Tag: McKenzie River

McKenzie River Trail (Blue Pool TH south to NF-610) – 11/21/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 22, 2020
3 Comments on McKenzie River Trail (Blue Pool TH south to NF-610) – 11/21/2020

A combination of a day off, a favorable forecast and a need to drive to Bend to pick up some Christmas items provided the perfect excuse to check out a section of the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail. This would be our third hike on this 26.4 mile long trail, all on different sections (Tamolitch Pool and Clear Lake).

We started our hike at the popular Tamolitch Blue Pool Trailhead where we had also started our hike to the Blue Pool.

This time though we headed south (left) on the McKenzie River Trail away from the Blue Pool and the crowds that would surely be arriving later in the day (we were the 2nd car at the TH on this morning).

The Sun wasn’t quite up yet, and it was still under 30 degrees, as we set off on the trail.

The trail climbed a forested hillside and crossed a forest road above Trail Bridge Reservoir (2 miles from the TH).

Forest road crossing.

The trail then descended to Forest Road 730 and a crossing of Smith River which feeds into the reservoir.

Another brief climb followed before dropping down to the Trail Bridge Dam.

The top of Three Fingered Jack is visible in the distance.

We continued on the trail which now began to follow the McKenzie River more closely.

Fall means mushrooms.

There were a couple of opportunities to get down to the river bank which we took advantage of and just over a mile and a half from the dam we stopped to admire Olallie Creek joining the river.

Anderson Creek joining the McKenzie.

Olallie Creek across from the trail.

A half mile beyond Olallie Creek the river split leaving a large forested island briefly in its center.

Beyond the island the trail passed some rocky cliffs where icicles dripped before dropping to a crossing of Deer Creek at the 5.5 mile mark of our hike.

Turning up Deer Creek to reach the footbridge.

Shortly after crossing the creek the trail arrived at Deer Creek Road (NF 782) where there is parking for the trail and Deer Creek (aka Bigelow) Hot Springs. We knew the hot springs were somewhere along our route but we didn’t know for sure where until we got home after the hike. There was no sign for the small hot spring that sits along the river bank but we did see an obvious trail heading south down to the river here. Not knowing that the hot springs were down there we visited the bridge over the McKenzie and then continued on the McKenzie River Trail.
Up river from Deer Creek Road.

Deer Creek Hot Springs would be somewhere along the right hand side of the river.

The trail briefly climbed above the river before switchbacking down and arriving at Frissel Creek just over a mile from Deer Creek Road.

We had to go around this bridge due to frost and it being at an angle.

Footbridge over Frissel Creek.

We had planned to turn around between 10 and 10:30 at either the hot springs or Forest Road 610 which the trail briefly follows. Since we didn’t realize we’d passed the hot springs we wound up making FR 610 the turnaround which was approximately three quarters of a mile beyond Frissel Creek. We arrived at the road just after 10:30.
Sun over the McKenzie River

FR 610

We turned around at the road and headed back keeping our eyes open for any sign of the hot springs and any other things we missed on the first pass. We still didn’t realize that the hot springs were where they were but we did spot a lot more mushrooms and the tops of the Middle and North Sister on the way back.

We missed this sign for slough creek the first time by.

Missed this survey marker too.

We also completely missed this sign at Deer Creek.

Still cold

Without the use of the zoom on the camera they are hard to make out but the tops of the North and Middle Sister are visible over the hills.

The Garmin showed 14.6 miles for this out and back (Google maps had indicated it would be 13.4 miles) and there was between 800 and 1000′ of cumulative elevation gain. What climbs there were weren’t ever steep and didn’t last long. We encountered a half dozen other trail users but when we arrived back at the trailhead it was full and cars were stretched all they way down the road with people heading for the Blue Pool. It has become one of “those” hikes and is getting loved to death. After changing we drove to Bend for a quick visit with Heather’s parents and then headed back over the pass to Salem. Happy Trails!

Flickr: McKenzie River Trail

Tags Bigelow Hot Springs, Blue Pool, Deer Creek, Deer Creek Hot Springs, Frissel Creek, hiking, McKenzie River, McKenzie River National Recreation Trail, McKenzie River Trail, mushroom, Olallie Creek, Oregon, Smith River, Tamolitch Pool, Trail Bridge Reservior

Hiking McKenzie River Middle Santiam Old Cascades Oregon Throwback Thursday Trip report

Throwback Thursday – Browder Ridge and Sahalie & Koosah Falls

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 8, 2018
4 Comments on Throwback Thursday – Browder Ridge and Sahalie & Koosah Falls

This week we are revisiting a pair of hikes we took on 9/8/12. A pair of Heather’s running buddies were going to be running the McKenzie River 50k that day and we wanted to be a the finish line to greet them so we found a hike in the area that we thought would make that possible. The 8.5 mile up Browder Ridge seemed to be a perfect fit.

We started at the Gate Creek Trailhead just 4.5 miles off of Highway 20 via Hackleman Creek Road and Road 1598.
Gate Creek Trail sign at the trailhead

The trail never really got close to Gate Creek as it climbed through forest and fern filled meadows.
Gate Creek Trail

Meadow along the Gate Creek Trail

Just over a mile and a half from the trailhead we arrived at a viewpoint which provided views of the Cascade Mountains from Mt. Jefferson south to the Three Sisters. It was an unfortunately hazy view due to the sun still rising in the east and the presence of smoke from the Pole Creek Fire.
Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Washington, Black Crater, Belknap Crater and the Three Sisters Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters

We continued on climbing gradually for another 1.5 miles to a junction. White pearly everlasting and pink fireweed could be seen along the trail. More hazy mountain views greeted us along the way with Diamond Peak joining the line of Cascade peaks.

Gate Creek Trail

View from the Gate Creek Trail

We also had a nice view of our ultimate goal – Browder Ridge.

At the junction we turned right onto the Heart Lake Trail.
Sign for the Heart Lake Trail

This trail passed below the rocky cliffs of Browder Ridge passing through the remains of an early summer wildflower meadow before reentering the forest.
Rock outcrop on Browder Ridge

Paintbrush

Aster

Heart Lake Trail

As the trail reentered the trees we left the Heart Lake Trail turning uphill along the rocky ridge.
Browder Ridge

A .2 mile scramble along the ridge brought us to the 5760′ summit of Browder Ridge.
Black Butte, Mt. Washington, Black Crater, and Belknap Crater from Browder Ridge

Despite the haze from the Pole Creek Fire the views were pretty good.
View from Browder Ridge

View from Browder Ridge

Mt. Jefferson and Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Jefferson

Black Crater, Belknap Crater, the Three Sisters, Mt. Bachelor and The Husband

View from Browder Ridge

After enjoying the view we headed back down to the trailhead. Butterflies had begun to come out as we made our way back.
Some sort of Skipper butterfly

Pine white butterfly on pearly everlasting

Orange sulpher butterfly on Pearly Everlasting

We got back to the car with time to spare before the end of the race so we made a second stop on the way to the finish line. We drove east on Highway 20 to its junction with Highway 126 where we turned right for 5.2 miles to the Sahalie Falls Trailhead.

A half mile segment of the Waterfalls Loop Trail runs between Sahalie and Koosah Falls along the McKenzie River here. It’s possible to complete a 2.6 mile loop incorporating the McKenzie River Trail, but we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss the end of the race so we did an out and back past Sahalie Falls to Koosah Falls.

Sahalie Falls was not far at all from the parking area.

Sahalie Falls

We headed downstream following the beautifully blue McKenzie River to Koosah Falls.

McKenzie River

Koosah Falls

We returned the way we’d come but instead of returning to the car we had just enough time to visit the top of Sahalie Falls.

These are two really nice and easily accessed waterfalls. We returned to Koosah Falls in 2013 along the McKenzie River Trail but have yet to be back to Sahalie Falls.

We made it to the finish line of the race in plenty of time to see Heather’s friends finish their 50k making it a successful day.

We are planning on heading back to Browder Ridge this year to see what the meadows look like earlier in the Summer. If all goes well we will be coming from the other end of the Browder Ridge Trail and may even make an attempt to reach Heart Lake along an unmaintained portion of the Heart Lake Trail. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Browder Ridge and Sahalie & Koosah Falls

Tags Browder Ridge, Gate Creek Trailhead, Heart Lake Trail, hiking, Koosah Falls, McKenzie River, McKenzie River Trail, Oregon, Sahalie Falls, Waterfalls Loop Trail

Hiking McKenzie River Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Castle Rock

We continue to have to swap out our originally scheduled hikes due to the above normal snow levels and late melt this year. Our most recent hike to Castle Rock was the result of one such switch. Castle Rock it the site of a former lookout tower atop a 3808′ rocky outcrop. Castle Rock is located near the McKenzie River off Highway 126 approximately 5 miles beyond Blue River. There are several possible trailheads that can be used to reach the lookout site including an option at the end of Road 480 that would make the hike less than three miles. For our visit we chose to begin at the King Castle Trailhead. A map at this trailhead showed the entire O’Leary Trail Complex.

The trails in the area are open to mountain bikes and we did see a handful of riders but not until we were well into our descent. The King Castle Trail was in excellent shape as it passed through the forest.

There were lots of woodland flowers in bloom.

Star flower and queen’s cup

Foam Flower

Inside-out Flower

2017-06-03 12.33.09
Anemone

Wild Ginger

2017-06-03 12.25.06 Wintergreen

Northern Phlox

Striped coralroot

2017-06-03 12.07.50
Spotted coralroot

Rhododendron

2017-06-03 12.24.03
Wild rose

The trail climbed approximately 1500′ in almost 4 miles to a crossing of Road 480.

The trail continued on the far side of the road where it climbed for a bit before dropping slightly to a junction with the Castle Rock Trail.

A dogwood tree was in full bloom near this junction.

We turned right onto the Castle Rock Trail which climbed for another half mile to a junction with a trail from the upper trailhead along Road 480.

None of the climb had seemed particularly steep considering we knew we had a total of 2600′ to gain from the trailhead. We were expecting the final mile to seem quite a bit steeper but the trail made great use of switchbacks leaving the final 700′ to feel only slightly harder than the earlier 1900′. The flowers along the final mile had changed from those we had seen at the lower elevations. Here fairy slippers and vanilla leaf were still blooming.

It had been an overcast morning and now we were climbing up into the clouds.

It was cool but not cold. Although, for a rubber boa, that we spotted next to a tree along the trail, it was way to chilly.

The trail switchbacked up to a meadow near some rocky cliffs where we found a surprisingly nice display of wildflowers.

Bindweed

A saxifrage

Cat’s ear lilies

2017-06-03 10.40.16 Annual agoseris

Prairie star and plectritis

Monkeyflower

Butterflies on buckwheat

Ookow getting ready to bloom

2017-06-03 10.51.14 Yellowleaf iris

2017-06-03 10.49.54 Sorrel

At the top of the meadow there was a viewpoint to the NE (with no view today) where several other flowers stood out.
2017-06-03 10.52.14 Parsley

Larkspur

Penstemon

Paintbrush

The trail then climbed past some black oaks, chinkapin trees and a madrone to the old lookout site.

With the clouds surrounding us we weren’t going to be getting a view of the Three Sisters so we explored the rocks looking for more wildflowers before taking a break at the lookout site.

After resting and eating lunch, we headed back down through the little meadow. Here we noticed that there were little beetles on one particular type of plant.

2017-06-03 10.45.45

Neither of us had noticed them on the way up but they were on every one of those plants. It’s amazing how much we miss even when we think we are paying close attention. 🙂

Another example of that were the many candy sticks we noticed on the way back to the car. We had seen one a little ways off the trail on our way up to Castle Rock, but on the return trip we noticed at least a dozen others popping up along the trail.

The sun came out near the end of our hike leaving us to wonder if there would be a view at the top in the afternoon. One of the few drawbacks of starting first thing in the morning is that we often reach viewpoints before the morning clouds have burned off.
2017-06-03 12.32.33

Even without the view though this had been a really nice 12.2 mile hike. It’s certainly one that we’d do again, especially since we didn’t get the view, and given it’s relatively low elevation it’s a good option when there is still snow higher up.
Happy Trails!

Flickr: Castle Rock

Tags Castle Rock, Castle Rock Trail, hiking, King Castle Trail, McKenzie River, Monkeyflower, Northern Phlox, O'Leary Trail Complex, Oregon, Rubber boa, Vanilla Leaf, Wild ginger

Hiking McKenzie River Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Clear Lake

We wanted to get one last hike in on the way home from Central Oregon. Originally we’d planned on hiking up to the summit of the Middle Pyramid on the Three Pyramids Trail, but we were greeted with clouds and rain as we came to Santiam Pass. Knowing there wouldn’t be any views we changed our plans and headed to Clear Lake 10 miles south of the Santiam Jct. on Highway 126.

The McKenzie River begins at Clear Lake where old lava flows created the lake by covering and damming the river. On a clear day The Three Sisters and Mt. Washington can be seen from various points around the lake but with the clouds we would be content with the clear, colorful water of the lake.

We began our counter-clockwise loop at a picnic area near the Clear Lake Resort.

The trail passed through a nice Douglass Fir forest with glimpses of the lake to our left where we spotted our first on trail beargrass of the year.

At about the one mile mark on an arm of the lake which feeds the McKenzie we got our first taste of the draw of Clear Lake.

A footbridge led us over the outlet of the McKenzie River to the eastern shore of Clear Lake.

The trail on the eastern side spent more time in the open and closer to the lake as it crossed over several lava flows. Here we spotted several birds, ducks, and colorful wildflowers.
Ouzel

Penstemon

Tiger Lily

Merganser and her ducklings

Wild Rose

Stellars Jay

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Washington Lily

Another family of ducks

The water in the lake became more colorful as we arrived across the lake from the resort.

Shortly after passing the resort on the far shore we came to the Great Springs which feed the lake with 38 degree water allowing the lake to remain unfrozen all year. They emptied into a beautiful small pool reminiscent of the Tamolitch Pool which lies further down the McKenzie.

After the Great Springs the trail crosses Fish Lake Creek on a footbridge. This creek only flows during the Spring snow melt.

Finally we swung out around an arm of the lake where Ikenick Creek flows into the lake.

Back on the west side of the lake we were again in the fir forest where many white woodland flowers were in bloom.

We quickly reached the resort area which was busy with campers. The picnic area was just on the other side and before we knew it our Central Oregon hiking tour was over (for now). Happy Trails!

flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157644778548280/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deryl.yunck/media_set?set=a.10204239083124439.1073741887.1448521051&type=1

Tags Barrow's Goldeneye, Clear Lake, ducklings, Fish Lake Creek, Great Springs, hiking, Ikenick creek, McKenzie River, Merganser, Oregon, Ouzel, Stellars Jay

Hiking McKenzie River Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Tamolitch Pool

Amazing! That is a good start in describing Tamolitch Pool which was the highlight of our most recent hike. Beautiful, gorgeous, and spectacular would also be fitting. We were looking for a good rainy day hike and decided on a section of the McKenzie River Trail in the Willamette National Forest. We had hiked a different section of the trail in September that passed Sahalie & Koosah Falls. This time we would start further down the McKenzie River with Koosah Falls being our turn around point.

We arrived armed with our rain gear and set off through a lush, damp forest. The trail quickly descended to the river, crossed two creeks on bridges, and traveled next to the McKenzie for awhile. It then climbed above the river as it crossed an old lava flow with moss covered rocks and numerous views to the roaring river below.

Our first view of Tamolitch Pool came just after the 2 mile mark. It was one of those “take your breath away” moments. The pool sits in a small bowl below a dry waterfall. The crystal clear water offers a view to the bottom and is a blue that is truly stunning.

We spent some time exploring the rim of the bowl watching the McKenzie River flow full speed ahead from this still pool’s outlet.

After a snack we continued up the trail following the now dry riverbed toward Koosah Falls. Somewhere below us the McKenzie River flowed underground, buried by a lava flow, on it’s way to Tamolitch Pool. The forest along this portion of the trail changed often as we crossed the old riverbed on a series of log bridges. After another 3 miles we reached Carmen Reservoir (and most importantly bathrooms) where the McKenzie was once again visible above ground. Another 0.4 mile stretch brought us to Koosah Falls and our turn around point.

On our way back we stopped again at the pool which was just as stunning now as it was in the morning. Round trip to the pool from the trail head at Trailbridge is only 4.2 miles. Koosah Falls is a little over 11 but can be visited from the nearby Sahalie Falls parking area on a 2 mile loop. The McKenzie River Trail runs a total distance of 26.5 miles with numerous access points making it easy to do the entire trail in shorter sections. Until next time – Happy Trails 🙂

Photos from the hike on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201255605619366.1073741832.1448521051&type=3
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157633751250296/

Tags hiking, Koosah Falls, McKenzie River, Oregon, Tamolitch Pool, Willamette National Forest