Tag: Lower Lake

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 Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Lodgepole Loop – 10/12/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 14, 2019
2 Comments on Lodgepole Loop – 10/12/2019

**Note the 2020 Lionshead Fire burned the area covered by this hike.**

We’re entering the time of year where the weather can be a real wildcard. A week earlier there was snow down to the mountain passes. There wasn’t any snow in the forecast but a continuously changing threat of cloudy conditions and rain showers kept us from deciding exactly where we’d be heading until the night before. A mostly cloudy but precipitation free forecast led us to our third hike of the year in the Olallie Lake Scenic Area for a lake filled hike where the presence of clouds would have minimal affect on the scenery.

Our plan was to follow a route suggested by Matt Reeder in his “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region” starting at the Olallie Meadows Campground and taking the Lodgepole Trail to the Red Lake Trail which we would then take east to the Pacific Crest Trail. Heading north on the PCT would bring us to the Russ Lake Trail. After a side trip to Russ and Jude Lakes we would take the Russ Lake Trail west to the Lodgepole Trail and return to Olallie Meadows. That was our plan anyway but it isn’t quite how things played out.

We parked at a trail sign at the end of the Olallie Meadows Campground and checked out the meadows while we waited for a little more light. The sky was fairly cloud free which was encouraging but it also meant that the overnight low of 35 that had been in the forecast was actually 27 (according to the car).

We didn’t have to wait long and soon we were crunching along the trail. There was a lot of frozen moisture so every step sounded like we were crushing a bag of potato chips, it wasn’t a good sign for seeing any morning wildlife. A quarter mile from the trailhead we passed the Russ Lake Trail junction where we would be coming from on our return.

For now we stayed straight enjoying the fall colors and traces of snow along the trail while we tried to keep some feeling in our fingers.

After a short climb the view ahead opened up to Olallie Butte which we’d climbed earlier in the year.(post)

Three quarters of a mile from the Russ Lake Trail we arrived at another signed junction.

We turned right here onto what turned out to be the Pacific Crest Trail (we didn’t notice the marker on a nearby tree on this first pass) following a pointer for Olallie Lake.

Shortly afterward we began to realize something was amiss. Prior to setting off we had taken a last look at Reeder’s map and remembered that there was a short section of trail that we would not be hiking on if we did the loop the way we’d planned. What we didn’t remember was where that section was, but if we were already on the PCT it didn’t seem possible for there to be such a section so we differed to the book and realized that somewhere between the Russ Lake Trail and the PCT the Lodgepole Trail should have forked to the right and crossed Skyline Road near the Triangle Lake Horsecamp. Neither one of us remembered seeing anything that looked like a trail. We contemplated going back to look for it, but decided to just continue on in the opposite direction as planned.

We followed the PCT south passing a large dry lake then a small frozen one before crossing under a set of power lines and passing the Olallie Butte Trail in just under a mile.

Another 2.2 miles on the PCT brought us more colorful foliage, another frozen pond, and a glimpse of Mt. Jefferson before arriving at Skyline Road just north of Olallie Lake (post).

We crossed the road sticking to the PCT and stopped to take a look at Head Lake.

IMG_0523_stitch

Beyond Head Lake the PCT climbs for approximately a mile and a half to the Red Lake Trail junction. We had been on this section of the trail before (post) but on that day the clouds had restricted the views to the forest and ponds along the trail. In addition to the great fall colors on this trip we had some excellent views of Mt. Jefferson.

Olallie Butte

Mt. Jefferson

Olallie Lake

Mt. Jefferson

We even had a rather obscured view of Mt. Hood for a moment.

At the junction with the Red Lake Trail we turned right onto that trail.

This trail was also familiar to us as including the unnamed lake below Twin Peaks.

Beyond the lake the trail began a rocky descent to a junction with the Lodgepole Trail just over a mile from the PCT.
Potato Butte ahead.

Lodgepole Trail junction.

Here we turned right back onto the Lodgepole Trail. We were back on new-to-us trail and in less than a quarter mile came to an unnamed lake on the left.

One of the causes of the noisy steps.

Just over a quarter mile from the junction was Middle Lake on the right.
Twin Peaks on the other side of Middle Lake.

Colors along Middle Lake.

Next up was supposed to be a short out and back to Gifford Lakes on a trail located somewhere between Middle and Lower Lakes. We missed the unmarked trail on our first pass, but realized it fairly quickly when a GPS check showed we were closer to Lower Lake than we should have been. (For the record it’s about a quarter mile from Middle Lake.) We turned around and headed back the way we’d come looking for yet another trail we’d missed. I had an idea of where we’d missed it having noticed some logs and branches that looked like it could have been over an old trail. Sure enough that turned out to be the spot, but between the wood and snow it had been really easy to miss.

A .2 mile detour brought us to the larger of the two Gifford Lakes. We had heard that this was probably the prettiest lake in the area and we wouldn’t argue that.

Olallie Butte

Twin Peaks from Gifford Lake.

A trail to the left around the lake led to a ridge between the two Gifford Lakes. The smaller lake didn’t have the views that its larger neighbor enjoyed but it was scenic nonetheless.

After exploring the lakes and a snack break we returned to the Lodgepole Trail and turned right to continue on our loop. We came to another junction about .4 miles from the trail to Gifford Lakes.

Here the Lodgepole Trail continued straight crossing the Fish Lake Trail. We turned briefly down the Fish Lake Trail to take a quick look at Lower Lake before continuing on.
Sign for the Fish Lake Trail.

Lower Lake

Olallie Butte

Sign for the Lodgepole Trail.

The trail dropped to a meadow then reentered the forest and climbed to a ridge top .8 miles from the junction.

Pinedrops

The trail was actually the fainter track to the left leading to the bridge, but that wasn’t obvious until we reached the trees.

A lone yarrow.

After cresting the ridge the trail dropped to a dry crossing of the Clackamas River.

Approximately two miles from the Fish Lake Trail we found ourselves passing back under the power lines.

Another mile of fairly level trail brought us to Triangle Lake.

After passing the lake and horse camp we quickly found ourselves crossing Skyline Road again.

We were really interested in seeing where we were going to meet up with the trail from that morning. Our answer came in less than 100 yards when the clear trail we were on arrived at a junction. A small tree was lying across the trail but the tread was rather obvious. We decided we must have been focused on the hill that was just beyond the junction and not looking at that side of the trail because it was hard to miss.
Approaching the junction.

Quite the camouflage isn’t it?

We turned right climbing the little hill, for the second time that day, and in a tenth of a mile were back at the Pacific Crest Trail. This time we turned left following the Jude Lake pointer.

The PCT entered the Warm Springs Reservation before arriving at the Russ Lake Trail in a third of a mile.

Here we turned right on the Russ Lake Trail (which was not signed).

The trail passed a small pond after a tenth of a mile and the southern end of Jude Lake after two tenths before arriving at Russ Lake a little of a third of a mile from the junction. (Please note that fishing is not allowed on the Reservation without a permit.)
Jude Lake

Jude Lake

Russ Lake

We watched the ducks on Russ Lake for a bit before heading back. It wasn’t until we were passing Jude Lake again that we actually realized that it was Jude Lake which allowed us to skip a short out and back north on the PCT to see the other side of that lake. Having seen Jude Lake we stayed on the Russ Lake Trail when we got back to the PCT junction and in a tenth of a mile turned right on a short unsiged spur trail to Brook Lake.

From Book Lake it was another .2 miles to the Lodgepole Trail and about the same back to Olallie Meadows.

We were anticipating a 13.2 mile loop (per Reeder) but a little extra exploring, missing the Gifford Lakes Trail, and screwing up the route to begin with we ended our day just over 14 miles. It turned out to be a really nice day (after our hands warmed up) with a lot of nice scenery. We only ran into a single pair of backpackers during the hike although there were a number of vehicles on Skyline Road both in the morning and on our drive out. The Olallie Lake Scenic Area is definately a great place for late Summer/Fall hiking. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Lodgepole Loop