Tag: Washington

Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 05/20/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 22, 2023
No Comments on Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge – 05/20/2023

For the second week in a row, we turned to a National Wildlife Refuge System as a hiking destination. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service currently manages 568 wildlife refuges throughout the United States with the primary statutory purpose being the conservation of native species. Where and when appropriate the refuges offer access to the public for activities such as photography, wildlife viewing, hunting, fishing, paddling, and of course hiking. We have really come to enjoy our visits the various refuges, so we were looking forward to exploring a new one to us, the Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Situated just East of Washougal Washington along the Columbia River, Steigerwald Lake is part of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Complex. In addition to Steigerwald Lake the complex also includes the Franz Lake, Pierce, and Ridgefield refuges. Of those Ridgefield (post) is the only one we’d previously visited. We had hoped to visit this refuge a couple of years ago, but the refuge was undergoing an extensive restoration that kept it closed until May of last year. The refuge hosts roughly 5-miles of crushed gravel trails. Two of the trails, the Mountain View and the Refuge River, are open all year. A third trail, the Wildlife Art Trail, is partially closed October 1st through April 30th. The Refuge River Trail is open to pedestrians, bicycles, jogging, horseback riding, and leashed dogs which is rare for a refuge while the other trails are hiker (pedestrian) only. To use the Refuge River Trail joggers, cyclists, equestrians and leashed dogs enter the refuge from the West via the Captain William Clark Park Trail by either starting at Steamboat Landing or Captain William Clark Park.

Our plan was to start at the refuge trailhead and hike the trails then then take the Captain William Clark Park Trail to Steamboat Landing and back. We opted for this approach because online information showed 7am and 8am as the opening times for Captain William Clark Park and Steamboat Landing respectively while the refuge website reported that it’s gate opened at 5:30am and we’d be arriving shortly after six.
The Mountain View Trail is named so because of the view of Mt. Hood, which on this morning was hiding behind the clouds on the left side of the photo.

Map and information at the trailhead.

We followed the wide gravel trail as it climbed atop a levee separating the wetlands to the east from industrial lands to the West.

View to the East.

Looking West toward Washougal.

We followed the trail atop the levee watching on both sides for wildlife.

Mallards

A duck and a goose sharing a log.

A mallard and an egret in a channel to the West.

Ducks flying over the wetlands casting clear reflections.

Water dripping from a mallards bill.

One of several rabbits we spotted to the West.

Deer across the wetlands. (The young buck may have been sticking his tongue out at us.)

Families of geese.

Wood duck mallard

When the trail split just prior to reaching the Refuge River Trail we stayed left.

Trail sign at the junction with the Refuge River Trail.

We turned left onto the Refuge River Trail following it for 0.3-miles to the Wildlife Art Trail where we again turned left.
Sparrow

Coming in for a landing.

Red Tail Lake to the right of the Wildlife Art Trail.

Pretty sure these are the same three we saw from the Mountain View Trail.

This deer laying along the shore of Red Tail Lake was new though.

Common yellow throat

One of many great blue herons that we watched fly overhead throughout the day.

The Wildlife Art Trail passing around Redtail Lake.

Gibbons Creek is in that grass somewhere with at least one deer.

Killdeer along Redtail Lake.

Turns out the deer laying on the lake shore wasn’t alone.

Roses

Purple martins

Just beyond the Cottonwood Bridge the trail forks. To the right is the seasonal section of the loop open May 1st through September 30th. The left-hand fork dead-ends in a tenth of a mile overlooking the wetlands.

We headed left to the overlook before continuing on the loop.

Egret at Scaup Pond.

Egret with a frog meal.

Mushrooms

We got a kick out of the “Birds Only Beyond This Sign”.

Kingfisher

I had been watching a kingfisher as we arrived at the overlook and after it flew off I turned to my right and thought that there was a bittern standing just a few yards away. Then my eyes adjusted and I realized it was one of the art pieces and I’d been fooled.
We’ve only seen two bitterns on our hikes and both times we only spotted them as they flew off from the grassy cover that they’d been hiding in so I was pretty disappointed when I realized I’d been duped, but kudos to the artist because it looked real at first glance to me.

We returned to the loop and passed through the seasonal gate.

The wetlands were pretty full of water to our left but between the trail and the water was a fair number of bushes and grass which was apparently popular with the deer.

You have something in your teeth.

Spotted towhee

At least two deer in the grass.

Another American goldfinch.

We left the seasonal section of trail near the junction with Refuge River Trail where we again turned left, promptly crossing a creek on Dragonfly Bridge.

Spotted sandpiper

We followed this trail to its end at the refuge boundary.
Oregon sunshine and yarrow

The Columbia River ahead.

Viewpoint along the Columbia River.

Approaching the Lampray Brdige.

Looking back from across the bridge there was a bald eagle in the dead snag along the river.

There were lots of geese along this section of trail.

Red clover in some Oregon sunshine

Another spotted sandpiper

Steigerwald Lake in the distance with a family of geese and crow on a log in the near channel.

End of the trail.

It was about 8:15am when we turned around and it was already feeling fairly warm, but there was relief on the way in the form of some clouds coming in from the Pacific.

Savannah sparrow

Here come the clouds.

Double the eagles.

For the second week in a row we got to watch an American Kestral on the hunt.

Arriving back at the Dragon Fly Bridge and the junction with the Wildlife Art Trail.

We had planned on following the Refuge River Trail all the way to the western end of the refuge but just 500′ beyond the trail junction we rounded a corner to find the trail flooded.

Since neither of us was interested in finding out how deep the water was we turned around and simply took the Wildlife Art Trail back.

Red tailed hawk

Geese nesting atop a snag.

More deer in the grass along Gibbons Creek.

Egret at Redtail Lake.

Great blue heron at Redtail Lake.

We followed the Refuge River Trail back past the junction with the Mountain View Trail and continued West.

Purple martins

When the light catches the feathers right it’s obvious where the purple martin’s name comes from.

Common yellowthroat

House finch

A mile from the Mountain View Trail we arrived at the refuge boundary with Captain William Clark Park.

The trail follows a dike to Steamboat Landing.

The main attraction at Captain William Clark Park is Cottonwood Beach where in 1806 Lewis & Clark established a camp while they secured provisions for the return trip through the Columbia River Gorge. The Provision Camp Trail leads down to the beach and picnic area.

The Provision Camp Trail

While there had been quite a few people on the Captain William Clark Park Trail there were just a few people in this area.

While the beach is extremely popular in the Summer and especially on weekends it became evident why we weren’t seeing folks today when we reached the “beach access”.

Northern flicker

Having the beach be underwater was fine with us, it meant fewer people, but the water level became an issue when the Provision Camp Trail turned back inland toward the dike to complete its loop.
Flooded trail ahead.

With the loop cut off we went back the way we’d come and returned to the dike where we turned left to continue on to Steamboat Landing.
Black headed grosbeak

Osprey

Back on the dike.

At the other end of the Provision Camp Trail was an interpretive display with replica canoes.

The flooded section of trail from above.

It was another mile from the interpretive display to Steamboat Landing. The trail was pretty busy, and we were now in the city, but we were still managing to see a good deal of wildlife.

Turtles!

Another turtle

Common merganser

Great blue heron

Steamboat Landing

At Steamboat Landing we turned down to a viewpoint along a fishing dock.

After a brief break we headed back.
A family of geese out for a float.

While it had clouded up overhead the morning clouds that had blocked any view of Mt. Hood had given way. Unfortunately, there was enough haze in the air to essentially wash the mountain out.
The large “hump” ahead is Larch Mountain (post). Mt. Hood is a little further to Larch’s right.

Grainy proof of Mt. Hood’s existence.

Silver Star Mountain (post) to the North.

We turned left onto the Mountain View Trail and headed back to the trailhead feeling really good about the amount of wildlife we’d seen although I was still a bit bummed about being fooled by the bittern art. As we neared the end of the wetlands that changed as a pair of bitterns got into a dispute over territory. The victor landed along the water below the levee.

The American bittern in the grass.

I had the chance to take way too many pictures as the bittern posed for the people on the levee.

It was an exciting ending to a great wildlife hike. We made our way down to the now nearly full trailhead. Happy Trails!
We’d been the first car in the lot that morning.

Having to retrace our steps a couple of times due to flooded trails put our hike at 12.4 miles for the day with minimal elevation gain.

Full album (Flickr): Steigerwald Lake Wildlife Refuge

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 2 – Featherless Friends

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 26, 2023
No Comments on 2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 2 – Featherless Friends

This year we split our wildlife gallery into two posts starting with our feather friends (post). We now move on to our featherless friends which ranged from tiny ants to bull elk and an almost too friendly black bear. It was an especially good year for deer including several encounters with does and fawns.

We’ll start out small and work our way up to the larger mammals.
Ants dropping sawdust from a log along the Catherine Creek Trail. We sat and watched these busy ants for quite a while. They had created a good-sized pile on the ground below.

We see a lot of beetles but usually not all at once like these lady bugs on Observation Peak.

Lady bug – Upper Table Rock

Yellow & black beetle – Mule Mountain

Redish brown beetle – Siskiyou Wilderness

Green beetle – Siskiyou Wilderness

Hitchhiker – Mt. Ireland

Blueish green beetle – Catherine Creek Meadows

Small beetle – Catherine Creek Meadows

Green beetle on a geranium – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Green beetle on a wallflower – Silver Star Mountain

Stripped beetle – Spring Valley Greenway

Water skippers – Big Twin Lake

Spider on thimbleberry – Siskiyou Wilderness

Crab spider – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Another crab spider – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Cricket – Pacific Crest Trail

We are often literally struck by grasshoppers as we hike. Sometimes they stick when they hit us such as this one along the PCT.

Bee on phacelia – Mule Mountain

Wet bee on lupine – Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

Bumble bee – Hemlock Creek Trail

Lots of pollen – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Bee landing on a marsh marigold along the PCT

Bee approaching penstemon – Siskiyou Wilderness

Bee and a tiny ant in a bindweed – Siskiyou Wilderness

Insects on thistle – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Wasp? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Some sort of wasp – Silver Star Mountain

Insect along Bear Creek – Eagle Cap Wilderness

My brother and I used to call these “weird things”; I have no idea what it actually is – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Damsel fly – Denman Wildlife Area

Damsel fly – Hemlock Lake

Dragon fly – Goat Marsh Lake

Dragon fly – Siskiyou Wilderness

Dragon fly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Dragon fly along the Wallowa River – Wallowa Homeland

Dragon fly – E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Dragon fly – Hemlock Lake

Dragon fly – Sky Lakes Wilderness

Snail – Rock Creek Trail

Snail – Applegate Lake

Snail – North Siouxon Trail

Snail – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Snail – Siskiyou Wilderness

Snail – Cascade Head

Slug – Larch Mountain Trail

Slug (and a fly) – Susan Creek Trail

Slug – Fish Lake

Slug on lupine – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Slug and an unfortunate earth worm – Rock Creek Trail

Worms – Chehalem Ridge Nature Park

Millipede – North Siouxon Trail

Millipede – Rock Creek Trail

Millipede – Illahee Rock

Millipede – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Wet caterpillar – Yakona Nature Preserve

Dry version – Larch Mountain Trail

Caterpillar – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Caterpillar – Siskiyou Wilderness

Caterpillar – Larch Mountain Trail

Moth – Klickitat Trail

Moth -Eagle Cap Wilderness

Moth – Twin Lakes

Moth – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Moth – Wolf Creek Falls Trail

Moth – Cascade Head

Propertius duskywing (Erynnis propertius) – Klickitat Trail

Duskywing – Siskiyou Wilderness

Northern Cloudywing? – Siskiyou Wilderness

Silver-spotted skipper – Siskiyou Wilderness

Skipper – Grizzly Peak

Skipper – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Skipper – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Hairstreak (bramble?) – Siskiyou Mountains

Cedar hairstreak – Siskiyou Wilderness

Hairstreak (possibly thicket) – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Ochre ringlet – Jack Ash Trail

Butterfly – Siskiyou Wilderness

Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Butterfly – Upper Table Rock

Butterfly – Mule Mountain

Butterfly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Butterfly – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Butterfly – Mt. Ireland

Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

Butterfly – Russian Wilderness

Butterfly – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Sara’s orangetip – Klickitat Trail

Common woodnymph – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Another woodnymph – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Orange sulphur – Siskiyou Wilderness

Mountain parnassian – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Clodius parnassian – Hemlock Lake

Western white? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Western white – Trinty Alps Wilderness

Pine white – Russian Wilderness

Butterfly – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Butterfly – Russian Wilderness

Butterfly – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Butterfly – Mule Mountain

Butterfly – Silver Star Mountain

Western meadow fritillary? – Silver Star Mountain

A fritillary – Silver Star Mountain

A fritillary – Trinity Alps Wilderness

A fritillary -Russian Wilderness

A fritillary – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Mourning cloak – Klickitat Trail

California tortoiseshell – Siskiyou Wilderness

Milbert’s tortoiseshell – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Lorquin’s admiral – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Common buckeye – Mt. Shasta Wilderness

Hoary comma – Sky Lakes Wilderness

Green comma? – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Swallowtails:
Klickitat Trail

Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

Eagle Cap Wilderness

Tadpoles – Russian Wilderness

Tadpole transforming – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Frog – Russian Wilderness

Frog – Goat Marsh Lake

Tree frog – Siskiyou Wilderness

Frog – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Toad – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Toad – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Fish – Siphon Lake

Rough skinned newt – Yakona Nature Preserve

Western painted turtle – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Baby snake – Miller Woods

Garter snake – Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge

Lizard – Mule Mountain

Lizard – Upper Table Rock

Lizard – Russian Wilderness

Lizard – Siskiyou Wilderness

Lizard – Klickitat Trail

Lizard – Upper Table Rock

Alligator lizard – Mule Mountain

Chipmunk – Observation Peak

Ground squirrel – Russian Wilderness

Ground squirrel – Klickitat Trail

Ground squirrel – Eagle Cap Wilderness

Ground squirrel – Upper Table Rock

Squirrel – Rock Creek Trail

Squirrel – Twin Lakes

Squirrel – Larch Mountain Trail

Marmot – Wallowa Homeland

Jack rabbit – Denman Wildlife Area

Rabbit – E. E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Pika – Silver Star Mountain

Muskrat – Julia Butler Hansen – Wildlife Refuge

Otter – Killin Wetlands

Sea lion – Hart’s Cove

Deer – Memaloose Hills

Doe – Miller Woods

Mamma – Roxy Ann Peak

Fawn – Roxy Ann Peak

Columbian white-tailed buck – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Doe & fawn – Donomore Meadows

Three bucks – Siskiyou Wilderness

Buck – Siskiyou Wilderness

Buck – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Doe & fawn – Russian Wilderness

Buck and does – Russian Wilderness

Two bucks – Crater Lake National Park

Elk – Yakona Nature Preserve

Bull elk – Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Mountain goat below the Mt. Ireland Lookout – Mt. Ireland

Domestic goat – Near the Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

Black bear – Siskiyou Wilderness

The same black bear making eye contact the day before.

Tags Bear, Butterfly, California, Columbian White-tailed deer, deer, eagle cap wilderness, elk, fawn, Julia Butler Hansen Refuge, mountain goat, Oregon, Pika, Russian Wilderness, Siskiyou Wilderness, Trinity Alps Wilderness, Washington, Wildlife

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 1 – Feathered Friends

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 23, 2023
1 Comment on 2022 Wildlife Gallery Part 1 – Feathered Friends

We thought we’d do something different this year and split our 2022 wildlife gallery into two posts to keep them a little shorter. It made the most sense to us to do a post with the different birds we saw during 2022 and then one of the other wildlife. As with our wildflower post any corrections or additions to our attempts at identifying what we’ve photographed is greatly appreciated. One last note, while we really enjoy taking pictures as a way to record what we see on our hikes, we are by no means photographers. We use our phones and a point and shoot camera on the auto setting, so the pictures are far from professional, but we hope you enjoy them.

We’ll start small which, aside from some of the raptors, is where we have the most difficulty identifying the various species (ducks and sea birds can be tricky too).
Hummingbird at Memaloose Hills in May.

Hummingbird at Upper Table Rock in May.

Black capped chickadee at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon’s) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Wren (marsh?) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

White-crowned sparrow at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Sparrow? at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Common yellow throat at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Yellow-rumped warbler (Myrtle) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Tree swallows at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

White-crowned sparrow and a wren at Miller Woods in May.

American goldfinch pair at Miller Woods in May.

Another sparrow at Miller Woods in May.

Hermit warbler? near Kings Mountain in May.

House finch? at Upper Table Rock in May.

Rock wren? at Upper Table Rock in May.

Ash-throated flycatcher at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Unknown at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Swallow at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Some sort of warbler? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Purple martins at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Another wren at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Unknown at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Sparrow? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Warbler? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Black phoebe? at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Mountain bluebird near Union Peak in September.

Red-breasted nuthatch (best I could get) at Crater Lake in September.

Red crossbilss at Crater Lake in September.

Wren on the Eagle Creek Trail in November.

Dark eyed junco at Waverly Lake in December.

Going up a bit in size now (and a little easier to identify).
Canada jay (grey jay) along the Crown Zellerbach Trail in March.

California scrub jay along the Balfour-Klickitat Trail in April.

Stellar’s jay along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.

Female red-winged blackbird at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Red-winged blackbird at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Spotted towhee at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Starlings along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.

Brownheaded cowbird at Upper Table Rock in May.

American robin at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Tropical kingbird? at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Black-headed grosbeak (also all I could get) at Applegate Lake in May.

Lazuli bunting at Roxy Ann Peak in May.

Cedar waxwing at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Western tanagers, Siskiyou Wilderness in July.

American dipper (Ouzel) near South Umpqua Falls in September.

Townsends solitaire at Crater Lake National Park in September.

Clark’s nutcracker at Crater Lake National Park in September.

Varied thrush along the Eagle Creek Trail in November.

Unknown at Cascade Head in October.

We also struggle with a few of the woodpeckers.
Forest Park in January.

Northern flicker at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April. We seem to see flickers on nearly every hike, but they don’t often sit still long enough for us to get a decent picture.

Pileated woodpecker at Chehalem Ridge Nature Park in May. We rarely see these but like the flickers, when we do they are very difficult to get a photo of.

Acorn woodpecker at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Hairy? woodpecker near Twin Lakes in the Umpqua National Forst in June.

Red breasted sapsucker at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area in July.

Either a hairy or downy woodpecker along the Eagle Creek Trail in November.

Unknown, Sky Lakes Wilderness in late September.

Next up are scavengers and birds of prey including those pesky hawks.
Crow along the Crown Zellerbach Trail in March.

Raven at Upper Table Rock in May.

Turkey Vulture at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

American kestral along the Crown Zellerbach Trail in March.

Osprey along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.

Another osprey at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Bald eagle at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Eagle in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in September. Not sure if it is a bald or golden.

A bald eagle and hawk at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Pair of hawks at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Hawk at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Hawk at Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge in June.

Hawk along the Pacific Crest Trail near Carter Meadows Summit in August.

Hawk at Crater Lake National Park in September.

Barred owl at Noble Woods in May.

Great horned owl at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Young great horned owl at Roxy Ann Peak in May.

Moving on to game birds, a few of the species we saw this year were at the E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area at their breeding facility in June.

Ring-necked pheasant

Silver pheasant

Near the breeding facility at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area.

Mourning dove at Roxy Ann Peak a in May.

Grouse? in the Siskiyou Wilderness in July.

Grouse in the Mt. Adams Wilderness in August.

Grouse in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in September.

Bodies of water attract a lot of birds and provide us with a less obstructed view vs the forest.
Long billed dowitchers? at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Killdeer at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Sandpiper? at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Great blue heron at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Kingfisher at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge in June.

American bittern at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge in June.

White pelicans at Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge in June.

Hooded mergansers at Yakona Nature Preserve in February.

Common mergansers along the Klickitat Trail in April.

American coot at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Cinnamon teal at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Ring-necked ducks (and an American coot) at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Northern shoveler at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

White-fronted geese at Ankeny Wildlife Refuge in April.

Mallard along the Hood River Pipeline Trail in May.

Wood duck at Denman Wildlife Area in May.

Not sure if this is a ruddy duck at Waverly Lake in December.

Mostly American widgeons with a green winged teal and a female bufflehead or two mixed in at Talking Water Gardens in December.

Bufflehead at Talking Water Gardens in December.

Canada geese at Applegate Lake in May.

Domestic geese near the Klickitat Trail in April.

Domestic or hybrid? ducks at Waverly Lake in December.

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2022 Flower Gallery

In 2018 we began a tradition of posting a collection of the variety of flowers that we encountered during the years hikes. It’s always a bit shocking to see just how many different varieties we actually saw over the course of the year. It appears that the total in 2022 was right around 400. We are still learning to identify the flowers and are a long way from being able to tell some of the different species apart. For instance, we encounter species in both the genus Castilleja as well as Penstemon regularly but are not typically knowledgeable enough to determine which one we are seeing. That doesn’t take away from our ability to enjoy the flowers though, but the large number of different flowers makes it difficult if not impossible to get them all in one post.

With that in mind here are some (but not all) of the different flowers we saw this past year, in no particular order. (Any IDs provided are best guesses and any corrections or additional IDs are greatly appreciated.)

The first wildflower we spotted was a little violet on February 5th at the Yakona Nature Preserve.

It was certainly not the last violet we’d encounter as they are one of the more common flowers we see and also one that struggle to identify beyond “violet”.
May 14th – Chehalem Ridge Nature Park

June 15th – Donomore Meadows

June 16th – Pacific Crest Trail near Siskiyou Gap

Marsh violet, June 25th – Goat Marsh Lake

July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

Wedgeleaf? violet – July 1st – Youngs Valley, Siskiyou Wilderness

Goosefoot? violet, July 9th – Mt. Ireland

July 9th – Mt. Ireland

August 13th – Mt. Adams Wilderness.

The final flower to be photographed was a bleeding heart enjoying a late season bloom along the Eagle Creek Trail on November 19th.

Here is a more photogenic bleeding heart from May 21st on the Kings Mountain Trail.

We were lucky enough to see a handful of bucket list flowers during our trips to Southern Oregon and Northern California.
Snow plant, June 18th – Red Buttes Wilderness

California lady slippers, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Bolander’s lily, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Scarlet fritillary, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

Henderson’s fawn lily, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

Here are some of the other’s that we encountered over the course of the year.
Pungent desert parsley, April 2nd -Balfour Trail

Columbia desert parsley, April 2nd – Klickitat Trail

Woodland stars, April 2nd – Balfour Trail

Pacific hound’s tongue, April 2nd – Balfour Trail

Lupine, April 2nd – Klickitat Trail

Big leaf maple, April 2nd – Klickitat Trail

Slender phlox, April 2nd – Klickitat Trail

Fringecup, April 23rd – Ankeny Wildlife Refuge

Buttercups, April 23rd – Ankeny Wildlife Refuge

Checkermallow, April 23rd – Ankeny Wildlife Refuge

Another checkermallow, April 23rd – Ankeny Wildlife Refuge

Iris, April 23rd – Ankeny Wildlife Refuge

A paintbrush, May 1st – Memaloose Hills

Balsamroot, May 1st – Memaloose Hills

Large-flower triteleia, May 1st – Memaloose Hills

Naked broomrape, May 1st – Memaloose Hills

Vetch, May 1st – Moiser Plateau

Large-head clover, May 1st – Moiser Plateau

Fiddleneck, May 1st – Moiser Plateau

Bachelor button (non-native), May 1st – Moiser Plateau

Service berry, May 7th – Orenco Woods

Aven, May 7th – Noble Woods

Camas, May 7th – Miller Woods

Wild ginger, May 7th – Miller Woods

Striped coralroot, May 7th – Miller Woods

Fairy slippers, May 7th – Miller Woods

Plectritis, May 14th – Chehalem Ridge Nature Park

Fairy bells, May 21st – Elk/Kings Mountain Traverse

Snow queen, May 21st – Elk/Kings Mountain Traverse

Red flowering currant, May 21st – Elk/Kings Mountain Traverse

Trillium, May 21st – Elk/Kings Mountain Traverse

A monkeyflower, May 21st – Elk/Kings Mountain Traverse

Chocolate lily, May 21st – Elk/Kings Mountain Traverse

Kittentails, May 21st – Elk/Kings Mountain Traverse

Glacier lily, May 21st – Elk/Kings Mountain Traverse

Henderson’s stars, May 25th – Mule Mountain

Larkspur, May 25th – Mule Mountain

Not sure if this is a cryptantha or a popcorn flower, May 25th – Mule Mountain

Douglas’ stichwort, May 25th – Mule Mountain

A blue-eyed Mary, May 25th – Mule Mountain

California poppy, May 25th – Mule Mountain

A clarkia, May 25 – Mule Mountain

Hooker’s Indian pink, May 25th – Mule Mountain

Star flower, May 25th – Mule Mountain

California ground cone, May 25th – Mule Mountain

Ookow, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

Blow wives, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

Best guess is Parry’s hawkweed, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

Clustered broomrape, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

Narrowleaf onion, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

California goldfield, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

Possibly Fitch’s tarweed, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

Marigold pincushion plant, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

Arrowleaf buckwheat, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

A clarkia, May 26th – Upper Table Rock

Iris, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

Milkvetch, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

Unknown on Anderson Butte, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

Giant white wakerobbin, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

A larkspur, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

Rough eyelashweed, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

Wallflower, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

A wild onion, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

Jacob’s ladder, May 27th – Jack-Ash Trail

Death camas, May 28th – Denman Wildlife Area

Common madia, May 28th – Denman Wildlife Area

Common viburnum, May 28th – Denman Wildlife Area

Hairy Indian paintbrush, May 28th – Denman Wildlife Area

White campion, May 28th – Denman Wildlife Area

Pale flax, May 28th – Denman Wildlife Area

Purple oyster (non-native), May 28th – Denman Wildlife Area

Rose, May 28th – Denman Wildlife Area

Pea, May 28th – Denman Wildlife Area

Kellog’s monkeyflower, May 29th – Applegate Lake

Heart-leaf milkweed, May 29th – Applegate Lake

Northern phlox, May 29th – Applegate Lake

White lupine, May 29th – Applegate Lake

Carrotleaf horkelia, May 30th – Roxy Ann Peak

Blue-eyed grass, May 30th – Roxy Ann Peak

Baneberry, June 4th – North Siouxon Trail

Star-flower solomonseal, June 4th – North Siouxon Trail

False lily-of-the valley, June 4th – North Siouxon Trail

Candyflower, June 4th – North Siouxon Trail

Scouler’s corydalis, June 4th – North Siouxon Trail

Yellow glandweed (non-native), June 11th – Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

Daisy (non-native), June 11th – Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

Unknown shrub (non-native), June 11th – Julia Butler Hanson Wildlife Refuge

A vetch or pea, June 13th – Susan Creek Falls Trail

Columbine, June 13th – Susan Creek Falls Trail

Solomonseal, June 13th – North Umpqua Trail

Valerian, June 13th – Lemolo Falls Trail

Gooseberry, June 14th – Illahee Rock

Blue-eyed Mary, June 14th – Illahee Rock

Fawn lilies, June 14th – Illahee Rock

Pussytoes, June 15th – Pacific Crest Trail near the Stateline Trailhead

Bistort, June 15th – Donomore Meadows

Cutleaf daisy, June 15th – Observation Peak

Lance-leaf spring beauty, June 15th – Observation Peak

A rockcress, June 15th – Observation Peak

Alpine pennycress, June 15th – Observation Peak

Quill-leaf lewisia, June 15th – Observation Peak

Marsh marigold, June 15th – Pacific Crest Trail

Anemone, June 16th – Pacific Crest Trail near Siskiyou Gap

Jacob’s ladder, June 16th – Pacific Crest Trail

Buds of an unknown flower, June 16th – Pacific Crest Trail near Big Red Mountain

A paintbrush, June 16th – Pacific Crest Trail near Big Red Mountain

Drummond’s anemone, June 16th – Pacific Crest Trail near Big Red Mountain

Ballhead waterleaf, June 16th – Pacific Crest Trail near Big Red Mountain

A mariposa lily, June 16th – Pacific Crest Trail near Siskiyou Gap

Diamond? clarkia, June 17th – Bandersnatch Trail

A honeysuckle, June 17th – Bandersnatch Trail

A catchfly, June 17th – Bandersnatch Trail

Blue-head gilia, June 17th – Red Queen Trail

Deerbrush, June 17th – Mike Uthoff Trail

Grand collomia, June 17th – Mike Uthoff Trail

A phaceli, June 17th – Mike Uthoff Trail

Rhododendron, June 18th – Frog Pond Trail

Pretty Face, June 18th – Frog Pond Trail

Believe this is some sort of saxifrage, June 25th – Toutle Trail

Avalanche lily, June 25th – Toutle Trail

A penstemon, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

A phlox, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

Lewis flax, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

A paintbrush, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

Nuttall’s sandwort?, July 1st -Siskiyou Wilderness

Queen’s cup, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

Beargrass, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

Shooting star, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

Wolley-head clover, July 1st – Siskiyou ikyWilderness

A nightshade, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

Siskiyou lewisia, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

Spotted coralroot, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

This tiny flower was at the edge of the meadow in Young’s Valley, July 1st – Siskiyou Wilderness

Azalea, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Honeysuckle, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Pacific ninebark, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Streambank bird’s-foot trefoil, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

White-vein wintergreen, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

California pitcher-plant, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Also California pitcher-plant, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

White-stemmed frasera, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Washington lily, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Phantom orchid, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Oregon sunshine, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Pussypaws, July 2nd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Musk monkeyflower, July 3rd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Klamath arnica, July 3rd – Siskiyou Wilderness

White rushlily, July 3rd – Siskiyou Wilderness

Spirea, July 4th – Siskiyou Wilderness

Wild onion, July 4th – Siskiyou Wilderness

A penstemon, July 4th – Siskiyou Wilderness

Phlox, July 9th – Mt. Ireland

Brown’s peony, July 9th – Mt. Ireland

Yet another paintbrush, July 9th – Mt. Ireland

Silverleaf phacelia with visitor, July 9th – Mt. Ireland

Venus penstemon, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Douglas dustymaidens, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Bog orchid, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Mountain lady slippers, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Rosy pussytoes, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Yellow columbine, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Heart-leaved bittercress?, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Elephants head, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Cone flower, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Tall mountain bluebells, July 10th – Catherine Creek Trail

Another wild onion, July 11th – Horse Ranch Trail

Scarlet gilia, July 11th – Horse Ranch Trail

Arrowleaf groundsel, July 11th – Horse Ranch Trail

Purple sticky geranium, July 11th – Horse Ranch Trail

Ragged robin, July 11th – Horse Ranch Trail

False? sunflower, July 11th – Horse Ranch Trail

White mariposa lily, July 11th – Horse Ranch Trail

Rosy paintbrush, July 12th – Buck Creek Trail

Lyall’s rockcress, July 12th – Buck Creek Trail

Pacific coralroot, July 13th – Rock Springs
Trail

Hyssop, July 13th – Rock Springs
Trail

Another penstemon, July 13th – Rock Springs
Trail

Thistle, July 13th – Rock Springs
Trail

Oregon checker-mallow, July 13th – Rock Springs
Trail

This was a new one for us one-flowered moneses, July 14th – Bear Creek Trail

Pinedrop, July 14th – Bear Creek Trail

Sagebrush mariposa lily, July 14th – Wallowa Homeland

Blanket flower, July 14th – Wallowa Homeland

Yarrow, July 14th – Wallowa Homeland

Scouler’s bluebells, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Inside-out flower, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Tiger lily, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Bluebells of Scotland, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Subalpine mariposa lily, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Western sweetvetch, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Coiled lousewort, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Best guess is subapline fleabane, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Orange agoseris, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

A larkspur, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Mock orange, July 23rd – Silverstar Mountain

Chicory (non-native), July 30th – E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area

Indian pipe, August 6th – Yasko Falls Trail

Leopard lily, August 6th – Hemlock Creek Trail

Mountain owl’s clover, August 6th – Yellowjacket Loop Trail

Rainiera, August 6th – Yellowjacket Loop Trail

Hedgenettle, August 6th – Yellowjacket Loop Trail

Large boykina, August 6th – Yellowjacket Loop Trail

Candy sticks, August 6th – Yellowjacket Loop Trail

Monkshood, August 6th – Yellowjacket Loop Trail

Scarlet monkeyflower, August 7th – Fall Creek Falls Trail

White mountain heather, August 13th – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Mountain heather, August 13th – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Gentian, August 13th – Mt. Adams Wilderness

False hellebore, August 13th – Mt. Adams Wilderness

A saxifrage, August 13th – Mt. Adams Wilderness

Beardstongue, August 20th – Grizzley Peak

Shasta knotweed, August 22nd – Mt. Shasta Wilderness

Marsh grass-of-Parnassus, August 22nd – Mt. Shasta Wilderness

Western pasque flower, August 22nd – Mt. Shasta Wilderness

Bigelow’s sneezeweed, August 23rd – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Western snakeroot, August 23rd – Trinity Alps Wilderness

A buckwheat, August 23rd – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Autumn dwarf gentian, August 23rd – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Saffron-flowered lupine, August 23rd – Trinity Alps Wilderness

An aster or fleabane, August 23rd – Trinity Alps Wilderness

Hooded ladies tresses, August 24th – Russian Wilderness

Can’t seem to identify this flower on the shore of Russian Lake, August 24th – Russian Wilderness

This one has me a bit stumped too, it looks like a wirelettuce or some sort of lewisa, August 24th – Russian Wilderness

Buckwheat, August 24th – Russian Wilderness

A monkeyflower (dwarf purple?), August 26th -Pacific Crest Trail near Carter Meadows Summit

Mountain coyote mint, August 26th – Pacific Crest Trail near Carter Meadows Summit

Sierra larkspur, August 26th – Pacific Crest Trail

Tasselflower brickellbush, August 26th – South Fork Lakes Trail

Monkeyflower, August 26th – South Fork Lakes Trail

Thistle, August 26th – South Fork Lakes Trail

California hairbells, August 26th – South Fork Lakes Trail

Common toadflax (non-native), September 10th – Spring Valley Greenway

Fireweed, September 17th – Union Peak Trail

Douglas spirea, September 18th – Sky Lakes Wilderness

Best guess is Crater Lake collomia, September 19th – Dutton Creek Trail

Another mystery seen near the Cold Springs Trailhead, September 25th – Sky Lakes Wilderness

We have a few wildflower hikes planned in 2023. We are hoping to see at least one or two more that we haven’t before along with plenty of familiar faces. Happy Trails!

Tags Bolander's Lily, California, California Lady Slippers, california pitcher plant, Crater Lake, lily, Mt. Adams Wilderness, Oregon, Silver Star Mountain, Siskiyou Wilderness, snow plant, Trinity Alps Wilderness, Washington, wildflowers

Hiking Year-end wrap up

The Hikes of 2022 – A Look Back

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date January 2, 2023
No Comments on The Hikes of 2022 – A Look Back

What a strange year 2022 was for us from a hiking standpoint. We have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a “normal” year knowing that there will always be surprises and things that we haven’t experienced yet. This year was full of ups and downs, sometimes on the same day. We go into every year with an initial set of hikes planned out for the year knowing that by the end of the year changes will have been made, but this year may have seen the most changes to the initial plan in the 10 years we’ve been doing this. As is the case most years weather and wildfires caused the majority of the changes but in 2022 we were the cause several as well.

Our goal is to get out once a month from Jan through April and in both November and December while taking at least one hike a week from May through October. We had managed to hike a least once a month since February 2013 but the injury bug finally got one of us this year. Heather had to shut her hiking down at the end of September but did manage to get back out for the December hike. I kept to the schedule but instead of the planned hikes which would have been new to both of us I put some new twists on some old favorites. My end of the year numbers were 61 days hiking totaling just over 660 miles with a little more than 115,200′ of elevation gain. Heather’s numbers were 55 hikes, approximately 557 miles, and 97,450′ of elevation gain.

Once again we focused on hikes that were new to us (at least in part) so no day was an exact duplicate of one we’d done before. Union Creek Falls (post) was very close for me but I did manage to see one section of Union Creek that I hadn’t bushwhacked to on my first visit (post). Heather had not been with me that day due to an injury she’d sustained earlier in the day at Abbott Butte. While our Elk and Kings Mountain Loop (post) in May was a repeated hike we added a stop at Killin Wetlands to keep the day from being a repeat. Forty-four days were completely new trail for me while forty-five of Heather’s were new.

Another focus was our continuing quest to complete 100 featured hikes from each of the five William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes…” books (Feb 2022 Progress Report). We’ll go into more detail on that quest in our annual progress report next month, but we managed to make significant progress in the Southern Oregon/Northern California area and inched a little closer to our goal in Eastern Oregon. We now have an outside shot of finishing all 500 by the end of 2024.

Five days were spent hiking in Washington while twelve days were, at least in part, spent in California, our first visits since 2018. We visited four designated wilderness areas in California including our first ever visit to the Siskiyou Wilderness (post).

It’s interesting to me each year to see what hikes were the furtherst in each direction on the map. This year our most southern hike was our visit to Trail and Long Gulch Lakes (post).
Long Gulch Lake. The furthest south we hiked was on the trail a short distance after leaving this lake.

To the west one of the beaches along the Pacific Ocean is typically our most western hike but this year it was just inland from the ocean at Yakona Nature Preserve (post).
Technically the western most spot we hiked at was the trailhead for this hike, but the Yaquina River was a nicer picture.

Surprisingly our northernmost hike was neither our visit to Goat Marsh Lake at Mt. St. Helens (post) or Crystal Lake in the Mt. Adams Wilderness (post) but rather a hike we did just across the Columbia River from Oregon at the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer (post).
We hit our northernmost point during the stretch of our hike that followed Brooks Slough.

Our one trip to Eastern Oregon produced our easternmost hike which was a visit to the Wallowa Homeland (post) in Wallowa, Oregon.
View of the Wallowa Mountains from our easternmost point.

While weather considerations prompted us to make a number of changes to the timing of, and sometimes destinations for, our hikes 2022 may well have been the best all-around weather conditions we’ve experienced in a year. Several hikes throughout the year had forecasts for possible rain showers yet we only experience a couple of very brief periods of precipitation. Clouds also seemed to be less of an issue this year than in years past. It seems that almost every year we have at least one “viewpoint” hike where we arrive to find ourselves in a sea of grey. This year that really didn’t happen. We did arrive at the lookouts atop Illahee Rock (post) in the clouds, but the lookouts were the goal not necessarily the view.

Furthermore, it was just the first of two stops that day and by the time we arrived at our second viewpoint of the day above Twin Lakes the views had drastically improved.

Wildfires, which there were still far too many of, also had much less of an impact on our plans than they’ve had the last couple of years. The second week of September was the only time fires forced us to get creative. Heavy smoke saw us stick close to home for a short hike at the Spring Valley Greenway (post).
That’s the Sun above the trees.

I believe the destinations for our 2022 hikes were the most diverse in terms of the type of managing agency/entity. We visited trails located on private timberland (obtaining permits ahead of time when required), in city, county, state and national parks, and privately owned nature preserves (again with permits where required). We took hikes on BLM managed lands, state and federal wildlife refuges, state and national forests, wilderness areas, and a National Volcanic Monument. Our hikes also took place on a variety of trail types and surfaces.
Iced over snow in Portland’s Forest Park.

The Crown-Zellerbach Trail, a converted logging road.

The Klickitat Trail, a converted railroad.

The Hood River Pipeline Trail.

Sidewalk, Rock Creek Trail.

Rope section of the Kings Mountain Trail.

Gravel Road at Denman Wildlife Area.

Paved Brooks Slough Road, Julia Hansen Butler Wildlife Refuge (it is open to cars).

Dirt road at Siskiyou Gap.

Cross-country to Observation Peak.

Crossing over granite to reach the Devil’s Punchbowl in the Siskiyou Wilderness.

Water covered trail at Catherine Creek Meadows.

Sandy dirt Mt. Shasta.

Rock field, Union Peak.

The remains of the Union Creek Trail.

Frozen tunnel on the Eagle Creek Trail.

As far as our destinations go waterfalls and lakes were the top two goals for the hikes this past year, and we are always on the lookout for wildlife and flowers. There were also a few unique features, both natural and man-made, that we visited.
Witch’s Castle – Forest Park, Portland, OR

Wind Telephone, Yakona Nature Preserve – Newport, OR

Erratic Rock (post)

One of several military bunkers at Ken Denman Wildlife Area – Medford, OR

Umpqua Hot Springs – Umpqua National Forest, OR

Illahee Rock Lookout – Umpqua National Forest, OR

Twin Lakes Shelter – Umpqua National Forest, OR

Donomore Cabin – Donomore Meadows, CA

Mt. Ireland Lookout – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Cabin at Catherine Creek Meadows – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Reds Horse Ranch – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Lodge ruins – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Bear Creek Guard Station – Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR

Gazebo on Tick Hill – Wallowa, OR

Spring above Southgate Meadows – Mount Shasta Wilderness, CA

Panther Spring – Mount Shasta Wilderness, CA

Remnants of the OSU Dean’s house – McDonald Forest, Corvallis, OR

Talking Water Gardens – Water treatment wetlands, Albany, OR

I will save the flowers, wildlife, waterfalls, and lakes for their own 2022 galleries. We’re looking forward to 2023 and hoping that Heather makes a full recovery. We’ve done a bit of shuffling for the first part of 2023 to help ease her back into things. While 2022 was a good year we hope 2023 has a few less bumps along the way. Happy Trails!

Tags 2022, Bear Creek Guard Station, California, Catherine Creek Meadows, Erratic Rock, Forest Park, hiking, Mount Shasta, Mt. Ireland, Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland, Oregon, Red's Horse Ranch, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Washington, Witch's Castle

Hiking Mt. Adams Trip report Washington Washington Cascades

Crystal Lake (Mount Adams Wilderness) -08/13/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 17, 2022
2 Comments on Crystal Lake (Mount Adams Wilderness) -08/13/2022

For our day trips we try and keep our driving time time to trailheads under 3 hours (preferably two and a half or less). The one exception to that is Mount Adams which sits right around that 3 hour mark from Salem. Due to the distance we don’t get there as much as we’d like but we’d put it on this years schedule. We’ve been turning more to Matt Reeder’s guidebooks and hike #16 his “Off the Beaten Trail (2nd edition) was the hike that we’d originally planned on. While doing some research on the Riley Camp Trail I learned of a use trail not far from the that trail’s junction with the Pacific Crest Trail that led to Crystal Lake so we decided to extend his suggested hike a bit.

A very favorable forecast, sunny skies with a high in the low 50s, provided a green light for our plans and we made the long drive to the Riley Camp Trailhead.
The Riley Camp Trail (Trail 64) on the opposite side of FR 23.

A short distance up the trail we stopped to fill out a day use permit (free) and review the wilderness map on the signboard.

Trail 64 led gradually uphill through a nice forest.

A little over one and a quarter mile from the trailhead we came to a signed junction with the Riley South Trail (Trail 64A).

We stayed left on the Riley Camp Trail which almost immediately entered the Mount Adams Wilderness.

We weren’t aware that the Forest Service was employing wilderness greeters.

May I see your self-issued permit?

We had started to notice a fair number of mosquitos near the junction and were forced to turn to the Deet. We’d been pretty luck so far this year at avoiding the little blood suckers but not on this day. While they weren’t anywhere near as bad as we’ve had them before they were persistent between the Riley South junction and the end of the Riley Camp Trail at the PCT. With the bugs after us we kept a decent pace as the trail continued it’s gradual climb through the forest.
The trail was in pretty good shape with just a few downed trees to step over/under.

First look at Mt. Adams through the trees.

Near the 2.7 mile mark the trail briefly entered a 2015 fire scar.

Luna Lake

Aster

We left the fire scar behind as the trail turned north passing by a series of ponds/lakes (mosquito breeding grounds).

More Mt. Adams.

Paintbrush and lupine

Beyond the mosquito birthing centers the trail began to curve back to the east and entered Riley Creek Meadows.

Sub-alpine mariposa lily

Riley Creek along the trail.

Just over 4.5 miles from the trailhead we crossed Riley Creek.
Riley Creek at the crossing.

Beyond the crossing the trail made a final 0.3 mile climb to the PCT.
A trail sign up ahead at the junction.

We turned right on the PCT which brought us back to Riley Creek after 0.2 miles.
PCT marker on the tree.

Riley Creek below the PCT crossing.

We detoured briefly upstream to revisit our dinner spot during an overnight trip in 2017 (post).

White mountain heather

A nice paintbrush

After the short detour we continued south on the PCT to Burnt Rock (just under half a mile from Riley Creek).
Mt. Adams behind us as we headed south.

Sheep Lake

Mt. Rainier behind a line of clouds.

Burnt Rock behind the snags left over from the 2012 Cascade Creek Fire.

Alpine false dandelion

Grouse

Near Burnt Rock we looked for a user trail heading toward the mountain and took a left onto it once we spotted it.

It was another half mile to Crystal Lake. The use trail was fairly easy to follow. It did steepen just before the lake.

Hummingbird visiting paint.

Mountain heather

On the final pitch.

Mt. Rainier and Goat Rocks

Phlox

Almost there.

Not Crystal Lake, just a pretty little tarn nearby.

Fortunately mosquitos weren’t an issue up here so we were able to relax and spend a good deal of time exploring around the lake and a little beyond.
Mt. Rainier

Just a bit of snow left around 6300′.

The little tarn we’d passed.

While not big Crystal Lake was deep.

View down from the rocky ridge on the south side of the lake.

The rocky ridge along the south side of the lake.

We continued a tenth of a mile beyond the lake for a dramatic view of Mt. Adams.

We could hear a waterfall below on Riley Creek.

Zoomed in on the waterfall below.

Crystal Lake from above.

Mt. Rainier with Goat Rocks to the right.

Mt. Rainier

Some of Goat Rocks.

Golden-mantled grounds squirrel

After a good break we headed back down past the lake and back to the PCT.

Getting ready to drop down.

Clark’s nutcrackers

Butterfly on mountain heather.

Saxifrage

Violet

Alpine speedwell

A checkerspot

A crescent

Mountain bluebird

Northern flicker

I’m guessing a warbler of some sort. We saw quite a few of these little yellow birds but had a hard time actually getting a photo.

We turned right on the PCT and followed it back to the Riley Camp Trail and then followed that trail back to our car.
Mt. Adams from the PCT.

Adams Glacier

Riley Creek at the PCT crossing.

Wildflowers along the PCT.

Bee on valerian

Butterfly on valerian

Another butterfly on valerian

Looking back at Mt. Adams from the Riley Camp Trail.

Passing through Riley Creek Meadows.

Gentian

We only saw a couple of beargrass blooms.

Pollinators on fleabane.

False hellebore

Luna Lake and Mt. Adams from the trail.

The mosquitos remained a nuisance as we made our way back to the car so we kept a brisk pace. When we arrived back at the car there was a family preparing to set off for an overnight stay. They had an extra half of a pizza due to getting a free pie after the pizzeria initially made the wrong one. They offered us the extra since they couldn’t take it with them and we gladly accepted. Lunch was solved and dinner wound up also being solved when my parents took us and our Son (who was visiting for our Nephew Tyler’s 4th birthday party) out to Gilgamesh Brewing’s The Woods. It was a great ending to the day.

Our hike to Crystal Lake came in at 12.6 miles with approximately 2900′ in cumulative elevation gain. While I typically don’t share tracks for off trail hikes this one is listed on several prominent hiking websites so am including it below. If you do visit please be respectful, tread lightly, and Leave No Trace. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Crystal Lake

Tags Crystal Lake, Gilgamesh Brewing, Gilgamesh The Woods, hiking, Luna Lake, Mt. Adams, Mt. Adams Wilderness, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, Riley Camp Trail, Riley Camp Trailhead, Riley Creek, Riley South Trail, sheep lake, Washington, wildflowers

Hiking Silver Star Mountain SW Washington Trip report Washington

Starway Trail to Silver Star Mountain

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 25, 2022
9 Comments on Starway Trail to Silver Star Mountain

The late snow melt in in SW Washington had prompted us to push a planned hike to Silver Star Mountain at the end of June to next year but when we found ourselves in need of a substitute for another hike we took the opportunity to pull it back into this year. This would be our fourth visit to Silver Star Mountain having previously taken Ed’s Trail in 2013 (post), the Bluff Mountain Trail in 2015 (post), and the Grouse Vista Trail in 2019 (post). Those hikes had taken place on July 1st, June 27th, and June 24th respectively so this was a later visit for us, but we knew that the late snow melt had delayed the wildflower display so we still expected to get to experience that.

Our inspiration for this visit came from Matt Reeder’s “Off the Beaten Trail” (2nd edition) which was printed in 2019. Reeder calls the hike to Silver Star Mountain via the Starway Trail as “by far the most difficult….”. He also mentions that the last two miles of driving on FR 41 to reach the trailhead are “potholed and rocky” while the Forest Service states “Trailhead is best accessed by high clearance vehicles due to rough road conditions.” The Washington Trail Association also mentions that “…most of the roads accessing the trailhead have been severely degraded…” This last description was probably the most accurate description of what we encountered for the final 3 miles on FR 41. The road didn’t have pot holes, it had craters. Our Outback scrapped the ground twice emerging from said craters and I can’t imagine how a low clearance vehicle could make it given the current condition of the road. In fact there was a sign at the Sunset Falls Campground with slash going through a low clearance vehicle. We parked at a pullout near a gate at the FR 41/FR 4107 junction. Reeder mentions that you can drive 4107 approximately a half mile to the start of the actual Starway Trail at Copper Creek but if the gate gets closed your stuck. Looking at the gate we weren’t sure if it even still closed but we were more than done with driving at that point.

We headed down this one lane road approximately a half mile to a small parking area near a bridge over Copper Creek.

It was an overcast morning which was a welcome sight for this hike. Reeder had recommended not attempting this hike on warmer days due to the steepness of the climbs. The forecast for Silver Star was for a high in the low 60’s with partly sunny skies. We hopped that by the time we reached Silver Star we’d be greeted by those partly sunny skies, but the low 60’s temperatures were what we were really after. Beyond Copper Creek the trail followed an old road bed as it gradually climbed for a little over a quarter of a mile to a fork.
Overgrown roadbed that is now the Starway Trail.

The fork with the Starway Trail to the right.

The trail began to steepen here but didn’t really pick up steam until reaching a couple of switchbacks 0.4 miles from the fork.

Scouler’s bluebells

Beardstongue

Paintbrush

Taken from the first switchback this gives a little reference for how steep the trail was.

The switchbacks only lasted a tenth of a mile and then the trail shot almost directly uphill. The grade varied between steep and really steep for three quarters of a mile where it finally leveled out for a bit on a bench along the ridge we had been following.
Pictures never do justice to just how steep trails are.

Almost to the bench.

Level trail!

A section of trail on the bench passed through a carpet of foam flower. We’d never seen so much of that flower in one area.

Inside out flower

For about a half mile the trail avoided any overly steep climbing and then it once again headed uphill in earnest.
The trail starting to steepen again.

Every website I checked agreed with Reeder that the Starway Trail didn’t see a lot of use. They all mention the steepness of the trail and that the trail was faint and could be difficult to follow. After having hiked the trail we can confirm the steepness but it appears that someone or some agency has put a good deal of work into improving the trail. We had no trouble following the tread and there were a couple of places where a series of short switchbacks appear to have replaced sections that went straight uphill.
The first set of what appeared to be fairly recently built switchbacks.

At the top of the switchbacks the trail emerged in a small meadow where it once again leveled out.
Approaching the little meadow.

A little bit of blue overhead through the fog.

Tiger lily

Paintbrush

Wood rose

Thimbleberry

I had gotten to this level section first and looked for a place to sit down and wait for Heather but the meadow was too wet so I found a log in the trees at the far end and had a seat.
Into the trees to look for a log.

For a little over a half mile the trail climbed gradually alternating between forest and small meadows before arriving at its high point just below the wildflower covered Point 3977. Along the way we emerged from the clouds and got our first glimpses of Silver Star Mountain and Mt. St. Helens.

Silver Star Mountain

Bunchberry

Our first view of Mt. St. Helens

Zoomed in on Mt. St. Helens.

Arriving below Point 3977.

Point 3977

Pollinator on catchfly

The pink vetch was very bright.

Silver Star Mountain from the trail below Point 3977.

Rose

Wildflowers on Point 3977.

Bluebells of Scotland

Sub alpine mariposa lily

Checkerspot on Oregon sunshine

Lots of purple larkspur amid the other flowers.

A few columbine were hiding in the mix.

Violet

We surprised a fellow hiker as he rounded Point 3977 from the other side. He said he hadn’t expected to run into anyone on the Starway Trail. He’d started at the Ed’s Trail Trailhead and was doing a big loop using the Starway Trail and then road walking FR 41 & 4109 back to his car. He climbed up Point 3977 and we continued on planning to do that same thing on our way back. On the far side (south) of the point the Starway Trail suddenly dropped heading steeply downhill through a meadow.
Starting down.

Looking back up.

For nearly the next three quarters of a mile the trail alternated between steep descents and more gradual downhills losing a little more than 500′ in the process. Then the trail shot back uphill gaining over 300′ in the next 0.3 miles before arriving at a junction with the Bluff Mountain Trail.
Stars on the trees marked the Starway Trail at times.

Pinesap emerging from the ground.

A cairn at the end of this brief level section marked the start of another steep descent. By this time we’d lost enough elevation to be back in the clouds.

Part of the elevation loss was to drop below some interesting rock outcrops.

Fully back in the fog.

Time to climb again.

Big root balls.

Trail sign near the Bluff Mountain Trail junction.

Final pitch to the Bluff Mountain Trail.

On the Bluff Mountain Trail at the junction.

We turned right on the Bluff Mountain Trail which steadily climbed for nearly three quarters of a mile to a fork.

Lots of nice wildflowers along the Bluff Mountain Trail.

Another checkerspot

Paintbrush

Penstemon

We just couldn’t quite shake the fog.

First sighting of Mt. Rainier.

Mt. St. Helens to the left with Mt. Rainier to the right.

Coiled lousewort

Lupine

Getting closer to Silver Star.

Crab spider on fleabane

Spirea along the trail.

Bistort and mountain goldenbanner

First Mt. Adams sighting.

A crescent on bistort.

Penstemon

Wallflower with beetle.

Passing below Silver Star Mountain.

Mt. Hood

Rock arch below Silver Star’s summit.

At the fork we turned uphill to the left leaving the Bluff Mountain Trail.

This short connector trail climbed 0.1 miles to an old roadbed.

Fading avalanche lily.

The old roadbed.

We turned left and followed the roadbed 0.2 miles to a saddle.
The summit to the left with Mt. Adams in the distance.

Mt. Hood to the right at the saddle.

We headed for the summit to start and met a couple with a cute puppy named Hazel, the same name as our cat that we’d lost a year ago nearly to the day (post). The puppy even shared similar colored fur to our Hazel’s.

The view from the summit was a good one on this day. The clouds were low enough that we could see all five of the Cascade volcanoes: St. Helens, Rainier, Adams, Hood and Jefferson.
Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Adams.

Goat Rocks (between Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams)

Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Jefferson. If you enlarge and look closely you can also make out Three Fingered Jack and the North Sister to the far right.

Swallowtail

Sturgeon Rock

Wildflowers at the summit.

Bug at the summit.

After a nice break at the summit we dropped back down to the saddle then climbed to the southern high point just to say we did.
Point 3977 is the the island surrounded by clouds.

There was a lot of butterfly action here.

After tagging the southern point we headed back the way we’d come.
The only beargrass bloom we saw all day.

As we were passing below Silver Star we kept our eyes out for our favorite trail animals, pikas. We’d heard a few from the summit and we were rewarded with spotting one of the little rock rabbits in a talus slope.
The talus slope.

Pikas are not easy to spot.

On alert.

As always we kept our eyes out for other things we’d missed on the first pass.
Orange agoseris

Ladybug

Making the steep climb back up to Point 3977.

We did wind up making the short climb to the top of Point 3977 even though the clouds had risen enough to effectively block most of the views.
Looking toward Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier.

Looking toward Silver Star.

The views weren’t great but the wildflowers were.
Possibly a Native American vision quest pit.

Bluebells of Scotland with at least three visible insects.

Some bright paintbrush.

Larkspur

A brief appearance by Silver Star’s summit.

After a short break on Point 3977 we began the relentless descent to Copper Creek. The long steep descent was not a friend to the knees but we managed to make it down in one piece. Just before reaching the bridge we passed just the second hiker on the Starway Trail for the day.

Sorry knees.

Mock orange

A little blue sky in the afternoon.

We walked back up FR 4107 to our car and began the tedious drive back down FR 41 and made our way safely home.
Salmonberries along FR 4107. I may have eaten a few as well as some red huckleberries along the lower portion of the Starway Trail.

Both of those berry types are too sour for Heather who prefers thimbleberries but alas those were only beginning to show signs of ripening.

Looking back at the hillside the Starway Trail climbs from FR 4107.

In my research I’ve seen several different distances listed for this hike. In Reeder’s book he lists the hike to Silver Star as 10.2 miles. Our GPS units recorded 11 miles though. Some of that may be due to going to both ends of Silver Star and some additional distance may be due to the newer switchbacks (assuming they really are new). Regardless of the actual distance I think everyone agrees that the total elevation gain is right around 4200′.

I’m not sure we could have asked for a better day to do this hike on. We got some big views and lots of wildflowers while the temperature remained mild thanks to the low clouds and we saw our first pika of the year. I don’t know that either one of us would ever want to try that drive again but the hike itself was worth the effort. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Starway Trail to Silver Star

Tags bluff mountain trail, Butterly, FR 41, hiking, mountains, Off the Beaten Trail, Pika, Point 3977, Silver Star Mountian, Starway Trail, Starway Trailhead, Sturgeon Rock, Washington, wildlfowers

Hiking Mt. St. Helens Trip report Washington Washington Cascades

Goat Marsh Lake and Kalama Ski Trail – 06/25/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 27, 2022
2 Comments on Goat Marsh Lake and Kalama Ski Trail – 06/25/2022

After a wet and mild Spring, Summer announced its arrival with our fist 90-degree temperatures just in time for the weekend. When it gets that warm we typically turn to the mountains for relief but that’s a little trickier this year due to there being quite a bit of snow still up in the Cascades. Even some of the lower elevation mountains are still in the process of melting out. For instance our original plan for this hike had been to visit Silver Star Mountain (post) via the Starway Trail, an approach that we haven’t done yet. While this mountain is accessible recent reports showed several remaining snowdrifts but more importantly the wildflower show is running late. To decide where to go I turned to my spreadsheet looking for hikes that I had scheduled in coming years around the end of June. Goat Marsh Lake was on the schedule for next year and while the Goat Marsh Research Natural Area is located with the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. It sits at a low enough elevation that there was a chance that snow wouldn’t be an issue. Using NOAA’s NOHRSC snow depth layer on the PCTA’s interactive map confirmed that snow shouldn’t be an issue at the lake or along the loop we were planning after visiting the lake using the Kalama Ski and Toutle Trails. With a forecast high of 78 degrees it would be warm but not unbearable so with that as our plan we got an early start and headed north to the Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead.

We parked a little up FR 8123 from the trailhead and walked back down to the start of the trail.
FR 8123

This was the Kalama Ski Trail (Trail 231) and part of the loop we were planning as well as the way to reach the Goat Marsh Trail in a quarter mile.

We followed this path to the junction where we turned right to visit the lake.
It appeared the trail had been rerouted at least a couple of times to cross this dry creek bed.

This trail led slightly uphill for 0.5 mile to our first view of the lake. Along the way we’d spotted a cow elk in the trees but she disappeared before we could take a picture.

Fence at the boundary for the Research Area.

Goat Mountain and Goat Marsh Lake.

The trail continued around the lake for a little over three quarters of a mile. We spotted two more cow elk and moments later noticed a whole heard, including several calves, further to the north.

Mt. St. Helens

Trillium

Vanilla leaf

Frog on a log.

The two cow elk in the middle of the grassy area.

Calves lined up, this one is a bit blurry due to them moving and the amount of zoom used.

The elk herd not zoomed in.

Zoomed

After watching the elk for a while we continued on.
Coralroot

Goat Mountain

Avalanche lilies

Mt. St. Helens

Marsh violet

Frog under a log.

Salmonberry

Sign near the end of the trail.

At the end of the trail.

Beaver lodge

Duck and ducklings

Geese out in the grass.

We returned to the trailhead and crossed FR 8123 to stay on the Kamala Ski Trail.

The road crossing.

We had a little trouble picking up the trail beyond the sign because there was also a campsite here with several use trails radiating from it. We used our GPS while we looked for the blue diamonds that would identify a ski trail. Heather was the first to spot one and we were soon on the ski trail heading toward Mt. St. Helens.
In the campsite trying to decide which way to go.

Once we found it the trail was pretty obvious, at least for a while.

Approximately three quarters of a mile from the road we came to a junction with the Blue Lake Horse Trail. The horse trail can be used to reach Blue Lake (post) to the north via the Toutle Trail or the same Toutle Trail to the south near the Kalama River (post) which we could have done here to shorten our loop. Instead we stayed straight on the ski trail.

We had remarked several times during our Ashland vacation about the lack of mosquitos, and really insects overall, but that was not the case here. While they weren’t a big issue it was noticeably buggier here than it had been in Southern Oregon. The local birds were busy doing their part to reduce the number of bugs.
Gray jay with a snack.

Western tanager. Right after this photo he flew straight at us snatching an insect out of mid-air.

Four tenths a mile from the horse trail the ski trail made a turn away from the mountain and headed SE.

The trail became a little more overgrown then came to a series of dry creek beds where we again had to hunt for signs of the trail.

Butte Camp Dome in front of Mt. St. Helens.

Crossing another dry bed.

Where is the trail?

In one of the creek beds. We were using the GPS along with looking for cairns and/or flagging.

Goat Mountain

You can’t really make them out in the photo but there is a pink flag and a blue diamond (on a downed tree) near the edge of the green trees.

We were now entering the section of trail that the NOHRSC indicated there could be some lingering snow patches.
There was another short brushy section before the forest opened up.

One of the strangest snow sightings we’ve come across.

My theory was bigfoot hung this.

The NOHRSC estimated 2″-3.9″ of snow and that seemed to be about right.

Unlike in the Siskiyous this melting snow had produced a fair number of mosquitos so we hustled through this section even though it was scenic.

We encountered the first other hikers we’d seen when we arrived at the junction with the Toutle Trail (Approx 3 miles from the Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead). The junction was unsigned and they were considering which way to go to find the Loowit Trail. We pointed them north (left from the direction we were coming, straight for them) on the Toutle Trail and then turned south (right) ourselves onto the Toutle.
Looking back at the junction from the Toutle Trail. The post with no sign is the continuation of the Toutle while the trail on the left is the ski trail.

We followed this trail south for half a mile passing through a beargrass meadow that appears to have bloomed heavily last year and a lava flow with excellent views of Mt. St. Helens before dropping to FR 81 at the Red Rock Pass Trailhead.

Last years beargrass.

Strawberry

Phlox

FR 81 below the trail.

Trail sign at the trailhead.

We crossed FR 81 and continued on the Toutle Trail.

After 100 yards we came to a familiar fork where we had turned uphill in 2019 on our Cinnamon Ridge Hike linked above.
Raven flyover

The fork.

We were going in the opposite direction of what we’d done in 2019. Bugs were a bit more of a nuisance here so we kept a steady pace as we made a little climb then descended to McBride Lake and the Kalama River.

One of several side creeks we crossed.

Trillium

Avalanche lily

Violet

Goat Mountain beyond McBride Lake.

Sourgrass

Valerian

Solomonseal

Saxifrage

A little west of McBride Lake the Toutle Trail crosses the Kalama River on a closed road bed.

Kalama River from the road bed.

Our original plan was blown up here. We had intended to follow the Toutle Trail to the start of the Kalama Ski Trail and then take that trail back uphill to the Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead. The problem was I had already forgotten about the Blue Lake Horse Trail and when I had glanced at the GPS and saw a trail extending north from the end of the road bed I mistook it for the ski trail so we followed the road bed a quarter mile to FR 81. (We had a paper map with us but didn’t pull it out to confirm.)

The Blue Lake Horse Trail on the far side of FR 81.

When we crossed FR 81, two things that should have tipped us off to our mistake. First the sign clearly said “Blue Horse Trail” and second instead of blue diamonds there were orange diamonds with arrows marking this trail.
The sign did show FR 8123 which was the road the trailhead was on so that fed into us not realizing our mistake at first.

We followed this trail for a third of a mile before we realized what we’d done. We stopped and considered our options. We could back track three quarters of a mile to the Toutle Trail or a third of a mile to FR 81 and follow one of them west to the ski trail. Another option was to continue uphill on this trail to the junction we’d passed earlier and retrace our steps on the ski trail from there back to the trailhead. All of those options meant adding distance and retracing steps. Heather suggested another option, simply heading cross-country for FR 8123 and the trailhead.
An orange diamond on a tree ahead.

The forest was definitely conducive to cross-country travel so we struck off in a WNW direction. The cross-country hike was about as easy as we could have hoped for and after 0.7 miles we arrived a FR 8123 just 0.2 miles from our car.
Where we left the horse trail.

Typical terrain for the cross-country walk.

It seems like every time we go off-trail we come across a mylar balloon. We’ve really come to despise those things. We packed it and the ribbon out.

The trickiest part was crossing this dry stream bed but we fortunately came to it at a spot that was perfect for crossing.

FR 8123

Coming up to the Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead (and our car) on FR 8123.

I had estimated a 10-12 mile hike with only about 800′ of total elevation gain and we came in at 10.8 miles.

Our track with the cross-country portion in orange.

While it had been a warm day, the combination of shade provided by the forest and a fairly steady breeze, it hadn’t been too hot. The hike had provided a lot of diverse scenery and great views of Mt. St. Helens. The wildlife was a big bonus along the Goat Marsh Trail too. It seems like we can always count on hikes in Mt. St. Helens area to be great ones. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Goat Marsh Lake

Tags Blue Lake Horse Trail, Butte Camp Dome, elk, Goat Marsh Lake, Goat Marsh Lake Natural Research Area, Goat Marsh Lake Trailhead, goat mountain, hiking, Kalama River, Kalama Ski Trail, McBride Lake, Mt. St. Helens, mt. st. helens national volcanic monument, Red Rock Pass, Red Rock pass Trailhead, Toutle Trail, Washington

SW Washington SW Washington Coast Trip report Washington

Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer – 06/11/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 12, 2022
2 Comments on Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer – 06/11/2022

Another rainy weekend was in the forecast which had us questioning whether or not it was worth heading out. Our original plan had involved a hike with mountain views so we wanted to save that for a day with a clearer forecast. This had us looking for something that wasn’t view dependent. The Julia Butler Hansen Refuge a.k.a the Columbian White-Tailed Deer Refuge fit that bill and was on our schedule during the month of June in 2025. I had it penciled in for June due to one of the trails in the refuge, the Center Road Trail, only being open to hiking from June through September. While a refuge hike is typically okay on a rainy overcast day it had poured Friday and we were expecting Saturday to be similar and weren’t keen on driving over two hours to be drenched for an entire 12 mile hike. Friday evening we had all but decided to take the weekend off but just to be sure I pulled up the NOAA forecast for the refuge. To our surprise there was just a 10% chance of showers in the morning followed by partly sunny skies and a high in the low 60s. That sold us and we got our packs ready for a 5am departure the next morning.

After a brief conversation with a very friendly Washington State Trooper (I completely missed a 45mph sign and was given a warning) we pulled into the refuge HQ (open Mon-Fri 7:30am – 4pm). We had gotten the hike for this idea from the “more hikes” section of Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Oregon Coast & Coast Range” guidebook as well as an entry in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide describes a 6.1 mile loop, which for reasons that will become evident later, is no longer possible. (I have contacted both with updated information.)

A damp and cloudy morning.

Swallow

Our plan had been to to the described loop but after reaching the far end of the loop we were going to do an out-and-back along Steamboat and Brooks Slough Roads to add a little hiking time since a six mile loop would likely violate our rule of not having our driving time be greater than our hiking time on day trips. From the HQ we walked out of the parking lot onto Steamboat Slough Road and turned right crossing Indian Jack Slough. The loop description was to then turn right through a gate into the refuge shed/garage yard.
Indian Jack Slough and the garage from Refuge HQ.

The gate, including a secondary pedestrian gate were padlocked and there were “Area Closed” signs on the driveway gate. This was a bit unexpected, but shouldn’t have been if we’d have read the Refuge website more closely. What we discovered after our hike was that at some point a 0.3 section of Center Road, from Steamboat Slough Road west, had been closed to the public making the loop impossible and leaving the Center Road Trail as a 5 mile round trip out-and-back. At this point though we weren’t sure what was going on so we decided to simply head out Steamboat Slough Road and were prepared to skip Center Road and make the hike a simple out-and-back.

Beyond the shed/garage there was a living quarters and just beyond that we spotted the first Columbian White-tailed deer of the day.

We followed this road for 2.3 miles to the start of the White-tail Trail. It is possible to drive to this trail and park at the nearby dead end of Steamboat Slough Road.
Elochoman Slough

The first of many bald eagles we spotted (atop the dead tree across the slough).

Working on drying out.

Lots of non-native yellow flag iris in the area.

Little birds such as this sparrow were everywhere but rarely sat still.

A different eagle waiting to dry.

There are at least 5 birds in the tree including four goldfinches.

A male goldfinch takes off.

The morning clouds were starting to break up as forecasted.

One of many great blue herons.

A male wood duck.

Another great blue heron with the female wood duck on the log below.

The first of several osprey.

Cattle in a field along the road.

Geese

Snail crossing the road.

Maybe a yellow warbler. I had to use the digital zoom to get between the branches so it’s not the clearest photo.

The start of the mile long White-tail trail which travels along a setback levee.

There was a pole with a bunch of bird nests hung from it near the start of the trail. We’d never seen one like it before.

It turned out to be nests for purple martins, a bird that as far as we know we hadn’t seen before.

Bald eagle in the same area.

Slug on lupine

A different type of lupine.

Lupine, daisies and yellow gland-weed.

Bumble bee needing to dry out.

We spotted more white-tailed deer along the levee, a pair of young bucks.

A look at the white tail. He gave us a better look but in that one he was also doing his business so we stuck with this uncentered, slightly blurry version.

There was also a great blue heron sitting in a nearby snag.

While we were keeping an eye on the bucks and the heron to the inland side of the levee there were geese, ducks, and various small birds all around us.
Guessing marsh wren.

Ducks

Goose with goslings.

Common yellow throat.

Male gadwall?

We eventually tore ourselves away from the wildlife bonanza and continued on.

There was pretty much non-stop bird song throughout the day.

Traffic on the Columbia River.

The Santa Maria on the Columbia.

Female brown-headed cowbird?

Flowers along the levee.

American robin

Red-winged blackbird chasing a heron.

When we reached the end of the White-tail Trail we turned right onto Steamboat Slough Road. You can also park near this end of the trail but you must come from the west as Steamboat Slough Road is missing a section (which is why you hike on the levee).

We followed this two-lane version of the road for approximately 1.25 miles to a fork and turned right on Brooks Slough Road. After just 0.2 miles we passed the western end of the Center Road Trail. This end was clearly open. We talked ourselves into believing that either we missed where we were actually supposed to go or that they just hadn’t unlocked the gate yet since we were still unaware of the updated rules for the trail and decided that we would take this trail on our way back and we could do the loop after all.
Note the sign does not indicate that you cannot reach the HQ from the road, it simply says it is 5 miles round trip. Online it adds that hikers must exit the trail the way they entered.

Roses along the road.

Muskrat

Warbler

Osprey

Brooks Slough Road junction.

We turned right and followed this narrow one-lane road along Brooks Slough. For the first mile it ran parallel to Highway 4 then it veered away becoming a quieter walk.

Another eagle sitting near the top of the first tall tree on the far side of the slough.

Interesting shrub along the road.

The partly sunny skies had indeed materialized.

Kingfisher

California scrub jay

White pelicans

Some sort of ornamental shrub/tree but it had cool flowers.

Turkey vulture

Couldn’t tell what type of ducks they were.

We followed the road for approximately 2 miles to what was shown on the GPS as Alger Creek.
Alger Creek somewhere in the grass flowing into Brooks Slough.

Pond on the other side of the road.

Black pheobe?

After a short break we headed back. It was actually starting to feel warm now but we distracted ourselves with even more wildlife.

Red-tailed hawk

American goldfinch

Swallowtail

Cedar waxwing with a salmonberry.

Goat lounging in a driveway across the highway. There had actually been a black goat in nearly the same spot on our first pass.

Caterpillar

When we got back to Center Road we reread the signage and stuck to our plan to try and complete the loop.

We had been discussing all the different wildlife that we’d seen already and I mentioned that the only thing missing was a turtle. Not long after starting down Center Road I noticed something brown (that didn’t look like a cow) in the distance near the tree line. As I was staring at it a large set of antlers raised from the grass and I realized it was a bull elk.
The elk is in the center of the photo near the tree line.

We watched him as he munched on grass for quite a while before moving on. At that point I said something to the effect of forgetting about the turtle because that was better. It wasn’t too much longer before we came to some more wetlands. Lo and behold there was a turtle.

Many pictures followed before resuming our hike.

Heather spotted a pair of egrets in a distant tree which proved impossible to get a decent picture of.
Here is a not so decent picture of the egrets.

We also startled up a pair of American bitterns.
One of the bitterns in flight.

After 2 miles we spotted a set of posts with signs where we finally understood that the Center Road Trail no longer runs the entire length of the roadbed now.

We were less than half a mile from the HQ which was visible from where we were but we obeyed the signs and turned around. It would have been about a perfect distance for us as we were at the 12.1 mile mark when we had gotten to the closed area. Now we had to backtrack two miles on Center Road before the mile long White-tail Trail and the 2.3 mile road walk back to the HQ parking lot. Not only was this a lot longer than we’d planned but the surface had been mostly paved and what wasn’t paved was packed gravel road beds so our feet were really protesting as we retraced our steps.

Heather spotted this garter snake along Center Road. Another animal to add to the days list.

Back at the White-tail Trail.

It had cooled down again which provided some relief as we trudged back.

A second turtle

Mallards

Way more water in the afternoon.

Another kingfisher. It was in the same tree as the heron had been earlier that morning when we were watching the bucks.

Family swim

By Steamboat Slough Road we had all kinds of blisters/hotspots on our feet.

Arriving back at the refuge HQ.

I got to the car first, changed shoes and drove back to pick up Heather who was only about a quarter mile behind me. My GPS read 17.5 miles of almost entirely flat hiking.

Fortunately I had thought to bring my parents camera which has more powerful zoom than my point and shoot and also our binoculars which Heather had been using since there was so much wildlife to be seen. We encountered a couple of other hikers on the White-tail Trail as well as a pair of cyclists and several cars along the various roads but for the most part it was a fairly peaceful (long) hike. The one thing we kept coming back to was that if we hadn’t done the hike the we did we wouldn’t have seen some of the wildlife that we encountered. Was it worth the blisters though? You betcha – Happy Trails!

Flickr: Columbia White-tailed Deer Refuge

Hiking SW Washington Trip report Washington

Black Hole Falls – 06/04/2022

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 11, 2022
7 Comments on Black Hole Falls – 06/04/2022

After our extended Memorial Day weekend of hiking in the Medford area we were looking forward to a poison oak free outing. While we didn’t come away from that trip with any physical repercussions from the plant it had gotten into our heads to the point where we were seeing it when we closed our eyes. As I said before I’m sure after a while people just get used to it but we weren’t anywhere near that point yet and while it is present in the Willamette Valley and parts of the Columbia Gorge it isn’t as abundant. On our schedule for this hike was a visit to Black Hole Falls along North Siouxon Creek. This was good timing as the forecast for the weekend was for rain showers which, barring heavy fog, wouldn’t negatively affect our experience here. Black Hole Falls is a hike featured in Matt Reeder’s “Off the Beaten Trail” 2nd edition guidebook which as the title suggests contains 55 (50 featured and 5 bonus) hikes that don’t usually see a lot of visitors. In most cases it isn’t because of poor road or trail conditions but there are more popular destinations nearby causing these hikes to be overlooked. In the case of Black Hole Falls the drive wasn’t the greatest but it also was nowhere near the worst we’d been on but it is also near the much more popular hike at Siouxon Creek (post). Note that the 2020 Big Hollow Fire affected the Siouxon Creek area (it didn’t reach North Siouxon Creek) which was reopened in August 2021.

We followed the Oregon Hikers Field Guide directions to the North Siouxon Trailhead which were also the direction provided by Google Maps as Reeder’s directions were no longer appeared accurate. (We don’t independently trust Google Maps as it sometimes tries to send you on roads that in no way shape or form appear passable.)

The trail departing from this trailhead is actually the Mitchell Peak Trail which leads to the summit of Mount Mitchell (post) but that destination is over 9 miles away with the upper portion of the trail being unmaintained. The trail drops steeply for approximately 200′ from the trailhead before leveling out. The remainder of the hike was a series of ups and downs, none of which were too long nor too steep. There were a number of creek crossings some of which had footbridges (sometimes makeshift) or logs to cross on. Given the wet conditions we chose to ford a couple of the creeks instead of risking slipping off of a slick log. A reroute of the trail at mile 3.5 dropped below a pair of cascades where the previous tread had been washed out. At the 4.5 mile mark the trail forks with the right hand fork leading a quarter mile downhill to Black Hole Falls.
Dropping into the forest.

The forest along the trail was just what we’d needed with a lush green (poison oak free) under story where woodland wildflowers and mushrooms thrived. With no confusing junctions and very little blowdown along the trail we were able to fully relax and take in the surroundings.

Anemone

Vanilla leaf

Baneberry

Quite a few snails and slugs along the trail.

Starflower

Some of the logs had had tiles and ropes placed on them to help avoid slipping.

Surprisingly this was the only rough-skinned newt we spotted all day.

Foam flower

Inside-out flower

There were some huge nursery logs in the forest here.

A good example of a makeshift crossing.

Most of the flowers were white or pale pink but this salmonberry blossom added a splash of bright color.

A side trail near the 1.75 mile mark led down to a campsite near North Siouxon Creek.

Violets

This was an interesting log/bridge.

Millipedes were everywhere but this one was a color we hadn’t seen before.

These were the ones we were seeing all over.

The dismount was a little awkward but doable.

Star-flowered solmonseal catching a moment of sunlight.

Fairybells

Solomonseal

False lily of the valley

Moss and lichens

Spotted coralroot

Bunchberry

Small fall along the trail.

Did I mention millipedes were everywhere?

Another creek crossing.

The trail reroute at the 3.5 mile mark.

The reroute

This was one of the log crossings that looked too slick and high to warrant an attempt so we forded here. The water was ankle deep and we crossed easily.

We forded just above the larger rocks in the middle of the creek.

The lower of the two cascades.

After fording the trail climbed up hill alongside a large tree that had fallen directly in the middle of the reroute. The presence of this tree didn’t cause too much trouble although it was wide enough that you could clamber over it except for near it’s top. I had wound up on the wrong side so I took the opportunity to follow the original trail to the old crossing before climbing up and around the root ball of the tree to rejoin Heather on the trail.
The upper cascade.

Looking across the old crossing you can see where some of the hillside was washed out.

Looking back at the trail from the creek. The large downed tree was the one that was too wide to climb over.

Most of the downed trees were like this although there was one that required ducking pretty low.

We could hear the songs of wrens throughout the hike but only caught flitting glimpses of the little singers.

Two of the footbridges were in a state like this. It held but we had to watch our step to not only avoid the holes but also the millipedes.

This was another ford/rock hop. There was a log serving as the bridge but it also looked slick. The rope in the picture was connected to the log and I almost didn’t see it (both times by).

Deep pool near the crossing.

A post marked the side trail down to Black Hole Falls.

We turned right and descended to Black Hole Falls which did not disappoint.
First view through the trees.

The pool was a beautiful green.

More cascades and clear pools were located downstream.

Heather taking in the view.

Since I was already wet from the fords I waded out in the calf deep creek to get a different angle.

In addition to the beautiful waterfall and creek there was a unique feature in the basalt to the left of the falls that looked to us like a head with a wide open mouth.

We stayed at the falls for a while before heading back. The forest was just as pretty on the return trip as it was on the way to falls. A light rain finally began to fall in the final mile or two of the hike which felt nice by then.
The right fork heading on toward Mount Mitchell.

A really long nursery log spanning across this whole depression.

Camouflaged mushrooms.

The only trillium that still had its petals.

It looked like someone took a slice of this mushroom.

There weren’t too many views of North Siouxon Creek from the trail but this was a nice one.

Sour grass

Youth-on-age

Scouler’s corydalis

Candy flower

With some wandering down and along the creek and at the falls our day came in at 10.6 miles and approximately 2400′ of cumulative elevation gain.

The hike had lived up to being referred to as off the beaten trail as we didn’t encounter another hiker all day. We did have a pickup drive by while we were changing back at the car after our hike but it appeared to be someone from one of the logging companies checking the area. We had passed signs for active logging operations and saw equipment on the drive in. This turned out to be an excellent hike from start to finish and one that we will be keeping in mind to revisit in the future. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Black Hole Falls

Tags Black Hole Falls, forest, hiking, Matt Reeder, Mitchell Peak Trail, Mount Mitchell, mushroom, North Fork Siouxon Trailhead, North Siouxon Creek, North Siouxon Creek Trailhead, Off the Beaten Trail, Washington