Tag: hiking

Dog River Trail

A bit of potentially wet weather had us looking for a hike that had the potential to be dry and not too dependent on having a view. We, of course, also preferred it to be a new hike. We turned to Matt Reeder’s 2nd edition of “Off the Beaten Trail” for inspiration. A recent addition to our collection of guidebooks, “Off the Beaten Trail” features 50 hikes plus 5 bonus hikes within a two and half hour drive of downtown Portland. While a number of the hikes are also mentioned in Sullivan’s “100 Hikes” guidebooks (our usual go-to source) they are typically additional hikes from the back of the books so they lack in-depth detail. There are also several hikes that don’t appear in Sullivan’s books.

We chose the Dog River Trail (Reeder’s Hike #30) due to its location and a favorable looking forecast. According to NOAA there was a 30% chance of showers after 11am and being located on the east side of Mt. Hood often meant less cloud cover. After driving through a few showers in the Columbia Gorge we did indeed find some blue sky near Hood River and the views of Mt. Hood were perfect as we drove south on Highway 35.

The Dog River Trail
begins at the Dog River Trailhead along the eastern shoulder of Highway 35 18.2 miles south of Hood River (20 miles north of the junction with Highway 26).

The most common users of this trail are mountain bikers, a group of which have adopted the trail.
Plaque at the Dog River Trailhead

The trail starts off at an elevation just over 2100′ and climbs steadily nearly 5.5 miles to its end at a three way junction with the Zigzag and Surveyor’s Ridge Trails.

Just beyond the gate at the trailhead the trail passes very close to the Dog River.

We quickly lost sight of the river as we climbed along a hillside to a footbridge over Puppy Creek.
Dog River Trail

Puppy Creek

The next 1.8 miles was a gradual climb past a variety of wildflowers before dropping slightly to the Dog River.
Chocolate lily

Vanilla leaf along the Dog River Trail Vanilla leaf

Anemone Columbia windflower (anemone)

Red flowering currant

Ball-head waterleaf

Dogwood and a crab spider Dogwood (and a crab spider)

Arnica Arnica

Lupine Lupine

Lupine starting to bud Lupine yet to bloom

Woodland stars

Larkspur and biscuitroot Larkspur with biscuitroot in the background

Fairy slippers

Indian paintbrush

Popcorn flower

Sandwort

Sticky blue-eyed mary

Hooker’s fairy bells

Solomon's seal Solomon’s seal

One of the reasons for the variety of flowers was the variety of forest types along this stretch.
Dog River Trail

Dog River Trail

Another footbridge led us across the Dog River.
Dog River Trail

Dog River

Beyond the Dog River the trail climbed to a saddle and crossed over a ridge.
Dog River Trail

Dog River Trail

We were now on the west facing side of the ridge and had our first looks at Mt. Hood. Initially the mountain is only visible through the trees but 1.3 miles from the Dog River crossing we came to a rocky viewpoint. From the time we had last seen the mountain driving to the trailhead a line of clouds had begun to make there way in between.
Mt. Hood from the Dog River Trail

Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood from the Dog River Trail

Mt. Hood

Considering we had started the day thinking we would be lucky to see even part of the mountain this was a pretty nice treat, but after having an unobstructed view during the drive the clouds were a minor disappointment. While the view was impressive it would have been spectacular minus the clouds in front.

In addition to the view there were a couple of other types of flowers to be seen at the viewpoint.
Penstemon

Phlox Phlox

Reeder has this viewpoint be the turn around point in the guidebook making for a 6.6 mile out and back. He also describe a couple of options to extend the hike which of course interested us (okay mostly me). We continued on from the viewpoint promptly crossing over the ridge again. From this side we could now see Mt. Adams through the trees to the north. A bonus volcano sighting.

Mt. Adams

A series of switchbacks brought us back over the west facing side of the ridge and up a short, steep, rocky section of trail.
Dog River Trail

We began watching for any signs of an old road bed on top the ridge above the trail. The plan we had settled on to extend the hike was to hopefully use a forest road shown on the map to make the hike a lollipop by taking the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail to the forest service road. Approximately 100 yards from the end of the switchbacks we spotted a promising looking unmarked spur trail heading uphill to our left.
Dog River Trail on the right with a spur to FR 620 on the left

We marked that spot on our GPS and continued on the Dog River Trail which had leveled out a bit passing another viewpoint that Reeder has marked on his map as “Ponderosa Point”. The view here would have also been impressive but we arrived in conjunction with enough clouds to cover the upper 3/4ths of the mountain. A talus slope nearby was more impressive at that point and we wondered if any pika lived there.
Talus field along the Dog River Trail

We didn’t see or hear any and continued on. The trail began to descend slightly passing through some nice forest. We kept our eyes out for flowers and any other interesting sights.
Dog River Trail

Manzanita

Currant A currant

Jacob's ladder Jacob’s ladder

Something has been busy Popular tree

There were a few openings toward Mt. Hood but the clouds were keeping most of it covered. We did get a nice look at Polallie Creek Falls though.

We had been watching for wildlife too but aside from a few birds and a couple of millipedes all we saw was a slug on one of several small bridges over wet spots.
Slug on a footbridge

Slug

When we arrived at the junction with the Zigzag and Surveyor’s Ridge Trails we noticed a fourth trail signed “Viewpoint”.
Viewpoint at the Dog River Trail and Zig Zag Trail jct

This short trail led briefly downhill to a view north of Highway 35 and the East Fork Hood River (Mt. Hood was still hiding).
Highay 35 and the East Fork Hood River

After checking out the viewpoint we returned to the junction and turned onto the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail.
Surveyor's Ridge Trail sign

The Surveryor’s Ridge Trail climbed gently through the forest for nearly a mile before arriving at Forest Road 620 and Dufur Mill Road (Forest Road 44).
Surveyor's Ridge Trail

Trillium

Jacob's ladder There was quite a bit of Jacob’s ladder along this stretch of trail.

Oregon anemone

Forest Road 620.

There was a single truck parked here and an outhouse. Along the shoulder of Dufur Mill Road there was also a small patch of snow. We had wondered if there was any remaining at this elevation (4240′). We turned left and headed north along FR 620 where we soon found a few more patches of lingering snow.
Snow along Forest Road 620

Forest Road 620

It was a pleasant but uneventful road walk. We followed the road downhill ignoring two forks to the left followed by an overgrown fork to the right.
Forest Road 620

After entering an area that had been clearcut sometime in the past Heather spotted a sign post off to our right (approximately 1.75mi along FR 620). I went to investigate.
Wy'East Middle School sign amid trees planted by the 1994 8th grade class

Just in case anyone from the Wy’East Middle School 1994 8th grade class is wondering here are the trees that were near the sign.
Trees planted by the 1994 8th grade class of Wy'East Middle School

Shortly after finding the sign the road finished bending to the west and we began heading toward the Dog River Trail. The road then turned northward again along the ridge above the Dog River Trail. There were a couple of viewpoints along this stretch including one at the top of the talus slope we had scanned for pikas earlier that day.
Mt. Hood behind some clouds A still cloudy Mt. Hood

Dog River Trail below the talus slope Looking down the talus slope with the Dog River Trail visible between the trees to the right.

The road bed had been steadily narrowing the further we went.
Forest Road 620

After a little over 2.5 miles on the road we passed a promising view of Mt. Adams if not for the clouds that had now overtaken it as well. We settled for a nice view of Bald Mountain which we had hiked in 2017 (post) and is accessible via the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail.
Bald Butte in the distance

Bald Butte

Not far from that viewpoint the old roadbed ended and we found ourselves on a short section of trail connecting us back to the Dog River Trail.
Trail connecting Forest Road 620 to the Dog River Trail

We had indeed come out via the spur trail we had marked that morning. The stretch between the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail and Dog River Trail was 2.75 miles and we were now just over 3.5 miles from the Dog River Trailhead. We had seen the first other people of the day from the viewpoint atop the talus slope when a pair of trail runners went by down on the Dog River Trail. Now that it was later we encountered a few mountain bikers on our way back but it was far from busy. We stopped at the first viewpoint again to say goodbye to the mountain. The clouds had changed again and now they were just covering the very top portion.
Mt. Hood behind some clouds

This gave us a nice look at Barrett Spur.

We also had a good view of the Eliot Glacier.
Elliot Glacier on Mt. Hood

Our lollipop came in at 13.3 miles with approximately 2500′ of cumulative elevation gain. The showers never developed and we got to see a lot more of the mountains than we had honestly expected. The variety of wildflowers was good and there looked to be plenty more getting ready to bloom in the next week or two. It certainly felt off the beaten trail but it was definitely worth the visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Dog River Trail

Tags Dog River, Dog River Trail, hiking, Mt. Hood, oregon hiking, Surveryor's Ridge Trail, wildflowers, Wy'East Middle School class of 1994, Zigzag Trail

Hiking Oregon Portland Trip report Willamette Valley

Three Hikes on Sauvie Island

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Black-headed grosbeak

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

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

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

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

Mallards with a great blue heron in the distance.

Cinnamon teal and a mallard

Pied-billed grebe

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

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

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

The rabbits were a little less shy here.

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

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

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

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

The distinctive call of red-winged blackbirds was prevalent.

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

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

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

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

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

Mt. St. Helens

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

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

As we began hiking a bald eagle flew overhead.

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

Mt. St. Helens and an Osprey nest.

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

Male

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

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

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

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

Mt. St. Helens again.

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

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

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

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

1905 Columbia County Courthouse

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

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

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

Flickr: Sauvie Island Hikes

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

Columbia Gorge North Hiking Trip report Washington

Greenleaf Creek

With the arrival of May we officially started our hiking season by making an attempt to reach Greenleaf Falls. We knew it was a long shot given the little bit of information shown online, but the hike to Greenleaf Creek was a featured hike in the 2018 4th edition of William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington”. We would at least be getting one step closer to our goal of completing all 500 of his featured hikes (post).

We began our hike from the Bonneville Trailhead which is located on the Washington side of the Columbia River near Bonneville Dam.

From the picnic area we followed a gravel path to a pointer for Table Mountain.

We’d been to Table Mountain twice, in 2013 via a now closed trailhead at the former Bonneville Hot Springs resort and in 2017 from the north via Three Corner Rock.

We followed the Tamanous Trail a little over half a mile through the woods to its end at the Pacific Crest Trail.
Oregon grape

Dogwood

Large solomonseal

Trillium

At the junction we turned left following pointers for Gillette Lake and Three Corner Rock.

The PCT soon entered a series of clearcuts which provided some views of Table Mountain and a good amount of trail side poison oak.

This area seemed popular with rabbits.

The PCT did a little climbing through the clearcuts which revealed a brief glimpse of Mt. Hood to the south.

Nearly 2 miles on the PCT brought us to a ridge where Gillette Lake was visible below.

We followed the wide trail down passing by the lake and crossing the inlet creek on a footbridge.
Hamilton Mountain (post) to the left and Sacagawea and Pappose Rocks to the right beyond the lake.

Sacagawea and Pappose Rocks

Indian paintbrush

Beyond Gillette Lake the PCT climbed gradually for a half mile through more clearcuts before passing a brushy unnamed lake.
Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. Nesmith Point (post) is the rounded high point to the right on the Oregon side.

Unnamed lake through the trees.

After passing the lake the trail dropped to a bridged crossing of Greenleaf Creek then climbed via a series of switchbacks to Greenleaf Overlook.

View east from Greenleaf Overlook with Dog Mountain (post) in the distance.

There was a nice little patch of chocolate lilies near the viewpoint.

20190504_123918

We continued past the overlook through the forest approximately half a mile to a four way junction (Two miles from the Greenleaf Creek crossing).

Bleeding heart

Vanilla leaf

At the junction the left hand trail led to Carpenter Lake while the PCT continued uphill toward Table Mountain. We turned right onto the unsigned Two Chiefs Trail.

One of the nice things about this trail was the lack of poison oak which we seemed to have finally left behind. The trail climbed through the forest gaining 500′ over the next couple of miles.

20190504_091212 Wood violet

20190504_091234 Fairy slipper

Trillium

After approximately 2.25 miles the trail emerged from the tress at a massive talus field made up of rocks from Table Mountain.

IMG_6395_stitch The Two Chiefs on the left and Table Mountain on the right.

From the open talus area we had another view of Mt. Hood which was a bit better given the higher elevation than our earlier view.

A half mile after entering the talus section we arrived at Greenleaf Creek.

Greenleaf Falls consists of a series of drops, some of which were visible from the trail.

20190504_110326 Left side

20190504_110520 Right side

After admiring these lower cascades we decided to go ahead and attempt to reach the upper tiers. I hadn’t seen an actual GPS track or route up to the falls but had seen a 2015 video which showed that this was not going to be easy if it was even still possible. Seasonal rains have caused repeated mud slides and left the steep hillside gouged with channels filled with loose rock.

We picked what appeared to be the most reasonable route and started picking our way uphill. We managed to get about two tenths of a mile uphill from the trail before deciding that there was no remotely safe way to even attempt continuing. I had gotten a little higher than Heather having had her stop while I attempted to see if there was any viable route to continue on. From what we can tell from the maps I was just below the upper falls, but it may have well have been 100 miles. We did however get over to a couple of views of other smaller tiers of the falls.
The highest tier that I was able to see.

A middle section of Greenleaf Falls

Cascades along Greenleaf Falls just above the ones visible from the trail.

We’d given it a shot and I probably got a little too far up the hill. I had to use my hands a lot and spent a decent amount of time crawling to get back down to where I had left Heather. Luckily I was able to make it back down. Ironically I wound up falling near the end of our descent on what appeared to be nearly level ground when a rock rolled out from beneath my heal. A scrapped elbow and palm where the only results though.

As we were making our way back down Heather spotted a frog which we named kamikaze frog due to it launching itself downhill and landing upside down in the rocks a couple of times.

We were both concerned about possibly knocking a rock loose which might hit the frog since he was in the same channel as we were and kept hopping down ahead of us. Thankfully we were able to hop out of that channel and go around it before anything bad happened.

In addition to the frog I had seen a small garter snake while I was searching for a route up and Heather had seen some sort of lizard in the talus slope earlier. As we passed back by the talus we kept our eyes open but didn’t see another lizard or snake.

We did however see a western fence lizard back at Greenleaf Overlook.

The rest of the hike back was fairly uneventful other than having to check for poison oak every time we stepped aside to let other hikers pass. Heather did manage to get a neat picture of a blue copper butterfly in flight while she was taking some photos of flowers.
20190504_124036 Snow queen

20190504_124117 Wild strawberry

20190504_135949 Butterfly landing on leafy pea

We were a little fatigued when we finally made it back to the car. The GPS clocked in at 15.4 miles for the day. That distance combined with the extra work of trying to climb up the steep, loose hillside next to Greenleaf Creek was a lot for a hike this early in our season but it had been a beautiful day. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Greenleaf Creek

Tags chocolate lily, Frog, Gillette Lake, Greenleaf Creek, Greenleaf Falls, hiking, Pacific Crest Trail, Sacagawea and Papoose Rocks, Table Mountain, Tamanous Trail, Two Chiefs Trail, Washington, Western Fence Lizard

Hiking Oregon Portland Salem/Albany Trip report Willamette Valley

Tualatin HIlls Nature Park, Tualatin River NWR, and Willamette Mission State Park

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 24, 2019
6 Comments on Tualatin HIlls Nature Park, Tualatin River NWR, and Willamette Mission State Park

For our March outing we decided to stick relatively close to home and visit three nearby hikeable areas. Our first stop, and furthest from Salem at just under an hour away, was at the Tualatin Hills Nature Park in Beaverton.

We started from the large parking lot at the Tualatin Hills Nature Center on SW Millikan Way.

The Nature Center is currently open from 8:30am-5pm M-F and 9am-5pm Sat. & Sun. while the park itself is open everyday from dawn to dusk. We arrived at dawn and set off on the paved Vine Maple Trail between the Nature Center and restrooms.

We quickly turned right onto the signed Oak Trail which was also paved.

In a third of a mile we detoured briefly at a sign for the Tadpole Ponds.

Although we didn’t see any tadpoles, or other wildlife here, the sounds of birds had not stopped all morning so we knew there were plenty of animals around. We returned to the Oak Trail which passed by Cattail Marsh on the second of three boardwalks.

Cattail Marsh

Beyond the marsh we soon came to the third boardwalk which crossed over Cedar Mill Creek.
Boardwalk and viewing platforms along the Oak Trail

Cedar Mill Creek

One of the many birds that we’d been listening to was kind enough to pose for a moment as we stood on the boardwalk.
Sparrow

On the far side of the boardwalk was a trail junction where the Oak Trail veered right to the Merlo Rd/158th Ave Max light rail station. To the left was the Old Wagon Trail, a dirt path closed to bikes.

We followed this trail through a forest that was starting to show signs of Spring for a third of a mile to a junction with the Mink Path.
Old Wagon Trail

Blossoms along the Old Wagon Trail

Old Wagon Trail

Old Wagon Trail junction with the Mink Path Trail pointer at the Mink Path junction. We appreciated the fact that all of the junctions were signed and those signs were easy to read but placed in such a way that they were unobtrusive.

The Mink Path is a .1 mile connector between the Old Wagon Trail and Vine Maple Trail allowing for a shorter loop back to the Nature Center. We opted to stay on the Old Wagon Trail though and continued to the start of another boardwalk where we stopped so I could try and take a photo of a robin that was hopping around on the trail. As I was working on getting a picture Heather spotted a deer just a bit off the trail.
Deer along the Old Wagon Trail (there really is one out ther) Can you see the deer?

I thought she was seeing things but then I noticed it move.
Doe along the Old Wagon Trail (again it is there) How about now?

She turned and watched us as I attempted to get the camera to focus on her and not the branches in the foreground.
Doe in the Tualatin Hills Nature Park

Not far from the deer we spotted a squirrel trying to become one with a limb.

At a “Y” in the boardwalk we veered left keeping on the Old Wagon Trail until we reached a junction with the Vine Maple Trail a total of .4 miles beyond the Mink Path junction. We turned left onto the Vine Maple Trail and then took a right at a pointer for the Lily Pond.

A short path led down to the pond but before we had reached it a pair of wood ducks took flight and landed in a nearby tree.

As we were admiring the wood ducks a pileated woodpecker was busy with its breakfast.

We eventually made it down to the pond where a few ducks remained in the water including what appeared to be a pair of gadwalls.
Interpretive sign at the Lily Pond

Lily Pond

Gadwalls

There were also signs of beaver activity but we’ve yet to actually see one in the wild.
Beaver work

After visiting the pond we returned to the Vine Maple Trail which was now paved and followed it past its junction with the Mink Path and across Cedar Mill Creek.

Vine Maple Trail crossing Cedar Mill Creek

Shortly after crossing the creek we faced another choice. The Nature Center lay a third of a mile away via the Vine Maple Trail but more loop options were available by taking the Elliot Path.
Trail sign in the Tualatin Hills Nature Park

We took the .1 mile Elliot Path to a “T” shaped junction with the Big Fir Trail. Here again was a choice. Left headed back toward the Nature Center while right would take us to the Chickadee and Ash Loops and a short spur to Big Pond. We headed right and then turned left onto the spur to Big Pond.

Big Pond

There were plenty of ducks here as well. It appeared that most were mallards and green-winged teals.
Mallard and Green-winged teals

We returned to the Big Fir Trail and continued on crossing Beaverton Creek before arriving at a four way junction.
Beaverton Creek

More choices! The Big Fir Trail kept straight while the Chickadee Loop was to the right and the Ash Loop to the left. We began by heading right on the quarter mile Chickadee Loop which had a nice long section of boardwalk.

After the quarter mile we were back at the Big Fir Trail where we turned right briefly before making a left onto the Ash Loop. The Ash Loop passed some wetlands where a pair of Canada Geese were enjoying the morning.
Wetlands along the Ash Loop

Canada geese

After .3 miles on the Ash Loop we found ourselves back at the four way junction where we turned right and recrossed Beaverton Creek and returned to the junction with the Elliot Path. Staying straight on the Big Fir Trail for just .05 miles we then turned right onto the .2 mile Trillium Loop. Oddly we didn’t see many of signs of trilliums along this short loop but we had seen several beginning to bloom along other trails. After completing the Trillium Loop we turned right again onto the Big Fir Trail for another .1 miles to the start of the half mile Ponderosa Loop.

We took the Ponderosa Loop where we spotted more trillium and our first wood violets of the year.

Wood violet

At the end of the Ponderosa Loop we were once again turning right onto the Big Fir Trail. This time it was for less than a tenth of mile and then we were back at the Vine Maple Trail. Several spotted towhees and a couple of chickadees were foraging near this junction. The chickadees wouldn’t sit still but the towhees were a little more cooperative.

Spotted towhee

A right turn onto the Vine Maple Trail followed by another .2 miles of hiking brought us back to the parking lot at the Nature Center. The total distance for our hike with all the extra loops was still just 4.2 miles. When we had arrived we were only the second car but the lot was now full as it was just a bit after 9am. We had passed the first volunteer led tour as we were finishing up the along the Ponderosa Trail and another group was preparing to set off shortly.

One of the reasons we had chosen to start our day with this hike was that we knew the park would get busy as the morning progressed which isn’t a bad thing but we always prefer to avoid the crowds when possible. It really was a first rate park though so the popularity is warranted.

We left the nature park and headed for our next stop, the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge. I’d found this hike in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide and decided to give it a try.

We parked at the Visitor Center along Highway 99W. The majority of hikeable paths in the refuge are closed from October 1st trough April 30th but the one mile River Trail and the very short Ridge Trail are open year round so we made those the target of this visit.
Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Trailhead

We set off on the River Trail and immediately spotted a hummingbird perched atop a tree.

Hummingbird

The trail led downhill between a pair of small ponds.
Tualatin River Natioal Wildlife Refuge

The trail passes through a restored oak savannah before arriving at an observation deck above the Tualatin River a half mile from the parking lot.
River Trail

Viewing Deck along the River Trail

Tualatin River

Beyond the deck the trail continues briefly though the restored savannah before entering a forest.
River Trail

The trail splits in the trees with the Ridge Trail leading left to a viewpoint and the River Trail continuing right to the Wetlands Observation Deck.
River Trail junction with the Ridgetop Trail

We stayed right visiting the observation deck first.
Wetlands observation deck

View from the Wetlands Observation Deck

There were a few geese and ducks visible in the distance and a few robins closer by.
Canada geese in the wetlands

Robin

We returned to the junction with the Ridge Trail and turned right onto it to climb to the viewpoint. The Visitor Center was visible across the refuge and a number of ducks and other birds could be seen in the water below. At least some of the ducks looked to be northern shovelers.
RIdgetop Trail

View from the Ridgetop Overlook

Northern Shovelers

We returned to the parking lot after an easy 2.1 mile hike. We plan on returning in the future when the other trails are open to explore more of the refuge and check out the Visitor Center.

We left the refuge and headed south toward our last stop of the day at Willamette Mission State Park.

The site of the former Willamette Mission the 1600 acre park offers a number of activities besides hiking. The mission was established in 1834 by Rev. Jason Lee and marked the first organized religious enterprise in Oregon.

We had originally intended on a 2.7 mile hike here as described by William L. Sullivan in his “100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” 3rd edition guidebook. Heather had put the book in her pack for the Tualatin Hills Nature Park hike as it was also featured in the guidebook. We hadn’t taken it back out of her pack so we weren’t exactly sure where we were supposed to park for the described hike so after paying the $5 day use fee at the entrance booth we immediately turned right into a parking area with a hiker symbol.

The lot serves as a trailhead for the Willamette Vision Education Trail, which was not where our book called for us to start but we were already parked so we decided to improvise.
Willamette Mission State Park Trailhead

We followed a bark path .1 miles to the start of a loop where we turned right.
Willamette Vision Educational Trail

Interpretive sign along the Willamette Vision Educational Trail

The trail followed a road bed for half a mile around a field before arriving at Mission Lake. Along the way we spotted a coyote that quickly disappeared back into the vegetation.

A little over a mile from the trailhead we arrived at the nations largest black cottonwood.
Willamette Mission Cottonwood

Interpretive sign for the Willamette Mission Cottonwood

While we were admiring the tree an osprey landed in it and while we were watching the osprey we noticed a squirrel in the upper branches as well.
Osprey in the Willamette Mission Cottonwood

Squirrel in the Willamette Mission Cottonwood

Osprey and a squirrel sharing the Willamette Mission Cottonwood The osprey and the squirrel (upper right hand corner).

A short distance from the cottonwood the loop crossed the park entrance road. In order to do the hike that we had originally intended to do we turned right and walked along the shoulder of the road for a quarter of a mile to a boat launch and pet exercise area where we picked up the Mission Trail.

The Mission Trail followed the bank of Mission Lake for .6 miles to the Mission View Site, an observation deck looking across the lake to the site of the former mission.

Mission Site viewing platform

Marker for the Willamette Mission

The former Mission Site across Mission Lake

We continued on past the Mission Site for another quarter mile before arriving at a the end of the Mission Trail at a paved bike path. We turned right detouring a quarter mile off the loop to visit the Wheatland Ferry crossing on the Willamette River.

After watching the ferry cross once we headed back along the bike path and followed it along the Willamette River for almost a mile and a half before veering right onto an equestrian trail. Although the bike path paralleled the river there were no real views to speak of due to a strip of trees and vegetation between the path and the water.
Bike path in Willamette Mission State Park

Bike path in Willamette Mission State Park

We opted to follow the multi-use dirt path instead of the paved bike path since pavement seems to be a lot harder on the feet. Despite being a bit muddy in spots the equestrian trail did finally provide a nice view up and down the Willamette.
Equestrian trail in Willamette Mission State Park

Willamette River

Just prior to reaching the high water channel the equestrian trail came near to the bike path. Staying on the equestrian trail would have taken us to the start of a three mile loop with no opportunity to get back to our car so we hopped back onto the bike path here.
Equestrian trail and the bike path in Willamette Mission State Park

We then followed the bike path back to the park entrance road.
Willamette Mission State Park

On our way back to the car we did complete the Willamette Vision Education Trail loop but that final 1.4 mile segment was fairly uneventful. The trail loops around a field with views back toward the center of the park. By that time we were passing the 13 mile mark for the day (we had planned on doing 9.2) and I was more focused on my feet than taking pictures. Not only had we started at the wrong spot but the guidebook would have had us cut out some of the bike path and all of the equestrian trail. Instead of 2.7 miles for this stop we had flipped the numbers and done 7.2.

We enjoyed all three stops but the Tualatin Hills Nature Park was definitely our favorite. With that being said they all would be suitable for hikers of all ages and abilities and each offers something unique. We’re lucky to have so many options within an hour of Salem and there are many more that we have yet to visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tualatin Hills NP, Tualatin River NWR, Willamette Mission SP

Hiking Oakridge Area Oregon Trip report

South Willamette Trail

A dry forecast and a day off for Presidents Day seemed like a perfect excuse to get our February hike in. For this outing we’d picked the South Willamette Trail. This was yet another trail we had yet to hike and this seemed like a good time of the year to do so because the trail lacks any highlights or views that would be impacted by inclement weather.

The South Willamette Trail is basically a five mile long connector trail between the Hardesty Trailhead and the Eula Ridge Trailhead. We began our hike at the Hardesty Trailhead which had also been the starting point for our Goodman Creek hike (post).

A single trail leaves the trailhead to the left of a large signboard.
Hardesty Trailhead

The trail is actually the Hardesty Trail which gains over 3000′ in five miles to the old lookout site atop Hardesty Mountain. Unless you’re looking for a training hike the old lookout site is now view less. For a slightly shorter and more scenic hike to that location start at the Mount June Trailhead instead as we did in 2013 (post).

Back to our current hike now. We followed the Hardesty Trail for .2 miles to the Goodman Creek Trail junction.

Junction with the Goodman Creek Trail

We stayed left continuing on the Hardesty Trail for another four tenths of a mile to the start of the South Willamette Trail.

Hardesty Trail junction with the South Willamette Trail

We stayed left again leaving the wider tread of the Hardesty Trail behind for the narrower but not overgrown South Willamette Trail.

This trail runs parallel to Highway 58 but due to the presence of some private land holdings it bends back away from the highway which kept the noise down for much of the hike. There are not any views to speak of along the trail and although it crossed several creeks there are no waterfalls either. The trail simply passes through some different types of forest on its way from one end to the other. A half mile from the Hardesty Trail a nice footbridge brought us over an unnamed seasonal creek.
South Willamette Trail

A half mile later we were crossing another unnamed creek.
South Willamette Trail

This was followed by a footbridge over Crale Creek just a tenth of a mile later and a log crossing of another stream just beyond that.
South Willamette Trail

Crossing Crale Creek

The trail then made a slight climb to cross Crale Creek Road.
South Willamette Trail crossing Crale Creek Road

The trail climbed steadily for the next 1.75 miles gaining approximately 400′ to reach its high point at an elevation just over 1400′. There was just a little left over snow scattered about along the way.
A bit of snow along the South Willamette Trail

The Sun was shining overhead as we began to descend to a footbridge over Harper Creek.
Sun behind trees in the Willamette National Forest

Footbridge over Harper Creek

From there we climbed up and around a ridge gaining 280′ in half a mile before dropping again, this time to a bridge less crossing of North Creek.

There was just enough water to prevent a dry rock hop across the creek and a pair of logs downstream were too slick and angled to be worth risking so we decided to make North Creek our impromptu turn around. We were only about a tenth of a mile from the Eula Ridge Trailhead so we had covered most of the trail and I had especially been struggling all morning.

We returned the way we’d come listening to the birds and watching for the small purple blossoms of snow queen.
Wren Wren signing along the trail

Snow queen

I had had a sore throat when I’d woken up and by the time we made it back to the car I was chilled. I spent the rest of the day and the next in bed ill which actually made me feel a little better about having struggled so much on a 10.8 mile 1600′ elevation gain hike.

The South Willamette Trail is definitely not a big reward hike, there are no views to speak of and aside from the few small creeks no real attractions along the way other than a nice green forest. That being said it was a good moderate winter hike and it’s open all year save for the worst storms. Happy Trails!

Flickr: South Willamette Trail

Tags Crale Creek, Eula Ridge, Goodman Creek, hardesty mountain, Hardesty Trailhead, hiking, Oregon, Snow queen, South Willamette Trail

Hiking Uncategorized

Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date February 1, 2019
5 Comments on Progress Report – Oregon Wilderness Areas

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

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

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

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

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

Opal Creek – 2009, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18

Battle Ax Creek – 2014

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

Mt. Jefferson from Russell Lake – 2016

Drift Creek – 2010

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

Mt. Washington from the Pacific Crest Trail – 2015

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

The Three Sisters – 2014

Three Arch Rocks – 2011, 18

Three Arch Rocks from Cape Meares – 2018

Mark O. Hatfield – 2012, 14, 15, 16

Triple Falls – 2012

Mt. Hood – 2012, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

Mt. Hood – 2015

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

Bandon Islands – 2018

Mill Creek – 2012

Twin Pillars – 2011

Mt. Thielsen – 2012, 14

Howlock Mountain and Mt. Thielsen – 2014

Table Rock – 2012, 15

Table Rock – 2015

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

Frustration Falls – 2018

Diamond Peak – 2013, 14, 18

Trapper Creek – 2014

Waldo Lake – 2013, 15, 18

View from Fuji Mountain – 2013

Roaring River – 2013

Serene Lake – 2013

Badger Creek – 2014

Badger Creek Wilderness – 2014

Middle Santiam – 2014

Donaca Lake – 2014

Bull of the Woods – 2014, 15, 18

Emerald Pool – 2018

Soda Mountain – 2015, 17

View from Boccard Point – 2015

Red Buttes – 2015

Oregon Badlands – 2016

Oregon Badlands Wilderness – 2016

Kalmiopsis – 2016

Vulcan Lake – 2016

Menagerie – 2016

Rooster Rock – 2016

Eagle Cap – 2016

Glacier Lake – 2016

Mountain Lakes – 2016

View from Aspen Butte – 2016

Sky Lakes – 2016

Mt. McLoughlin from Freye Lake – 2016

Lower White River – 2016

White River – 2016

Rock Creek – 2017

Spring Basin – 2017

Hedgehog Cactus – 2017

Bridge Creek – 2017

Bridge Creek Wilderness – 2017

Wild-Rogue – 2017

Hanging Rock – 2017

Grassy Knob – 2017

View from Grassy Knob – 2017

Clackamas – 2017

Big Bottom – 2017

North Fork John Day – 2017, 18

Baldy Lake – 2017

Cummins Creek – 2017

Cummins Ridge Trail – 2017

Rogue-Umpqua Divide – 2018

Hummingbird Meadows – 2018

Steens Mountain – 2018

View along the Pine Creek Trail – 2018

Strawberry Mountain – 2018

Slide Lake – 2018

Copper-Salmon – 2018

Barklow Mountain Trail – 2018

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

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

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

Happy Trails!

Tags Badger Creek Wilderness, Bridge Creek Wilderness, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, Clackamas Wilderness, Copper-Salmon Wilderness, cummins creek wilderness, Diamond Peak Wilderness, Drift Creek Wilderness, eagle cap wilderness, Grassy Knob Wilderness, hiking, kalmiopsis wilderness, Lower White River Wilderness, Mark O Hatfield Wilderness, Menagerie Wilderness, Middle Santiam Wilderness, Mill Creek Wilderness, mountain lakes wilderness, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Mt. Thielsen wilderness, Mt. Washington Wilderness, North Fork John Day Wilderness, opal creek wilderness, Oregon, oregon badlands wilderness, Oregon Islands Wilderness, Red Buttes Wilderness, Roaring River Wilderness, Rock Creek Wilderness, Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, sky lakes wilderness, soda mountain wilderness, Spring Basin Wilderness, Steens Mountain Wilderness, Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, table rock wilderness, Three Arch Rocks Wilderness, Three Sisters Wilderness, waldo lake wilderness, Wild Rogue Wilderness, Wilderness Areas

Hiking Uncategorized

Progress Report – 500 “Featured” Hikes

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 26, 2019
13 Comments on Progress Report – 500 “Featured” Hikes

As we mentioned in our 2018 year end wrap-up post one of our long term hiking goals is to complete 500 “featured” hikes from William L. Sullivan’s “100 hikes” guidebook series. Sullivan has broken Oregon into five regions, the Coast & Coast range, Northwest Oregon, the Central Oregon Cascades, Southern Oregon, and Eastern Oregon. Each of the five books contains detailed information on 100 “featured” hikes in that area as well as 50 to over 100 listings of additional hikes. Although his focus is on Oregon there are hikes in Washington (coast and northwest), California (coast and southern), and one short hike in Idaho at Hells Canyon Dam in the eastern book.
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When we first decided to give hiking a try we picked up a single book (not by Sullivan) containing 280 hikes covering the entire State. Each hike contained just enough detail to let you know what you needed to know to get to the trail and get going. What it lacked was detailed information about the hike itself and any type of visual reference to assist with understanding the intended route. Due to the fact that the entries encompassed the entire State the number of hikes near us was somewhat limited. We used it for a couple of hikes then began looking for other options and that’s when we discovered Sullivan’s books.

Our first purchases were the coastal and central cascades books in 2010. Many of the hikes in these books were within an hour and half or less drive from Salem. We fell in love with the detailed descriptions that Sullivan provided and the hand drawn maps that went with each featured hike. Having the visual aid to refer to when reading the descriptions made things much easier for novice hikers like us to navigate the trails. In 2012 we added his books for the other three regions and soon after made it a goal to take at least one hike from each book every year.

We also had decided that we wanted to avoid doing the same trails over and over again and instead wanted to focus on visiting as many different places as possible. As time passed I began to toy with the idea of trying to finish all 100 featured hikes from the central cascades book. The hikes from that book were the closest to us and thus were nearly all within range for day-hikes. Thoughts then turned to the possibility of also completing the NW and maybe even the coast book, but with hikes as far away as the the redwoods in California that would require some extra time and planning.

After a couple of off-seasons of planning the next years hikes I started looking ahead to subsequent years. I had begun grouping the hikes that were too far way for day trips into possible long weekends or vacations. The thought of possibly doing all 500 featured hikes began to take hold and by the end of 2016 I had a preliminary outline that included them all. During our 2017-2018 off season I took the outline and completed a full 10 year schedule that incorporated all of the remaining featured hikes as well as some new ones from other sources and some of our favorites so far. With that initial schedule we would finally achieve our goal in 2027.

I have continued to rearrange the schedule and have since managed to bring the completion date up to September, 2025. Still a long ways off but closer. We are hoping to have the NW and Central Cascade books finished by the end of 2021 and the Coast by the end of 2022. With some luck the Southern book will follow in 2023 leaving the eastern book, and more specifically the numerous hikes in the Wallowa Mountains for last.

There are a couple of issues that we are dealing with. One is never knowing until the time comes if the hikes we are planning will be accessible or if weather, forest fires, or some other unforeseen obstacle will deny us a visit. Mount Ireland in the Blue Mountains near Sumpter is a great example. Snow kept us from this hike in 2017 when we spent a vacation in Sumpter (post) so we put it on the schedule again in conjunction with a backpacking trip in the Elkhorns in 2018. A lightning storm canceled that plan (post) and so now it has been add as stop on the way to Hells Canyon in 2022.

An even more complicated issue with this particular goal is that Sullivan regularly updated his books, releasing new editions every 5 or so years which inevitably contain a different 100 featured hikes. In between editions there are often reprints where there can also be changes to the featured hikes. This happens for numerous reasons such as forest fires burning over the area, landslides closing trails, access being cut off by private land owners, or he simply found what he felt was a more worthy featured hike. These changes have left us questioning exactly how to measure our goal. We know it is to do “500 featured hikes” but what 500?

The answer isn’t all that simple. For instance attempting to finish all 100 hikes from the 2011 third edition of “100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” would mean hiking Mt. Mitchell (hike 21) but a private timber company closed access to the trail several years ago and the hike is no longer a featured hike in Sullivan’s books.

Looking to the most recent version of the books is also problematic, especially in regards to the southern and eastern books where the addition of a single hike in a remote area that we had already been to would require another long trip for that lone hike.

One possible way around this is to count any hike from an area that is/was a featured hike in any of the versions of the book. We are reluctant to do this though for two reasons. First there are a small number of hikes that have been featured hikes at one time in both the central and eastern books, so those could be double counted. If not then we’d have to decide which area to place them in. The biggest reason that we hesitate to go this route though is admittedly a bit shallow. It would most likely mean not having a single book that we could point to and say we had been on each of the featured hikes in it.

In the end I think we will wind up attempting to complete any single version of each area. It may be the most current or the oldest we own, or possibly something in between. Currently we are operating based on the most recent versions that we own save for the NW. The books we are currently using are:
“100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range” Fourth Edition 2016
“100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades” Fourth Edition 2012
“100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Norther California” Fourth Edition 2017
“100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” Third Edition 2015

For “100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” we still only have the 2011 third edition but plan on picking up a new edition this April and are basing our progress off of the featured hikes to be contained in it.

With those books as the basis we currently stand at having done at least part of 335 of the 500 featured hikes. A caveat here is that for some of the hikes we have only completed a portion of the hike Sullivan describes either due to a trail being impassable (Lower Rogue River in 2017) or because we’ve combined more than one hike in a longer trip. In the case of the latter we are visiting most of the highlights but aren’t taking the same trail to them as described in the book.

A breakdown of the 335 hikes we’ve checked off is below.

Coast 89/100
Central 81/100
NW 72/100
Southern 42/100
Eastern 51/100

If we were to look at our earlier editions of the Central and NW books those numbers would jump to 84 & 78 respectively but as was mentioned before there are hikes in those that may no longer be possible.

Lastly applying the “featured hike in any version” criteria would put the total number at 365* with the coast and central regions at 93 apiece, NW at 81, southern at 45, and eastern at 53. *This includes a double counting of 5 featured hikes that moved between the eastern and central books so the number really should be 360.

No matter what criteria we apply we still have a couple of years to go before we finish anything so we have some time to mull it over. We’d be interested to hear from others which way they would go or if there is another idea out there we haven’t thought of yet so please comment below.

The one thing that we do know is that we can’t finish anything without visiting more trails. Our 2019 list includes 32 more featured hikes, 8 each from the NW and central books, 4 from the southern, and 12 from the eastern. We could fit a few more in, but finishing the 500 isn’t our only goal. Another goal is continuing to visit different areas in the Pacific Northwest so there are trips to places like the South Warner Wilderness in California, and North Cascades National Park in Washington sprinkled throughout the schedule. The possibilities seem just about endless.

Happy Trails!

Tags 100 Hikes, Central Cascades, Eastern Oregon, hiking, Northwest Oregon, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Southern Oregon, William L Sullivan

Coastal Range Hiking Oregon Trip report

Gales Creek Trail

A day off of work for New Years and a clear weather forecast = our first hike of 2019. Our trail of choice was the Gales Creek Trail in the Tillamook State Forest. We began our hike at the Gales Creek Trailhead, the same trailhead that we used in 2015 for a hike to nearby University Falls (post).

We began this hike as we had on our previous visit by following the Gales Creek Trail west from the parking area.

The first .8 miles to the Storey Burn Trail was a repeat of 2015 as we crossed Low Divide Creek on a footbridge and arrived at the trail junction.

Unlike last time when we turned left onto the Storey Burn Trail this time we turned right sticking to the Gales Creek Trail which paralleled Gales Creek.

It was a chilly morning, about 28 degrees, and there was a fair amount of frost on the ground and plants. In addition to the typical frost we see on a chilly morning, we had been noticing white clumps here and there. The clumps looked like they could be garbage at first glance but it wasn’t. Other thoughts were fur but we couldn’t think of any animals in the area with white fur or something from a tree but it wasn’t the right time of year for things like cottonwood. Our next guess was a little closer with a fungus but upon closer inspection we determined it was some sort of fine ice/frost.

It was very interesting. The scarcity of the clumps told us that there must be some set of conditions to create these frost clumps and spent much of the hike marveling at the designs. Thanks to the help of some fellow hikers over at Oregonhikers.org we later learned that this type of frost is the result of a fungus inside certain rotting wood that leaves water and carbon dioxide behind as the wood decays. The CO2 forces the water out of the wood through tiny holes and when the temperature is just a bit below freezing creates the frost “hairs” . Here is a post describing the phenomena in more detail and a article on BBC – Earth with a time lapse video of the frost forming.

The Gales Creek Trail stuck fairly close to the creek, sometimes rising a bit above it as it passed through the forest and crossed several streams that would likely have been dry in the summer months.

A mile and a half from the Storey Burn Trail junction we did come to a dry creek bed, but a flash of water back in the trees looked like it might be a decent waterfall. The terrain looked like it might make for a reasonable off-trail jaunt and the fact that there was no water down at the trail but there was some further up made us curious so we decided to head uphill. After about a quarter mile climb over and around downed trees we found ourselves looking at a nice 20′ or so waterfall. The terrain narrowed enough that we couldn’t get right up to the falls but it was still a nice view (although not the best lighting for photos).

The route we came up.

After admiring the falls we returned to the trail and continued west toward the Bell Camp Trailhead.
A short section of railroad grade.

More creek crossings followed, some trickier than others, but we managed to keep our feet fairly dry using rocks or logs.

A total of 2.25 miles from the junction we arrived at stand of alders as the site of good sized slide that occurred in 2007.

Just over a mile from the alder stand we came to the trickiest crossing of the day. There appeared to be two options across, a lone rock barely sticking out of the water and a pile of slick looking logs. Due to the direction we were heading the rock was too far to reach so we opted for the logs. Some carefully placed steps got us across dry.
The logs we came across.

The rock after having crossed.

On the way back I opted to attempt a jump from the rock. It worked but after watching Heather recross fairly easily on the logs my 46 year old body thought that would have been a better choice.
Heather finishing her crossing on the way back.

Beyond this crossing the trail turned inland away from Gales Creek a bit. Slides apparently forced the trail to be rerouted at some point because a footbridge could still be seen through the trees closer to Gales Creek.

We passed a very small cascade along this section and then approximately 1.75 miles from the tricky creek crossing arrived at our turn around point, a 25′ waterfall right along the trail.

We took a break at the falls and as we studied the falls the light moved enough to create a small rainbow.

We returned the way we’d come. The sun was shining but it was still chilly as we made our way back.

We didn’t see much wildlife, just a handful of birds, and being the middle of winter no wildflowers but there were a few mushrooms to enjoy.

With the half mile side trip the hike wound up being just under 12.5 miles with approximately 1500′ of elevation gain. It was a nice start to a new year of hiking. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Gales Creek Trail

Tags Feather frost, gales creek, Gales Creek Campground, Gales Creek Trail, Hair frost, hiking, Oregon, Silk frost, storey burn trail, Tillamook State Forest, Waterfall

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2018 Wildflower Gallery

It wasn’t the greatest wildflower year in 2018 but there were still a few decent displays and several new species for us. Below are some of the better displays as well as individual blossoms from this years hikes. (Attempts have been made to identify, at least in general, the type of flower but please correct us if we are wrong or chime in on the unidentified photos.)

Snow queen – McDonald Forest, February

From Memaloose Hills in April:
Arnica Arnica

Larkspur

Fiddleneck

Lupine Lupine

Prairie star

Balsamroot

Wildflowers at Memaloose Hills Unknown

Large-flower triteleia

Giant head clover

Broomrape

From the Wygant Trail in April:
Fairybells

Hound's tongue Hound’s tongue

Dogwood Dogwood

Ballhead waterleaf

Chocolate lily

Kittentails

Grass widow

Penstemon

From Patterson Mountain in May:
Fawn lilies Fawn lily

Fairy slippers

Wood violet

A saxifrage

Red flowering currant Red-flowering currant

Skunk cabbage

Glacier lily

More flowers from May:
Wild iris Iris – Washington Park

Anemone Anemone – Lookout Creek Trail

Trillium – Carpenter Mountain

Buckwheat – White River Falls State Park

Thistle Thistle along the Deschutes River

Western prairie-clover along the Deschutes River

Clustered broomrape along the Deschutes River

Bitterroot – Rimrock Springs

Bluebells along Muir Creek

Gooseberry along Muir Creek

Wild iris Iris along Muir Creek

Lupine White lupine along Muir Creek

Pea Pea? along Muir Creek

Violets Violets along Muir Creek

Bleeding heart along the Muir Creek Trail

Tall mountain bluebells – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Jacob's ladder Jacob’s ladder – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Marsh marigolds – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Avalanche lilies – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Wildflowers along the Buck Canyon Trail Spring Beauty – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Western stoneseed – Black Butte

June wildflowers:
Bunchberry – Salmon River Trail

Anemone Anemone – Salmon River Trail

Star flowers – Salmon River Trail

Valerian – Salmon River Trail

Rhododendron – Salmon River Trail

Spotted coralroot – Salmon River Trail

Cat's ear lily Cats ear lily – Salmon River Trail

Field chickweed Filed chickweed – Salmon River Trail

Stonecrop – Salmon River Trail

Wildflower along the Salmon River Trail unknown – Salmon River Trail

Paintbrush and plectritis – Salmon River Trail

Blue head gilia – Salmon River Trail

Candy sticks – Salmon River Trail

Salmonberry – Salmon River Trail

Showy milkweed along the Deschutes River

Chicory Chicory (non-native) along the Deschutes River

Blanket flower along the Deschutes River

Bindweed along the Deschutes River

Dwarf monkeyflower – Diamond Craters

Wild onion and lupine leaves Wild onion – Jordan Craters

Mariposa lily in Slocum Gulch Sagebrush mariposa lily – Leslie Gulch

Butterfly on dustymaiden in Slocum Gulch Dusty maiden – Leslie Gulch

Clarkia Clarkia – Leslie Gulch

Primrose Evening Primerose – Three Forks

Salsify Salsify – Three Forks

Grand collomia – Three Forks

Stream orchid – Three Forks

Mariposa lily – Three Forks

Wildflowers along the Owyhee River unknown – Three Forks

Tufted primrose – Chalk Basin

Orange globe mallow – Chalk Basin

Wildflowers in the Dry wash in Chalk Basin unknown – Chalk Basin

Smooth stemmed blazing star – Chalk Basin

Threadleaf phacelia – Chalk Basin

Penstemon – Alvord Desert

Beetle on yarrow Yarrow – Pike Creek

Purple sticky geranium Geranium – Myrtle Creek

Scarlet gilia – Myrtle Creek

Yelow and red paintbrush – Myrtle Creek

Skull cap – Myrtle Creek

Checkermallow – Myrtle Creek

Death camas – Myrtle Creek

Hedge nettle Hedgenettle – Saddle Mountain

Penstemon Beardstongue – Saddle Mountain

Twin flower – Saddle Mountain

Columbine – Saddle Mountain

Larkspur – Saddle Mountain

Wildflowers along the Saddle Mountain Trail Wildflowers on Saddle Mountain

Old man's whiskers Old man’s whiskers – Saddle Mountain

Wall flower Wallflower – Saddle Mountain

Wildflowers along the Saddle Mountain Trail Featherbells – Saddle Mountain

Inside out flower – Saddle Mountain

Foxglove (non-native) – Soapstone Lake

July Wildflowers:
Fireweed – Elk Lake Creek

Spreading dogbane – Elk Lake Creek

Scouler's bluebell Scouler’s bluebells – Elk Lake Creek

Washington lilies – Elk Lake Creek

Prince's pine Prince’s pine – Elk Lake Creek

Coralroot – Elk Lake Creek

Pearly everlasting – Elk Lake Creek

Wild ginger – Browder Ridge

Tiger lily – Browder Ridge

Larkspur and paintbrush – Browder Ridge

Vanilla leaf – Browder Ridge

Wildflowers along the Browder Ridge Trail Sagebrush false dandelions and cat’s ear lilies – Browder Ridge

Oregon sunshine? – Browder Ridge

Spirea Spirea – Browder Ridge

Shooting stars – Heart Lake

Owls clover – Browder Ridge

Lewis Flax – Browder Ridge

Northern phlox – Horsepasture Mountain

Foam flower – Horsepasture Mountain

Lousewort – Horsepasture Mountain

Beargrass – Horsepasture Mountain

Coneflower – Horsepasture Mountain

A fleabane – Horsepasture Mountain

Catchfly – Horsepasture Mountain

False hellebore – Opal Creek Wilderness

Monkeyflower – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Streambed globe mallow – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Mountain coyote mint – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Low jacob's ladder Low Jacob’s ladder – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Nuttall's Linanthus Nuttall’s linanthus – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Bog orchids – Wildcat Spring

Elephants head – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Lousewort Louewort – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Yellow paintbrush – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Rockfringe willowherb – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Wildflowers along the Strawberry Basin Trail Small wildflower meadow in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Wild rose – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Penstemon – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Wildflowers along the Skyline Trail Hyssop, yellow paintbrush and unknown yellow flowers in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Pussypaws – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Moving on to August:
Gentians – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Yellow monkeyflower – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Aster Aster – Elkhorns

Orange agoseris – Elkhorns

Mountain heather – Twin Lakes

wildflowers along Lower Twin Lake unknown – Twin Lakes

Bistort Bistort – Elkhorns

Wildflower along the Rigdon Lakes Trail Groundsel? – Waldo Lake

A couple from September:
Western pasque flowers Western pasque flower – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Wildflower on Mt. Jefferson unknown – South Climb Route, Mt. Jefferson

One from October:
Moth mullen – Cape Perpetua

In a little over a month the snow queen will once again begin popping up at low elevations and soon after the eastern end of the Columbia Gorge will begin to cycle through it’s blooms starting with the grass widows. Until then we hope these flowers will be reminders of the colors of Spring/Summer. Happy Trails!

Tags hiking, Oregon, wildflowers

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2018 Wildlife Gallery

We encountered a large variety of animals during our travels in 2018. A number of the animals we had not previously seen including a badger near Borax Springs (which we failed to get a photo of). Below is a sample of the many critters we encountered this year.

Seals in Nehalem Bay

Frog Tree frog – Patterson Mountain

Garter snake on Patterson Mountain

Crab spider – Lookout Creek Trail

Green beetle on the Carpenter Mountain Trail Beetle – Carpenter Mountain

Butterfly Pale crescent near Macks Canyon

Gopher snake near Macks Canyon

Crowded thistle Beetles on thistle near Mack’s Canyon

Caterpillar along the Black Butte Trail

Green tailed towhee on Black Butte

Pigeon Rock pigeon – Deschutes River

Merganser family – Deschutes River

Dragon Fly – Deschutes River

Lizard Sagebrush Lizard – Deschutes River

Pronghorn – Malheur Wildlife Refuge

Yellow headed blackbirds Yellow headed blackbird – Malheur Wildlife Refuge

Horned grebes – Malheur Wildlife Refuge

Great horned owl – Malheur Wildlife Refuge

Lewis's woodpecker Lewis’s woodpecker – Malheur Wildlife Refuge

White faced ibis – Malheur Wildlife Refuge

Yellow warbler – Malheur Wildlife Refuge

Western meadowlark – Malheur Wildlife Refuge

Bullock's oriole Bullock’s oriole – Malheur Wildlife Refuge

Rabbit Rabbit – Jordan Craters

Marmot Marmot – Jordan Craters

Chukar Chukar – Leslie Gulch

Cricket Cricket – Leslie Gulch

Monarch butterfly Viceroy- Leslie Gulch

Swallowtail in Timber Gulch Swallow tail – Leslie Gulch

Cicada Cicada – Leslie Gulch

Burrowing owl near Leslie Gulch

Dragon fly – Three Forks

Fritillary butterfly – Three Forks

Pheasant – Pillars of Rome

Side blotched lizard – Chalk Basin

Collard lizard – Chalk Basin

Sandhill Cranes near Steens Mountain

jack rabbit – Borax Hot Springs

Desert horned lizard – Alvord Desert

Long nosed leopard lizard – Alvord Desert

Lizard Western Fence Lizard – Pike Creek

Swallowtail Swallow tail – Myrtle Creek

Butterfly Sheridan’s hairstreak – Myrtle Creek

Orange- tip Butterfly Orange-tip butterfly – Myrtle Creek

Western kingbird – Cove Palisades State Park

Cascade toad – Browder Ridge

Gray jay – Browder Ridge

Rufous hummingbird – Horsepasture Mountain

Grouse Grouse – Horsepasture Mountain

Wren Wren – French Creek Ridge

Butterfly on stonecrop Checkerspot butterfly – French Creek Ridge

Chipmunk near Hidden Forest Cave

Pygmy short horned lizard near Pictograph Cave

Caterpillars – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Fish in Little Strawberry Lake Trout – Little Strawberry Lake

Doe at Slide Lake Doe – Slide Lake

Megarhyssa nortoni

Great blue heron – Newport Bay

Snake Sharp-tailed snake – Newport Bay

Osprey Osprey – South Beach

Pika Pika – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Hawk Northern goshawk – Elkhorns

Hawk Red tailed hawk – Elkhorns

Mountain goats across Lower Twin Lake Mountain goats – Elkhorns

Mountain goat grazing near Lower Twin Lake Mountain Goat – Elkhorns

Golden-mantled ground squirrel Golden mantled ground squirrel – Elkhorns

Mourning cloak – Elkhorns

Beetle at Summit Lake Beetle – Summit Lake

Bee on coneflower Bumble bee – Crawfish Lake

Finch Finch – Crawfish Lake

Bald Eagle – Waldo Lake

Hairy woodpecker – Rigdon Lakes

Blue copper butterfly Blue copper – Rockpile Lake

Buttefly at Carl Lake Tortoiseshell butterfly – Carl Lake

Varied thrush – Carl Lake

Frogs on a log Frogs – Table Lake

Clarks nutcracker – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Ouzel Ouzel – Pamelia Lake

Junco Junco – Pamelia Lake

Frog Frog – Taylor Lake

Birds on the beach Sanderlings – John Dellenback Beach

Douglas squirrel – John Dellenback Dunes Trail

Egret Great egret – Mud Lake

Bird at Mud Lake Wilson’s snipe – Mud Lake

Elk along Elk River Road Elk on the way to Barklow Mt.

Starfish – Bandon, Oregon

Crab Crab – Bandon, Oregon

Anemones – Bandon, Oregon

Turkey Vulture – Bandon, Oregon

Seagull and a marbled godwit in the Coquile River

Black turnstones along the North Jetty Black turnstones – North Jetty, Bandon, Oregon

Brown pelicans – Bullards Beach State Park

Mink Mink – Sprague River

White pelicans and a seagull White pelicans – Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Snowy egret at Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge Snowy egret – Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Stellars jay Stellar’s jay – Fish Lake

Muskrat Muskrat – Lake of the Woods

Dragon fly – Lake of the Woods

Geese Canada geese – Lake of the Woods

Caterpillar – Lake of the Woods

Cormorants – Link River

American coots – Link River

Mallards – Pond near Lake Ewauna

Northern shoveler – Pond near Lake Ewauna

Northern flicker – Link River Trail

Scrub jay – Link River Trail

Western grebe – Link River

Hooded mergansers – Link River

Buffleheads – Siltcoos Lake

Rough skinned newt – Jessie M. Honeyman State Park

Sparrow Sparrow – Jessie M. Honeyman State Park

Anna's hummingbird Anna’s hummingbird – Jessie M. Honeyman State Park

Ring-necked ducks – Jessie M. Honeyman State Park

Spotted towhee – Jessie M. Honeyman State Park

That’s a pretty good sample of the different wildlife we spotted this year, but we still often wonder how much wildlife we don’t notice on our hikes. Happy Trails!

Tags hiking, Link River, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon, Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife