Tag: Washington

Hiking

Olympic National Park Day 4 – Ozette Triangle 5/15/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 22, 2025
No Comments on Olympic National Park Day 4 – Ozette Triangle 5/15/2025

For our fourth day in Olympic National Park we headed to Ozette Lake, the largest natural body of water in Washington. This was our longest drive from Forks taking just over an hour to reach the Ozette Trailhead.

We followed pointers for the “Coastal Trail” and crossed the Ozette River on a footbridge.

Notice regarding the petroglyphs on Wedding Rocks. By the time we were on the beach we’d completely forgot to look for these. We did run into another hiker who had seen them on a prior trip, but he couldn’t remember where. He thought they were located at some rocks near where we’d run into him, so we searched those rocks for several minutes with no luck. As it turns out he was mistaken as to where Wedding Rocks was, it is located on the first rocky headland nearest Cape Alava at the northern end of the triangle hike. We were much closer to the southern end.

Ozette River leaving Ozette Lake.

Shortly after crossing the river the trail split to begin the triangle.

We forked right onto the Cape Alava Trail. This 3.1-mile trail led through a coastal forest to the beach near Cape Alava. Much of the trail consisted of boardwalk.

Bunchberry

Slug on a skunk cabbage leaf.

Skunk cabbage

Bog laurel along the trail.

Closer look at the bog laurel blossoms.

Squirrel

First view of the ocean.

Beach bunny

Ozette Island. The signpost is used to identify inland trails that bypass the beach.

At the beach we turned left (south) and began walking along the rocky beach.
Bodelteh Islands

Heading south along the beach.

We had heard sea lions somewhere in the direction of Ozette Island as we were approaching the beach.

There is a seal in the foreground and a couple of sea lions on the rocks beyond.

Seals lounging on the rocks.

This beach hike wasn’t quite as challenging as the previous day on Rialto Beach (post) but there was a lot of slick ocean vegetation that was washed up on the shore.

One of several campsites along the beach.

Approaching Wedding Rocks. There is a bypass sign ahead if you look closely. At higher tides it is not possible to go around the rocks along the beach.

A couple of crabs taking a defensive position as we were passing by.

Wedding Rocks

On the other side of the Wedding Rocks. As I mentioned before this is where the petroglyphs are, but we’d already forgotten to be looking for them. In Heather’s defense she had started to come down with a cold the previous day and was not feeling 100%. I however had no excuse.

Beyond the Wedding Rocks we had to cross a rocky area where there were many pools.

After reaching some sand we took a break on a log before continuing on.
Looking back at the Wedding Rocks.

Robin

Bald eagle

Whimbrel

Hole in a sea stack.

Seals and cormorants

The second rocky headland where there was an inland bypass route. On the far side is where we ran into the hiker who thought these were the Wedding Rocks where he’d seen the petroglyphs before.

Path through the rocks. It made sense to us that this would be where the petroglyphs were given there were several passages between the rocks here.

Coming out the other side.

Looking back at the rocks that weren’t the Wedding Rocks.

After hiking back to the rocks with the hiker to look for the petroglyphs, which he did have photos of on his phone, we continued south to Sand Point. Along this stretch we passed a couple of large groups of backpackers heading north.
Sandpoint ahead.

Semipalmated plover

There was a use trail up the headland at Sand Point which I felt obliged to go up.

View south

One of the groups of backpackers heading north from Sand Point.

Chickweed on the headland.

We picked up a trail in the trees near some empty campsites and followed it inland along Sand Point.

There was a bit of a maze of use trails in the trees but we eventually found some trail signs and picked up the Sand Point Trail that would lead us back to Ozette Lake.

Similar to the Cape Alava Trail this trail had lot of boardwalk sections over the muddy forest floor.

Evergreen huckleberry blossoms.

Bench along the trail.

Groundcone. Heather had a sharp eye to pick this up on the forest floor.

There were a couple of missing sections of boardwalk along this side of the triangle.

Ozette Lake

This hike came in at an even 10-miles. Wandering around looking for the petroglyphs and going to the end of Sand Point instead of cutting up off the beach at the signed bypass added a little distance to the typical 9.4-mile distance.

Heather was a trooper for getting through this hike with what had now become a pretty intense cold. The cold would however keep her from our final hike and as I am writing this trip report I am dealing with the same illness. It had sprinkled off and on near the end of this hike and more rain was on the way Friday. For now we headed back to Forks and after changing clothes headed to Sully’s Drive-In for some burgers and tater tots before turning in for the night. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Ozette Triangle

Tags Cape Alava, Cape Alava Trail, hiking, Olympic National Park, ozette lake, Ozette Triangle, Sand Point, seal, Sully's Drive-In, Washington

Hiking Olympic Peninsula Trip report Washington

Olympic National Park Day 3 – Rialto Beach 5/14/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 21, 2025
5 Comments on Olympic National Park Day 3 – Rialto Beach 5/14/2025

For our third day in Olympic National Park we headed for the ocean. Staying near Forks, WA meant we were only 20 minutes from Rialto Beach where we planned to hike north along the coast through Hole-in-the-Wall and possibly as far as Cape Johnson. For the hikes along the coast we needed to consider the tides. Many portions of the coastline are only passible within a couple hours of low tide. There are bypass routes through the forest, but those routes are often muddy, steep and rough. Fortunately for us low tide was at 8:26am meaning it coincided with our typical early morning start.

We arrived at the Rialto Beach Trailhead around 5:45am.

We headed out to the beach and turned north.

James and Little James Islands

The beach was mostly small pebbles to start. Our steps often sunk more than expecting requiring more effort than we’d have guessed. We spent quite a bit of time trying to find the most solid ground.

Our footsteps on the beach.

Stump in the sand.

Ellen Creek. The creek flowed under the beach and emerged shortly before the ocean.

Seagull

Bald eagle

The Olympic Coast is known for its rock formations, some of which were on display here.

A little over 1.5-miles from the trailhead we arrived at Hole-in-the-Wall.

The tide was low enough we were able to pass through the arch.

Looking back through the arch.

There are some nice tide pools around Hole-in-the-Wall.

This racoon was searching the tide pools for breakfast.

Looking back toward Hole-in-the-Wall.

The hiking became more difficult on the far side of Hole-in-the-Wall due to the rockiness. Some of the rocks were very slick and other sections were large and awkward to scramble over. There were also hundreds of small crabs to avoid.

Many of the dark spots on these rocks are the small crabs.

Does anyone know what this is?

Oyster catcher

Cormorants

Cape Johnson in the distance.

Paintbrush

Unnamed creek not quite making it to the ocean above ground.

Due to the difficult footing we weren’t making great time. We decided that I would go ahead since I am a little more comfortable hiking on rocks and try to make it Cape Johnson. We also agreed to turn around before low tide at 8:26am to ensure that we gave ourselves enough time to get back before the tide was too high to stick to the beach.
Cape Johnson

I rounded a small point at 7:50am and saw that to reach Cape Johnson I’d have to bow in a lot further than I’d anticipated.

My legs were already tired and I didn’t think I could continue to maintain the faster pace needed to reach Cape Johnson and get back to the trailhead, so I continued until 8am then turned around.

I turned around at the slide ahead.
Hermit crab shells

A good example of the challenging terrain.

Seagull, oyster catchers, and a cormorant.

Paintbrush on the cliffs above the beach.

Hole-in-the-Wall and James Island back in view.

I had been scanning the ocean all morning looking for anything that might be an animal and took a number of pictures of things that turned out to be nothing. At one point I thought I spotted something floating near the rocks but wasn’t sure if it was just another rock. I took some zoomed in photos and think I may have stumbled on a sea otter.
Not a great picture due to the extreme zoom and low lighting. After looking closer at this photo I began thinking it was just a rock in the surf. Then I looked at the next photo and what would be the foot and the head were in different positions.

Possible sea otter.

The area around Hole-in-the-Wall was a lot busier on the way back.

Driftwood on the beach.

Heather spotted this little starfish while exploring the tide pools near the arch.

Heather also spotted this which we believe is a velella velella.

Starfish and anemones

Bald eagels

I eventually caught up to Heather on the far side of Hole-in-the-Wall and we continued south on the beach to the jetty along the Quillayute River.
On the jetty looking at James Island.

La Push across the river.

Sea lion in the river.

Heading back to the trailhead along the jetty.

The jetty is actually part of the Quileute Indian Reservation.

I managed to get 7.9-miles in here.

This was the most challenging hike of the week due to the rocks, but it was scenic with lots of wildlife too. Our next hike also included some beach hiking, but only about 3 miles so hopefully it wouldn’t be quite as tiring. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Rialto Beach

Tags Cape Johnson, hiking, Hole-in-the-Wall, James Island, Rialto Beach, Rialto Beach Trailhead, sea otter, Tide pools, Washington

Hiking Olympic Peninsula Washington

Olympic National Park Day 2 – Sol Duc Falls and Lake Crescent 5/13/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 20, 2025
No Comments on Olympic National Park Day 2 – Sol Duc Falls and Lake Crescent 5/13/2025

For our second day at Olympic National Park we originally had planned a long hike on the Sol Duc River, but we both had people recommend visiting Lake Crescent we decided to shorten our hike to Sol Duc Falls and then do a few trails in the Lake Crescent Area.

We began by driving to the Sol Duc Trailhead which was nearly deserted at 6am on a Tuesday morning.

Map of the area trails at the trailhead.

We set off down a set of stairs on the trail.
Anyone know why the spelling on the sign is different?

Violets

Bridge over an unnamed creek.

Trillium

Coltsfoot

Fairy bells

Near the three quarters of a mile mark we came to the Sol Duc Shelter.

Just beyond the shelter was a footbridge over the Sol Duc River at Sol Duc Falls.

Depending on the volume of water there are up to four channels which was the situation on this day.

Heather on the bridge above the falls.

We spent some time admiring the falls then headed back passing a handful of hikers on their way in. Our hike here was just under two miles with approximately 200′ of elevation gain.

From the Sol Duc Trailhead it was a little over half an hour to another waterfall trailhead, Marymere Falls.

It was still just a quarter to eight when we parked here so this lot was fairly empty as well. We set off on the well signed trail past the Storm King Rangers Station.

Storm King Ranger Station

The trail passed under Highway 101 and was relatively level to its crossing of Barns Creek.
Forget-me-nots (non-native) along the trail.

Lake Crescent

Storm King Trail to the left.

Marymere Falls Trail junction with the Barnes Creek Trail.

Footbridge over Barnes Creek.

Barnes Creek

Trillium

Footbridge over Falls Creek almost immediately after crossing Barnes Creek.

Falls Creek

On the far side of Falls Creek a loop began and the trail started to climb to a viewpoint of Marymere Falls.
Start of the clockwise loop.

Marymere Falls

The trail climbing up from the first viewpoint.

Marymere Falls from the second viewpoint.

Final viewpoint before the loop curved away from the falls and descended back to its start.

We completed the loop and headed back to the car.
The footbridges over the two creeks.

Unnamed fall on Falls Creek from the footbridge.

This hike also came in just under two miles, but with 500′ of elevation gain.

From the Marymere Falls Trailhead we drove east on Highway 101 toward Port Angeles to the end of Lake Crescent then turned left onto East Beach Road for three miles and left again on Boundary Creek Road to its end at the trailhead.
It was now almost 9am so there were a few cars parked here already.

This paved trail follows a former railroad along Lake Crescent.

Our plan was to hike to the second of two tunnels and visit the Devil’s Punchbowl along the way. After a short initial climb the trail descended to the old railroad and leveled out as it followed the lakeshore.

Various poems were located along the first mile of the trail.

This trail is open to a variety of users.

Haiku

A second haiku.

Common whipplea

Starflower

Valerian

A dirt trail signed for the Devil’s Punchbowl split off to the left at the first tunnel.

Clear water in Lake Crescent.

Paintbrush

Something in the pea family.

Nearing Devil’s Punchbowl.

Devil’s Punchbowl

There was a fair amount of poison oak along the trail to Devil’s Punchbowl.

Madrones

Honeysuckle

Common cryptantha

Rejoining the railroad trail on the far side of the tunnel.

Butterfly

Another type of trail user.

View west.

View east.

Big deervetch

Fairy slippers

Chipmunk

Woodpecker

Lake Crescent Lodge on the far side of the lake.

Squirrel

Wallflower

The second tunnel.

Thimbleberry

White crowned sparrow

Going through the tunnel.

I went a little further around this bend while Heather took a seat on a log after exiting the tunnel.

Paintbrush

View across the lake toward the Barnes Creek Valley.

I believe the snowiest peak is Lizard Head Peak.

Saxifrage

Chickweed

After a short break we headed back.
Swallow

Oregon sunshine

Lupine

Stonecrop

Variable-leaf collomia

On the way back we opted to hike through the first tunnel instead of the trail by Devil’s Punchbowl.

This was a longer tunnel and had little light near the middle.

Descending to the trailhead.

This wound up being a 6.2-mile hike with about 250′ of total elevation gain.

It was still before Noon so we decided to check out the area around Lake Crescent Lodge, which was close to the Marymere Falls Trailhead, so we drove back to where we’d turned off HWY 101 for that hike and followed pointers for Bovee’s Meadow Day Use Area.

We spent some time at one of the two picnic tables near the lake shore before attempting to follow a trail east to the lodge.
The lake from the picnic table.

Common loon

These mallards came flying in then waddled up to see if they could scrounge something from us, but we explained that we do not feed the wildlife (LNT principle six). They seemed to understand and promptly flew off.

Stellar’s jay

Trying to find the route to the lodge.

Mushroom

A maze of user trails crisscrossed through the trees and there were some student groups working on projects which we were attempting not to disrupt. We wound up at Barnes Creek but with no way to cross.
The lodge is just on the other side.

After looking a little more for a path that would lead to a bridge without going through the students we gave up and returned to our car and drove across Barnes Creek. We wound up parking at the Moments in Time Trailhead and hiking that two thirds of a mile interpretive loop before walking over to the Lake Crescent Lodge.

Interpretive signs explaining the creation of Lake Crescent by glaciers.

This trail had good signage unlike the area near Bovee’s Meadow.

Chair near the lodge.

Lake Crescent Lodge.

We poked around in the lodge and picked up a shot glass which is our go to souvenir for our trips. With the half mile of wandering near Bovee’s Meadow and a little over a mile between the Moments in Time Trail and walking to the lodge our day totaled 11.6-miles over the five stops.

Our hikes at Lake Crescent.

This was a fun day with a nice variety of scenery and trail types. While I’m sure a longer hike along the Sol Duc River would have been beautiful, we were glad we chose to check out the Lake Crescent area instead. We drove back to our cabin outside of Forks and cleaned up then went into town for dinner at Blakelees Bar & Grill which we both enjoyed. Our next two days would be a change of pace as we would be headed for the coast. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Sol Duc Falls and the Lake Crescent Area

Tags Blakelees Bar and Grill, Bovee's Meadow, Devil's Punchbowl, Forks, hiking, Lake Crecent Lodge, Lake Crescent, Marymere Falls Trailhead. Spruce Railroad Trail, Moments in Time Trail, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Sol Duc Falls, Sol Duc River, Sol Duc Trailhead. Marymere Falls, Washington

Hiking Olympic Peninsula Trip report Washington

Olympic National Park Day 1 – Hoh Rain Forest 5/12/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 19, 2025
1 Comment on Olympic National Park Day 1 – Hoh Rain Forest 5/12/2025

The hike that we chose for our first in Olympic National Park was the Hoh Rain Forest. Up until the Thursday before our visit access to the area had been cut off by a washout along the access road in December 2024. Fortunately, the State of Washington was able to fund repairs, and the road reopened on 5/8/2025. The forecast was for a slight chance of showers which seemed fitting for a rain forest hike.

We parked at the Hoh River Trailhead near the Hoh Visitors Center.

Starting just before 6am meant we had the trails to ourselves to start the morning so we began with two popular short loops, the Hall of Mosses and Spruce Trails.

The first loop we came to was the Hall of Mosses Trail.
Hall of Mosses pointer.

The Hall of Mosses Trail is a 0.8-mile interpretive loop with some nice green scenery.
Spring fed Taft Creek.

Start of the one-way loop.

Interpretive sign along the loop.

Looking up from the interpretive sign.

Maple Grove

Nursery log

After completing the loop and returning to the Hoh River Trail we crossed Taft Creek and arrived at a junction with the Spruce Nature Trail.

Fallen sign for the Spruce Nature Trail.

We turned right onto the 1.2-mile Spruce Nature Trail and hiked this loop clockwise.

This was another interpretive loop.

Hoh River from the trail.

This huge root ball was hosting its own mini forest.

Taft Creek

After completing the second loop we turned right onto the Hoh River Trail. Our plan was to hike to 5 Mile Island and then turn around.
The trail extends all the way up to Glacier Meadows below Mt. Olympus.

The section of trail to 5 Mile Island was fairly level with just a handful of short up and downs. The scenery was great as was the weather with some blue sky and just a brief misty shower on our way back to the car.

Violet

Fungi

Another type of violet.

Hoh River

Bunchberry and strawberry bramble

Slug

Trillium

Squirrel

One of the “ups”.

Star flower

Hoh River

Mineral Creek

Scouler’s corydalis along Mineral Creek.

Mineral Creek Falls

Unnamed creek a short distance beyond Mineral Creek.

Waterfall on the unnamed creek.

Sign for the spur trail to Mount Tom Creek Camp.

Wren

Vanilla leaf

Water droplet on a vanilla leaf.

More violets

Salmonberry along the trail.

Big leaf maple canopy.

There were a few obstacles such as this closer to 5 Mile Island.

Cougar Creek crossing.

Marker at the spur trail for 5 Mile Island Camp.

Hoh River at 5 Mile Island Camp.

View upriver from the same spot.

Privy at 5 Mile Island Camp.

Crow

Cat Peak, Mount Carrie, and Ruth Peak partly under clouds.

Cat Peak

After a nice long break at 5 Mile Island Camp we headed back to the trailhead. We’d had the trails pretty much to ourselves until the return trip when we started encountering an increasing number of folks on the trail.

We saw a lot of robins, on this hike and the over the next four days.

Slug

Candy flower

Almost back to the trailhead.

This was the longest hike of our week coming in at 13 miles and 400′ of elevation gain.

It was a beautiful hike, and we can only imagine what the remaining miles of trail might be like. It was obvious why this is such a popular area in the park, and we were glad we’d arrived early enough to enjoy some solitude. It was a great introduction to Olympic National Park. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Hoh Rain Forest

Tags 5 Mile Island, Hall of Mosses, hiking, Hoh Rain Forest, Hoh River, Hoh River Trail, Mineral Creek, Mineral Falls, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Spruce Nature Trail, Washington

Columbia Gorge North Hiking Trip report Washington

Catherine Creek – Coyote Wall Loop – 03/29/2025

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date March 31, 2025
1 Comment on Catherine Creek – Coyote Wall Loop – 03/29/2025

** Note the 2025 Burdoin Fire burned over much of the route described here. **

A combination of inclement weather and illnesses had kept us off the trails for a few weeks, so we were excited to get a chance to head out and check out some wildflowers. We decided to revisit a pair of hikes that we’d done back in 2016 as part of our 500 featured hikes quest. On our 2016 outing we made separate stops at Catherine Creek and Coyote Wall but this time our plan was to hike a loop between the two areas.

We based our route on a loop described in the Oregonhikers.org field guide which begins at the Catherine Creek Trailhead.

The Forest Service along with the Washington Trails Association have been working on restoring these areas including by improving, rerouting and decommissioning various user created trails. It is a work in process so knowing the current conditions and respecting any closed trails/areas is important before visiting.

For our loop today we began by following Atwood Road (right of the signboard).
Atwood Road

The first 3.5 miles of our loop followed this old roadbed. The initial 1.5 miles climbed steadily before the road turned west to traverse the hillside toward Coyote Wall. There were a variety of wildflowers blooming along the lower portion of the road.
Death camas

Saxifrage and a yellow bells.

Grass widows

Gold stars, wood-land stars, and blue-eyed Mary.

Catherine Creek from Atwood Road.

Pungent desert parsley

Catherine Creek Arch from Atwood Road.

Closer look at the arch.

Buttercup

One of the highlights of the day was spotting a number of Dutchman’s breeches on a hillside below some cliffs.
I believe this was just our second time coming across these flowers.

Closer look at the Dutchman’s breeches.

The Columbia River from Atwood Road.

Hairy bittercress (non-native)

Entering the sunlight.

Glacier lilies

wood-land stars

Toothwort

Nearing the forest.

Columbia desert parsley

Shortly before Atwood Road turned we passed a roadbed on the right that led to an old stove.

Heading through the forest.

The road exited the forest not long after turning west and passed through an open hillside with views of Mt. Hood.
Looking east as the road emerged from the forest.

Grassy hillside

This signed trail heading down Sunflower hill is the Bitterwood Trail aka Ca2. This is not yet an official trail, and the Forest Service plans to reroute and build out an official trail in 2025. (Assuming they have employees and funding.)

Mt. Hood behind a few clouds.

Mt. Hood

Popcorn flower

The trail descending into another stand of trees to cross Rowland Creek and continued to alternate between open hillsides and stands of trees before arriving at a signed junction.

Rowland Creek

Another user trail on the left, referred to as the Shoestring Trail by the Oregonhikers Field Guide. This trail is not shown on the Forest Service map nor is it mentioned on their website.

Coastal manroot

Grass widows

View of Mt. Hood’s summit.

Robin hunting worms.

Daffodils

The Upper Labyrinth Trail (aka Co8) joining from below. This was the first junction with signs naming official trails.

We had come up the Upper Labyrinth Trail in 2016 making the next three quarters of a mile a repeat.

Labyrinth Creek below Atwood Road.

The Labyrinth Creek crossing.

Wet trail climbing away from Labyrinth Creek.

Red-tailed hawk

A half mile from the Upper Labyrinth Trail junction, and 3.5-miles along Atwood Road, we arrived at another signed junction at a boundary with some private land.

Here Atwood Road enters the private property, so we followed the pointer for the Old Ranch Trail #4426. We followed this trail downhill 0.3-miles to a signed junction with trail #4427 – Traverse to Coyote Wall where we turned right.

Yellow bells

This was once again new trail for us and we followed it uphill just over three quarters of a mile to a confusing signed junction near the rim of Coyote Wall.

We stayed left here.

We ignored the singletrack leading right on the far side of this unnamed stream.

Here we veered right on the single track. I believe the single track is the “official trail” although both paths led to the signed junction.

A multitude of tracks near the junction.

It appears that the ultimate plan is to have one official route for the Coyote Wall Trail #4428 (aka Co1) and to decommission all others. At this point there was only one small sign identifying a closed trail and it was a path along the rim of Coyote Wall that was covered in a type of netting. We turned uphill at the junction to visit the meadow at the junction but were unsure which path to take. The field guide map has not been updated to identify the new official route and showed a narrow-elongated loop. There was no consistency watching other trail users, so we picked a hiker and followed his route up.

We eventually came to the conclusion that the new official trail was the one that used a series of switchbacks to reach the upper viewpoint.
On one of the switchbacks.

Turkey vulture

The upper viewpoint.

After a short break at the viewpoint we headed back down to the signed junction where we continued down the Coyote Wall Trail.

Balsamroot

Looking east over the Columbia River.

Gold stars

A mile beyond the junction the Old Ranch Road Trail joined from the left at a three way junction.

Here we stayed right on the Little Moab Trail (Co3) and continued downhill along Coyote Wall.

Coyote Wall

The Coyote Wall Trailhead.

Woolly-pod milk-vetch

Miniture lupine, redstem storksbill and a popcorn flower.

Fiddleneck

Poet’s shooting star

We turned right at this junction with the Old Ranch Trail to continue downhill.

Naked broomrape and redstem storksbill

We took another right at this junction with the Little Maui Trail to drop down even further to an old highway.

Tomcat clover and redstem storksbill

The old highway below.

We turned left (east) on the highway and followed it for 0.3-miles to the Labyrinth Trail #4423 (Co7) where we turned left.

The Labyrinth Trail wound through rocky outcrops for 1.2-miles to an unsigned junction with the Upper Labyrinth Trail on an open hillside.
We ignored the Little Maui Connector Trail on the left near the old highway.

Larkspur

The trail to the right here is a spur to Labyrinth Falls.

Labyrinth Falls

Crossing for Labyrinth Creek.

Labyrinth Trail

First view of the Catherine Creek Trailhead on the plateau ahead.

At the junction we stayed right on the Labyrinth Trail. We were happy to not be climbing for a bit as the Labyrinth Trail traversed the hillside before dropping to an ancient rockslide where Native Americans built vision quest pits.

Hound’s tongue

Rowland Creek

Rowland Basin

Lupine and balsamroot

We’d done a pretty good job staying on course given the numerous trail junctions, a good number of which were unsigned, but that ended when we reached another unsigned junction with a rough trail on the left marked by a small rock cairn.

We should have turned left here but got confused reading the field guide entry and wound up staying straight. Apparently straight is the Raptor Trail (Ca1). We didn’t realize our mistake until we spotted the highway below.

At that point I turned around to go back to the junction. Heather was just behind me on her way down and when I informed her of the mistake she decided not to climb back up to the junction but to simply walk the highway a little over a third of a mile to the trailhead. (Apparently the Raptor Trail is closed seasonally from Feb 1 – July 15th, but we didn’t see any signs to that effect.)

I returned to the cairn and turned right up the rough path which led to basalt cliffs and up a scree slope to another unsigned junction after just 0.2-miles.

The Rowland Pinnacle

I turned right at the junction and followed this trail just over half a mile back to the trailhead where Heather was waiting. (Eventually the Bitterroot Trail (Ca2) will replace this user created trail.)

One of several small vernal pools.

The GPS put this hike at 11.9 miles consisting of a little over 2900′ of elevation gain.

There was more climbing than we’d anticipated between Coyote Wall and the Upper Labyrinth Trail junction, but we should have expected it since we’d hike that section before. There was an extra 0.6-miles in that total from the Raptor Trail mistake (which also added 280′ of the elevation gain). It was a great hike though with a lot of variety both in flowers and scenery. Hopefully the Forest Service will be able to finish their projects at these areas and add signage to the official trail junctions to help keep people on the correct trails. These are busy areas (as can be seen from the trailhead photos) in later Winter/early Spring when the wildflowers are blooming. Starting early and doing the longer loop as we did helped to keep our hike from feeling overly busy, but if you can swing a weekday, it would be ideal. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Catherine Creek-Coyote Wall Loop

Tags Atwood Road, catherine creek, catherine creek arch, Catherine Creek Trailhead, coyote wall, hiking, labyrinth falls, Labyrinth Trail, Little Maui Trail, Little Moab Trail, Old Ranch Road Trail, Rowland Basin, Rowland Pinnacle, Upper Labyrinth Trail, Upper Viewpoint, Washington, wildflowers

Trip report

2024 Wildflower Gallery Part 2

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 7, 2025
1 Comment on 2024 Wildflower Gallery Part 2

This is part 2 of our annual wrap up of wildflowers we saw during the year on our hikes. (Part 1) I’ve tried to identify non-natives as well as indicate if this was our first time (that we know of) seeing a particular flower. We continue to work on learning to identify the flowers we see and remain a long way from being able to tell some of the different species apart, so any corrections or additional IDs are greatly appreciated.

The date and hike/trail of our observation is inculded.
Ocean spray – August 4th – Wizard Island (Crater Lake NP), OR

Olympic onion – June 8th – Cedar Butte, OR

One-sided wintergreen – July 25th – Minam River Trail, OR

Tapertip onion – July 21st – Granny View Overlook (Hells Canyon), OR

Ookow – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Orange agoseris – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Orange globe mallow- May 25th – Barnes Butte (Prineville), OR

An orchid – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Oregon bluebells – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain Trail, OR

Oregon grape – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Oregon sunshine – July 13th – Nasty Rock Trail, OR

Pacific coralroot – July 13th – Joyce Lake Trail, OR

Pacific hound’s tongue – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Pacific waterleaf – May 12th – Cathedral Tree Trail, OR

Indian paintbrush – May 25th – Willow Creek Canyon, OR

Paintbrush – probably scarlet (Castilleja miniata) – August 18th – Cliff Creek Trail (Wallowa-Whitman National Forest), OR

Parry’s arnica – July 21st – Hat Point, OR

Patridge foot – September 13th – Pacific Crest Trail (Mt. Jefferson Wilderness), OR

Gray sagewort – July 21st – Granny View Overlook (Hells Canyon), OR

Pea-vine – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Pearly everlasting – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Woolly head clover – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Pennycress – July 23rd – McCully Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Penstemon – May 25th – Barnes Butte (Prineville), OR

Penstemon – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Pestemon – July 13th – Nasty Rock Trail, OR

Venus penstemon – July 21st – Granny View Overlook (Hells Canyon), OR

Globe penstemon – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

A phacelia – July 26th – East Peak (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Phantom orchid – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Phlox – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Pinedrops – August 3rd – The Pinnacles Trail (Crater Lake NP), OR

Pink pyrola – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Pioneer violet – April 13th – Wind Mountain, WA

Woolly goldenweed? (If so this was a first for us.) – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Prairie smoke – May 26th – Bull Prairie Lake, OR

Prince’s pine – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Purple dead-nettle – February 24th – Fernhill Wetlands, OR

Purpleflower honeysuckle – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Pussypaws – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Pussytoes – July 13th – Nasty Rock Trail, OR

Queen’s cup – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Raceme pussytoes – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Rosy pussytoes – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Ragwort – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Red clover – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Red flowering currant – April 13th – Wind Mountain, WA

Rhododendron – June 15th – O’Leary Mountain Trail, OR

Rockcress – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Rose campion (non-native) – June 19th – Buckhead Nature Trail, OR

Rosy bird’s-foot trefoil – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Sagebrush mariposa lily – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Salal – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Salmonberry – April 13th – St. Cloud Trail, WA

Sandwort – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Saxifrage – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Scarlet gilia – July 4th – Horsepasture Mountain, OR

Scouler’s bluebell – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Scouler’s corydalis – April 13th – Lower Archer Falls, WA

Scouler’s woollyweed – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Seaside bittercress – May 11th – Ecola State Park, OR

Self-heal – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Serviceberry – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Shooting star – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Silverleaf phacelia – May 25th – Willow Creek Canyon, OR

Silvery raillardella (new to us) – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Sitka mist-maidens – April 27th – Wahkeena Trail, OR

Skunk cabbage – May 11th – Ecola State Park, OR

Slender phlox – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

mall-flowered woodland-star – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Small bluebells – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Snowberry – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Solomonseal – April 20th – Jackson Bottom Wetlands, OR

Oregon oxalis – April 13th – Lower Archer Falls, WA

Spirea betulifolia – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Spiraea douglasii – July 6th – Independence Riverfront Park, OR

Spiraea splendens – July 25th – Minam River Trail, OR

Spotted coralroot – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Spreading dogbane – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Spreading stickseed? – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Star-flowered false solomonseal – June 8th – Cedar Butte, OR

Starflower – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Stonecrop – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Wormleaf stonecrop – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Strawberry – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Streambank globe-mallow – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Sub-alpine mariposa lily – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Sugar sticks – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Swamp onion – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Chicory (non-native) – August 18th – Cliff Creek Trail (Wallowa-Whitman National Forest), OR

Sweet coltsfoot – April 27th – Wahkeena Trail, OR

Tall bluebells – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain Trail, OR

Tansy ragwort (non-native) – July 6th – Independence Riverfront Park, OR

Tasselflower brickellbrush – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Thimbleberry – April 20th – Jackson Bottom Wetlands, OR

Thistle – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Thistle (non-native) – July 6th – Independence Riverfront Park, OR

Greene’s thistle (Cirsium inamoenum) – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Threadleaf phacelia – May 25th – Barnes Butte (Prineville), OR

Tiger lilies – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Dalmation toadflax (non-native) – May 25th – Willow Creek Trail (Madras), OR

Tolmie’s mariposa lily – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Toothwort – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Trillium – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Twinberry – April 20th – Jackson Bottom Wetlands, OR

Twin flower – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Valerian – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Vanilla leaf – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Variable-leaf collomia – June 8th – Cedar Butte Road, OR

Vetch – May 28th – Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Vine maple – April 13th – Lower Archer Falls, WA

Violet – March 6th – Dorris Ranch (Eugene), OR

Violet – July 25th – Minam River Trail, OR

Canary violet – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Hookedspur violets – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Wallflower – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Wallowa paintbrush – July 25th – Minam River Trail, OR

Washington lily – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Western buttercups – March 16th – Middle Fork Willamette Path (Eugene), OR

Western clematis – August 19th – Pine Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Western featherbells – July 13th – Nasty Rock Trail, OR

Western Labrador tea – July 25th – Minam River Trail, OR

Western meadowrue – April 27th – Angel’s Rest Trail, OR

Western snakeroot – August 4th – Wizard Island (Crater Lake NP), OR

White mariposa lily – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Bushy blazing-star (Mentzelia dispersa) – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Tough-leaved iris – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Wild onion (Tolmie’s?) – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Wild roses – May 28th – Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Willowherb – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Wintergreen – July 13th – Nasty Rock Trail, OR

Possibly woolly groundsel – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Yarrow – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Yellow bell – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Yellow columbine – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Yellowleaf iris – June 15th – O’Leary Mountain Trail, OR

Yellow sweet clover (non-native) – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Youth-on-age – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Zigzag groundsmoke – August 3rd – The Pinnacles Trail (Crater Lake NP), OR

Unceremoniously the last flower seen was the non-native Queen Anne’s Lace at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge on October 18th.
Invasive Queen Anne’s Lace lower right corner.

I’m sure we saw more varieties than we are able to identify, but even with our limited knowledge I’m confident we easily topped 300 by years end. The five best wildflower hikes we took in 2024 by date order were:
Madison Butte, OR – 5/26/24 (post)
Cook Hill, WA – 6/1/2024 (post)
PCT to Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA – 6/22/24 (post)
Olallie Trail to Horsepasture Mountain, OR – 7/04/24 (post)
Bonny Lakes, OR – 7/24/24 (post)

We look forward to seeing what kind of variety 2025 will bring. Wildflowers will start popping up in January when the grass widows make their appearance at the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge with many others to follow. Happy Trail!

Tags hiking, Oregon, Washington, wildflowers

Year-end wrap up

2024 Wildflower Gallery Part 1

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 6, 2025
2 Comments on 2024 Wildflower Gallery Part 1

In 2018 we began a tradition of posting a collection of the variety of flowers that we encountered during that year’s hikes. We continue to work on learning to identify the flowers we see and remain a long way from being able to tell some of the different species apart. That doesn’t take away from our ability to enjoy the flowers though, so with that in mind here are some (but not all) of the flowers we saw this past year. We’ve split this into two posts this year due to the number of pictures (Part 2). (Any IDs provided are best guesses and any corrections or additional IDs are greatly appreciated.)

The first blooms we spotted were Indian plum during a February 24th hike at Fernhill Wetlands in Forest Grove (post).

Here are the others with date and location/hike. I’ve tried to identify non-natives as well as indicate if this was our first time (that we know of) seeing a particular flower.
Agoseris – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Allumroot – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Alpine pennycress – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

American Sawwort (Saussurea americana) – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Arnica – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Drummond’s anemone seedhead – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Columbia windflower (Anemone deltoidea) – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Apple blossoms – April 13th – St. Cloud Trail, WA

Heartleaf arnica – May 26th – Bull Prairie Lake, OR

Broadleaf arnica – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Arrowleaf buckwheat – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Western mountain aster – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Showy? aster – August 22nd – East Fork Wallowa River Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Thick-stemmed aster and buckwheat – July 21st – Granny View Overlook (Hells Canyon), OR

Another aster (or fleabane) – August 20th – Bowman Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Largeleaf avens – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Bachelor buttons (non-native) – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Ballhead sandwort – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Ballhead waterleaf – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Carey’s balsamroot – May 25th – Willow Creek Canyon, OR

Arrowleaf balsamroot – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Baneberry – May 18th – Wilson River Trail, OR

Bastard toadflax – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Woodland beardtongue – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Beargrass – June 8th – Cedar Butte, OR

Bigleaf maple – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Bindweed – August 18th – Cliff Creek Trail (Wallowa-Whitman National Forest), OR

Barestem biscuitroot – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Trailing blackberry – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Bleeding heart – April 27th – Devil’s Rest Trail, OR

Blue-eyed Mary – April 13th – Wind Mountain, WA

Bluebell-of-Scotland – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Bluehead gilia – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Bog Orchid – July 23rd – McCully Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Bolander’s Ragwort – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Daisies (non-native) – June 19th – Buckhead Nature Trail, OR

Sulphur-flower wild buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum) – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Barestem wild buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum) – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Cushion wild buckwheat – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Alpine wild buckwheat – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Buek’s groundsel – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Carolina bugbane – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Bunchberry – July 13th – Joyce Lake Trail, OR

Buttercup – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Bistort – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

California-tea – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

California cornlily – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Camas – April 20th – Jackson Bottom Wetlands, OR

Canadian milk-vetch – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Candy flower – April 13th – Sams-Walker Day Use Area, WA

Cardwell’s penstemon – June 8th – Tillamook State Forest (Road FB3), OR

Catchfly – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Ceanothus – June 15th – O’Leary Mountain Trail, OR

Chocolate lily – April 13th – Doetsch Ranch, WA

Meadow checker-mallow – May 28th – Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Rose checker-mallow – May 28th – Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Oregon checker-mallow – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Chickweed – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Cinquefoil – June 29th – Hiyu Ridge, OR

Shrubby cinquefoil – July 21st – Hat Point, OR

Farewell to spring (Clarkia amoena) – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Cliff beardtongue – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Coyote mountain mint – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Clover – August 22nd – East Fork Wallowa River Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Coastal manroot – May 11th – Crescent Beach Trail, OR

Columbian larkspur – March 16th – Middle Fork Willamette Path (Eugene), OR

Columbine – June 29th – Hiyu Ridge, OR

Common butterwort? – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Common madia – May 28th – Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Common whipplea – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Coneflower – August 17th – Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area, OR

Cusick’s speedwell – July 23rd – McCully Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Cut-leaf thelypody – May 25th – Willow Creek Trail, OR

Cutleaf anemone – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Death camas – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Desert yellow fleabane – May 25th – Willow Creek Trail, OR

Devil’s club – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Dogwood – April 20th – Rood Bridge Park, OR

Dusty maidens – July 26th – East Peak (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Dwarf alpinegold – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Dwarf lupine – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Elderberry – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Elephants head – July 25th – Minam River Trail, OR

Elkhorn clarkia – July 21st – Granny View Overlook (Hells Canyon), OR

Engilish plantain (non-native) – May 11th – Fort Stevens State Park, OR

Explorer’s gentian – September 21st – Black Wolf Meadows, OR

Fairy bells – April 27th – Wahkeena Trail, OR

Fairy lanterns – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Fairy slipper – April 13th – Wind Mountain, WA

Fawn lilies – March 30th – Mulkey Ridge Trail (Corvallis), OR

Felt-leaf everlasting – August 4th – Crater Lake National Park, OR

Finetooth beardtongue – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Fireweed – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

False hellebore – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

A fleabane? – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Showy? fleabane – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Flett’s ragwort – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Ground-ivy (non-native) – April 13th – Sams-Walker Day Use Area, WA

Foam flower – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Fringecup – April 13th – Lower Archer Falls, WA

Fringed pinesap – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Gentian – August 19th – Pine Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Geranium – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Ghost pipe – August 22nd – East Fork Wallowa River Trail, OR

Giant purple wakerobin (Trillium kurabayashii) – April 20th – Jackson Bottom Wetlands, OR

Giant white wakerobin (Trillium albidum) – April 20th – Jackson Bottom Wetlands, OR

Wild ginger – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Glacier lilies- May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Rocky Mountain goldenrod – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Gold stars – April 27th – Wahkeena Trail, OR

Grass-of-parnassus – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Grass widows – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Gray’s licorice-root – August 3rd – Castle Crest Wildflower Trail (Crater Lake NP), OR

Greene’s goldenbush – August 3rd – The Pinnacles Trail (Crater Lake NP), OR

Groundsel – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Harebells – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Hedgenettle – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Hoary Cress (non-native) – May 25th – Barnes Butte (Prineville), OR

Honeysuckle – June 29th – Hiyu Ridge Trail, OR

Hooded ladies tresses – August 20th – Chimney Lake Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Idaho licorice-root – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Inside-out-flower – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Royal Jacob’s ladder – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Jacob’s ladder – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Jessica’s stickseed – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Lance-leaf spring beauty – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Large-flower triteleia – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Largeleaf sandwort – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain Trail, OR

Menzies’ Larkspur (Delphinium menziesii) – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Possibly rockslide larkspur (Delphinium glareosum) – July 13th – Nasty Rock, OR

Sierra larkspur (Delphinium glaucum) – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Leafy fleabane – June 19th – Deception Butte Trail, OR

Leafy miterwort – May 18th – Wilson River Trail, OR

Lemon-scented madia – May 25th – Willow Creek Canyon, OR

Lewis flax – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Lewis monkeyflower – August 3rd – Castle Crest Wildflower Trail (Crater Lake NP), OR

False lily of the valley – April 20th – Rood Bridge Park, OR

Littleleaf montia – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Little prince’s pine – June 15th – O’Leary Mountain Trail, OR

Longhorn plectritis – May 26th – Madison Butte, OR

Sickletop louswort – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Coiled lousewort – July 23rd – McCully Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Lupine – May 18th – Wilson River Trail, OR

Lupine – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Lyall’s goldenweed – July 26th – Mount Howard, OR

Microseris – June 22nd – Big Huckleberry Mountain, WA

Basalt? milk-vetch – May 25th – Barnes Butte (Prineville), OR

Mock orange – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Common monkey-flower (Erythranthe guttata) – June 1st – Cook Hill, WA

Chickweed monkey-flower (Erythranthe alsinoides) – June 8th – Cedar Butte Road, OR

Coastal monkey-flower (Erythranthe dentata) – June 8th – Kilchis Forest Road, OR

Monkshood – July 24th – Tenderfoot Wagon Road Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Mountain ash – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Mountain death camas – July 22nd – Hurricane Creek Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Mountain heather – July 24th – Bonny Lakes Trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness), OR

Musk monkey-flower (Erythranthe moschata) – July 4th – Olallie Trail, OR

Naked broomrape – June 29th – Grasshopper Mountain, OR

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop – July 21st – Granny View Overlook (Hells Canyon), OR

Northern phlox – June 15th – O’Leary Mountain Trail, OR

Northwestern rabbit-tabbaco – September 13th – Pacific Crest Trail (Mt. Jefferson Wilderness), OR

Northwestern twayblade – July 13th – Nasty Rock Trail, OR

Nuttall’s linanthus – July 25th – Minam River Trail, OR

Tags hiking, Oregon, Washington, wildflowers

Hiking

The Hikes of 2024 – A Look Back

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date December 31, 2024
5 Comments on The Hikes of 2024 – A Look Back

2024 was a big year for us hiking wise. It wasn’t the number of hikes (55 days on trail) or mileage (496.8), but the culmination of an eight-year goal to complete all 100 hikes from a single edition of William L. Sullivan’s five regional guidebooks (post).

With our focus set on finishing the Eastern Oregon book, and in the process the 500 hikes, we primarily stuck to Oregon this year. In order to complete that goal we took three separate trips to NE Oregon and one to Central Oregon. We did spend three days hiking in Washington but failed to make it to California or Idaho this year. We also only spent four days hiking in Southern Oregon in 2024.

Our easternmost hike was at Hat Point, Oregon above Hells Canyon (post).

Our southernmost hike was an overnight trip in the Sky Lakes Wilderness (post).

As always seems to be the case our westernmost hike involved the Pacific Ocean, this time at Crescent Beach (post).

Finally, our northernmost hike was during the same day as our westernmost hike. After visiting Crescent Beach we drove north to Oregon’s Fort Stevens State Park for a hike which was further north than any of the hikes we did in Washington this year.

As mentioned above there were 55 days spent hiking which included a total of 84 stops. Twenty of the stops involved trails that we’d hiked before but none of these were exact repeats. Out of the 496.8 miles 75.4 were repeated from previous years.

One unique aspect to this year was relying on different forms of transportation for two of the hikes.
In July we took the Wallowa Lake Tramway up Mount Howard (post).

In August we traveled by boat to Wizard Island in Crater Lake National Park (post).

We were fortunate to have good weather for most of the year. It got damp at the end of October and stayed that way for most of the remainder of the year, but our November vacation took us to Disneyland (post) where the weather was close to perfect. That was our first non-hiking (albeit a lot of walking) vacation since 2012.

While weather wasn’t an issue, wildfires were. In particular smoke from a record setting 1,937,512 burned acres beginning with the Little Yamsay Fire in April. The fires really took off in July and the fire season wasn’t officially declared over until October 28th.
The Town Gulch Fire near Carson, OR was dangerously close to blocking our access to one of the featured hikes we needed to do to finish our goal (post).

Here are a some of our favorite sights from the previous year.
January – Corvallis to Sea Trail

February – Sunrise from Maple Creek Road

March – Mary’s Peak from Fitton Green

April – Bridal Veil Falls

May – Fishhawk Falls

May – Willow Creek Trail

May – Juniper Hills Preserve (The trails here were/are closed so we simply parked along the road and took pictures.)

May – Madison Butte

June – Cook Hill

June – Deception Butte Trail

June – Mt. Adams from Big Huckleberry Mountain

June – Grasshopper Meadow (Unfortunately this area burned by the Young Grasshopper Fire in September.)

July – Horsepasture Mountain

July – Nasty Rock Trail

July – Lower Bonny Lake

July – Minam Lake

July – Mount Howard

August – The Pinnacles

August – Downing Creek Falls

August – Schneider Cabin

August – Pine Lakes Trail

August – Laverty Lake

August – Aneroid Lake

September – Hidden Lake

September – Mt. Jefferson from Sprague Lake

September – Black Wolf Meadows

October – White River Canyon

October – Kinzel Lake

October – Sawtooth Trail

October – William L. Finely National Wildlife Refuge

October – Gold Lake Shelter

November – Silver Falls State Park

December – McKenzie River Trail

We couldn’t have asked for much more out of this year’s hikes and for the first time in eight years we don’t have any specific hiking goals that we are working on. Our focus will remain on visiting trails that we still haven’t hiked as well as expanding the areas we’ve visited. Happy Trails!

Tags Crater Lake, hiking, Mount Howard, Oregon, Wallowa Mountains, Washington

Hiking Trip report Washington Washington Cascades

Big Huckleberry Mountain – 06/22/2024

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 24, 2024
4 Comments on Big Huckleberry Mountain – 06/22/2024

There are a few hikes we’ve done where either fog, clouds, or smoke have left us without a view from our destination. When that happens, we add them to the list of destinations to revisit. Big Huckleberry Mountain was one such destination. Located in SW Washington in the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest we had visited this former lookout site in 2019 (post). For that hike we started from the Grassy Knoll Trailhead. That was an 11.4-mile hike gaining 1800′ of elevation with lots of wildflowers.

While the Grassy Knoll approach was great there are other ways to reach Big Huckleberry Mountain. Two of them are by starting at trailheads along the Pacific Crest Trail from either the north or south. We chose the southern trailhead based on it being the starting point of William L. Sullivan’s featured hike in his “100 Hikes Northwest Oregon” guidebook. An unofficial trailhead, it isn’t shown on Forest Service or Google maps, but a large pullout along Forest Road 68 where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses serves the purpose.
Looking down at the pullout from the PCT on the way back.

Be aware that FR68 is rough with numerous good-sized potholes and one large, steep drop that would be difficult for low clearance vehicles.

From the pullout we crossed the road at a large sign for the Wind River Experimental Forest and headed uphill on the PCT.

The PCT gradually climbed through a nice forest where a good number of wildflowers were blooming. There were also some glimpses of Mt. Hood through the trees. At the 1.3-mile mark the views to the south opened up where a large landslide at some point in the distant past had removed much of the forested hillside.

Phantom orchid

Spotted coralroot

Finetooth beardtongue

Mt. Hood through a window in the trees.

Finetooth beardtongue along the trail.

White spiraea

Bluehead gilia

Paintbrush

Some yellow balsamroot along the trail.

Columbine

Inside-out flower

Queen’s cup

Bunchberry

Vanilla leaf

Arnica

Approaching the landslide area.

Starting at the green up to the left is Augspurger Mountain (post) and Dog Mountain (post) on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. Mt. Defiance (post) is the high point on the Oregon side with Mt. Hood to the right. The three lower peaks to the right of Mt. Hood are Tomlike, Chinidere, and Indian Mountain (post).

Mt. Hood from the viewpoint.

Lomatium, bluehead gilia, and arrowleaf buckwheat in the bowl.

The trail continued along above the landslide before veering left to pass around a rise along the ridge.

Honeysuckle

On the far side of the rise a spur trail led right to a small wildflower meadow along the side of the landslide.

Wild onion mixed in with bluehead gilia.

Bluehead gilia

Lupine

Catchfly

Beyond the viewpoint the trail dropped to a saddle then resumed its gradual climb following the forested ridge. Just before the 3-mile mark we passed the Cedar Creek Trail coming up from the right. Along the way we passed through a couple more small meadows with nice wildflowers.
Arnica and beargrass in the forest.

Nearing one of the little meadows.

Sub-alpine mariposa lilies

Bluehead gilia

Sub-alpine mariposa lilies

A closer look shows why these are also known as cat’s ear lilies.

Buckwheat

Onion

Bastard toadflax behind a cat’s ear lily.

Rosy pussytoes

Yarrow

Looking back from the meadow.

I believe these are some type of microseris.

Boundary sign for the Wind River Experimental Forest.

Broadleaf arnica

Star-flowered false solomonseal

The Cedar Creek Trail coming up from the right.

Anemones

A third of a mile beyond the Cedar Creek Trail junction the PCT passed by a rocky outcrop. On the far side we took a path to the left leading to the top of the outcrop which had a great view of Mt. Hood and more wildflowers.

Wallflower

White groundsel

Cliff beardtongue

Wild rose

Larkspur

Mt. Hood from the viewpoint.

Spotted coralroot

Oregon sunshine and wild onions

Chickweed

While we were taking a break at the viewpoint another pair of hikers arrived (the only others we would see all day). We left the viewpoint to them and continued on.
Arriving at another small clearing with flowers.

Phlox, penstemon, lomatium, onion, and mariposa lilies.

Another little meadow.

Larkspur and balsamroot

This was the only time we spotted Mt. St. Helens on the hike.

At the 4-mile mark (0.7 from the rock outcrop viewpoint) we arrived at the junction with the Grassy Knoll Trail.

Almost immediately after passing this trail the Big Huckleberry Mountain Trail led uphill to the right.

We had forgotten how steep the 0.2-mile trail to the former lookout site was compared to the PCT, but the wildflowers and views from the long summit were worth it.

Mt. Adams from the former lookout site.

There was a lot of phlox in bloom.

Table Mountain (post) and Greenleaf Peak (post)

Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood with Mt. Jefferson behind to the right.

We walked west from the summit down the wildflower covered ridge to get some additional views.

Balsamroot and groundsel

Mt. Adams

Phlox

Paintbrush and cliff beardtongue

Another view of Mt. Hood.

Sandwort

Chickweed

Balsamroot

Some of the smaller flowers present on the summit.

Finetooth beardtongue

Wallflower

Wild onion

The end of the ridge is about three quarters of a mile from the lookout site.

We took a break on a small rock outcrop to enjoy the scenery and the gentle breeze that was keeping things from being too warm.
Heather on the outcrop.

Painted lady

When we finally started back we heard voices which turned out to be the two hikers that we’d seen at the lower viewpoint. They had set up their amateur radio and had just been communicating with someone in Pennsylvania. We passed by and made our way back past the lookout site and down to the PCT.

Larkspur
Swallowtail

Chickweed in some phlox.

We returned the way we’d come on the PCT enjoying the wildflowers the second time as much as we had the first.

Wallflower

Colubmine

Bluehead gilia

Beargrass along the PCT.

Heading down to the trailhead.

The hike ended up being 9.3 miles with approximately 1460′ of elevation gain.

This was a great hike with good views, lots of wildflowers, and plenty of solitude. The only downside at all was the rough drive up FR 68. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Big Huckleberry Mountain

Tags Big Huckleberry Mountain, cedar creek trail, Grassy Knoll Trail, hiking, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, Washington, wildflowers, Wind River Experimental Forest

Columbia Gorge North Hiking Trip report Washington

Cook Hill – 06/01/2024

Cook Hill is a 3015′ peak just east of Dog Mountain (post). Dog Mountain is famous for its wildflower meadows and has become so popular that permits are required for weekend hikes during the peak flower season. Cook Hill has its own, albeit less spectacular, meadows and a recent online report informed us that the wildflower display there was near peak. We did some shifting to our planned hikes and headed out to check them out for ourselves.

The hike up Cook Hill is on unofficial trails, partly using old logging roads, primarily on public lands. (A small section past the summit is on private land held by a lumber company.) Matt Reeder featured the hike in his “off the Beaten Trail” guidebook which is what put it on our radar. It can be done as a lollipop loop or a shorter out-and-back. Reeder’s description as well as older trip reports found online mentioned that the trail could be faint in places and that there was no signage present. This was no longer the case as we found a clear trail the entire route and some signage was now present. It may be that the implementation of the permit system has driven more people to this hike, or it may just be more well known now. Whatever the reason we were thankful to those that have been maintaining the unofficial trail.

We arrived at 6:30am and were the third car at the trailhead.
The trailhead is just a large gravel pullout along Cook-Underhill Road.

From the parking area we crossed the road to Jackson Rd (to the left in the above photo).
There is no parking for the trail anywhere along Jackson Rd.

Approximately a tenth of a mile up Jackson Road we came to a gate with a “Cook Trailhead” sign.

We followed the roadbed uphill through a mixed forest with a lot of poison oak off to the sides.

Ookow surrounded by poison oak.

Mt. Defiance (post) across the Columbia River.

Large-flower triteleia

Monkeyflower along the road.

Ookow

Small waterfall through the vegetation.

The first of two crossings of this unnamed creek.

There was a lot of spotted coralroot along the road.

Most of the trees had been cleared from the road, those that remained were easily stepped over.

Anemones

The second creek crossing.

Lupine

White groundsel

Small spring near the junction with the start of the loop.

Reeder mentioned a rock cairn at the start of the loop which was still present, but now there were signs too.

Going counterclockwise seemed to be preferred direction based on trip reports. This was also the shorter distance to the summit at 1.6-miles.

The clockwise sign listed the summit as 2.8-miles away in that direction.

We chose counterclockwise and continued through the forest. The roadbed had been fairly steep but soon this trail began to steepen even more as it approached the small lower meadow.

Arriving at the lower meadow.

At the meadow the trail turned directly uphill through the flowers before reentering the forest.

Balsamroot

Groundsel and balsamroot

Lupine

Death camas

The rocks up ahead made for some nice seats to take in the view from.

Mt. Hood peaking over the ridge to the left with Mt. Defiance to the right.

Mt. Hood

After a much needed break we continued steeply through the forest to the start of the next, much longer meadow.

Vanilla leaf

Starflower

Fairybells

The start of the long upper meadow.

There wasn’t as much balsamroot in the upper meadow, but rather a wide variety of flowers in various stages of blooming.
Larkspur

Violets

Slender phlox and blue-eyed Mary

Phlox

Balsamroot surrounded by larkspur and coastal manroot.

Coastal manroot

Groundsel

Dog Mountain from the meadow.

Chocolate lily

This was the closest lupine to blooming in the upper meadow.

Chickweed

Oregon sunshine yet to boom.

Mt. Hood from the meadow.

The trail continued to climb through the meadow with increasingly better views and flowers.

Woodland stars, larkspur, and lomatium.

Yellow buttercups lining the trail.

Mt. Hood and Mt. Defiance

Mt. Hood

Mt. Defiance

Alpine pennycress

Larkspur and lomatium

Chocolate lily eating a buttercup.

Largeleaf sandwort

The final stretch of the upper meadow.

Violets

Phlox

Dog Mountain

Mt. Hood and Mt. Defiance from the upper meadow.

Table Mountain (post) and Greenleaf Peak (post) further to the west beyond Dog Mountain.

Phlox, paintbrush, and lomatium

After slowly making our way through the meadow the trail climbed to the forested summit of Cook Hill.

At this point we had hiked a little over 3.5-miles and gained over 2800′. To complete the loop portion of the hike we continued past the summit and made an initially steep descent along a ridge past some more meadow and occasional views of Mt. Adams to the north.

Mt. Adams from between trees.

Arnica

The final stretch of the steep descent was through this forest with no understory.

The trail then leveled out along with the ridge and actually made a very gradual climb to a radio tower.

Vine maple overhanging the trail.

It’s hard to tell from the photo but these were huge paintbrushes.

Another view of Mt. Hood and Mt. Defiance.

Dogwood

Trillium

The first tower.

The trail continued past the radio tower to the left on a roadbed and soon passed under a large set of powerlines near more towers at Cook Hill Saddle.

Looking toward Mt. Adams from beneath the powerlines.

Mt. Adams

Wind Mountain (post) sticking up to the left before the Columbia River.

We made a hard right beneath the powerlines on a fainter old roadbed that quickly reentered the forest.
The faint roadbed heading left back toward the forest.

We followed this roadbed back to the signed junction to complete the loop. This part of the trail was more overgrown with a few more logs to step over but it was still quite easy to follow and navigate.

Wild ginger

Candyflower

The trail passed under a talus slope where a fair number of flowers were present.

Lupine and yarrow

Stonecrop

Bee visiting penstemon.

The talus slope.

Descending to the junction.

At the junction we turned right to head back to the car. At this point we’d encountered just three other hikers, but now that it was later, and we were off the loop we passed around two dozen more hikers heading up.

Ookow and bachelor buttons along the trail.

Bachelor button

Heather spotted this arctic skipper on some vetch.

Clarkia. It wasn’t open yet when we’d passed by in the morning.

There were a lot of phantom orchids starting along the lower portion of the hike, but this was the only one with any flowers opened.

Cook-Underhill Road from Jackson Road.

The hike was challenging at 8.5-miles and over 2900′ of elevation gain, but the views and the flowers had made the effort worth it.

The parking area was full when we got back, and several cars had parked along the shoulder of the road which could become an issue at some point. The other thing we saw that could cause problems were the bags of dog poop left along Jackson Road, yuck. Please be respectful of both public and private lands and happy trails!

Flickr: Cook Hill

Tags arctic skipper, Columbia River Gorge, Cook Hill, Cook Hill Saddle, Cook Hill Trailhead, hiking, Washington, wildflowers