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Hiking Year-end wrap up

2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 2 – Featherless Friends

This year we split our wildlife gallery into two posts starting with our feather friends (post). We now move on to our featherless friends which ranged from tiny ants to bull elk and an almost too friendly black bear. It was an especially good year for deer including several encounters with does and fawns.

We’ll start out small and work our way up to the larger mammals.
IMG_6653Ants dropping sawdust from a log along the Catherine Creek Trail. We sat and watched these busy ants for quite a while. They had created a good-sized pile on the ground below.

Lady bugs on Observation PeakWe see a lot of beetles but usually not all at once like these lady bugs on Observation Peak.

LadybugLady bug – Upper Table Rock

Beetle on a California poppyYellow & black beetle – Mule Mountain

IMG_5905Redish brown beetle – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_5941Green beetle – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_6578Hitchhiker – Mt. Ireland

IMG_6831Blueish green beetle – Catherine Creek Meadows

IMG_6836Small beetle – Catherine Creek Meadows

20220711_064348Green beetle on a geranium – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_8377Green beetle on a wallflower – Silver Star Mountain

IMG_1487Stripped beetle – Spring Valley Greenway

Water skippers on Big Twin LakeWater skippers – Big Twin Lake

IMG_6019Spider on thimbleberry – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_6708Crab spider – Eagle Cap Wilderness

20220714_094414Another crab spider – Eagle Cap Wilderness

20220824_144345Cricket – Pacific Crest Trail

20220824_140037We are often literally struck by grasshoppers as we hike. Sometimes they stick when they hit us such as this one along the PCT.

Bee on phaceliaBee on phacelia – Mule Mountain

Wet bumblebee on lupineWet bee on lupine – Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

IMG_8781Bumble bee – Hemlock Creek Trail

IMG_9449Lots of pollen – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Marsh marigold with a visitorBee landing on a marsh marigold along the PCT

IMG_5329Bee approaching penstemon – Siskiyou Wilderness

Bee and ant in bindweedBee and a tiny ant in a bindweed – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_7688Insects on thistle – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_7600Wasp? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_8429Some sort of wasp – Silver Star Mountain

IMG_7791Insect along Bear Creek – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_0149My brother and I used to call these “weird things”; I have no idea what it actually is – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Damsel flyDamsel fly – Denman Wildlife Area

IMG_8876Damsel fly – Hemlock Lake

IMG_4843Dragon fly – Goat Marsh Lake

IMG_5430Dragon fly – Siskiyou Wilderness

Dragon flyDragon fly – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_7975Dragon fly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_8117Dragon fly along the Wallowa River – Wallowa Homeland

IMG_8716Dragon fly – E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area

IMG_8871Dragon fly – Hemlock Lake

IMG_2635Dragon fly – Sky Lakes Wilderness

Snail on the Rock Creek TrailSnail – Rock Creek Trail

Snail on the Payette TrailSnail – Applegate Lake

SnailSnail – North Siouxon Trail

SnailSnail – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

IMG_6043Snail – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_2814Snail – Cascade Head

IMG_3254Slug – Larch Mountain Trail

Slug on a flowerSlug (and a fly) – Susan Creek Trail

IMG_1364Slug – Fish Lake

Slug on lupineSlug on lupine – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Slug and an unfortunate earth wormSlug and an unfortunate earth worm – Rock Creek Trail

Worms on the trailWorms – Chehalem Ridge Nature Park

MillipedeMillipede – North Siouxon Trail

MillipedeMillipede – Rock Creek Trail

Milli or centipedeMillipede – Illahee Rock

MillipedeMillipede – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Woolly bear caterpillarWet caterpillar – Yakona Nature Preserve

IMG_3245Dry version – Larch Mountain Trail

CaterpillarCaterpillar – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

IMG_5393Caterpillar – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_5584Caterpillar – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_3169Caterpillar – Larch Mountain Trail

IMG_3240Caterpillar – Larch Mountain Trail

IMG_3243Caterpillar – Larch Mountain Trail

Moth?Moth – Klickitat Trail

IMG_7092Moth -Eagle Cap Wilderness

MothMoth – Twin Lakes

IMG_6645Moth – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_7670Moth – Eagle Cap Wilderness

20220714_094512Moth – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_9093Moth – Wolf Creek Falls Trail

IMG_3002Moth – Cascade Head

Propertius duskywing - Erynnis propertiusPropertius duskywing (Erynnis propertius) – Klickitat Trail

IMG_5978Duskywing – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_5374Northern Cloudywing? – Siskiyou Wilderness

Silver-spotted skipperSilver-spotted skipper – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_9637Skipper – Grizzly Peak

IMG_1233Skipper – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

IMG_8702Skipper – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

A hairstreakHairstreak (bramble?) – Siskiyou Mountains

IMG_5289Cedar hairstreak – Siskiyou Wilderness

Thicket Hairstreak?Hairstreak (possibly thicket) – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Ochre ringlet on fiddleneckOchre ringlet – Jack Ash Trail

IMG_5972Butterfly – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_0779Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

IMG_0813Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Butterfly on buckwheatButterfly – Upper Table Rock

Butterfly on scatButterfly – Mule Mountain

IMG_7644Butterfly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_6852Butterfly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_9401Butterfly – Mt. Adams Wilderness

IMG_9455Butterfly – Mt. Adams Wilderness

IMG_6555Butterfly – Mt. Ireland

IMG_0243Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

IMG_8481Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

IMG_0333Butterfly – Russian Wilderness

IMG_0185Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Sara's orangetipSara’s orangetip – Klickitat Trail

IMG_8677Common woodnymph – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

IMG_1256Another woodnymph – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

IMG_5133Orange sulphur – Siskiyou Wilderness

Mountain ParnassianMountain parnassian – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_8937Clodius parnassian – Hemlock Lake

20220712_102723Western white? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_0926Western white – Trinty Alps Wilderness

20220824_134541Pine white – Russian Wilderness

IMG_6882Butterfly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_0311Butterfly – Russian Wilderness

IMG_9418Butterfly – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Possibly a northern checkerspotButterfly – Mule Mountain

IMG_8310Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

IMG_8508Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

IMG_8445Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

IMG_8364Western meadow fritillary? – Silver Star Mountain

IMG_8450A fritillary – Silver Star Mountain

IMG_0210A fritillary – Trinity Alps Wilderness

IMG_0342A fritillary -Russian Wilderness

IMG_1193A fritillary – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Mourning cloakMourning cloak – Klickitat Trail

IMG_5152California tortoiseshell – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_6900Milbert’s tortoiseshell – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_7654Lorquin’s admiral – Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_9704Common buckeye – Mt. Shasta Wilderness

IMG_2417Hoary comma – Sky Lakes Wilderness

Green comma?Green comma? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Swallowtails:
Anise swallowtailKlickitat Trail

SwallowtailJulia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

IMG_8127Eagle Cap Wilderness

IMG_0394Tadpoles – Russian Wilderness

IMG_9385Tadpole transforming – Mt. Adams Wilderness

IMG_0479Frog – Russian Wilderness

IMG_4761Frog – Goat Marsh Lake

IMG_5227Tree frog – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_0169Frog – Trinity Alps Wilderness

IMG_0171Toad – Trinity Alps Wilderness

IMG_9667Toad – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

IMG_0354Fish – Siphon Lake

Rough skinned newtRough skinned newt – Yakona Nature Preserve

Western painted turtleWestern painted turtle – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Garter snakeBaby snake – Miller Woods

Garter snakeGarter snake – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

LizardLizard – Mule Mountain

LizardLizard – Upper Table Rock

IMG_0585Lizard – Russian Wilderness

IMG_5200Lizard – Siskiyou Wilderness

LizardLizard – Klickitat Trail

LizardLizard – Upper Table Rock

Alligator lizardAlligator lizard – Mule Mountain

ChipmunkChipmunk – Observation Peak

IMG_0470Ground squirrel – Russian Wilderness

Ground squirrelGround squirrel – Klickitat Trail

IMG_7344Ground squirrel – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Ground squirrelGround squirrel – Upper Table Rock

SquirrelSquirrel – Rock Creek Trail

SquirrelSquirrel – Twin Lakes

IMG_3250Squirrel – Larch Mountain Trail

IMG_7945Marmot – Wallowa Homeland

Jack rabbitJack rabbit – Denman Wildlife Area

IMG_8674Rabbit – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

IMG_8461Pika – Silver Star Mountain

MuskratMuskrat – Julia Butler Hansen – Wildlife Refuge

Otter at Killin WetlandsOtter – Killin Wetlands

IMG_2902Sea lion – Hart’s Cove

DeerDeer – Memaloose Hills

DoeDoe – Miller Woods

DoeMamma – Roxy Ann Peak

FawnFawn – Roxy Ann Peak

Columbain white-tailed buckColumbian white-tailed buck – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Doe and fawn in Donomore MeadowsDoe & fawn – Donomore Meadows

IMG_5571Three bucks – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_6285Buck – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_0197Buck – Trinity Alps Wilderness

IMG_0384Doe & fawn – Russian Wilderness

IMG_0496Buck and does – Russian Wilderness

IMG_1923Two bucks – Crater Lake National Park

Elk on Road 200Elk – Yakona Nature Preserve

Bull elk at Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for Columbian White-tailed DeerBull elk – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Mountain goat below the Mt. Ireland LookoutMountain goat below the Mt. Ireland Lookout – Mt. Ireland

Goat on the other side of Highway 4Domestic goat – Near the Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

IMG_6302Black bear – Siskiyou Wilderness

IMG_5594The same black bear making eye contact the day before.

Categories
Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Bear Creek and Wallowa Homeland – 07/14/2022

Our first night in the small town of Wallowa had been great. Our room at the Mingo Motel was extremely comfortable and we’d gotten ice cream sundaes from the Little Bear Drive-In. We were also conveniently located less than 10 miles from the Bear Creek Trailhead which was our destination for Thursday’s planned hike. This meant we could get an even earlier start in order to avoid as much heat as possible. A quick check of the forecast the night before had shown that it was again going to be in the 90’s in Wallowa and it also showed that there was another slight chance for thunderstorms Friday morning when we were hoping to do our final hike of the trip at the Wallowa Homeland. As we set off from the Bear Creek Trailhead a little after 5:30am we left open the option of doing that last hike when we got back to Wallowa if we felt up to it.
IMG_7757The Bear Creek Trail at the trailhead.

This was a fairly straight forward hike following the Bear Creek Trail 4.6 miles to a junction with the Goat Creek Trail then continuing another three quarters of a mile to the Bear Creek Guard Station. The relatively level trail crosses Bear Creek a quarter mile from the trailhead.
IMG_7763

IMG_7765

IMG_7767Footbridge over Bear Creek.

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IMG_7771

IMG_7773

IMG_7776Milk-vetch

IMG_7786Mountain lady-slippers

IMG_7791Bug on a thimbleberry leaf.

IMG_7802There were a couple of ups and downs where the trail got above Bear Creek.

IMG_7820Baker Gulch

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IMG_7839

IMG_7844Cliffs on the opposite side of Bear Creek.

IMG_7847Trail sign marking the junction with the Goat Creek Trail. By this time we had crossed into the Eagle Cap Wilderness but there hadn’t been any signs
indicating that.

IMG_7850

20220714_080409Prairie smoke a.k.a. old mans whiskers

IMG_7857A fleabane

IMG_7858The Bear Creek Trail crossing Goat Creek.

IMG_7859Footbridge over Goat Creek.

IMG_7861Goat Creek

IMG_7866The unmarked but obvious spur trail to the (locked) Bear Creek Guard Station on the right.

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We took a brief break at the Guard Station and headed back. On the way back we spotted a new to us (at least we think) flower.
Moneses uniflora - one-flowered monesesMoneses uniflora – one-flowered moneses

Moneses uniflora - one-flowered moneses

We also spotted several bugs and insects.
IMG_7886Hairstreak

20220714_094414Crab spider

20220714_094512Moth

IMG_7920Swallowtail on a bog orchid

IMG_7909Lorquin’s admiral

IMG_7923A fritillary butterfly with some sort of spider on the underside of a leaf below to the right.

The 10.8 mile hike here only gained 900′ of elevation, by far the least amount of any of our hikes during the trip. The lack of elevation gain combined with the cool morning temperatures allowed us to move at a quicker pace completing the hike under 5 hours and 15 minutes.

On our way back we had decided that we would indeed do the Wallowa Homeland hike today too instead of risking having to skip it if thunderstorms did develop in the morning. As convenient as our motel had been for the Bear Creek hike it was even more so for the Wallowa Homeland which started just a couple of blocks from the Mingo Motel at the Nez Perce Visitor Center.
IMG_7925First time we’ve started a hike from a motel room.

IMG_8142Passing the Visitor Center on 2nd Street.

From the Visitor Center we turned north on Storie Street and followed it nearly 3 blocks to a dirt path that crossed rail road tracks then crossed the Wallowa River on a bridge with interpretive signs.
IMG_7927

IMG_7928

IMG_7930

IMG_7929

The trail here is on land purchased in 1997 & 2000 but that is also the former site of the Nez Perce’s Winter camp. In one of the more shameful events in U.S. History the Army ordered the Wallowa Band of Nez Perce to leave their home and relocate. This led to a 6 month saga that saw the Nez Perce attempt to flee to safety in Canada with the Army in pursuit for over 1100 miles. Ultimately they were capture or dispersed and their homeland lost. We were visiting a week before the 30th annual Tamkaliks Celebration.
IMG_7934

IMG_7940Dance arbor

After crossing the bridge we turned left on a gravel road heading toward the basalt cliffs of Tick Hill (an unsettling name but we did not actually see any ticks during this hike).
IMG_7939

We followed the road as it bent to the right below the cliffs for half a mile where a trail pointer sent us climbing uphill via a series of switchbacks.
IMG_7942

IMG_7944

IMG_7947Marmot

IMG_7951Approaching the pointer uphill.

IMG_7952

While it was still before noon it was heating up fast and the exposed hillside allowed the Sun to beat down on us. We distracted ourselves by looking at the different wildflowers that were still blooming amid the tall grasses.
IMG_7955Scarlet gilia

IMG_7959Dustymaidens

20220714_120500Skullcap

IMG_7967Heading up Tick Hill

IMG_7968Yarrow

IMG_7971Lupine

IMG_7973Mock orange and wild rose

IMG_7975Dragon fly

20220714_120956Moth mullien

IMG_7981Blanket flower

IMG_7982Checker-mallow and vetch

IMG_7985The Wallowas from the trail.

IMG_7988Sagebrush mariposa lily

After a steep half mile climb the trail leveled out a bit. We turned left at a post and descended slightly to a viewpoint next to a scraggly juniper tree.
IMG_7991

IMG_7994A buckwheat

IMG_7995The Wallowa River and dance arbor from the viewpoint.

IMG_7996The Wallowa Mountians

We returned to the trail which continued to be level for 400 more feet before heading uphill again for a third of a mile to a junction with a spur trail to a gazebo.
IMG_7997Heading back to the post from the viewpoint.

IMG_8000About a quarter mile from the post we crossed this road leading to some radio towers.

IMG_8005Elkhorn clarkia

IMG_8006The gazebo ahead.

IMG_8007Shade!

IMG_8008Plaque near the gazebo.

IMG_8011View from the gazebo.

IMG_8019From left to right: Point Joseph, Hurricane Point, Ruby Peak, and Sawtooth Peak.

We cooled off in the shade of the gazebo before continuing on.
IMG_8020

From the gazebo the trail descended slowly recrossing the road after 0.2 miles and passing by the radio towers.
IMG_8022At the junction with the spur trail to the gazebo. We came up from the left and continued on to the right.

IMG_8024Recrossing the road.

IMG_8025Western meadowlark

IMG_8029Heading toward the radio tower.

IMG_8034A fleabane

IMG_8039There were several plaques along this stretch.

IMG_8041

IMG_8056Various wildflowers

IMG_8058

20220714_130530Cinquefoil

20220714_130533Lots of blanket flower.

20220714_130545Sticky geranium

A little over three quarters of a mile from the gazebo the trail turned steeply downhill descending via another series of switchbacks.
IMG_8085

IMG_8090Grand collomia

IMG_8091

IMG_8098

IMG_8108Scarlet gilia

IMG_8109The last line is great advice.

At the bottom of the switchbacks we turned left on a road bed following the Wallowa River.
IMG_8111

IMG_8116Swallowtail

IMG_8117Dragon fly

IMG_8124

20220714_134116Bachelor buttons

IMG_8127Swallowtail on hyssop.

IMG_8128Wallowa River

IMG_8134Goldenrod

We followed this road half a mile to the gravel road we’d been on earlier.
IMG_8135

We retraced our steps back to the Mingo Motel completing a 4.5 mile lollipop hike with 600′ of elevation gain.

It was now a little after 2pm so after cleaning up and cooling down we headed back to the Little Bear Drive In for burgers, tots, and milkshakes. It was a good ending to what was overall an excellent trip (abdominal pain aside). With all our planned hikes completed we got a really early start on our drive back to Salem on Friday and made it home before Noon giving us plenty of time to unpack and relax. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Bear Creek & Wallowa Homeland

Categories
Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Minam River via Rock Springs – 07/13/2022

No Summer trip to Eastern Oregon is complete without at least one thunder storm and ours came early Wednesday morning. When we awoke at 4am in La Grande one was passing overhead nearby. I pulled up the weather forecast for the hike we had planned that day and much like the forecast had been for Mt. Ireland on Saturday there was a slight chance of a thunder storm. We packed up and headed for the Rock Springs Trailhead which was between La Grande where we had been staying and Wallowa where we had reservations for the next two nights. We were following the storm as it passed over the Wallowas but it stayed ahead of us and things looked pretty good when we parked along the shoulder of FR 62 where the Rock Springs Trail headed downhill toward the confluence of the Minam and Little Minam Rivers.
IMG_7426We parked about 200′ north of the actual trailhead per a suggestion by Sullivan in his guidebook.

IMG_7431The Rock Springs Trail at FR 62.

The trail loses approximately 2500′ in the first 3.5 miles, sometimes steeply, passing viewpoints at the 0.7 and 2.0 mile marks. There were views along other stretches of trail though as the trail alternated between open wildflower filled hillsides and forest. It was the least maintained trail that we were on all week with quite a bit of grass and brush encroaching on the trail. It was also the only trail on which we encountered multiple ticks, about a half dozen, during the trip. (The only other tick we saw all week was one on my pants at Mt. Ireland on the first day (post).
IMG_7432The trail passed a large rock field just below FR 62 and then entered the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

IMG_7437

IMG_7442Lupine

20220713_063707Coralroot

IMG_7445

IMG_7452

IMG_7453The edge of the storm clouds.

IMG_7463Scarlet gilia along the trail.

IMG_7466Oregon sunshine and tapertip onion

IMG_7469Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

20220713_065127View from the trail before the first “viewpoint”.

20220713_065338Oregon checker-mallow

IMG_7480Assorted wildflowers

IMG_7481Blue sky following the storm clouds.

20220713_065503Scabland penstemon

IMG_7487Penstemon near the first “viewpoint”.

IMG_7492Yarrow

20220713_065701Douglas dustymaiden

IMG_7495Looking back from the viewpoint.

IMG_7498Buckwheat

IMG_7500The Point Prominence Lookout atop the high point to the left.

20220713_065912Ballhead sandwort

IMG_7507Heather coming down from the viewpoint.

IMG_7509Blowdown over the trail.

20220713_070820Nookta rose

20220713_070933Wood rose

IMG_7516View to the SE deeper into the Wallowas.

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IMG_7525Mountain parnassian?

IMG_7530Back in the trees.

IMG_7531Some pale columbine. At first we thought it might be yellow columbine but it definitely had a red tint.

IMG_7533Thimbleberry crowding the trail. The storm had left a lot of water on the vegetation which in turn wound up on our legs and shoes.

IMG_7539Heading down into the valley.

IMG_7546Elkhorn clarkia

IMG_7561Approaching the second viewpoint.

IMG_7566Backbone Ridge which separates the Minam and Little Minam Rivers. We had crossed over that ridge further south on Tuesday when we took the Horse Ranch Trail from Moss Springs to the Minam River (post).

IMG_7569Grand collomia

IMG_7572Prairie smoke

IMG_7584Mock orange along the trail.

IMG_7585Twin flower and foam flower

IMG_7597Sign marking the junction of the Rock Springs and Little Minam Trails.

IMG_7600Possibly a wasp of some sort near the junction.

We turned left at the junction and descended another tenth of a mile where we spotted the first of several structures that used to be part of a lodge.
IMG_7601The first cabin ruin.

IMG_7602Almost looks okay from this angle.

IMG_7603Not so good from this angle.

IMG_7605The lodge was at the edge of this meadow.

IMG_7606The lodge

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IMG_7610The fireplace seems to have held up well.

IMG_7615This cabin didn’t hold up.

Beyond the lodge several faint trails led off into the meadow.
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The map in Sullivan’s book appeared to show the main trail turning left after passing the lodge with a spur continuing straight to the Little Minam River and a drinking hole for horses.
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We had intended on taking the left hand fork but we wound up at the watering hole instead.
IMG_7622Wildflowers near the watering hole.

IMG_7623The Little Minam River. We couldn’t quite see the confluence of the two rivers from here despite being very close.

We headed north using our GPS units in an attempt to locate the actual trail which should take us to a dangerous ford three quarters of a mile from the old lodge. After a bit of searching we picked up the faint trail.
IMG_7626

IMG_7627

IMG_7628

IMG_7630The dangerous ford.

According to Sullivan, horses are able to cross later in the Summer but hikers should follow the Little Minam Trail south to the Horse Ranch Trail and cross the Minam on the footbridge that we had crossed on near Red’s Horse Ranch.

We sat on the rocks along the Minam for a bit before heading back.
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On the way back it was a little easier to follow the faint trail which led us to some campsites above the old lodge.
IMG_7639Here we tried looking for horse hoof prints to stick to the trail.

IMG_7644Butterfly on yarrow.

IMG_7646We think this was the trail.

IMG_7651The campsites where we picked up the Rock Springs Trail again.

We made the 2500′ climb back up, watching for things we missed (and ticks) as we went.
IMG_7654Lorquin’s admiral

IMG_7657Looking across the gully we could see the trail cut climbing up the far hillside.

IMG_7658Pincushion plant

IMG_7670Resting moth

IMG_7673A plane taking off from Minam Lodge.

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IMG_7688A popular thistle.

IMG_7703A skipper of some sort.

20220713_115425We both missed this yellow columbine on the way down.

IMG_7731View from the upper viewpoint on the way back up.

IMG_7747A final view from the Rock Springs Trail.

IMG_7748The cloud cover that moved in turned out to be a blessing as it kept the temperature reasonable as we made the long climb back up.

Our hike here came in just a tad over 9 miles to go with the 2500′ of elevation gain.

The ticks had been a bit of a distraction but the views had been good and there were a lot of wildflowers along the way. At the end of the day it was our least favorite hike of the trip but there was still plenty to enjoy. From the trailhead we drove to Wallow and checked into the Mingo Motel which turned out to be a surprisingly nice room. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Minam River via Rock Springs

Categories
Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Burger Pass – 07/12/2022

I’d spent all of Monday hiking with abdominal pain so I was very happy to wake up Tuesday feeling fine. On tap for today was the highest elevation hike in the Wallows for this trip (Mt. Ireland on Saturday (post) was higher but that peak is part of the Elkhorns.) and we weren’t sure how much snow we might encounter. We did have our microspikes with us just in case.

The hike to Burger Pass begins at the Buck Creek Forest Camp and Trailhead.
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The Elk Creek Trail (Trail 1944) leads from this trailhead to 7848′ Burger Pass near the 4.5 mile mark then down to Burger Meadows and eventually on to the Minam River. Sullivan’s featured hike is to Burger Pass which was our goal for the day but we had also left open the possibility of visiting the meadows if conditions were good.
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IMG_7217At the 0.7 mile mark the trail briefly followed an old road bed to an old clearcut.

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IMG_7221Trail sign in the old clearcut.

IMG_7225Sullivan describes the second mile of this trail as one of the dustiest in Oregon but on this morning there was enough moisture in the ground to keep the dust at a minimum.

IMG_7230Rock Creek Butte (post) in the Elkhorns from the clearcut.

The trail climbed steeply following an old roadbed out of the clearcut following a ridge before leaving the ridge and bending SE near the 2 mile mark.
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IMG_7239Shortly after leaving the ridge we encountered the largest obstacle on the way to the pass.

IMG_7240The Elkhorns in the distance.

The trail made a long switchback and entered the Eagle Cap Wilderness as it rounded the same ridge that we’d been following earlier.
IMG_7243Granite at the switchback.

IMG_7406Entering the wilderness (photo from the way back).

The trail then traversed a granite hillside to a large slide below Burger Butte.
IMG_7252Valerian along the trail.

IMG_7258View from the trail.

IMG_7265Burger Butte

IMG_7269Rosy paintbrush

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IMG_7274Tributary of Middle Fork Catherine Creek.

IMG_7275Looking down the creek over the slide.

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IMG_7279Yellow columbine

After reentering the forest we began to encounter the first patches of snow.
IMG_7280The snow began around 7200′.

IMG_7282Snow over the Elk Creek Trail.

IMG_7286China Cap from the trail.

The trail crossed another tributary of Middle Fork Catherine Creek below a beautiful pair of cascades.
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IMG_7292Small meadow below the trail.

Approximately 3.5 miles from the trailhead we came to an unsigned junction with the China Ridge Trail.
IMG_7295The China Ridge Trail joining from the left.

We stayed on the Elk Creek Trail as it climbed for another scenic mile to the pass below Burger Butte.
IMG_7302

IMG_7304

IMG_7305The Elkhorns to the right beyond Burger Butte.

IMG_7309

IMG_7311Lyall’s Rockcress

IMG_7317The few patches of snow were just melted enough to allow us to avoid having to walk over them.

IMG_7318Burger Pass

The view from Burger Pass was great. There was a large snow patch over the trail but it was fairly level and soft so it didn’t require the microspikes.
IMG_7319Burger Butte from the pass.

IMG_7320Looking deeper into the Wallowas.

IMG_7326The snow patch below Burger Butte.

I decided to go ahead and attempt the 350′ descent to Burger Meadows while Heather opted to stay at the pass. From Burger Pass the Elk Creek Trail descends three quarters a mile to a junction with the Sand Pass Trail.
IMG_7329

IMG_7330

IMG_7332There were several patches of snow and some downed trees to navigate but I soon found myself at the junction.

IMG_7333

IMG_7336

I turned right on the Sand Pass Trail to see more of the meadows.
IMG_7340

IMG_7341The Sand Pass Trail can be seen climbing out of the basin in the sandy gap to the center left.

IMG_7344Meadow lookout.

IMG_7345View from the meadow.

IMG_7346Buttercups were about the only flowers blooming in the wet meadow.

IMG_7348The rocks along the ridge were really interesting.

IMG_7349

IMG_7352

IMG_7353Marmot? in the meadow.

I followed the trail about four tenths of a mile before stopping at Elk Creek where a large snow drift lingered on the far side.
IMG_7357

IMG_7360

I climbed back up to Burger Pass and once Heather got my attention we started back down arriving at the car a little before 12:30pm.
IMG_7374Golden mantled ground squirrel watching us from the granite.

20220712_102723Butterfly

IMG_7381Mountain heather

IMG_7393Mushrooms near the Middle Fork Catherine Creek cascades.

IMG_7397Jacob’s ladder

IMG_7405Penstemon

IMG_7415Mushroom

IMG_7424Pacific coralroot

Including my visit to the meadows this was a 11.5 mile, 2800′ elevation gain hike which turned out to be our favorite of the trip (Mt. Ireland (post) being a close second.)

We picked up a late lunch/early dinner from Yia Yia Nikki’s which turned out to be a wonderful choice on what was the hottest day of the week. We packed up as much as possible that night in preparation of moving from La Grande to Wallowa for the next two nights. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Burger Pass

Categories
Hiking Oregon Wallowas

Minam River via Moss Springs – 07/11/2022

Following a great first two days of hikes (Mt. Ireland & Catherine Creek Meadows) on our visit to Eastern Oregon Monday’s hike was set to be the longest in the trip, a visit to the Minam River via the Moss Springs Trailhead. We’d set our alarm for 4am in order to try and get as much hiking done during the cooler morning hours as possible. We’d left our motel at 5am and I started having abdominal pain as we drove to the trailhead. We think it was a side effect of my having preemptively taken some over the counter heartburn medication the previous nights since we had been eating richer foods than we typically do. Whatever the cause the my stomach seemed constantly cramped which was affecting my lower back and hips as well. I hoped that whatever was ailing me would subside soon as we set off on the Horse Ranch Trail (Trail 1908).
IMG_6919

IMG_6921Entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

IMG_6923

The trail descended from the trailhead 1.4 miles to a bridge over Horseshoe Creek. Going downhill was particularly painful for me as my cramped muscles protested each time I stepped down.
IMG_6932

IMG_6934Scarlet gilia along the trail.

20220711_062416Tapertip onion

20220711_062430Scarlet gilia

20220711_062551Lewis flax, we were hoping to see it opened up on the way back up to the car but somehow we both completely missed it.

20220711_062750Arrowleaf groundsel

IMG_6950

20220711_063552Bog orchid

20220711_063854False sunflowers

IMG_6958Paintbrush

20220711_064029Sticky geranium

IMG_6968Footbridge over Horseshoe Creek.

20220711_065308Horseshoe Creek

Shortly after crossing Horseshoe Creek the trail came close to the Little Minam River.
IMG_6970

The trail gradually descended along the river for approximately three miles to a bridge crossing it.
IMG_6978

20220711_071703Spotted coralroot

IMG_6981

IMG_6987Mountain lady slipper

IMG_6989Little Minam River

IMG_6992Coral fungus

IMG_6995Huckleberry Creek

IMG_6997Bridge across the Little Minam River.

IMG_7000Little Minam River

I had been forced to take a number of breaks due to the abdominal discomfort including several bouts of dry heaves. Other than my core though I felt good and being just a tad stubborn we continued on from the bridge. On the far side of the bridge we stayed left at a junction with the Jim White Ridge Trail.
IMG_7001

The Horse Ranch Trail briefly descended then climbed to a pass a little over 2 miles from the river crossing.
IMG_7005

IMG_7010The only area that we encountered showing signs of having burned in the not too distant past.

20220711_093724Elkhorn clarkia

IMG_7015Junction with the Little Minam Trail (left) just below the pass.

At the pass the trail turned left and began to descend along a ridge.
IMG_7019

Soon the trail left the ridge and began a steep descent to a meadow along the Minam River.
IMG_7022The meadow from the trail.

IMG_7023

IMG_7025Arriving at the meadow.

The U.S.F.S. owned Red’s Horse Ranch is located in the meadow. This historic ranch was acquired by the Forest Service in 1994 and still has a caretaker. Due to how I was feeling we didn’t actually visit the ranch but instead continued past it to the Minam River where we crossed on another bridge and took a long break across the river from the ranch.
IMG_7029

IMG_7033

IMG_7034Horses at Red’s Horse Ranch.

IMG_7035

IMG_7037Minam River

IMG_7041

I was hoping the long break would finally help my stomach relax but alas it wasn’t to be; so after our break we began the 8 mile trek back up to the car. We stopped at a spring on the way up to the pass to top off our water. For whatever reason I felt way better going uphill than I had downhill or even on level trail which was nice.
IMG_7045Landing strip near Red’s Horse Ranch.

IMG_7049

IMG_7057A plane coming in for a landing at the nearby Minam River Lodge.

IMG_7060Lousewort

IMG_7063Diamond clarkia

20220711_115525Grand collomia

IMG_7066Millipede

The pain was back as we descended from the pass but alleviated again every time we climbed. It was the first time I was happy to be climbing on a trail. We missed the flax on the way back up to the car but we did spot several white mariposa lilies which we hadn’t noticed that morning as well as a large patch of broomrape.
IMG_7082Pink pyrola

IMG_7083

IMG_7089Little Minam River

IMG_7090Coral fungus

IMG_7092We saw a bunch of these black moths? but they seldom sat still long enough to get a photo.

IMG_7108

IMG_7130An Orobanche

IMG_7131

IMG_7137Penstemon

IMG_7163Butterfly

IMG_7168

IMG_7183White mariposa lily

20220711_144805

IMG_7192Large-flower triteleia

IMG_7204Arriving back at the trailhead.

We arrived back at the car around 3:15pm after the long hike. It was a nice hike but admittedly my issues were a distraction for both of us which kept us from appreciating it as much as we should have.

Heather drove us back to La Grande where I tried taking a bath and eating half a sandwich was the only thing other than water and Gatorade that I’d had all day. Neither helped immediately so I laid down in bed and soon fell asleep. We kept the alarm set in hopes that I would be feeling better in the morning but if I didn’t we’d have to delay our planned hike to Burger Pass. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Minam River via Moss Springs

Categories
Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Catherine Creek Meadows – 07/10/2022

We’d spent the night in Baker City following our hike to the Mt. Ireland Lookout (post). Our plan for the next six days was to do five more of the “featured hikes” (post) from Sullivan’s 3rd edition “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” then before heading home on Friday do the Wallowa Homeland hike which is featured in Sullivan’s most recent 2022 edition of “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon”. Because the hikes were spread out along the western and northern sides of the Wallowas we would be moving our base of operations a couple of times during the week starting with a move to La Grande for Sunday through Tuesday nights.

Sunday morning we packed everything up and headed for the North Fork Catherine Creek Trailhead. After navigating the pothole filled FR 7785 we pulled into the large trailhead parking area.
IMG_6597

IMG_6598A $5 fee is required here and at several other trailheads we visited during the week. (An annual NW Forest Pass can be used instead.)

The trail doesn’t start at the parking area but rather another tenth of a mile up the road so we road walked to the official trailhead.
IMG_6600

The trail initially climbs above the creek to an open hillside, that was putting on a pretty good wildflower display, before descending to a bridge a little after 1.5 miles.
IMG_6608Lots of purple venus penstemon.

IMG_6613There were also some white scabland penstemon on the hillside.

IMG_6614Buckwheat

20220710_061539Venus penstemon

IMG_6619Lupine and stonecrop

IMG_6624Paintbrush

IMG_6625North Fork Catherine Creek

20220710_062027Douglas dustymaiden

20220710_062112Spreading dogbane

IMG_6634The trail crossed several side creeks, all of which were we were able to cross dry footed.

IMG_6636A brief stretch along North Fork Catherine Creek.

IMG_6637Queen’s cup

IMG_6638Another side creek.

IMG_6640Bog orchid

IMG_6641Spotted coralroot

IMG_6642A fleabane

One of the more interesting things we’ve witnessed was watching carpenter ants removing sawdust from a dead log and dropping it in a pile below.
IMG_6652

IMG_6653They’re a little blurry but you can see the ants in the cracks where they would drop their sawdust. It was fascinating to watch and we paused for quite a while.

IMG_6658Columbine

20220710_064502Mountain lady slippers

20220710_065926Large-flower triteleia

IMG_6685Back above the creek.

IMG_6692The bridge over Catherine Creek.

IMG_6693

IMG_6695Bluebells next to the bridge.

The trail climbed gradually for the next three and a half miles before reaching Catherine Creek Meadows.
IMG_6700

IMG_6704

IMG_6708Crab spider

IMG_6710Another type of penstemon

20220710_073039Rosy pussytoes

IMG_6713A side creek running down the trail.

20220710_073735Yellow columbine

IMG_6720Entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

IMG_6726Jim Creek, this was one of the trickier crossings.

IMG_6735Hound’s tongue

IMG_6737Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

IMG_6750One of several smaller meadows along the trail.

IMG_6751Jacob’s ladder

IMG_6752California corn lily and bluebells.

20220710_082334Boot Hill Creek was also tricky as it had taken over the trail.

IMG_6765

IMG_6766A large patch of coralroot.

IMG_6772A few remaining balsamroot blooming above North Fork Catherine Creek.

IMG_6777Arriving at Catherine Creek Meadows.

Up until this point we had been very lucky this year with mosquitos but the meadows were very wet and the recent warm weather had the bugs out in decent numbers so we couldn’t linger in any one spot too long but we did take a short break at a campsite near a side creek.
IMG_6778

IMG_6779

IMG_6786All the black dots in the blue sky were gnats flying over the stream at the trail crossing.

heart-leaved bittercressHeart-leaved bittercress

Our goal for the day lay about a half mile away, an early 1900’s log cabin at the far end of the meadow. After our break we set off across the creek following what became an increasingly wet trail to a junction where we forked left.
IMG_6791

IMG_6794

IMG_6799Looking back at the sign post in the meadow marking the trail junction.

IMG_6802Another dry section of trail.

IMG_6803It wasn’t dry for long.

IMG_6806Yellow buttercups and pink elephant’s head.

IMG_6807

IMG_6805Elephant’s head, one of our favorites.

IMG_6810Ladybug

IMG_6814Nearing the cabin.

IMG_6816

IMG_6817Ground squirrel

IMG_6819

IMG_6820Squatter running from the cabin.

We checked out the inside of the cabin before heading back.
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IMG_6822

It was only 9:45am when we started back so we took our time and kept an eye out for anything we’d missed on our first pass.
IMG_6831Beetle

IMG_6836Another beetle and Nevada bitterroot.

IMG_6839Brunch

IMG_6845A comma of some sort.

IMG_6848Big mushroom

IMG_6852Something from the Lycaenidae family.

IMG_6855Coneflower

IMG_6874Swallow-tail on red clover.

IMG_6882Fritilary on clover

IMG_6897Mourning cloak perched overhead.

IMG_6899Lorquin’s admiral

IMG_6900A tortoiseshell

IMG_6903Skullcap, one of the hardest flowers to get a decent picture of for some reason.

IMG_6910Tapertip onion

IMG_6915Yarrow and other wildflowers up the hillside.

Our hike came in at 11.8 miles with approximately 1450′ of elevation gain.

From the trailhead we drove to La Grande and checked into our Motel, after hanging out at a park for about an hour because we’d arrived a bit too early, and then headed to Side A Brewing for an early dinner. It was going to be a warm week so we turned in early planning on another 4am wake-up the next morning to beat as much of the heat as we could. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Catherine Creek Meadows

Categories
Hiking

Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas (Completed)

Several years back we set several hiking goals, one of which being to hike in all of Oregon’s federally designated wilderness areas. At that time there were 47 such areas in the State with two of those being off-limits to visitors (Three Arch Rocks & Oregon Islands are also National Wildlife Refuges that provide nesting habitat for sea birds as well as serving as pupping sites for marine mammals. To prevent disturbances public entry to any of the rocks/islands is prohibited and waters within 500 feet of the refuge are closed to all watercraft from May 1 through September 15.) In 2019 Congress added the Devils Staircase Wilderness to the list giving us a total of 46 designated wilderness areas to visit in order to complete this goal. Staring in 2019 we began posting annual updates on our progress (2020 & 2021) and we are excited to report that, unless any new wilderness areas are established in the future, this will be our last update. We managed to make it to the final four wilderness areas on our list, the North Fork Umatilla, Devils Staircase, Black Canyon, and Monument Rock, in 2021. We have to give credit to Bruce (Van Marmot) over at Boots on the Trail for not only getting to all 46 first but also providing inspiration and a lot of helpful information.

A little over 2.5 million acres are designated as wilderness throughout the State and range in size from 15 acres (Three Arch Rocks) to 355,548 acres (Eagle Cap). Oregon shares a wilderness with three of its bordering states. The Wenaha-Tuccanon is shared with Washington, Hells Canyon with Idaho, and Red Buttes with California. The areas are managed by three different federal agencies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages the Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks areas while the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages nine and the Forest Service manages forty-one. If you do the math those numbers add up to fifty-two. The reason for that is four of the areas, the Devils Staircase, Lower White River, Hells Canyon, and Wild Rogue are managed jointly by the Forest Service and BLM. Seven of the areas have no official trails, the two off-limit areas, and the Devils Staircase, Rock Creek, Lower White River, Bridge Creek, and Spring Basin wildernesses. Although irregularly shaped (except for the exactly 6 square mile Mountain Lakes Wilderness) the majority of the areas are a single unit. In addition to the Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks the Mount Hood (4), Mark O. Hatfield (2), Badger Creek (2),Salmon-Huckleberry (3), Clackamas (5), Soda Mountain (2), North Fork John Day (4), and Steens Mountain (2) consist of multiple separate areas.

We visited our first Oregon Wilderness in 2009 when we visited Henline Falls in the Opal Creek Wilderness. Since then we have spent parts of 215 days in these special places. For sixteen of the areas it was only a single day while we’ve spent part of 30 days in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Below are some of our best memories from each of the wilderness areas. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed visiting them.

Badger Creek: 28,915 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6
Divide Trail entering the Badger Creek Wilderness

Badger Creek

Mt. Hood from the helispot

Black Canyon: 13.088 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Black Canyon Wilderness sign

Black Canyon Trail

Black Canyon Trail crossing Black Canyon Creek

Boulder Creek: 19,911 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Boulder Creek Wilderness sign

View from the Boulder Creek Trail</a

Boulder Creek

Bridge Creek: 5,337 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Bridge Creek Wilderness sign

Bridge Creek Wilderness

View to the north from the Bridge Creek Wilderness

Bull of the Woods: 36,869 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6
Bull of the Woods Wilderness sign

Lake Lenore

Emerald Pool

Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Hood and Big Slide Lake from the Bull of the Woods Lookout

Clackamas: 9.465 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2
Clackamas Wilderness sign

Memaloose Lake

Big Bottom

Copper-Salmon: 13,724 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Barklow Mountain Trail entering the Copper-Salmon Wilderness

View from the summit of Barklow Mountain

Cummins Creek: 9,026 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Wilderness sign at the upper trailhead

Cummins Ridge Trail

Devils Staircase: 30,787 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Informational sign for the Devil's Staircase Wilderness

Devil's Staircase Wilderness

Devil's Staircase Wilderness

Devil's Staircase

Diamond Peak: 52,477 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-7
Trapper Creek Trail entering the Diamond Peak Wilderness

Small waterfall on Trapper Creek

Diamond Peak from Karen Lake at sunset

Diamond Lake from an unnamed lake along the Crater Butte Trail

Climbers trail to Diamond Peak

Drift Creek: 5,792 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2
Drift Creek Wilderness sign

Drift Creek

Eagle Cap: 355,548 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5
Eagle Cap Wilderness sign

Ice Falls

Ice Lake

Basin between the Matterhorn and Sacajawea

Mountain goats

Eagle Cap from the Matterhorn

Glacier Lake

Eagle Cap from Mirror Lake

The Matterhorn and Moccasin Lake from Eagle Cap

Horseshoe Lake

Gearhart Mountain: 22,587 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Gearhart Mountain Wilderness sign

The Palisades in the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness

Gearhart Mountain Wilderness

View from Gearhart Mountain

Grassy Knob: 17,176 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Grassy Knob Wilderness sign

View from Grassy Knob

Hells Canyon: 131,337 acres in OR (217,613 in ID) Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Trail sign at a junction with Marks Cabin Trail along the Summit Ridge Trail at the Hells Canyon Wilderness Boundary

Looking into Hells Canyon from Freezeout Saddle

Kalmiopsis: 179,550 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Kalmiopsis Wilderness sign

Ridge to the south of the Vulcan Peak Trail

Vulcan Lake

California pitcher plant (Darlingtonia californica) at Little Vulcan Lake

Lower White River: 2,871 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Lower White River Wilderness Sign

White River

Mark O. Hatfield: 65,420 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-12
Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness sign

Triple Falls

View from Chindrie Mountain

Twister Falls

Mt. Hood from Green Point Mountain

Menagerie: 4,952 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2
Menagerie Wilderness sign

Rooster Rock from the Trout Creek Trail

Rooster Rock from a viewpoint in the Menagerie Wilderness

Middle Santiam: 8,845 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2
Middle Santiam Wilderness sign

Overgrown trail

Donaca Lake

Mill Creek: 17,173 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Mill Creek Wilderness sign

Twin Pillars Trail

Monument Rock: 20,210 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Wilderness sign for the Monument Rock Wilderness

Monument Rock Wilderness

Cairn on Monument Rock

Little Malheur River

Monument Rock Wilderness

Mountain Lakes: 23,036 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2
Mountain Lakes Wilderness sign

Eb Lake

Aspen Butte

Mt. McLoughlin, Whiteface Peak, Pelican Butte, and Mount Harriman from Aspen Butte

Mount Hood: 64,742 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-22
Mt. Hood Wilderness sign

Mt. Hood from the Paradise Park Loop Trail

Mt. Hood from the Timberline Trail

Mt. Hood from the Timberline Trail near Elk Cove

Mt. Hood and Burnt Lake from East Zig Zag Mountain

Mt. Hood from Paradise Park

Morning from Paradise Park

Mt. Hood from Yocum Ridge

Mt. Hood from the Newton Creek crossing of the Timberline Trail

Hawk flying over the wildflowers in Paradise Park below Mt. Hood

Langille Crags, Compass Creek, Mt. Hood and Barret Spur

Ramona Falls

Mt. Hood and Barret Spur from Elk Cove

Mt. Hood

Cooper Spur Shelter

Mount Jefferson: 108,909 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-27
Enterng the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Mt. Jefferson, Russel Lake, and Sprauge Lake from Park Ridge

The trail ahead

You can still see the purple lupine in the upper meadow

Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake

Mt. Jefferson from Boca Cave

Marion and Gatch Falls

Mt. Jefferson from Jefferson Park

Park Butte from Bays Lake

Mt. Jefferson and Hunts Cove from the Hunts Creek Trail

Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson beyond the Eight Lakes Basin

Mt. Jefferson from Bear Point

Mt. Jefferson and Goat Peak

North Cinder Peak from the Cabot Lake Trail

Mt. Jefferson from Table Lake

Goat Peak and Mt. Jefferson

Carl Lake

Three Fingered Jack from Lower Berley Lake

Three Fingered Jack and Square Lake

Mount Thielsen: 55,151 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5
Mt. Thielsen Wilderness sign

Howlock Mountain and Mt. Thielsen

Tipsoo Peak from Maidu Lake

Mt. Thielsen

Thielsen Creek

Howlock Mountain and Mt. Thielsen from Howlock Meadows

Mt. Thielsen and Cottonwood Creek Falls

Mt. Thielsen from a spring feeding Cottonwood Creek

Mount Washington: 54,410 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-7
Wt. Washington Wilderness sign

Belknap Crater

Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson from the Pacific Crest Trail

The largest of the Tenas Lakes

Benson Lake

Patjens Lake Trail

Mt. Washington from Mt. Washington Meadows

North Fork John Day: acres Days Spent in Wilderness-8
North Fork John Day River

North Fork John Day River Trail

Blue Mountain Trail

Elk on the Baldy Creek Trail

Mt. Ireland from Baldy Lake

Tower Mountain Trail

North Fork Umatilla: 20,225 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-3
North Fork Umatilla wilderness sign

Ninemile Ridge

Ninemile Ridge

North Fork Umatilla River

Opal Creek: 20,774 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6
Whetstone Mountain Trail

Opal Lake

Larkspur and paintbrush

Battle Ax Creek

One of the Marten Buttes

Henline Falls

Bull-of-the Woods and Whetstone Mountain from the lookout site

Oregon Badlands: 28,182 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2
Oregon Badlands Wilderness sign
Ancient Juniper Trail - Oregon Badlands Wilderness

View from Flatiron Rock

Badlands Rock

Another canyon in the Oregon Badlands Wilderness

Oregon Islands: 925 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-0
Signboard for the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge

Bandon Islands

Simpson Reef

Sea lions on Shell Island

Gull Rock

Red Buttes: 3,777 acres in OR (20,133 in CA) Days Spent in Wilderness-2 in OR, (4 in CA)
Red Buttes Wilderness sign

Swan Mountain

Figurehead Mountain and Red ButtesThis photo is from CA but it actually shows the namesake Red Buttes

Roaring River: 36,548 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Entering the Roaring River Wilderness

Middle Rock Lake

Unnamed pond

Serene Lake

Rock Creek: 7,273 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Rock Creek Campground sign along Highway 101Closest thing to a “wilderness sign” we saw for this one.

Rock Creek

Frosty meadow in the Rock Creek Wilderness

Rogue-Umpqua: 35,749 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6
Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness sign

Hummingbird Meadows

View from the Buck Canyon Trail

View from the old road to Abbott Butte

Pup Prairie from the Acker Divide Trail

Rattlesnake Mountain from the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Trail

Salmon-Huckleberry: 62,061 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-11
Entering the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness on the Eagle Creek trail

Rhododendron in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Eagle Creek Trail in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Mt. Hood

Plectritis and larkspur

Boulder Ridge Trail

Mt. Hood

Devil's Peak Lookout

Cliffs along the Salmon River Canyon

Frustration Falls

Hunchback Trail

Sky Lakes: 113,687 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-3
Sky Lakes Wilderness sign

Mt. McLoughlin from Fourmile Lake

Meadow with a lily pad pond across the Badger Lake Trail from Badger Lake

Island Lake

Mt. McLoughlin

Fourmile Lake from Mt. McLoughlin

Soda Mountain: 24,707 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2
Soda Mountain Wilderness sign

PCT entering the Soda Mountain Wilderness

Boccard Point and Mt. Shasta in the distance

Looking west from Boccard Point

Larkspur

Pilot Rock

Spring Basin: 6,404 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-1
Spring Basin Wilderness

Spring Basin Wilderness

John Day River from the Spring Basin Wilderness

Horse Mountain in the Spring Basin Wilderness

Hedgehog cactus

Steens Mountain: 170,202 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5
Entering the Steens Mountain Wilderness

Registration box at the Pike Creek Trail

View from the Pike Creek Trail

Big Indian Gorge

Wildhorse Lake

Wildhorse Lake Trail

Kiger Gorge

View from the Little Blitzen Trail

Little Blitzen Gorge

Little Blitzen Trail

Little Blitzen River

Strawberry Mountain: 69,350 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-5
Strawberry Mountain Wilderness sign

Indian Creek Butte

Strawberry Mountain

Volcanic ash along the Pine Creek Traii

Strawberry Basin Trail

Strawberry Mountain

Strawberry Lake

Slide Lake

Skyline Trail

High Lake

Mountain Goats above High Lake

Canyon Mountain Trail

High Lake

Table Rock: 5,784 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-3
Old Table Rock Wilderness signboard

High Ridge Trail

Table Rock

Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters from Table Rock

Trail to the Rooster Rock viewpoint.

Mt. Jefferson and Rooster Rock

Meadow below Rooster Rock

Three Arch Rocks: 15 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-0
Three Arch Rocks Wilderness

Three Sisters: 283,619 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-30
Broken Top near Crater Ditch

Black Crater Trail

Middle and South Sister from Linton Meadows

Middle and South Sister from Eileen Lake

Duncan Falls

Upper portion of Upper Linton Falls

Falls on Fall Creek

The Wife

Linton Springs

Middle Sister and a Chambers Lake

South Sister from Camp Lake

Phoenix Falls

Lower Linton Falls

Upper Linton Falls

Mt. Washington's spire, Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Jefferson

Indian Holes Falls

French Pete Creek

Middle and North Sister beyond Golden Lake

Broken Top, a tarn, and some Lupine

Thayer Glacial Lake

Monkeyflower along Soap Creek

No Name Lake

The third Green Lake

North Sister

Pacific Crest Trail

Old cabin at Muskrat Lake

Meadow along the Olallie Mountain Trail

View from Subsitute Point

The Chambers Lakes and Cascade Peaks from South Sister

Broken Top and Moraine Lake

South Sister from Morraine Lake

South Sister from Denude Lake

Proxy Falls

The Three Sisters from a wildflower meadow along the Rebel Rock Trail

Broken Top

The Three Sisters

Waldo Lake: 36,868 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-6
Waldo Lake Wilderness sign

Rigdon Butte

Lillian Falls

Fuji Mountain from Black Meadows

Diamond Peak and Fuji Mountain from Waldo Lake

Mt. Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, The Husband, Middle & South Sister, Broken Top, and Mt. Bachelor

Upper Salmon Lake

Wenaha-Tuccanon: 65,266 acres in OR (176,737 in WA) Days Spent in Wilderness-2
Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness sign

Wenaha River Trail

Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness

Wenaha River Trail

Milk Creek and South Fork Wenaha River confluence

Wild Rogue: 35,221 acres Days Spent in Wilderness-2
Wild Rogue wilderness sign

Hanging Rock

Flora del Falls

Rogue River Trail

Rogue River

Categories
Hiking Uncategorized

Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas

In our last post we wrote about our ambitious (possibly overly so) goal of completing 500 “featured” hikes in William L. Sullivan’s guidebooks. The topic of this post is another one of our goals, visiting all 45 of Oregon’s accessible designated wilderness areas (Three Arch Rocks and Oregon Islands are off limits to all visitors). This goal should be quite a bit easier to accomplish given the much smaller number of needed hikes and the fact that the wilderness areas aren’t changing every few years. (There is legislation pending that would create the Devil’s Staircase Wilderness in the coast range between Reedsport and Eugene.)

The inspiration for this goal came from a fellow hiker and blogger over at Boots on the Trail. This smaller goal fit well into our 500 featured hikes goal too as thirty nine of the wilderness areas are destinations of at least one of the featured hikes. The remaining six: Copper-Salmon, Lower White River, Rock Creek, Cummins Creek, Bridge Creek, and Grassy Knob were still included in the books but as additional hikes in the back. Between the hike descriptions in the guidebooks and Boots on the Trail’s trip reports we’ve had plenty of information to work with.

This was an appealing goal too. Wilderness areas are dear to our hearts and home to many of our favorite places. These areas are the least affected by humans and we feel best reflect God’s work as Creator. To me they are akin to a museum showcasing His finest artistry. Just as we would in a museum we admire and enjoy the wilderness but we do our best not to affect it meaning adhering whenever possible to Leave No Trace principles.

We have made pretty good progress on this goal so far and as of 12/31/18 we had visited 38 of the 45 accessible areas (and seen the other two from the beach). We’re currently on track to have visited them all by the end of 2020.

Below is a chronological list of the wilderness areas we’ve been to (or seen) as well as any subsequent year(s) we’ve visited with some links to selected trip reports.

Opal Creek – 2009, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18

Battle Ax CreekBattle Ax Creek – 2014

Mt. Jefferson – 2010, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18

Mt. Jeffferson from Russell LakeMt. Jefferson from Russell Lake – 2016

Drift Creek – 2010

Drift CreekDrift Creek – 2010

Mt. Washington – 2011, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17

Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson from the Pacific Crest TrailMt. Washington from the Pacific Crest Trail – 2015

Three Sisters – 2011, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

The Three Sisters from the edge of the plateauThe Three Sisters – 2014

Three Arch Rocks – 2011, 18

Three Arch Rocks WildernessThree Arch Rocks from Cape Meares – 2018

Mark O. Hatfield – 2012, 14, 15, 16

Triple FallsTriple Falls – 2012

Mt. Hood – 2012, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Mt. Hood from the Timberline TrailMt. Hood – 2015

Oregon Islands – 2012, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Bandon IslandsBandon Islands – 2018

Mill Creek – 2012

Twin PillarsTwin Pillars – 2011

Mt. Thielsen – 2012, 14

Howlock Mountain and Mt. ThielsenHowlock Mountain and Mt. Thielsen – 2014

Table Rock – 2012, 15

Table RockTable Rock – 2015

Salmon-Huckleberry – 2013, 14, 15, 17, 18

Frustration FallsFrustration Falls – 2018

Diamond Peak – 2013, 14, 18

Small waterfall on Trapper CreekTrapper Creek – 2014

Waldo Lake – 2013, 15, 18

Waldo LakeView from Fuji Mountain – 2013

Roaring River – 2013

Serene LakeSerene Lake – 2013

Badger Creek – 2014

Badger Creek WildernessBadger Creek Wilderness – 2014

Middle Santiam – 2014

Donaca LakeDonaca Lake – 2014

Bull of the Woods – 2014, 15, 18

Emerald Pool on Elk Lake CreekEmerald Pool – 2018

Soda Mountain – 2015, 17

Looking west from Boccard PointView from Boccard Point – 2015

Red Buttes – 2015

Red Buttes, Kangaroo Mountain and Rattlesnake MountainRed Buttes – 2015

Oregon Badlands – 2016

View from Flatiron RockOregon Badlands Wilderness – 2016

Kalmiopsis – 2016

Vulcan Lake below Vulcan PeakVulcan Lake – 2016

Menagerie – 2016

Rooster Rock from a viewpoint in the Menagerie WildernessRooster Rock – 2016

Eagle Cap – 2016

Glacier LakeGlacier Lake – 2016

Mountain Lakes – 2016

Mt. McLoughlin, Whiteface Peak, Pelican Butte, and Mount Harriman from Aspen ButteView from Aspen Butte – 2016

Sky Lakes – 2016

Mt. McLoughlin from Freye LakeMt. McLoughlin from Freye Lake – 2016

Lower White River – 2016

White RiverWhite River – 2016

Rock Creek – 2017

Rock CreekRock Creek – 2017

Spring Basin – 2017

Hedgehog cactusHedgehog Cactus – 2017

Bridge Creek – 2017

View to the north from the Bridge Creek WildernessBridge Creek Wilderness – 2017

Wild-Rogue – 2017

Hanging RockHanging Rock – 2017

Grassy Knob – 2017

View from Grassy KnobView from Grassy Knob – 2017

Clackamas – 2017

Big BottomBig Bottom – 2017

North Fork John Day – 2017, 18

Baldy LakeBaldy Lake – 2017

Cummins Creek – 2017

Cummins Ridge TrailCummins Ridge Trail – 2017

Rogue-Umpqua Divide – 2018

Hummingbird MeadowsHummingbird Meadows – 2018

Steens Mountain – 2018

View from the Pike Creek TrailView along the Pine Creek Trail – 2018

Strawberry Mountain – 2018

Slide LakeSlide Lake – 2018

Copper-Salmon – 2018

Barklow Mountain TrailBarklow Mountain Trail – 2018

The remaining areas and year of our planned visit looks like this:

2019 – Hells Canyon, North Fork Umatilla, Wenaha-Tucannon
2020 – Boulder Creek, Black Canyon, Monument Rock, Gearhart Mountain

If the Devil’s Staircase is added in the meantime we will do our best to work that in (it is currently on our list of hikes but not until 2023. For more information on Oregon’s wilderness areas visit Wilderness.net here.

Happy Trails!

Categories
Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 5 – Return to the Wallowa Lake Trailhead

All good things must come to an end and it was time for our visit to the Eagle Cap Wilderness to end on the fifth day. We were up before 5am and were rewarded with a soft alpenglow.
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We ate some breakfast, packed up, and then made our way down to Horseshoe Lake.
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We then began a 3 mile descent to Sixmile Meadow along the West Fork Wallowa River. The trail up the river to Frazier Lake had been lined with wildflower meadows but this trail passed through a forest.
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A few flowers were present as well as some ripe oval leaf blueberries.
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Prince’s pine
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We had been discussing the fact that we hadn’t seen quite as much wildlife as we thought we might. A doe and her fawn had walked right past our tent on the first night and we’d seen a pair of mountain goats on the second day while heading up to the Matterhorn, but otherwise it had been a lot of birds, chipmunks and squirrels. As we came around a switchback we spotted a snowshoe hare.
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The trail leveled out as we neared Sixmile Meadow and the temperature dropped. A light frost covered the plants along the path.
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Logs allowed us to cross 2 branches of the river.
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We passed through Sixmile Meadow before turning left on the West Fork Wallowa Trail.
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We were now on a familiar trail but despite having seen the scenery there were some new sights in the form of wildlife.
Grouse
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Buck
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All in all it had been a great trip. We had had a couple of hiccups with Heather being ill the first night and having trouble finding a campsite the second and fourth nights but the weather had been wonderful and the scenery superb. After changing and doing a little bit of cleanup at the car we stopped for lunch in Joseph at the R & R Drive-In which really hit the spot. We each had a Zeke Burger and split an order of some spectacular tater-tots.

We were able to take I84 on the way home but decided to leave the Interstate at Hood River in an attempt to avoid driving through Portland during rush-hour on a Thursday. We drove past Mt. Hood on Highway 35 to Highway 26 then took State Highways through Estacada, Mollala,and Woodburn to avoid traffic. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157671217618871

Epilogue – After spending five days in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of NE Oregon we found ourselves at the beach for our annual family reunion in Gleneden Beach, OR. For the first time we brought our camera and for the first time we spotted whales off the coast.
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In the course of a week we’d gone from seeing mountain goats on the way up a 9826′ peak to watching whales surface from sea level. Just one of the reasons why we love living in the Pacific Northwest.

Categories
Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Cap Wilderness Day 4 – Eagle Cap

The fourth day of our backpacking trip began with a nice sunrise over Moccasin Lake.
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Our plan for the day was to take our day packs and hike to the summit of Eagle Cap, then pack up camp and move to Horseshoe Lake for the final night of our trip.

It had been rather breezy the day before and we were hoping that wouldn’t be the case today so that we could get catch some reflections of Eagle Cap in the lakes. A gentle breeze kept that from happening.
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We hiked to the west end of Mirror Lake and followed signs toward Horton Pass at a 4-way trail junction.
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The trail took us past Upper Lake set in an alpine bowl surrounded by wildflowers and backed by a scenic waterfall on the far side of the valley.
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The trail climbed up from Upper Lake toward Eagle Cap.
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We knew we would be encountering some patches of snow based on recent trip reports from Van Marmot and Born2BBrad over on Oregonhikers.org. We also knew that it would be fairly easy to avoid the snow which was good given our early start because the snow was still iced from the night before.
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From the sign in the snow we had the choice of going right to Horton Pass and following the ridge from there or going left and making a steeper climb to a higher point on the same ridge. Looking at the trail up to Horton Pass it seemed to have not only more snow but it was on a steeper slope than staying left so we chose that route and climbed to the ridge where views opened up to the west.
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To the NE lay the Lakes Basin and the Matterhorn.
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The west side of the ridge was covered in short trees and we passed through this forest of miniature trees to a saddle below Eagle Cap.
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From the saddle we had a nice view down the East Lostine River valley to the east and across to Blue Lake to the west.
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Beyond the saddle the trail climbed Eagle Cap in a series of long switchbacks. A few alpine flowers dotted the landscape.
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After passing through some whitebark pines we arrived at the broad summit of Eagle Cap.
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Although Eagle Cap is a few hundred feet shorter than the Matterhorn the sky was clearer than it had been two days earlier when we had been atop the other peak. The view was so huge it was hard to take everything in.
East Lostine River, the Matterhorn, and the Lakes Basin
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Glacier Lake
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Looking SW
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Seven Devils in Idaho
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The Elkhorns
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After having second breakfast on Eagle Cap we headed back down. On the way we ran into a couple from Portland who had camped near Upper Lake. They had seen a mountain goat run by their camp the day before and spotted a pair of wolves crossing a snowfield on the ridge above the lake as well. We passed several other hikers making their way up toward Eagle Cap making us glad we had started so early.

We stopped at Upper Lake to refill our water supply and decided to follow the trail around the lake thinking it would take us over to another trail that ran between Minam Pass and the 4-way junction at Mirror Lake.
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The trail petered out at the far end of the lake near it’s inlet stream. Instead of backtracking we decided to rock hop up the creek to the other trail.
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When we arrived at the other trail we found our first western pasque flower seed-heads.
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We were also near the waterfall we had seen from across Upper Lake.
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We followed the trail back down through some lovely wildflower meadows to the 4-way junction and then returned to our campsite to pack up.
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From Mirror Lake we had the choice of going back past Moccasin Lake or taking a different trail past little Sunshine and Crescent Lake. The two routes rejoined at the NE end of Douglas Lake. Since we had already seen Moccasin Lake we decided to go by Sunshine Lake where we wound up getting our best reflection of Eagle Cap.
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We passed a junction with the Hurricane Creek Trail after 1.1 miles and arrived at Crescent Lake after approximately another three quarter miles.
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Douglas Lake was just on the other side of the trail from Crescent Lake.
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We followed a pointer for the West Fork Wallowa River when we reached the trail junction at the end of Douglas Lake.
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Shortly thereafter we came to another trail junction.
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Here we faced another choice. Both forks would bring us to Horseshoe Lake, the left in 1.3 miles and the right in 1.5 miles passing Lee and Lily Lakes. We chose the longer route past the other two lakes and began descending toward Lee Lake.
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After a brief stop at Lee Lake we continued past the aptly named Lily Lake.
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The trail passed by large Horseshoe Lake along the northern shore.
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We were hoping to find a campsite at east end of Horseshoe Lake which would would leave us with a shorter hike on our final day but we were unable to find a suitable site at that end of the lake. After reaching the junction with the other fork of the Lakes Basin Trail and failing to have found a good campsite we decided to head back up the other fork to see if there were any decent sites along that trail.
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We had been planning on visiting nearby Unit Lake after setting up camp and knew there was a campsite there, but the trail to that lake was no longer maintained and camping there would require hauling our packs down to the lake over a lot of blowdown which we preferred not to do. As luck would have it we found a suitable spot for our tent below the trail just opposite of the unmaintained trail to Unit Lake.
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After getting settled we decided to take our chairs, dinner, and water filter with us to Unit Lake and spend our evening there. The trail had definitely not been maintained from quite some time and we were glad we had chosen not to try and do the trail with our full packs.
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That being said we were glad we made the side trip down to the lake.
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We were a little surprised when a Dad and four kids came crashing down the trail to fish for a little while but they soon departed and we had a little more solitude before returning to our tent and watching the sunset on Eagle Cap for the final time.
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Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157671183919842