Tag: hiking

Sisi Butte and Fish & Si Lakes – 09/16/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 18, 2023
1 Comment on Sisi Butte and Fish & Si Lakes – 09/16/2023

While we are focused on our quest to complete Sullivan’s featured hikes (post) we are also plugging away at several other guidebooks including Matt Reeder’s 2016 “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region”. It’s been a bit of a challenge to make much progress in this book since 2020 when wildfires burned much of the area it covers. In some cases the trails were burned and in others the access roads to the trailheads were closed for hazardous tree removal. The two stops we had planned for this outing were two such hikes.

Our first stop was to visit the viewpoint and lookout tower on Sisi Butte. The fires didn’t burn the butte, but until Forest Road 46 was reopened between Detroit and Estacada this past June it wasn’t accessible for us to reach the trailhead.

Our adventure actually began before reaching the trailhead. Over the final two miles of our drive we passed at least two dozen cars heading toward Olallie Lake (post). We guessed that there must be some sort of race happening which turned out to be correct, the 100-mile Mountain Lakes 100 to be exact. Luckily the racecourse wasn’t along either of the hikes we’d planned for the day, we’ve made that mistake before and it doesn’t make for the most enjoyable hike. (Someday I’ll learn to check for races/events at the same time I’m checking the managing agencies information on the trail conditions.) We eventually made it to the gated road and parked along the side of FR 4220 (Old Skyline Road).

This was about as straightforward as a hike can get. We followed the closed road up Sisi Butte for just under three miles to the lookout tower. There was a lock on the door to the observation deck, but we were able to climb up to that point to get views of Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, and Three Fingered Jack.
Dust from ultra runner’s cars hanging over the closed roadbed.

Mt. Jefferson in the monring.

The Summer haze we’ve grown to expect was back after having improved following a brief period of rain.

The smoke does make for some colorful sunrises though.

Scouler’s bluebells

There was a nice forest along the road. Much of the butte is within one of the five tracts making up the Clackamas Wilderness but being a man-made improvement the road itself is not part of the Sisi Butte tract.

Mt. Hood to the North.

Mt. Hood

Despite the surrounding haze the sky above the road was bright blue.

There were numerous good views of Mt. Jefferson from the road.

Olallie Butte (post) and Mt. Jefferson.

About 0.4 miles from the lookout an abandoned spur road splits off to the right toward the eastern summit which is just a couple of feet higher than the western.

The tower is still staffed at times, but it was empty today.

Penstemon

Olallie Butte, Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack from the lookout.

Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Hood, West Pinhead Butte, and the eastern summit.

A hazy Mt. Hood.

Flat topped Battle Ax Mountain (post), Silver King Mountain (post), Pansy Mountain, Bull-of-the Woods (post), Big Slide Mountain (post), and Schreiner Peak in the Bull-of-the Wilderness.

Bachelor and Coffin Mountains (post) in the Old Cascades.

After taking in the views we headed back down. We’d passed a pair of hunters on the way up and a pair of hikers on the way back down along with a few grouse.
Grouse along the road.

Despite high temperatures around 80 the leaves reminded us that Fall would be arriving soon.

Canada jay checking us out.

The out-and-back was just shy of 6-miles with approximately 1400′ of elevation gain.

From the gated road we turned around and headed South on FR 4220 for a total of 6.5-miles to the Lower Lake Campground entrance.

While Sisi Butte had escaped the 2020 wildfires the Lionshead Fire had severely damaged the campground and the trail to Fish Lake.
Lower Lake Campground, a work in progress.

While the campground was closed, the trail was open despite the fire damage.

The Fish Lake Trail at Lower Lake Campground.

While the sign at the trailhead said it was a half mile to Lower Lake we actually arrived at the eastern end of the lake after a third of a mile.
Ferns creating a green hillside in the burn scar.

Lower Lake

The trail passed along the northern shore of Lower Lake without too much trouble. There was on small detour necessary to avoid some blowdown, but it was easily navigated.
The water in Lower Lake was quite colorful.

Duck

Most of the lakes in the Olallie Lake Scenic Area have signs naming them.

Potato Butte (post) from Lower Lake.

Olallie Butte

We had detoured to Lower Lake prior to the fire during our Lodgepole Loop hike in 2019 (post).

Just a short distance from the western end of the lake we crossed the Lodgepole Trail.

For the next quarter of a mile the trail was fairly level.
Sisi Butte off to the right.

Fireweed going to seed.

Buckwheat

The burn was intense along the trail, but it was in pretty good shape all things considered.

After a quarter mile the trail arrived at a cliff above Fish Lake and then began a steep descent dropping 400′ over the next half mile to the lake.
Sisi Butte and Fish Lake from the cliff.

Mt. Hood peeking out from behind West Pinhead Butte.

Mt. Hood

The Fish Lake Trail switchbacked a few times before giving up on that and dropping steeply for the final 0.2 miles.

A beat up Lorquin’s admiral.

There were signs of somewhat recent trail maintenance, but given the severity of the burn and the steepness of the hillside the trail is going to need a lot of ongoing attention to keep it passable.

The trail disappeared a couple of times in brush and blowdown near the lake, but it was never hard to pick back up.

There were no people at the lake, just a pair of ducks enjoying the warm day.

Nap time.

Olallie Butte from Fish Lake.

After passing around the southern side of the lake we arrived at a nice campsite under some unburned trees.

Beyond Fish Lake the forest along the trail was mostly out of the fire scar.
The trail followed along Squirrel Creek (currently dry) for 0.4-miles.

Just under a quarter of a mile from Fish Lake the trail crossing a road and under some power lines.

Four tenths of a mile from Fish Lake we came to a trail sign with a pointer to Surprise Lake.
We passed a few of these “Spot Fire” flags, presumably left over from 2020.

The signed junction.

We detoured to check out the brushy lake and found it to be as Reeder reported, brushy had difficult to explore.

I had to walk out on a log and fight through some thick brush to reach a decent view of the water.

Surprise Lake

We returned to the Fish Lake Trail and continued another half mile to Si Lake.
The trail between the junction and Si Lake got a little brushy.

Huckleberry leaves in their Fall colors.

Si Lake from the trail.

Si Lake.

Tortoiseshell butterfly

Si Lake was the smallest of the three lakes along the Fish Lake Trail (not counting Surprise Lake) and lacked a view of any of the surrounding peaks. The day was heating up quickly and we had a nearly 900′ climb over the three miles back to the car, so we took a short break and headed back.

A few clouds formed overhead and a slight breeze kicked up during our return which fortunately kept if from feeling too hot.
Olallie Butte from Fish Lake.

Black bear print along the shore of Fish Lake.

White breasted nuthatch

Lower Lake from the Fish Lake Trail.

Olallie Butte from Lower Lake.

While parts of Lower Lake are shallow it actually reaches a depth of 73′ which is the reason it is so colorful.

Arriving back at Lower Lake Campground.

This hike came in just over 6-miles and 900′ of elevation gain making this a 12-mile, 2300′ elevation gain day.

The hikes were enjoyable and offered a lot of solitude, we only saw three people (all at Lower Lake) along the Fish Lake Trail in addition to the four at Sisi Butte. Cooler temperatures and less smoke would have been preferred but it was a great outing none the less. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Sisi Butte and Fish & Si Lakes

Tags Clackamas Wilderness, Fish Lake, Fish Lake Trail, hiking, Lower Lake, Lower Lake Campground, Olallie Butte, Olallie Lake scenic area, Oregon, Si Lake, Sisi Butte, Sisi Butte Lookout, Surprise Lake

High Cascades Hiking Oregon Sky Lakes/Mountain Lakes Area Trip report

Seven Lakes Basin Backpack – 09/09/23 & 09/10/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 13, 2023
2 Comments on Seven Lakes Basin Backpack – 09/09/23 & 09/10/2023

As we near our goal of finishing at least part of all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivans “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” edition 4.2 (post) there was one backpacking trip left. Sullivan’s Seven Lakes West and Seven Lakes East (hikes 38 & 39 in edition 4.2) start at trailheads on opposite side of the Cascade Crest but both contain a loop through the Seven Lakes Basin and a climb up Devil’s Peak in the Sky Lakes Wilderness. Aside from the different trailheads the only other difference is that he includes a visit to Lake Alta from the west trailhead.

We opted to begin from the eastern trailhead – Sevenmile Marsh. The primary reason for this was the trailhead is roughly half an hour closer to Salem but the Forest Service currently shows the status of the western trailhead (Seven Lakes) as unreachable. (This may simply be an oversight when updating their webpages, but it is a good reminder that it’s always a good idea to double check with the managing agencies before heading out.)
Sevenmile Marsh Trailhead

The trail descended to a crossing of Sevenmile Creek then climbed gradually along a hillside above Sevenmile Marsh, entering the Sky Lakes Wilderness along the way.

Sevenmile Creek

Entering the wilderness

Sevenmile Marsh

The Sevenmile Trail climbed gradually through a nice forest for nearly two miles before joining the Pacific Crest Trail.
Lodgepole pines were the dominate trees along the first part of the trail.

Mountain hemlock took over as the trail gained elevation.

Junction with the PCT.

We turned left onto the PCT and found ourselves losing a bit of elevation before beginning another gradual climb.

There were a few downed trees along this section but nothing difficult to get around.

This twisted tree caught our attention.

Nice blue sky.

Lewis’s woodpecker way up in a snag.

After two miles on the PCT we arrived at Honeymoon Creek which resembled a small pond. Tadpoles splashed around in the mud while larger frogs hung out around the water.

Tadpoles

Frog in the water.

After another 0.6-miles on the PCT we arrived at a signed junction with the Seven Lakes Trail.
Trail sign ahead on the right.

Our plan was to set up camp at Cliff Lake then do the loop and summit Devil’s Peak as described by Sullivan. We could have turned right here and followed the Seven Lakes Trail 1.3-miles past Grass and Middle Lakes to Cliff Lake, but sticking to the PCT for another 0.7-miles then turning the Cliff Lake Trail would save us nearly a quarter of a mile. We decided to save Middle and Grass Lakes for our hike out the following morning and stayed straight on the PCT.

Unnamed creek along the PCT. We were surprised at how many of the seasonal creeks still had flowing water.

Grass-of-parnassus

Huckleberries, there were a lot of these around the basin which we happily sampled.

Devil’s Peak poking up above the trees.

The Cliff Lake Trail.

We turned right onto the Cliff Lake Trail and descended a third of a mile to rejoin the Seven Lakes Trail a tenth of a mile from Cliff Lake.

Prince’s pine

Another flowing seasonal creek.

Crater Lake collomia (Collomia mazama)

The Seven Lakes Trail arriving on the right.

Cliff Lake

At Cliff Lake we turned onto a use trail following it around the eastern side of the lake in search of a suitable campsite. While there were numerous sites most of the sites we were seeing were large enough for multiple tents. We didn’t want to take up one of the large sites with our single tent and we also didn’t want to wind up with neighbors if we could avoid it. We wound up getting separated in the process and after walking back and forth for a bit we found each other and settled on a campsite.

Arnica

Aster

Splash in Cliff Lake from one of many fish that were feeding on insects.

Camp

After getting set up we grabbed our daypacks and headed back to the Seven Lakes Trail. We decided to hike the loop clockwise which meant backtracking along the Seven Lakes and Cliff Lake Trails to the PCT and then turning right to continue southward.
Huckleberry bushes along the Cliff Lake Trail.

Anywhere there was water nearby there were lots of tiny Cascade toads to watch out for.

Back at the PCT.

Larger frog

Monkshood

More grass-of-parnassus

Not only were the toads tiny, they also were well camouflaged.

The PCT climbed steadily providing the first glimpses of the peaks around Crater Lake.
Mount Scott (post) between the trees.

Mount Scott

The Watchman (post) and Hillman Peak (post)

The Watchman and Hillman Peak

Devil’s Peak

Union Peak (post) in the distance.

Cliff Lake with Violet Hill beyond.

Black backed woodpecker

Getting closer to Devil’s Peak.

A much bigger Cascade toad.

Near Devil’s Peak the PCT left the trees and switchbacked up a talus field resulting on great view to the north toward Crater Lake and beyond.

Mt. Thielsen (post) in the center beyond the rim of Crater Lake.

Union Peak with Mt. Bailey (post) behind to the right.

Lots of neat rock formation on Devil’s Peak.

Western pasque flower seed heads.

Buckwheat

Two and a half miles from the Seven Lakes Trail junction the PCT arrived at a pass. The final climb was fairly steep even with switchbacks, so a brief rest was in order at the pass.

Views to the South opened up at the pass including Klamath Lake and Pelican Butte.

Klamath Lake

Devil’s Peak and the PCT coming up to the pass from the North.

Klamath Lake, Pelican Butte, Aspen Butte (post) over the right shoulder of Pelican, Brown Mountain (post) is the small cone on the right, and Mt. McLoughlin (post)

Mt. McLoughlin

A faint Mt. Shasta which, given the wildfires burning in NW California was a bit of a surprise to be able to see.

The view North.

Goose Egg and Ethel Mountain in the forefront with Llao Rock, Mt. Thielsen, and Garfield Peak (post) behind.

Devil’s Peak

While we were resting at the pass we heard a helicopter approaching from the NW. It wound up hovering low above the lakes basin before heading back the way it came.
We were a little concerned at first that it might be picking up water for a new fire but there wasn’t anything hanging from the helicopter so we have no idea what it was actually doing.

A path headed uphill from the pass toward Devil’s Peak while the PCT headed slightly downhill.
The use path to Devil’s Peak on the right and the PCT on the left.

We headed up the use trail which was fairly easy to follow with just one slightly sketchy narrow spot.

The rather ominously named Lucifer from the use trail.

A second use trail coming up from the opposite side.

Western pasque flowers on the hillside above the use trails.

The summit of Devil’s Peak ahead.

The views were excellent from the summit so we took another nice break to soak them in before heading down.
Looking North toward Crater Lake and Mt. Thielsen

Lucifer, Jupiter, and Venus

Lee Peak above the pass.

Luther Mountain (post) in the foreground with Aspen Butte, Brown Mountain and Mt. McLoughlin.

Remains of a former lookout.

The PCT below Devil’s and Lee Peaks.

Goose Egg, Llao Rock, and Mt. Thielsen

Mt. Scott

Mt. Shasta to South through a little smoke but again we felt fortunate to be able to see the mountain at all.

Colorful grasshopper at the summit.

American pipit

We headed down taking the other use trail which angled down along a ridge to the PCT approximately a third of a mile from where we had left it to climb Devil’s Peak.
The Seven Lakes Basin from the use trail down.

South, Middle, North, and Grass Lakes

Heading down the use trail.

Looking back up the use trail.

When we reached the PCT we turned right and headed toward Lucifer.

Western snakeroot along the PCT.

A comma butterfly on western snakeroot.

Painted lady

At a ridge below Lucifer we arrived at a signed trail junction.

Here the PCT forked left toward Luther Mountain while the Devil’s Peak Trail forked right. We took the Devil’s Peak Trail and followed it 1.3-miles to the Seven Lakes Trail. Passing below Jupiter and Venus along the way.
Venus from the Devil’s Peak Trail.

Looking back at Devil’s Peak.

Looking North across the Seven Lakes Basin.

Lake Alta in a bowl below Violet Hill.

Pond along the Devil’s Peak Trail.

Coming up to the Seven Lakes Trail junction. A rock cairn was the only marker.

We turned right onto the Seven Lakes Trail and descended 0.2 miles to a signed junction with the Alta Lake Trail.

We turned left onto the Alta Lake Trail. We followed this trail for a fairly level half mile to the long lake.

Heather took another break at the South end of the lake while I hiked another quarter mile along the lake to get a better look at the northern end.
I was still only about halfway along the lake after the quarter mile. There used to be a campground at the North end.

Common merganser

The southern end of Lake Alta.

On the way back to Heather I detoured to take in the view from the cliffs above the basin.
Cliff Lake below Devil’s Peak and Middle Lake.

Middle and Grass Lakes

I could hear several pikas in the rocks below the cliffs but the only thing I spotted was a chipmunk.

Chipmunk

After rejoining Heather we headed back to the Seven Lakes Trail and continued descending into the basin.
Sulphur butterfly on aster.

Gentian

Fireweed

A mile from the Alta Lake Trail we arrived at South Lake.

South Lake

Another quarter mile brought us to a view of Cliff Lake.

Devil’s Peak from the trail. There were more pikas “meeping” from the rocks here but again we failed to spot any of them.

We followed the trail around to the North side of Cliff Lake and then turned on the use trail to return to our campsite.

Back at camp we refilled our water supply and had dinner then relaxed a bit before turning in for the night. For me this had been a 15.3-mile hike with 2000′ of elevation gain. One and a quarter of those miles was hiking from the Seven Lakes Trail to our camp, and initially wandering around looking for a site and Heather.
Devil’s Peak in the evening.

So many fish in the evening.

In the morning we packed up and headed back, this time sticking to the Seven Lakes Trail to visit Middle and Grass Lakes.

Devil’s Peak in the morning.

Seven Lakes and Cliff Lake Trail junction.

We reached Middle Lake in 0.4-miles.

We detoured left at the northern end of the lake following a pointer for Lake Ivern to find a view back across Middle Lake.

Devil’s Peak from Middle Lake.

We returned to the Seven Lakes Trail and in another half mile we passed views of Grass Lake.
Stream crossing.

Monkshood and grass-of-parnassus

Grass Lake

We didn’t follow any of the use trails down to Grass Lake and instead stuck to the Seven Lakes Trail as it climbed for 0.2 miles to the Pacific Crest Trail.

Arriving at the PCT.

We turned left onto the PCT and returned to the Sevenmile Marsh Trailhead the way we’d come the day before. Of note were the ducks making use of the small pond along Honeymoon Creek.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Sevenmile Trail at the PCT to return to the Sevenmile Marsh Trailhead.

Exiting the Sky Lakes Wilderness.

The hike out came to 6.1-miles with just 200′ of elevation gain.

The red section marks our track out past Middle and Grass Lakes

This was a great trip. The temperatures were pleasant, the views great, lots of huckleberries and only a few mosquitos. We also only saw a total of eight other people all weekend. We are now down to a half dozen featured hikes from the Southern Oregon/Northern California book and if conditions cooperate we may well be finished by November. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Seven Lakes Basin

Bend/Redmond Central Oregon Hiking Oregon Trip report

Fryrear Canyon – 09/04/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 8, 2023
No Comments on Fryrear Canyon – 09/04/2023

To finish off our Labor Day Weekend we chose a hike almost halfway between Burns and Salem, Fryrear Canyon. Managed by the BLM (Prineville District) as part of the Cline Buttes Recreation Area there isn’t a lot of information available online that I could find outside of an area closure map for nesting birds from February 1st through August 31st. (Please note that the trails shown on the linked map are a little bit different than what we found.)

The Fryrear Trailhead is located along Fryrear Road which runs between Highways 20 and 126. From Highway 20 the trailhead is on the right after 2.3 miles and from Highway 126 it is on the left after 3.2 miles.
The trailhead has numerous parking spots for cars as well as a large horse trailhead, outhouse, and picnic tables.

The big signboards unfortunately did not have a map or other information about the trail system though.

We headed East past a gate on a well established path with flagging.

The North Sister behind us.

After a third of a mile we came to an unsigned “T” junction where we turned right.

We followed the path and flagging when there were forks for half a mile to the start of Fryrear Canyon.

Signpost for the canyon ahead.

This sign was just like the ones we’d seen Saturday at the Dry River Canyon (post).

We descended into the canyon and spent the next mile admiring the rock formations and various vegetation growing along the canyon floor.

The canyon is home to some impressive ponderosa pines.

Another ponderosa

Looking up from below the ponderosa.

Lichens

Townsend’s solitaire

Owl

West wall

East wall

Wren

Neat rock formation.

Exiting Fryrear Canyon.

A short distance after leaving the canyon we arrived at a gate with a trail junction on the other side.

Several mountain chickadees came to investigate as we passed through the gate.

We turned left at the unsigned junction and climbed up a small hill gaining a view of the Three Sisters.

Middle and North Sister

Mountain bluebird

South Sister

A little further along we gained a view of Mt. Jefferson (behind a few clouds).

Mt. Jefferson

We stayed left at junctions to complete a loop.
Broken Top and South Sister

Broken Top behind some clouds.

We turned right back onto the spur trail to the Fryrear Trailhead at the end of our loop.

Stellars jay

The hike was 3.3-miles with 200′ of elevation gain.

We had a great time on this hike. Fryrear Canyon was absolutely wonderful. The rock formations and textures were very interesting and so was the vegetation along the canyon floor. Throw in some wildlife and mountain views and you have the makings of a great hike. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Fryrear Canyon

Tags Bend, Central Oregon, Cline Buttes Recreation Area, Fryrear Canyon, Fryrear Trailhead, hiking, Oregon

Hiking Oregon SE Oregon Steens Mountain Trip report

Threemile Canyon and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge – 09/03/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 7, 2023
1 Comment on Threemile Canyon and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge – 09/03/2023

After spending the night in Burns it was time for the featured hike that had brought us here. Threemile Canyon was a recent edition as a featured hike after switching editions on our quest to finish the 100 featured hikes in each of William L. Sullivans guidebooks (post). We got a little later start than typical for us opting to stick around long enough to take advantage of the 6am full breakfast at our motel. After eating we made the hour and a half drive South on Highway 205 (County Road 202) to the Threemile Creek Trailhead.

We’d driven through a couple of rain showers but we had a bit of blue sky overhead at the trailhead (for now).
Beatys Butte to the SW.

Rain to the SW as well.

We followed the Threemile Creek Trail into the Steens Mountain Wilderness and Threemile Canyon.

Earlier rains had left the vegetation that crowded the trail rather damp which quickly left our pant legs wet.

Threemile Creek could be heard but not seen through the thick brush.

Lupine

At the 3/4-mile mark we arrived at a junction with Huffman Trail.
There was a post but no sign at the junction.

Our plan was to take the Huffman Trail uphill to its end on a plateau. If the weather was decent we would then take the Threemile Creek Trail further up Threemile Canyon before returning to the car. We turned left at the junction and began a steep climb, nearly 1100′ in 1.7-miles.

Wickerstem buckwheat

The Pueblo Mountains (post) in the distance including the domed Pueblo Mountain.

Clouds and rain showers to the SW.

Threemile Canyon

The faint Huffman Trail.

Alvord Peak in the center distance with Pueblo Mountain to the far right.

Closer look at Alvord Peak in the center.

Still a little blue sky to the NW.

Not sure where the fog below came from but it was on a mission to beat us up to the plateau.

Here comes the fog and some rain.

Just moments later.

And here is the fog.

We put our rain covers on at a switchback and continued uphill with a light rain falling through the fog.

The fog had moved on by the time we arrived at the plateau, but the rain lingered.

The final pitch to the plateau.

Cairn at the end of the trail.

Exploring is possible as long as you remember where you came up.

Looking West.

Looking toward Threemile Canyon.

The rain let up around the time we started back down and the clouds soon began to break up.

Beatys Butte at center with the long fault block of Hart Mountain (post) to the right partly behind the clouds.

This frog seemed to enjoy the damp weather.

Cliffs across Threemile Canyon

Arriving back at the junction with the Threemile Creek Trail.

With the weather improving and the Threemile Creek Trail continuing less than a mile beyond the junction we decided to give it a go. Heather told me to go on ahead and to turn around when I was ready and she would just turn around when she felt like it or we met up again. The Huffman Trail had been faint in places and a bit rough, but the remainder of the Threemile Trail took these to a different level.
It started out nicely passing a hillside covered in sunflowers, a few aster, and some curlycup gumweed.

Curlycup gumweed

The trail crossed and at times used dry creek beds and also crossed Threemile Creek several times.

The easiest crossing of Threemile Creek. Several of the others were not obvious until I pushed through the brush and then the footing was often tricky due to large, slick rocks needing to be navigated (at least in order to stay out of the creek).

On the trail, I think.

Elderberry

Hard to tell by the photo but this puffball was a little bigger than a softball.

The trail was described as ending in a meadow just under a mile from the junction with the Huffman Trail. I lost the trail at what appeared to be a post, but it also may just have been a snag.
I wouldn’t really describe the area as a meadow but I was 0.9 miles from the junction.

Since I was uncertain if this was the “meadow” I scrambled over a few rocks looking to see if I could find a continuation of the trail. I couldn’t but I did spot a lone red paintbrush.

Looking down at the meadow and post/snag (lower right) from the rocks.

I turned around here and headed back. I met Heather on the far side of the first really tricky creek crossing where she had decided to stop. We hiked out together as the clouds continued to break up overhead.
Sometimes the trail was really only identifiable by which junipers had had limbs cut.

The drop to the creek here was approximately 2′ and the pool in Threemile Creek was fairly deep making this crossing a bit of a challenge not to slip and fall in.

Aster

Sullivan’s map showed a “Bart Simpson Rock” which we believe was this one.

Nearing the sunflower hillside and trail junction.

Dragonfly

Skipper

Big bumblebee

On our way out of the canyon we spotted some horses on the hillside to the south. We don’t know if these were part of the South Steens HMA herd or if they belonged to the ranch but they were pretty.

The hike to the ends of both trails came to 6.7 miles with approximately 1900′ of elevation gain.

With our featured hike complete we headed back for Burns. It was just after 12:30pm so we had plenty of day left and couldn’t pass up the chance to once again drive the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge’s auto tour route. We’d last driven the route in 2021 (post) and both times we’d visited we’d seen abundant wildlife. In addition to the auto tour there are numerous short trails and hiking opportunities along the way. We hiked several of the trails before but had yet to visit the historic P Ranch near Frenchglen or Krumbo Reservoir which is just under 4 miles from the auto tour route.

Just before reaching Frenchglen we turned off Highway 205 onto Steens Mountain Loop Road and followed it 1.5 miles to Central Patrol Road where we turned left. A third of a mile later we turned left again into the P Ranch and in a large gravel parking area.

We hadn’t seen anyone else all day until now. A couple was just returning from the River Trail. Amazingly Heather knew them so we had a nice chat before we set off on the same trail. They also let us know to look for an owl in the long barn when we got there later.
Sign for the River Trail.

The River Trail is 2-miles long and can be connected to several other trails to make a decent sized loop. We weren’t up for that kind of distance today so we simply followed the Donner und Blitzen River for 0.3 miles before turning back.

The long barn where we’d be heading next.

We turned around here where the tread became rougher.

Interpretive signs were scattered along the trails at the P Ranch.

Lorquin’s admiral and a grasshopper.

Skipper on aster.

Once we were back at the parking area we took the left trail down to the Long Barn Trail (another service road).

History of the P Ranch which at one time covered 140,000 acres.

The owl inside the barn.

Other structures from the ranch.

We covered a mile between the two trails and then continued on the auto tour keeping watch for any wildlife as we headed north toward Krumbo Reservoir Road which was just over 10 miles away.
The gravel road is in good shape but you don’t want to drive any faster than about 10mph so you don’t miss any wildlife.

Fawns

Common nighthawk

So many red-winged blackbirds.

Hawk (northern harrier?) in a field.

More fawns and birds.

Finch?

As we neared Knox Pond we spotted something coming up Central Patrol Road. Just a bit earlier Heather had mentioned that the area we were in looked like where my parents had seen a badger on a visit last year.

It turned out that this was indeed a badger. Only the second we’ve seen.

It disappeared in the grass moments later.

Another hawk

Sandhill cranes in the field.

Sandhill cranes

We turned right onto Krumbo Reservoir Road and parked at the Krumbo Reservoir Dam Trailhead.

We followed a trail across the dam then hiked through the sagebrush a bit further to get a good view of the reservoir.

Crossing the dam.

Kiger Gorge (post) in the distance.

Kiger Gorge

Blurry due to distance but there were several deer at the far end of the reservoir.

Another long shot, a western grebe.

Not certain what this bird was but it dove into the water a couple of times.

The deer, some ducks, the western grebe and a cormorant were all that direction.

It’s possible to bushwack around the reservoir but again we weren’t up for anything that long, so we turned back after just a quarter mile.
It also appeared that some rain was on the way.

Recrossing the dam.

We returned to Central Patrol Road and continued the auto tour and the wildlife sightings.

Pheasant family

There were at least 5 deer out there.

Two

Three more

White faced ibis

California quail

Pheasant

A few of at least 10 turkey vultures in the trees above the Refuge Headquarters.

Malheur Lake from the end of the auto tour.

After completing the auto tour we returned to Burns for another night. It had been a great day for wildlife and nice to once again have all of the featured hikes in SE Oregon completed. We’re now down to 16 Eastern Oregon featured hikes. If things work out we could be finished with those by the end of next year. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Threemile Canyon and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

Bend/Redmond Blue Mountains - South Central Oregon Hiking Oregon Trip report

Dry River Canyon and Idlewild Loop – 09/02/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 6, 2023
No Comments on Dry River Canyon and Idlewild Loop – 09/02/2023

Our Labor Day Weekend plans came together in June after we’d decided that the featured hike at Dug Bar in Hells Canyon wasn’t going to happen (post). With us not willing to make the drive to that trailhead our quest to hike all 100 featured hikes in one of the editions of William L. Sullivan’s Eastern Oregon guidebooks (post) needed adjusting. We had been working out of his 2015 third edition of the “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon”, but his 2022 “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” did not include Dug Bar as a featured hike. While our Dug Bar problem was resolved by making the switch one of the new featured hikes was located in the Steens Mountain Wilderness in SE Oregon 350 miles from Salem. The long holiday weekend provided us an opportunity to head to Burns and pick up that featured hike.

We decided to stay in Burns, OR and planned on heading to the featured hike, Threemile Canyon, on Sunday. We picked a pair of other hikes for Saturday to fill the time before checking into our room. Our first stop was at the BLM managed Dry River Canyon Trail.

The canyon and trail are closed annually from February 1st through August 31st to protect wildlife, so this was a good option for this weekend having just recently reopened. We opted to park at the far end of the ODOT gravel area at a sign announcing the trail’s status as “Open”.

This left us with a 0.6-mile road walk to the actual trailhead but saved us from having to drive the primitive rocky road.

Open sign at the trailhead.

We set off on the dirt trail into the canyon which in the ancient past was the course of a river flowing from the former Lake Millican.

Rabbit in the sagebrush.

Some of the exposed rocks showed the work of the ancient river.

Shaped by water.

Colorful rock bands along the canyon wall.

While the canyon is closed to protect peregrine falcon nesting there were a number of other birds among the junipers. The most surprising for us were a number of Clark’s nutcrackers which we typically see at much higher elevations where their favorite food, the seeds of whitebark pines, is found.

There is a huge nest up on the cliffs.

The nest

Wren

American kestral

Tall sagebrush in the canyon.

The canyon reaches a depth of approximately 300′.

After just over 2 1/4 miles we arrived a boulder field where it appeared at first that the trail abruptly ended.

We knew the BLM map showed it continuing and eventually emerging from the canyon and curving to meet Highway 20 across from the Evens Well Trailhead

We were just about to turn back when we spotted the continuation of the trail heading to the right up some rock steps.

The trail climbed up and around the boulder field then dropped steeply back down to the canyon floor.

Skipper

I believe this is a ringlet of some sort.

Beyond the boulder field the canyon walls shortened and we were soon veering right out of the canyon onto a sagebrush plateau.

Heading toward the Evens Well Trailhead.

Looking toward the Dry River Canyon from the plateau. It was impossible to tell that there was such a deep canyon out there.

Pine Mountain (post) to the SE.

We returned to the canyon and returned the way we’d come. We started seeing a few hikers on our way back as well as a number of lizards soaking in the Sun’s rays.

The rock steps were more obvious on the way down them.

A sparrow behind the sticks the camera was intent on focusing on.

Bee on buckwheat

Arriving back at the official trailhead. Several SUVs were now parked here.

They’re hard to make out but the Middle and North Sisters were visible from the road walk back to the gravel area.

Including the road walk our hike here came in at 7.9 miles with 550′ of elevation gain.

We hopped in the car and continued East on Highway 20 to Burns. It was too early to check in so we headed for our second stop of the day at the Idlewild Loop Trail in the Malheur National Forest. There are two possible starting points for the hike. We followed the Forest Service directions in the previous link and parked at the Idlewild Campground. The other option would have been to start from the Idlewild Sno Park.
The trailhead at the campground.

Neat map at the trailhead.

The trail began by a small map along the campground road behind the big wooden map.

We followed this path approximately 100 yards to a “T” shaped junction with the Idlewild Loop Trail where we turned right.
Gold flagging on the sagebrush ahead marked the junction.

The trail followed a fence line before turning right along Highway 395.

Tiny frog

The trail crossed this gated road near the highway. A blue diamond marked the trails continuation.

One of several interpretive signs along the loop.

Squirrel

The highway was just out of sight to the left.

Big ponderosa

We initially missed the continuation of the trail toward the Sno Park and headed downhill to the campground road.

We crossed the campground road and quickly realized our mistake and backtracked.

This time we spotted the correct trail and forked right here.

From the unsigned junction we climbed for a tenth of a mile to a signed junction with the Microwave Trail.

There were lots of dragonflies in the area.

We turned right on the Microwave Trail and followed this trail downhill and once again crossed the campground road.

On the far side of the road the trail passed through a fence and followed an old roadbed gently uphill.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel already sporting some of its winter weight.

We followed the roadbed for a third of a mile before arriving at another signed junction.

We turned right here onto the Devine Summit Trail.

The Devine Summit Trail climbed gradually before leveling out and then eventually descending back to the Idlewild Loop Trail after just over a mile.

Deer in the forest.

There was a bit of blowdown to navigate along the trail.

Some maintenance had been done in the past. There were also a good number of benches along the trail, all of which were accompanied by a post with a number.

Another bench near this fence.

Ponderosa forest

White breasted nuthatch

Another post and bench.

Arriving at the Idlewild Loop on the far side of the fence.

We turned left to complete our loop and then took a right onto the spur that led back to the trailhead.

Our little loop here came to 2.7 miles with 300′ of elevation gain.

This was a very enjoyable hike and we didn’t see another person until we were back at our car and another couple pulled up to the trailhead. We both imagined ticks could be an issue at certain times of the year but on this day the coast was clear. We made the 25 minute drive back into Burns and checked into our room and prepared for another canyon hike the following day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Dry River Canyon and Idlewild Loop

Tags Bend, blm, Burns, Devine Summit Trail, dry river canyon, Dry River Canyon Trail, Dry River Canyon Trailhead, Evens Well Trailhead, hiking, Idlewild Campground, Idlewild Loop Trail, Idlewild Sno Park, Malheur National Forest, Microwave Trail, Oregon

Central Coast Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Oregon Coast

Fort Yamhill, Nestucca Bay WLR, Trask River Bend, & Rockaway Beach Cedar – 08/26/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 28, 2023
2 Comments on Fort Yamhill, Nestucca Bay WLR, Trask River Bend, & Rockaway Beach Cedar – 08/26/2023

A combination of wildfire smoke, hot temperatures, and possible thunderstorms convinced us to abandon our plans to backpack over the weekend. To make matters worse thunderstorms late in the week had started at least 50 new fires across several forests. We are now at the point of the year when we just want it to start raining, and if it keeps raining that’d be fine (preferably without any flooding).

Looking at the various forecasts the only decent option for us appeared to be the central coast so I looked through our future plans for something that fit the bill. I landed on a multi-stop day which included, as originally planned, five stops for short hikes surrounding Tillamook. We wound up skipping the final planned stop at Oceanside Beach after seeing how packed the beach was and finding that there was absolutely nowhere left to park in the area.

We began our morning at Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area.

A short loop passes through the site of the fort which operated between 1856-1866. The interpretive signs along the way provide insight into the lives of that time and provide a stark reminder of how poorly the Native American population was treated.
Most of the buildings are gone but this relocated Officers Quarters is being restored.

It was hard to tell at times if it was cloudy or smokey which would be a theme for most of the day.

Flagpole behind an interpretive sign.

Most of the trail is ADA accessible but not the entire loop.

The forest was quite a contrast from the open hillside.

The loop was just a little over half a mile. The numerous interpretive signs to read made it an interesting and informative first hike.

From the heritage area we made our way to the Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
We followed signs for the trailhead and parked in a good sized, and empty, gravel lot.

Two trails begin at the lot, the Pacific View Trail and the Two Rivers Nature Trail. We opted to start with the nature trail which started by following a gravel roadbed for a quarter mile to a trail sign.

Lots of fading flowers: yarrow, goldenrod and aster mostly.

Some of the caterpillar tents on the hillside.

We decided to follow the trail down to the viewpoint at the end of the peninsula and then take the road back up to the trailhead so at the sign we turned left onto what began as another old roadbed but quickly turned to a dirt track.

The nature trail crossed the service road after half a mile.

The continuation of the nature trail on the right.

We were pleasantly surprised at how forested this entire trail was.

There were lots of frogs hopping off the trail. Can you see this one?

Norther red-legged frog?

A little less than half a mile after crossing the road we passed a junction with a trail leading to the picnic area. We would visit the picnic area on our way back and pick up the service road there.

The trail passed a small viewpoint looking across Nestucca Bay before ending at a bench at a railed viewpoint overlooking the confluence of the Nestucca and Little Nestucca Rivers.

The Little Nestucca is to the right with the Nestucca River straight ahead.

Cormorants

After enjoying the view we headed back uphill to the junction where we turned right and made our way to the picnic area.

We disturbed a doe near the picnic area.

The doe leaving the picnic area.

A path here leads down to the bay to provide fishing access (we didn’t follow it).

From the picnic area we followed the roadbed a mile back to the trailhead.

Ground squirrel

Thistle

Wilson’s warbler

The overlook on the far hillside.

The trailhead from the service road.

Once we’d returned to the trailhead we walked to the opposite end and picked up the Pacific View Trail near the outhouse.

A paved path led uphill through the meadow to the wooden overlook.

Haystack Rock and Cape Kiwanda (post) from the trail.

Haystack Rock

Pearly everlasting, spirea, and aster.

View from the overlook.

Bench at the overlook.

Little Nestucca River from the overlook.

White-crowned sparrow

Ladybug

This was an enjoyable stop and left us wanting to return in the future to hopefully have a clearer view and see the refuge at different times of the year. With both trails this stop came in at 3.5 miles and approximately 350′ of elevation gain.

From the refuge we headed north on Highway 101 toward Tillamook but turned just before crossing the Trask River and making our way to the Peninsula Park Trailhead.

Part of the Tillamook State Forest the Peninsula Day Use Area offers a nearly 1-mile loop with views of the Trask River and picnic tables at the far end of the peninsula.

Trask River from the trailhead.

Garter snake near the trailhead.

It’s recommended to hike the loop counter-clockwise but we failed to pay attention to that hint and after staying right at the first trail pointer we forked left when the trail split again after 500′.
We followed the pointer here and went right.

Here we again followed the pointer and went left. We failed to notice the pointer on the lower sign not facing us. It was also hard to tell if the rocks were actually part of a trail or just a scramble route. Turns out they are “stone steps”.

Having gone left we quickly passed a short spur down to the riverbank.

The inland clouds were breaking up giving us some nice blue sky.

Ouzel

After exploring the riverbank we returned to the trail and continued on the loop.

Big tree along the trail.

Arriving at the picnic area.

The picnic area provides access to a small sandy beach at the Trask River Bend.

After a short break at the bend we started back. From the picnic area the trail climbed up the ridge, steeply at times following it to the high point then down to fork where we’d forked left.
The trail to the left.

Huge nursery log.

It’s hard to see here but this section was very steep.

Steps along the ridge.

The stone steps looked more like steps from this direction.

Arriving back at the trailhead.

Given the steepness of the trail along the ridge we could see why going counterclockwise would have been preferable, but it was a nice hike nonetheless.

Up to this point the only other people we had seen was another couple that arrived at Fort Yamhill as we were getting back into our car. That was about to change with our fourth stop of the day at the Rockaway Cedar Preserve.

The trailhead is located along Highway 101 north of Tillamook.

We wound up parking on the shoulder of the highway a short distance from the full trailhead (along with many other vehicles). We walked back along the shoulder to the trailhead and set off on the raised boardwalk.

Skunk cabbage

Bindweed

While there were quite a few people visiting the preserve there were still moments when we had the boardwalk to ourselves.

The half mile boardwalk ends at a 154′ tall western red cedar whose trunk has a circumference of 50′.

Tree root along the cedar from another tree that is growing from it.

Another big cedar, but not anywhere near as big as the other.

After admiring the huge tree we returned the way we’d come taking a short detour to the “viewing platform”.

We passed a “hiker trail” pointer which is a reportedly rough, muddy track that links up to the boardwalk near the big cedar. We had seen the other end near the smaller big cedar but there was a “trail closed” sign at that end so we hadn’t even considered taking it.

Interpretive sign at the viewing platform. There were some benches here which were mostly occupied and not much of a view.

Salal

We returned to the trailhead and drove back south to Oceanside where we had planned for a final short hike, but as I mentioned earlier the Oceanside Beach State Wayside parking lot was full with multiple cars circling for spots and the road into and through Oceanside was also lined with cars. That was enough to convince us that our day was over. We will try Oceanside again during a less busy time of the year and likely as our first hike of the morning.

This was a shorter day with the four hikes totaling 6.8-miles with 700′ of total elevation gain. It had been a fun day with a very diverse set of hikes, all of which we would revisit.
The trailhead locations around Tillamook.

We still have a few trips planned this year to complete featured hikes (post) so we are hoping for some rain over the next couple of months to help control the fires and knock down the smoke. In the meantime we will have to adjust to conditions as we go. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Ft. Yamhill, Nestucca WLR, Trask River Bend, and Rockaway Cedar

Tags Fort Yamhill, Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area, hiking, Little Nestucca River, nestucca bay, Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Nestucca river, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Pacific View Trail, Pacific View Trailhead, Peninsula Day Use Area, Rockaway Beach, Rockaway Cedar Preserve, Trask River, Trask River Bend, Two Rivers Trail

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Echo & Traverse Lakes (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/17/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 24, 2023
1 Comment on Echo & Traverse Lakes (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/17/2023

Progress Report – 500 “Featured Hikes” – January 2023 UpdateTo wrap up our backpacking trip in the Eagle Cap Wilderness we targeted the hike to Echo and Traverse Lakes along the West Eagle Trail. The heat during this trip had been an issue and Heather had skipped the challenging hike to Tombstone Lake on Wednesday and opted for this hike instead while I tackled Tombstone (post). She came back from her hike with some good information regarding the trail conditions including a tangle of downed trees between the lakes where she decided to turn around instead of attempting to scramble up and around it.

The plan for our last day was for me to visit the two lakes while Heather worked on packing up and then when I returned we would hike out and head back to Salem. After breakfast I set off hoping that it wouldn’t be too hot this morning.
It was a little before 6am when I started up to the lakes.

I kept a steady pace for the first half mile having hiked this section of trail to the Tombstone Lake Trail junction the day before. This time at the junction I stuck to the West Eagle Trail.

Another switchback filled climb followed as the trail made its way up to Echo Lake’s basin.
There was an interesting amount of sagebrush along the lower portion of this hike.

There was still some smoke in the air, but it was quite a bit less than it had been the day before.

The trail initially seemed like it is heading up this valley before it crosses over a ridge and heads for the Echo Lake basin.

From this trail the route of the Tombstone Lake Trail was visible.

Waterfall along Olive Lake’s outlet creek. One of the switchbacks along the Tombstone Lake Trail is just to the right.

Tasselflower brickellbush

There was a lot of paintbrush along the trail.

Paintbrush and I believe fading false sunflowers.

Penstemon and paintbrush

Western snakeroot

Pika!

View across the valley.

The trail approaching the outlet of Echo Lake.

Above Echo Lake Falls which wasn’t visible from this trail.

Groundsel, lupine, and fireweed along the creek.

Sunrise in the basin.

The trail arrived at a creek crossing 1.7-miles from the Tombstone Lake Trail junction.

The trail leveled out after crossing the creek as it passed through a meadow above a pond.

The pond.

Gray sagewort

Looking back toward the valley and pond.

Approximately 0.7-miles from the creek crossing I began to get views of Echo Lake.

The trail stayed above the lake but near the far end I followed a spur trail down to a campsite and then the lakeshore.

The spur trail.

Spotted sandpiper

I returned to the trail and continued toward Traverse Lake. The trail climbed via several switchbacks and crossed several inlet creeks with various flowers.
Spirea

A no fires beyond this point sign. Several of the lakes in the Eagle Cap Wilderness are in no campfire zones.

Fleabane or aster lining the trail.

Two types of lousewort.

Echo Lake hidden by the trees.

Pearly everlasting along the trail.

Just after the final switchback I arrived at the blowdown where Heather had turned around.

A short steep scramble took me over the top of the downed trees and then I side hilled back down to the trail below.
Looking down at that trail from above the blowdown.

Back on the trail it passed through a granite boulder field then rounded a ridge and descended to Traverse Lake 1.3-miles from the side trail I’d taken to Echo Lake.
Bluebells

Echo Lake from the ridge end.

The Elkhorn Mountains (post)

Arriving at Traverse Lake.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Yellow Wallowa Indian paintbrush

Columbian ground squirrel

Cusick’s speedwell

I headed for the East end of the lake hoping to minimize the effect of the Sun on the view of the lake. I took a use trail to a campsite on a granite outcrop.
Remember that no fires sign? (Sigh)

I was able to drop down to the lakeshore where I took a short break and changed into some dry socks (sweaty climb).

After my break I headed back stopping numerous times to take in the views.

Monkeyflower

Globe penstemon

Gentians along the lake.

A lone paintbrush.

The blowdown at the far end of the boulder field.

White mariposa lily

Arnica

Swamp onions

Echo Lake

The pond below on the left.

Passing through the meadow.

Paintbrush and fireweed

Above Echo Lake Falls.

West Eagle Meadows in the valley in the distance.

Zoom in on West Eagle Meadows.

Looking down at the switchbacks.

Heather had also warned me about this blowdown over one of the switchbacks. There was a steep reroute that bypassed the trees.

There were some interesting cloud formations on the way back.

There was also an increase in the smoke.

Can you spot the pika?

Pika (possible the same one from earlier given the location).

Paintbrush and buckwheat

Yellow columbine

Another pika at the end of this switchback.

The Tombstone Lake Trail junction ahead.

I had arrived back at the trail junction a little before 10:15am and arrived back at camp at 10:23am. Heather was just finishing packing up the last of our items. I changed socks once again and got my day pack into my backpack so we could head for the car. It was 10:35am when set off for the final 2.5 miles of our trip.

Swallowtail photo bomb.

West Eagle Creek Crossing.

Sphinx moth

Leaving the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Squirrel

West Eagle Meadows

It’s hard to see here but there is a trail post at this fork with a point to the left. This is for the horse camp and not the way back to the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead.

The trailhead in sight.

My mileage for the day came to 12.2 with a little over 1700′ of cumulative elevation gain.

Heather spotted a couple of flowers on her hike to Echo Lake the day before that I did not notice.
Flax

Jacob’s ladder

This was a great hike to finish the trip. For me Traverse Lake was my favorite of the week followed by Tombstone, Echo, Culver, Bear and Eagle in that order. All of them were great though. The only downside to the trip was the excessive heat. These hikes would have been even more enjoyable in reasonable temperatures. The trip did allow us to check off three more of Sullivan’s featured hike (post) putting us at 83/100 for his “100 Hikes: Eastern Oregon” guidebook. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Echo & Traverse Lakes

Tags backpacking, eagle cap wilderness, Echo Lake, hiking, Oregon, sphinx moth, Tombstone Lake Trail, Traverse Lake, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, West Eagle Meadows, West Eagle Meadows Trailhead, West Eagle Trail, wildflowers

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Tombstone Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/16/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 23, 2023
2 Comments on Tombstone Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/16/2023

We woke up at our campsite near West Eagle Creek early hoping to once again get a jump on the oppressive heat. I was planning on hiking from camp to Tombstone Lake and back, but Heather had yet to decide what her plans for the day were. We discussed it over breakfast, and she decided that she would instead follow the West Eagle Trail to Echo and possibly Traverse Lake. The heat had really been taking a toll on her and the shorter distance coupled with much less elevation gain seemed a smarter option all the way around. This was also one of the options for Sullivan’s Tombstone Lake featured hike so she would still be able to cross that one off the to-do-list (post).

Before we could set off we divided up our supplies making sure we each had ways to get more water (she took the pump and I took the purification tablets) and go to the bathroom if necessary. I took the Garmin inReach because let’s face it, I’m much more likely to do something stupid.

I’ll be covering my hike to Tombstone Lake for the remainder of this post. As soon as I was ready to go I said goodbye to Heather and set off on the West Eagle Trail.
The path from camp meeting the West Eagle Trail.

It was a little before 6:30am when I started.

After a brief gradual climb the trail began a series of 10 switchbacks before reaching the junction with the Tombstone Lake Trail a half mile from camp.
Switchbacks would be a theme for these last two days.

The trail junction on the ridge ahead.

I turned onto the Tombstone Lake Trail which gently climbed at first as it traversed a slope above West Eagle Creek.

After a quarter mile the trail crossed the creek and then began a long climb via 45 switchbacks to a basin.
The West Eagle Creek crossing.

There was a large waterfall on West Eagle Creek flowing from Echo Lake’s basin on the right.

Echo Lake Falls

There was a waterfall ahead at the end of the switchback here, but it was mostly obscured by vegitation.

It was fairly smokey looking ESE in the morning.

Wildflowers along the trail.

Several switchbacks were along this tributary of West Eagle Creek. This particular spot would provide me with much needed water on my descent.

It looked like there might be a bit of a waterfall along this stream as well.

Looking up the stream at another cascade.

The upper portion entered an old fire scar and sunlight which heated things up quickly.

Northern flicker

Every time I thought I was at the basin the trail would switchback to find more hillside.

Mountain bluebird

Surely that is the crest.

It was not, up I go.

Smoke to the South.

Echo Lake across the valley.

Finally done with the switchbacks I could see the next climb in the distance ahead, but for now I had a bit of a reprieve.

Sullivan’s map had made the section of trail passing through the meadowed basin appear decently long, but it turned out to be just over a half mile. This more level section still managed to include a pair of switchbacks as the trail went from a smaller lower basin to a much larger meadow.

Lousewort

Columbian ground squirrel

Gentians, one of my favorite wildflowers.

The larger meadow ahead.

We had spoken to a couple of women at the trailhead the day before, and they had mentioned that a group with llamas was heading into Tombstone Lake. I wound up passing their camp at the start of the meadow.
Their camp was uphill to the left. The stream here was lined with wildflowers.

Lewis monkeyflower, aster (or fleabane), and fringed grass of parnassus.

The trail all but disappeared on the far side of the stream, but small cairns helped mark the way.

Cairns along the trail through the meadow.

Yellow Wallowa Indian paintbrush

At the far end of the meadow the trail began another series of over 20 switchbacks as it climbed to a pass. Luckily it was quite a bit cooler near the meadow and there were a lot more flowers which made this climb a little more tolerable.
Heading up again.

Larkspur

White mariposa lily

Looking back down into the basin.

False hellebore

Coiled lousewort

As I was climbing I heard a helicopter that sounded very nearby. I wondered if it was possibly getting water from one of the lakes for a fire, but then it flew overhead from the direction of the pass.

It looked like it had stretcher not a bucket hanging underneath. Hopefully if anyone was in it they’re okay.

View of the basin headwall.

View back down the valley.

Phlox

Chipmunk

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Arriving at the pass.

Smokey view from the pass.

Tombstone Butte, Swabb Mountain, with Granite Butte behind in between, and China Cap to the right.

The pass at nearly 8200′.

After a short break at the pass I started my descent toward Tombstone Lake. After a pair of switchbacks the trail straightened out and traversed a hillside below a ridge for half a mile.

The views along this section continued to improve the further I went.
Tombstone Lake below.

Sturgill Peak

Tombstone Lake is a series of connected bodies of water.

A phacelia.

At the end of the half mile the trail turned toward the lake and descended another series of switchbacks, 16 in all, before again straightening out and gradually descending to the lakeshore.

Rosy paintbrush

Finally at the lake.

Gentian along the lakeshore.

Swamp onion along the shore of one of the smaller bodies of water.

Trout

After exploring the lakes and taking a short break I checked my water supply and decided that I still had half my supply left. I decided to hold off on getting more until I was on the other side of the pass and headed down. I headed back and began counting down the 16 switchbacks as I climbed.

All trip I had wondered if there were any pikas in the area but we hadn’t seen or heard any, so I had come to believe that maybe there weren’t any. As I passed through a granite boulder field though I spotted a brown flash carrying a clump of greens.
Pika!

At the top of the switchbacks I left the trail just below a gap in the ridge and climbed to see what the view might be like.
The Tombstone Lake Trail from the gap.

Eagle Cap in the middle and Needle Point in the distance to the right.

Eagle Cap (post) is the tallest hump in the middle.

The East Fork Elk Creek valley below.

After checking out the view I made the half mile climb to the pass where I took another break.

After the break I headed back down. I paused near the meadow to let the llama group pass as they headed for Tombstone Lake. I let them know that I hadn’t seen anyone else at the lake and then continued on into the meadow.
Starting the switchbacks down.

I spent a little more time looking at the wildflowers this time through.

Hawk

Sphinx moth visiting some Lewis monkeyflower

Some nice paintbrush

Clumps of gentians

Gentians

Swamp onion

Leaving the basins to start the giant set of switchbacks down.

The smoke had become less of an issue on the way down allowing me to see Echo Lake a little more clearly.

I ran out of water in my bladder and was down to half a hydro flask when I arrived at the stream along the switchbacks, so I stepped off the trail and took the opportunity to refill the bladder and use the Iodine tablets.
This little cascade was perfect for filling the bladder.

From my spot along the stream I could see some of the West Eagle Trail on the far hillside, so I started looking for Heather. It took a few minutes, but I eventually spotted her descending her own set of switchbacks.

After the first 5 minutes were up I shook the bladder then started another 30-minute timer and started hiking again.
Echo Lake Falls straight ahead.

Recrossing West Eagle Creek.

One last look up at where I’d come from.

My timer went off just before arriving at the junction with the West Eagle Trail where I ran into Heather who was taking a short break.

We headed back to camp together.

Small unnamed waterfall on an unnamed creek.

It was again way too hot at camp so after we rested for a bit we headed to the creek to find some shade and soak are feet in the cold water. After we’d finally cooled down a bit we replenished our water supplies and returned to camp for dinner and bed.
Sphinx moth at camp.

Not sure what type of caterpillar this is but it was pretty. It was on the same larkspur the sphinx moth was visiting.

While we don’t intentionally feed the wildlife this green comma seemed to like the sweaty socks.

The hike to Tombstone Lake wound up being 13.3 miles with 3000′ of elevation gain, and a whole lot of switchbacking.

Heather had made a good choice by passing on this one given the heat, but it was a beautiful hike. She had really enjoyed her hike which we’ll cover in the next post, and she had some helpful information for me regarding trail conditions for my outing the next morning. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tombstone Lake

Tags backpacking, eagle cap wilderness, Echo Lake Falls, hiking, Oregon, Pika, Tombstone Lake, Tombstone Lake Trail, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, West Eagle Creek, West Eagle Trail

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Bear Lake and West Eagle Meadows (Eagle Cap Wilderness)- 08/15/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 22, 2023
1 Comment on Bear Lake and West Eagle Meadows (Eagle Cap Wilderness)- 08/15/2023

For the second day of our backpacking trip we had originally planned on hiking up to Bear Lake from our campsite at Eagle Creek Meadow then returning to camp to pack up and move closer to the Bench Trail. After reestablishing camp we would then take the Bench Trail up to Arrow Lake in the afternoon/evening. We had spotted a couple of workable campsites on our way by the day before (post), but Heather had already decided by the end of that day that she would be skipping the out-and-back to Arrow Lake due to the heat.

As we set off for Bear Lake at 6:15am I was still considering attempting to reach Arrow Lake. It had actually been cool enough at camp that morning for me to put on my beanie and thicker gloves.

Doe on the other side of Eagle Creek.

From our campsite we made our way to the Lookingglass Trail and the ford of Eagle Creek. We’d seen some hikers crossing the ford the day before. They had all used their water shoes for the ford and Heather planned on doing the same. I don’t have a pair myself, so I had the choice of fording in my trail runners or making an attempt to cross on logs/rocks. I chose to try and keep my feet dry.
I started out on the small logs shown here.

Somehow I managed to make it across and after Heather changed into her hiking boots we started uphill.

We made it approximately 100 yards before realizing that I had left my car key and wallet in the tent and Heather had left her phone. I turned around and headed back to retrieve the forgotten items. After two more dry crossings I caught back up to Heather and we continued uphill toward a junction with the Bear Lake Trail.
Here comes the Sun.

Shade for us for now though.

The junction up ahead.

We arrived at the junction roughly three quarters of a mile and 650′ up from camp.

We turned onto the Bear Lake Trail which continued to climb but more gradually. After another third of a mile we took a side trail toward Culver Lake. The first trail we tried led to a marsh where a doe was having her breakfast.

Not many mushrooms of fungi along the trails but we spotted a few along this trail.

Globe penstemon

The lake proved unreachable from this first trail so we returned to the Bear Lake Trail and quickly found another side trail which did lead to Culver Lake.
Cairn marking the trail to Culver Lake.

Snow patch along Culver Lake.

We took a break at the lake. It was already getting warm and I finally decided that I was not going to be attempting the 2000′ climb to Arrow Lake later in the day. It was not necessary in order for us to check off any featured hikes and I didn’t want to risk overexerting myself when we had three more lakes to visit over the next couple of days. Our new plan was to return to camp after visiting Bear Lake, pack up and hike out, then drive to the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead. There we could either camp at the West Eagle Meadow Campground, or hike in 3ish miles and hope to find a suitable campsite. We would make our choice later on when we had a better idea of how we were feeling.

After admiring the lake we returned to the Bear Lake Trail which gained another 200 plus feet before dropping to Bear Lake after half a mile.

Needle Point from the trail.

Nuttall’s linanthus

Arrow Lake is somewhere up in the mountains on the other side of the valley.

View down the Eagle Creek Valley.

Rock Creek Butte in the Elkhorns (post).

Heading down.

Bear Lake

We made our way a little way around Bear Lake to see it from some different angles.
Mountain heather.

Cusick’s speedwell

Aster and swamp onion

Arnica and possibly alpine leafybract aster.

A bunch of globe penstemon.

Meadow at the eastern end of Bear Lake.

Needle Point from Bear Lake.

We scrambled up some granite to a viewpoint above the lake.
Looking toward Eagle Lake in the basin behind and right of Needle Point.

Eagle Creek is down there somewhere.

Eagle Creek Meadow. The Main Eagle Trail can be seen crossing the granite slope at the far end of the meadow.

We headed back down toward camp prepared to pack up and hike out.

Allum root

White mariposa lily

The Sun had reached the valley by the time we were nearing Eagle Creek.

The Eagle Creek crossing going the other direction. I’m happy (and amazed) to report that I managed a fourth dry crossing.

We packed up camp and replenished our water supply before setting off for the trailhead. It was roughly 4.5 miles back to the car where the temperature was (according to the car) 91 degrees.
Lupin along Eagle Creek where we topped off our water.

Hummingbird Mountain

Mountain coyote mint

Falls on the far side of the valley. Probably the outlet creek of Lookingglass Lake.

Nearing the Bench Trail junction.

Copper Creek Falls from the trail.

Small cascade along the trail.

Wallflower, this was the only one we spotted all trip.

Damaged footbridge over Eagle Creek.

Buck crossing the trail.

Swallowtail on nettle-leaf giant hyssop.

Bridge over Eagle Creek.

I arrived at the large bridge over Eagle Creek first and decided to bushwack up the creek a short distance to what turned out to be a really nice waterfall.

Back at the Main Eagle Trailhead.

It was 2pm when we arrived back at the car and headed for the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead. Sullivan had mentioned that the final 3.2 miles were bumpy and very slow, but it appeared that the Forest Service had been working on it and we only had a few smaller sections of rough 10mph road.

It felt every bit of 91 when we arrived at the trailhead where we searched for shaded places to sit.

We had decided not to spend the night in the campground but rather to make the 3ish mile hike to a crossing of West Eagle Creek where we hoped we’d find a campsite. Our latest version of the plan for the rest of our trip was to cut it a day short. Hiking in the 3ish miles now would leave a challenging out-and-back to Tombstone Lake for Wednesday then a 9.5-mile out-and-back to Echo and Traverse Lakes on Thursday which could be combined with the 3ish-mile hike back to the trailhead on Thursday allowing us to hopefully get home sometime Thursday evening.

We stuck around the trailhead long enough to cook an early dinner then set off a little after 4:30pm in search of a campsite.
West Eagle Trail

The West Eagle Trail passed a series of walk-in tent campsites along West Eagle Meadows before entering the forest.
One of the campsites.

Mule Peak behind to the right and Wolf Point furthest back center.

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Painted lady on the hyssop.

Frittilary butterfly

Approaching the trees.

The decommissioned Fake Creek Trail to the right at the 0.6-mile mark.

Fake Creek crossing.

Squirrel

Unnamed creek crossing.

Lewis monkeyflower

Entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness at West Eagle Creek.

West Eagle Creek Crossing. I almost made it across this one dry footed too but one of the rocks on the far side was unstable causing me to drag my right toe in the creek.

Trail maintenance.

Beyond the creek crossing the trail passed through a series of small meadows as it climbed to the second crossing of West Eagle Creek.

Coneflower

Reentering the trees after passing through a meadow.

West Eagle Creek

Another small meadow.

West Eagle Creek near the second crossing.

We were starting to worry that we might not find a decent camp site but there was one workable site on the near side of the creek. I took my pack off there and crossed the creek to see if there was anything better on the far side and was happy to find a very nice established site not far up the trail.

The campsite was approximately 2.5-miles from the trailhead which would add about a mile to each of the remaining days, but we could tell by the topo maps that there wasn’t likely to be another suitable campsite. We were also pooped and had no desire to hike any further with our full packs. It was close to 6:30pm by the time we had camp set up then we refilled our water once again before heading to bed.

The hike to Bear Lake and back to the Main Eagle Trailhead had been 9.3-miles with 1250′ of elevation gain and we wound up doing close to another 3-miles and 580′ of elevation gain from the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead by the time we were done for the day.

West Eagle Meadows track to the left in red. Bear Lake track to the right in red.

The plan for the next day was still a bit up in the air. I knew I would be heading for Tombstone Lake, but Heather was deciding between heading toward Tombstone Lake or Echo and Traverse Lakes. The hike to Tombstone Lake required approximately 3000′ of cumulative elevation gain (2200′ if she turned back at the pass above the lake), while the hike to Traverse Lake gained about half as much elevation and was nearly 3.5-miles shorter. She would decide in the morning based on how she felt after another night’s sleep. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Bear Lake

Tags backpacking, bear lake, Bear Lake Trail, Culver Lake, Eagle Creek, Eagle Creek Meadow, Fake Creek, hiking, Main Eagle Trail. Lookingglass Lake Trail, Needle Point, Oregon, West Eagle Creek, West Eagle Meadows, West Eagle Trail

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Eagle Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/14/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 21, 2023
3 Comments on Eagle Lake (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/14/2023

After spending the night in Baker City (post) we set off early for the Main Eagle Trailhead. Our goal for this trip was to check off three more of Sullivan’s featured hikes (post) Tombstone Lake, Eagle Lake, and Bear Lake.

When I was originally planning this backpacking route I had envisioned a grand loop with detours to several of the lakes. The loop option went out the window after reviewing the USFS interactive map. The Fake Creek Trail which we would have used to go between the West Eagle and Main Eagle Trails had been decommissioned and was no longer being maintained which was not something we wanted to attempt on a 5-day backpacking trip. There were also several other sections of the would be loop that hadn’t been maintained for a number of years. After considering a few different options we had settled on spending two night at Eagle Creek Meadows then hiking out and driving to the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead and spending two nights along the West Eagle Trail.

We arrived at the trailhead a little before 6:30am.

It was already over 50-degrees as we set off on the trail which quickly crossed Boulder Creek.
The trail briefly followed an old roadbed.

Log bridge over Boulder Creek.

The trail climbed gradually crossing Eagle Creek on a larger bridge near the three-quarter mile mark.

The trail continued its gradual climb through the forest entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness at the 1.75-mile mark.

Sierra larkspur

Paintbrush lined trail

We were in the shade for most of the morning.

Entering the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

At the 2.2-mile mark the trail passed a small unnamed waterfall on Eagle Creek.
We had to leave the trail to get a view of the falls which we could hear from the trail.

As we continued on the trail passed through increasingly large meadows full of views and wildflowers.

Buckwheat and nettle-leaf giant hyssop

At the 2.7-mile mark the trail again crossed Eagle Creek, this time on a damaged footbridge.

Three miles in we crossed Copper Creek. We could hear the roar of Copper Creek Falls further up the creek.

Part of the falls were visible from the trail.

A tenth of a mile beyond the crossing of Copper Creek we detoured uphill to visit the falls.
Copper Creek Falls

We took a break at the falls amid a number of wildflowers.
Penstemon

Fringed grass of parnassus and some fading arnica.

Flowers below the falls.

After our break we returned to the trail and continued on. A quarter mile later we arrived at a junction with the Bench Trail. The current version of our plan included hiking up the Bench Trail to Arrow Lake the next day but as we passed the junction and saw the condition of the lowest portion and “Trail Not Maintained” sign we began to question that plan.
The Bench Trail is ahead on the left of the Main Eagle Trail.

We continued another 1.4-miles to another trail junction above Eagle Creek Meadow.
View up the valley.

Looking back at the hillside the Bench Trail climbs to Heart and Arrow Lakes.

Looking across the valley.

There was quite a bit of western snakeroot along the trail.

Scarlet gilia

Hummingbird Mountain

Granite hillside and peaks above the trail.

Trail signs at the Lookingglass Lake/Main Eagle Trail junction.

At the junction we forked right onto the Lookingglass Lake Trail and followed it downhill into Eagle Creek Meadow. At the far side of the meadow we located an established campsite not far from Eagle Creek.

Needle Point on the left from Eagle Creek Meadow.

Hummingbird Mountain from the campsite.

Eagle Creek near camp.

Lewis monkeyflower

After setting up camp and another short break we set off for Eagle Lake by returning to the Main Eagle Trail and continuing uphill.

Columbian ground squirrel

Pearly everlasting and Scouler’s St. John’s wort.

White mariposa lilies

Orange agoseris

Beetle on a white mariposa lily

Hillside along the trail.

Butterfly (Boisduval’s blue?) on pearly everlasting.

Monkshood

Heading toward Needle Point.

As the trail neared Needle Point it made a series of switchbacks to a junction with the Eagle Lake Trail.
One of the switchbacks.

This junction was just under 2-miles from the Lookingglass Lake Trail junction.

The Main Eagle Trail forked left toward Cache Lake. We went right on the Eagle Lake Trail following it another mile uphill to Eagle Lake.

Wildflowers along the trail.

Looking back down the valley.

Hawk

Fireweed along the trail.

Shrubby cinquefoil and paintbrush

Wildfire smoke creating a slight haze of the valley.

Granite near Eagle Lake.

Eagle Lake

Eagle Creek flowing below the dam at Eagle Lake.

We were hoping to find a nice shaded spot at the lake to take an extended break but trees were scarce and so was the shade. The lake however was beautiful.

Paintbrush

We did manage to find a couple of trees that cast enough shadow to provide a little relief from the heat as long as we occasionally moved our seats to follow the shade. Another pair of hikers arrived while we were resting. They were hoping to bushwack to the far end of the lake and catch the Perseid meteor shower that night.

We wound up staying at the lake for roughly three and a half hours. During that time Heather decided that she would not be attempting the hike to Arrow Lake the next day and would only be going up to Bear Lake with me in the morning. Bear Lake was just 1.5 miles from (and 1000′ above) our campsite. I was still planning to attempt the hike to Arrow Lake after visiting Bear Lake, but I was starting to seriously doubt that I’d actually make it up to that lake.
While sitting in the shade we spotted a herd of elk on the hillside across the valley.

Blurry photos due to the distance but it was fun to watch them.

We had brought our dinner with us and after eating that and replenishing our water supply we headed back down to camp. It was a little after 5pm when we started back and it was still uncomfortably warm. Fortunately the Sun was low enough that part of the return was in shadows which provided some relief.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Shade!

American saw-wort

Fawns

Our campsite in the trees from the Main Eagle Trail.

As we neared the junction with the Lookingglass Lake Trail we spotted a few tents around a rather large campfire at the south end of the meadow. While technically not banned at that moment in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest it seemed a completely unnecessary risk to have a campfire given the high fire danger combined with the unusually warm temperatures.

We turned in for night having hiked a total of 11.4 miles an gaining a total of 2700′ of elevation. It had been a challenging but beautiful start to our trip. Happy Trails!

The red track is Bear Lake from the next day.

Flickr: Eagle Lake

Tags backpacking, Bench Trail, Copper Creek Falls, eagle cap wilderness, Eagle Creek Meadow, Eagle Lake, Eagle Lake Trail, hiking, Lookingglass Lake Trail, Oregon, Wallow-Whitman National Forest. Main Eagle Trailhead