flowerd triteleia scattered about.

From the hill we could make out part of Mt. Hood to the south through the clouds.

To the east the grassy southern slope of Tom McCall Point (2015 trip report) was easy to identify.

The green hillsides of the Washington side of the gorge rose above the blue waters of the Columbia River to the north.

To the west was nearby Chatfield Hill.

We stuck around on the summit for awhile hoping that there would be enough of a break in the clouds for Mt. Hood to pop out but it soon became clear that wasn’t going to happen. We decided to save Chatfield Hill for another year given the clouds weren’t going to let the mountains come out and play. We returned the way we’d come. We only saw a few other hikers, no rattlesnakes (they are prevalent here), didn’t notice any ticks, and stayed out of the poison oak.In addition to the dueling hawks we did see countless smaller birds.

This first hike came in just under 4 miles which is why we’d had a second stop planned. That next stop was at the Mitchell Point Trailhead. The order in which we chose to do these hikes proved inconvenient from a driving perspective as both trailheads are only accessible by eastbound traffic on I84. In addition neither trailhead provides access to westbound I84 so in order to reach the Mitchell Point Trailhead from the rest area we headed east on the interstate to the Rowena exit (76) where we could get back onto the interstate headed west. We then had to drive by Mitchell Point to the Viento State Park exit (56) where we again exited the interstate only to immediately return heading in the other direction. After driving up and down I84 we arrived at the trailhead right around 10am.

There are a couple of trails that start from the Mitchell Point Trailhead. The Mitchell Point Trail climbs to the top of Mitchell Point in just over a mile and the Wygant Trail which leads to the top of Wygant Peak. Our trail for this visit was the Wygant Trail although our goal was not the view-less peak itself which is 4.2 miles from the trailhead. We were headed for the last good viewpoint along the trail which was only approximately 3 miles up the trail.

The Wygant Trail is located to the west of the parking area and begins along an abandoned section of the Historic Columbia River Highway.

We followed an old road bed for a quarter mile then followed a trail sign when the road veered left.

We soon rejoined the road for another half mile before turning left at another sign.

The Trailkeepers of Oregon have been working on this trail which was one of the earlier trails to reopen after the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. The fire didn’t reach this particular trail but it had been closed none the less. A work party from TKO had been out the day before working on the trail and their efforts did not go unnoticed.

There is a lot of poison oak along the majority of the trial so a big thank you to the volunteers that have been clearing the brush. The difference between the sections that they had worked and those that had not was huge.

After a mile we spotted a sign for the abandoned Chetwoot Loop to the left of the trail.

Soon after the sign for the Chetwoot Loop we arrived a ridge above Perham Creek.

We chose not to follow the viewpoint sign here due to the amount of poison oak seemingly lining the trail in that direction so we turned left and headed down to Perham Creek. A footbridge had spanned the creek up until 2016 when a slide washed it out.

Interestingly it didn’t appear that it was the creek that did the bridge in but rather a slide down a small gully on the east side of the creek.

A decent sized log served as an adequate replacement for the bridge allowing us to cross dry footed.

The trail then climbed away from the creek, at times fairly steeply. As we passed through a brushy clearing we spotted a spotted towhee.

We continued on watching closely for the ever present poison oak arriving at a lower viewpoint after a little over a mile and a half. Here we had a nice view of Mitchell Point to the east.

Despite this not being a wildflower hike like our previous stop there were some flowers present, including varieties we hadn’t see in the Memaloose Hills.
Vanilla Leaf

Valerian

Ballhead waterleaf

Trillium

At the 2.5 mile mark a side trail led to a middle viewpoint.

Dog Mountain

This viewpoint was covered in pink plectritis.

Just uphill from this viewpoint we passed the upper junction with the Chetwoot Loop Trail.

From the junction it was just another .6 miles to our goal at the upper viewpoint. It was pretty good climb during which we passed the only other hiker we’d see on this trail. This section of trail had not been cleared yet and was somewhat crowded by the poison oak. I also had picked up a couple ticks which were flicked off. The good news was another TKO work party was planned for the following Friday.

The upper viewpoint had a nice view west down the Columbia River and of Wind and Dog Mountain (2016 trip report) on the Washington side of the gorge.

We were a bit surprised to see what appeared to be a grass widow blooming at the viewpoint.

There was also a couple of clumps of phlox present.

We headed back down to the trailhead dodging the poison oak and keeping an eye out for any more ticks (one did manage to make it all they back home with us before being apprehended). We had briefly considered doing the Mitchell Point Trail before we’d started on the Wygant Trail but that idea had completely left the building by the time we arrived back at the trailhead.

We have plans for that trail at a future date. We did however walk over to the Mitchell Point Overlook before heading home where the forested top of Wygant Peak could be seen to the west.

It was a nice way to start our season. A total of 10.2 miles hiked with a decent, but not insane, amount of climbing to get us started. The views and the wildflowers had been good and aside from a couple of sprinkles while on the Wygant Trail the weather had exceeded our expectations. The difference in the terrain and vegetation between these two hikes was also enjoyable given that they are less than miles apart as the crow flies. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Memaloose Hills & Wygant Viewpoint

Tags balsamroot, Chetwood Loop, columbia gorge, Columbia River, Columbia River Gorge, hiking, lupine, Marsh Hill, Memaloose Hills, Memaloose Overlook, Memaloose Pinnacles, Memaloose Rest Area Trailhead, Memaloose State Park, Mitchell Point, Mitchell Point Overlook, Mitchell Point Trailhead, Oregon, Wygant Peak, Wygant Trail

Hiking Northern Coast Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Astoria and Fort Stevens State Park

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 13, 2017
3 Comments on Astoria and Fort Stevens State Park

We continued our year of shuffling hikes on our latest mini-vacation. The string of wildfires starting in Northern California in the Klamath Mountains and continuing along the Cascade Range north to the Canadian Border had us looking for a last minute location for 4 days of hiking. We turned to the coast hoping to escape any possibly smokey conditions and wound up deciding on checking out the northern most part of the Oregon Coast as well as our first foray along the Washington Coast line.

We booked a room in Gearhart, OR and I began putting an itinerary together. We are still plodding along in our attempt to hike all of the featured hikes in Sullivan’s 100 Hikes guidebooks and there were several in the area we’d yet to tackle. I managed to fit eight of his featured hikes into the four days and even threw in an additional stop at Fort Columbia on our third day.

We set our sights on three of the hikes for our first day starting with a relatively short loop around Clatsop Spit. The spit is located inside Fort Stevens State Park at the mouth of the Columbia River and is the northern terminus for the Oregon Coast Trail.

As we were driving to the spit along Jetty Road we spotted some elk and had to stop for a couple of photos.

Once we had parked at the large parking area at the spit we checked out the view from the South Jetty observation platform.

We then headed west beside the jetty toward the Pacific.

We then turned north along the beach heading towards the Columbia River where we could see plenty of traffic on the water.

We turned inland at the river we had a view of the distant Megler Bridge.

We passed a host of people fishing along the shore but didn’t see anyone having any luck.

We looped around a peninsula near Jetty Lagoon and located the wildlife viewing bunker near the park’s Parking Lot D.

view from the bunker.

We crossed a footbridge to the parking lot and then had a 1.1 mile road walk back to the spit parking lot.

We drove back along Jetty Road and parked in a signed lot for Battery Russell.

We took a set of stairs up to the concrete bunker.

For forty years (1904-44) the battery guarded the Columbia River from enemy attacks. We spent quite a while exploring the old bunker. The history made it neat but too many video games and horror movies kept us imagining what might be hiding in the dark corners of the rooms.

We followed a path at the far end of the bunker toward Coffenbury Lake.

The path passed another set of old buildings.

We continued on this path a total of 1.25 miles to a signed junction where we followed a pointer to the lake.

We headed around the lake counter-clockwise on a nice trail.

After completing the 2 mile loop around the lake we followed “Shipwreck” pointers for 3/4 of a mile to the beach and the remains of the Peter Iredale which ran aground in 1906.

We backtracked from the beach a short distance and turned left on a paved path at a pointer for Battery Russell (among other possible destinations).

We followed this path for a little over half a mile before turning right at another pointer for Battery Russell.

We followed this 1.1 mile paved path back to the parking lot.

The total distance of the Clatsop Spit hike had been 5 miles and this hike came in just under 7.5 miles. Twelve and a half miles is pretty good for a day, but due to our typical early start we were done with these two hikes before 1pm. Our check-in time wasn’t until four so we still had a few hours to kill.

We had been prepared for that and headed north from Fort Stevens to Astoria where we parked at the Columbia River Maritime Museum

From the museum parking lot we headed west following the Riverfront Trolley line.

Seabirds lined the waterfront and we also heard some sea lions but never saw any.

We more or less stuck to Sullivan’s described route (Hike #4 in the 4th edition of “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range) following the the trolley line to 6th St. then turning inland for three blocks before taking a left on Commercial St. After a block on Commercial St. we turned right on 7th for two blocks passing the Oregon Film Museum and the Flavel House.

We walked around the Flavel House and headed downhill on 8th St. turning right when we arrived back at Commercial St. We turned right several blocks later on 12th Street and right again a block later on Duane St. passing a Chinese Garden.

We continued zig-zagging through town passing numerous historic homes, churches, and other buildings. One home that stood out was an old run down home that had the quintessential haunted house look.

We also passed Fort Astoria on the corner of 15th and Exchange.

By the time we were done we wandered around town for a total of 3 miles.
Astoria

One of the landmarks not on the route was the Astoria Column. It was visible from the waterfront rising above the city. It was one of the times the 30x zoom on the camera came in handy.

We still arrived a little early at our hotel but luckily our room was ready. We had a nice view south to Tillamook Head.

It had actually rained lightly on us in Astoria which was a wonderful change of pace. The sun went down behind the clouds that evening ending the first day of what was shaping up to be an interesting vacation.

Happy Trails!

Flickr: Astoria & Fort Stevens

Tags Astoria, Astoria Column, Battery Russell, Clatsop Spit, Coffenbury Lake, Columbia River, Columbia River Maritime Museum, Fort Astoria, Fort Stevens, Gearhart, hiking, Oregon, Oregon Coast, oregon coast trail, Oregon Film Museum, Peter Iredale