Tag: Mt. Hood National Forest

Underhill Trail & Eightmile Loop – 06/14/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 16, 2025
2 Comments on Underhill Trail & Eightmile Loop – 06/14/2025

We’re continuing to whittle away at the hikes contained in Matt Redder’s various guidebooks (Off the Beaten Trail!) and were down to just two of the 55 hikes from the second edition of “Off the Beaten Trail”. One of those is a bit too far from Salem to be a day hike, but the Underhill Trail is just a 2:15 drive if traffic is cooperative. Leaving between 4:45 and 5am usually means that traffic isn’t a problem on the way to trailhead, but coming home is always a different story.

Reeder’s suggested hike for the Underhill Trail is an out-and-back to Fifteenmile Creek which for us came to 6.3-miles with approximately 1600′ of elevation gain.
Clearly the trail has been realigned based on where the map shows it is and where our track shows we were.

Since that hike alone would have led us to violating our self-imposed rule of not spending more time driving than hiking on day hikes we wanted to add some hiking miles. We had some options including continuing down Fifteenmile Creek three miles on a seldom used section of trail. We also could have hiked upstream along Fifteenmile Creek, but we had hiked the trails leading upstream in 2016 on an 11.9-mile loop (post). The third option was to try another nearby hike which is the option we chose. We picked the Eightmile Loop based on its proximity to the Underhill Trail (less than 5 miles) and length.

We began our day at the Underhill Site.

Scarlet gilia with the Underhill Site picnic shelter in the background.

The Underhill Trail began next to a signboard and descended to cross Forest Road 4450.

Balsamroot

Penstemon

Rosy pussytoes

Lomatium

Paintbrush

Forest Road crossing.

Shortly after crossing the road we passed an old fence and then came to a fork in the trail.

Here the Old Cabin Loop Trail headed left while the Underhill Trail continued straight ahead. We decided to turn onto the Old Cabin Loop after looking at the map and seeing that it wouldn’t add too much distance to the hike (it added about a third of a mile).

The abandoned East Loop splits off from the Old Cabin Loop shortly beyond the Underhill Trail.

The Old Cabin Loop descended to a footbridge over Ramsey Creek where Scouts from nearby Camp Baldwin had placed some benches.

Ramsey Creek

After crossing Ramsey Creek the trail climbed to an unmarked junction with the Underhill Trail.

The first Queen’s cup blossom that we’d seen this year.

The junction with the Underhill Trail.

We turned left on the Underhill Trail and climbed gradually to Logging Gulch Road atop a ridge.

Penstemon along the trail.

View of the opposite ridge from the trail.

Sliverleaf phacelia

Rayless arnica

Honeysuckle and snowberry

There were no signs at the road crossing but a small rock on top of a larger rock to the left on the far side of the road marked the continuation of the Underhill Trail.

Lookout Mountain (post) from the road.

Closer look at Lookout Mountain.

After crossing the road the Underhill Trail starts a 1.8-mile descent to Fifteenmile Creek. While this section of the trail loses over 800′ of elevation it managed to do so without ever feeling too steep. This was accomplished by good use of switchbacks and hopping ridges a couple of times.

Yarrow and white-stemmed frasera

There was a lot of white-stemmed frasera blooming which was exciting because we had been too early for the bloom when we were in the area Memorial Day Weekend (post).

Flag Point is the highest point to the left and Lookout Mountain is behind the tree.

Buckwheat

Diamond clarkia

Onion

Nevada deervetch

Balsamoot covering the hillside. We were a few weeks late for the balsamroot bloom, but getting to see so much white-stemmed frasera made up for it.

Onion

Passing over a ridge.

Grand collomia

Gently heading down an open ridge.

Mt. Hood making an appearance.

Mt. Hood

Desert yellow fleabane

Pacific coralroot

The junction with the Fifteenmile Creek Trail.

Fifteenmile Creek

We took a short break at the creek before starting the climb back up to the Underhill Site. The reasonable grade of the trail kept the climb from feeling overly difficult.

Mt. Hood from the Underhill Trail.

Sagebrush false dandelion

Western sulphur

Balsamroot covered hillside.

Beetles on white-stemmed frasera

Brief glimpse of Mt. Adams through the trees.

Swallowtail

Woodland stars

Lupine

We went left sticking to the Underhill Trail when we reached the junction with the Old Cabin Loop Trail.

Vanilla leaf lining the trail.

Footbridge over Ramsey Creek.

Old cabin ruins near Ramsey Creek.

Steep set of stairs leading up from the creek.

Passing the upper junction with the Old Cabin Loop Trail.

During the hike Heather was dealing with a blister on her foot which wasn’t causing a problem yet, but she was a little concerned that doing the whole Eightmile Loop might be pushing it. We’d talked about it and came up with a plan. I would drop her off at the Bottle Prairie Trailhead where we had originally planned to start the loop. I would then take the car to the day-use area at Eightmile Campground and start the loop from that trailhead. This would allow me to be following behind Heather and possibly catch up to her at the Fivemile Butte Lookout, and Heather would be able to skip approximately 3-miles of the loop along Eightmile Creek while still getting to see the views from the lookout site. It took just ten minutes to drive to the day-use area after dropping Heather off and I was quickly on my way behind her.

Please note that this campground is one of several that the Forest Service has contracted private concessionaires to manage and there is a $10.00/day parking fee for day-use. An annual NW Forest Pass is accepted in lieu of the fee but a single day NW Forest Pass and some interagency passes may not be. There is conflicting information online through the Forest Service website and what is posted at the trailhead.
Signage at the trailhead still shows that a variety of passes are honored there but the link for the campground provided above only lists the annual NW Forest Pass as accepted.

I followed the trail from the parking area down to Eightmile Creek and crossed it on a footbridge.

Beyond Eightmile Creek the trail switchbacked up to a crossing of Forest Road 4430 and then to a junction starting the actual loop.

The trail also crossed the campground road before climbing to FR 4430.

Raceme pussytoes

img src=”https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54590353341_97b8774ccf.jpg” width=”500″ height=”375″ alt=”IMG_3383″/>
FR 4430

Sticky cinquefoil

The start of the Eightmile Loop.

The loop is more popular with mountain bikers than hikers, in fact we saw no other hikers on any of the day’s trails. We did see around a dozen mountain bikers on the loop trails though.
Clockwise provides the gentlest climbing for the loop which is the direction we were hiking so I went left.

The trail gradually climbed for a little over 2.5-miles gaining over 650′ before arriving at the Bottle Prairie Trailhead.

Lupine

Columbine

The creek wasn’t visible for much of the 2.5-miles, but it was always within earshot.

Vanilla leaf

About a mile into the loop the trail crossed Eightmile Creek.

Eightmile Creek

Bunchberry

Western Jacob’s ladder

Arnica

Trillium

Valerian

Tall mountain bluebells

Eightmile Creek to the right of the trail.

Forest Road 120 near the Bottle Prairie Trailehad.

The Bottle Prairie Trailhead.

I located the sign for the continuation of the Eightmile Loop and headed up the trail.

Just beyond that trail sign I came to a fork where I went right on the unsigned Bottle Prairie Trail (the left fork was the Knebal Springs Trail

I learned later that Heather had gone left a short distance before realizing the mistake, something I too almost did.

A 0.4-mile climb brought me to another fork where the Bottle Prairie continued left and the Eightmile Loop split off to the right.

Duksy horkelia

Silvercrown along the trail.

This hillside was covered in buckwheat.

The OregonHikers Field Guild mentioned a short detour up the Bottle Prairie Trail to visit Perry Point, the site of a former crow’s nest lookout. At some point in the future we plan to hike a loop using the Bottle Prairie and Knebal Springs Trails and we will pass Perry Point then so I could have skipped the extension, but that’s just not in my nature so left I went.

I followed the Bottle Prairie Trail uphill a little over a quarter mile to a spur trail signed for Perry Point.

Flowers along the trail.

Penstemon, false sunflower, and scarlet gilia.

The spur trail toward Perry Point.

It was about two tenths of a mile out to the rocky point.

I failed to look for the remains of the old crow’s nest although there appears to be a small board at the top of the fir tree in the center.

Mt. Adams between the trees.

Lookout Mountain from Perry Point.

Larkspur

After visiting the point I returned to the Eightmile Loop and turned left.

After a brief climb the trail gradually descended to a saddle where it crossed Rail Hollow Road.

Orange agoseris

Vanilla leaf

Anemones

On the far side of the road the trail once again began climbing. It was a gentle climb through some recent thinning activities which are intended to help stop invasive insect damage to the areas trees.

Moth on yarrow.

View toward Central Oregon.

The trail stayed below the top of the ridge where Rail Hollow Road was.

View toward Lookout Mountain.

A little over half a mile from the crossing of Rail Hollow Road I forked left at this unsigned junction to visit the Fivemile Butte Lookout where Heather was waiting.

The rentable Fivemile Butte Lookout. Because the lookout is actively rented the Forest Service asks other visitors not to go up the tower.

Heather was sitting at a picnic table below the lookout and said she’d only been there about 15 minutes. She let me know where the views of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Rainier were.

Mt. Hood from below the lookout.

Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier from a path to the north of the lookout.

Mt. Adams with Mt. Rainier to the left.

Paintbrush and yarrow.

Rosy pussytoes

After a short break at the picnic table I started to get a little too warm in the sunlight and we resumed the hike together. From the junction with the spur to the lookout the trail began a series of long switchbacks that brought us down the hillside 1.6-miles to the junction at the start of my loop.

Large-flower triteleia

Stonecrop

Duskywing on penstemon.

The hill was fairly steep but the switchbacks made the descent nice and gradual.

Lupine and paintbrush along the trail.

Western tanager

Twinflower

Signs below marking the start/end of the loop.

After completing the loop we made our way to the car, changed shoes, and headed home. My hike including the side trips wound up coming in at a very fitting 8-miles.

My hike included approximately 1400′ of elevation gain.

These were a fun pair of hikes with lots of wildflowers and good variety in the forest types. Our timing was good for the flowers on the Eightmile Loop and okay for the Underhill Trail although as I mentioned earlier May would have been better for catching the balsamroot bloom there. We were also pleasantly surprised by how reasonably graded these trails were after a couple of extremely steep hikes in the area over Memorial Day Weekend. We’re looking forward to heading back to the area to experience more of the trails in the future. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Underhill Trail and Eightmile Loop

Tags Bottle Prairie Trail, Bottle Prairie Trailhead, Eightmile Campground, Eightmile Creek, Eightmile Loop, Fifteenmile creek, Fivemile Butte Lookout, hiking, Mt. Hood National Forest, Old Cabin Loop, Oregon, Perry Point, Ramsey Creek, Underhill Site, Underhill Trail, wildflowers

Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Devil’s Peak Loop (Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness) – 10/07/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 10, 2024
4 Comments on Devil’s Peak Loop (Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness) – 10/07/2024

I have a little more vacation time than Heather which means flying solo from time to time. For those solo outings I try and pick hikes to places we’ve already visited or hikes that Heather doesn’t mind missing out on. The latter tend to either be long hikes (14+ miles) or have significant elevation gains >3000′, or a combination of both. One such hike that I’ve had my eyes on for a while was a long loop in the Salmon-Huckelberry Wilderness combining the Salmon River, Green Canyon Way, Hunchback, and Kinzel Lake Trails.

I began the loop at the Salmon River West Trailhead and started the loop clockwise on the Salmon River Trail.
Not having light until after 7am is rough for someone who likes to get an early start.

The Salmon River Trail is located next to this interpretive sign near the trailhead.

A flash was necessary as I set off.

We’d been on this section of trail in 2015. I followed this level path for half a mile to the Green Canyons Campground, another potential starting point for this hike.
There was a very brief road walk along this section.

There was also plenty of time along the Salmon River.

I veered right at this picnic table to cross into the campground.

The day use area at the campground.

I walked through the day use area to the campground entrance then crossed Salmon River Road to find the start of the Green Canyon Way Trail.
Water spigot at the day use area.

It was hard to read the date for this cougar sighting, it appeared to be from June, but I couldn’t make out the year.

The Green Canyon Way Trail gains 2400′ in 3.2-miles to reach the Hunchback Trail, a 9.1-mile-long trail traversing Hunchback Ridge. Green Canyon Way was in pretty good shape, with just a few smaller trees to step over. The climb was well graded which kept it from ever feeling too steep.
Entering the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

One of the downed trees, this one covered both sides of a switchback.

A rare viewpoint along the forested trail.

A level stretch along a narrow ridge.

A healthy looking paintbrush.

The Sun rising above Hunchback Ridge.

It was going to a be a bluebird day.

Sign ahead marking the Hunchback Trail junction.

We had hiked a 5.6-mile section of the Hunchback Trail in 2020 starting at the trails north end at the Lower Hunchback Trailhead. I turned SE (right) at the junction and followed the trail up and down (mostly up) along Hunchback Ridge for 2.4-miles to a junction below Devil’s Peak.

One of the “downs”.

This trail was also in good shape with just a few easy obstacles.

I did not go investigate the source of the “water”, it could have been a trap (there is a spring shown on the map).

Signs at the junction below Devil’s Peak.

I detoured uphill to the right for 100 yards to the Devil’s Peak Lookout.

We were here back in 2018 when the lookout was still open to the public for use. I took a short break here to take in the views before continuing the loop.
Mount Jefferson

Olallie Butte (post) and Mt. Jefferson

The lookout from the Mt. Jefferson viewpoint.

Mt. Hood from the lookout.

You can’t see Mt. Jefferson from the lookout due to trees.

I continued on the Hunchback Trail passing the Cool Creek Trail in another 105 yards and began a 1.25-mile descent to the Devil’s Peak Trailhead. Note that the drive to this trailhead requires traveling nearly 10 miles on an awful road that Sullivan describes as a “nightmare”.
Trail signs at the Cool Creek Trail junction.

Lookout Mountain(post), Gunsight Butte (post), and Bonney Butte (post) along the far ridge.

Mt. Hood from the Hunchback Trail.

Arriving at the trailhead on FR 2613.

It’s hard to make out in the photo but that is a giant pothole (crater) in the middle of the road seen from the trailhead.

A short walk along the roadbed led to the Kinzel Lake Trail on the right.
That is the trailhead at the end of the road on the right.

I turned down the Kinzel Lake Trail and after a third of a mile came to an unsigned junction with a spur trail to Kinzel Lake on the left.

I turned down the spur trail which dropped steeply then made two more steep up and downs before arriving at an old campground at the small lake in a little over a quarter mile.

After checking out the lake I climbed back up to the Kinzel Lake Trail and continued downhill another two miles where I turned right on the Salmon River Trail.
There were some nice Fall colors along the Kinzel Lake Trail.

There were also a few obstacles that were trickier than anything on the other trails involved in this loop.

Salmon Butte (post)

Nearing the Salmon River Trail.

Trail sign at the Salmon River Trail junction.

I turned right on the Salmon River Trail. We had hiked this section of trail during an overnight trip in 2018

It was approximately 6-miles from the junction back to the trailhead. I bypassed most of the viewpoints this time since we’d visited them on previous trips, and this was already a long enough hike without adding more detours.

There wasn’t much water at all in any of the side creeks.

There are several viewpoints just over 3.5-miles from the trailhead.

The furtherst hump in the center is Huckleberry Mountain (post).

Wilderness kiosk along the trail. There were self-issued permits here, but none at Green Canyon Way so I stopped and filled one out even though I was almost done with my hike (and out of the wilderness).

Salmon River

There were a couple of good-sized fish in the pool here.

The trail arriving back at the trailhead.

The first people I saw all day had been camped along the river near Goat Creek, and in total I saw less than 20 people, nearly all in the last three and a half miles. The hike itself showed 16.5-miles on the GPS and included over 4350′ of elevation gain.

This was a challenging but nice loop. My only wish is that it had been 15 to 20 degrees cooler. Clockwise was definitely the way to go in order to get the bulk of the climbing over with during the cooler morning hours. The Kinzel Lake Trail also seemed slightly steeper than the Green Canyon Way Trail making the climb up to Hunchback Ridge a little easier. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Devil’s Peak Loop

Tags Devil's Peak, Devil's Peak Lookout, Green Canyon Way Trail, Green Canyons Campground, hiking, Hunchback Ridge, Hunchback Trail, Kinzel Lake, Kinzel Lake Trail, Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon, salmon river, salmon river trail, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Boy Scout Ridge – 10/06/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 7, 2024
No Comments on Boy Scout Ridge – 10/06/2024

We try and get to the Mt. Hood Wilderness at least once a year and this year’s visit kicked off our October hikes. The one area where we hadn’t really been on the mountain was the SE side along the White River. The Pacific Crest Trail climbs on the mountain on that side crossing Highway 35 near Barlow Pass and following Boy Scout Ridge joining the Timberline Trail in approximately 3.75 miles and continuing on to Timberline Lodge. We weren’t planning on going quite as far as Timberline Lodge this time, but we were planning on a loop in the middle of the hike utilizing the Yellowjacket Ski Trail and Upper White River Trail.

It was a little wet, and 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 Celsius) when arrived at the nearly empty Barlow Pass Trailhead.
We had also parked here in 2021 for our Barlow Butte hike (post).

The PCT passes just east of the parking area and can be accessed behind the signboard near a picnic table or as it crosses the Barlow Wagon Road which is where we hopped on this time.

We followed the trail for a quarter mile through forest before joining an old roadbed where we turned right to reach the Highway 35 crossing.

On the far side of the highway the trail climbed gradually through a nice forest arriving at the Yellowjacket Trail junction in just under 2-miles.
The colors of Fall.

Tom, Dick, and Harry Mountain (post) catching the morning Sun.

Mt. Hood teased an appearance a couple of times along the lower portion of the PCT. It was enough to see that there was a dusting of fresh snow on the mountain.

The signed junction with the Yellowjacket Trail.

We turned right onto the Yellowjacket Trail and followed the faint tread nearly a mile down to the White River.

The wet brush had me whishing I’d worn boots.

The Yellowjacket Trail passing a small meadow.

Makeshift footbridge along the trail.

The trail came to a muddy track used to access a set of powerlines where we turned right. We followed the muddy track downhill and crossed the South Fork Mineral Creek on a metal bridge.

We stayed on this roadbed until we reached a road junction at the river where we turned left. Here we had a pretty good view of the mountain.

New snow on Mt. Hood.

The roadbed followed a levee along the river’s debris plain providing spectacular views.

The valley is the result of an eruption around 250 years ago.

Pacific lupine

At the end of the levee the route climbed a moraine then continued its gradual ascent to the Timberline Trail.

Dark-eyed junco. There was a good variety of birds along the moraine, but this was the only one that sat still long enough to have its picture taken.

Frost on a log. It was really nice to be hiking in the crisp cool air.

Boy Scout Ridge from the moraine.

The unsigned junction with the Timberline Trail.

We turned left on the Timberline Trail and made a fairly steep 0.4-mile climb to Pacific Crest Trail at a junction in a meadow.
Mt. Hood from the junction.

Sign for the PCT nearly absorbed by the tree.

Lupine (broadleaf?)

A few remaining blooms on the goldenrod.

Signpost at the PCT junction ahead.

We turned right on the PCT heading for a viewpoint described on Oregonhikers.org. It was a scenic three quarters of a mile to the viewpoint. Along the way we spotted a coyote hunting in the meadows below the trail.

The coyote with Mt. Hood looming behind.

Mt. Jefferson to the south with the Three Sisters behind to the left.

The Three Sisters and Mt. Jefferson

The round peak along the far ridge is Gunsight Butte (post) and Bonney Butte (post) is along the broad rise to its right.

We’d lost sight of the coyote until it ran across the trail not too far in front of us.

More lupine

A few remaining aster blossoms in the foreground.

Timberline Lodge across the Salmon River Canyon.

Looking back down the White River Valley. Barlow Ridge is the near hump on the right.

Another look at Timberline Lodge.

Despite all the cars at the lodge we would only encounter a half dozen other trail users until we were back at the Barlow Pass Trailhead.

Small waterfall below the ridge.

Heather stopped at the viewpoint, which was at a high point above the waterfall. I continued on a short distance just to make sure that was indeed the viewpoint described in the Oregonhikers Field Guide.
I turned around here where the Timberline Trail headed across the Salmon River drainage. The Silcox Hut is straight ahead on the side of the mountain.

Looking back at the high point where Heather had stopped.

I headed back to Heather and after a short break we started back down the PCT.
Mt. Hood’s summit.

The waterfall looking pretty small far below the mountain.

It took us a moment to decide what the dark rounded peak straight ahead in the distance was. We eventually correctly identified it as Black Butte (post).

Olallie Butte (post) in front of Mt. Jefferson.

Birds on mountain ash.

The Timberline Trail junction.

We stayed straight on the PCT leaving the Timberline Trail and descending through the mountain forest past the Yellowjacket Ski Trail and back to Highway 35.
Beargrass meadow, there hadn’t been any blooms this year.

Lousewort

It was nearly 2-miles between the Timberline and Yellowjacket trail junctions.

We were shocked to see a bunchberry that still had some petals, even if they were in sad shape.

Mushrooms and fungi are not surprising this time of year.

Highway 35

We had no problem dashing across the highway and then made our way back to the now nearly full Barlow Pass Trailhead.
Arriving at the Barlow Road.

The hike came in just over 11-miles for me with close to 2000′ of elevation gain. Stopping at the viewpoint would have put the hike around 10.7-miles.

This was a great Fall hike. The views were amazing, and the cool temperatures helped it from getting too hot during the exposed climb. It was also really nice to get a track on the map to fill in the blank area around Mt. Hood.
Our various hikes around the mountain. There are still a few areas where we could add a track or two. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Boy Scout Ridge

Tags Barlow Road, coyote, hiking, Mt. Hood, Mt. Hood National Forest, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail. Barlow Pass Trailhead, PCT, Timberline Lodge, timberline trail, Upper White River Trail, White River

Clackamas Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Pyramid Lake, Anvil Lake, and High Rock – 09/21/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 23, 2024
No Comments on Pyramid Lake, Anvil Lake, and High Rock – 09/21/2024

Despite hiking regularly for a dozen years there are still plenty of places and trails close enough for a day trip that we’ve yet to make it to. We’ve made it a priority for our outings to involve such places when possible and was the purpose of our most recent outing. Matt Reeder’s “Off the Beaten Trail” (2nd edition) includes an entry for Black Wolf Meadows and High Rock (hike #39), a pair of short hikes in the Clackamas Foothills off of Forest Road 58. Combined, these hikes total right around 4-miles which prompted us to look for another stop we could add and landed on Pyramid Lake which I found using the Oregonhikers.org Field Guide.

We decided to start with the hike to Pyramid Lake and parked along FR 140 whish was the suggested trailhead in the Field Guide entry. This road is narrow and overgrown so expect to pick up some scratches from brush if you decide to drive it.
We parked on the shoulder here and road walked three quarters of a mile to the official trailhead.
This is a good example of why we parked where we did.

The official trailhead.

It’s just 0.2-miles to the lake from this trailhead, but the initial climb is pretty steep. The lake is located within the Roaring River Wilderness. This would be just our second time hiking in that wilderness area joining our 2013 Shellrock & Rock Lakes hike (post).

A pair of Barrow’s goldeneye ducks enjoying a morning swim on the far side of the lake.

We attempted to follow a use trail around the lake, but it quickly petered out in the brush so we called it good and headed back to our car.
The use trail

Mushroom along the road walk back to the car.

This stop came in at 2.6-miles with a little over 300′ of elevation gain, primarily in the initial steep climb from the official trailhead. After returning to FR 58, where we turned left, we continued 1.2-miles to a sign for Anvil Lake. We turned right onto spur road 5800-160 and followed this narrow gravel road 0.4-miles to a pullout on the left at a closed road just beyond the signed Anvil Lake Trail.
The somewhat obscured sign for the Anvil Lake Trail along spur road 5800-160.

The pullout where we parked.

The Anvil Lake Trail was historically part of a Native American route from the Cascade crest to the Estacada area. The trail is fairly level to start and reaches Black Wolf Meadows near the half mile mark.

Old growth cedar along the trail.

There was a variety of large mushrooms on the forest floor along the trail.

There was also a bit of blowdown to climb over.

The edge of Black Wolf Meadows.

Earlier in the year the meadows are rather wet, but today the only moisture was from the morning dew.

Explorers gentian. There were many of these gentians in the meadows, but they all appeared to have finished blooming weeks before.

The trail leaving the meadows.

Soon after leaving the meadows the trail began a gradual descent before reaching a signed junction with a short spur trail to Anvil Lake.

More mushrooms

Rough-skinned newt

Old sign near Anvil Creek.

The dry bed of Anvil Creek.

Coral fungus

The sign for the spur trail ahead on the left.

Pointer for Anvil Lake. According to the Oregon Hikers Field Guide this sign is likely over 50 years old based on the reference to S-502 which is currently known as FR 5820 which is another potential trailhead for this hike.

We turned down the spur trail which dropped somewhat steeply before arriving at the lake in just over 100 yards.

Anvil Lake

Wood duck house reflecting in the lake.

There is just one small campsite at the lake. We’d seen a gentleman heading toward FR 5820 just as the junction with the spur trail had come into view, but there was no one at the lake now. After a brief break we headed back. It was interesting to find that in the short amount of time that had passed since our first trip through Black Wolf Meadows nearly all of the dew was now gone.

This stop was just slightly longer than the hike at Pyramid Lake, coming in at 2.7-miles. The elevation gain was just 190′ and a lot more gradual than it had been at Pyramid Lake.

We hopped back in our car, returned to FR 58, and turned right to continue another 0.6-miles to a signed junction where we veered right following a pointer for High Rock. After another paved mile we turned into a large unsigned pullout for our final hike of the day to High Rock.

Mt. Hood from the pullout.

We started up a rough road on the eastern side of the pullout.

While open the road is rough and 4wd is almost certainly a must (there was one pickup up at the end of the road and Heather saw a Subaru turn around and head down while I was exploring the rock outcrops.)

At the 0.4-mile mark the road turns sharply left while a jeep track launches steeply up a hill (where it really shouldn’t).

The road continuing to the left.

Mt. Jefferson, the tops of the Three Sisters, and Three Fingered Jack from the road.

Olallie Butte (post), Mt. Jefferson, the Three Sisters, and Three Fingered Jack.

I decided to head straight uphill on the jeep track to see what the view was like from the rocks here while Heather continued on the road to the former lookout site.
Mt. Hood with Mt. Adams behind to the left.

The view south toward Mt. Jefferson.

View along the rocky ridge.

I followed use trails along the ridge eventually gaining a view of the outcrop where the lookout site had been.
Heather is the orange dot climbing up the side of the outcrop.

I had to drop down to a saddle where the road had ended. The pickup was parked here near a camp a couple of gentlemen had set up.
Mt. Hood from the saddle.

I climbed up a fairly steep and rocky slope to join Heather at the former lookout site where we took a break and enjoyed the 360-degree view.
Signal Buttes is the pointy peak on the left and Salmon Butte (post) is the rounded peak hump on the right.

Salmon Butte now in the middle with Linney Butte the hump on the right of the double humps in the foreground and Devil’s Peak (post) the high point to the right of Linney Butte.

Linney Butte, Devil’s Peak, Mt. Adams in the distance, and Mt. Hood.

Wolf Peak in the foreground which is above Black Wolf Meadows.

Mt. Jefferson from the former lookout site.

Peaks in the Bull-of-the-Woods and Opal Creek Wilderness areas in the distance to the left and Fish Creek Mountain (post) in the distance to the right behind a ridge.

The remains of the lookout on High Rock.

A zoomed in shot of Mt. Adams.

Mt. Rainier rising behind Devil’s Peak.

When it was time to head back we located a more gradual trail down to the saddle.

I stopped to take a picture of the golden-mantled ground squirrel posing on the large boulder. As I was taking the photo I noticed a pika dashing across the rocks. The pika is just barely visible below the lark dark rock to the left of the tree when zoomed in far enough.

The ground squirrel watching us as we passed below.

Skipper along the road on the way down.

Aster

Red huckleberry leaves with Mt. Jefferson beyond.

The GPS read 1.3-miles for my hike here with a little under 350′ of elevation gain. This made the total for the day 6.6-miles with right around 850′ of elevation gain.

These hikes offered a nice variety of scenery free of crowds. Combining them provided a moderate day with enough hiking to warrant the 90+ mile drive from Salem, and now we can add three more places to the list of where we’ve been. We were treated to an unexpected post hike scene when a young black bear crossed Highway 224 near Promontory Park. At 11:30am we weren’t even considering that a bear might be crossing the road, but that made the third bear I’ve seen in the last 30 days and Heather’s 2nd. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Pyramid Lake, Anvil Lake, and High Rock

Tags Anvil Lake, Anvil Lake Trail, Black Wolf Meadows, High Rock, hiking, Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon, Pyramid Lake, Pyramid Lake Trail, Roaring River Wilderness

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Woodpecker Trail to Jefferson Park – 09/13/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 16, 2024
1 Comment on Woodpecker Trail to Jefferson Park – 09/13/2024

Our first visit to Jefferson Park was way back in 2011 and it made such an impact on us that we revisited yearly up to 2017 when the lightning sparked Whitewater Fire forced us to skip a year. We returned in 2018 (post) and then decided to take a break from our yearly visits. Then in 2020 the Lionshead Fire, driven by strong easterly winds, raced through the area before combining with the Beachie Fire on 9/7/20. There are still closures in effect due to that fire, but the Woodpecker Trailhead has since been reopened and we thought it was time to revisit an old friend.

We had used the Woodpecker Trailhead for our 2016 visit (post) prior to either of the fires impacting the area. This was also before the Central Cascade Wilderness Permits were enacted. Currently the Woodpecker Trailhead only requires a free self-issued permit for day-use which can be obtained at the trailhead. Overnight permits are required for the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness regardless of which trailhead is used from 6/15 to 10/15.

Heather and I had set different goals for the day. I had my sights set on finally visiting Sprague Lake which is located just below Park Ridge (post) and requires off-trail navigation. Heather had set a more sensible goal of stopping at Scout Lake which is the first lake that you reach when entering Jefferson Park from the SW. Given our different goals we established a meeting spot on the west side of Scout Lake and set off at our own paces.
Another reminder that overnight permits are required in the wilderness.

Due to the two recent fires having burned over the entire route of our planned hikes the vast majority of the trails up to Jefferson Park are devoid of any tree cover. Luckily for us it was in the upper 30’s when we set off and the highs were set to be in the upper 50’s in Jefferson Park and low 70’s at the trailhead. It was also forecast to be mostly clear skies as recently cooler temperatures combined with rain and even some snow at higher elevations had helped to suppress the numerous fires currently burning in other parts of the Cascades and eastern Oregon.
Low clouds in the valley.

Mt. Jefferson through some of the snags with a few surviving trees on the right.

After an initial steep climb the trail levels out then descends slightly into a patch of trees that survived the fires. At the 1.2-mile mark it enters the Mount Jefferson Wilderness.

Just under a half mile later the trail climbed to an unsigned junction with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).
Mt. Jefferson from the junction, note the rock cairn on the left marking the PCT.

The cairn at the junction.

We turned left on the PCT and followed it through the fire scars for 2.6-miles to a crossing of Russell Creek.
Triangulation Peak (post) getting hit with sunlight with Whitewater Lake (lower right) in Mt. Jefferson’s shadow.

Whitewater Lake

Triangulation Point and Bocca Cave (Trailheads still closed.)

Tarn 0.3-miles from the junction.

Mt. Jefferson reflecting in the tarn.

Ducks on the tarn.

The Sentinel Hills with Park Butte behind to the right. The Whitewater Trail (post) traverses the hillside below the Sentinel Hills, but that trailhead is also still closed.

The fires did open up fairly consistent views of the mountain.

A few remaining penstemon blossoms.

Heading down to the Russell Creek crossing.

This can be a tricky crossing at times, but there was a makeshift bridge which made it fairly easy this time.

Aster and pearly everlasting near the creek.

Beyond Russell Creek the PCT climbed for half a mile to a junction with the Whitewater Trail where we turned right sticking to the PCT.

We started seeing more trees that had survived the fire as we got closer to Jefferson Park.

Gentians and aster

Grass-of-parnassus

From this junction it was just under a mile to the first of several signed trails leading to Scout Lake off the PCT.
There were patches of burned forest along this stretch.

Approximately 0.4-miles from the junction the trail crosses Whitewater Creek.

From the other side of Whitewater Creek the views of Mt. Jefferson are amazing.

Based on the barred sides I believe this is a black-backed woodpecker.

Unofficial use trails are an issue in Jefferson Park which has prompted the Forest Service to install a number of “Closed for Rehabilitation” sign such as the one on the left side of the trail.

They’ve also added quite a few signs to indicated sanctioned trails. Typically in wilderness areas the Forest Service tries to keep signage to a minimum, but overuse has led them to add additional signs.

Another sign with Park Butte in background.

Since I was headed for Park Ridge I ignored the trails to Scout Lake for now and continued on the PCT for three quarters of a mile beyond the first sign for Scout Lake to a sign for Russell Lake on the right side of the trail.

The last of the pointers for Scout Lake.

PCT heading for Park Butte and Park Ridge.

Russell Lake pointer.

Tags hiking, Jefferson Park, mountain goat, Mt. Hood National Forest, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail, Park butte, PCT, Russell Creek, Russell Lake, scout lake, Sprague Lake, whitewater creek, whitewater trail, Willamette National Forest, Woodpecker Ridge, Woodpecker Trailhead

Clackamas Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Sheepshead Rock, Plaza Lake, and Tumala Mt. – 07/15/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 17, 2023
No Comments on Sheepshead Rock, Plaza Lake, and Tumala Mt. – 07/15/2023

A heat wave arrived for the weekend which had me looking for a hike that might not be too warm. After checking the forecast for a few areas on NOAA the lowest high (78 degrees Fahrenheit) for hikes on our to-do list was in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness near Sheepshead Rock and Plaza Lake.

My original plan for this hike was to start at the Twin Springs Trailhead aka Old Baldy East Trailhead and take the Plaza Trail past Sheepshead Rock to Salmon Mountain then drive (or road walk) on to the Plaza Lake Trailhead to visit the lake. As I was doing more research to prepare for the hike, I read a couple of different reports mentioning a rough 10.5-mile final stretch of road to that trailhead. An alternative was to drive to the Old Baldy West Trailhead, an entirely paved route which according to Google Maps was also an hour shorter drive from Salem. Starting here would put Salmon Mountain out of reach distance wise, but the route would pass the cutoff to Tumala Mountain which we had visited in 2019 (post).

The plan was now set but the day before the hike Heather started feeling a bit under the weather. With her not feeling 100% we decided she would skip this outing. I set off extra early hoping to keep things as cool as possible arriving at the trailhead a little after 6am.

Rhododendron at the trailhead.

I turned right on the Old Baldy Trail and after passing the Eagle Creek Cutoff Trail on my left I quickly remembered how steep some of the climbs were on this trail.
Eagle Creek Cutoff Trail on the left just before the first steep climb.

Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness sign. I would be in and out of the wilderness several times on my route.

Pictures rarely capture the actual steepness of the trails but the third of a mile past this trail sign had me wondering if I was going to be able to complete my planned hike.

The trail leveled out for a short distance allowing me to catch my breath and then dropped to a saddle before climbing again, but at a more reasonable grade.

Starting the descent to the saddle.

The Fanton Trail joins on the right from below around three-quarters of a mile from the Old Badly West Trailhead.

Coral fungus

Approximately 1.25-miles from the trailhead I arrived at a junction with the Tumala Mountain Trail.
The Old Baldy Trail turns left here while the Tumala Mountain Trail continues straight.

A small unreadable sign was the only identifier for the continuation of the Old Baldy Trail. I was a little concerned seeing blowdown on this trail from the junction but as it turned out the trail was in good shape and the trees that were down were easily stepped over.

I had decided to save Tumala Mountain for later since I had already been up to the summit. While it was only a third of a mile, I wasn’t sure about adding the extra distance and elevation on what promised to be a warm day. The other reason for waiting was that the Sun wouldn’t be between myself and Mt. Hood later in the day, and it surely would have been this early.

The Old Baldy Trail descended for a mile losing roughly 500′, most of it in the first third of a mile.

One of four switchbacks in the first 0.3-miles.

Cat’s ear lily

Cascade lily

The trail leveled out as it passed under some rock outcroppings and crossed a scree slope where I heard the distinctive “meeps” of several pikas but was unable to spot any.

Oregon sunshine

Larkspur & ?

Paintbrush

Bunchberry, not sure what is causing the white at the end of the leaves. I’d never noticed that before.

Lupine

View at the scree slope

I’m pretty sure there were at least three pikas down there somewhere.

Tumala Mountain in the center.

From left to right is East Mountain, Thunder Mountain (post), Fish Creek Mountain (post), and Whaleshead. Sadly, all but Thunder Mountain were burned in the 2020 Riverside Fire.

Beyond the scree slope the trail began a gradual half mile climb to a ridge end where it then descended for a quarter mile to the Twin Springs Trailhead.
Little prince’s pine

Cascade lilies, a few lupine and a paintbrush.

Carolina bugbane and foam flower.

Spur trail from the Twin Springs Trailhead (Old Baldy East) on the right.

To reach the Plaza Lake Trail I would need to hike Forest Road 4610 just under a mile from the Twin Springs Trailhead while Sheepshead Rock was another 1.5-miles along what was now the Plaza Trail.
I had been wrestling with whether to visit Sheepshead Rock or Plaza Lake first. It was still early enough that the Sun would likely be influencing the quality of view from Sheepshead Rock and the trail to Plaza Lake would require a 500′ climb back up the half mile Plaza Lake Trail. Visiting the lake first would give the Sun time to travel further West and mean I would be making that climb a little earlier in the day. The argument for Sheepshead Rock first was that the lake was the only source of water along my route and doing the 3.2-mile out-and-back to the viewpoint before the lake would give me a better idea of whether or not I would need to replenish any water for my return hike. (I had brought an extra Hydro Flask full of water along with my usual 3-liters.) In the end visiting Sheepshead Rock first won out due to the water so I stayed straight on the Plaza Trail.

The Plaza Trail climbed very gently through the forest, at first running somewhat parallel to FR 4610 before turning left (North) at an old roadbed. This was the sight of the former Plaza Guard Station. Supposedly there was an old stone fireplace here but I wasn’t able to spot it at all.

Part of the foundation at the former guard station site.

The old road.

The trail continued its gradual climb crossing the “Plaza”, a wide area along the ridge where avalanche lilies were blooming in large numbers.

Mosquitos had been a bit of a nuisance all morning and here every time I stopped for pictures a high-pitched whine reminded me of their presence, so I kept my stops to a minimum.
Not a big beargrass year but there was a few blooming along the trail.

Beyond the Plaza the ridge narrowed and the trail dopped a little to traverse along its side.

I was watching for a small spur trail to the right for Sheepshead Rock and was fooled once.
I went up this trail to find it just immediately dropped back down to the Plaza Trail.

The correct spur to Sheepshead Rock.

I turned up the spur trail and made my up Sheepshead Rock.

Mt. Hood

Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood

Some light scrambling brought me to the top of the rock.

Mt. St. Helens, Goat Rocks, and Mt. Adams in the distance. The high point to the left along the forested ridge is Wildcat Mountain (post).

Mt. St. Helens

Goat Rocks and Mt. Adams

Mt. Hood with the South Fork Salmon River valley below.

Orange agoseris

Oregon sunshine and yarrow

Saxifrage

Penstemon

Bluebells of Scotland

After a nice, albeit warm, break at the viewpoint I headed back toward the Twin Springs Trailhead. When I arrived back at the old roadbed I got a wild hair and decided to turn onto it. A quick check of the map showed that it was a more direct line to FR 4610 allowing me to cut some distance off total mileage for the day. There were a few downed trees along the way but for the most part it was easy walking and I arrived at FR 4610 in 0.3 miles.

I turned left on FR 4610 and followed it for 0.6 miles to a sign on the left for the Plaza Lake Trail Trail.
Valerian

Moth on an arnica.

The Plaza Lake Trail sign on the left.

A very short, rough spur road led to a couple of parking spaces and the start of the Plaza Lake Trail.

The trail made seventeen switchbacks on the way down to the lake. I was thankful for these on the way back up as they kept the trail from ever being too steep.
View from one of the switchbacks.

Pacific coralroot

Bunchberry with the more familiar all green leaves.

Plaza Lake below from the trail.

Twin flower

There were some nice big trees along the trail.

At one time the Plaza Trail continued beyond the lake all the way to the Salmon River but now it effectively ends at the lake. (Note that there didn’t seem to be any viable campsites at the lake which might be one reason there were signs of people having camped at the trailhead.)

I took another break at the lake to watch the dragonflies, change into dry socks, and check my water supply.

Looking up from the lakeshore.

After determining that I had sufficient water for the reminder of my hike I made the climb back up to FR 4610 and followed it back to the Twin Springs Trailhead. During the road walk I was passed by two OHVs, the first other people I had seen all morning.

I’d missed Mt. Hood on the way down.

Mt. Hood

Anemones

Spirea and lupine

A fritillary butterfly.

The former Twin Springs Campground was near the trailhead on the opposite side of FR 4610.

The Twin Springs Trailhead.

Old Baldy Trailhead sign at the Twin Springs Trailhead.

Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness sign (straight ahead) at the Old Bald/Plaza Trail junction.

I turned left onto the Old Baldy Trail and followed it approximately 1.8 miles back up to the junction with Tumala Mountain Trail.
I stopped again at the scree slope to look for pikas. All was quiet as they apparently had retreated underground to avoid the heat, but with more light in the valley below I could make out a green meadow in the trees.

Columbine along the trail.

Grey jay

Back at the Tumala Mountain Trail junction.

Having seen Mt. Hood from the Plaza Lake Trail and seeing that the view was indeed better than it had been earlier I turned left up the Tumala Mountain Trail and made the 0.3-mile climb to its summit.

My first view of Mt. Jefferson on the day.

Mt. Jefferson

A yet to blossom rhododendron.

Fading lousewort and valerian.

A blooming rohdodendron.

I ran into the first other hiker of the day at the former lookout site. She mentioned that she had planned on hiking from the Old Baldy East Trailhead but wound up at the Old Baldy West Trailhead instead. She had put Old Baldy Trailhead as her destination in her driving directions instead of Twin Springs so it took her to the same trailhead I’d started at. The view from the summit was clearer than it had been on my previous visit.
Mt. Hood. The scree slope is also visible through the trees on the hillside to the lower right.

I wandered along the rocky summit a bit to get different views. Along with the hiker at the former lookout site there was a radio operator and another pair of hikers in the area.
Mt. Jefferson in the distance.

Mt. Jefferson

Three Fingered Jack and the Three Sisters

More Cascade lilies.

Mt. St. Helens in the distance.

Mt. St. Helens

A better view of the scree field and the meadows below Tumala Mountain.

Parts of Mt. Adams were also visible, but I wasn’t able to find a spot without trees in the way to get a clear view. Satisfied with the views I headed back down to the Old Baldy Trail and then continued on returning to the trailhead.
Penstemon and lupine.

Passing the Fanton Trail junction on the way back.

Looking at the final climb of the day from the saddle.

With most of the trails passing through forest there was a lot of shade so despite it reaching the 70s by the time I was finishing at Noon it never felt uncomfortably hot. I hadn’t needed all of my 3-liters of water, but I was close to needing to break into the Hydro Flask. The hike itself came in at 12.9 miles with 3240′ of elevation gain. {My shortcut on the closed road from the guard station site to FR 4610 cut 0.6-miles off.)

While I missed having Heather with me the combination of warm weather and mosquitos made this a good one for her to miss. She seemed to be feeling quite a bit better when I got home so hopefully I won’t be heading out solo again in the foreseeable future. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Sheepshead Rock, Plaza Lake, and Tumala Mountain

Tags Fanton Trail, hiking, Mt. Hood National Forest, Old Baldy East Trailhead, Old Baldy Trail, Old Baldy West Trailhead, Oregon, Plaza Guard Station, Plaza Lake, Plaza Lake Trail, Plaza Lake Trailhead, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness, Sheepshead Rock, The Plaza, Tumala Mountain, Tumala Mountain Trail, Twin Springs Campground, Twin Springs Trailhead

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

Laurel Hill Wagon Chute and Barlow Ridge Loop – 10/30/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 4, 2021
2 Comments on Laurel Hill Wagon Chute and Barlow Ridge Loop – 10/30/2021

We ended our hiking season with a bang, a pair of stops along the Barlow Wagon Road with an off-trail adventure, great views and beautiful weather. Created in 1846 the “Barlow Road” provided an alternate route along the Oregon Trail which previously ended at The Dalles where emigrates were forced to find passage down the Columbia River. The 80 mile road led from The Dalles to Oregon City crossing several rivers and the Cascade crest along the way. The wagons also had to navigate Laurel Hill’s steep descent and our first stop of the day was to visit the Laurel Hill Wagon Chute, the steepest drop along the road.

We parked at the small pullout along Highway 26 that serves as the Laurel Hill Trailhead.
Mt. Hood from the trailhead.

We followed the trail uphill on stairs to an abandoned section of the Mt. Hood Highway then turned right to find the bottom of the rocky chute.

The wagon chute.

A trail to the right of the chute led uphill to a 4-way junction where we turned left and followed this path a short distance to the top of the chute.

The left at the 4-way junction.

Looking down the chute.

After reading the sign near the chute and trying to picture actually lowering a wagon down the chute we returned to the old highway walking a short distance past the chute to a viewpoint above Highway 26.

Sunlight starting to hit the SE side of Mt. Hood.

Ravens photo bombing a close up of the mountain.

We backtracked from the viewpoint and descended down the stairs to our car.

We then drove east through Government Camp to Highway 35 before turning right onto FR 3531 at a pointer for Barlow Road and the Pacific Crest Trail. After 0.2 miles we parked at the Barlow Pass Trailhead/Sno-Park. Both the Barlow Wagon Road and the Pacific Crest Trail pass through the trailhead. After parking we headed to a picnic table and sign boards on the south side of the parking area.

The PCT was on our right heading south toward Twin Lakes (post) while the Barlow Wagon Road lay straight ahead.

We followed the wagon road for approximately a tenth of a mile before it joined FR 3530 (Barlow Road).
A portion of the original Barlow Wagon Road.

Barlow Road (FR 3530)

Just 40 yards after joining FR 3530 the Barlow Butte Trail veered downhill at a signpost.

The trail was still following the route of the wagon road as it passed through a forest that was hit hard by last Winter’s storms.

At the half mile mark we came to a junction with the Barlow Creek/Devil’s Half Acre Trail in a small meadow.

Following pointers for the Barlow Butte Trail and Mineral Springs Ski Trail we turned left here.

The trail began a gradual 0.4 mile climb to another junction where the Barlow Butte and Mineral Springs Ski Trail parted ways.

We made a hard right here sticking to the Barlow Butte Trail which quickly entered the Mt. Hood Wilderness.
Wilderness sign along the Barlow Butte Trail.

It was a mile from the junction where the Mineral Springs Ski Trail parted ways to the next junction. The trail climbed gradually at first but soon steepened as it began a series of switchbacks.

Getting steeper.

This was the worst of the blow down we had to navigate on this section.

Nearing the junction.

A small rock cairn marked the junction where a spur trail led left up to the old lookout site on Barlow Butte.

We turned left on the spur trail which began with a great view to the NE of the Badger Creek Wilderness including Lookout Mountain and Gunsight Butte (post)

It was a little chilly with temps in the mid 30’s combined with a stiff breeze adding to the wind chill.

On the right of the far ridge is Bonney Butte (post).

The summit of Barlow Butte is overgrown now with trees but just downhill from the former lookout site was a small rock outcrop with a view of Mt. Hood.

Remains from the lookout.

The Oregon Hikers Field Guide mentions a better viewpoint on yet another rock outcrop below this one but we didn’t scramble down to it. Instead we planned on visiting a couple of other viewpoints on the Barlow Butte Trail further along Barlow Ridge. So after a short break trying to use the trees to block the wind we headed back down to the Barlow Butte Trail and turned left (downhill) at the small rock cairn. The trail passed through a stand of trees before popping out on a rocky spine.
Barlow Butte and the top of Mt. Hood.

Frog Lake Buttes (post) is the hump in the center.

Western larches

Mt. Jefferson behind some clouds.

Sisi Butte (double humps) and Bachelor Mountain (post).

The rocks were a little frosty in spots so we had to watch our footing, especially dropping off the rocks back into the forest.

This is a good point to mention that the Oregon Hikers Field Guide has you turn back here for their Barlow Butte Hike but there is a second hike in the guide, the Barlow Ridge Loop which describes a possible 10.5 mile loop. This hike is listed as a “lost” hike due to the Forest Service having abandoned the trail along the remainder of Barlow Ridge. The Barlow Butte Trail at one time followed the ridge to its end and descended to Klingers Camp. We were keeping the loop option open but were planning on turning back possibly at the high point of the trail.

The next marker along Barlow Ridge was Lambert Rock which we reached a half mile from the small rock cairn on Barlow Butte.

It’s possible to carefully scramble up this rock past a memorial plaque for Dr. Richard Carlyle Lambert who perished while hiking in Utah.

The view of Mt. Hood was spectacular from the rock but the stiff breeze and cold air made for a short stay.
Barlow Butte to the left of Mt. Hood.

If not for the clouds to the south the Three Sisters and Mt. Jefferson would have also been visible from the rock.
Mt. Jefferson still behind some clouds.

Beyond Lambert Rock the trail dropped a bit into a saddle where another small rock cairn marked an unofficial cutoff trail to the left that leads downhill to FR 3560.

We continued to the right on the Barlow Butte Trail and 0.4 miles from Lambert Rock detoured to the right to what we hoped might be another viewpoint. Trees blocked the view north to Mt. Hood and east to Lookout Mountain. Again there would have been a decent view of Mt. Jefferson from this spot but we did have a good view west to Tom Dick and Harry Mountain above Mirror Lake (post)

Parts of Mt. Jefferson peaking through the clouds.

Tom Dick and Harry Mountain (with the rock fields near the top).

We continued on following the increasingly faint trail another third of a mile to it’s high point and another great view of Mt. Hood. While the trail was faint there were often cairns, blazes or diamonds marking the correct path.
Small cairns in a meadow.

One of the aforementioned diamonds.

Approaching the high point.

Clouds were starting to pass over Lookout Mountain at this point.

Mt. Hood from the high point of Barlow Ridge.

Up to this point the trail had been fairly easy to follow and there hadn’t been much blow down over it so we decided to continue along the ridge at least to the point where it started to steepen on it’s way down to Klingers Camp. For the next three quarters of a mile the trail was still visible at times and the occasional marker let us know we were still on the right course.
Carin in the trees ahead.

Elk or deer tracks leading the way.

Another section of frost.

We took this as a blaze.

That blaze led to this large cairn.

Things were starting to get interesting here.

Stopped here to listen for pikas, no luck though.

This could be trail.

Still on the right track, note the folded trail sign on the tree at center.

We lost the trail for good in a small beargrass meadow which was my fault. While I had brought a topographic map that showed where the trail was supposed to be I was navigating primarily based off of what I remembered reading from the Oregon Hikers field guide. I had remembered most of it well but had forgotten the part where “the trail swings off the ridge to the right….”. All I remembered was that the route eventually dropped steeply down the nose of a ridge. Not realizing it was the nose of a different ridge I kept us following Barlow Ridge for another 0.2 miles.
The small meadow.

Officially off-trail now.

This looked like a place the trail would go.

A final look at Mt. Hood from Barlow Ridge.

Not realizing that we were off the trail alignment we decided that the hiking had been easy enough up until now that we would go ahead and try for the loop. Down we headed looking in vain for any sign of trail. Several times we convinced ourselves that we’d found it, but it turns out if it was anything it was game trails.
This doesn’t look so bad.

One of several big trees we encountered.

Little orange mushrooms, how appropriate for Halloween.

Starting to encounter more debris.

If there had been a trail good luck finding it.

Heather coming down behind me.

We lost over 600′ of elevation in three quarters of a mile and things were only getting steeper. It was at this point that I turned my brain on and pulled the map out of Heather’s pack. I quickly saw what I’d done wrong, we were following the wrong ridge line down and should have been one ridge to the SW. The problem now was there was a stream bed between us. We backtracked up hill a bit and followed a game trail across the trickling stream and attempted to traverse over to the correct ridge.
Pretty decent game trail here.

This section was fun.

A bigger orange mushroom.

We struggled down and across, occasionally having to backtrack or veer uphill to find safer passage.
Uphill on this game trail.

Thickets of brush kept us from getting all the way over to the ridge we needed so we just kept going downhill knowing that we would eventually run into one of the forest roads at the bottom.

More steep fun.

We eventually made it to flat ground in a forest of young trees and ferns.

We could tell using our GPS that despite all of that we were only about two tenths of a mile from Klingers Camp. We were even closer to FR 240 and being tired of off-trail travel we headed straight for the road.
Look Ma a road!

We turned right on this road and followed it to a junction with Barlow Road.
It doesn’t look that steep from down here.

Barlow Road.

We turned right onto Barlow Road and followed it 150 yards to Klingers Camp.

After visiting the camp we continued on Barlow Road for five miles back to the Barlow Pass Trailhead. Along the way two pickups drove past us in the other direction. At the 1.6 mile mark we passed the Grindstone Campground and near the 4 mile mark the entrance to the Devil’s Half Acre Campground.

Western larches above Barlow Road.

Grindstone Campground

Barlow Creek

Crossing Barlow Creek near Devil’s Half Acre Meadow.

Clouds on top of Mt. Hood towering over the trees.

Barlow Road at the campground.

Devil’s Half Acre Meadow.

We could have taken the Devil’s Half Acre Trail from the campground to the Barlow Butte Trail but we weren’t sure what the condition was and the Field Guide didn’t mention taking it so we played it safe and trudged up the road.
Finally back to where we’d left the road in the morning.

Arriving back at the Barlow Pass Trailhead

Before we attempted the crazy loop we had planned on also making the 2.2 mile round trip hike to the Pioneer Woman’s Grave on the other side of Barlow Pass and then stopping at the Castle Canyon Trail for a final short hike. Neither of us had any interest in making another stop at this point but we were interested in the grave site. Unfortunately Heather’s plantar was acting up. Surprisingly, given the lack of good ideas we’d displayed so far, we came up with a alternate plan. Heather would drive to the Pioneer Woman’s Grave Trailhead while I hiked the Barlow Wagon Road to it. The trailhead is located right next to the grave site so Heather didn’t have to worry about her plantar and now I only needed to hike a little over a mile downhill.
The first other people (not counting the two drivers in the pickups) that we’d seen all day.

I hustled down the wagon road stopping along the way at another nice Mt. Hood viewpoint.

I did take the time to walk down the road 60 yards to the East Fork Salmon River to check out some stonework and wagon ruts left by the emigrants.
East Fork Salmon River

The 10.5 mile loop hike turned into 12 miles due to our being off course and wandering around trying to figure out where we were going so my day wound up being just under 14 miles total with approximately 3100′ of elevation gain. Heather got all the elevation gain with 1.2 miles less traveled. I probably wouldn’t try that loop again but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t kind of curious what it would be like to actually follow the field guide correctly. Happy Trails!

Loop is in blue with the Pioneer Woman’s Grave in orange.

For reference here is where the trail is shown on the map we were carrying and here is a link to the map in the field guide.

Flickr: Laurel Hill Wagon Chute and Barlow Ridge Loop

Badger Creek Area Hiking Oregon Trip report

Surveryor’s Ridge – 05/22/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 24, 2021
3 Comments on Surveryor’s Ridge – 05/22/2021

For the first time in 2021 we were forced to change plans having to delay our hike at the Ridgefiled Wildlife Refuge until the Kiwa trail reopens. (Nesting sandhill cranes have temporarily closed access as of this writing.) Since Ridgefield was out we looked at our schedule late May 2022 and decided to move up a hike on the Surveryor’s Ridge Trail. We had previously hiked portions of the 16.4 mile long trail as part of our Bald Butte (post) and Dog River Trail (post) hikes. For this visit we planned on hiking the center section of trail to visit Shellrock Mountain and Yellowjacket Point.

There are several possible trailheads for the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail and the Oregon Hikers Field Guide suggests starting at the Shellrock Mountain Trailhead for a 7.9 mile hike. We decided to be a bit different though and chose to park further south along the Forest Road 17 in a large gravel pullout at a spur road on the left. (Coming from FR 44/Dufur Road it is 1.4 miles after turning off of Brooks Meadow Road.)
Mt. Hood partly obscured by clouds from the parking area.

There were three reasons we chose this starting point. First it meant 2.5 miles less driving on gravel roads. Second if you’re visiting both Shellrock Mountain and Yellowjacket Point from the Shellrock Mountain Trailhead you wind up going to one then back past the trailhead to the other because the trailhead is in between the two. The final reason was this way we would get to experience more of the trail (although the tradeoff is an extra 5 miles of hiking round trip).

We followed the spur road downhill just over a hundred yards to the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail crossing.
The signpost is laying on the ground.

We weren’t really sure what to expect out of the trail. It is popular with mountain bikers (we saw maybe a dozen or so on the day) so it is well maintained but we weren’t sure what kind of views it might offer except for at Shellrock Mountain and Yellowjacket Point.

We were pleasantly surprised when just a third of a mile in we came to an opening with a view of Mt. Hood to the west.

The forecast for the day was mostly sunny skies in the morning with a 20% chance of showers developing after Noon. Our drive to the trailhead had been through low clouds/fog with no view of Mt. Hood to speak of so even seeing this much of the mountain was exciting plus a nice lenticular cloud was developing up top.

Over the next two and a quarter miles the trail passed through alternating forest types and several more views of Mt. Hood (and one of Mt. St. Helens). While no snow remained, much of the vegetation was in its early stages although a variety wildflowers were blooming.
Manzanita

Lupine

Mt. Hood again.

Jacob’s ladder

Red-flowering currant

Trillium (can you spot the crab spider?)

Sticky currant

Western larch tree and red-flowering currant on the left.

Larks spur and blue-eyed Mary

Columbine well before blooming.

Anemone

Largeleaf sandwort

Vanilla leaf getting ready to bloom.

Arnica

False solomons seal starting to bloom.

Star-flower false solomons seal prior to blooming.

Ballhead waterleaf

Ponderosa

Scarlet gilia not yet in bloom.

Balsamroot

Hood River Valley and Mt. St. Helens

Mt. St. Helens

Mt. Hood

Indian Mountain (post)

Western serviceberry

Fairy bells

Glacier lily

Shellrock Mountain from the trail.

Just to the south of Shellrock Mountain there is a signed spur to the left for “Shellrock Mountain” which does not go to Shellrock Mountain but rather ends after few hundred feet in a small meadow below the mountain. Despite knowing this we ventured out to the meadow just to check it out.

First paintbrush of the day spotted in the little meadow.

The route to the 4449’summit lays .2 miles further north at the crest of the trail where a rough unsigned user trail veers uphill.
User trail to the left.

The faint trail was fairly well flagged and easy enough to follow through the vegetation to the open rocky slope of Shellrock Mountain.

Once we were out in the open we simply headed uphill to the summit where a lookout once sat. The three-hundred and sixty degree view includes Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier in addition to Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens.

Shellrock Badlands Basin, an eroded volcanic formation.

View east into Central Oregon.

Mt. Hood

Mill Creek Buttes with Lookout Mountain and Gunsight Butte (post) behind to the right.

Buckwheat

Bird below Shellrock Mountain.

We took a nice long break at the summit before descending back to the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail where we continued north.

A whole lot of trillium.

Fairy slippers

Approximately .4 miles from the user trail we arrived at the Shellrock Mountain Trailhead.

Sign at the trailhead.

Continuing beyond the trailhead the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail passed above the Shellrock Badlands Basin with views back to Shellrock Mountain and eventually Mt. Hood again.

parsley and popcorn flower.

Lupine

Over the course of the morning the cloud situation improved substantially, enough that when we arrived at a viewpoint 3/4 of a mile from the Shellrock Mountain Trailhead most of the sky around Mt. Hood was blue.

While Mt. Hood wore a lenticular cloud for a hat, my hat wore an inch worm.

I frequently have insects hitching rides, so often that we joke about me being an Uber for bugs.

Beyond this latest viewpoint the trail began a gradual climb to the former site of the Rim Rock Fire Lookout (approx 1.75 miles from the Shellrock Mountain Trailhead).
Rock out cropping in the Rim Rock section of trail.

Tailed kittentails

Western tanager female

Western tanager male

View from a rocky viewpoint just before crossing from the east side of the ridge back to the top.

Phlox

When the trail regained the ridge crest we took a user trail to a viewpoint where Mt. Hood once again dominated the view.

Hood River Valley

Interestingly the improved visibility of Mt. Hood had been countered by a loss of visibility of the Washington Cascades.
Clouds encroaching on Mt. Adams.

Mt. St. Helens

Another unmarked side trail led to the former lookout site.

The other viewpoint had a better view.

Three tenths of a mile from the lookout site we crossed an old roadbed then crossed a second in another .3 miles.
The first roadbed crossing.

Violets

There was a profusion of Red-flowering currant in between the road crossings.

Trail signs at the second road crossing.

Coralroot sprouting

Four tenths of a mile beyond the second road crossing we thought we had reached Yellowjacket Point when we arrived at an open hillside where we followed a faint path out to some rocks.

Balsamroot and paintbrush

Desert parsley

Western stoneseed

Wildflowers on the hillside.

After another long break (and removing two ticks from my pant legs) we started to head back. Something just didn’t seem right though so we checked our location on the GPS and discovered that we hadn’t quite gotten to Yellowjacket Point yet. We turned around and hiked an additional 0.1 miles to a junction where we turned left.
Sign at the junction.

Spur trail to Yellowjacket Point.

We arrived at Yellowjacket Point a tenth of a mile later.

No yellowjackets, just a robin.

Having finally reached Yellowjacket point we could head back. As usual we kept our eyes open for anything we missed on our first pass.
Things like this gooseberry shrub.

Chipmunk

Townsend’s solitare?

The biggest story on our hike back was the deterioration of the view of Mt. Hood. NOAA had not been wrong about the chance of showers in the afternoon and we watched as the clouds moved in. By the time we had arrived back at the car it had indeed started to sprinkle ever so lightly.
12:40pm

12:50pm

1:00pm

1:30pm

2:04pm

Returning to the parking area at 2:11pm

The 12.9 mile hike came with approximately 1800′ of elevation gain. We were really impressed with the variety of scenery and the views on this hike. Despite being a multi-use trail we didn’t see that many other users; a few trail runners, a couple of hikers, and a dozen or so mountain bikers. All in all a great day in the forest. Happy Trails!

Flicker: Surveryor’s Ridge

Tags hiking, Mt. Hood, Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon, Rim Rock, Rim Rock Fire Lookout, Shellrock Mountain, Shellrock Mountain Trailhead, Surveryor's Ridge, Surveryor's Ridge Trail, Trillium, Western Tanager, wildflowers, Yellowjacket Point

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

West Zigzag Mountain – 7/04/2020

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 6, 2020
3 Comments on West Zigzag Mountain – 7/04/2020

We continued our 4th of July tradition of hiking by checking off another of William L. Sullivan’s featured hikes, West Zigzag Mountain (Hike #68 “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” 4th edition). He actually describes two hikes, a 1.8 mile round trip to Castle Canyon and an 11+ mile round trip to the former West Zigzag lookout site. We chose the longer hike for this visit which starts from Zigzag Mountain Trailhead.
Parking area is just a wide spot in the road.

Two trails start at the trailhead, the Zigzag Mountain Trail heads uphill to the left while the Road 19 Trail follows the closed road to the right. The Road 19 trail connects with the Castle Canyon Trail in 1.1 miles.

After a short steep climb the Zigzag Mountain Trail arrived at a wilderness permit box and Mt. Hood Wilderness map.

After filling out one of the self-issue permits we began to climb. Our last two hikes had cumulative elevation gains right around 4000′ so today’s 3100′ was a little better. It also helped that unlike the trails on our previous two climbs the Zigzag Mountain trail utilized a number of switchbacks to keep the grade much more manageable.
Zigzag Mountain Trail entering the Mt. Hood Wilderness.

The climb was forested with a few flowers present at the lower elevations.
Washington lilies

Tiger lilies

Self-heal

Salal

Candy sticks

Queen’s cup and bunchberry

Anemone

As we climbed we began to see a fair amount of rhododendron in bloom.

The trail made 15 switchbacks over the first two miles before straightening out for a bit along a ridge.

We passed a small rock garden with some penstemon along the ridge.

The ridge was a bit more open and here we found some beargrass and lupine blooming. There were also opportunities for views but it had clouded up overnight and those clouds weren’t burning off very quickly.
Beargrass

Lupine

The trail spent little time on the ridge top and instead rose up and down switching sides of the ridge as it passed under rock outcrops.
Trillium along the north facing side of the ridge.

Mushroom

Pinesap

Passing a rock outcrop.

West Zigzag Mountain from the trail.

Back to the north facing side.

Now on the south facing side.

Near the 2.5 mile mark we came to a rocky viewpoint where we had a nice view of West Zigzag Mountain ahead but not of much else due to the clouds.

Sub-alpine mariposa lily at the viewpoint.

Another series of switchbacks followed before the trail straightened out following the ridge of Zigzag Mountain near the 3 mile mark. After another three quarters of a mile of climbing the trail began a series of ups and downs along the ridge. This lasted for the final 2.5 miles to the former lookout site although none of them were very long or too steep. While there weren’t any wildflowers meadows on this hike there were quite a few flowers to be seen along the way.
Lupine and paintbrush

Beargrass and rhododendron

Huckleberry

Cliff beardtongue

Larkspur

Phlox

More cliff beardtongue

Penstemon

20200704_095101 Larkspur

On the ridge just before reaching the lookout site.

Around the 5.25 mile mark we came to what would have been a great view of Mt. Hood if not for the clouds.

After crossing the ridge the trail emerged from the forest near some rock outcrops that framed the forest below.

We followed a short path led to the top of the southern outcrop where we had a view over to the former lookout site.

Former lookout site in the tress to the left.

We sat on the outcrop and watched the clouds pass by.

With the limited views outward we focused our attention down picking out a few flowers that we hadn’t seen on other parts of the hike.

Tufted saxifrage

Arnica

Lousewort

Some of the rocks in Castle Canyon

When we started to get a little chilly we decided to head back, but first we had to visit the former lookout site to ensure that we connected this hike with our 2012 hike.

View of the outcrop from the lookout site.

Raceme pussytoes

We returned the way we’d come spotting a few flowers that we’d missed going the other direction.
Valerian

Salmonberry

Bleeding heart

Violet

Monotropa uniflora aka ghost plant

Despite the clouds never burning off (we did eventually see a couple of slivers of blue sky) it was a good day for the hike. The flowers were good and the clouds kept the temperature down and the gradual grade of the trail kept the 11.4 miles from feeling difficult. We wound up passing 8 other hikers on our return trip which is a pretty low number for a Saturday hike on a trail as close to Portland as this one is so that was also a plus as we are still doing our best to practice proper social distancing. We capped off our 4th by watching the fireworks in our neighborhood with our son and my parents. Happy Trails!

Flickr: West Zigzag Mountain

Tags hiking, Mt. Hood National Forest, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Oregon, West Zigzag Mountain, wildflowers, zigzag mountain trail

Hiking Year-end wrap up

The Hikes of 2019 – A Look Back

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 30, 2019
3 Comments on The Hikes of 2019 – A Look Back

2019 turned out very differently than we’d originally planned. Not long after our first planned long trip to Joseph, OR one our cats, Buddy, had some health issues. After some time at the veterinarians he was doing better but he needed to be prescribed 3 daily medications (two twice a day). We decided that being there for our friend of 17 years was more important than our remaining plans so we cancelled nearly all of our overnight trips and spent the rest of the year doing day hikes from Salem. Buddy is still with us and seems to be doing well although he sleeps more than ever and has taken to wearing sweaters for warmth.
20191102_134933

With us only doing the one long distance trip we didn’t make it to as many new areas as we have been in recent years. On that trip we stopped at the Umatilla Wildlife Refuge near Hermiston (post), OR and hiked in the Hells Canyon (post) and Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness areas (post).
McCormack Slough MCormack Slough in the Umatilla Wildlife Refuge.

Looking into Hells Canyon from the Summit Ridge Trail Looking towards Hells Canyon from Freezout Saddle.

Wenaha River Canyon

Thanks to my parents willingness to take care of the cats we also managed to take an overnight trip up to Seattle in September to watch a Seattle Seahawks game stopping on the way up at Mt. Rainier National Park (post).

Cancelling the majority of our overnight trips had a couple of effects. First it reduced the number of days of hiking from an original 60 to 54. These would have been shorter hikes back to the car after backpacking or on the drive home from wherever we’d been. It also compressed the area in which we were able to hike keeping it under a 3 hour drive from Salem.
2019 HIkes

One thing that wasn’t affected was our tendency not to repeat hikes. Of our 54 days hiking only two days were repeats. For the first time we were able to hike with my brother and his family from Missouri taking them to Jawbone Flats and the Little North Fork Santiam River (post).
Little North Santiam River

The second repeat was to the old lookout site atop Maxwell Butte (post) to get the view that eluded us on our first hike there (post).
Mt. Jefferson, Santiam Lake, and Three Fingered Jack from Maxwell Butte

A visit to Four-In-One Cone, also to get a view that had previously eluded us, (post) was nearly a repeat but we started from a different trailhead making the first (and final) .4 miles new to us.
View from Four-in-one Cone

Thirteen other days did include some trail that we’d previously hiked and three more outings had turn around points that we’d previously been to but from an entirely different route. That left 35 days with entirely new trails to us. To put those figures in miles we hiked a total of 627.7 miles (according to my GPS). Only 70.6 of those miles, or just over 11%, were on portions of trails that we had hiked on in previous years.

I say “trails” but in reality not all the miles we hiked were on actual trails. Some of it was spent on paved roads, decommissioned roads, and some was entirely off trail/road.
Scoggins Creek Recreation Area Road walk at Henry Haag Lake

Decommissioned road to Baty Butte.

North Sister and the headwaters of Soap Creek Cross country to Thayer Glacial Lake.

2019 was a really good year weather wise. Aside from some rain/snow showers on our Freezout Saddle hike in June and a brief stint of rain at Cascade Head and in the Mollala River Recreation Area precipitation was almost non-existent during our outings.
Marks Cabin Trail a bit below us Snow falling on our Freezout Saddle hike.

Salmon River through the fog Rain shower approaching at Cascade Head.

Huckleberry Trail Taking cover under a tree in the Mollala River Recreation Area as a rain shower passes overhead.

Even on those three hikes with measurable precipitation there were breaks allowing for some sort of views.
Rainbow framing the Wallowa Mountains from the Feezout Saddle Trail.

View from the Cascade Head Trail View from Cascade Head after the shower.

Veiw from Amanda's Trail View from the morning across the Mollala River Canyon.

Between the cooperative weather and a lack of significant wildfires in the area made 2019 a great year for viewpoints. In fact there was only one hike, our second to the summit of Huckleberry Mountain (post) where we felt skunked on views. That hike began in the Wildwood Recreation area and the interpretive trails along the Salmon River made up for the lack of views up top.
3d Model of Mt. Hood along the Cascade Streamwatch Trail Neat 3D display at Wildwood Recreation Area.

Viewpoint on Huckleberry Mountain View atop Huckleberry Mountain.

Even on that day blue sky made an appearance before the end of our hike.
Mt. Hood behind some clouds

We also never got much of a view (but we did see blue sky) on our visit to Silver Star Mountain (post) but the point of that hike was to see the flower display.
Wildflowers along the Silver Star Trail

As always our hikes included a variety of landscapes, natural features, and some man-made ones. A sample of which follows. (We will cover wildflowers and wildlife in separate posts later.)
Gales Creek – Coast Range

Dry Creek Falls – Columbia River Gorge, OR

Camassia Natural Area – West Linn

The Two Chiefs and Table Mountain Two Chiefs and Table Mountain – Columbia River Gorge, WA

Nature Trial at Oak Island Oak Island – Columbia River

B.C. Creek Falls – Wallowa Mountains

Wallowa Mountains including Hurricaine Point and Ruby Peak Wallowa Mountains

Harins Butte Harsin Butte – Zumwalt Prairie

Sardine Mountain – Willamette National Forest

Gorton Falls Gorton Creek Falls – Columbia River Gorge, OR

Mt. Hood from Lost Lake

Mt. Hood from the Vista Ridge Trail Mt. Hood from Vista Ridge

Sand Mountain Lookout – Willamette National Forest

Cape Kiwanda and Haystack Rock from Sitka Sedge Beach

High Lake – Mt. Hood National Forest

Tidbits Mountain – Willamette National Forest

Bunchgrass Meadow – Willamette National Forest

Top tier of the Breitenbush Cascades Breitenbush Cascades – Willamette National Forest

Mt. St. Helens from Cinnamon Ridge – Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

View from Bear Point Mt. Jefferson from Bear Point – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Sawmill Falls – Little North Fork Santiam River

Three Fingered Jack with Three Sisters and Mt. Washington beyond Red Butte Three Fingered Jack, The Three Sisters, and Mt. Washington

Scramble route up Baty Butte Scramble route to Baty Butte – Mt. Hood National Forest

Boulder Lake – Mt. Hood National Forest

Drift Creek – Drift Creek Wilderness

North Sister and Thayer Glacial Lake – Three Sisters Wilderness

View from Four-in-one Cone North Sister, Middle Sister, and The Husband from Four-In-One Cone – Three Sisters Wilderness

Mt. Hood from Tumala Mountain – Mt. Hood National Forest

Bull of the Woods Lookout – Bull of the Woods Wilderness

Mt. Hood and Barret Spur from Elk Cove Mt. Hood from Elk Cove – Mt. Hood Wilderness

Mt. Jefferson and Hunts Cove – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Mt. Jefferson with Monon, Olallie and Timber Lakes View from Olallie Butte – Warm Springs Indian Reservation

Lillian Falls – Waldo Lake Wilderness

Olallie Mountain Lookout – Three Sisters Wilderness

King Tut – Crabtree Valley

View from Ruddy Hill Mt. Jefferson from Ruddy Hill – Mt. Hood National Forest

Henry Haag Lake – Scoggins Valley

View from the north summit of The Twins Waldo Lake and the Cascade Mountains from The Twins – Deschutes National Forest

Bobby Lake – Deschutes National Forest

Patrol Cabin at Indian Henry's Hunting Ground Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground – Mt. Rainier National Park

Fog over the valley from Trail 17 (Theodore Trail) Fog over the valley from Mt. Pisgah – Eugene, OR

Twin Peaks and Gifford Lake – Olallie Lake Scenic Area

Mt. Adams from Lookout Mountain – Badger Creek Wilderness Area

Huckleberry Trail Mollala River Recreation Area

View from the PCT and Indian Mountain Trail junction View toward Washington from the Pacific Crest Trail near Indian Mountain – Mt. Hood National Forest

Clackamas River at Alder Flat Clackamas River – Mt. Hood National Forest

Maple Trail Forest Park – Portland, OR

Tilikum Crossing – Portland, OR

There were many more great places and sights that we visited but they can’t all be included here. It was another amazing year of discovering God’s creation and we are looking forward to seeing what next year brings. For the first time I have two sets of planned hikes going into next year, one is in the hopes that Buddy continues to do well on his medications leading us to stick to day hikes through the year and the other includes long distance trips in the unfortunate event that we have to say goodbye to our furry friend.

Either way we know that we will be blown away yet again by whatever we see on those hikes. Happy Trails and Happy New Year to all!

Flickr: Album List

Tags Freezout Saddle, Hells Canyon, hiking, Mt. Hood, Mt. Hood National Forest, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail, Portland, Wenaha River, Zumwalt Prairie