Tag: Ochoco Mountains

Eastern Oregon

Back in 2016 we set a goal for ourselves to hike all 500 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” series of guidebooks post. In 2020 we completed the first of these books covering the Central Oregon Cascades (post). We followed that up by completing a pair of books in 2021 starting with Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast and Coast Range” 3rd edition (post) followed up by “100 HIkes/Travel Guide Northwest Oregon & Southwest Washington” 4th edition (post). Southern Oregon & Northern California was completed in 2023 leaving us with Eastern Oregon.

In 2023 we pivoted from the 3rd edition of Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” to his renamed 2022 1st edition “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” book. This was to avoid needing to make the tedious drive on horrible roads to Dug Bar in Hells Canyon which had been replaced as a featured hike in the newer edition.

The criteria for checking a hike off our list is to hike a portion of Sullivan’s described hike or, at least visit the main attraction(s) he identifies for the hike. For 67 of the hikes we completed the books described route. For the other 33 hikes various factors contributed to us not completing every option of each featured hike. For some we started at a different trailhead, others had portions of trail(s) closed when we visited, and several had additional options that we did not do.

Of the five regions Sullivan breaks his guidebooks into, the Eastern Oregon region is the largest and most diverse. The area covered in this book includes hikes in Oregon east of the Deschutes River in Central Oregon and from Klamath Falls (western most hike) east to the Idaho border. There is however one hike in Washington west of the Deschutes across the Columbia River from The Dalles, OR. It also includes one short option in Idaho (eastern most), one featured hike in California (southern most) making it his only book with hikes in more than two different States. The northern most hike is not the one in Washington. That honor belongs to the Wenaha River near Troy in NE Oregon.

The hikes involved several wilderness areas: Oregon Badlands, Mill Creek, Spring Basin, Strawberry Mountain, North Fork John Day, North Fork Umatilla, Wenaha-Tucannon, Eagle Cap, Hells Canyon, Monument Rock, and Steens Mountain. Missing from this list are the Black Canyon (post) and Gearhart Mountain (post) wilderness areas which had featured hikes in earlier versions of Sullivan’s book that we’d completed, but were removed in the 2022 edition due to wildfire damage.

In addition to the 11 designated wilderness areas there were hikes in two National Monuments, the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon and the Lava Beds National Monument in California, and one National Volcanic Monument, the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Following is a list of the 100 featured hikes and the dates we visited.

#1 Cottonwood Canyon – Hiked 5/27/2017

#2 Columbia Hills – Hiked 4/4/2015 & 4/17/2021

#3 Lower Deschutes River – Hiked 6/9/2018

#4 Macks Canyon – Hiked 5/26/2018

#5 Criterion Tract – Hiked 05/28/2023

#6 Trout Creek – Hiked 10/12/2013

#7 Willow Creek at Madras – Hiked 5/27/2024

#8 Cove Palisades – Hiked 6/16/2018

#9 Gray Butte – Hiked 6/13/2015

#10 Oregon Badlands – Hiked 5/15/2016 & 12/24/2016

#11 Pine Mountain – Hiked 7/30/2012

#12 Paulina Falls – Hiked 8/9/2011 & 9/16/2017

#13 Paulina Lake – Hiked 8/9/2011 & 9/16/2017

#14 Obsidian Flow – Hiked 8/9/2011

#15 Crooked River Wetlands – Hiked 5/29/2024

#16 Chimney Rock – Hiked 9/22/2017

#17 Steins Pillar – Hiked 5/8/2013

#18 Juniper Hill – Visited* 5/27/2024

#19 Mill Creek – Hiked 7/31/2012

#20 Lookout Mountain – Hiked 6/12/2014

#21 Walton Lake – Hiked 6/17/2017 & 6/18/2021

#22 Spring Basin – Hiked 4/22/2017

#23 John Day Fossil Beds – Hiked 4/30/2016, 4/22/2017 & 9/17/2017
Painted Hills Unit

Clarno Unit

Blue Basin Unit

#24 Sutton Mountain – Hiked 4/30/2016

#25 Spanish Peak – Hiked 7/19/2021 & 7/20/2021

#26 Madison Butte – Hiked 5/28/2024

#27 Wildcat Basin – Hiked 7/24/2018

#28 High Lake – Hiked 7/26/2018

#29 Strawberry Lake – Hiked 7/25/2018

#30 Malheur River – Hiked 6/17/2021

#31 Canyon Mountain – Hiked 7/22/2021

#32 Monument Rock – Hiked 7/21/2021

#33 Bates and Sumpter – Hiked 9/17/2017

#34 Olive Lake – Hiked 9/18/2017

#35 Granite Creek – Hiked 9/21/2017

#36 North Fork John Day River – Hiked 9/19/2017

#37 Mount Ireland – Hiked 7/9/2022

#38 Baldy Lake – Hiked 9/20/2017

#39 Crawfish Lake – Hiked 8/16/2018

#40 Anothony Lake – Hiked 8/16/2018

#41 Elkhorn Crest – Hiked 8/12/2018, 8/13/2018, 8/14/2018, 8/15/2018 & 08/16/2018

#42 Twin Lakes – Hiked 8/13/2018

#43 North Fork Umatilla River – Hiked 6/14/2021

#44 Jubilee Lake – Hiked 9/12/2021

#45 Wenaha River – Hiked 5/25/2019

#46 Zumwalt Prairie – Hiked 5/26/2019

#47 Buckhorn Lookout – Hiked 6/15/2023

#48 Eureka Bar – Hiked 6/14/2023

#49 Hat Point – Hiked 7/21/2024

#50 Freezeout Saddle – Hiked 5/24/2019

#51 Hells Canyon Dam – Hiked 6/16/2023

#52 Hells Canyon Reservoir – Hiked 6/16/2023

#53 Imnaha Falls – Hiked 6/12/2023

#54 Bonny Lakes – Hiked 7/24/2024

#55 McCully Basin – Hiked 7/23/2024

#56 Mount Howard – Hiked 7/26/2024

#57 Aneroid Lake – Hiked 8/22/2024

#58 Wallowa Lake – Hiked 5/23/2019
B.C. Falls

#59 Ice Lake – Hiked 7/31/2016

#60 Horseshoe Lake – Hiked 8/3/2016 & 8/04/2016

#61 Hurricane Creek – Hiked 7/22/2024

#62 Eagle Cap – Hiked 8/3/2016

#63 Minam Lake – Hiked 7/25/2024

#64 Maxwell Lake – Hiked 8/21/2024

#65 Chimney Lake – Hiked 8/20/2024

#66 Wallowa Homeland – Hiked 7/14/2022

#67 Bear Creek – Hiked 7/14/2022

#68 Rock Springs – Hiked 7/11/2022

#69 Moss Springs – Hiked 7/13/2022

#70 Catherine Creek Meadows – Hiked 7/10/2022

#71 Burger Pass – Hiked 7/12/2022

#72 Tombstone Lake – Hiked 8/16/2023 & 8/17/2023

#73 Eagle Lake – Hiked 8/13/2023

#74 Bear Lake – Hiked 8/14/2023

#75 Hidden Lake – Hiked 9/9/2024

#76 Summit Point Lookout – Hiked 8/18/2024

#77 Pine Lakes – Hiked 8/19/2024

#78 Fort Rock – Hiked 6/14/2014 & 5/28/2017

#79 Fort Rock Valley – Hiked 5/28/2017

#80 Hager Mountain – Hiked 7/30/2013 & 6/14/2014

#81 Summer Lake – Hiked 7/24/2020

#82 Winter Ridge – Hiked 7/19/2020

#83 OC&E Railroad – Hiked 10/5/2018

#84 Klamath Falls – Hiked 10/20/2018

#85 Modoc Lava Beds – Hiked 10/6/2018

#86 DeGarmo Canyon – Hiked 7/22/2020

#87 Hart Mountain Hot Springs – Hiked 7/21/2020

#88 Petroglyph Lake – Hiked 7/22/2020

#89 Steens Summit – Hiked 8/18/2021

#90 Little Blitzen River – Hiked 8/19/2021

#91 Big Indian Gorge – Hiked 8/17/2021

#92 Threemile Canyon – Hiked 9/3/2023

#93 Pike Creek – Hiked 6/14/2018

#94 Big Sand Gap – Hiked 6/14/2018

#95 Borax Hot Springs – Hiked 6/14/2018

#96 Pueblo Mountains – Hiked 8/20/2021

#97 Leslie Gulch – Hiked 6/11/2018

#98 Coffeepot Crater – Hiked 6/11/2018

#99 Chalk Basin – Hiked 6/13/2018

#100 Three Forks – Hiked 6/12/2018

*The Juniper Hills Preserve is owned by the Nature Conservancy and had been closed to public entry in 2023, so we were unable to hike the trails. We parked and walked to the gates to take photos. If they ever reopen it to the public we will go back.

Completing our featured hike goals provided a sense of relief. While we thoroughly enjoyed all of the hikes, and the Wallowa Mountains became our favorite destination in Oregon, we had begun to put pressure on ourselves to finish. That pressure had begun following the September 2020 wildfires that ravaged parts of the Central Cascades and left many trails closed for years. We had just finished the featured hikes in that area earlier that year and realized how close we’d come to having to put our goal on hold. In the grand scheme of things reaching 500 featured hikes is irrelevant but having worked on it for several years it was something we didn’t want to abandon. We will gig deeper into that in a later post covering finishing the 500, but it’s nice to have the urgency to get to specific places removed.

Setting the goal did provide us with an excuse to visit parts of Oregon that we’d never seen before. While we were checking off the 100 featured hikes we stopped at over three dozen additional spots including eight previously featured hikes. There are still numerous trails left for us to explore so we will almost certainly be heading back to Eastern Oregon from time to time to see new sights and possibly revisit some familiar ones. Happy Trails!

Tags Alvord Desert, Blue Mountains, Boulder Creek Wilderness, California, Deschutes River, eagle cap wilderness, Eastern Oregon, Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, Hells Canyon Wilderness, hiking, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, John Day river, Lava Beds National Monument, Malheur National Forest, Malheur River, Mill Creek Wilderness, Monument Rock Wilderness, Newberry Caldera, Newberry Crater, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, North Fork John Day Wilderness, North Fork Umatilla Wilderness, Ochoco Mountains, ochoco national forest, Oregon, oregon badlands wilderness, Pueblo Mountains, Spring Basin Wilderness, Steens Mountain Wilderness, Strawberry Mountains, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness, William L Sullivan

Central Oregon Hiking Ochoco Mountains Oregon Trip report

Rock Creek to Spanish Peak – 07/20/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 27, 2021
1 Comment on Rock Creek to Spanish Peak – 07/20/2021

After spending the night camped near First Creek along the Rock Creek/Ochoco Mountain Trail we got an early (6:30am) start to hopefully climb up the 2000 plus feet to the summit of Spanish Peak before the day got too hot. According to Sullivan’s map (which matched the Forest Service’s map) it was 5.3 miles to the summit.

Just 0.2 miles from where we had made our makeshift campsite we came to an established campsite in a saddle near where the Ochoco Mountain Trail supposedly turned uphill to start the climb.
Continuing along the Waterman Ditch.

If this trail sign was marking a junction it wasn’t clear where the other trail was.

Campsite at the saddle.

There was no clear tread other than the continuation of the Rock Creek Trail to the north where it ends at the National Forest Boundary in another mile. There was however a sign for the “Rim Trail” on a tree uphill from the trail.
The Rim Trail sign on a tree trunk.

We headed uphill to the sign and picked up what appeared to be a rough trail but it also looked like it could have been an elk trail.

We tried our best to follow it uphill but there were no blazes, flagging, or cut logs to indicate that it really was an actual trail and in less than a half mile we lost it in brush.

The hike had suddenly become an off-trail adventure. Between the Sullivan’s and the Forest Service map we knew the general route that the trail supposedly took so we did our best to recreate it at first. That meant a series of switchbacks up a steep hillside through a sagebrush meadow above First Creek.

The trail then supposedly wrapped around the ridge between First and Second Creeks arriving at a rock cairn along a rim 2.5 miles from the saddle. We thought that we might rediscover the tread as we switchbacked up, but we did not. As we compared the maps with our GPS we noticed that we weren’t that far below the top of the ridge and that it might be possible to simply climb over the ridge taking a more direct route to the rim cairn. We decided that was our safest bet as we weren’t sure if we would find the trail wrapping around the ridge and even if we did a large downed tree in the wrong spot could make it impassable. We followed game trails through a small stand of trees into more sagebrush on top of the ridge.

Rock Creek Lake

Gaining the ridge.

We found the trail again on top of the ridge and were soon following rock cairns to the rim.

View from the rim.

Spanish Peak

A local

The trail was easy to follow along the rim but soon it came into some trees (and past a few wildflowers) where it appeared maintenance hadn’t been performed for a bit.
Astter

Some sort of delphinium I think.

Downed trees across the trail ahead.

Interestingly camouflaged beetle on the upper onion.

Lupine

20210720_084339 A checkermallow

Some more downed trees that we had to go around.

We briefly left the trees and were back to cairns in the sagebrush but soon reentered the trees and encountered more obstacles.

After passing through a couple of meadows we came to a rocky hillside below Spanish Peak where we left the trail and headed uphill following a few scattered cairns along what was shown on the GPS as the “Mascall Jeep Track”.

We left the trail here, note the small cairn on the left.

Heading uphill.

Scarlet gilia

Paintbrush

After a third of a mile we came to Spanish Peak Road, a dirt track to the radio tower and former lookout site atop Spanish Peak.
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We turned left on the road and followed it another 0.3 miles up to the summit.

The site of the former lookout.

The view was impacted by the “widespread haze” that had been forecasted but we could still make out quite a bit (and at least it didn’t smell smokey).
Looking out toward the John Day River valley.

SE to Windy Point.

West to Rock Creek Lake and on the horizon the flat topped Lookout Mountain (post) and pointier Round Mountain (post) in the Ochocos.

NE to the John Day River Valley.

Lookout and Round Mountain and the rim that we had hiked up below Spanish Peak.

The Pisgah Lookout on the far side of the Bridge Creek Wilderness (post).

A hazy Mount Hood to the NW.

After taking a break at the summit we returned down the road to the jeep track and followed it back down to the Ochoco Mountain Trail where we turned left into some trees.

We passed through a meadow filled with fritiallry butterflies who were loving the remaining hyssop blossoms.

After 0.3 miles back on the Ochoco Mountain Trail we came to a signed junction with the Mascall Corral Trail.

Here we made a hard right and headed steeply downhill along the Baldy Creek drainage.

This trail was in a little better shape having seen some maintenance.

Baldy Creek was on our left.

The trail soon followed old roadbeds, including another section of the Mascall Jeep Track and just under three miles from the junction arrived at the Mascall Corrals Trailhead

Red-tailed hawk

Western tanager

Arriving at the trailhead.

Signage at the trailhead.

From this trailhead we turned right and followed Forest Road 3820 one and a quarter miles (some of which was disappointingly uphill) to Arvid Nelson Road where we turned right for another 0.8 miles to the Rock Creek Trailhead and our waiting car.
Baldy Creek below FR 3820.

A sulphur butterfly of some sort.

A watermellon or June bug as we called them growing up.

FR 3820 meeting Arvid Nelson Road.

Spanish Peak from Arvid Nelson Road.

This was an 11.5 mile hike with almost 2500′ of elevation gain. The off-trail scramble above First Creek had made the hike a lot more difficult than planned, made more so by having our full backpacks instead of a lighter day pack, but it had been fun (mostly) and despite the haze we had decent views on the day.

From the Rock Creek Trailhead we drove to Highway 26 then headed east to John Day where we checked into the Dreamers Lodge then had a nice dinner at the Outpost Pizza Pub & Grill before turning in for the night. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Spanish Peak

Tags Arvid Nelso Road, backpacking, Baldy Creek, hiking, John Day, lookout mountain, Mascall Corrals Trailhead, Mascall Jeep Track, Ochoco Mountain Trail, Ochoco Mountains, Oregon, Outpost Pizza Pub & Grill, Rock Creek, Round Mountain, Spanish Peak, Western Tanager

Central Oregon Hiking Ochoco Mountains Oregon Trip report

Black Canyon Wilderness and Rock Creek – 07/19/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 26, 2021
2 Comments on Black Canyon Wilderness and Rock Creek – 07/19/2021

**Note the 2024 Rail Ridge Fire burned over the Black Canyon Wilderness.**

Every year we pick our vacation time in January/February (due to work) so we never know what the conditions will be when we choose. We had a week scheduled in July for a trip to the John Day area in hopes to make further headway on the 100 featured hikes in Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Eastern Oregon” (post) and to complete our goal of visiting all of Oregon’s designated wilderness areas (minus the two that are closed to human visitors) (post).

With severe drought conditions present all of the West and multiple wildfires burning in Oregon we kept an eye on the forecast and made daily checks with the relevant National Forests to make sure the hikes that we had planned remained open. While all of the trails were open a red flag warning for possible scattered thunderstorms Monday and Tuesday for the Blue Mountains had us a little concerned. The forecast also called for “wide spread haze” every day but fortunately not for “smoke” which meant we’d probably not have much in the way of views on the trip. We could deal with the haze, it was the possibility of new lightning caused fires that could quickly end our trip and our two days of hiking (Monday & Tuesday) involved our first overnight backpacking trip of the year.

Monday we left Salem and drove to the Boeing Field Trailhead, the first of two stops in the eastern portion of the Ochoco Mountains.

This trailhead, named in honor of a B-18 bomber that crashed nearby during a WWII training flight killing all four crew members, provides access to the Black Canyon Wilderness via the Owl Creek Trail.

We headed down the Owl Creek Trail and quickly entered our 45th Oregon wilderness area.

We descended to the nearly dry bed of Owl Creek in the scar of a 2008 wildfire and in a half mile reached the Black Canyon Trail.

Aster, paintbrush, and fireweed.

Fireweed, aster, and pearly everlasting.

Clouds and smoke mixing in the sky made it hard to tell if any thunderstorms might be developing.

We never heard any thunder but we did briefly get sprinkled on.

Ground squirrel.

Columbine

Fritillary butterfly

Black Canyon Trail junction.

We turned left onto the Black Canyon Trail and followed it down into Black Canyon along Owl Creek soon leaving the fire scar behind.

Owl Creek crossing approximately 1.5 miles from the junction.

In another half mile we arrived at Black Canyon Creek which we easily crossed on small logs.

Fish in Black Canyon Creek

We were seeing a lot of mountain lady slipper orchids but unfortunately they were all past.

Three quarters of a mile after crossing Black Canyon Creek we passed the Coffee Pot Trail and soon entered another fire scar, this one from 2002.

Western Tanager

Just under 4 miles into the hike we came to the second crossing of Black Canyon Creek and our turnaround point for the day.

California tortioseshell

Western Jacob's ladder Western Jacob’s ladder

Black Canyon Creek

After a short break on a log spanning the creek we headed back to the car stopping occasionally along the way to watch pollinators busy at work.

This was an eight mile out and back with almost 1600′ of elevation gain, mostly on the way back.

From Boeing Field we drove back the way we’d come 4.3 miles to the Rock Creek Trailhead.

Here we threw on our full backpacks as our plan was to camp somewhere along Rock Creek and then return on a loop the next day by hiking up to Spanish Peak the next day following the route of the Ochoco Mountain Trail and Mascall Corral Trail.

From the trailhead the trail descended to Rock Creek crossing it on a nice footbridge.

The number of insects on the blossoms and their size differences were fascinating.

The trail then followed along Rock Creek for a bit before the creek began descending more steeply than the trail. At the 2.4 mile mark we arrived at a sign announcing the Waterman Ditch.

Snacks

Lorquin’s adrmiral

A little light on the tread in this section.

The trail then followed the old ditch passing the remains of a cabin next to Fir Tree Creek in 1.4 miles.

Fir Tree Creek

Butterflies on coneflower

The cabin ruins.

We continued on heading for Second Creek which was just over 1.5 miles beyond Fir Tree Creek where we hoped we might find a spot to camp or at least refill our water supply.

Coming around a ridge end toward Second Creek.

Monkshood at Second Creek

This little guy oversaw our water pumping.

There wasn’t a lot of water in Second Creek and the crossing where the most obvious spot to get water was had a whole lot of yellow jackets flying around. We had to do a little hunting up and down the creek in thick vegetation to find a pool deep enough for our pump but finally managed to. What we couldn’t find was a place for our tent or a spot to cook dinner away from the yellow jackets and mosquitos so after getting water we reluctantly continued hiking. After nearly 1.5 more miles we arrived at First Creek where there was almost no water but there was a suitable spot for a tent.

It had been a long day with this hike coming in a little over 7 miles making it a 15+ mile day for us.

It was also a warm evening and we had the rainfly on due to the slight chance of rain which made it even warmer. It did finally cool off enough overnight to warrant pulling our sleeping bag/quilt over us and we managed to get some sleep. I woke up once when something fairly big cracked it’s way through the trees below our camp and a couple more times when a pair of nearby owls were trading hoots. It was a more difficult start to our trip then we had anticipated but a good day none the less. Happy Trails!

Tags backpacking, Black Canyon Creek, Black Canyon Trail, Black Canyon Wilderness, Boeing Field, Boeing Field Trailhead, hiking, Ochoco Mountain Trail, Ochoco Mountains, ochoco national forest, Oregon, Owl Creek Trail, Rock Creek, Rock Creek Trail, Waterman Ditch

Central Oregon Hiking Ochoco Mountains Oregon Trip report

Walton Lake & Round Mountain – 06/18/2021

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 24, 2021
6 Comments on Walton Lake & Round Mountain – 06/18/2021

After spending three nights in Pendleton and two John Day it was time for us to head back to Salem on Friday. We planned on stopping at Walton Lake in the Ochoco National Forest along the way to visit the man made lake where I had spent some time in my childhood. We also planned to hike from the lake to the summit of Round Mountain which we had done from the opposite side back in 2017 (post). After our hike we were meeting Heather’s parents for a late lunch/early dinner in Redmond at Madeline’s before continuing home to Salem.

We left John Day a little before 5am and arrived at Walton Lake shortly after 6:30am. There were already several folks our fishing and we were met by the camp greeters.

A paved/gravel 0.8 mile trail encircles the lake with the Walton Lake Trail splitting off on the south side of Walton Lake. We decided to hike around the lake clockwise passing the small dam that created the lake and a number of campsites before arriving at the unsigned Walton Lake Trail after 0.6 miles. Along with the people fishing there were a number of ducks (including ducklings), geese and coots around the lake.
American coot and a duck family.

Spotted sandpiper

Pied billed grebe

Mountain bluebird

The spur of the Walton Lake Trail that leads to the Round Mountain Trail.

We turned up the spur trail which climbed through a meadow where several families of geese were hanging out.

After 0.2 miles the spur trail crosses the campground road.

It was about this time that we realized that we hadn’t put our NW Forest Pass out. We headed back down to the lake and completed to the 0.8 mile loop to put our pass out. We later realized that it wasn’t good at Walton Lake anyway and paid the $5 day use fee.

20210618_072716

A saxifrage.

This is also a good time mention that a 0.3 mile segment of the spur trail between Forest Road 2220 and Forest Road 22 is by Forest Order 06-07-01-21-02 closed from 5/18/21 to 10/31/21 (or until rescinded). There were no signs present at the start of the spur trail nor at the crossing of FR 2220, the notice was however posted at the FR 22 crossing (along with a warning about sheep dogs).
The order also states that the closure area will be signed along with pink flagging along all boundaries on the ground (we didn’t see any pink flagging at FR 2220).

Fortunately the Round Mountain North Trailhead is just on the other side of FR 22 from the Walton Lake entrance if you don’t want to road walk around the closure. Assuming you are coming from the FR 22 crossing though the Walton Lake Trail continues 1/2 mile to its end at the Round Mountain Trail (0.2 miles from the North Trailhead).

Larkspur

Approximately 0.4 miles from FR 22 the trail passes a snow survey site in a small meadow where we spotted several does.

A short distance beyond the meadow we arrived at the Round Mountain Trail where we turned left. (Ignore the sign, it was the only one present and it was facing the wrong way.)

The trail climbed to a dry, rocky plateau but not before first passing a nice display of lupine.

20210618_080749 Chocolate lily

The rocky plateau with Round Mountain to the right.

Death camas

A wild onion

Yarrow

The trail dipped off the plateau and lost a little elevation on its way to a saddle below Round Mountain. Just over 2 miles from the Walton Lake Trail we passed Scissors Spring in a meadow on our right.
Paintbrush

Valerian along the trail.

California tortoiseshell on valerian.

Mt. Jefferson from the trail.

20210618_083047 Maybe a miterwort?

Milbert’s tortoiseshell

Scissors Spring

A fleabane

20210618_085307 Geranium

Beyond the spring the trail began to climb through a series of hellebore filled meadows.

Woodpecker

Another doe

A comma butterfly of some sort.

Possibly some sort of phlox?

Another wild onion

Mountain bluebells

Threeleaf lewisia

Butterfly on Jessica stickseed

A larkspur, Jessica stickseed, and hyssop

Robin

Mountain view from a meadow.

Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Hood

Just over a mile from the spring the trail made a switchback at which point it steepened noticeably. The next 1/3 of a mile consisted of steep switchbacks through a hellebore meadow to Round Mountain Road 0.2 miles from the summit.

Viewpoint at one of the switchbacks. Cascade Mountains from Diamond Peak to Mt. Jefferson.
Diamond Peak

Mt. Bachelor

Ball Butte and Broken Top

Three Sisters

Mt. Washington

Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Jefferson

The trail sign along Round Mountain Road up the hill.

Fritillary butterfly

Silky phacelia

Prairie smoke

Balsamroot

Butterfly on an onion

20210618_100034 Ladybug on lupine

Round Mountain summit

We sat on the cool concrete in the shade cast by the radio tower while we watched butterflies swirl through the air.

And occasionally land.

Big Summit Prairie

Lookout Mountain (post)

Mt. Hood

Mt. Adams

After the break we returned the way we’d come with a slight delay caused by a Sara’s orangetip butterfly that refused to land despite repeatedly looking like it was going to as it flew in the same loop over and over again.

Not too horrible of a photo of the orangetip on one of its many passes.

We retrieved our car from the now packed Walton Lake but not before checking out some of the wildlife one more time.

A coot, a spotted sandpiper and ducks.

Osprey with a recently caught fish (we got to see the dive)

Ducklings

From Walton Lake we drove to Redmond where we were a bit early so we stopped at the Spud Bowl and watched some dogs playing in the sprinklers before meeting up with Heather’s parents at Madelines. We had a great meal then continued home to Salem. When a section of the trail isn’t closed (and you don’t have to go back to your car to after starting your hike) this would be about a 12 mile hike with approximately 1900′ of elevation gain while the 0.8 mile loop around Walton Lake would be great for kids. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Walton Lake and Round Mountian

Tags butterflies, hiking, lookout mountain, Ochoco Mountains, ochoco national forest, Oegon, Round Mountain, Round Mountain Trail, Walton Lake, Walton Lake Camground, Walton Lake Trail, wildflowers

Central Oregon Hiking Ochoco Mountains Oregon Throwback Thursday Trip report

Throwback Thursday – Twin Pillars

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 10, 2018
3 Comments on Throwback Thursday – Twin Pillars

The subject of the this weeks Throwback Thursday is our first hike in the Ochoco Mountains. On 7/31/2012 we planned on visiting the Twin Pillars in the Mill Creek Wilderness. There were two fires in the Mill Creek Wilderness in 2017, the Belknap and Desolation Fires but it doesn’t look like either burned over the route we took on this visit.

We started at the Twin Pillars South Trailhead located near Wildcat Campground. The trailhead can be reached by driving Highway 26 9.2 miles east of Prineville and turning left on Mill Creek Road for 10.6 miles to the entrance of Wildcat Campground. We parked at a large gravel parking area 200 yards after turning into the campground area. Twin Pillars Trailhead

We followed a short path into the campground opting not to ford Mill Creek at a horse crossing. After walking to the far end of the campground we came to a gate and the start of the Twin Pillars Trail. Twin Pillars Trailhead

The trail almost immediately entered the Mill Creek Wilderness. Mill Creek Wilderness sign

The trail followed Mill Creek through a forest with ponderosa pines and a few remaining wildflowers. Mill Creek Wilderness

Mill Creek

Lewis Mock Orange

Twin Pillars Trail

The official trail fords the creek 7 times in the first 2 miles but often cattle trails existed on both sides of the creek making many of the fords unnecessary. Low summer water levels allowed us to stay dry on the crossings we did do. Twin Pillars Trail

Beyond the 7th ford the trail entered scars of a wildfire that swept through the wilderness in 2000. Mill Creek along the Twin Pillars Trail

Twin Pillars Trail

Here we ran into some of the cattle responsible for the unofficial paths. Cows along Mill Creek

We played a frustrating game of follow the leader with them as they would move up the trail ahead of us leaving “land mines” along the way. Eventually they would stop and move off the trail but as we approached they would once again hop on the trail in front of us and repeat the game. We lost them somewhere around the 2.9 mile mark where the Belknap Trail joined from the east. Just beyond this junction we crossed Mill Creek for the final time as the trail veered away from Mill Creek and headed uphill toward the now visible Twin Pillars.

Twin Pillars

Due to the majority of trees having been lost to the fire in 2000 this section of trail was very exposed to the sun and therefore quite warm. Twin Pillars Trail

The trail crossed Brogan Creek as it continued to climb uphill. Unnamed creek along the Twin Pillars Trail

There were more cows off in the brush along this section but they stayed off the trail. We also spotted a pair of norther flickers and a Lewis’s woodpecker. Northern flickers

Lewis's Woodpecker

The trail continued to get closer to the Twin Pillars and began to wind around the rock formation.

Twin Pillars

We were looking for a side trail to the base of the pillars which we expected to find around 2.5 miles from the Belknap Trail junction. We didn’t notice anything as we continued around the pillars and we soon found ourselves behind the rocks where the trail veered away from them toward the Twin Pillars North Trailhead on Forest Road 27. That trailhead offers a shorter hike to Twin Pillars (5.2 miles RT) but a worse drive.

The view from this spot included Mt. Bachelor and the South Sister as well as the rhyolite ash Steins Pillar (post). View from Twin Pillars

Mt. Bachelor

South Sister

View from the Twin Pillars Trail

Steins Pillar

We decided to bushwack to the base of the rocks as best we could and then worked our way around to the south a bit. Twin Pillars

We couldn’t tell whether we were on a path or not but we followed whatever it was as best we could down away from the pillars toward the trail. As luck would have it we popped out onto the trail right by a snag that had a burnt trail sign attached to it. Burtn sign for the spur trail to Twin Pillars

It seems we had stumbled onto the side trail after all. We returned the way we’d come even playing another round of follow the cattle. We’re planning on redoing this hike at some point in late Spring or early Summer in hopes of catching more flowers and avoiding some of the heat. Until then the cows will just have to play their games with other hikers. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Twin Pillars

Tags Belknap Fire, Belknap Trail, Desolation Fire, hiking, Lewis's Woodpecker, Mill Creek, Mill Creek Wilderness, Ochoco Mountains, Oregon, Steins Pillar, Twin Pillars, Twin Pillars Trail, Twin Pillars Trailhead, Wildcat Campground

Central Oregon Hiking Ochoco Mountains Oregon Trip report

North Point and Round Mountain – Ochoco National Forest

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 21, 2017
4 Comments on North Point and Round Mountain – Ochoco National Forest

For Father’s Day weekend we headed over to Central Oregon to visit my Dad and our Son. On Saturday we headed to the Ochoco Mountains for a pair of hikes.

Our first destination was North Point in the trail-less Bridge Creek Wilderness. We started our hike near Pisgah Springs along Forest Road 2630. We made the mistake of following Google’s suggested route which led us over an extremely rough section of that road which we could have avoided. We had turned right off of Highway 26 at a sign for Walton Lake and Big Summit Prairie onto Ochoco Creek Road which becomes Forest Road 22. Just before crossing Ochoco Creek, Google had us fork left onto Road 2210 before turning right onto Rd 2630. That was where the road deteriorated quickly into a muddy, giant hole filled mess. Had we stayed on Road 22 past Walton Lake we could have turned left onto Road 2630 a mile and a half beyond the entrance road to the lake. That section and the remainder of Rd 2630 was a fairly good gravel road. We followed Rd 2630 to a fork at a Bridge Creek Wilderness sign where Road 450 went left and 2630 continued to the right.

Road 2630 became rougher beyond the fork but nothing like the earlier section Google had taken us on. A May 2016 trip report mentioned that the road improved after the first couple hundred yards and this was still the case. A total of two miles from the fork we arrived at an old jeep track near Pisgah Springs.

We pulled off the road at the jeep track which at one time went all the way out to North Point. Much of the wilderness burned in 2008 and many of the left over snags have begun falling and we’d heard that the track had a good deal of blowdown. Looking uphill from the jeep track we decided to angle left and skirt around the side of a stand of trees.

The cross country travel was easy through the sagebrush but our pace was slowed due to stopping to admire the many wildflowers along the way.

Brown’s Peony

Parsley

Paintbrush

Larkspur

Old man’s whiskers

Woodland stars

The terrain began to level after the initial climb (which was short and not at all steep) revealing some open meadows among the trees.

We encountered additional flowers in and around these meadows.

2017-06-17 08.26.38 Bluebells

Big-head clover

Balsamroot

2017-06-17 08.24.38 Jessica sticktight

We took a line along between the meadows and a line of dead trees.

Using the GPS we eventually veered to the right stepping over a couple of downed snags then briefly following the jeep track toward the rim of the plateau.

We arrived at the rim between point 6607 to the west and North Point to the east.

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The view to the north was amazing and included some very interesting topographical formations.

Behind us to the south lay Mt. Pisgah and the Mt. Pisgah Lookout

We made our way along the rim to North Point which was marked with a cairn.

From North Point we could see parts of the Cascade Mountains from Mt. Bachelor to the south to Mt. Adams in Washington to the north. The only problem was a single line of clouds moving north right in our line of sight for the snowy volcanoes.

We spotted a few additional flowers on North Point.

Sandwort

A stonecrop?

Balloon pod milk vetch

After taking in the views on what was shaping up to be a beautiful day we made our way back to our car amid the ever present sound of birds.

The hike to North Point had only been 2.2 miles round trip and we were heading for hike number two of the day, but first we wanted to check out Big Summit Prairie. After passing the point on Road 2630 where we had emerged from the apocalyptic section of road from the morning we continued on the gravel road .8 miles to NF-22 where we turned left. After 4.2 miles on NF-22 we turned right onto gravel South Howard Road for 1.6 miles then right again onto Badger Creek Road (NF 4210). We followed this road for 2.3 miles to Canyon Creek Road (NF-42) where we turned left. We drove 9.7 miles on NF 42 which travels along the southern side of Big Summit Prairie.

Covering several thousand acres in the middle of the Ochoco Mountains, Big Summit Prairie sports some impressive wildflower displays from April through Mid-June. We were hoping that we weren’t too late for the show, but alas we seemed to be on the tail-end of the last flowers.

We stopped near the North Fork Crooked River bridge and took a look at our next goal, Round Mountain rising to the west.

We drove back on NF-42 12.7 miles to a sign for the Independent Mine on the left. We had been here before in 2014 when we hiked to the summit of Lookout Mountain.

We parked at the same trailhead as before just a few hundred feet up Road 4205. A good sized parking area here doubles as the Lower Lookout Mountain and the Round Mountain South Trailheads.

From the trailhead the Round Mountain Trail descended into a small meadow before entering some trees and climbing up to a crossing of NF-42.

The trail climbed gradually through wildflower filled meadows to a view of little Prospect Pond.

2017-06-17 10.54.46 Crab spider

Torrey’s peavine

Lupine

Tortoiseshell butterfly

Balsamroot and larkspur

Death camas

Vetch

Paintbrush

Prospect Pond (and Lookout Mountain beyond)

As the trail continued to follow a ridge uphill the wildflower displays kept getting better.

The trail briefly leveled off at the wide Onion Pass.

We soon got our first good look at our goal, Round Mountain.

Shortly after crossing a road at the 2.3 mile mark the trail traversed an open slope with views of several Cascade Mountains.

The flowers continued to impress along the entire trail with the pink Oregon geraniums being some of our favorites.

2017-06-17 12.20.49

After another short level stretch along what appeared to be an old road track the trail finally began to climb with some urgency through a series of hellebore meadows.

The trail was in great shape with only a minor slide which was easily passable.

The trail wrapped around under the summit of Round Mountain to Round Mountain Road (yes it is possible to drive up).

We followed the road up past the signed junction with the Round Mountain Trail coming up from the northern trailhead near Walton Lake.

The 360 degree view from the 6755′ summit did not disappoint. The clouds that had hidden parts of the Cascades had mostly burned off (except for over Three Fingered Jack) and Diamond Peak joined the line of snow covered volcanoes.

2017-06-17 12.59.08_stitch

Diamond and Maiden Peaks

Mt. Bachelor

Ball Butte and Broken Top

The Three Sisters

Mt. Washington

Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Hood

Mt. Adams

The plateau of the Bridge Creek Wilderness was visible to the NE.

Lookout Mountain rose across NF-42 to the south.

While Big Summit Prairie stretched out to the east.

We spotted a couple of flowers near the summit that we hadn’t seen lower including a few pink phlox, a patch of purple silky phacelia, and some yellow bells along the road.

silky phacelia

2017-06-17 12.50.49

We returned the way we’d come. After crossing NF-42 we spotted a doe which seemed fitting since we were close to a road and we seem to see more deer from the roads than we do on the trails.

It was a great day in the Ochocos and it had felt really nice to finally spend some time in the mountains. Happy Trails!

Flickr: North Point & Round Mountain

Tags Big Summit Prairie, Bridge Creek Wilderness, brown's peony, hiking, NF-42, North Point, Ochoco Mountains, ochoco national forest, Oregon, Round Mountain, round mountain trailhead, round mountian south trailhead, Round mountian trail

Central Oregon Hiking Ochoco Mountains Oregon Trip report

Lookout Mountain – Ochoco National Forest

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 17, 2014
4 Comments on Lookout Mountain – Ochoco National Forest

We recently returned from a long weekend in Central Oregon. We had a few hikes that we were wanting to try in June in that area starting with Lookout Mountain in the Ochoco National Forest. Roughly 26 miles east of Prineville, OR the summit of Lookout Mountain is the 2nd highest point in the Ochoco Mountains. The summit is part of a broad plateau of sagebrush and wildflowers which also offers a 360 degree view.

There are a couple of options for reaching the plateau. For our visit we decided to start at the Round Mountain Trailhead on road 4205 just after turning off of road 42. We could have shaved nearly 2 miles form the hike by continuing up road 4205 to the Independent Mine Trailhead but the road is quite rough and I would rather be hiking than bouncing around in a car. The 0.9 mile path between the trailheads was pleasant enough with a number of wildflowers and a deer sighting.

We accidently left the trail and wound up on road 4205 across from signs for the Independent Mine and the Baneberry Trailhead.

Our version (2008, 2nd edition) of 100 Hikes in Eastern Oregon didn’t give any information about this trail but a sign at the Round Mountain Trailhead made mention of extensive trail work and renaming starting in 2010. Our book did show an old road leading down to the mine though so we decided to check it out. We reached the Baneberry Trail before getting to the mine and saw that it was an interpretive nature loop. Thinking it would loop us around to the mine we turned on the trail and began the loop. It was evident why the trail was named Baneberry as the forest was full of the plant.

Many benches and interpretive signs were located around the trail telling of the mining activity, forest, and wildlife.

As we continued on the loop it became evident that we were not going to loop to the mine site but instead were heading around in the opposite direction. When we had almost completed the loop a trail shot off uphill to the left which we took thinking it might take us up to the Independent Mine Trailhead. We lost the tread in a small meadow but we could tell the trailhead was just on the other side so we followed what looked like it might be the trail through the meadow and popped out at the trailhead.

From the trailhead we had more options. Straight ahead up the shorter steeper trail 808A, right on what was now named trail 804 or left on trail 808. We chose 808 based on the suggested route in the book. The trail passed through several meadows full of hellbore with views nice views to the north with Mt. Jefferson visible on the horizon.

The trail then turned south and we climbed up onto the sloped plateau. From here the trail climbed through open ground covered with wildflowers and sagebrush and the occasional stand of trees.

Big-headed Clover

Brown’s Peony

Looking ahead from the lower plateau

We crossed Brush Creek

and found some leftover of snow

There were some small lilies in this area as well as a few shooting star and mountain bluebells.

We came out of a clump of trees into another sagebrush covered meadow where we could see the summit of Lookout Mountain.

There were more flowers as we climbed through the sagebrush toward the summit. Balsamroot, paint, larkspur, and columbine dotted the landscape. There were other flowers both known and unknown to us as well.

Old Man’s Whiskers

The lupine was yet to bloom.

A sign stood at a trail crossroads giving directions.

From the summit we could see Cascade Peaks from Diamond Peak in the south to Mt. Hood in the North.
Mt. Bachelor and the Three Sisters in the distance:

We also spotted a very strange plant on the summit which thanks to some detective work form the folks at portlandhikers we identified as balloon-pod milk-vetch.

On our way down we stopped by a snow shelter built by the Oregon National Guard and U.S. Forest Service in 1989.

We spotted another deer on the way down and the butterflies started coming out as the day wore on.

Just before reaching the Independent Mine Trailhead on trail 804 we passed a left over mining building and an abandoned mine shaft.

We saw what must have been the same doe on the way down as we saw on the way up. She came out of the exact same group of trees and we wondered if she might not have a young fawn bedded down in them. We didn’t want to disturb it if there was so we continued on back to the Round Mountain Trailhead and our car. Day one had provided a great 10.3 mile hike and we had three more days to go. Happy Trails!

flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/sets/72157644735166968/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10204236394617228.1073741883.1448521051&type=1

Tags balloon-pod milk-vetch, balsamroot, brown's peony, brush creek, butterflies, deer, hellbore, hiking, independent mine, lookout mountain, Ochoco Mountains, ochoco national forest, Oregon, round mountain trailhead, shooting star, snow shelter