Tag: elk

2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 2 – Featherless Friends

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 26, 2023
No Comments on 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.
Ants 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.

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

Lady bug – Upper Table Rock

Yellow & black beetle – Mule Mountain

Redish brown beetle – Siskiyou Wilderness

Green beetle – Siskiyou Wilderness

Hitchhiker – Mt. Ireland

Blueish green beetle – Catherine Creek Meadows

Small beetle – Catherine Creek Meadows

Green beetle on a geranium – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Green beetle on a wallflower – Silver Star Mountain

Stripped beetle – Spring Valley Greenway

Water skippers – Big Twin Lake

Spider on thimbleberry – Siskiyou Wilderness

Crab spider – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Another crab spider – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Cricket – Pacific Crest Trail

We 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 phacelia – Mule Mountain

Wet bee on lupine – Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

Bumble bee – Hemlock Creek Trail

Lots of pollen – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Bee landing on a marsh marigold along the PCT

Bee approaching penstemon – Siskiyou Wilderness

Bee and a tiny ant in a bindweed – Siskiyou Wilderness

Insects on thistle – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Wasp? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Some sort of wasp – Silver Star Mountain

Insect along Bear Creek – Eagle Cap Wilderness

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

Damsel fly – Denman Wildlife Area

Damsel fly – Hemlock Lake

Dragon fly – Goat Marsh Lake

Dragon fly – Siskiyou Wilderness

Dragon fly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Dragon fly along the Wallowa River – Wallowa Homeland

Dragon fly – E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Dragon fly – Hemlock Lake

Dragon fly – Sky Lakes Wilderness

Snail – Rock Creek Trail

Snail – Applegate Lake

Snail – North Siouxon Trail

Snail – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Snail – Siskiyou Wilderness

Snail – Cascade Head

Slug – Larch Mountain Trail

Slug (and a fly) – Susan Creek Trail

Slug – Fish Lake

Slug on lupine – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Slug and an unfortunate earth worm – Rock Creek Trail

Worms – Chehalem Ridge Nature Park

Millipede – North Siouxon Trail

Millipede – Rock Creek Trail

Millipede – Illahee Rock

Millipede – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Wet caterpillar – Yakona Nature Preserve

Dry version – Larch Mountain Trail

Caterpillar – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Caterpillar – Siskiyou Wilderness

Caterpillar – Larch Mountain Trail

Moth – Klickitat Trail

Moth -Eagle Cap Wilderness

Moth – Twin Lakes

Moth – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Moth – Wolf Creek Falls Trail

Moth – Cascade Head

Propertius duskywing (Erynnis propertius) – Klickitat Trail

Duskywing – Siskiyou Wilderness

Northern Cloudywing? – Siskiyou Wilderness

Silver-spotted skipper – Siskiyou Wilderness

Skipper – Grizzly Peak

Skipper – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Skipper – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Hairstreak (bramble?) – Siskiyou Mountains

Cedar hairstreak – Siskiyou Wilderness

Hairstreak (possibly thicket) – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Ochre ringlet – Jack Ash Trail

Butterfly – Siskiyou Wilderness

Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Butterfly – Upper Table Rock

Butterfly – Mule Mountain

Butterfly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Butterfly – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Butterfly – Mt. Ireland

Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

Butterfly – Russian Wilderness

Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Sara’s orangetip – Klickitat Trail

Common woodnymph – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Another woodnymph – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Orange sulphur – Siskiyou Wilderness

Mountain parnassian – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Clodius parnassian – Hemlock Lake

Western white? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Western white – Trinty Alps Wilderness

Pine white – Russian Wilderness

Butterfly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Butterfly – Russian Wilderness

Butterfly – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Butterfly – Mule Mountain

Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

Western meadow fritillary? – Silver Star Mountain

A fritillary – Silver Star Mountain

A fritillary – Trinity Alps Wilderness

A fritillary -Russian Wilderness

A fritillary – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Mourning cloak – Klickitat Trail

California tortoiseshell – Siskiyou Wilderness

Milbert’s tortoiseshell – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Lorquin’s admiral – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Common buckeye – Mt. Shasta Wilderness

Hoary comma – Sky Lakes Wilderness

Green comma? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Swallowtails:
Klickitat Trail

Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

Eagle Cap Wilderness

Tadpoles – Russian Wilderness

Tadpole transforming – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Frog – Russian Wilderness

Frog – Goat Marsh Lake

Tree frog – Siskiyou Wilderness

Frog – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Toad – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Toad – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Fish – Siphon Lake

Rough skinned newt – Yakona Nature Preserve

Western painted turtle – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Baby snake – Miller Woods

Garter snake – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Lizard – Mule Mountain

Lizard – Upper Table Rock

Lizard – Russian Wilderness

Lizard – Siskiyou Wilderness

Lizard – Klickitat Trail

Lizard – Upper Table Rock

Alligator lizard – Mule Mountain

Chipmunk – Observation Peak

Ground squirrel – Russian Wilderness

Ground squirrel – Klickitat Trail

Ground squirrel – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Ground squirrel – Upper Table Rock

Squirrel – Rock Creek Trail

Squirrel – Twin Lakes

Squirrel – Larch Mountain Trail

Marmot – Wallowa Homeland

Jack rabbit – Denman Wildlife Area

Rabbit – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Pika – Silver Star Mountain

Muskrat – Julia Butler Hansen – Wildlife Refuge

Otter – Killin Wetlands

Sea lion – Hart’s Cove

Deer – Memaloose Hills

Doe – Miller Woods

Mamma – Roxy Ann Peak

Fawn – Roxy Ann Peak

Columbian white-tailed buck – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Doe & fawn – Donomore Meadows

Three bucks – Siskiyou Wilderness

Buck – Siskiyou Wilderness

Buck – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Doe & fawn – Russian Wilderness

Buck and does – Russian Wilderness

Two bucks – Crater Lake National Park

Elk – Yakona Nature Preserve

Bull elk – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

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

Domestic goat – Near the Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Black bear – Siskiyou Wilderness

The same black bear making eye contact the day before.

Tags Bear, Butterfly, California, Columbian White-tailed deer, deer, eagle cap wilderness, elk, fawn, Julia Butler Hansen Refuge, mountain goat, Oregon, Pika, Russian Wilderness, Siskiyou Wilderness, Trinity Alps Wilderness, Washington, Wildlife

Central Coast Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast

Cascade Head to Hart’s Cove – 10/01/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 3, 2022
1 Comment on Cascade Head to Hart’s Cove – 10/01/2022

With Heather sidelined for at least a few weeks due to an injury I made some changes to this years remaining hikes so that she might not miss out on places we hadn’t hike yet. I looked through the hikes I had in the works for future years and pulled some of the more challenging seeming outings forward for this October. First up on that list was a hike combining Cascade Head (post) and Hart’s Cove (post). It seemed like a good time to try this hike since the seasonal closure (Jan 1 – July 15) which had kept us from attempting it in 2019 wasn’t in effect and Forest Road 1861 which provides access to both the Hart’s Cove Trailhead and the Nature Conservancy Trailhead is closed. The road closure meant no cars on the road walk between the two trailheads as well as the likelihood of few other hikers on the Hart’s Cove Trail. The downside was the landslide that closed FR 1861 in November 2021 meant that the Hart’s Cove Trail had likely not seen much, if any, maintenance this year and there was limited emergency response capabilities should anything go wrong.

I started from Knights County Park (The same place we’d started on our previous two hikes to Cascade Head) just before 7am.
It seems this time of year I (we) are always a little ahead of the sunlight which does nothing for photos.

Heather had told me that this was probably the time when I would finally see some of the elk that inhabit Cascade Head since she wasn’t going to be there. She hit the nail on the head. Just after crossing Three Rocks Road (less than a quarter mile into the hike) I spotted several elk grazing in a field.
Coming up on the road crossing.

After crossing Three Rocks Road the trail climbs through the trees along Savage Road before crossing it at the half mile mark. Just before crossing Savage Road I spotted another elk, this time a lone young bull.
Cascade Head from the trail with the elk at the end of the grass to the right.

Fuzzy (low light) photo of the elk.

Crossing Savage Road with the first view of the Pacific.

I recrossed the road a tenth of a mile later at a big trailhead sign where there is no parking.

From the no parking trailhead the trail climbs (steeply at first) through the forest before leaving the trees behind after three quarters of a mile.

View from one of five metal footbridges along this section.

Signboard and donation box at the start of The Nature Conservancy owned land.

First direct sunlight of the morning.

Out of the trees and into the meadows.

Looking uphill

The trail traverses the open hillside for approximately 0.4 miles before turning more steeply uphill along a ridge.

Snacks

Salmon River Estuary

A snail and lupine leaves.

A small viewpoint just before the trail turns uphill.

Going up

The trail gains views as it gains elevation.

The trail through the meadow below.

This knoll looks like the high point as you climb, but it’s a trick.

The high point is actually marked by a post. (Near the right end of the photo).

The high point is approximately 2.5 miles from the trailhead at Knights County Park. From there the trail drops slightly and enters the forest after a tenth of a mile.

The transition from open meadow to lush green forest here is probably the most abrupt and starkest contrast that we’ve encountered on trail. This was my third time crossing this boundary and it was just as impressive and impactful as the first.

The trail was now nearly level as it followed an old road bed another 0.9 miles to the Nature Conservancy Trailhead.

Wooden arch over the old roadbed.

Nearing the upper trailhead.

I turned left onto FR 1861 and followed it downhill for 0.8 miles to the Hart’s Cove Trailhead.
When they do reopen the road there will be a few trees to deal with.

The Hart’s Cove Trail begins with a steep descent via several switchbacks before easing at the 0.6-mile mark.

There were around 18 trees such as this one across the trail from the trailhead to Cliff Creek.

I arrived at Cliff Creek at the 0.8-mile mark without any issues, all of the trees that were down were easily stepped over or around.
This large chunk of tree trunk has done some damage to the bridge, but it was still passable.

Cliff Creek

Shortly beyond the crossing I came to the first tricky obstacle.

It was obvious that others had made their way through it and with some careful climbing and ducking I soon found myself on the other side.

A second tricky downed tree was just a bit further along the trail.

I wondered if this was a sign of things to come over the remaining two miles but after making my way through this second obstacle the trail conditions improved and the remaining obstacles were easily avoided.

At the 1.6-mile mark I entered the Neskowin Crest Research Natural Area

Just beyond the signs the trail rounds a ridge to a bench above Hart’s Cove (still a mile away) with a limited view due to trees.

Sign near the bench.

Beyond the bench the trail turns inland to cross Chitwood Creek then heads back towards the Pacific Ocean.
Big sitka spruce trunk.

Approaching the Chitwood Creek crossing.

Chitwood Creek

Heading back toward the ocean.

Someone stuck some feathers in this mushroom.

The trail eventually left the forest entering another meadow and descending to a viewpoint.

There was a large number of noisy sea lions on the shaded rocks below Cascade Head. Even though they were quite far away they were loud.

Seagull hanging out on a sea rock.

Sea lion heading for its buddies.

To the north Cape Lookout (post) along with Haystack Rock and Cape Kiwanda (post) were visible.

While the ocean views were great, my timing had resulted in the view into Hart’s Cove leaving something to be desired.
A combination of the position of the Sun and the presence of haze made it very difficult to make out the waterfall on Chitwood Creek. I don’t know if the haze was smoke or just the usual coastal haze. (There was a fairly good east wind blowing steadily all morning.)

I tried several different viewpoints with no luck for the waterfall although I did find a nice one looking out of the mouth of the cove.

After exhausting the potential viewpoints I headed back the way I’d come. I passed two other hikers on their way to Hart’s Cove, one at Chitwood Creek and the second just before the bench viewpoint. I stopped at the bench and changed into some dry socks as my feet had gotten a little wet in the damp, muddy area around Chitwood Creek before continuing on.
Sparrow in the meadow at Hart’s Cove.

Pearly everlasting

Varied thrush

A reminder of Spring, a trillium that bloomed months ago.

img src=”https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52398212269_2dca5370f2_3k.jpg” width=”3072″ height=”2304″ alt=”IMG_2949″>Back at the Hart’s Cove Trailhead.

I retraced my steps to Cascade Head and was a bit surprised when I reached the post at the high point without having seen anyone but the two hikers on the Hart’s Cove Trail.
A monkeyflower along FR 1861.

Back at the upper trailhead.

Candyflower

Mushrooms on a log.

The Thumb, aka God’s Thumb (post)

Heading for the high point.

Descending Cascade Head

There were quite a few of these (an aster?) blooming along the trail.

Not sure what type of bird this is.

Sulphur butterfly

Wooly bear caterpillar, there were many of these on the trail.

When I had a better view of the trail below I could see that I would soon be passing a number of other hikers working their way up Cascade Head.

Looking back up at one of the first hikers I’d passed.

The remainder of the hike included a lot of pauses as I stepped aside to let the uphill traffic pass. One woman asked if I’d happened to have made it to Hart’s Cove as she was also hoping to make it there. I also spoke briefly with a volunteer from The Nature Conservancy.

Pretty moth on a bush.

View to the east of the Coastal Range.

Heading for the tree line.

Back where I’d seen the bull elk in the morning.

Cars parked along Three Rocks Road, the parking area at Knights County Park was full when I got back to the car a little before 1pm.

My Garmin showed this to be a 14.5-mile hike with over 2700′ of elevation gain.

It had been quite a bit warmer than I’d hoped for an October hike with the temperature being well over 70 degrees back at the trailhead. Despite that it had been a good hike with good views save for the waterfall at Hart’s Cove. It was pretty strange not having Heather there but given how warm it was this was a good one for her to miss. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Cascade Head to Hart’s Cove

Tags cascade head, elk, Hart's Cove Trailhead, Harts Cove, hiking, Knights County Park, Oregon, The Nature Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy Trailhead

Hiking Mt. St. Helens Trip report Washington Washington Cascades

Goat Marsh Lake and Kalama Ski Trail – 06/25/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 27, 2022
1 Comment on Goat Marsh Lake and Kalama Ski Trail – 06/25/2022

After a wet and mild Spring, Summer announced its arrival with our fist 90-degree temperatures just in time for the weekend. When it gets that warm we typically turn to the mountains for relief but that’s a little trickier this year due to there being quite a bit of snow still up in the Cascades. Even some of the lower elevation mountains are still in the process of melting out. For instance our original plan for this hike had been to visit Silver Star Mountain (post) via the Starway Trail, an approach that we haven’t done yet. While this mountain is accessible recent reports showed several remaining snowdrifts but more importantly the wildflower show is running late. To decide where to go I turned to my spreadsheet looking for hikes that I had scheduled in coming years around the end of June. Goat Marsh Lake was on the schedule for next year and while the Goat Marsh Research Natural Area is located with the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. It sits at a low enough elevation that there was a chance that snow wouldn’t be an issue. Using NOAA’s NOHRSC snow depth layer on the PCTA’s interactive map confirmed that snow shouldn’t be an issue at the lake or along the loop we were planning after visiting the lake using the Kalama Ski and Toutle Trails. With a forecast high of 78 degrees it would be warm but not unbearable so with that as our plan we got an early start and headed north to the Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead.

We parked a little up FR 8123 from the trailhead and walked back down to the start of the trail.
FR 8123

This was the Kalama Ski Trail (Trail 231) and part of the loop we were planning as well as the way to reach the Goat Marsh Trail in a quarter mile.

We followed this path to the junction where we turned right to visit the lake.
It appeared the trail had been rerouted at least a couple of times to cross this dry creek bed.

This trail led slightly uphill for 0.5 mile to our first view of the lake. Along the way we’d spotted a cow elk in the trees but she disappeared before we could take a picture.

Fence at the boundary for the Research Area.

Goat Mountain and Goat Marsh Lake.

The trail continued around the lake for a little over three quarters of a mile. We spotted two more cow elk and moments later noticed a whole heard, including several calves, further to the north.

Mt. St. Helens

Trillium

Vanilla leaf

Frog on a log.

The two cow elk in the middle of the grassy area.

Calves lined up, this one is a bit blurry due to them moving and the amount of zoom used.

The elk herd not zoomed in.

Zoomed

After watching the elk for a while we continued on.
Coralroot

Goat Mountain

Avalanche lilies

Mt. St. Helens

Marsh violet

Frog under a log.

Salmonberry

Sign near the end of the trail.

At the end of the trail.

Beaver lodge

Duck and ducklings

Geese out in the grass.

We returned to the trailhead and crossed FR 8123 to stay on the Kamala Ski Trail.

The road crossing.

We had a little trouble picking up the trail beyond the sign because there was also a campsite here with several use trails radiating from it. We used our GPS while we looked for the blue diamonds that would identify a ski trail. Heather was the first to spot one and we were soon on the ski trail heading toward Mt. St. Helens.
In the campsite trying to decide which way to go.

Once we found it the trail was pretty obvious, at least for a while.

Approximately three quarters of a mile from the road we came to a junction with the Blue Lake Horse Trail. The horse trail can be used to reach Blue Lake (post) to the north via the Toutle Trail or the same Toutle Trail to the south near the Kalama River (post) which we could have done here to shorten our loop. Instead we stayed straight on the ski trail.

We had remarked several times during our Ashland vacation about the lack of mosquitos, and really insects overall, but that was not the case here. While they weren’t a big issue it was noticeably buggier here than it had been in Southern Oregon. The local birds were busy doing their part to reduce the number of bugs.
Gray jay with a snack.

Western tanager. Right after this photo he flew straight at us snatching an insect out of mid-air.

Four tenths a mile from the horse trail the ski trail made a turn away from the mountain and headed SE.

The trail became a little more overgrown then came to a series of dry creek beds where we again had to hunt for signs of the trail.

Butte Camp Dome in front of Mt. St. Helens.

Crossing another dry bed.

Where is the trail?

In one of the creek beds. We were using the GPS along with looking for cairns and/or flagging.

Goat Mountain

You can’t really make them out in the photo but there is a pink flag and a blue diamond (on a downed tree) near the edge of the green trees.

We were now entering the section of trail that the NOHRSC indicated there could be some lingering snow patches.
There was another short brushy section before the forest opened up.

One of the strangest snow sightings we’ve come across.

My theory was bigfoot hung this.

The NOHRSC estimated 2″-3.9″ of snow and that seemed to be about right.

Unlike in the Siskiyous this melting snow had produced a fair number of mosquitos so we hustled through this section even though it was scenic.

We encountered the first other hikers we’d seen when we arrived at the junction with the Toutle Trail (Approx 3 miles from the Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead). The junction was unsigned and they were considering which way to go to find the Loowit Trail. We pointed them north (left from the direction we were coming, straight for them) on the Toutle Trail and then turned south (right) ourselves onto the Toutle.
Looking back at the junction from the Toutle Trail. The post with no sign is the continuation of the Toutle while the trail on the left is the ski trail.

We followed this trail south for half a mile passing through a beargrass meadow that appears to have bloomed heavily last year and a lava flow with excellent views of Mt. St. Helens before dropping to FR 81 at the Red Rock Pass Trailhead.

Last years beargrass.

Strawberry

Phlox

FR 81 below the trail.

Trail sign at the trailhead.

We crossed FR 81 and continued on the Toutle Trail.

After 100 yards we came to a familiar fork where we had turned uphill in 2019 on our Cinnamon Ridge Hike linked above.
Raven flyover

The fork.

We were going in the opposite direction of what we’d done in 2019. Bugs were a bit more of a nuisance here so we kept a steady pace as we made a little climb then descended to McBride Lake and the Kalama River.

One of several side creeks we crossed.

Trillium

Avalanche lily

Violet

Goat Mountain beyond McBride Lake.

Sourgrass

Valerian

Solomonseal

Saxifrage

A little west of McBride Lake the Toutle Trail crosses the Kalama River on a closed road bed.

Kalama River from the road bed.

Our original plan was blown up here. We had intended to follow the Toutle Trail to the start of the Kalama Ski Trail and then take that trail back uphill to the Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead. The problem was I had already forgotten about the Blue Lake Horse Trail and when I had glanced at the GPS and saw a trail extending north from the end of the road bed I mistook it for the ski trail so we followed the road bed a quarter mile to FR 81. (We had a paper map with us but didn’t pull it out to confirm.)

The Blue Lake Horse Trail on the far side of FR 81.

When we crossed FR 81, two things that should have tipped us off to our mistake. First the sign clearly said “Blue Horse Trail” and second instead of blue diamonds there were orange diamonds with arrows marking this trail.
The sign did show FR 8123 which was the road the trailhead was on so that fed into us not realizing our mistake at first.

We followed this trail for a third of a mile before we realized what we’d done. We stopped and considered our options. We could back track three quarters of a mile to the Toutle Trail or a third of a mile to FR 81 and follow one of them west to the ski trail. Another option was to continue uphill on this trail to the junction we’d passed earlier and retrace our steps on the ski trail from there back to the trailhead. All of those options meant adding distance and retracing steps. Heather suggested another option, simply heading cross-country for FR 8123 and the trailhead.
An orange diamond on a tree ahead.

The forest was definitely conducive to cross-country travel so we struck off in a WNW direction. The cross-country hike was about as easy as we could have hoped for and after 0.7 miles we arrived a FR 8123 just 0.2 miles from our car.
Where we left the horse trail.

Typical terrain for the cross-country walk.

It seems like every time we go off-trail we come across a mylar balloon. We’ve really come to despise those things. We packed it and the ribbon out.

The trickiest part was crossing this dry stream bed but we fortunately came to it at a spot that was perfect for crossing.

FR 8123

Coming up to the Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead (and our car) on FR 8123.

I had estimated a 10-12 mile hike with only about 800′ of total elevation gain and we came in at 10.8 miles.

Our track with the cross-country portion in orange.

While it had been a warm day, the combination of shade provided by the forest and a fairly steady breeze, it hadn’t been too hot. The hike had provided a lot of diverse scenery and great views of Mt. St. Helens. The wildlife was a big bonus along the Goat Marsh Trail too. It seems like we can always count on hikes in Mt. St. Helens area to be great ones. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Goat Marsh Lake

Tags Blue Lake Horse Trail, Butte Camp Dome, elk, Goat Marsh Lake, Goat Marsh Lake Natural Research Area, Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead, goat mountain, hiking, Kalama River, Kalama Ski Trail, McBride Lake, Mt. St. Helens, mt. st. helens national volcanic monument, Red Rock Pass, Red Rock pass Trailhead, Toutle Trail, Washington

Hiking

Yakona Nature Preserve – 02/05/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 8, 2022
7 Comments on Yakona Nature Preserve – 02/05/2022

After several hectic weeks at work for both Heather and I we celebrated the start of a new month (and a favorable forecast) by heading out on our second hike of the year. Our destination for this outing was the Yakona Nature Preserve, an area brought to our attention by our friends Susan and John. The preserve encompasses over 300 acres of a peninsula located at the south end of Newport in Yaquina Bay which as been acquired through various purchases since 2013. Several trails have been built in recent years with construction ongoing as the Yakona Nature Preserve works to fulfill its vision “to preserve and restore native forest land on the bay, with day use access for families, hikers and people of all abilities.”

I reached out to the folks at the preserve to check on any permit or reservation requirements to visit. They were quick to answer and provided me with the information we needed. As of our hike (and this report) there are two ways to visit the preserve, on a group hike led by the Yakona Nature Preserve or by obtaining a permit to hike 1.75 miles through private timber land to reach the preserve. We were informed that a group hike was tentatively planned for later in the month but we really needed to spend a day on the trails sooner rather than later and we couldn’t pass up a partly sunny day so we opted to go the permit route. If you’re interested in visiting the preserve please reach out via their contact page or message them on Facebook for more information.

With our permit obtained we headed to Newport and parked near the Wilder Dog Park and disc golf course just beyond the Wolf Tree Brewery and Taproom on SE Harborton Street. SE Harborton is gated at the start of the private land (do not block the gate) and becomes Road 200.
Permit info at the gate.

Looking back to the gate from Road 200.

From the gate we took Road 200 (the middle of three roads) and followed it for three quarters of a mile to King Slough where the road passes through the estuary.

It’s hard to get an idea of size here but the two trees growing over the large nursery stump were good sized.

Hooded Mergansers

After a brief stretch amid some trees, where we stayed left at another 3-way fork, we crossed another arm of King Slough.
Road 200 to the left.

On the far end of the slough on the right side of the road was a trail signed “3rd World”

This wasn’t the first trail we’d seen leading off to the right, we had passed at least three earlier some of which appeared to be part of the disc golf course, but this was the first that we would pass both ends of. A half mile further up Road 200 we passed the upper end of the 3rd World Trail and decided that we would take that trail on our way back. The various trails which are open to mountain bikes, trail runners and hikers can be viewed here. (Don’t forget your permit.)
Upper end of the 3rd World Trail.

We had stayed on Road 200 through which climbed uphill via a wide curve. As we gained elevation we spotted a couple of elk in the brush on the hillside above.

It turned out that there were quite a few elk in the area and for the next third of a mile or so we occasionally spotted them in the road or heard them crashing through the brush.

Two tenths of a mile beyond the upper end of the 3rd World Trail we came to a split in the road on a ridge top. Road 200 turned left while Road 250 continued straight.
Approaching the ridge top.

We turned left on Road 200 passing a sign for the Yakona Nature Preserve.

In another 0.2 miles we came to a gate which we passed around per the directions received from the preserve.

As of yet there are no maps available of the nearly 4 miles of trails here so we were operating on the directions we’d received via email: “There is a good road all the way to the edge of the forest and you’ll pass, on your right, the clear cut we’ve replanted. Most of the trails take off into the forest from there, and the road continues for another 3/4 mile, traverses forest, and ends at a wetland. There are multiple trails off that forest road. We’re still developing a trails map, but as a general rule, when you’re ready to exit Yakona and not sure where you are, head UPHILL to return to the road you hiked in on. Uphill is your way out. All of our trails connect to one another or to the road. Keep in mind that we are still in the build out stage.” We also had found a map for a 30k race that went through the preserve to give us a bit of an idea where some of the trails were located. We turned left off the main road where the race had with the plan being to work our way clockwise around the peninsula sticking as close to the edge as the trails allowed. We had one specific goal in mind which was to find the Yakona Bridge, a replica of the Yaquina Bridge spanning Yaquina Bay. We knew that the bridge had been part of the race course but were unsure where along the route it was located.
Heading off the main road.

It was clear that there had been a lot of work done to establish the trails and that that work was still continuing. The trails dipped and climbed bringing us to the bay at times and to views above at others.

Common goldeneye

Great blue heron and buffleheads

Rough skinned newt

Coral fungus

Northern pintail, heron, seagulls and some green winged teals.

American wigeons

One of a number of unique benches located along the trails.

Stone steps

A pair of footbridges.

Another rough skinned newt, there were many.

Mushroom

Another bench at a viewpoint.

Several benches were inlaid with rocks such as this which was a really neat feature.

Small footbridge ahead.

Beyond the little footbridge the trail climbed to a ridge top on the NE side of the peninsula where looking down the other side we spotted the Yakona Bridge.

Yakona Bridge.

After spending some time admiring the bridge we climbed up the other side where we came to Maryann’s Wind Phone, an unexpected surprise.

Informational sign for the wind phone.

We continued with our “stay as far to the outside as possible” plan which resulted in us passing a pair of wells before winding up at the end of the entrance road.

This trunk had split into four.

Dropping down to another estuary.

Back up we go!

Found the road.

We had covered approximately 3 miles on the trails and now we hiked back along the road which passed several trails leading off the road and another interesting bench overlooking the replanted clear cut.

Bench on the far hillside above the clear cut.

Short path to the bench.

One of the trails.

We spotted our first wildflowers of the year on our way out. A lone violet and some blooming evergreen huckleberry.

A rather damp woolly bear caterpillar.

When we reached the 3rd World Trail we turned off Road 200 and followed it downhill through the forest.

This took at least two tenths of a mile off our return trip by cutting out the wide curve in the road walk.
Back to Road 200 near Kings Slough.

Once we were back on Road 200 we followed it back to the Wilder Area. We finally saw some other people when a group of trail runners popped onto the road from the unsigned Drop Zone Trail. By the time we were back at the car we had hiked 8.8 miles with a surprising amount of ups and downs providing a decent amount of elevation gain (1000-1500′). It will be interesting to keep an eye on the progress the Yakona Nature Preserve makes in restoring and developing the area. While it was free to visit we did make a donation via their website to help them fulfill their vision. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Yakona Nature Preserve

Tags 3rd World Trail, elk, great blue heron, hiking, Hooded merganser, King Slough, Newport, Oregon, Wilder Area, Wilder Trails, Yakona Bridge, Yakona Nature Preserve, Yaquina Bay

Hiking Oregon Salem/Albany Trip report Willamette Valley

Baskett Slough Wildlife Refuge – 05/03/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 4, 2020
6 Comments on Baskett Slough Wildlife Refuge – 05/03/2020

Our “hiking season” has typically coincided with the start of May. This has been a unique year and the current situation with COVID-19 meant that if we were going to stick with our normal starting date we needed to scrap our plans (at least for the first part of our season) and find hikes that are open, nearby, and allow us to recreate responsibly. For our April outing that had meant a long walk around Salem to visit various parks (post). To officially kick off our 2020 season though we opted for a more traditional hike.

Despite living nearby, it had been nearly 10 years since we had done our one and only hike at Baskett Slough Wildlife Refuge. The previous visit was our second hike in July of 2010 which is the year in which we started to get serious about hiking. To change things up from our first visit we chose to start our hike from the Smithfield Road Trailhead (we had started our 2010 from the Baskett Butte Trailhead). Please note that the Smithfield Road Trailhead is closed from October 1 – March 31 to protect wintering wildlife.

We set off straight ahead from the trailhead and soon were passing Morgan Lake. A couple of heavy rain showers had passed over between 5 and 6:30am but there was some encouraging blue sky overhead as we passed the lake.

There wasn’t a lot of activity on the lake this morning, just a few mallards, but there were plenty of other birds singing and flying between the trees along the lake, most of which wouldn’t sit still long enough to be photographed.
Mallards

Crow

Sparrow

Guessing some sort of warbler

California quail scattering

After passing Moran Lake the trail headed toward a saddle between two hills. Heather noticed something up on the hillside to our left.

The camera confirmed it to be a pair of elk.

She had actually pointed out an area in some grass just a bit earlier that appeared to have been used as beds but we weren’t really expecting to see elk on this hike.

The grassy path that we were on seemed to be a popular breakfast spot for the wildlife. We spotted a couple of rabbits, several quail, and many small birds.
Rabbit with sparrows behind.

Rabbit with a quail behind.

Golden-crowned sparrows

Most of the rabbits we see run off right away but this little guy was pretty brave.

A little before reaching the saddle (a little over 1 1/4 miles from the trailhead) the trail made a nearly 180 degree turn turning from the grassy track to a dirt path that climbed along a wooded hillside. Near the turn we started seeing a few wildflowers.

Meadow checker-mallow

Tough-leaved iris

Columbine

Morgan Lake from the trail.

Heading into the woods.

We met another trail user in the woods when we spotted a rough skinned newt.

Spotted towhee

I had just mentioned to Heather to be on the lookout for Tolmie’s mariposa lilies when we noticed a patch of them on the hillside.

They were a little watered down but still pretty.

We came to a signed junction 1.6 miles from the trailhead. A right turn here would keep us on the 3 mile Moffiti Marsh – Morgan Lake Loop while a left turn would lead us .2 miles to the start of another loop and eventually a viewpoint atop Baskett Butte. We went left and headed uphill to a meadow in a saddle.

In the meadow were a few more types of flowers including lupine and plectritis.

We were busy looking at the flowers and nearly missed a pair of deer passing through the meadow ahead of us.

At the far end of the meadow the trail split. Here we turned right and entered a denser wood with lots of underbrush and a few more newts.

Old tree trunk

Ferns

Woodland stars

Thin-leaf pea (and a spider behind the blossoms)

Fringecup

Given their size we believe this was proper social distancing for rough-skinned newts.

The trail left the woods after four tenths of a mile and entered another meadow.

We spotted several additional types of wildflowers in this meadow all while being serenaded by a western meadowlark.
Western meadowlark

Tomcat clover

Giant blue-eyed Mary

A checker-mallow surrounded by pale flax

Camas

A tenth of a mile later we arrived at a junction near a signboard.

The loop continued to the left but we headed right to visit the viewpoint on Baskett Butte and to enjoy the display of wildflowers that lined this stretch of trail.

Plectritis

Castilleja levisecta - Golden Paintbrush Castilleja levisecta – Golden Paintbrush which historically occurred in the grasslands and prairies of the Willamette Valley. The species had been extirpated from the valley with the last sighting in Oregon occurring in Linn County in 1938. It was reintroduced to various areas starting in 2010 including here at Baskett Slough. In the wetter areas it failed to take but the plant has managed to take hold on Baskett Butte.

There appeared to be at least a couple of different flowers from the mallow family present.

Larkspur

Biscuitroot

The white patch in the foreground is coastal manroot while the red patch uphill is columbine.

Some of the mass of columbine.

Tolmie’s mariposa lilies

We took a break at the viewpoint listening to ducks and geese in the wetland below.

Before heading back to the loop we followed a small path east (left) from the viewpoint. The path appeared to go all the way down to one of the refuge roads but it would have taken us out of the way (and left us with even more of a climb back up) so after about 450 feet we turned around. In that little distance though we spotted two more flower types that we hadn’t noticed yet.
Meadow death camas

Oregon sunshine

There was also another nice patch of columbine mixed with some cow parsnip.

We headed down from Baskett Butte to the junction where we found a swallow sitting on the signboard.

We turned right back onto the loop and descended for a tenth of a mile to another junction spotting yet another couple of different flowers along the way.

Hairy vetch

Purple sanicle

There was another signboard at this junction where we turned left (the right hand trail led down to the Baskett Butte Trailhead.

We followed this path three tenths of a mile to the junction where we had started the loop and turned right passing back through the meadow where we’d seen the deer.

Yarrow starting to bloom.

We didn’t see the deer this time but we did spot the red head of a house finch.

After passing back through the meadow we came to the signed junction for the Moffiti Marsh – Morgan Lake Loop and veered left down a grassy track.

There were a few nice flowers along here, nothing that we hadn’t seen already during the hike though. We did however spot some new widlife.
A pair of American goldfinches

Silvery blue butterfly

Common yellowthroat

The grass gave way to gravel as we approached Moffiti Marsh. This time of year the marsh has a pretty good amount of water and judging by the number of ducks, swallows and other birds in the area is much preferred over Morgan Lake by those with feathers. There was also a loud chorus of frogs signing along this path.

Moffiti Marsh

Great blue heron flying over

Ducks on the water and swallows in the air.

Northern shoveler on the left.

A couple different types of ducks.

The gravel path ended at a gate along Smithfield Road where we turned right on another grassy track.

It was just a little under a quarter mile back to the trailhead which gave us plenty of time to spot more flowers and wildlife.
Western bluebird

Female western bluebird gathering items for a nest.

Wild rose

Canada geese flying over.

Two pairs of American goldfinches.

Cinnamon teal

Bald eagle flying overhead

Red-winged blackbird

Our route on this day covered a similar area as that of our first visit although we started at a different trailhead and wound up being just a tad under 5 miles. That is where the similarities ended. Our photo album from 2010 consists of a total of 10 photos. There are a few deer, a dragon fly, and a couple of photos from the viewpoint atop Baskett Butte. The album for this hike ended up having 208 photos. The number of different flowers and types of wildlife that we were lucky enough to see exceeded our expectations. We were also lucky enough to escape all but a brief sprinkle of rain.

One caution for the area is that there is a decent amount of poison oak off trail which at this time of year was also looking rather nice even though we wanted nothing to do with it.

Even though we were only doing this hike due to COVID-19 it wound up being a wonderful morning and a great start to what looks to be a really different hiking season.
Moffiti Marsh

Happy (socially distanced) Trails!

Flickr: Baskett Slough

Tags american goldfinch, Baskett Butte, Baskett Slough Wildlife Refuge, Castilleja levisecta, Common yellowthroat, elk, Golden Paintbrush, hiking, Lazuli Bunting, Moffiti Marsh, Morgan Lake, Oregon, Western Meadowlark

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Zumwalt Prairie Preserve

For our last day of hiking on our Memorial Day weekend trip to NE Oregon we planned on visiting Zumwalt Prairie. Managed by the Nature Conservancy there are four trails open to hikers totaling approximately 9.5 miles combined. We had originally planned on doing all four but for reasons to be explained later we wound up skipping the Canyon Vista Trail this trip.

We had had a mix of weather so far during the trip with a snow shower on Friday (post) and nearly 80 degree temperatures on Saturday (post). Sunday was again up in the air as the forecast called for a 50% chance of showers and possible thunder storms after 11am. We got our typically early morning start and made the 45 minute drive from Wallowa Lake to the the preserve.

As we left Wallow Lake we were surprised to see that the Wallowas were mostly cloud free so on the way to the hikes we decided to start with the viewpoint hikes first in hopes of getting some nice looks at both the Wallowas and the Seven Devils in Idaho. Based on the trailhead locations we thought we might start with the Canyon Vista Trail but as we turned onto Duckett Road and passed Duckett Barn and the information kiosk there we noted how rough and wet the dirt road was. The map of the preserve mentioned that between the turn off for the Harsin Butte Trail and the Canyon Vista Trailhead “high clearance /4wd vehicles are recommended….This road may be impassable at times during the winter or when wet”. We decided that there was no reason to risk getting stuck, especially since there seemed to be quite a bit of fog toward the area where the trail looked to be. When we reached the spur road for the Harsin Butte Trail we turned down it and started our day there.

Described as sort of a scramble route the Harsin Butte Trail gains just under 700′ in .8 miles to the summit viewpoint. Even before we started climbing though the views were good.
Looking toward the Seven Devils in Idaho

Findley Buttes (You can see some of the standing water on Duckett Road on the right hand side.)

From a distance and especially while driving it’s a bit difficult to notice all the flowers but once we got onto the trail we realized there were a whole lot of different flowers present.

Old man’s whiskers

Phlox with larkspur in the background

Cusick’s paintbrush

White-stem frasera

Paintbrush

A wild onion

Larkspur

Milk vetch

Chickweed

Woodland stars

An assortment of flowers

We were following a clear path and could see the continuation of the path going up the side of Harsin Butte so we were a little confused when we passed a couple of rock cairns about a quarter mile from the trailhead.
One of the carins and the trail going up Harsin Butte in the background.

We ignored the cairns and stayed on the clear path.

After another quarter mile of walking we realized that this was not the trail to the butte, it was heading around the west side of the butte to what looked like a corral instead. We backtracked to the cairns and followed them to find the continuation of the correct path.

It seemed the higher up we went the more flowers we were spotting.

One exciting find for us were the monument plants which we don’t get to see all that often.
Monument plant

Top of the monument plant

Shooting star

As we were climbing we noticed that the low clouds behind us seemed to be moving our way fairly quickly. I decided to try and double time it up to the summit in an attempt to avoid being over taken by clouds before getting to see the view. Apparently 3 days of hiking had taken more of a toll on me than I had realized and I was quickly sucking wind. The 5000′ elevation probably wasn’t helping me any and I regretted my decision every time I had to stop to try and catch my breath.
Here comes the clouds.

One of the times that I found myself gasping for air I noticed this rockcress.

The path led briefly into a stand of pines where game trails crisscrossed and elk sign abounded.

A few different flowers showed up in this area.
Bluebells

Yellow bell

Violets

Ball-head waterleaf

After a brief disappointment upon realizing there was a false summit I made it up to the actual summit with its solar powered antenna.

The cloud scare proved to be a false alarm, at least for the moment as they passed to the north of Harsin Butte between it an one of the Findley Buttes.

There were a few clouds over the Wallowas to the southwest but also some sun shining on the northern end.

IMG_8359_stitch

To the southeast the Seven Devils had a similar look.
IMG_8363_stitch

After a nice rest (I needed it) at the summit we headed back down. The clouds over the northern end of the Seven Devils lifted a little reveling a little more of the mountains.

By the time we were finished, with what turned into a 2.1 mile hike, our shoes were pretty well soaked from the dew on the grass but the flowers seemed to love it.

We didn’t see any elk but we did spot a Belding’s ground squirrel who had popped up to check us out.

We hopped back in the car and drove back to the Duckett Barn and parked at the information kiosk there.

Those clouds we’d been watching were starting to move overhead as we set off on Patti’s Trail, a short lollipop loop which began on the opposite side of Duckett Road from the kiosk.

There weren’t as many flowers along this trail as we had seen on Harsin Butte but there were still quite a few and some that we had not seen during the first hike.
Camas

Old man’s whiskers and white-stem frasera

We followed blue posts and pointers to a fence.

This area was a bit rockier and had quite a bit of phlox and large head clover.
Lots of phlox

20190526_075112 Phlox

Large head clover, larkspur, and wild onion

20190526_075335 Large head clover

Wild onion

The trail descended slightly as it approached Camp Creek. Although we still had some clouds passing overhead we had a clear view of the prairie and the flowers we were passing by.
Duckett Barn starting to disappears as we descended.

Possibly hoary balsamroot

Hoary balsamroot?

Phlox

20190526_081858 Diffuseflower evening-primrose

Camp Creek

Patti’s Trail followed along Camp Creek to a small pond where red-winged black birds were hanging out.

Beyond the pond the trail continued following the creek passing more flowers and blackbirds along the way.

Possibly a mustard

White-stem frasera blooming

20190526_080638 Violets

20190526_081638 Hairy clematis

Old man’s whiskers

20190526_082540 Cusick’s paintbrush

The trail veered left at a stock pond.

We paused at the pond and Heather spotted a deer running up a nearby hillside.

The trail continued to bend back around to the left following what was described as the swale of a dry creek but again with the recent precipitation there was water flowing creating a nice little stream.

The trail eventually left the creek and was headed straight for Harsin Butte in the distance.

We’d lost sight of the posts at one point and were just sticking to what appeared to be the main track and ended up veering left of the butte and coming to a small watering hole where the track petered out.

Looking back from this higher vantage point we could see the next post we should have been aiming for so we backtracked and found another fainter track that put us back on the right course.

The clouds were breaking up nicely as we ended this hike and the butterflies were coming out.

After completing the loop and returning to our car we headed back toward Zumwalt-Buckhorn Road and our final hike of the day and trip on the Horned Lark Trail. While we were still on Duckett Road though we spotted a pair of elk running up the Findley Butte near the barn and stopped to get a picture.

Shortly after turning right onto Zumwalt-Buckhorn Rd we stopped again to get a picture of a Wilson’s snipe. One had flown up from the grass while we were on Patti’s Trail but we hadn’t been able to get a picture of that one.

When we were finally done with stopping for wildlife we parked at the Horned Lark Trailhead just over 3 miles from Duckett Road.

This trail was described as an “easy 1.9 mile loop which sounded like a perfect way to end our trip. We began by following a clear double track through the prairie. Lupine was blooming nicely in this area and there was a view of the Wallowa Mountains beyond the Findley Buttes.

As with Patti’s Trail the route of the Horned Lark Trail was marked by blue posts.

The trail descended toward a pond near Pine Creek.

Once again flowers were good supply.
Paintbrush and biscuitroot

A ragwort or groundsel (I think)

False sunflower?

Old man’s whiskers and milk vetch

20190526_094353 Western stoneseed

We spotted another ground squirrel ahead in the path.

He may have been on high alert due to the presence of a merlin nearby.

I had to dip into the digital zoom to get this photo so it’s a bit blurry.

We followed the path and posts to the fenced pond but the path disappeared near a post a bit beyond the pond.

We consulted the map that we’d printed out and it appeared to show the trail following a fenceline near Pine Creek so that’s what we did until we were able to spot another post in the distance.

The fence was popular with the birds.

We picked up a faint path and followed it toward the post.

We followed the posts up a draw where the tread was often indiscernible.

Even now we were still seeing different flowers.
Dwarf yellow fleabane

Blue dicks

Maybe it was simply due to the fact that this was our fourth staight day of hiking and it was early in our hiking season but this loop despite being only 2 miles long didn’t feel easy. The deer that we spotted bounding up and over the hill ahead of use didn’t seem to think it was too difficult though.

Looking back down the draw.

Back on top we were headed ESE and could see the Seven Devils and Harsin Butte on the horizon.

The Wallowas were still visible too behind Harsin Butte and the two Findley Buttes (from left to right).

With the completion of the Horned Lake Trail our total milage for the three hikes came to 6.9 miles. It would have been a bit less had we not followed a couple of wrong paths. Harsin Butte was the most difficult with the 700′ elevation gain followed by the Horned Lark Trail with the easiest being Patti’s Trail. The Canyon Vista Trail which we skipped would have been about 3.6 miles round trip and possibly around 500′ of elevation gain. It was a beautiful place to visit and I guess we have a good reason to go back with one trail left undone.

As we were driving back toward Enterprise we encountered a vehicle stopped in the road. They flagged us down and let us know that they thought there was a golden eagle sitting on a rock on the hillside. Between the distance and the angle of the sun it was hard to tell but then the bird flew and it looked awfully small for a golden eagle. It landed on a telephone pole allowing us to see that it was indeed only a hawk, but it was a nice scene regardless.

We said goodbye to the Wallowas and drove into Pendleton for the night where, after having been threatened by their possibility all weekend we finally got a thunderstorm. Luckily we had already walked back from our dinner at OMG! Burgers and Brew where we had another excellent meal. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Zumwalt Prairie

Tags Camp Creek, Canyon Vista Trail, Cusick's Indian Paintbrush, deer, elk, enterprise, Findley Buttes, Harsin Butte, Harsin Butte Trail, hiking, Horned Lark Trail, OMG! Burgers and Brew, Oregon, Patti's Trail, Pine Creek, wildflowers, Wilson's snipe, Zumwalt Prairie

Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast Southern Coast

Barklow Mountain and Bullards Beach

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 20, 2018
2 Comments on Barklow Mountain and Bullards Beach

When we changed our plans from a backpacking trip in the Diamond Peak Wilderness to a long weekend in Bandon one of the more exciting prospects was being able to check off a visit to our 38th Oregon Wilderness Area – the Copper-Salmon Wilderness. We had attempted to visit that particular wilderness in 2017 but a washed out road denied us access to the Barklow Mountain Northeast Trailhead (post)

For this trip we would be using the Barklow Mountain West Trailhead. We used the Oregonhikers.com field guide entry here to reach the trailhead. The guide mentions that the road is prone to rockfall and slides and that it is best to wait for the dry months of Summer to attempt to reach the trailhead. Based on the conditions we encountered along the roads that is not an understatement.

Prior to reaching the vehicular obstacle course that was the Forest Service Roads we spotted a small elk herd and a number of deer along Elk River Road. It was still a bit dark for pictures but we did our best from the idling car.

We parked at the small pullout that is the trailhead after a long drive (time wise) that included stopping a couple of times to remove small trees from the road and also at the junction with FR 390 because the 390 post was in the center of a fork and we didn’t want to be on that road but we couldn’t tell which one the post was referring to. (Hint – The left fork was FR 390 so we went right.)
Barklow Mountain West Trailhead

The Barklow Mountain Trail dropped slightly from a closed road bed and quickly entered the Copper-Salmon Wilderness.

The forest along the trail was a mix of tanoak and madrone and some sections with fir and pine.

Not unlike the roads to the trailhead there were a few obstacles to maneuver around.

After a mile and a half of climbing, the trail arrived at a saddle junction.

The trail to the left led to Johnson Creek Road.

The trail to the right was the one we wanted. This trail would lead up up to the old lookout site atop Barklow Mountain.

Approximately .3 miles beyond the junction we came to an unmarked side trail heading downhill to the right.

This short spur trail led down to the site of a now collapsed shelter.

Beyond the shelter the trail steepened a bit as it wound beneath Barklow Mountain.

We passed through a patch of manzanita where we had a nice view south of nearby Copper Mountain.

A total of .4 miles from the old shelter we arrived at an unsigned junction on a ridge. Here we turned left to visit the lookout site.

From the lookout site we could barely make out the Pacific to the SW along with Grassy Knob (post).
Grassy Knob is on the horizon just to the left of the near trees.

Copper Mountain from the lookout site.

After a break we headed back to the car and navigated the obstacle course again. Fortunately we did not encounter any other cars until we were clear of the mess. We then drove back to Bandon, passed through town, and continued north on Highway 101 for three miles to the signed turn for Bullards Beach State Park.

We parked at the beach access parking lot which is located 1.3 miles from the highway.

Our plan was to hike a clockwise loop along the Coquille River, the north jetty, and the beach. From the parking lot we headed inland on a paved path signed for the campground.

We followed this path until we had crossed the entrance to the Bullards Beach Horse Camping Area.

Just beyond that entrance (.4 miles from the beach parking area) we turned right off the paved path and crossed the paved park entrance road onto a dirt road which led us down to the Coquille River.

There was no actual trail along the river so we spent most of the next 2 miles walking along the sandy river bank. We were forced inland a couple of times in order to cross water on logs.

There was a lot of activity on the river between boats and birds.

As we neared the north jetty across from Bandon’s Old Downtown we turned inland at a sandy gap which led to a gravel road.

We followed this road for .4 miles staying left at a fork on a grassy track.

The road bed ended at the Coquille River Lighthouse. An Army Corps of Engineers ship was busily going back and forth near the mouth of the river.

Once past the lighthouse we continued out along the north jetty for .2 miles.

It was a much better day visibility wise than the previous one had been and from the jetty we got a decent look at some of the Bandon Islands on the other side of the river.

The view north was much less rocky.

After partaking of the view we headed back, hopping off the jetty and onto Bullards Beach.

After 1.5 miles along the beach we turned inland and climbed over the foredune to the beach access parking area.

After a shower and change of clothes we found ourselves wandering through the old downtown again. When it was time for dinner we decided to go back to Foley’s Irish Pub. After another good meal there and desert from Pastries and Pizzas we turned in for the night. We had agreed that Bandon had quickly become one of our favorite coastal towns and were already looking forward to our next visit. Happy Trails!

Flirck: Barklow Mountain and Bullards Beach

Tags Bandon, Barklow Mountain, Barklow Mountain Trail, Barklow Mountain West Trailhead, Bullards Beach, Copper-Salmon Wilderness, Coquille River, Coquille River Lighthouse, elk, Foley's Irish Pub, hiking, North Jetty, Oregon, Oregon Coast, oregon coast trail, oregon hiking

Blue Mountains - South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Baldy Lake

At the beginning of our vacation the forecast had called for Tuesday to be the coldest and wettest day of the week and then Wednesday and Thursday were expected to be a bit warmer with decreasing chances of precipitation and by Thursday afternoon partly sunny skies. By Tuesday that had all changed and a second weather system was following up the first. Wednesday morning was expected to be a little warmer than Tuesday meaning less chance of snow on our drive to the trailhead but as the second system moved in that day more precipitation was expected and now there was a chance of isolated thunderstorms.

The good news in that forecast was we had no issues getting to the Baldy Creek Trailhead in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The Baldy Creek Trail set off from a small campground and promptly crossed the North Fork John Day River on a log footbridge.

We then entered the North Fork John Day Wilderness.

The 121,099 acre wilderness is made up of four separate areas with this being the third we’d visited during our vacation but the first in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. The other two, Olive Lake and the North Fork John Day River, were in the Umatilla National Forest.

The trail passed through a nice, albeit wet, forest for just over a mile before reaching the first of several crossings of Baldy Creek.

After crossing Baldy Creek the trail almost immediately crossed Bull Creek before entering a small section of forest recovering from a fire.

We had enough of a view from the area of the fire to get an idea of where the snow line was. We knew going in that we would be hitting snow at some point on the hike since Baldy Lake sat at an elevation just over 7000′ plus the forecast called for 2-4 inches of snow during the day.

Not long after crossing Bull Creek we recrossed Baldy Creek on a footbridge where we noticed a small amount of snow between the logs.

As we made our way uphill along the creek the amount of snow on the ground slowly increased.

In the next three miles the trail crossed Baldy Creek four more times. There were footbridges at all of the crossings but several of them were in such a state that it was easier to find a different way across the water.

Beyond the final bridge the trail veered away from Baldy Creek and began climbing a bit more. As we climbed we found more and more snow on the trail and the trees.

2017-09-20 09.52.56

At the 5 mile mark we passed a trail sign at a junction.

We were loving the winter scenery, it was such a welcome sight after a summer full of wildfires. On top of the snow on the ground and in the trees it had started snowing a bit. I mentioned that the only thing that could make it better would be to see a deer or even better an elk in the snow. Not five minutes later I looked up the trail and saw an elk cow staring back at me.

She disappeared into the trees but then a second cow and two calves stepped onto the trail.

The trail was now winding around a hillside with several small streams which seemed to be attracting the wildlife. The elk had been at one of these streams and not too much further at another stream was a varied thrush and some grouse.

Our hike the day before along the North Fork John Day River had felt like fall but now we were in a winter wonderland.

We crossed a greatly diminished Baldy Creek then came to a junction with a trail coming from Silver Creek Road.

Baldy Lake was approximately a quarter mile from the junction.

It was just a bit foggy when we arrived at the lake making it impossible to see the cliffs beyond the lake including Mt. Ireland.

We found a log and brushed off the snow so we could take a seat and enjoy the lake. The wind was really blowing along the ridge above the lake but it was calm along the water and not particularly cold.

We hadn’t been sitting there long when the clouds started to lift revealing the lookout tower atop the 8321′ Mt. Ireland.

Our original plans had called for us to hike up to the lookout on Mt. Ireland at some point during the week but given the conditions we had decided to save that hike for another trip, so for now getting to see it from the lake would have to suffice.

We finally started to get chilly just sitting there so we tore ourselves away from the lake and headed back. It was snowing pretty hard as we made our way back down and we could see the difference along the trail.

We eventually left the snow behind which ironically made me colder. My feet and hands had stayed relatively dry in the snow but now they were starting to get wet. My hands, without gloves (I’m a slow learner), froze when a brief round of hail passed over. We picked up our pace eager to get to a heated car.

As we passed by the old fire area a little blue sky was visible.

By the time we’d reached the trailhead there was quite a bit more blue allowing us to bask in a little warm sunshine.

It had been a 14 mile hike that took us a few months into the future when winter snows will be here to stay. Getting to see the elk had been a big bonus to what was a great hike and fun adventure. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Baldy Lake

Tags Baldy Creek, Baldy Creek Trailhead, Baldy Lake, Bull Creek, elk, hiking, Mt. Ireland, North Fork John Day Wilderness, Oregon, Snow, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Hiking Mt. St. Helens Trip report Washington Washington Cascades

Mount Margaret Backcountry – South Coldwater Trailhead to Obscurity Lake

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 21, 2016
6 Comments on Mount Margaret Backcountry – South Coldwater Trailhead to Obscurity Lake

The only backpacking trip that we had planned for this year which required a permit was an overnight stay in the Mount Margaret Backcountry near Mt. St. Helens. The area is part of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, displaying the effects of the 1980 eruption. The lateral blast from the eruption shattered trees toppling thousands of acres of forest.

Camping is limited to designated sites at eight backcountry camps where the maximum group size for camping is four. Pets and pack stock are prohibited in the Mount Margaret Backcountry and fires are not allowed. We made our reservation for Obscurity Camp on March 19th, the day the permits became available.

One drawback of a permit system is not having any idea what the weather is going to be like on the days you reserve. We were looking at the chance of showers and maybe even a thunderstorm as we were hiking out, but we liked our odds and we had spent a whole $6.00 on the permit so we decided to give it a go. It was a wet drive to the South Coldwater Trailhead which is located along the Spirit Lake Highway (SR 504).

Starting at Norway Pass would have made it a shorter hike but where is the fun in that? It also would have been a longer drive. Our plan was a lollipop route using the South Coldwater Trail 230A, Coldwater Trail 230, Boundary Trail 1, and Lakes Trail 211. We had been on some of the trails in 2013 during a May hike around Coldwater Lake, but that hike had been early enough in the season that there had been very little vegetation and almost no flowers. It was evident from the flowers at the trailhead that we’d be seeing different sights this time around.

We were under the clouds as we set off on the trail which passed through a short section of woods before emerging into wildflower filled meadows.

Although the clouds limited the view we were able to see back down to the South Coldwater Creek Valley where we spotted several elk.

The trail then crossed over the ridge we were climbing providing views of Coldwater Lake.

The wildflowers were thick along the trail, but we were starting to enter the cloud bank and quickly losing our visibility.

The trail continued to climb along the ridge passing a couple of pieces of old machinery that is left over from the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens.

We were now in the midst (or mist) of the clouds. At least it wasn’t raining and despite the low visibility there were still plenty of flowers along the trail to see and there were a couple of snowshoe hares out having breakfast.

The hares weren’t the only ones enjoying some snacks. A variety of ripe berries offered us a nice selection of treats.

After 3.2 miles we arrived at Tractor Junction. Named for another piece of nearby equipment, this junction marks the end of the South Coldwater Trail at it’s intersection with the Coldwater Trail.

We turned right at the junction and headed toward the Boundary Trail which was just over 2 miles away. After .2 miles we passed Ridge Camp, one of the designated camps in the area.

The wildflowers were once again impressive along this trail, but the visibility was even worse. We focused on finding as many different flowers as we could.
Tiger lilies

Lupine, paintbrush and yellow wildflowers

Large patch of paintbrush

Arnica

Bugbane

Corydalis

Columbine

Scouler’s bluebell

An aster or fleabane

Pussypaws

Mock orange

Bistort

Another type of aster or fleabane

Violets

Orange agoseris

Spirea

Cat’s ear lily

Avalanche lily

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the junction with the Boundary Trail overlooking St. Helens Lake. We had suddenly found a little blue sky and some better visibility.

Coldwater Peak was to our left and seemed to be acting as a cloud break.

While we were watching the clouds swirl around the back side of Coldwater Peak we noticed a mountain goat on the cliffs below the summit.

We took a nice long break at the junction watching the mountain goat and the ever changing clouds. When we finally set off again we passed by Coldwater Peak in sunlight.

We had some great views of St. Helens Lake below us as we passed the spur trail to Coldwater Peak after .4 miles.

The trail the continued around the lake with views opening up to Spirit Lake below St. Helens Lake.

For the next 3 plus miles the clouds came and went as the drifted over the ridge down toward Spirit Lake.

There was more snow along this section of trail and we started seeing more flowers that bloom soon after snow melt.

Cinquefoil

Cusick’s speedwell

White heather

Avalanche lilies

Cat’s ear lily

We crossed our first snowfield near The Dome, which was mostly hidden by the clouds.

It was a bit of a shame that we couldn’t see more of the surrounding area because the peaks and cliffs we could see where really neat.

The view downhill was a little better and we got a decent look at the outlet of St. Helens Lake, a log jam on Spirit Lake, and some elk in the valley.

We had skipped the .6 mile trail up to the summit of Coldwater Peak not wanting to make that climb with our full packs on a day when the visibility wasn’t great, but when we reached the shorter spur trail to the summit of Mt. Margaret we decided to head up. Unlike Coldwater Peak we had not been up this trail before so even if we didn’t have a view we couldn’t pass it up. The view from Mt. Margaret turned out to not be too bad. We could see Spirit Lake fairly well and the Boundary Trail below the peak. Other nearby peaks occasionally emerged from the clouds.

We could see some spots where mountain goats had been on a nearby ledge but no goats, just a swallowtail butterfly.

We took a nice long break and had some lunch on Mt. Margaret. As we were preparing to start hiking again we could hear people coming up the Boundary Trail, lots of people. Heather counted nearly 30 folks emerging from the trees below. We made it back to the junction with the Boundary Trail just as the first of these other hikers were arriving. The majority of them turned out to be members of the Mazamas, a nonprofit Mountaineering Education Organization based in Portland, Oregon.

After passing through the Mazamas we crossed another nice snowfield and reached a junction with the Whittier Ridge Trail.

The Whittier Ridge Trail was not on our to-do list on this hike. The trail is narrow and in places along exposed cliffs where the rocks had to be blasted to create a trail at all. Recent reports from members of the Oregon Hikers forum reported some snow still along the trail as well and with little visibility it wasn’t even tempting. We continued on the Boundary Trail getting our first view of some the lakes in the Mt. Margaret Backcountry.
Boot and Obscurity Lakes

We had been gradually descending since Mt. Margaret and the visibility was getting better the lower we got.

Along the way we spotted another mountain goat not far above the trail.

As we got closer it crossed the trail and disappeared over the hillside leaving us with just it’s smell. (And boy did it smell)

We had been working our way around Spirit Lake and were now just to the NE of it. Mt. St. Helens lay directly behind the lake but only the lowest portions were visible. What we could see was Windy Ridge on the Mountain’s flank.

Two miles from the Whittier Ridge Trail we arrived at the junction with the Lakes Trail at Bear Pass.

The Lakes Trail descended from Bear Pass toward Grizzly Lake.

A trail crew from the Washington Trails Association was busy brushing out the trail and restoring the tread along this section. They were doing some impressive work and we thanked them as we passed by.

Between Grizzly Lake and our final destination at Obscurity Lake were more wildflowers including a few we hadn’t seen yet that day.
Partridge foot and paintbrush

Penstemon and candyflower

Pink monkeyflower

Blue-bells of Scotland

Fireweed

Bleeding heart

As we approached Obscurity Lake a waterfall was visible along the outlet creek of the lake.

We finally arrived at Obscurity Lake after almost 16 miles of hiking.

We thought the hard part was over but then we went in search of the designated camp site. We found one tent pad already occupied and began looking for a second one. When I had made the reservation on the Recreation.gov website there had been 2 available permits for up to 4 people. There were several areas where tents had obviously been placed in the past but we couldn’t find any other tent pad or post marking another designated site. The hikers from the other tent said they had not been able to find a second one either so we picked what seemed like the most likely spot where there was no vegetation to trample and set up the tent.

We hoped that we had picked the right spot and figured if we hadn’t and a ranger came along we’d just ask them where the other designated site was and move there if we had chosen poorly. Oddly enough a third tent had appeared when we awoke the next morning. I don’t know if they were possibly with the Forest Service, but if they weren’t someone was not where they should have been.

Regardless of the confusion over the camp sites the day had been pretty spectacular. The showers had never materialized and between the wildflowers, wildlife, and scattered views we did get we’d been totally entertained. The clouds just made us more eager to come back again someday in the future so we could see what we missed this time around. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157668318616563

Hiking Northern Coast Oregon Oregon Coast Trip report

Fort-To-Sea Trail – Fort Clatsop

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 13, 2016
3 Comments on Fort-To-Sea Trail – Fort Clatsop

We have officially started our 2016 hikes. As we have done for the past several years we headed to the Oregon Coast for our first hike of the year. Our goal this time was to hike the Fort-To-Sea Trail following a route initially blazed by Lewis and Clark in 1805 from Fort Clatsop to the ocean. Fort Clatsop was built near what is now the Lewis and Clark River and the Fort-To-Sea Trail was used by the expedition to gather salt by boiling saltwater. The area is now part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park complete with a replica of the original fort.

We decided to start our hike at the Sunset Beach Recreation Site near the ocean north of Gearhart, OR. From there we would take the trail to Fort Clatsop and back. Things got off to a rocky start at the trailhead when we found the restrooms devoid of toilet paper and discovered that I had not yet switched our toiletry supplies from my backpack to my daypack. After a quick trip back to Gearhart for supplies we were back at the trailhead and ready to begin.

Before heading to Fort Clatsop we headed toward the ocean on the Fort-To-Sea Trail. There used to be a viewing deck overlooking the ocean 1/3 of a mile from the parking area but it has been removed leaving a sandy circle on the grassy dune.

The Sun was still rising behind us creating some nice colors on the western horizon.

After returning to the trailhead we headed inland toward Fort Clatsop which was 6.2 miles away. The first portion of the trail passed through storm damaged trees skirting several bodies of water. Ducks paddled about on the water as it reflected the colors of the sunrise.

The path then led up and over a small sandy hill and down to an arched bridge over Neacoxie Lake.

To the SE of the lake was the Astoria Country Club’s golf course, a popular morning stop for elk. We hadn’t seen any elk during our hikes in 2015, but on the far side of the course on a small hill were three.

We watched them for a bit from the bridge as they made their way along the hillside.

Beyond the bridge the trail passed through a mile and a half of pastures. The fenced route was well marked as the trail led to East Neacoxie Lake.

Smaller than Neacoxie Lake, East Neacoxie Lake was full of wildlife. A pair of Bald Eagles watched over the many ducks and small birds enjoying the lake.

The trail crossed this lake on a floating bridge.

As we were making our way across something swam out from under the bank near the far end of the bridge. Our minds immediately went to otter or beaver, neither of which we have spotted yet during a hike. Instead it turned out to be a nutria, a large rat-like semiaquatic rodent considered an invasive species by the ODFW.

The trail then led past a pioneer church and cemetery to an underpass of Highway 101.

After passing under the highway and skirting another field we crossed the Skipanon River before heading into a forest.

At the 4.7 mile mark we reached the Clatsop Ridge Overlook which was a nice ocean viewpoint with a picnic table and several benches.

From the viewpoint the trail followed old roads down to the Fort Clatsop Visitor Center.

We passed through the center and continued 100 yards to the replica fort.

We were surprised at just how small a structure the fort was especially considering it was home to 33 people for 106 days. We spent some time poking around the fort and checking out the other nearby displays.

A 200 yard path led from the fort down to the site of the expedition’s canoe landing.

We could have turned back here and retraced our steps, but the park has several other trails which allow for various loop options. From the canoe landing we followed the Netul Trail south along the river. Part of the year a shuttle bus stop along this trail allows hikers to ride back to the fort or back to Sunset Beach. We were heading for the South Slough Trail though which we could take back to the Fort-To-Sea Trail. This trail loop around a slough filled with ducks and a couple of red-tailed hawks.

The South Slough Trail was the only trail marked as difficult on the park maps. It headed steeply uphill from the Netul Trail but the climb didn’t last long. The trail wound around the slough to a signed junction with the only real viewpoint of the trail.

From this junction we could take the Lower South Slough Trail downhill to the Fort-To-Sea Trail about a half mile from the Visitor Center, or the Upper South Slough Trail which would meet the Fort-To-Sea Trail closer to a mile from the center. We took the upper option and made our way back to the Fort-To-Sea Trail and then took a second detour. Earlier that day just after entering the forest there was a signed trail forking left from the Fort-To-Sea Trail. It was named the Kwis Kwis Trail and it wasn’t shown in our guidebook or on any of the park maps we’d seen. The park maps did show a trail by that name but that trail showed as a wide arc leading from the Fort-To-Sea Trail near the junction with the Upper South Slough Trail and rejoining the Fort-To-Sea Trail about a third of a mile from the Visitor Center. Given the name and the fact that the signage for the mystery trail matched those of the park we theorized that it was a newer trail. We had also spotted sections of trail from the Fort-To-Sea Trail on the way up to the overlook which we suspected to be part of this trail.

From the Upper South Slough Trail junction we headed east on the Fort-To-Sea Trail to the signed Kwis Kwis Trail junction.

This trail also followed an old roadbed. After winding downhill for a little more than .3 miles we spotted a sign for the Kwis Extension.

We turned up this path which ran roughly parallel to the Fort-To-Sea Trail at a lower elevation. This was indeed the path we had seen earlier. A nice long boardwalk traversed a large marshy area before rejoining the Fort-To-Sea Trail in the forest near the Skipanon River.

From there we retraced our steps along the Fort-To-Sea Trail to the Sunset Beach Trailhead. Later we learned the Kwis Kwis Trail Extension was completed in 2014. The scenery and wildlife along the trails were both quite varied, and the history surrounding the area made it a very interesting hike. The various loops and trail distances make this a great option for hikers of any age. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157662826694040

Tags Bald Eagle, Clatsop Overlook, elk, Fort Clatsop, Fort-to-Sea Trail, hiking, Lewis and Clark, Lewis and Clark National Historic Park, Lewis and Clark River, Neacoxie Lake, Netul Trail, Nutria, Oregon, Skipanon River, South Slough Trail, Sunset Beach, Sunset Beach Recreation Area