Copper Creek – wanderingyuncks

Hells Canyon Reservoir and Dam – 06/16/2023

For the final day of hiking on our vacation we had two of Sullivan’s featured hikes on tap, Hells Canyon Reservoir and Hells Canyon Dam. We left our motel in Enterprise and drove the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway to Oxbow. Our first stop was at Copper Creek where a short hike would take us into the Hells Canyon Wilderness.
The smoke that had moved in the day before was still around.

A small post directed us to the trail.

The next post read “Trail Not Maintained Hazards May Exist”

We weren’t sure what to expect, but we hoped it wouldn’t be another poison ivy filled hike like Wednesday’s hike at Eureka Bar (post) and that we would at least be able to make it to McGraw Creek which was 1.8 miles away.

Toadflax

A short distance from the trailhead we entered a signed wilderness study area.

Fleabane

There were lots of fish visible in the reservoir.

The tread on the trail wasn’t great but poison ivy wasn’t an issue which was nice.

Penstemon

Showy milkweed

After approximately three quarters of a mile we entered the Hells Canyon Wilderness.

At the 0.9-mile mark we crossed Nelson Creek.
Approaching Nelson Creek.

Nelson Creek

Red-eyed vireo

Looking up Nelson Creek.

More fish.

Lazuli bunting

We made it to the outwash plain of McGraw Creek where the trail turned inland.

We made it another 100 yards before coming to a missing section of trail.

We weren’t comfortable with trying to continue. There was a faint path climbing uphill that might have taken us past the missing section but we didn’t feel the need to push it and turned around.
McGraw Creek

Lizard

Common wood nymph

Moth

Cabbage whites

Lorquin’s admiral

Copper Creek Trailhead from the trail.

After completing our hike here we drove back to Oxbow and crossed the Snake River into Idaho and headed north to the Hells Canyon Dam. Sullivan’s featured hike here includes two separate options, a 2.4 mile hike to a beach just beyond Stud Creek on the Oregon side of the river and a shorter hike on the Idaho side on the Deep Creek Stairway Trail. This is the only featured hike located in the state of Idaho and we had planned to do this hike first, but the trailhead parking lot was busy with fishermen heading toward the trail. The trail consists of a series of metal stairs and catwalks leading down to the bottom of the dam near Deep Creek and we weren’t too keen on being in a crowd so we drove on across the dam to the Hells Canyon Creek Visitor Center.

The trail here starts near the boat ramp where an interpretive sign announces the former site of a prehistoric pit house.

The start of the trail.

This trail was in better shape than the one along Hells Canyon Reservoir, but it was a wild mix of wooden stairs, rocky cliffs, and scenic viewpoints.

Penstemon

Western clematis

We watched an osprey dive for a fish in the river.

It pulled a small fish out of the water.

Threadleaf phacelia

Rafters that had set off from the dam.

Ant in a sagebrush mariposa lily.

Monkeyflower and heart-leaved bittercress

View near Stud Creek.

We didn’t see any water in Stud Creek’s outwash plain but there were a number of differently colored mariposa lilies.

Our turnaround point was a white cobble beach where fish occasionally jumped.
Cobble Beach near Stud Creek

Jet boat passing by.

After a short break we returned to the visitor center which we checked out before driving back across the dam.

Interpretive sign near the visitors center.

Hells Canyon Creek

View from the visitors center.

We were still hoping to stop a the Deep Creek Stairway Trail and as luck would have it all but one of the cars that had been at the trailhead when we drove by earlier were gone.
The empty trailhead parking area.

A short road walk led us to the start of the trail.
The structure on the right is an old fish trap.

This was only our second hike in Idaho (Jump Creek Falls was the first), and the first in one of Idaho’s National Forests.

The Payette National Forest manages this trail.

The trail began by heading briefly down a staircase and then climbing another set of stairs.

Going up.

Snake River from the trail.

Going back down.

There were a couple of dirt/rock sections, but the trail was mostly metal stairs and catwalks.

We passed the owner of the remaining car, Ahmed, heading up with a pair of good-sized fish.

Ahmed’s fishing pole was still out, and you might notice a little red to the left of the structure ahead.

Heather decided not to go all the way down to Deep Creek but I wanted to see it so I followed the trail to its bank.
There was a very short scramble to get up to the continuation of the trail above the structure along the creek.

A few patches of snow in the Payette National Forest.

Deep Creek

I was greeted at the creek by a rock covered with different butterflies.

It was a hot, tiring climb back up to the car where we changed, grabbed some drinks and snacks, and got ready to drive to Pendleton where we would spend the night before driving back home.

These three hikes came in at 3.7, 2.6, and 1.0 mile respectively. Hells Canyon Reservoir had over 500′ of elevation gain while the final two were under 200′ although the staircase felt like more.

We were thankful that poison ivy was a non-issue on these hikes. They were all enjoyable but given the rough condition of the Hells Canyon Reservoir Trail we wouldn’t recommend that one for kids or inexperienced hikers.

With the vacation hikes now over, we had made just a little progress on finishing 100 featured hikes from one of Sullivan’s Eastern Oregon guidebook editions (post). We had been at 79/100 heading into the vacation whith plans on completing six more but our decision to skip Dug Bar and change the edition that we were focused on meant adding five featured hikes that we hadn’t done and losing a couple that we had. Instead of sitting at 85/100 at the end of the vacation we are currently at 80/100. We’ve already worked the five new featured hikes into our plans over the next 18 months so we are still on track to be finished by the end of 2024. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Hells Canyon Reservoir and Dam

Lewis River and Curly Creek Falls

After our vacation in Gold Beach, OR we began our next hike 300 miles away along the Lewis River in Washington’s Gifford-Pinchot National Forest. The Lewis River Trail is one of those very popular trails that we had not yet been to. We hoped an early start would help avoid the bulk of the Memorial Day Weekend crowds. We parked at the Lower Falls Recreation Area just a short distance from the first of the days waterfalls.
Trail sign at the Lower Falls Recreation Area

We walked down to a platform overlooking the Lower Falls. This was another waterfall that was much larger in person than it had looked in pictures.
Lower Falls viewing platform

Lower Lewis River Falls

We then headed down to river level to see what the falls looked like from that angle.
Lower Lewis River Falls

Lower Lewis River Falls

After getting the view from below we climbed back past the first platform and headed NE along the Lewis River Trail. A second viewpoint looked down from above the falls.
Lower Lewis River Falls

A couple of wooden staircases led down to little beaches along the river.
Stairs to the bank of the Lewis River

Lewis River

We followed the trail between the river and the Lewis River Campground then deeper into the forest toward the Middle and Upper Falls.
Trail sign along the Lewis River Trail

As we were crossing a footbridge Heather noticed something along the side creek. She said she almost mistook it for a statue because of how still it was standing but then the doe began heading back up the creek.
Deer along a small creek

Doe

As she retreated we noticed more movement in the underbrush. A pair of wobbly young fawns had been with the doe.
Fawns

After snapping a couple of quick pictures we continued on so mom could get back to her fawns.

A section of trail was closed near Middle Falls but a detour was in place using the Middle Falls Parking Area.
Trail reroute due to slides

We had been planning on taking this route anyway since it passed another waterfall along Copper Creek.
Copper Creek Falls

When we were back on the Lewis River Trail we followed a sign for Middle Falls.

Middle Lewis River Falls

In addition to the waterfalls the Lewis River had some beautiful colored water due to the presence of rock shelves which created some deep green pools.

Lewis River

Before continuing on to Upper Falls we headed for the bridge over Copper Creek. The trail closure was posted at the bridge but below the bridge was a scenic water slide.
Slide on Copper Creek

Continuing on the Lewis River Trail we passed some large cliffs covered in green lichen.
Lichen covered rocks along the Lewis River Trail

Lewis River Trail

Another section of cliffs were of particular interest. Several trees were perched along the cliff edge with exposed roots high in the air. The rock showed clear signs of having been worn by the river which seemed to indicate that the roots of these trees had once been under the river bank, but as the river eroded the banks and deepened it’s canyon, the roots were left exposed. Given how far above the current river these trees were, we wondered how old they were.
Tree roots showing where the Lewis River once was.

Tree roots showing where the Lewis River once was.

The Upper Falls was another impressive, thundering waterfall.
Upper Lewis River Falls

Upper Lewis River Falls

We made our way out onto a gravel bar for a better view and found a few flowers as well as some elk sign.
Tall bluebells

Upper Lewis River Falls

The trail then climbed up to an upper viewpoint via a wide arc around some rock outcroppings.
Upper Lewis River Falls

Upper Lewis River Falls

Continuing on we passed a spectacular green pool before reaching Taitnapum Falls.
Lewis River

Taitnapum Falls

We turned around after reaching the end of the Lewis River Trail and NF Road 90. The Quartz Creek Trail continued on the far side but for us it was time to head back and get to our second hike.

We had seen a handful of people on our way out along the trail and wound up having each of the falls to ourselves, but on the way back it was a steady stream of people. The Recreation Area parking lot was packed as we left making us glad we had started with this hike. We drove back towards Cougar, WA on forest road 90 turning right on road 9039 at a sign for the Curly Creek Trailhead. We parked in a gravel lot just before reaching a bridge across the Lewis River. The trail was on the far side of the bridge so we crossed on foot and headed downstream to the West. A platform along the trail offered views across the Lewis River to the unique Curly Creek Falls with its pair of rock arches.

Curly Creek Falls

Just a short distance further was another viewpoint. This time for Miller Falls.

Miller Falls

One of the reasons we had not done these hikes before was due to the length of the drive vs. the amount of hike time. At 3 hours one way the 9-10 miles would cause us to spend more time in the car than on the trail. Our solution was to visit the Bolt Camp Shelter after Curly Creek and Miller Falls. To do this we returned along the trail to the road 9039 bridge, crossing the road and continuing on the Lewis River Trail.

Lewis River Trail

This portion of the Lewis River Trail was along a calmer section of the river offering plenty of access to the river.

Lewis River

We stopped for a short rest along the river at the Bolt Camp Shelter before returning to the trailhead.
Bolt Camp sign

Bolt Camp Shelter along the Lewis River

When it was all said and done we’d spent 6 hours and 42 minutes on the trail which meant we hadn’t violated our rule of not spending more time driving than hiking. It was easy to see why this area is so popular, but even with all the people we had still found some solitude along the trails and at every waterfall we’d visited. We couldn’t have asked for more. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157668708267141