Tag: wildflowers

2023 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 2023 was between 300 and 350. We are still learning to identify the flowers and are a long way from being able to tell some of the different species apart. That doesn’t take away from our ability to enjoy the flowers though, so with that in mind here are some (but not all) of the flowers we saw this past year. (Any IDs provided are best guesses and any corrections or additional IDs are greatly appreciated.)

The first wildflowers we spotted were snow queen during a March 11th hike at Fitton Green Natural Area near Corvallis.

Here are the others in no particular order. I’ve tried to identify non-natives as well as indicate if this was our first time (that we know of) seeing a particular flower. Locations are all in Oregon unless noted as WA.

Allumroot – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Alpine pennycress – 5/4/23, Forest Road 011, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

American saw-wort – 8/14/23, Main Eagle Creek Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Anemone – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Serpentine arnica – 5/4/23, Eight Dollar Mountain Boardwalk, BLM Grants Pass Resource Area

Arnica – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Arnica – 7/31/23, Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Spear-leaf arnica – 7/31/23, Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Arnica? – 8/16/23, Tombstone Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Avalanche lilies – 7/15/23, Plaza Trail, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Fawn lily – 4/13/23, Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, Rickreall

Henderson’s fawn lily – 5/2/2023, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System, BLM Medford District

Checker lily – 5/4/23, Forest Road 011, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Azalea – 5/4/23, Eight Dollar Mountain Boardwalk, BLM Grants Pass Resource Area

Rhododendron – 7/15/23, Tumala Mountain, Mt. Hood National Forest

Ball-head waterleaf – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Pacific waterleaf – 5/2/2023, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System, BLM Medford District

Balsamroot – 5/27/23, Metolius Preserve, Camp Sherman

Hoary balsamroot – 6/15/23, Buckhorn Lookout, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Silky balsamroot – 5/4/23, Little Falls Trail Loop, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (first time seeing)

Deltoid balsamroot – 5/2/2023, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System, BLM Medford District

Beargrass – 7/4/23, Rockytop Trail, Santiam State Forest

Bigelow sneezweed – 10/7/2023, Sturgis Fork Trail, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Field bindweed (non-native) – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Bindweed (non-native) – 8/26/23, Old Growth Cedar Trail, Rockaway Beach

Biscuitroot – 5/4/23, Little Falls Trail Loop, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Biscuitroot – 5/13/23, Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Sherwood

Biscuitroot – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Bistort – 7/31/23, Castle Crest Wildflower Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Blanket flower – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Bleeding heart – 4/29/23, Canemah Bluff, Oregon City

Blue dicks – 5/1/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, BLM Medford District

Ookow – 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Large-flower tritelia – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Bluebells of Scotland – 7/15/23, Sheepshead Rock, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Tall bluebells – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Scouler’s bluebell – 7/4/23, Natural Rock Arch Trail, Santiam State Forest

Blue-eyed Mary – 5/2/23, Cathedral Hills, Grants Pass

Giant blue-eyed Mary – 4/29/23, Canemah Bluff, Oregon City

Bog orchid – 7/31/23, Castle Crest Wildflower Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Phantom orchid – 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Bolander’s yampah – 6/15/23, Nee-Mee-Poo National Historic Trail, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Broad-leaved pepperweed (non-native) – 6/11/23, Hat Rock State Park, Hermiston

Brown’s peony – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Buckwheat – 5/28/23, Criterion Tract, BLM Prineville District

Buckwheat – 7/31/23, Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Buckwheat – 7/30/23, Crater Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Buckwheat – 6/3/23, Nestor Peak, Husem, WA

Wickerstem buckwheat – 9/3/23, Threemile Canyon, BLM Burns District

Bunchberry – 7/4/23, Santiam State Forest

Buttercups – 4/29/23, Canemah Bluff, Oregon City

California darlingtonia – 5/4/23, Eight Dollar Mountain Botanical Area, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

California gromwell – 5/4/23, Eight Dollar Mountain Botanical Area, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Western stoneseed – 5/27/23, Metolius Preserve, Camp Sherman

California groundcones – 5/3/23, Dollar Mountain, Grants Pass

California harebells – 6/25/23, North Umpqua Trail, BLM Roseburg District

California poppies – 6/13/23, Highway 351, Joseph

Camas – 4/29/23, Canemah Bluff, Oregon City

Death camas – 5/4/23, Eight Dollar Mountain Boardwalk, BLM Grants Pass Resource Area

Mountain death camas – 8/14/23, Main Eagle Creek Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Candy flower – 5/3/23, Waters Creek Interpretive Trail, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Candysticks – 7/8/23, Santiam Wagon Road, Willamette National Forest

Carolina bugbane – 7/15/23, Old Baldy Trail, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Cascade lily – 7/4/23, Natural Rock Arch Trail, Santiam State Forest

Catchfly – 7/4/23, Rockytop Trail, Santiam State Forest

Checker-mallow – 5/13/23, Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Sherwood

Checker-mallow – 5/13/23, Graham Oaks Nature Park, Wilsonville

Checker-mallow – 6/25/23, North Bank Habitat, BLM Roseburg District

Orange globe mallow – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar Hells Canyon National Scenic Area

Chicory (non-native) – 6/14/23, Imnaha Trail, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Chokecherry – 5/30/23, Riley Ranch Preserve, Bend

Mallow ninebark – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

Cinquefoil – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Shrubby cinquefoil – 8/14/23, Main Eagle Creek Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Clarkia – 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Elkhorn clarkia – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Tomcat clover – 5/13/23, Cooper Mountain Nature Park, Beaverton

Clover (possibly Beckwith’s?) – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Twin clover – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest (first time seeing)

Large-head clover – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Wooly-head clover – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Owl’s clover – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Clustered broomrape – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Naked broomrape – 5/1/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, BLM Medford District

Coast flat stem onion – 5/4/23, Jeffrey Pine Loop Trail, BLM Medford District

Swamp onion – 8/14/23, Main Eagle Creek Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Tolmie’s onion – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Coltsfoot – 4/15/23, Enchanted Valley, Siuslaw National Forest

Columbian lewisia – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Threeleaf lewisia – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Columbine – 7/4/23, Rockytop Trail, Santiam State Forest

Yellow columbine – 8/17/23, West Eagle Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Coneflower – 8/16/23, West Eagle Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Pacific Coralroot – 7/15/23, Plaza Lake Trail, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Spotted coralroot – 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Crater Lake collomia – 9/9/23, Cliff Lake Trail, Sky Lakes Wilderness

Grand collomia – 5/28/23, Criterion Tract, BLM Prineville District

Variable-leaf collomia – 6/24/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, Wild Rogue Wilderness

Tiny trumpet – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest (first time seeing)

Creeping wirelettuce – 7/29/23, Stuart Falls Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Currant – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Red flowering currant – 4/14/23, Minto-Brown Island Park, Salem

Cusick’s speedwell – 8/15/23 Bear Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Daffodils (non-native) – 4/13/23, Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, Rickreall

Dalmation toadflax (non-native) – 6/16/23, Copper Creek Day Use Area, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Deer vetch – 7/22/23, Shut-In Trail, Deschutes National Forest

Idaho milk-vetch – 5/28/23, Criterion Tract, BLM Prineville District

Rogue River milk-vetch – 5/2/2023, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System, BLM Medford District

Woolly-pod milk-vetch – 5/2/2023, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System, BLM Medford District

Vetch – 5/13/23, Cooper Mountain Nature Park, Beaverton

Vetch – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Pea (non-native) – 6/24/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, Wild Rogue Wilderness

Del Norte iris – 5/1/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, BLM Medford District

Tough leaf iris – 5/13/23, Cooper Mountain Nature Park, Beaverton

Iris – 5/4/23, Little Falls Trail Loop, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Diffuse-flower evening primrose surrounded by blue-eyed Mary – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Drummond’s anemone – 7/30/23, Crater Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Western pasque flower – 7/8/23, Sand Mountain, Willamette National Forest

Western paque flower (seedheads) – 7/31/23, Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Dwarf ceanothus – 5/3/23, Limpy Botanical Trail, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Elegant brodiaea – 6/24/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, Wild Rogue Wilderness

European centaury (non-native) – 6/25/23, North Bank Habitat, BLM Roseburg District

Fairy slippers – 5/3/23, Limpy Botanical Trail, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Mountain lady slipper – 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Fiddleneck – 5/2/2023, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System, BLM Medford District

Field chickweed – 5/4/23, Forest Road 011, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Fireweed – 6/25/23, North Umpqua Trail, BLM Roseburg District

False hellebore – 7/31/23, Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Dipping into fleabanes, asters and/or daisies, possibly the hardest to differentiate. These are my best guesses but I could be way off.
Desert yellow fleabane – 5/28/23, Criterion Tract, BLM Prineville District

Sub-alpine fleabane – 10/7/23, Forest Road 600, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Fleabane? – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Fleabane? – 6/11/23, Hat Rock State Park, Hermiston

Not even going to guess, could be a non-native. – 5/13/23, Graham Oaks Nature Park, Wilsonville

Diasy? – 7/4/23, Niagra Heights Road, Santiam State Forest

Hairy golden aster – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Oregon sunshine – 5/28/23, Criterion Tract, BLM Prineville District

Oregon sunshine – 6/3/23, Nestor Peak, Husem, WA

Sunflower – 9/3/23, Threemile Canyon, BLM Burns District

Foam flower – 8/5/23, McGee Creek Trail, Mt. Hood Wilderness

Foxglove (non-native) – 7/4/23, Natural Rock Arch Trail, Santiam State Forest

Fringecup – 5/13/23, Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Sherwood

Gentians – 8/16/23, Tombstone Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Gold stars? – 5/2/23, Cathedral Hills, Grants Pass

Goldenrod – 7/22/23, Metolius River Trail, Deschutes National Forest

Grass-of-parnassus – 9/9/23, Pacific Crest Trail, Sky Lakes Wilderness

Gray sagewort (among others) – 8/14/23, Main Eagle Creek Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Groundsel – 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Groundsel – 7/30/23, Plaikni Falls Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Heatleaf spring beauty – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Hedgenettle – 7/22/23, Shut-In Trail, Deschutes National Forest

Honeysuckle – 5/13/23, Cooper Mountain Nature Park, Beaverton

Honeysuckle – 6/25/23, North Bank Habitat, BLM Roseburg District

Twinberry honeysuckle – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Utah honeysuckle – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Twinflower honeysuckle – 7/22/23, Metolius River Trail, Deschutes National Forest

Horkelia – 7/22/23, Metolius River Trail, Deschutes National Forest

Houndstongue – 6/13/23, Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site, Joseph

Pacific houndstongue – 5/2/2023, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System, BLM Medford District

Jessica’s stickseed – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Hooker’s Indian pink – 5/3/23, Dollar Mountain, Grants Pass

Hooker’s fairy bells – 4/29/23, Canemah Bluff, Oregon City

Huckleberry – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Indian plum – 4/13/23, Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, Rickreall

Mountain snowberry – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

Salmonberry – 4/8/23, Minto-Brown Island Park, Salem

Salal – 6/25/23, North Umpqua Trail, BLM Roseburg District

Oregon grape – 4/8/23, Minto-Brown Island Park, Salem

Serviceberry – 5/13/23, Cooper Mountain Nature Park, Beaverton

Strawberry – 4/29/23, Canemah Bluff, Oregon City

Thimbleberry – 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Large-flower hawksbeard – 5/28/23, Criterion Tract, BLM Prineville District

Golden Paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta) – 5/13/23, Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Sherwood

Hairy Indian paintbrush (Castilleja tenuis) – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

Paintbrush – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

– 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Cobwebby paintbrush (Castilleja arachnoidea) – 7/31/23, Rim Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Yellow Wallowa Indian paintbrush (Castilleja chrysantha) – 8/15/23, Lookingglass Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Rosy paintbrush – 8/16/23, Tombstone Lake Trail, Eagle Cap WildernessFph

Indian warrior (Pedicularis densiflora) – 5/2/23, Cathedral Hills, Grants Pass (first time seeing)

Inside-out flower – 7/4/23, Natural Rock Arch Trail, Santiam State Forest

Jaccob’s ladder – 8/16/23, West Eagle Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Larkspur – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Larkspur – 5/1/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, BLM Medford District

Red larkspur – 5/1/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, BLM Medford District (first time seeing)

Tall mountain larkspur – 8/14/23, Main Eagle Creek Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Dwarf lupine – 7/8/23, Santiam Wagon Road, Willamette National Forest

Miniature lupine – 5/2/2023, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System, BLM Medford District

Lupine – 5/28/23, Criterion Tract, BLM Prineville District

Lupine (non-native colors) – 5/13/23, Graham Oaks Nature Park, Wilsonville

Flax – 5/30/23, Riley Ranch Preserve, Bend

Coiled lousewort – 8/16/23, Tombstone Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Sickletop lousewort – 8/16/23, West Eagle Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Sea blush (plectritis) – 4/29/23, Canemah Bluff, Oregon City

Longhorn plectritis – 5/30/23, Riley Ranch Preserve, Bend

White mariposa lily – 8/14/23, Main Eagle Creek Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Sagebrush mariposa lily – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Mariposa lily (possibly a white sagebrush) – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Sub-alpine mariposa lilies – 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Tolmie’s mariposa lily – 5/3/23, Dollar Mountain, Grants Pass

Manyflower tonella – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

Small-flowered tonella – 4/29/23, Canemah Bluff, Oregon City (first time seeing)

Lewis monkefylower – 7/30/23, Plaikni Falls Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Monkeyflower – 5/1/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, BLM Medford District

Monkeyflower – 6/3/23, Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Trout Lake, WA

Milk kelloggia (Kelloggia galioides) – 7/31/23, Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Monkshood – 7/30/23, Plaikni Falls Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Moth mullein (non-native) – 6/14/23, Imnaha Trail, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Mountain heather – 8/5/23, Timberline Trail, Mt. Hood Wilderness

Mock orange – 7/4/23, North Santiam Park, Mill City

Mountain ash – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Showy milkweed – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Western clematis – 6/16/23, Trail 1890, Hells Canyon Wilderness

Western blue clematis – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Nightshade (non-native) – 6/14/23, Imnaha Trail, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

A knotweed? – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

Shasta knotweed – 7/31/23, Rim Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

Nuttal’s linanthus – 8/15/23 Bear Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

One-sided wintergreen – 7/29/23, Stuart Falls Trail, Sky Lakes Wilderness

Wintergreen – 7/30/23, Plaikni Falls Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Orange agoseris – 7/15/23, Sheepshead Rock, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Partridgefoot – 7/31/23, Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Pearly everlasting – 7/29/23, Stuart Falls Trail, Sky Lakes Wilderness

Granite prickley-phlox – 7/31/23, Garfield Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Phlox – 5/4/23, Little Falls Trail Loop, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Showy phlox – 5/4/23, Eight Dollar Mountain Boardwalk, BLM Grants Pass Resource Area

Slender phlox – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Phlox – 7/31/23, Rim Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Phlox? – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Penstemons is another genus that I have a really hard time telling apart.
Woodland beardtongue – 7/4/23, Rockytop Trail, Santiam State Forest

Globe penstemon – 8/15/23 Bear Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Royal? penstemon – 5/30/23, Riley Ranch Preserve, Bend

Finetooth? penstemon – 6/3/23, Buck Creek Trail, Husem, WA

Shrubby penstemon – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Wilcox’s? penstemon – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Scabland penstemon – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Unknown penstemon – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

Glaucous? beardtongue – 7/4/23, Niagra Heights Road, Santiam State Forest

Silverleaf phacelia – 5/28/23, Criterion Tract, BLM Prineville District

Threadleaf phacelia – 5/30/23, Riley Ranch Preserve, Bend

A phacelia? – 8/16/23, Tombstone Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Pinedrop – 7/22/23, Metolius River Trail, Deschutes National Forest

Prairie smoke – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

Prickly pear cactus – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman (first time seeing)

Prince’s pine – 7/8/23, Santiam Wagon Road, Willamette National Forest

Pussypaws – 7/8/23, Santiam Wagon Road, Willamette National Forest

Pussytoes – 7/30/23, Crater Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Rosy pussytoes – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Queen’s cup – 7/15/23, Old Baldy Trail, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

Ragwort (non-native) – 8/26/23, Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area, Grand Ronde

Wild rose – 6/3/23, Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Trout Lake, WA

Rose campion (non-native) – 6/16/23, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Wallow-Whitman National Forest

Rough eyelashweed – 5/28/23, Criterion Tract, BLM Prineville District

Sagebrush false dandelion – 7/30/23, Crater Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Sandwort – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

A saxifrage – 7/4/23, Niagra Heights Road, Santiam State Forest

A saxifrage – 7/15/23, Sheepshead Rock, Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness

A saxifrage – 7/31/23, Rim Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Silvery raillardella – 7/31/23, Rim Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Scarlet gilia – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Scenic Area, Wallowa-Whitman

Scarlet fritillary – 5/2/2023, Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System, BLM Medford District

Siskiyou fritillary – 5/3/23, Limpy Botanical Trail, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Self-heal – 6/25/23, North Umpqua Trail, BLM Roseburg District

Shooting star – 5/2/23, Cathedral Hills, Grants Pass

Scouler’s woollyweed – 7/29/23, Stuart Falls Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Silvercrown – 5/3/23, Dollar Mountain, Grants Pass

Skullcap – 5/2/23, Cathedral Hills, Grants Pass

Skunk cabbage – 4/15/23, Enchanted Valley, Siuslaw National Forest

Douglas spirea – 10/7/2023, Sturgis Fork Trail, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Mountain spirea – 7/4/23, Niagra Heights Road, Santiam State Forest

White spirea – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Spreading dogbane – 7/22/23, Metolius River Trail, Deschutes National Forest

St. John’s wort (non-native) – 6/14/23, Imnaha Trail, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Solomonseal – 5/27/23, Blowout Arm, Detroit Lake

Star-flower solomonseal – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Star flower – 5/13/23, Cooper Mountain Nature Park, Beaverton

Sticky purple geranium – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Tasselflower brickellbush – 8/14/23, Main Eagle Creek Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Tiger lily – 7/4/23, Rockytop Trail, Santiam State Forest

Leopard lilies – 7/29/23, Stuart Falls Trail, Sky Lakes Wilderness

Toothwort – 4/15/23, Enchanted Valley, Siuslaw National Forest

Trillium – 4/15/23, Enchanted Valley, Siuslaw National Forest

Giant white wakerobin – 5/2/23, Cathedral Hills, Grants Pass

Twinflower – 7/8/23, Santiam Wagon Road, Willamette National Forest

Thistle (wavy-leaf?) – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Thistle (Palouse?) – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Snowy thistle – 6/24/23, Rogue River National Recreation Trail, Wild Rogue Wilderness

Thistle (Canadian? if so non-native) – 6/25/23, North Umpqua Trail, BLM Roseburg District

Stonecrop – 7/30/23, Crater Peak Trail, Crater Lake National Park

Stonecrop – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Stonecrop – 8/16/23, Tombstone Lake Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Valerian – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Goosefoot violet – 5/27/23, Metolius Preserve, Camp Sherman

Hookedspur violet – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Marsh violet – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Violet – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Violet – 4/15/23, Enchanted Valley, Siuslaw National Forest

Violet – 6/3/23, Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Trout Lake, WA

Violets – 5/4/23, Little Falls Trail Loop, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest

Wedgeleaf violet – 5/4/23, Eight Dollar Mountain Boardwalk, BLM Grants Pass Resource Area

Wallflower – 5/30/23, Riley Ranch Preserve, Bend

Western meadowrue – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Western snakeroot – 8/16/23, West Eagle Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

White-stemmed frasera – 6/15/23, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

Woodland-stars – 6/12/23, Imnaha River Trail, Eagle Cap Wilderness

Yarrow – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Youth-on-age – 4/29/23, Canemah Bluff, Oregon City

Common bugloss (non-native) – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

White campion (non-native) – 6/14/23, Eureka Bar, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Unknown – 7/4/23, Rockytop Trail, Santiam State Forest

Unknown – 8/5/23, McNeil Point scramble trail, Mt. Hood Wilderness

Best guess is a popcorn flower but? – 6/3/23, Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Trout Lake, WA

Unknown, possibly non-native – 6/15/23, Nee-Mee-Poo National Historic Trail, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Unknown, possibly non-native – 6/13/23, Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site, Joseph

Unknown, probably non-native – 6/14/23, Imnaha Trail, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

Unknown, probably non-native – 8/26/23, Old Growth Cedar Trail, Rockaway Beach

The last flower we saw was a non-native in December.
Unkown. probably non-native – 12/16/23, Mt. Tabor Nature Park, Portland

Tags California darlingtonia, hiking, Indian warrior, larkspur, lily, lupine, Oregon wildflowers, paintbrush, Washington, wildflowers

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Echo & Traverse Lakes (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/17/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 24, 2023
No Comments on Echo & Traverse Lakes (Eagle Cap Wilderness) – 08/17/2023

Progress Report – 500 “Featured Hikes” – January 2023 UpdateTo wrap up our backpacking trip in the Eagle Cap Wilderness we targeted the hike to Echo and Traverse Lakes along the West Eagle Trail. The heat during this trip had been an issue and Heather had skipped the challenging hike to Tombstone Lake on Wednesday and opted for this hike instead while I tackled Tombstone (post). She came back from her hike with some good information regarding the trail conditions including a tangle of downed trees between the lakes where she decided to turn around instead of attempting to scramble up and around it.

The plan for our last day was for me to visit the two lakes while Heather worked on packing up and then when I returned we would hike out and head back to Salem. After breakfast I set off hoping that it wouldn’t be too hot this morning.
It was a little before 6am when I started up to the lakes.

I kept a steady pace for the first half mile having hiked this section of trail to the Tombstone Lake Trail junction the day before. This time at the junction I stuck to the West Eagle Trail.

Another switchback filled climb followed as the trail made its way up to Echo Lake’s basin.
There was an interesting amount of sagebrush along the lower portion of this hike.

There was still some smoke in the air, but it was quite a bit less than it had been the day before.

The trail initially seemed like it is heading up this valley before it crosses over a ridge and heads for the Echo Lake basin.

From this trail the route of the Tombstone Lake Trail was visible.

Waterfall along Olive Lake’s outlet creek. One of the switchbacks along the Tombstone Lake Trail is just to the right.

Tasselflower brickellbush

There was a lot of paintbrush along the trail.

Paintbrush and I believe fading false sunflowers.

Penstemon and paintbrush

Western snakeroot

Pika!

View across the valley.

The trail approaching the outlet of Echo Lake.

Above Echo Lake Falls which wasn’t visible from this trail.

Groundsel, lupine, and fireweed along the creek.

Sunrise in the basin.

The trail arrived at a creek crossing 1.7-miles from the Tombstone Lake Trail junction.

The trail leveled out after crossing the creek as it passed through a meadow above a pond.

The pond.

Gray sagewort

Looking back toward the valley and pond.

Approximately 0.7-miles from the creek crossing I began to get views of Echo Lake.

The trail stayed above the lake but near the far end I followed a spur trail down to a campsite and then the lakeshore.

The spur trail.

Spotted sandpiper

I returned to the trail and continued toward Traverse Lake. The trail climbed via several switchbacks and crossed several inlet creeks with various flowers.
Spirea

A no fires beyond this point sign. Several of the lakes in the Eagle Cap Wilderness are in no campfire zones.

Fleabane or aster lining the trail.

Two types of lousewort.

Echo Lake hidden by the trees.

Pearly everlasting along the trail.

Just after the final switchback I arrived at the blowdown where Heather had turned around.

A short steep scramble took me over the top of the downed trees and then I side hilled back down to the trail below.
Looking down at that trail from above the blowdown.

Back on the trail it passed through a granite boulder field then rounded a ridge and descended to Traverse Lake 1.3-miles from the side trail I’d taken to Echo Lake.
Bluebells

Echo Lake from the ridge end.

The Elkhorn Mountains (post)

Arriving at Traverse Lake.

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

Yellow Wallowa Indian paintbrush

Columbian ground squirrel

Cusick’s speedwell

I headed for the East end of the lake hoping to minimize the effect of the Sun on the view of the lake. I took a use trail to a campsite on a granite outcrop.
Remember that no fires sign? (Sigh)

I was able to drop down to the lakeshore where I took a short break and changed into some dry socks (sweaty climb).

After my break I headed back stopping numerous times to take in the views.

Monkeyflower

Globe penstemon

Gentians along the lake.

A lone paintbrush.

The blowdown at the far end of the boulder field.

White mariposa lily

Arnica

Swamp onions

Echo Lake

The pond below on the left.

Passing through the meadow.

Paintbrush and fireweed

Above Echo Lake Falls.

West Eagle Meadows in the valley in the distance.

Zoom in on West Eagle Meadows.

Looking down at the switchbacks.

Heather had also warned me about this blowdown over one of the switchbacks. There was a steep reroute that bypassed the trees.

There were some interesting cloud formations on the way back.

There was also an increase in the smoke.

Can you spot the pika?

Pika (possible the same one from earlier given the location).

Paintbrush and buckwheat

Yellow columbine

Another pika at the end of this switchback.

The Tombstone Lake Trail junction ahead.

I had arrived back at the trail junction a little before 10:15am and arrived back at camp at 10:23am. Heather was just finishing packing up the last of our items. I changed socks once again and got my day pack into my backpack so we could head for the car. It was 10:35am when set off for the final 2.5 miles of our trip.

Swallowtail photo bomb.

West Eagle Creek Crossing.

Sphinx moth

Leaving the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Squirrel

West Eagle Meadows

It’s hard to see here but there is a trail post at this fork with a point to the left. This is for the horse camp and not the way back to the West Eagle Meadows Trailhead.

The trailhead in sight.

My mileage for the day came to 12.2 with a little over 1700′ of cumulative elevation gain.

Heather spotted a couple of flowers on her hike to Echo Lake the day before that I did not notice.
Flax

Jacob’s ladder

This was a great hike to finish the trip. For me Traverse Lake was my favorite of the week followed by Tombstone, Echo, Culver, Bear and Eagle in that order. All of them were great though. The only downside to the trip was the excessive heat. These hikes would have been even more enjoyable in reasonable temperatures. The trip did allow us to check off three more of Sullivan’s featured hike (post) putting us at 83/100 for his “100 Hikes: Eastern Oregon” guidebook. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Echo & Traverse Lakes

Tags backpacking, eagle cap wilderness, Echo Lake, hiking, Oregon, sphinx moth, Tombstone Lake Trail, Traverse Lake, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, West Eagle Meadows, West Eagle Meadows Trailhead, West Eagle Trail, wildflowers

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon Trip report

McGee Creek Trail to McNeil Point – 08/05/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 7, 2023
1 Comment on McGee Creek Trail to McNeil Point – 08/05/2023

It had been a couple of years since we’d hiked in the Mt. Hood Wilderness so we were due for another visit. There were a few trails that lead to the Timber Line Trail that we hadn’t checked out yet so we chose the McGee Creek Trail and planned on visiting McNeil Point for the third time. The first two visits had been via the Top Spur Trailhead (Post.

We were the second car at the McGee Creek Trailhead

The McGee Creek Trail is a fairly straight trail that climbs gradually a little more than a mile and a half to the Timberline Trail. The trail is completely forested and a bit brushy in places, but it was quiet, we only saw two other hikers on the trail and that was when we were on our way back down.

Registration box and signboard at the Mt. Hood Wilderness boundary.

There were a few downed trees but nothing too difficult to navigate.

The brush was mostly huckleberry bushes.

Trail side snacks.

McGee Creek Trail junction with the Timberline Trail.

We turned left onto the Timberline Trail and followed it for approximately 2.5-miles to the McNeil Point Trail. While the McGee Creek Trail had been quiet the Timberline Trail was an expressway, even early in the morning. There were a lot of wildflowers blooming but the number of people was honestly a bit of a distraction. Add in a lot of garbage (mostly unburied TP) and at least one pair of backpackers camped on a meadow that was clearly marked no camping and it wasn’t the best experience we’ve had on a trail.

Blowdown from the September 2020 storms that also flamed the destructive wildfires across the state. For more information on the storms impact on Mt. Hood check out this Wy’East Blog post.

Looking through the trees at one of the areas that suffered severe blowdown.

It was a cloudy day. We got sprinkled on briefly a couple of times.

Fireweed

Pinedrop

Avalanche lilies

Paintbrush

Valerian, spirea, and paintbrush

Gentians

Yellow monkeyflower

A tributary of McGee Creek.

Spirea along the Timberline Trail.

Shooting star

Pink monkeyflower

Fleabane

Beargrass

False hellebore

Partridge foot

Lupine

Lewis monkeyflower along a tributary of McGee Creek.

Beardstongue

Lousewort

Dry pond surrounded by beargrass.

The idiots camped in the meadow. There is even an arrow on the “Do not camp in meadow” sign pointing at the meadow. Please DON’T be these people.

The second pond still had some water in it.

Junction with the Mazama Trail (post).

The butterflies weren’t out today but the bees were.

The clouds just wouldn’t quite raise enough.

Mountain heather

Lupine and paintbrush

Beargrass along the Timberline Trail.

Paintbrush, partridge foot and lupine

Signpost for the McNeil Point Trail.

We followed the McNeil Point Trail uphill gaining a ridge above a branch of Ladd Creek.

We’d never seen a paint colored like this before.

Western pasque flower

Lupine and two types of monkeyflower

The trail eventually curved away from the ridge traversing a hillside above the headwaters of McGee Creek.

As the trail passed through a talus slope we heard several pikas and it didn’t take long to spot one dashing across the rocks with some greens in its mouth.

Pikas spend the Summer gathering greens for the rest of the year when they remain in their homes under the snows.

We wound up seeing at least three, one of which emerged to say “hi” to Heather.

Mountain heather and paintbrush.

Saxifrage

A variety of flowers.

Avalanche lilies

Sub-alpine fleabane

Western pasque flowers

Doe that was as surprised as we were when we spotted each other.

Lewis monkeyflower

The trail forks at a small plateau out of sight of the McNeil Point Shelter. The right fork is the most direct route to the shelter but we forked left thinking we might head further up the ridge toward the Glisan Glacier like we had done in 2015.
The righthand fork.

View from the plateau.

Some low clouds to the East.

Dwarf lupine

A hiker on the righthand fork headed for the McNeil Point Shelter.

As we approached the ridge a large group of hikers headed up the ridge from the shelter. When we reached the ridge we decided not to follow them up and instead turned downhill to the shelter.

Caves below the Sandy Glacier.

Bluebells of Scotland

The shelter below to the right.

Muddy Fork

Goldenrod

With the clouds the view wouldn’t have been great from the ridge on this day.

It had been approximately 1.5 miles from the Timberline Trail to the shelter. After taking a short break at the shelter we had a choice to make. Retrace our steps or take a steep scramble trail directly below the shelter. On our previous visits we had returned the way we’d come but today we decided to try the scramble route.

It was less than half a mile and approximately 700′ down to the Timberline Trail. The views were good and despite the steepness and a couple of long step downs it wasn’t as bad as we’d pictured.

Patches of blowdown along Bald Mountain Ridge.

Columbine

Valerian

Paintbrush and bistort

Aster

Chipmunk snacking on huckleberries.

Meadow near the Timberline Trail.

Arriving back at the Timberline Trail.

By descending via the scramble route we cut approximately 1.7-miles from the hike and got to see some new scenery. We were a bit surprised by the number of hikers climbing up this way but it probably shouldn’t have been surprising given how busy the mountain was. We turned left on the Timberline Trail and followed it downhill 1.8 busy miles to the McGee Creek.
Every once in awhile the trail was clear of other users.

We’re always drawn to this rock fin above the Muddy Fork.

Canada jay

McGee Creek Trail junction.

We turned right onto the McGee Creek Trail leaving the crowds behind and descended the 1.7-miles to our car.

Bunchberry

Is that sunlight?

While the clouds never lifted from Mt. Hood we did experience a window of blue sky near the end of our hike.

Our hike came in at 9.7 miles with approximately 2700′ feet of elevation gain.

It was a bit of a mixed hike for us. The wildflowers and wildlife were great but the number of other trail users, and some of the resulting trash and lack of etiquette prevented us from fully enjoying the experience. It has been quite a while since we’d been on such a consistently busy hike. That being said the McGee Creek Trail was a nice break from the crowds providing the type of solitude (and lots of berries) that we really enjoy. Happy Trails!

Flickr: McGee Creek Trail to McNeil Point

Tags hiking, McGee Creek, McGee Creek Trailhead, McNeil Point, Mt. Hood National Forest. McGee Creek Trial, Mt. Hood Wilderness, Muddy Fork, Oregon, Pika, scramble route, timberline trail, wildflowers

Crater Lake Area High Cascades Hiking Oregon Trip report

Castle Crest Wildflowers, Garfield Peak, Hillman Peak, Godfrey Glen, & Sinnott Memorial Overlook – 07/31/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date August 5, 2023
3 Comments on Castle Crest Wildflowers, Garfield Peak, Hillman Peak, Godfrey Glen, & Sinnott Memorial Overlook – 07/31/2023

For our third day in Crater Lake National Park we had another four hikes planned. We continued to try to limit the crowds we would experience so we decided on an order of the short Castle Crest Wildflower Loop first followed by Garfield Peak then a section of the Rim Trail around Hillman Peak and finally the 1-mile Godfrey Glen Loop.

The Castle Crest Wildflower Loop is part of Sullivan’s Park Headquarters featured hike along with the Lady of the Woods Trail. That latter trail was listed as closed while the Park performs renovations on the historic buildings at Park Headquarters. The trails can be connected using a tie trail which we skipped due to the closure.

We hiked the loop counterclockwise. The wildflowers were in good shape and the pink monkeyflower was spectacular.

Bog Orchid

Bistort and monkeyflower

Some sort of orchid?

Yellow monkeyflower

Monkshood

Bistort

Not sure if this is a robin or ?

After the completing the loop we drove up to Rim Village where we parked between the Visitors Center and the Crater Lake Lodge.
Crater Lake Lodge

We followed a paved path along the rim of Crater Lake behind the Lodge to signs for the Garfield Peak Trail.

Garfield Peak from behind the lodge.

The Watchman and Hillman Peak

Golden-mantled ground squirrel with a mouth full.

The trail passed a grassy meadow where a doe and her twin fawns were having breakfast.

The trail climbed steadily occasionally along the rim but more often along the cliffs below Garfield Peak.

Mt. McLoughlin (post) and Union Peak (post) to the south.

Mt. McLoughlin

Union Peak

Paintbrush

Reservoir structure (built 1931).

Mt. Bailey (post) to the left of Llao Rock and Mt. Thielsen to the right.

Mt. Bailey

Deer below the trail.

Western pasque flowers

Arnica

One of several patches of snow at the higher elevations.

Crater Lake Lodge below to the left.

Mt. Scott (post)

Clark’s nutcracker

Buckwheat

Beetle on sub-alpine fleabane.

Yellow-bellied marmot

Bench below the summit of Garfield Peak.

Partridge foot

Applegate Peak to the left and Crater Peak (post) to the right.

Arriving at the summit.

The 360-degree view from the summit was great even with a bit of haze from wildfire smoke.
Mt. Scott above the Phantom Ship.

It was a bit hard to make out but Mt. Shasta was visible to the south.

Cowhorn Mountain (post) to the left of Mt. Thielsen and Howlock Mountain to the right.

Crater Lake from the summit of Garfield Peak.

We were scanning the meadows between Garfield and Applegate Peaks and spotted what we think was a large bull elk bedded down near the tree line.

Blurry photo due to the sheer distance away it was but it looked big.

We had the summit to ourselves, except for a few locals.
Union Peak behind a marmot.

Penstemon

After a nice break at the summit we headed back down passing a few more hikers making their way up.

Painted lady

There were a lot of marmots out.

Paintbrush, phlox and buckwheat.

Stonecrop, paintbrush and pearly everlasting.

The clear blue water of the deepest lake in the United States.

Yellow-rumped warbler

Near where we had seen the doe and fawns earlier I was startled by a doe who popped out of some trees right in front of me.

False hellebore

After returning to the car we drove North on Rim Drive to The Watchman Trailhead. We’d started at this busy trailhead in 2012 when we visited the fire lookout atop The Watchman. Today we would be heading in the opposite direction hiking the Rim Trail around Hillman Peak.
Viewpoint and The Watchman from the trailhead.

Western pasque flowers above Crater Lake.

It was a short, stiff climb to start before the trail began a gradual descent passing behind Hillman Peak.

Hillman Peak ahead.

There were quite a few different colors of paintbrush along the trail.

Lounging on a rock.

Shasta knotweed

Rim Drive below the Rim Trail.

Mt. Bailey and Diamond Peak with Diamond Lake (post) below.

Red Cone with Sawtooth Mountain (post), Cowhorn Mountain, and Mt. Thielsen beyond.

Although barely visible we could make out the South Sister (post) through the haze between Cowhorn Mountain and Mt. Thielsen.

Silvery Raillardella

Snow patch on Hillman Peak.

Penstemon

Llao Rock

It took us a moment to notice the two deer ahead along the tree line.

We spotted the doe but she also had a pair of fawns nearby that bounded off.

This buck had zero concern with us as we passed by.

Phlox

Dwarf lupine

Devil’s Backbone with Mt. Scott behind.

We ended our hike at Devil’s Backbone, an exposed lava dike.
Wizard Island

Devil’s Backbone

Hillman Peak from Devil’s Backbone.

Garfield Peak across Crater Lake.

After a short break we headed back.

Saxifrage

The Watchman

If I stand perfectly still, they won’t see me.

Hillman Peak and Llao Rock from the viewpoint at The Watchman Trailhead.

Rock formations below Hillman Peak.

While the trailhead was packed with cars and people we only passed two others on our 3.7-mile hike to the Devil’s Backbone and back. We hopped back into our car and drove back toward Mazama Village stopping for one more short hike at Godfrey Glen.
Godfrey Glen Trailhead

There were a couple of cars here but nothing like what we’d encountered at The Watchman. The 1-mile loop here passes views of Godfrey Glen and Annie Creek Canyon. Hiking clockwise is the shortest route to the viewpoints but we went the opposite direction to leave ourselves a shorter hike after finishing with the viewpoints.

The ADA accessible trail made for a nice easy walk.

Super-heated volcanic gas fused ash creating these pinnacles.

First viewpoint of Godfrey Glen above Munson Creek.

Godfrey Glen

Another viewpoint.

We could hear Munson Creek but it wasn’t visible in the canyon below.

Near the last viewpoint we could see just a bit of some falls on Munson Creek.

One waterfall.

Another waterfall in the canyon.

The end of the loop.

After finishing our hikes we returned to our cabin, showered, and changed then picked up a pizza from the Annie Creek Restaurant and took it back up to Rim Village. We hoped to visit the museum at the Visitor’s Center after eating some lunch but unfortunately it was closed. Instead we took the short paved path near the Center to the Sinnott Memorial Overlook.

We’d seen the overlook from the Garfield Peak Trail that morning.
Sinnott Memorial Overlook on the rim to the left.

View from the overlook.

Mt. Scott and Garfield Peak from the overlook.

The overlook contained a number of informational signs including this one about the amount of water in the lake.
These numbers blew our minds.

After reading all the signs in the overlook we climbed back up to Rim Village and made our way through the masses of tourists. We quickly decided that the crowds weren’t for us and retreated to the car and headed back toward our cabin. We did stop once more, at Park Headquarters since that was where the Lady of the Woods hike would have taken place if not for the construction.

Swallowtail and a painted lady on penstemon.

Our day, including the walk down to the overlook came to 9.7 miles and a little under 1500′ of elevation gain. The majority of the elevation gain came from the Garfield Peak hike (just over 1000′) and it was also our longest at 3.8-miles roundtrip. The hike around Hillman Peak was 3.7-miles but only 250′ of elevation gain while Godfrey Glen only gained 100′. The wildflower hike at Castle Crest was approximately a half mile with just 70′ of elevation gain and the short path to Sinnott Memorial Overlook was about a third of a mile roundtrip requiring around 150′ climb back up to the rim.

It had been a great day of hiking and the pizza was surprisingly good. We did however come to the conclusion that we just aren’t good tourists. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Crater Lake Day 3

Tags Castle Crest Wildflowers, Crater Lake, Crater Lake Lodge, Crater Lake National Park, deer, Devil's Backbone, Garfield Peak, Godfry Glen, hiking, Hillman Peak, marmot, Mazama Village, Munson Creek, Oregon, Rim Village, the watchman, wildflowers

Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Natural Rock Arch, Rocky Top, & North Santiam Park – 07/04/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 6, 2023
1 Comment on Natural Rock Arch, Rocky Top, & North Santiam Park – 07/04/2023

Traditionally we take a hike on July 4th somewhere in the Cascade foothills. Last year we broke that tendency by spending an extended weekend in California’s Siskiyou Wilderness (post). This year we set our sights back on the Cascade foothills with plans to hike three short trails featured in a couple of Matt Reeder’s guidebooks. All of the trails we were visiting today were impacted by the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire.

Our first stop of the morning was at the Natural Rock Arch Trailhead. Located in the Santiam State Forest Reeder combines the Natural Rock Arch Trail and the Rocky Top Trail as hike #15 in his “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region” 2nd edition.

The forecast for Salem was for temps in the mid-90s so we got an early start.

The Natural Rock Arch Trail set off downhill from the small parking area through burned woods.

There were a number of wildflowers blooming along the trail including some impressive Cascade lilies.
Bleeding heart and penstemon

Iris

Cascade lily

Scouler’s bluebell

Inside-out flower

A few green trees remain.

Another Cascade lily

The trail was in pretty good shape overall and we could tell there was ongoing trail work. It looked like there were some rock steps that were going be placed in this section.

Penstemon

Oregon sunshine

It was a half mile descent to the Natural Rock Arch.

View from the arch.

Fin below the arch.

The trail continues through the arch and uphill a short distance on the other side to a small cave/overhang.

After visiting the arch we hiked back up to the trailhead regaining the 500′ in elevation we’d lost on the way down. The climb was the main reason we’d started with this trail preferring to make the climb before it got too warm.

In the guidebook Reeder has you drive to the Rocky Top Trailhead which is just under 2 miles away. The last mile or so of the drive to the Natural Rock Arch Trailhead had been a little rough and I didn’t feel like two more miles of the same so we decided to walk the road instead. While there was another 500′ of elevation difference between the two trailheads the gain looked to be very gradual on the topographic map.

This wound up being a great choice as the road was lined with wildflowers for nearly its entire length, and we also spotted a pika along the way.

Snowberry checkerspot

Rocky Top straight ahead.

Penstemon and big deer vetch

Cascade lily

Oregon sunshine, penstemon, Oregon bedstraw, and a daisy or two.

Oregon sunshine and paintbrush

There was a fair amount of shade while the Sun was still low.

Paintbrush and penstemon

Thimbleberry

Bleeding heart. There was more bleeding heart on this hillside than we’d ever seen in one spot.

Eight-spotted Forester-Alypia octomaculata

Pika below the road.

Pika

Rhododendron

The Three Sisters on a hazy morning.

Anemone

Paintbrush and lupine

Beargrass

A few patches of green below Rocky Top.

This was probably the worst spot in the road in between the two trailheads.

Bunchberry

Trillium with a few petals yet to fall off.

Violets

Spirea and valerian

Large boykinia

Lots of lupine.

Larkspur and phacelia

Arriving at the Rocky Top Trailhead.

A Marion County Sherrif drove up in his pickup as I arrived at the trailhead. We had a nice talk before he started back down the road. Heather arrived shortly afterward and we started up the Rocky Top Trail together.

Clodius paranssian

More flowers awaited along the 0.7 climb to the former lookout site atop Rocky Top.
Columbine

Beardstongue

Lupine

The road from the trail. The taller, rounded, peak in the center is Sardine Mountain (post). Sardine Mountain Road has yet to reopen after the 2020 fire.

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters.

We decide the primary cause of the haze was smoke from the Tunnel 5 Fire on the Washington side of the Columbia River across from Hood River with the fires in Canada most likely adding their own smoke to the mix. The hazy view didn’t bother us though as the wildflowers and abundant pollinators held our attention.

Mt. Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters.

Mt. Jefferson through the haze.

Elkhorn Ridge (post) with Mt. Hood in the distance to the right. Elkhorn Ridge and Opal Creek Wilderness beyond were severely impacted by the fire and remain closed for now.

Mt. Hood above ridges of burned forest.

The loss of the trees did result in better views of the various rock formations in the area.

We’d never seen so many of these eight-spotted forester moths.

Hummingbird taking a rest from visiting the penstemon and paintbrush.

Another moth that had some excellent camo.

The moth putting its camouflage to use.

Penstemon

Rose

Rocky Top from the trail.

This was the only pink colored penstemon we spotted.

Lupine and beargrass

Not sure which of the Lycaenidae this is but it was pretty.

The spirea was popular.

Bumble bee

At one point it looked like Three Fingered Jack was sitting on top of Coffin Mountain (post).

Nice blue sky overhead.

Looking North. Henline Mountain (post) is the high peak on the other side of Elkhorn Ridge.

Bistort and penstemon

Haven’t been able to identify this one yet.

Beargrass

A snowberry checkerspot and some fried avalanche lilies.

The trail wound behind Rocky Top to come up the West ridge to the summit.

Arnica

Sub-alpine mariposa lily

Tiger lily and beardstongue

Catchfly

There was a 360-degree view from the summit which was of course impacted by the smoke. On a clear day we would have been able to see Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens in Washington but we settled for a string of Oregon Cascades and Mary’s Peak in the Coast Range.
Not sure what the story is behind this chair, but we weren’t about to test its stability.

Detroit Lake

Mary’s Peak (post) is really hard to make out, but it is on the far left of the horizon.

Looking North we could see Table Rock (post), the high point in the center, behind Henline Mountain closer and to the left and Elkhorn Ridge nearest.

Closer look at Table Rock.

Henline Mountain, Table Rock, Mt. Hood, in front and just to the right of Mt. Hood is Whetstone Mountain (post) and the two humps in the distance to the far right are North and South Dickey Peaks.

Mountain bluebird checking us out.

Mt. Jefferson

Three Fingered Jack behind Coffin Mountain, Maxwell Butte (post), Mt. Washington, the Three Sisters, and The Husband.

While we were at the summit we spotted another car driving up the road to the trailhead so after a nice break we headed back to let the next visitor(s) have their turn.

Zerene fritillary

Beargrass

Moth and a checkerspot

We passed the couple from the car about halfway down the trail. It would be the only other hikers we would pass on the trails this day. (We did see a few others but not on the trails.)
The road walk between trailheads was a butterfly bonanza. The road was now in full sunlight and that had brought out hundreds of butterflies and moths.

A bee, a moth, and a butterfly land on some flowers…

Painted lady

Fireweed Clearwing Moth (Albuna pyramidalis).

A fritillary and a copper.

Two coppers and a bee.

Checkerspots, a bee, a copper and part of an eight-spotted forester moth.

Eight-spotted forester moth.

The previous four photos were all from this group of Oregon sunshine.

Bleeding heart, no butterfly but a nice group of blossoms.

More moths and butterflies.

Swallowtail on penstemon

One of the blues I think, but not sure which.

Lorquin’s admiral

With the road walk included our hike here came in at 6.4 miles with a little over 1800′ of cumulative elevation gain.

We headed back toward Salem and turned into the North Santiam State Recreation Area (3.8 miles West of Mill City or 28.6 miles East of Salem along Highway 22.) While this is a State Recreation Area Marion County is managing the park through at least 2024 following the 2020 fire. Reeder described a 2.3-mile loop here but we weren’t sure what we’d find with limited information available online. We parked near the day-use picnic area and followed the sidewalk left past a large signboard for the campground to a small “Trail” sign.

We turned onto a wide mowed path and followed it into the fire scar which was hosting masses of very tall fireweed.

Sparrow

Stellar’s jay

We almost missed the spur trail to the larger loop which was unsigned and hidden by some brush.
The spur trail is to the right just ahead.

We turned right onto the spur and quickly came to a “T” junction where we turned right following a “To River” sign.

We watched a norther flicker fly into the snag ahead and it took a minute to figure out where he was.

The flicker

At the river the trail curved right following it to the camping area.

Trailing blackberries. We might have found a few ripe ones.

Arriving at the camping area.

North Santaim River

We continued on what was now a paved path to a road
Oregon grape

Mock orange

The boat launch.

North Santiam River

It was a lot cooler by the river than it was on the paths so we lingered for a bit before heading back to the loop. Prior to the fire the loop crossed the road to the boat launch and continued in the forest eventually crossing the park entrance road and completing the loop near the “To River” sign. We quickly discovered that the loop no longer existed on the north side of the roads. We up the boat launch road past the trail we arrived on then past the park host. We could have just turned right at the parking lot, but we decided to see if any of the loop remained. A short way up the entrance road we spotted paint for a crosswalk.
The park host on the left and the parking lot on the right.

Crosswalk for the pre-fire loop.

Looking North from the crosswalk there was zero sign of the former trail.

They had at least restored this short section of the loop so we were able to return to the spur trail and turn right then right again to complete the inner loop.

The “To River” sign at the spur trail junction.

Possibly a western wood pee-wee

Spotted towhee

Osprey

The park host from the trail.

The loop as we did it is now only 1.7-miles with 50′ of elevation gain.

The park wasn’t as crowded as we thought it might be on a hot holiday and there was no one else hiking the trails here. It was a nice enough end to a good day hiking and we had finished just after Noon so we had avoided the hottest parts of the day. To be honest we hadn’t expected a whole lot from any of these hikes and had chosen them primarily for their proximity to Salem, but the Natural Rock Arch and Rocky Top far exceeded our expectations. We were home around 1pm and had the rest of the afternoon to relax with the cats. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Natural Rock Arch, Rocky Top, and North Santiam Park

Tags Albuna pyramidalis, Beachie Creek Fire, Butterfly, hiking, Natuarl Rock Arch Trailhead, Natural Rock Arch, North Santiam Park, North Santiam River, North Santiam State Recreation Area, Oregon, Rocky Top, santiam state forest, wildflowers

Hiking Mt. St. Helens Trip report Washington Washington Cascades

The Hummocks to Johnston Ridge – 07/01/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 3, 2023
1 Comment on The Hummocks to Johnston Ridge – 07/01/2023

On May 14, 2023 a washout along Washington’s SR504 below the Johnston Ridge Observatory closed vehicle access for the foreseeable future. We’d visited the observatory in August 2013 (post) and had planned on revisiting this July. While the washout made driving to the observatory impossible the trails in the area were not impacted. The shortest route was to start at the Hummocks Trailhead and take the Boundary Trail from its intersection with the Hummocks Trail to the observatory. We actually had this hike on our 2024 schedule for July so we swapped those (hoping that the road is repaired before then).

This would also be our second visit to The Hummocks having hiked the 2.5-mile loop in May of 2014 (post) before hiking a longer loop around Coldwater Lake. From the trailhead we set off on the left most trail (next to the large signboards).

While the loop did come in at 2.5-miles it was a little over 3/4 of a mile to the Boundary Trail.

There were a lot more flowers (and green vegetation) along the trail than there had been during our May hike.
Lupine

One of several ponds along the trail.

Interpretive signs, trail guide markers, and “Student Stops” are located throughout the loop.
A “Student Stop” marker surrounded by dwarf lupine. We aren’t sure what the these meant or what program they are related to.

An interpretive sign along the trail facing some of the hummocks.

Penstemon

Mt. St. Helens as we neared the Boundary Trail junction.

Trail guide marker #3 and an interpretive sign at the junction.

We turned left onto the Boundary Trail which began as a level path passing by more hummocks.
The lower left map shows the current closure area and open trails. In a nutshell, all the trails are open but everything off-trail to the side facing SR504 is currently closed.

The views of Mt. St. Helens were great.

The trail began to climb as it squeezed between a gap in the hillsides ahead.

View back to the hummocks from the gap.

Trees in the gap.

After exiting the gap we got another good view of the mountain before the trail veered left turning away from the mountain.

After another short level stretch the trail began to climb in earnest. While the climb never felt very steep the trail netted 1400′ of elevation gain over the next 3 miles to reach the parking lot at Johnston Ridge.
Heading away from Mt. St. Helens to start the climb.

Dwarf lupine was profuse below the ridge.

Scouler’s bluebell

Thimbleberry blossoms

Castle Peak above Castle Lake with Spud Mountain to the right and the North Fork Toutle River below.

Horned lark

Tiger lily

Savannah sparrow

Heading back toward Mt. St. Helens.

The North Fork Toutle River flowing between Spud Mountain (left) and Elk Rock (right).

Castle Peak and Castle Lake

Elk Rock on the left and Coldwater Lake on the right.

Coldwater Lake

Mountain bluebird.

At one point quite a bit of dust? kicked up from the South Fork Toutle River canyon.

The trail contoured along the hillside, occasionally entering a stand of trees or losing sight of the mountain behind a ridge.

Cardwell’s penstemon

A little over 2 3/4-miles from the Hummocks-Boundary Trail junction we came to a viewpoint at a ridge end where we could see Coldwater Peak and the top of Mt. Adams.
Coldwater Peak with Mt. Adams to the far right of the photo. The hiker ahead to the left of Coldwater Peak was from Belgium. He was here on work but using the weekends to explore the area. We would see him two more times, once from the observatory as he continued on the Boundary Trail and then as we were exiting the trailhead. He had done a loop using the Coldwater Trail (post) which by our calculations would have been at least 16-miles and that is assuming he didn’t detour to Coldwater Peak.

Mt. Adams from the viewpoint on our way back. The angle of the Sun earlier caused the mountain to look pretty washed out.

Mt. St. Helens from the viewpoint.

Variable-leaf collomia

The Loowit Viewpoint on the ridge ahead.

Paintbrush covered hillside.

The Loowit Viewpoint is located along SR504. The Boundary Trail passes by the viewpoint 3/4 of a mile from the Johnston Ridge Observatory.
Mt. St. Helens from the Loowit Viewpoint.

Mt. St. Helens crater.

As we continued on from the viewpoint we were under the watchful eye of some nosey locals.

Golden mantled-ground squirrel. These brazen con-artists often convince visitors they would starve without humans help. While this is definitely not the case and wildlife really shouldn’t be fed it happens all too frequently. (They are awfully cute though.)

The closer we came to the observatory the more paintbrush we began seeing.
A single plant.

A lot of paintbrush.

Daisies and paintbrush

Penstemon, yarrow, and Scouler’s woolyweed along with the paintbrush.

Paintbrush and penstemon along the trail.

The Boundary Trail turns to a paved path across from the parking lot for the observatory following the parking entrance road for approximately 450′.

Passing by the Johnston Ridge Observatory.

Before and after photos of the 1980 eruption.

We followed the Eruption Trail uphill to a mountain identifier then down the other side to rejoin the Boundary Trail.

Mt. Adams peaking over the ridges with Spirit Lake also visible (center).

Spirit Lake

The mountain identifier ahead on the left.

We could see where the repair work was happening on SR504 from this trail.

The rounded peak to the right is Goat Mountain (post).

Goat Mountain with a few patches of snow still showing up.

Rock Arch near Coldwater Peak.

Memorial for the lives lost in the 1980 eruption.

Junction with the Boundary Trail.

The views and flowers were so nice that we decided to continue on the Boundary Trail for a bit. The trail had been slowly losing elevation and after a little over a half mile neared a saddle where more elevation would have been lost. We decided to turn around there since shortly after climbing up from the saddle on the far side the trail would lose sight of Mt. St. Helens as it passed behind the ridge for a bit.

Pussypaws

Another view of the washout.

Our turn around spot. You can see the trail on far side of the saddle veering left behind the ridge.

Coldwater Peak from our turnaround spot.

We headed back to the Hummocks Trail, sticking to the Boundary Trail the entire way.
The Johnston Ridge Observatory from the trail. We hadn’t realized how much elevation we’d lost until we turned around.

Castle Peak and Spud Mountain on the left and the observatory above some colorful cliffs.

Penstemon

White crowned sparrow

Boundary Trail leaving the Loowit Viewpoint.

Snowberry checkerspot on penstemon.

Another checkerspot, this time on lupine.

Cedar waxwings

When we arrived back at the Hummocks Trail we turned left to finish that loop.

Mt. St. Helens and the North Fork Toutle River.

Between it having been 9 years since we’d hiked this trail and the difference in the time of year the scenery was very different.

The same view in May 2014.

Same spot, different angle 2014.

Monkeyflower

Maybe a yellow-rumped warbler.

Caterpillar

Dragonfly

Pearly everlasting

Arriving back at the Hummocks Trailhead.

The hike came in at 12.5 miles with just under 2000′ of cumulative elevation gain.

This turned out to be the perfect day for this hike. The weather was pleasant, the views and flowers great, and the road closure provided solitude at the observatory. In addition to the Belgian hiker we passed a couple near the small viewpoint on the way to the observatory. We passed a few more people on the way back but nearly half of those were volunteers with the Mt. St. Helens Institute. The only thing that the hike lacked was any larger wildlife. It was one of the only hikes we could recall at the mountain where we didn’t see at least one deer, elk or mountain goat. Maybe next time. Until then Happy Trails!

Flickr: Boundary Trail – Hummocks TH to Johnston Ridge

Tags Boundary Trail, hiking, Hummock Trailhead, Hummocks, Hummocks Trail, Johnston Ridge, Johnston Ridge Observatory, Loowit Viewpoint, Mt. St. Helens, mt. st. helens national volcanic monument, North Fork Toutle River, Washington, wildflowers

Hells Canyon Hiking Oregon Trip report

Buckhorn Lookout – 06/15/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 23, 2023
2 Comments on Buckhorn Lookout – 06/15/2023

We had spent Wednesday wading through poison ivy along the Imnaha River on our way to Eureka Bar (post). Thursday’s hike promised to involve a lot less poison ivy even though the trailhead was less than four miles as the crow flies from the Cow Creek Trailhead where we’d parked the day before. This was because we would be starting over 4000′ higher in elevation at Buckhorn Lookout.

Before we made it to the lookout we stopped to watch a small herd of elk cross the road and run up a hillside.

At least one bull in the herd.

We parked at the lookout and checked out the view there first then walked back along the road 0.2-miles and turned right on Forest Road 780 for another 1.2-miles to a gate.
Buckhorn Lookout

Hells Canyon

Tolmie’s onion

Pale paintbrush

Larkspur, lupine, and northern mules ears.

Prairie smoke a.k.a. old man’s whiskers

Purple sticky geranium

Paintbrush

Parsley, larkspur, large flower triteleia, and Tolmie’s onion

Phlox

We could have driven the 1.2-miles on FR 780 to the gate but the road was not in good shape and after driving to Eureka Bar the day before we weren’t interested in another rough road.

Mallow ninebark

Arnica

Large flower triteleia

Gate at the end of the road.

Marker for the Nez Perce – Nee-Mee-Poo National Historic Trail.

The trail followed an old roadbed downhill 7.6-miles to Eureka Bar, but our plan was to go just 3.6-miles to what Sullivan refers to as the “Eureka Viewpoint”. The entire route was lined with wildflowers. The mixture and types changed as we lost elevation, over 1780′ in all, to the viewpoint.

Columbian lewisia

Seven Devils in Idaho

Lupine, yarrow, buckwheat, and scarlet gilia

Scarlet gilia

Elkhorn clarkia a.k.a. ragged robin

Another impressive scarlet gilia.

Paintbrush, lupine, phacelia, thistle, and scarlet gilia

Penstemon

A phlox

Scabland penstemon

Threadleaf phacelia

Penstemon

Paintbrush

Lark sparrow

Cedar waxwing

Elkhorn clarkia

Wallflower

Skullcap

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Monkeyflower and some tiny white flowers near a seep.

Buckwheat

Mylitta crescent

Rough eyelashweed

Looking back up the trail.

At Spain Saddle the road switched to the opposite side of the ridge.

Bush penstemon

Another type of penstemon

White spiraea

Manyflower tonella

Owl’s clover

Six tenths of a mile from Spain Saddle we detoured left along a fence to a viewpoint.
The viewpoint on the far side of the fence.

Boat on the Snake River.

Salsify

We continued on from the first viewpoint and wound up having to yield the trail to a few cows that were being herded up the trail. After the cowgirl convinced them it was safe to pass by us we resumed our downhill hike.

Bindweed

Thistle with bugs.

Clouds moving in behind us.

Prickly pear cactus

The only poison ivy we saw all hike.

Eureka Viewpoint ahead to the left.

Hairy goldenaster

Fleabane

Eureka Viewpoint

Looking back

Looking down

Clustered broomrape

The most exciting part of Eureka Viewpoint wasn’t the view. It was finding some prickly pear cactus in bloom.

As for the view the three small portions of the Snake River was visible below.

A very small part of the river is visible to the left and more to right.

As we rested at the viewpoint we got to looking around and realized that there was a common nighthawk sleeping on a nearby fence post.

After a good break we began the long climb back to the lookout. The forecast had been for mostly sunny skies but it had grown increasingly hazy all day and there were now even more clouds converging overhead. It didn’t rain so the cloud cover was welcome as it kept the temperature from getting too high. The haze, which was smoke from wildfires was more problematic as it really hindered the views and by the time we’d reached the lookout we couldn’t see nearly as much as we had that morning.
Here come the clouds.

We spotted a rock arch on the way up that we’d missed earlier.

A closer look at the arch.

Common wood nymph

Spotted towhee

Northern flicker

The only time we noticed the Imnaha River from the trail.

Butterfly near the seep.

Mountain parnassian on yarrow.

A painted lady butterfly.

Chipping sparrow

We could actually smell a little smoke at times on the way back.

Tiny trumpet

Hound’s tongue and roses

Cassin’s finch

Western bluebird

Western tanager

Western wood peewee

Hairy Indian paintbrush

Hoary balsamroot

Mountain bluebird

The view in the afternoon from the lookout.

This wound up being our favorite hike of the trip despite the views not being as clear as we would have liked, and is one we would certainly revisit given the chance. We’re pretty sure we saw at least 50 different species of wildflowers and the views were good even with the smoke and clouds. Round trip was 10.8 miles with almost 1800′ of elevation gain, almost entirely on the way back.

After driving back to Enterprise we cleaned up and headed to Terminal Gravity Brewing for a nice dinner with a view of the Wallowa Mountains. The next morning we would be leaving Enterprise and heading for Pendleton via the long way around the Wallowas so we could make three stops along the Snake River. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Buckhorn Lookout

Tags Buckhorn Lookout, enterprise, Hells Canyon, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, hiking, Nee-Mee-Poo National Historic Trail. Eureka Viewpoint, Nez Perce National Historic Trail, Oregon, Prickly Pear Cactus, Terminal Gravity Brewing, wildflowers

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Imnaha Falls – 06/12/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 20, 2023
No Comments on Imnaha Falls – 06/12/2023

Our arrival in Enterprise coincided with the arrival of a couple of days with forecasted afternoon thunder storms. We did some rearraigning of the order of our hikes to avoid the storms and decided on Imnaha Falls as our Monday hike. We began at the Indian Crossing Trailhead located in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.
Indian Crossing Trailhead

Imnaha River at the trailhead.

There were quite a few wildflowers blooming at the trailhead.
Jessica’s stickseed

Hooked spur violet

Woodland star

Valerian

Arnica

We took the South Fork Imnaha Trail #1816 following pointers for Blue Hole and Twin Lakes.

Violets

We passed a pack station in the forest on our right.

Ballhead waterleaf

Lupine along the trail

Anemone

Western meadowrue

We passed a trail sign at junction with a spur trail joining from the pack station and soon after we entered the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Paintbrush along the trail.

Larkspur, lupine, and Jessica’s stickseed

After three quarters of a mile we entered a previously burned forest where the views opened up some.

Chipmunk

A nice patch of lupine.

Snow patches high up on the ridge.

The Imnaha River below the trail.

One of many small unnamed stream crossings.

Large-flower triteleia

A ponderosa pine that survived the fire.

Robin

One of several types of penstemon along the trail.

We were just sure that there should be elk, deer, or a bear down along the river here.

There were quite a few of these millipedes in the trail.

In some cases the creeks had taken over the trail.

Cinquefoil

A brushy section of the trail.

Tall bluebells

Two-tailed tiger swallowtail

At the two-mile mark we came to a signed junction for Twin Lakes Trail and Blue Hole where we detoured left.

We followed this trail downhill for a tenth of a mile to an impassable ford of the Imnaha River just below the Blue Hole.

The river was running high still so we couldn’t get a view of Blue Hole from the ford. Instead we climbed the rocks which squeeze the river through a narrow gorge before it empties into Blue Hole.

Blue Hole, not exactly blue this time of year due to the amount of silty snowmelt water swelling the river.

Wildflowers above the gorge.

The Imnaha emerging from the gorge into Blue Hole.

After a nice break at Blue Hole we returned to the South Fork Imnaha Trail and continued further into the wilderness.
Arnica along the trail.

Coming up on a small stand of aspen.

A rockcress

Juba skipper

Roundleaf alumroot

Painted lady on Oregon sunshine.

Glacier carved rock outcrops provided some excellent views and good habitat for wildflowers.

Scabland penstemon

Paintbrush

Not a flower but very colorful.

Bush penstemon

Western tanager

Western blue clematis

Brown creeper on a tree trunk.

Left is Marble Mountain and to the right further back is Honeymoon Summit.

Larkspur along the trail.

Heartleaf springbeauty

Another flooded section of a the trail.

Western tiger swallowtails on chokecherry.

Dreamy duskywing

Threeleaf lewisia

We were too late for the Brown’s peony blooms.

Balsamroot and paintbrush

Three and a third miles beyond the Twin Lakes Trail junction we left the trail to see another gorge.

On the opposite side, with a series of drops, is Rock Creek flowing into the Imnaha.

The Imnaha River leaving the gorge.

Rock Creek cascading down through the forest.

After another short break we returned to the trail and continued another third of a mile where we left the trail again to find Imnaha Falls.

Another creek cascading down.

Marble Mountain

Twinberry honeysuckle

Marsh violet

Rock outcrop above Imnaha Falls

The 8′ Imnaha Falls was difficult to get a good view of. There was a large gap in the rocks that I eventually had to climb down into and out of to get to the edge of the rock outcrop above the river.
I tried going down river first to see if I could get a view back up to the falls, but the water level was into the brush along the riverbank.

The falls were just upriver from this bench with a couple of campsites.

The gap in the outcrop.

Imnaha Falls.

The falls were more of a rapids which might have been caused by the volume of water this time of year.

We took a final break on the rocks here and then headed back toward the trailhead. We kept a lookout for any flowers we’d missed on the first pass.
Utah honeysuckle

Bee on a dandelion

Nettle-leaf giant hyssop

Slender phlox

Silverleaf phacelia

Vetch

Diffuse-flower evening-primrose surrounded by blue-eyed Mary.

Osprey, the fishing here must have been good because we’d seen a bald eagle in this area in the morning.

Fairy slipper

Arriving back at the trailhead.

We saw three other people on the return to the trailhead. The first gentleman we encountered asked us how far it was to the lakes. He’d already passed the Twin Lakes Trail, not that he could have forded the river there, and the next closest lake was probably Fish Lake which was a good 7-8 miles away. We let him know that there weren’t any lakes nearby but that Imnaha Falls was a couple of miles further along the trail. He didn’t have much with him but he continued on after looking at the gathering clouds and saying he thought he had time to make it there. The next couple we passed after Blue Hole and they didn’t appear to be carrying any type of food, water, or gear. The number of unprepared and uninformed people we pass on trails really makes us wonder how there aren’t more rescues/deaths every year.

Our hike came in at 12.2 miles due to some extra exploring along the river with approximately 800′ of elevation gain.

We drove back to Enterprise, got cleaned up, and headed out for an early dinner. When we opened the motel room door we were greeted by a heavy rain shower. We had planned on eating at Terminal Gravity Brewing but when we got out of the car a lightning bolt immediately followed by thunder convinced us that outdoor dining was not a good idea at the moment. We decided to save Terminal Gravity for later in the week and instead got some tasty Pad Thai to go from Thai Enterprise and took it back to our room where we listened to the evening thunderstorms roll past.

Tuesday’s forecast was for more of the same with a slightly higher chance for showers so we’d planned to do a short hike in the morning followed by some time sightseeing in Joseph. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Imnaha Falls

Tags Blue Hole, eagle cap wilderness, enterprise, Gorge, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, hiking, Imnaha Falls, Indian Crossing Trailhead, Oregon, Rock Creek, South Fork Imnaha River Trail, Twin Lakes Trail, wildflowers

Grants Pass Area Hiking Oregon Trip report

Dollar Mountain, Limpy Creek, and Waters Creek – 05/03/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 10, 2023
3 Comments on Dollar Mountain, Limpy Creek, and Waters Creek – 05/03/2023

When I’d first planned our vacation to Grants Pass the plan had included seven of Sullivan’s featured hikes, six of which we needed to check off our to-do list, and one to tie up loose ends (post). One of those planned hikes had been Babyfoot Lake but with a trailhead elevation of 4340′ that hike had been postponed due to this years above average snowpack. Before leaving I had checked all our hikes including using a couple of snow-depth maps. At the time they showed 10-20 inches of snow at Babyfoot Lake but nothing for any of our other planned hikes including along the driving route to Marial which was our planned destination for day three. I had been concerned because the BLM roads to the Lower Rogue River-Mule Creek Trailhead spends a fair amount of time between 3400 and 3800′ in elevation before dropping to the trailhead at an elevation under 500′. There was no snow showing up online and neither the BLM nor Forest Service websites mentioned impassable roads. Sullivan lists this hike as open April to December but that is “normal” and this year’s snowpack is not that.

We started Wednesday morning by attempting the roughly 70-mile, nearly 2:30 hour drive. We managed to get within 17 miles of the trailhead before encountering large snow drifts still covering the roads, primarily on the North facing slopes. With no way to reach the trailhead (we couldn’t have even hiked the trail from Grave Creek due to a washout at trail mile 21) we pivoted to plan B. Plan B was to do some or all of the hikes that we’d planned for Friday before driving home. So after a little over 4 hours of driving we wound up at the Dollar Mountain Trailhead less than 2 miles from where we’d started at our cabin.

This was an odd little hike as the trail had no signage apart from the trailhead sign and it basically went straight uphill. There were some narrower trails off what appeared to be the main trail which may have been gentler switchbacks, but they just as easily could have been use trails leading to the surrounding neighborhoods or to nowhere in particular. We opted to go straight up on the wider rutted path.
Larkspur along the trail.

A pollinator in a Tolmie’s mariposa lily.

Shooting star

Grants Pass below Dollar Mountain.

Hooker’s Indian pink

Silver crown

Naked broomrape

Too cloudy for a good view.

Lupine

Scarlet fritillary

Sullivan had it as 1.2 miles from the trailhead to the summit but going straight up got us to the cell towers on top in exactly 1 mile (regardless of the route the climb is over 750′ of elevation gain).

View from the summit.

The view from the summit isn’t as good as those just below. From the summit we had the choice of heading back the way we’d come or following a rough roadbed down and around to Crescent Street 0.2 miles NW of the trailhead. We opted for the loop option and headed down the road.
We stuck to the road ignoring any side paths like this one since we had no idea where they might lead.

There were dozens of California groundcones along the roadbed.

California groundcones

Approaching Crescent Street.

It was a mile and a half from the summit to Crescent Street which we followed back to the car. From there we made the 16-mile drive to the Limpy Botanical Interpretive Loop Trailhead

Here we planned to do a mile long loop. We started clockwise from the trailhead signboard following Sullivan’s directions to stay left at all junctions.

Monkeyflower

Dwarf ceanothus

Paintbrush

Camas and shooting stars

Siskiyou fritillary

We got into a little trouble when we came to what we thought was another trail junction with a path leading to the right to a bench.

Since the directions we were following said to stay left at all junctions we stayed left following an increasingly rocky path uphill. We wound up just below a roadbed when the “trail” completely petered out. We headed back down to the trail with the bench and tried that one which turned out to be the correct route. This path led us across a pair of boardwalks then to a scenic little waterfall.
Passing the bench.

Trillium

Fairy slippers

Boardwalk #1

Second boardwalk

Waterfall on Limpy Creek.

Beyond the falls the trail crossed Limpy Creek then began to descend to another nice little creek.

Limpy Creek

Arriving at the second creek.

Unnamed creek

Mushrooms

The path turned along the unnamed creek and recrossed Limpy Creek before arriving back at the trailhead.
Final crossing of Limpy Creek.

With our wrong turn we managed to turn the 1-mile loop into a 1.3-mile hike and nearly doubled the 120′ of elevation gain that it should have been. From Limpy Creek we headed for our final stop of the day at the nearby Waters Creek Interpretive Trailhead. (The trailheads are just over 2.5 miles apart as the crow flies but the drive between them is close to 15 miles.)

This was another interpretive trail offering two loops, a 1-mile barrier free option or a nearly 3-mile longer, hiker only, loop. Both loops begin by following Waters Creek for a tenth of a mile then crossing it and passing by a grassy meadow.

Candyflower

Waters Creek

A phacelia

At the end of the meadow when the trail enters the forest it splits. We stayed left at all junctions again on this loop.
The start/end of the loops with the bridge being our return route.

Staying left.

This was the barrier free loop splitting off and heading back across an unnamed creek.

Sign announcing the hiker only extended loop.

Snail

The first vanilla leaf we’ve seen blooming this year.

There were a bunch of fawn lilies blooming along this trail.

One of several little footbridges across side streams.

Trillium

Bench where the trail turned to head back on the opposite side of the unnamed creek.

The view from the bench.

The trail climbed above the creek on the way back before descending via switchback to rejoin the barrier free loop.
Houndstongue

The barrier free trail below in the trees.

Back on the barrier free trail.

Biscuitroot and larkspur

Giant white wakerobin

The Sun was starting to shine a bit as we passed back by the meadow which brought out some butterflies and lots of lizards.

Our three hikes of the day added up to 7 miles and 1480′ of elevation gain. (2.8mi & 830′, 1.3mi & 250′, and 2.96mi & 400′ respectively.)

Despite the rocky start it had turned out to be a pleasant enough day and we were still back to our cabin around 3pm which gave us time to clean up and head to the Bohemian Bar & Bistro for an excellent dinner. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Dollar Mountain, Limpy Botanical Loop, and Waters Creek

Tags Bohemian Bar & Bistro, Dollar Mountain, Grants Pass, hiking, Limpy Botanical Interpretive Loop. Waters Creek Interpretive Trail, Limpy Creek, Marial, Oregon, Waters Creek, wildflowers

Grants Pass Area Hiking Oregon Trip report

Rogue River Trail from Grave Creek – 05/01/2023

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 8, 2023
2 Comments on Rogue River Trail from Grave Creek – 05/01/2023

For our first week of vacation this year we planned a trip to Grants Pass to continue working toward our goal of finishing all 100 featured hikes in William L. Sullivan’s “100 Hikes/Travel Guide Southern Oregon & Northern California” edition 4.2. (post)

On the way down to Grants Pass we kicked off our week of hikes with a portion of the Rogue River Trail starting at the Grave Creek Boat Ramp.

Sullivan includes three hike options for his Rogue River East featured hike: a 4.2-mile out-and-back to Rainie Falls on the southern side of the Rogue, a 7-mile out-and-back to the Whiskey Creek Cabin on the Rogue River Trail, and a 23.2-mile one way option on the Rogue River Trail to Marial. The Rainie Falls hike was out due to the trail being damaged in the 2022 Rum Creek fire and the longer option wasn’t viable either for various reasons including a slide that currently has the trail closed roughly a mile upstream from Marial. That left the Whiskey Creek Cabin as our goal with an option to extend the hike if we felt like it.

Going into the trip there were two types of wildflowers that we hadn’t yet seen in bloom that we were hoping to find. One was red larkspur which I’d learned grew along the Rogue River Trail. As it turned out this was an easy one. When we climbed from the boat ramp to a set of signboards along the trail we immediately spotted some of the red larkspur blooming below the signs.

Red larkspur with blue dicks in the background.

Wildflowers are running a few weeks behind this year but they were putting on a good display as we set off on the trail.

Lupine

Red larkspur, madia, blue dicks, and tomcat clover along the trail.

Blue dicks

Tolmie’s mariposa lily and some madia.

Larkspur and a red larkspur

Plectritis

Monkeyflower

Serpentine phacelia

Naked broomrape

Camas with monkeyflower and plectritis

Fiddleneck

Saxifrage

A darker red larkspur

Some of the damage to the trail to Rainie Falls on the opposite side of the river.

Buttercups

Common whipplea

Silver crown

The wet rock here was sneaky slick.

We spotted a couple of pink larkspur.

Common mergansers

Common cryptantha

Starflower

Paintbrush

Del Norte iris

Coastal manroot

Canada geese

All of that was over the first mile plus. At the 1.2-mile mark we came to a sign marking the high water mark from a 1964 flood and just beyond were the remnants of the former Sanderson Bridge which was destroyed in a 1927 flood.

Looking back upriver from the high water sign.

Sanderson Bridge site

We continued on continuing to watch for additional wildlife and types of flowers.
Golden-crowned sparrow

Scarlet fritillary

Just over half a mile from the bridge site we came to a fork and a pointer for Rainie Falls. While we were aware that there was little to no view of the falls down this path we followed it down a tenth of a mile to the river.

White campion

The only water we could make out on the far side of the river.

While there was no view of Rainie Falls we did spot a few colorful birds along the bank.
Bullock’s oriole

Yellow warbler

Sandy beach along the Rogue River.

After watching the birds for a bit we hiked back up to the Rogue River Trail and continued on reaching China Gulch in another half mile.
Shooting star

California groundcone

Small-flowered woodland-star

Approaching China Gulch

From China Gulch it was approximately 1.2-miles to Whiskey Creek and the side trail to the cabin.
Vetch

Wallflower

Silverpuffs

This manzanita was particularly striking in person.

Hairy pink

Robin

Rafts at Whiskey Camp.

Whiskey Creek

Footbridge over Whiskey Creek

Sign at the spur trail to the cabin.

We turned up the spur trail and followed it uphill for 500′ to the cabin.

The initial cabin was built sometime around 1880 and improved/expanded over time to include a solar heated shower and insulated pantry. The cabin was lived in until the Bureau of Land Management purchased the deed in 1973.

After exploring the cabin and surrounding structures we decided to continue on the Rogue River Trail a bit further. We were trying to avoid getting to our accommodations in Grants Pass before check-in at 3pm so we decided to continue for another 15 to 20 minutes before heading back. We wound up hiking an additional 0.4-miles to Big Slide Camp.

Del Norte irises

Big Slide Camp to the left.

Outhouse at Big Slide Camp.

Common mergansers

Snow on a ridge above the Rogue River Valley. (This was a sign of issues for us later in the week.)

We lingered a bit at the camp before heading back. As always, we kept our eyes open for anything we might have missed on our first pass.
Redwood sorrel along Whiskey Creek.

Buiscuitroot

Passing the high water mark.

Arriving back at the trailhead.

Our hike here ended up being 8.7-miles with 450′ of cumulative elevation gain.

Aside from the rafters at Whiskey Creek Camp the only other people we saw were a pair of backpackers on their way out and a group of 15 on their way in. While we didn’t see any rattlesnakes (it was nice and cool out) we did pick up a couple of ticks along the way which we brushed off when spotted. Poison oak was present but easily avoidable.

We arrived at the Riverside Cabins in Grants Pass a little after 3pm. The six rentals were recently constructed and ours wound up being an excellent base of operations for the rest of the week.

It was a good start to our vacation, and we were looking forward to more great hikes in the days to come. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Rogue River East

Tags Big Slide Camp, Bullock's Oriole, China Gulch, Grants Pass, Grave Creek Boat Launch, Grave Creek Trailhead, hiking, Oregon, Rainie Falls, Red Larkspur, Riverside Cabins, Rogue River, Rogue River Trail, Sanderson Bridge Site, Whiskey Creek, Whiskey Creek Cabin, Whiskey Creek Camp, wildflowers