Tag: Oregon Trail

Panorama Point (Oregon Trail Interpretive Center) – 09/08/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date September 12, 2024
No Comments on Panorama Point (Oregon Trail Interpretive Center) – 09/08/2024

For the third time this year we made the long drive to NE Oregon to visit the Eagle Cap Wilderness on our quest to finish the 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes Easter Oregon” (2022 1st edition). We were down to one final hike, Hidden Lake. At over 16-miles and 2650′ of elevation gain we had decided to make the hike a backpack which we had intended to start on Sunday, but a “Fire Weather Warning” due to possible dry lightning storms prompted us to delay heading out for a day. We booked a second night in our motel room in Baker City and decided to spend Sunday at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

We hiked a small portion of the trails located below the Center in 2023, but the Center itself had been closed for renovation. Our primary goal was to visit the exhibits inside the facilities and hoped to get in a little hiking as well if the weather cooperated. We arrived shortly after the Center opened at 10am.

It was already over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, but there were no signs of immanent thunderstorms so we decided to hike first then go inside. We began at the “Wagon Camp” near the upper parking lot.

From the camp we followed the paved Flagstaff Hill loop downhill until we reached a pointer for the Ascent Trail.

Aster

We turned left on the gravel Ascent Trail and descended for a little over three-quarters of a mile to a kiosk.
The kiosk is straight ahead in the small gully.

Cottontail

In 2023 we had reached the kiosk from the Oregon Trail Ruts Trailhead along Highway 86.

Since it was already uncomfortably warm out and we’d seen the ruts during our previous visit we made a hard right at a junction near the kiosk on a paved trail heading uphill.

We followed this path, stopping to read the various interpretive signs along the way, to the spur path to Panorama Point.

We followed the short (0.1 mile) path to a covered viewing platform at Panorama Point where we took advantage of the shade and took a short break.

After cooling off a little we continued uphill toward the Center.

Looking back toward Panorama Point.

At a point for the Blacksmith Shop I veered off the paved trail to visit that building as well as the Stamp Mill. Heather continued on the paved trail on a quest for the water that we’d left in our car.

A set of stairs led uphill from the Stamp Mill back to the paved path near the Load Mine.

After checking out the mine I continued on the Flagstaff Hill Loop passing behind the center and climbing to a set of covered picnic tables where Heather, and the water, was waiting.

After another short break we headed into the Center and spent a couple hours taking in the exhibits.

The exhibits were informative and very much worth a visit. Our minds were blown multiple times as we took in the information and tried to process what it would have been like to have taken the Oregon Trail.

The hike was nice too, but it took a back seat in this case. It was just under 3-miles with a little over 350′ of elevation gain.
Dotted is this trip, solid is 2023.

While we didn’t see or hear any thunderstorms there were a couple of rain drops on our way to dinner at The Cabyn, a new restaurant that had recently opened in downtown Baker City. Trying new restaurants can be a bit of a roll of the dice, but The Cabyn did not disappoint. We tried the venison and beef birra tacos, chorizo stuffed mushrooms, and Philly eggrolls which came with a fondue dip. The food was wonderful and we both agreed that the stuffed mushrooms were one of the best things we’d ever tried. Hopefully they will have a long and successful run. I know the next time we’re that way we’d make it a point to eat there again. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Panorama Point

Tags Baker City, Covered Wagon, Flagstaff Hill, hiking, Oregon, Oregon Trail, Oregon Trail Wagon Ruts, Panorama Point. Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Stamp Mill, The Cabyn

Blue Mountains - North Hiking Oregon Trip report

Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area – 08/17/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 26, 2024
3 Comments on Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area – 08/17/2024

For the second time this year we headed east to the Wallowa Mountains for a week of hikes to further our goal of hiking all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes Eastern Oregon” 1st edition (2022). The eastern book is the final of the five areas covered by Sullivan that we need to finish in order to reach our goal of hiking all 100 featured hikes from a single edition of each area (post).

We would be staying in Baker City for the first few nights which is a six-and-a-half-hour drive from Salem so we’d planned for Saturday to simply be a driving day, but on the way we realized we were going to arrive before check-in time. We decided to sneak a quick hike in to kill the time and landed on a short loop at Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area.

The park is located at one of the stops along the Oregon Trail where pioneers could find water (at the nearby springs). Located in the Blue Mountains this was the first forested area along the trail in Oregon. We couldn’t find much information on actual trails in the park, but there was an entry on AllTrails which we used as a guide. It has been our experience that AllTrails is best used as a secondary source of information, but in this case the park’s website didn’t seem to contain a map nor was there one at the Oregon Trail Picnic Area where we parked.

We attempted to follow the AllTrails map, which was a combination of road and trail walking, in a clockwise direction. We picked up a dirt trail near a set of interpretive signs at the day use area.

Memorial to pioneers dedicated by President Harding in 1923.

This path led us back to the park entrance and campground.

The map we had led us through the campground, but it was difficult to tell exactly where we were supposed to be so we did a bit of winding through the campground loops.

We eventually spotted a large signboard and a sign for the “Cabin Loop”.

The Cabin Loop sign pointed up this hill.

We followed the Cabin Loop pointer which led us uphill to the park’s rentable cabins then veered left and followed a dirt path downhill. This path crossed a paved road to a small pullout on the far side where the dirt trail continued.

Thistle

Foam flower

Coneflower

We followed this path uphill and stayed left at the first junction we came to.
There were virtually no signs to indicate what any of the trails were or where they led.

We quickly came to a second junction at an old roadbed. Based on the AllTrails route we wanted to turn right onto the roadbed so that is what we did. While doing research for this trip report I found a photo online of a paper trail map posted in 2018 which shows the “Nature Trail” continuing across the roadbed and swinging out to make a loop back to the roadbed further along. I have no idea if that trail still exists or what condition it is in, but I wish we’d have discovered that map sooner. We stuck to the roadbed which climbed uphill and looped around to an open grass area behind the park’s community building.

We had to duck under this tree.

Mountain lady slippers that had bloomed many weeks ago.

Pearly everlasting

Paintbrush

Thimbleberries

Aster

It was hot (pushing 90 Fahrenheit) which made the climbing less enjoyable.

This was most likely the Nature Trail rejoining from the left.

Not sure if this is native or invasive.

Wedding set up behind the Community Building.

Soon after passing the Community Building we arrived at the Horse Camp where we turned right on a gravel road.

Bee on fireweed.

Horse Camp

The gravel road led us downhill to another parking lot in the day use area. From there we simply followed a path along the road back to our car.

Our version of the loop came to 1.6-miles with approximately 150′ of elevation gain.

This was a nice leg stretch during our long drive which would have been nicer earlier in the year when more of the flowers were blooming, but the scenery was pleasant and the history interesting. It isn’t a quiet hike with I-84 so close by along with the campgrounds, cabins, and other park amenities, but we enjoyed the hike for what it was. From the park we continued on to Baker City where we arrived at our motel just after check-in time and got ourselves settled before the more intense hikes we had planned over the next five days. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area

Tags Blue Mountains, Emigrant Springs Campground, Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area, hiking, Oregon, Oregon Trail

Blue Mountains - South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Oregon Trail Wagon Ruts – 08/13/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 20, 2023
1 Comment on Oregon Trail Wagon Ruts – 08/13/2023

The hottest week of the year so far coincided with a planned backpacking trip to the Wallowa Mountains to check off three more of Sullivan’s featured hikes (post). Our first backpacking trip in these mountains began with Heather being ill the first night due to the combination of heat and altitude (post). For that trip we had started hiking after making the six plus hour drive from Salem making it a much later start than normal for us.

We learned from that mistake and for this trip we booked a room in Baker City so we could start our backpack early in the morning. We decided to make the most of our stay in Baker City by taking a short hike on a small section of the Oregon Trail at the Ruts Access trailhead near the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. (The interpretive center is currently closed for renovations.)

A short path led to the Oregon Trail ruts.

We turned left and followed the ruts half a mile to a replica covered wagon near a paved trail.

Hoary aster

The interpretive center on Flagstaff Hill.

Map near the wagon.

It wasn’t entirely clear if the remainder of the trails were open or not, there were no posted closure signs, but the BLM website made it sound as though some of the trails might be closed. The paved Panorama Point Trail would have led us to that viewpoint and up to the Interpretive Center, but it was around 90 degrees out and we had a lot of hiking planned over the next few days. We decided to just hike the 0.3-mile Oregon Trail Ruts Loop and then return to the car and save the remaining trails for another time once the center is reopened.

Our visit here came in just under 2-miles which was a nice leg stretcher after the long drive from Salem. Neither of us can really imagine exactly what it would have been like for the pioneers who made the long trek, but this added a little more history and context.

The stop also provided us a bit of a taste for the heat that we’d be dealing with over the next few days. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Oregon Trail Ruts

Tags Baker City, National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Oregon, Oregon Trail, Oregon Trail Ruts. Hiking

Columbia River Gorge South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Lower Deschutes River – SE Oregon Vacation Day 1

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 18, 2018
3 Comments on Lower Deschutes River – SE Oregon Vacation Day 1

It’s been awhile since our last post but we have a good excuse, we were busy hiking. Eight straight days of hiking in fact. 😊

For the last two years we’ve had plans to visit SE Oregon in May but each time our vacation week arrived so did rain in the forecast. Since May wasn’t working out we decided to give June a try. A dry Spring had things looking promising but a system moved in at the end of the week prior to our leaving that had us a little worried. There was rain in the Willamette Valley (and snow in Cascades) but our destinations looked like they would escape mostly dry. At least dry enough that we could rearrange a few of our planned hikes to let things dry a bit before attempting the drives that would be impassible if wet.

Before we could even attempt those hikes we had to get to SE Oregon. Conventional wisdom would have had us driving through Bend via Santiam Pass but we aren’t conventional. First the Sisters Rodeo was happening which meant even more traffic than usual in that little town. More importantly we wanted to squeeze a hike in on the way to Bend were we planned to stay with Heather’s parents again.

Following up on our recent hike along the Deschutes River at Macks Canyon (post) we decided to kick off our eight days of hiking at the Deschutes River Recreation Area near the mouth of the river. From Salem we drove north to Portland and took Interstate 84 ten miles east of The Dalles to the park. It seems a bit odd to kick off a SE Oregon vacation with a hike near the northern border of the State, but it’s a hike we hadn’t done yet and it was sort of on the way.

We parked at the end of the park and walked across a grassy area to a trail sign at the far end where we followed a pointer for the River Trail.

Unlike the trail at Macks Canyon, the River Trail stayed close to the water.

We stayed right at junctions sticking to the River Trail where we passed several groups of Canada geese.

The trail did climb away from the river to cross over a rocky area at the 1.5 mile mark.

Pigeons kept an eye on us as we passed the rocky cliffs and a family of mergansers sat on a rock in the river below.

The trail improved again beyond the rocks and it passed below a rock arch.

A short distance beyond the arch we passed Rattlesnake Rapids.

Up to this point we’d seen a few flowers and an interesting dragon fly.

Showy milkweed

Chicory

Blanket flower

After 3 miles on the River Trail we passed by a 10 acre wheat field.

At the far end of the wheat field we followed an old dirt roadbed uphill to a gravel road where we turned right, crossed small Gordon Creek and veered right again on another dirt roadbed down to a primitive camp site.

After checking out a small beach where one could wade in the river we headed back to the gravel road.

The road led up to the same old railroad grade that we had followed on our hike at Macks Canyon.

Here the grade is in good shape and used by bicyclists as well as hikers.

We followed the old railroad grade for a mile and a half from the primitive camp to a signboard.

The unmarked Ferry Springs Trail led off to the right a little before the sign and use paths to the left of the sign led to a view of the rock arch from above.

After checking out the arch we took the Ferry Springs Trail uphill.

This trail gained nearly 500′ as it climbed up and then traversed the hillside above the Deschutes River.

As we gained elevation we also gained more wildflowers, primarily yellow blanket flower and purple lupine.

Just over three quarters of a mile along this trail we came to Ferry Springs where we crossed a brushy creek.

A lizard greeted us on the far side of the creek.

The trail then passed a less than informative sign and passed through an old fence.

Beyond the fence the trail began to descend back down toward the river. From here we had a good view of the river’s confluence with the Columbia.

Near the end, the trail follows a section of the Oregon Trail.

After almost 1.75 miles on the Ferry Springs Trail we arrived back at the railroad grade. Here we had the choice of following it back to the parking area or continuing on hiker only trails. We opted for the hiker trail and flowed a pointer on the far side of the bike path.

This trail traversed the hillside between the River Trail and the bike path and brought us back to the start of the River Trail in just under three quarters of a mile.

The hike came in just over 8 miles which was a nice way to start a week of hiking. It had been pretty windy (not unusual for the area) but the rain had stayed to the west which we took as an encouraging sign for the rest of our trip. We left the Deschutes and headed east to Biggs Junction where we took Highway 97 south to Bend and had a nice visit with Heather’s parents before heading further east (and south) for more adventures. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Lower Deschutes River

Tags Columbia River, Deschutes River, Deschutes River Recreation Area, deschutes river trail, Ferry Springs Trail, hiking, Merganser, Oregon, Oregon Trail, Rattlesnake Rapids, Rock Arch