Tag: wildflowers

Bunchgrass Ridge – 7/04/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 9, 2019
5 Comments on Bunchgrass Ridge – 7/04/2019

**Note a portion of this hike burned in the 2022 Cedar Creek Fire.**

For the 4th of July this year we headed to the Oakridge area to check out a portion of the Eugene to Crest Trail. The concept of the trail is for a continuous trail from Eugene, OR to the Pacific Crest Trail east of Waldo Lake. Despite beginning in the 1970’s the trail has not been completed but a 108 mile route has been established using trails and roads with multiple access points.

We chose to begin our hike at the Eugene to Crest Trailhead #4 It was an interesting drive to the trailhead as winter storms brought extensive damage along Highway 58 causing its closure for a time due to slides and downed trees. Those same conditions affected many of the Forest Service roads and trails. As we headed up FR 2408 toward the trailhead it was apparent that the Forest Service had been busy clearing downed trees along the lower portion of the road. It was interesting to see that higher elevations hadn’t suffered near as much damage though as the number of recently cut trees decreased significantly. Then as we neared the trailhead a young black bear darted across the road in front of the car.

After the excitement of seeing the bear we pulled into the parking area where we discovered a fair number of mosquitoes waiting for us. We applied a bit of bug spray and set off on the signed trail.

In a tenth of a mile we arrived at a junction with the Eugene to Crest Trail where we turned left.

A short distance later we entered Little Bunchgrass Meadow.

The meadow had quite a bit of lupine and some white pussytoes and cat’s ear lilies blooming with tiger lilies and orange agoseris just getting started.

The only tiger lily that seemed to be open yet.

20190704_072419 orange agoseris beginning to open.

20190704_072403 Cat’s ear lily

Pussytoes

At the end of the meadow the trail entered the forest where a few vanilla leaf and a single trillium were still blooming.

It wasn’t long before we popped out into a second meadow. This one was filled with bunchgrass aka beargrass. Unfortunately it appeared that we had missed the beargrass bloom by a year as only a couple of plants had flowers while many others had dead stalks.

We repeated the meadow-forest-meadow pattern a couple of times as the trail followed the ridge SE. Occasionally there were views of the Three Sisters, Broken Top, and the top of Mt. Bachelor to the NE.
The Three Sisters and Broken Top

Larkspur along the trail.

Bunchberry

Anemone

Another meadow

The Three Sisters and Broken Top

Queen’s cup

The Three Sisters, Broken Top, and a bit of Mt. Bachelor

Rhododendron

Another meadow full of not-in-bloom beargrass.

The first mile and a half of the trail had been fairly level as it passed along the ridge but after passing through the last beargrass meadow for a while the trail began to gradually gain elevation. The trail left the ridge top in favor of the SW facing slope.
View from the SW facing hillside.

Looking SE

The trail then regained the ridge where we once again had views of the Three Sisters and Broken Top along with Mt. Jefferson and the very tip of Three Fingered Jack.

Mt. Jefferson behind the ridge extending from Mule Mountain (post). The tip of Three Fingered Jack is visible just to the left of the high point along the ridge to the far right.

After passing a knoll on our right we got our fist glimpse of Diamond Peak ahead to the SE.

Diamond Peak through the trees.

After a brief drop to a saddle we climbed past a wildflower rock garden to a nice viewpoint just over two and a quarter miles from the trailhead.
Valerian in the saddle.

Mt. Yoran, Diamond Peak, and Mt. Bailey

Mt. Yoran and Diamond Peak

Mt. Bailey

View to the NE (from the afternoon on the way back)

The Husband, Three Sisters, Broken Top, and Ball Butte(from the afternoon on the way back)

Mt. Jefferson and the tips of Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Washington

From the viewpoint the trail descended fairly steeply past what appeared to be a small spring but it is not shown on any map that I could find.

Sections of our route passed through and by the fire scar from the 1991 Warner Creek burn but as we descended from the viewpoint we were passed through a newer scar from the 2017 Kelsey Creek Fire.

In this newer scar we found one of the best clumps of western wallfower we’d ever seen.

20190704_084603

There was also a large wild ginger blossom which we don’t get to see very often so clearly.

After losing almost 500′ of elevation the trail looked to regain it as it climbed from a saddle up a ridge and around a knoll before dropping down again.

From the high point we had a nice view of the ridge behind us that our route had followed.

Ahead we could see another ridge line on the far side of Kelsey Creek which was in the valley below.

From this view we couldn’t really make out the ridge between us and the one across the valley. We began to wonder about the rest of our route. We did have two paper maps and our GPS with us but instead of looking at those we wondered if we would be curving around this valley or following an unseen ridge to our right. Whatever our route would be, it began by heading downhill. There was fairly thick vegetation along the trail but it had also recently been cut back.

We could see a green meadow ahead of and below us.

Just over three and a half miles in the trail leveled off at a saddle above the meadow. The wildflower display on the saddle was really impressive with large groups of blue-head gilia and giant blue-eyed Mary creating carpets of blue and numerous other flowers scattered about.

Giant blue-eyed Mary

20190704_091315 Giant blue-eyed Mary

Giant blue-eyed Mary and blue-head gilia

Cat’s ear lily and blue-head gilia

Coneflower

Cow parsnip

Tall mountain bluebell

More of the blue flowers

Larkspur

20190704_092323 Jacob’s ladder

20190704_092346 An aster or fleabane

Columbine and valerian

Lupine

Not sure what type of flower this one is.

Valerian filled meadow below the trail.

White yarrow, giant blue-eyed Mary, and tall mountain bluebells

Beyond the saddle the trail did not follow a ridge in any direction. It lost a little more elevation passing under a hillside dotted with pink rhododendron.

The low elevation was approximately 5250′ which the trail dipped to briefly as it started to wind around the headwaters of Kelsey Creek. As we came around we started to climb and quickly realized that the trail was going to take us up and over the ridge we had been looking at from the viewpoint across the valley. From the low point the trail gained 150′ over the first three tenths of a mile before launching uphill to gain another 450′ in the next .4 miles.
Looking back at our route so far.

The trail coming around Kelsey Creek is visible on the hillside behind us.

The trail crested in yet another bunchgrass filled meadow.

The open hillside here provided views ahead to Fuji Mountain in the Waldo Lake Wilderness (post) as well as Diamond Peak and a good look at Mt. Bailey (post).
Fuji Mountain (left), flat topped Mt. David Douglass, Mt. Yoran (shorter thumb to the left of Diamond Peak), and Diamond Peak.

Mt. Yoran and Diamond Peak

Mt. Bailey

We were particularly excited to see Mt. Bailey. It’s one we don’t often get a good view of due to its relatively low profile (8368′) and its alignment which often puts it behind Diamond Peak in the line of sight.

This meadow lasted off and on for a little over half a mile. There again wasn’t much beargrass in bloom but we did come upon a nice display of scarlet gilia, also known as skyrocket which seemed fitting on the 4th of July.

20190704_101615 A few orange agoseris were scattered about.

Scarlet gilia

More scarlet gilia

20190704_112526 Skyrocket

At the edge of the meadow we arrived at a rock outcrop.

The trail switchbacked down below the outcrop which was home to a few flowers of it’s own.

A thistle that was getting ready to bloom.

Wallflower

Below the outcrop the trail passed through more beargrass with Big Bunchgrass Meadow covering the hillside ahead with a bright green color.

We had one complaint as we headed toward our goal, the trail was losing elevation. Interestingly though we found ourselves in an entirely different type of forest than we had encountered during the hike so far. It had a drier feel with pines and a grassy forest floor.

Soon though we popped out into Big Bunchgrass Meadow which didn’t appear to have much if any bunchgrass. False hellebore, grasses, and flowers filled this meadow.

The flowers weren’t profuse but there was a nice variety and the butterflies seemed to be enjoying them.
Owl’s head clover

Larkspur, an owl’s head clover, and scarlet gilia

Aster or fleabane and an orange agoseris

Coneflower

Hyssop

Butterflies on a cat’s ear lily

20190704_105633 Wait that’s not a butterfly.

As the trail continued to lose elevation we decided to make our turnaround point a trail junction with a tie trail coming up to the meadow from the Bunchgrass Lower Trailhead. There was a post in the meadow with a pointer for the trail but it wasn’t exactly near the post and we missed it on our first pass. We turned around after rounding a small corner that gave us a nice view of Fuji Mountain.

Fuji Mountain

Looking back we realized just how far we had come down to reach the meadow.

As we came back around the small corner we spotted the faint trail veering off to the left.
The post, with an orange top, is up and to the right in front of a tree.

We headed back uphill and stopped for a break at the rock outcrop.
Heather at the rock outcrop.

I wandered up along the outcrop to see if there might be a good viewpoint atop the ridge. I was hoping for the Three Sisters and Broken Top but they were nowhere to be seen.

Big Bunchgrass Meadow and Fuji Mountain

Diamond Peak

I did find a little clump of Oregon sunshine though.

After our break we continued on looking for anything we might have missed on our first pass as well as for any wildlife.

Crab spider (probably waiting for that Washington lily to open)

Turkey vulture

Back in the valerian meadows

Not sure what this is going to be either.

We never did see that bear again, although there were several piles of scat along the trail. As for people we passed a group of three hikers at the viewpoint about 2 miles from the trailhead and a pair of mountain bikers at the junction near the trailhead. It was a little surprising to us that we didn’t see more, the trail was in great shape with good views and wildflowers. The first few miles were relatively easy too with the real climbing occuring in the latter half of the hike. We logged 11.8 miles on the GPS which seems to be right around where all our hikes have been lately. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Bunchgrass Ridge

Tags Bear, Beargrass, Bunchgrass RIdge, Butterfly, Diamond Peak, Eugene to Crest Trail, Eugene to Crest Trailhead #4, hiking, Kelsey Creek, Mt. Bailey, Mule Mountain, oakridge, Oregon, wildflowers

Hiking McKenzie River Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Tidbits Mountain – 6/29/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 1, 2019
4 Comments on Tidbits Mountain – 6/29/2019

**Note the 2024 Ore Fire burned over the access road for the trailhead but spared the trails.**

As we continued to let the weather dictate our vacation plans we couldn’t pass up a “sunny” morning forecast for Tidbits Mountain near Blue River, OR. Another of Sullivan’s featured hikes, the trip to the site of a former lookout tower atop Tidbits Mountain is just 4.4 miles round trip from the Tidbits South Trailhead. This was actually a bit of a problem as the drive from Salem was a little over two and a half hours which meant our hiking time would most likely not be greater than our driving time which would break our rule of not driving longer than hiking. Our original plan to solve this was going to be making a second stop at the Lower McKenzie River Trailhead where we could hike as far as we liked on the McKenzie River Trail, but while researching the Tidbits Mountain hike another option presented itself.

The Gold Hill Trail travels 3.2 miles along a ridge to a junction with the Tidbits Mountain Trail three quarters of a mile from the summit of Tidbits Mountain. Instead of driving to a different trailhead we could spend some time on the Gold Hill Trail which the Forest Service warned sees only periodic maintenance.

We started our hike not at the Tidbits South Trailhead but rather along Forest Road 1509 where FR 877 headed uphill .2 miles to the trailhead on the left.
FR 877 at FR 1509

Both the Forest Service and Sullivan pointed out that FR 877 was steep and Sullivan added that turning around at the trailhead was “awkward”, thus our decision to walk up the road.

As we hiked up the road there were a couple of views of the rocky pinnacles of Tidbits Mountain on the left.

A sign marked the start of the Tidbits Mountain Trail.

The trail climbed gradually for 1.3 miles to a junction on a ridge crest. This section of trail passed through some old growth trees and was full of rhododendron blooms. It was by far the best display of rhododendron that we had seen.

There were a few other flowers along the way as well but none in anywhere near the numbers as the rhodies.
Penstemon

Showy phlox

Anemone

Iris

Arnica

At the junction we turned left following a pointer for the Tidbits Mountain Lookout.

This section of trail traversed a rocky hillside on the north side of Tidbits Mountain. Being on the north facing slope trillium were still in bloom and a few remnants of glacial lilies remained.

20190629_080903

The talus slopes below Tidbits Mountain allowed for some previews of the views to come at the summit.

Looking west toward the Green Mountain Lookout.

Green Mountain Lookout

Mt. Jefferson

Three Fingered Jack

The talus is also home to one of our favorite wild animals, the pika! They are not particularly easy to see but once you know what you are looking for with a little luck you’ll spot one of these rabbit relatives. It was a lucky day for us as we spotted two.
There is at least one pika in this picture.

There is another one in this picture.

When we weren’t scanning the rocks for pikas we did a lot of looking up at the formations above us.

Columbine and solomonseal in the talus slope.

Last of the snow along the talus.

At a saddle a half mile from the junction with the Gold Hill Trail we came to a second junction. This one was unsigned. To the right a trail headed downhill to the Tidbits West Trailhead. The Gold Hill Trail used to continue straight here but it was so faint and overgrown that we didn’t even see it on the first pass. We turned uphill to the left and began the steep .2 mile climb to the summit.

Catchfly on the way up.

Lookout remains below the summit.

Foundation remains

Wildflowers at the summit.

The 360 degree view from the summit was very good although our timing meant the sun was overhead between us and the Cascades impacting the ability to get clear photos of those mountains.
NE we could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, and Three Fingered Jack.

Mt. Hood

Mt. Jefferson behind Iron Mountain and Cone Peak

Three Fingered Jack

The eastern view added Mt. Washington, The Three Sisters, and Mt. Bachelor.

Mt. Washington

Three Sisters

Mt. Bachelor

We could also just make out the lookout tower atop nearby Carpenter Mountain (post).

To the SE we could make out Maiden Peak, Mt. Thielsen, and Diamond Peak.

Maiden Peak (post)

Mt. Thielsen (post)

Diamond Peak

We spent a good amount of time on the summit taking in the view before descending to a lower viewpoint with a number of flowers.

Cat’s ear lilies

Oregon sunshine amid buckwheat

Penstemon and paintbrush

A fleabane or aster

Looking down from the lower viewpoint.

We then headed back down to the trail junction where we found the faint tread of Historical Gold Hill Trail. We followed it just far enough to get a close up view of a flower garden.

Western wallflower

Larkspur

20190629_092727 Paintbrush

20190629_093003 Cinquefoil

We returned to the Tidbits Mountain Trail and recrossed the talus slopes, this time we didn’t spot any pikas. We did stop to admire some of the flowers though.
20190629_093755 Baneberry

20190629_093642 Current

Bleeding heart, trillium and wood violets

20190629_093952 Wood violet

With the Sun starting to pass overhead Mt. Jefferson was a little more photogenic.

When we arrived back at the junction with the Gold Hill Trail we briefly searched for any sign of a former shelter that was indicated on the map.

After failing to uncover any sign of it we headed out on the Gold Hill Trail. Given the Forest Service mentioned that this trail only receives periodic maintenance we weren’t sure how far we might go but we were curious to check it out.

The trail was pretty overgrown, not crowded with brush, but it had a lot of vegetation growing in the middle of it indicating a lack of use.

We soon passed a rock outcrop where a patch of small monkeyflowers were blooming.

20190629_100226

We followed the trail a total of 2.7 miles losing a total of 800′ through a series of ups and downs as it followed a ridge to the north and east. We passed through some lovely forest filled with more blooming rhododendron and by several rock outcrops. There were occasional views of the Three Sisters and Mt. Bachelor through the trees and also spotted some deer, at least one doe and fawn, as they dashed away through the trees. Despite the lack of use and periodic maintenance the trail was in pretty good shape with just a few trees to step over.

North and Middle Sister

Mt. Bachelor

20190629_104300 Showy phlox

Washington lilies getting ready to bloom

At the 2.7 mile mark the trail began a final 400′ descent in the remaining half mile to FR 1509. We weren’t overly keen on having to climb back up that just to say we reached the road plus we had set an 11:30 turn around time and it was just after 11:20. We noticed an open knoll just off trail to the right so we decided to check it out and make this be our turn around spot.

The knoll turned out to be very interesting. In addition to some nice views there were a number of flowers.

The Two Girls

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters

Wolf Rock an Mt. Washington

North Sister

Middle Sister

South Sister

Mt. Jefferson had been overtaken by clouds but Iron Mountain and Cone Peak were still visible.

Buckwheat and paintbrush

Wallflower and cat’s ear lilies

Penstemon and paintbrush

After exploring the knoll we headed back looking for anything we missed on our first pass. We did notice a couple of interesting old tree trunks and a grouse crossed the trail in front of us.

Young tree growing out of an old trunk.

Grouse

We made our way back to the Tidbits Mountain Trail and returned to the trailhead without seeing another person until we ran into a gentleman at the trailhead who seemed to just be out for a drive and looking around. We ended up with a 10.5 mile hike which was perfect. It was a nice way to end our vacation. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Tidbits Mountain

Tags Gold Hill Trail, hiking, lookout tower, Oregon, Pika, Tidbits Mountain, Tidbits Mountain Trail, Tidbits South Trailhead, Two Girls, wildflowers, Wolf rock

Clackamas Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Fish Creek Mountain and High Lake – 6/28/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date July 1, 2019
5 Comments on Fish Creek Mountain and High Lake – 6/28/2019

**Note the 2020 Riverside Fire burned most of this hike.**

After taking Wednesday and Thursday off from hiking due to less than favorable weather forecasts we headed out on Friday planning on hiking the Riverside Trail along the Clackamas River. The forecast was for a 40% chance of showers and partly sunny so we thought a river hike was a safe bet and the Riverside Trail was one of Sullivan’s featured hikes that we had yet to do.

As we turned onto Highway 242 at Estacada though we began to rethink our plan. The sky had been relatively clear so far and we hated wasting a good river hike on a day where there might be views to have. Prior to knowing what the weather was going to be like we had originally had Fish Creek Mountain as one of our hikes for the week and as luck would have it the trailhead for that hike was also off of Highway 242. When we reached the sign for Indian Henry Campground (just before the 4th green bridge coming from the west) we veered right onto FR 4620. We followed this one lane paved road for 5.1 miles to gravel where we forked uphill for an additional 2.6 miles to the trailhead on the left. The trailhead is an old roadbed that is only marked by a wooden sign on a tree next to the start of the Fish Creek Mountain Trail. (Note: The sign is unreadable unless up close.)

The trailhead was moved to this location following the road to the original trailhead being washed out in 1996. The trail here was constructed by volunteers who connected it to the washed out road .4 miles from the original trailhead.

The trail gains 500′ over seven tenths of a mile as it climbs through a mixed forest to the decommissioned road.

We started to question our decision as we found ourselves in a bit of fog as we arrived at the old road.

Columbine along the decommissioned road.

The trail along this stretch was a bit overgrown in places and the moisture from the plants soaked us pretty good.

After a relatively level .4 miles along the road we arrived at the original trailhead where the trail headed up a ridge past a trail marker.

The trail climbed along the ridge and as it did we began to emerge from the fog.

The ridge was mostly forested with a few views to the west through the trees, but as we climbed occasional small meadows popped up filled with wildflowers.

20190628_075839

20190628_080307

Just over a mile and a quarter from the old road we came to a rocky outcrop where the flowers were amazing. As a bonus there was a nice view of Mt. Jefferson to the SE.

It wasn’t the largest wildflower area by any means, but there was an impressive variety of flowers in bloom, so much so that we stopped again on our way down.
Buckwheat

20190628_081050 A penstemon

False sunflower

A penstemon

20190628_081334 Oregon sunshine

>Lupine among others

20190628_081532 Cliff beardstounge

20190628_081630 Catchfly

Groundsel

blue head gilia

Bleeding heart

20190628_110821 Paintbrush

20190628_110922 Woodland stars

Larkspur and ballhead waterleaf

20190628_110713 Yarrow

20190628_111116 Valerian

20190628_110406 Cat’s ear lily

20190628_110329 Wild rose

20190628_110300 Buckwheat in blue head gilia

20190628_082032 Thimbleberry

Larkspur, leafy pea, and candy flower

Rhododendron (just around the corner from the outcrop)

Beyond the viewpoint the trail gained an additional 600′ over the next .7 miles to a fork. There were a few more flowers along this stretch, mostly white forest varieties.
20190628_082236 Star-flowered solomonseal

20190628_082244 Plumed solomonseal

20190628_082253 Vanilla leaf

20190628_082630 Pussytoes

Beargrass

Trail fork

From the fork the Fish Creek Mountain Trail continues uphill a little under a half mile to the site of the former lookout tower at the summit. The fork to the right heads downhill for .7 miles to High Lake. With blue sky overhead we decided to visit the summit first and stayed left at the junction.

Some of the foundation remains from the old lookout at the overgrown summit.

Despite the blue sky overhead clouds had moved in around us effectively eliminating any mountain views (Mt. Jefferson should have been visible from the summit). We rested a bit checking out the beargrass and a green beetle that was scurrying through the grass.

20190628_091138

We started back down and noticed a side trail to the left about 110 yards from the old lookout site. We headed up this path which lead to a rocky outcrop with a survey marker.

It looked like it would have been a pretty good viewpoint but for us it was just a view of the clouds passing by.

After watching for a view of Mt. Hood that never developed in a break in the clouds as they passed by we returned to the trail fork and turned left toward High Lake.

This trail lost nearly 500′ as it wound down to the small glacial lake. Nestled in a basin below Fish Creek Mountain the vegetation along the trail was quite a bit behind that along the Fish Creek Mountain Trail. Here huckleberry bushes were still sprouting leaves and trillium were still in bloom.

We even ran into a small patch of snow hiding under some downed branches along the trail.

The small lake was quite pretty and it was also full of rough skinned newts.

We followed a rough use trail around the lake past a handful of campsites.

Curious newt

It was a little too chilly to hang out by the lake so after completing the loop we started back up to the Fish Creek Mountain Trail. Along the way we finally got a glimpse of part of Mt. Hood, albeit not much of one.

Mt. Jefferson had all but disappeared too when we stopped back at the flower filled viewpoint.

We had at least had a good view earlier and the wildflowers had made this a great hike even if we hadn’t had any views. We headed back down looking for any other flowers to take pictures of and found a few.
20190628_113006_001 Inside out flower

20190628_113615 Spotted coralroot

20190628_113701 Stripped coralroot

20190628_114624 Starflower

Candy sticks

Wild strawberries

We were happy with our decision to forgo the Riverside Trail in favor of this hike. We had not expected to see such a variety of flowers in bloom which was a pleasant surprise. The combination of the flowers, a view of Mt. Jefferson and a nice lake made for a great 8.1 mile hike. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Fish Creek Mountain

Tags Fish Creek Mountain, Fish Creek Mountain Trail, High Lake, hiking, Mt. Jefferson, Oregon, wildflowers

Hiking Silver Star Mountain SW Washington Trip report Washington

Silver Star Mountain via Grouse Vista – 6/24/2019

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date June 28, 2019
3 Comments on Silver Star Mountain via Grouse Vista – 6/24/2019

We continued to rearrange our vacation plans based on a seemingly ever changing forecast. On Sunday night the Monday forecast for Silver Star Mountain was mostly sunny so we decided to make our third visit to the area. Our first hike at Silver Star Mountain began at the Silver Star Mountain Trailhead in 2013 (post). The road to that trailhead has become extremely rough and is now only recommended for high clearance vehicles. Then in 2015 we used the Bluff Mountain Trail to visit Silver Star (post). A better road but still a bit rough and further away.

For this visit we would start at the Grouse Vista Trailhead. We took the Battleground approach described in the trailhead link which was a mostly paved road approach with just a final 5.5 miles of decent gravel driving.

The Tarbell Trail crosses the road at the trailhead. The route to Silver Star begins on the far side of the road, opposite the restrooms and signboard. (A Washington Discover Pass is required to park here.)

The trail climbs from the start as it follows an old roadbed uphill.

The Tarbell Trail splits off just before the .2 mile mark allowing for a loop. We stayed right at the fork on the Grouse Vista Trail.

The trail gains 500′ over the next half mile as it climbs up a ridge end. The rocky surface provides an added challenge.

As the trail begins to emerge from the trees Sturgeon Rock is visible across the Rock Creek Valley (when clouds aren’t hovering over it). The loop route that we were considering would have us descending beneath Sturgeon Rock.

The trail continued to climb around the ridge and we soon found ourselves with a view of Pyramid Rock (and the Sun).

Sturgeon Rock (still with cloud) and Pyramid Rock

A smattering of flowers were popping up along the trail as we approached Pyramid Rock.
Wild iris

Paintbrush and lupine

Daisies

Penstemon

Shortly before reaching Pyramid Rock we detoured on a spur to the right that lead up to a meadow in a saddle.

Here we had what would turn out to be our only view of a Cascade volcano on the day as Mt. Hood rose above a mass of clouds over the Columbia River Gorge.

We returned to the trail and continued heading toward Sturgeon Rock past ever improving flower displays.

paintbrush and mountain spirea

Beargrass

Columbine

A penstemon

More penstemon

Variety pack

Tiger lily

Golden pea and paintbrush

Another variety pack

Wallflower

As we neared the junction with the summit trail we could see that clouds had now overtaken Pyramid Rock.

They were moving up the Rock Creek drainage heading for the summit of Silver Star so when we arrived at the large rock cairn marking the junction we decided that we would skip the summit for now and head north on the Silver Star Trail.

Avalanche lilies near the junction.

Sign for the Silver Star Trail.

Silver Star Trail

We headed out along the Silver Star trail which began on top of the ridge. This was a new section of trail for us as we had done a big loop around the ridge on our first visit. There wasn’t much visible at the first viewpoint we arrived at but we were able to see Little Baldy which the Bluff Mountain Trail passes along.

We followed this trail along the ridge for just over a mile and a half passing in and out of the clouds as they in turn passed over the area. The lack of views was mildly disappointing but the flowers more than made up for it.

Sturgeon Rock momentarily out of the clouds.

Phlox

Beargrass

White crowned sparrow

We arrived at Ed’s Trail having already seen a wide variety of flowers.

We turned up Ed’s Trail wondering if we could possibly see any more types.

For the most part it was the same cast but in continuously different combinations.

There were a few new sightings though.
Cat’s ear lily

Rose

Violets

Rock penstemon

And some we’d seen but not a lot of yet.
Bleeding heart

Candy flower

Lousewort

An aster or fleabane

A unique feature of Ed’s Trail is a rock arch just past the one mile mark.

Backside of the arch.

Beyond the arch the next quarter of a mile gets a little tricky. There are two short but steep scramble sections. The first was a bit muddy making it a little slick. The second is a rocky section with pretty good holds.

We had forgotten just how steep these places were and had considered doing the loop in the opposite direction. We were glad we had not.

Silver Star’s summit soon came into view and although it was cloud free there didn’t appear to be much hope for views of the surrounding mountains anytime soon.

When we arrived back at the junction we eschewed the .3 mile climb to the summit opting to skip the 250′ climb since we’d been up there twice before and there weren’t going to be any views. Instead we continued past the rock cairn two tenths of a mile and turned down hill on a rocky unmarked roadbed.

This return route would add about 1.6 miles to the hike, but it would cut down on the amount of time spent descending on a rocky roadbed. We find that toward the end of hikes our feet and lower legs are much more sensitive to uneven terrain, especially loose rocks. We had been down this 1.4 mile section of road before passing the basalt columns of Sturgeon Rock.

Silver Star was not done with the flower show even though we were now in denser forest as we spotted some marsh marigolds and marsh corydalis near a wet area.
Marsh marigold

Marsh corydalis

The section of the Tarbell Trail that runs from the Grouse Vista Trailhead to Hidden Falls had been closed on weekdays during much of 2018 due to an active logging operation. There were plenty of signs of it when we arrived at the junction with that trail.

We turned left onto the Tarbell Trail which followed the new logging road for a bit before crossing it into the clear cut.

Pyramid Rock from the Tarbell Trail

Black headed grosbeak

Mountain parnassian

After descedning a series of switchbacks the trail left the clear cut and reentred the forest before reaching a footbridge over Rock Creek.

Beyond Rock Creek the trail traversed the hillside beneath Pyramid Rock wrapping around the ridge end to meet the Grouse Vista Trail. Along this final stretch we noticed some green orchids near a seep that was also popular with butterflies.

The trailhead parking lot had filled up while we’d been hiking but we only ran into a half dozen people on the trails, far fewer than the number of different flowers we had seen over our 11.1 miles. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Silver Star Mountain via Grouse Vista

Tags bluff mountain trail, Ed's Trail, Grouse Vista Trail, Grouse Vista Trailhead, hiking, Pyramid Rock, Rock Arch, Silver Star Mountain, silver star trail, Sturgeon Rock, Washington, wildflowers

Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Sardine Mountain

**Note the 2020 Beachie Creek Fire burned a portion of this hike.**

Having done quite a bit of driving over our Memorial Day Weekend trip to NE Oregon we stuck close to Salem for our next hike. The hike up to the summit of Sardine Mountain from Matt Reeder’s “101 Hikes in the Majestic Mt. Jefferson Region“. Reeder recommends the hike in Winter when you can snowshoe the route, but as we have yet to get into snowshoeing (we’ve talked about it) an early June visit seemed appropriate. Located toward the western edge of the Old Cascades Sardine Mountain has an elevation of 4948′. This combination allows it to melt out sooner than some of the other peaks in the Old Cascades.

The peak is named after nearby Sardine Creek which purportedly gained that name when Thomas Henness found a sardine can in the creek in 1867. There are no official trails to the mountain but there is a scramble trail from Knutson Saddle which can be reached via Forest Road 2223 or by the route we took following Sardine Road (which becomes a 4wd track) up from Highway 22. Sardine Road is an unsigned gravel road located .4 miles east of Big Cliff Dam (2.3 miles west of Detroit Dam). In his description Reeder had parked just beyond a bridge over Sardine Creek just .2 miles up this road which is where we had planned to park but a van was already occupying it so we proceeded up the road another 150 yards to the next pullout.

There had been a “road closed ahead” sign just after we had turned onto the road and Matt had mentioned that high clearance vehicles could make it as far as 3-4 miles up the road and other cars probably shouldn’t go further than a mile up. In addition to avoiding the bumpy drive the first mile of the road follows close to Sardine Creek so by parking sooner we were able to get some good looks at the creek.

There were a lot of rough skinned newts out on the road which made us wonder how many have been on roads we’ve been driving on. 😦

A half mile from where we parked we passed an scenic unnamed side creek.

Despite being a road walk there was a lot to see between the creek, flowers, and the forest.
Paintbrush above Sardine Creek

Iris

Rhododendron

Candy flower

Approximately a mile and a half from where we had started the road veered away from Sardine Creek at a sharp switchback. In another quarter mile we arrived at a fork.

The right hand fork was the continuation of the route up to Knutson Saddle and Sardine Mountain but we detoured left on Reeder’s recommendation to visit a huge logjam. We followed this road for four tenths of a mile to one of Sardine Creeks forks where there was indeed an impressive logjam.

On the way to the logjam we came across a tennis ball and a slug and wondered if this was the worlds slowest game of fetch.

Also there were more newts.

There were even more logs jammed upstream on the creek.

We returned to the fork and continued climbing up toward the saddle. We still had about 2000′ to gain just to reach the saddle. We tried to keep our minds off the climb by focusing on the sights along the way. There was one quarter mile section (1.4 miles from the fork) where the road lost 200′ of elevation before steeply climbing again.
Beargrass

Iris

Mushroom in the middle of the road

Valerian

A hillside spring

The road deteriorated as we climbed although there were some noticeable tire tracks and there had been some recent clearing of brush.

Shortly after passing the 4000′ elevation we passed a lingering patch of snow (with tire tracks).

A total of 5.5 miles from where we’d parked (6.3 if you add in the side trip to the logjam) we arrived at Knutson Saddle where the trilliums where still white. We took a seat near some snow and rested.

Before continuing up I walked NE along the level Forest Service road 100 yards to a view of Dome Rock and Mt. Jefferson. Unfortunately it was a very hazy morning so the mountain was blending with the haze.

After our rest we located the use trail heading uphill where the 4wd track arrived at Knutson Saddle.

After a brief stint in some trees we emerged in a meadow of huckleberry bushes and beargrass.

At times the route was overgrown or became faint but pink flagging helped mark the way.

The bushes gave way to an open rocky hillside where yellow wallfowers and red paintbrush colored the slopes.

Red flowering currant

It was a fairly steep but non-technical class 2 scramble.

The combination of the haze and time (the Sun we still to the east of us) really impacted what would have been spectacular views.

Along the way up we spotted a northern alligator lizard.

We reached the summit of Sardine Mountain where a long ridge extended north toward Rocky Top.

The view west was marred by clearcuts.

To the NE Mt. Hood stood out with Mt. Adams being barely visible through the haze.

Mt. Hood with North Dicky Peak in front.

Mt. Jefferson rose to the east behind Dome Rock (post).

Beyond Tumble Lake to the SE was Three Fingered Jack behind Coffin Mountain (post), Mt. Washington, and the barely visible Three Sisters.

Three Fingered Jack

Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters

Tumble Lake

After another nice rest we started back down stopping to get pictures of some of the flowers we hadn’t noticed on the way up.

A saxifrage

Blue-eyed mary

Cats ears

Butterfly on red flowering currant

After picking our way down the exposed slope we made our way back to Knutson Saddle and headed back downhill on the 4wd road. We didn’t see anymore newts along the road on our descent but we did see a few other critters.
Rabbit

Snake

Another northern alligator lizard

20190601_121157 These two long legged spiders got into a brawl when they met crossing the road.

With the Sun now overhead the candy flower had opened up and many of the other flowers were showing up better so we stopped to get some pictures of them as well.

20190601_123148 Candy flower

20190601_121738 Iris

20190601_121916 Beargrass

Cinquefoil and candy flower

Fringecup

Monkeyflower

20190601_124017 Thimbleberry

20190601_124131 Stonecrop

20190601_125119 Youth-on-age with an interesting insect

The sunlight also helped bring out the colors of Sardine Creek.

Aside from the unfortunately hazy conditions the only real drawback to the hike was that we each managed to pick up a couple of ticks, likely taking pictures of the flowers and creek at the end of the day where the grass was tall along the road. A good reminder to always check thoroughly, best a couple of times as even though we did a check and knocked three off us at the car one managed to make it all the way home with Heather where a second check found it before it had started to dig in.

We did not see another person the whole day although we did hear a car drive past Knutson Saddle as we approached it. There was plenty of evidence that people do spend time along the road though based on the used shotgun shells, pieces of clay targets, and trash filled fire pits at several of the pullouts. 😦

From where we parked, with the logjam side trip, our GPS recorded a 12.8 mile hike which was a bit shorter than we’d expected based on Reeder’s book where he put it at 14.4 miles without the side trip. The stat that did agree was the 4600′ cumulative elevation gain making this a pretty good early season training hike for climbers. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Sardine Mountain

Tags Beargrass, Dome Rock, hiking, Knutson Saddle, Northern Alligator Lizard, Old Cascades, Oregon, Sardine Creek, Sardine Mountain, Tumble Lake, wildflowers

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Zumwalt Prairie Preserve

For our last day of hiking on our Memorial Day weekend trip to NE Oregon we planned on visiting Zumwalt Prairie. Managed by the Nature Conservancy there are four trails open to hikers totaling approximately 9.5 miles combined. We had originally planned on doing all four but for reasons to be explained later we wound up skipping the Canyon Vista Trail this trip.

We had had a mix of weather so far during the trip with a snow shower on Friday (post) and nearly 80 degree temperatures on Saturday (post). Sunday was again up in the air as the forecast called for a 50% chance of showers and possible thunder storms after 11am. We got our typically early morning start and made the 45 minute drive from Wallowa Lake to the the preserve.

As we left Wallow Lake we were surprised to see that the Wallowas were mostly cloud free so on the way to the hikes we decided to start with the viewpoint hikes first in hopes of getting some nice looks at both the Wallowas and the Seven Devils in Idaho. Based on the trailhead locations we thought we might start with the Canyon Vista Trail but as we turned onto Duckett Road and passed Duckett Barn and the information kiosk there we noted how rough and wet the dirt road was. The map of the preserve mentioned that between the turn off for the Harsin Butte Trail and the Canyon Vista Trailhead “high clearance /4wd vehicles are recommended….This road may be impassable at times during the winter or when wet”. We decided that there was no reason to risk getting stuck, especially since there seemed to be quite a bit of fog toward the area where the trail looked to be. When we reached the spur road for the Harsin Butte Trail we turned down it and started our day there.

Described as sort of a scramble route the Harsin Butte Trail gains just under 700′ in .8 miles to the summit viewpoint. Even before we started climbing though the views were good.
Looking toward the Seven Devils in Idaho

Findley Buttes (You can see some of the standing water on Duckett Road on the right hand side.)

From a distance and especially while driving it’s a bit difficult to notice all the flowers but once we got onto the trail we realized there were a whole lot of different flowers present.

Old man’s whiskers

Phlox with larkspur in the background

Cusick’s paintbrush

White-stem frasera

Paintbrush

A wild onion

Larkspur

Milk vetch

Chickweed

Woodland stars

An assortment of flowers

We were following a clear path and could see the continuation of the path going up the side of Harsin Butte so we were a little confused when we passed a couple of rock cairns about a quarter mile from the trailhead.
One of the carins and the trail going up Harsin Butte in the background.

We ignored the cairns and stayed on the clear path.

After another quarter mile of walking we realized that this was not the trail to the butte, it was heading around the west side of the butte to what looked like a corral instead. We backtracked to the cairns and followed them to find the continuation of the correct path.

It seemed the higher up we went the more flowers we were spotting.

One exciting find for us were the monument plants which we don’t get to see all that often.
Monument plant

Top of the monument plant

Shooting star

As we were climbing we noticed that the low clouds behind us seemed to be moving our way fairly quickly. I decided to try and double time it up to the summit in an attempt to avoid being over taken by clouds before getting to see the view. Apparently 3 days of hiking had taken more of a toll on me than I had realized and I was quickly sucking wind. The 5000′ elevation probably wasn’t helping me any and I regretted my decision every time I had to stop to try and catch my breath.
Here comes the clouds.

One of the times that I found myself gasping for air I noticed this rockcress.

The path led briefly into a stand of pines where game trails crisscrossed and elk sign abounded.

A few different flowers showed up in this area.
Bluebells

Yellow bell

Violets

Ball-head waterleaf

After a brief disappointment upon realizing there was a false summit I made it up to the actual summit with its solar powered antenna.

The cloud scare proved to be a false alarm, at least for the moment as they passed to the north of Harsin Butte between it an one of the Findley Buttes.

There were a few clouds over the Wallowas to the southwest but also some sun shining on the northern end.

IMG_8359_stitch

To the southeast the Seven Devils had a similar look.
IMG_8363_stitch

After a nice rest (I needed it) at the summit we headed back down. The clouds over the northern end of the Seven Devils lifted a little reveling a little more of the mountains.

By the time we were finished, with what turned into a 2.1 mile hike, our shoes were pretty well soaked from the dew on the grass but the flowers seemed to love it.

We didn’t see any elk but we did spot a Belding’s ground squirrel who had popped up to check us out.

We hopped back in the car and drove back to the Duckett Barn and parked at the information kiosk there.

Those clouds we’d been watching were starting to move overhead as we set off on Patti’s Trail, a short lollipop loop which began on the opposite side of Duckett Road from the kiosk.

There weren’t as many flowers along this trail as we had seen on Harsin Butte but there were still quite a few and some that we had not seen during the first hike.
Camas

Old man’s whiskers and white-stem frasera

We followed blue posts and pointers to a fence.

This area was a bit rockier and had quite a bit of phlox and large head clover.
Lots of phlox

20190526_075112 Phlox

Large head clover, larkspur, and wild onion

20190526_075335 Large head clover

Wild onion

The trail descended slightly as it approached Camp Creek. Although we still had some clouds passing overhead we had a clear view of the prairie and the flowers we were passing by.
Duckett Barn starting to disappears as we descended.

Possibly hoary balsamroot

Hoary balsamroot?

Phlox

20190526_081858 Diffuseflower evening-primrose

Camp Creek

Patti’s Trail followed along Camp Creek to a small pond where red-winged black birds were hanging out.

Beyond the pond the trail continued following the creek passing more flowers and blackbirds along the way.

Possibly a mustard

White-stem frasera blooming

20190526_080638 Violets

20190526_081638 Hairy clematis

Old man’s whiskers

20190526_082540 Cusick’s paintbrush

The trail veered left at a stock pond.

We paused at the pond and Heather spotted a deer running up a nearby hillside.

The trail continued to bend back around to the left following what was described as the swale of a dry creek but again with the recent precipitation there was water flowing creating a nice little stream.

The trail eventually left the creek and was headed straight for Harsin Butte in the distance.

We’d lost sight of the posts at one point and were just sticking to what appeared to be the main track and ended up veering left of the butte and coming to a small watering hole where the track petered out.

Looking back from this higher vantage point we could see the next post we should have been aiming for so we backtracked and found another fainter track that put us back on the right course.

The clouds were breaking up nicely as we ended this hike and the butterflies were coming out.

After completing the loop and returning to our car we headed back toward Zumwalt-Buckhorn Road and our final hike of the day and trip on the Horned Lark Trail. While we were still on Duckett Road though we spotted a pair of elk running up the Findley Butte near the barn and stopped to get a picture.

Shortly after turning right onto Zumwalt-Buckhorn Rd we stopped again to get a picture of a Wilson’s snipe. One had flown up from the grass while we were on Patti’s Trail but we hadn’t been able to get a picture of that one.

When we were finally done with stopping for wildlife we parked at the Horned Lark Trailhead just over 3 miles from Duckett Road.

This trail was described as an “easy 1.9 mile loop which sounded like a perfect way to end our trip. We began by following a clear double track through the prairie. Lupine was blooming nicely in this area and there was a view of the Wallowa Mountains beyond the Findley Buttes.

As with Patti’s Trail the route of the Horned Lark Trail was marked by blue posts.

The trail descended toward a pond near Pine Creek.

Once again flowers were good supply.
Paintbrush and biscuitroot

A ragwort or groundsel (I think)

False sunflower?

Old man’s whiskers and milk vetch

20190526_094353 Western stoneseed

We spotted another ground squirrel ahead in the path.

He may have been on high alert due to the presence of a merlin nearby.

I had to dip into the digital zoom to get this photo so it’s a bit blurry.

We followed the path and posts to the fenced pond but the path disappeared near a post a bit beyond the pond.

We consulted the map that we’d printed out and it appeared to show the trail following a fenceline near Pine Creek so that’s what we did until we were able to spot another post in the distance.

The fence was popular with the birds.

We picked up a faint path and followed it toward the post.

We followed the posts up a draw where the tread was often indiscernible.

Even now we were still seeing different flowers.
Dwarf yellow fleabane

Blue dicks

Maybe it was simply due to the fact that this was our fourth staight day of hiking and it was early in our hiking season but this loop despite being only 2 miles long didn’t feel easy. The deer that we spotted bounding up and over the hill ahead of use didn’t seem to think it was too difficult though.

Looking back down the draw.

Back on top we were headed ESE and could see the Seven Devils and Harsin Butte on the horizon.

The Wallowas were still visible too behind Harsin Butte and the two Findley Buttes (from left to right).

With the completion of the Horned Lake Trail our total milage for the three hikes came to 6.9 miles. It would have been a bit less had we not followed a couple of wrong paths. Harsin Butte was the most difficult with the 700′ elevation gain followed by the Horned Lark Trail with the easiest being Patti’s Trail. The Canyon Vista Trail which we skipped would have been about 3.6 miles round trip and possibly around 500′ of elevation gain. It was a beautiful place to visit and I guess we have a good reason to go back with one trail left undone.

As we were driving back toward Enterprise we encountered a vehicle stopped in the road. They flagged us down and let us know that they thought there was a golden eagle sitting on a rock on the hillside. Between the distance and the angle of the sun it was hard to tell but then the bird flew and it looked awfully small for a golden eagle. It landed on a telephone pole allowing us to see that it was indeed only a hawk, but it was a nice scene regardless.

We said goodbye to the Wallowas and drove into Pendleton for the night where, after having been threatened by their possibility all weekend we finally got a thunderstorm. Luckily we had already walked back from our dinner at OMG! Burgers and Brew where we had another excellent meal. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Zumwalt Prairie

Tags Camp Creek, Canyon Vista Trail, Cusick's Indian Paintbrush, deer, elk, enterprise, Findley Buttes, Harsin Butte, Harsin Butte Trail, hiking, Horned Lark Trail, OMG! Burgers and Brew, Oregon, Patti's Trail, Pine Creek, wildflowers, Wilson's snipe, Zumwalt Prairie

Hells Canyon Hiking Oregon Trip report

Freezeout Saddle

Day two of our Memorial Day Weekend trip to NE Oregon was set to be our first visit to the Hells Canyon Wilderness. Our planned hike was a loop described by Sullivan as “rugged” starting from the Freezeout Trailhead and utilizing the Saddle Creek, Summit Ridge, and Freezeout Trails.

According to the weather forecast, day two was also the most likely to provide precipitation with a 90% chance of showers as the day wore on. It had rained a bit overnight at Wallowa Lake so we were pleasantly surprised to have a nice view of the mountains as we drove into Joseph that morning.

From Joseph we drove to Imnaha where we turned right onto the mostly gravel Upper Imnaha Road for 12.3 miles. Just before a bridge we veered left from the wide gravel road onto a much narrower, steep, more dirt than gravel road for 2.7 miles to the large trailhead.

Two trails leave from this trailhead, the Saddle Creek and Freezeout. We took the Saddle Creek Trail on the left side of the informational signboard.

There was a decent amount of blue sky behind us to the east as we began to climb up the trail.

Ahead of us the Sun was still rising in the east where a few lighter clouds filled the sky.

We also noticed a few cows on the hillside ahead of us.
(The black dot in the center of the hill is one such cow.)

We were busy looking for flowers and ignoring the cattle.
Western stoneseed

Prairie stars

Lupine

We couldn’t ignore them for long though as we soon rounded a bend to find several of them in the trail. They began to head up the trail so we followed having played this game before (post). More cows began to hurry down the hillside and cross the trail and then we noticed the bull. He didn’t look overly please with us but he managed to get the rest of the herd off the trail and uphill a bit. We passed on by and then promptly heard several of the cows coming up quickly behind us. I knew this game too from my time moving irrigation pipes in Central Oregon as a teenager. I turned and they stopped then we repeated (like the school yard game “red light, green light”). Knowing this could go on for awhile when we got into a brushy section of trail we sped up and left them behind.

Heather emerging from the brushy section.

We could relax and start enjoying the hike again. The trail climbed up through open grass hillsides with occasional stands of trees. Views abounded.

About a half mile from the trailhead the Saddle Creek Trail made a wide arc into the tress to Saddle Creek.

The trail crossed the creek only to recross it moments later.

The forest hosted a few different flowers than the grassy hillsides.

The trail climbed away from the creek and began a series of switchbacks leading back to the open hillsides.

As we gained elevation the number of blooming flowers increased.

Blue Dicks

Balsamroot

Balsamroot, paintbrush and biscuitroot

The views also got better as we climbed but we also began to notice showers passing by. A bonus result of the showers was a faint rainbow that framed the snowy Wallowa Mountains to the west for a time.

The Saddle Creek Trail kept climbing, sometimes via switchback and others up and around ridges.

There was a good number of flowers in bloom with quite a few more to come.
Larkspur and monkeyflower

Paintbrush

Chickweed

Possibly going to be a penstemon

Unkown

Lupine

We finally arrived at Freezeout Saddle after gaining over 1900′ in what our GPS claims was 3 miles.

A trail signpost marked the junction with the Summit Ridge Trail.

Despite the showers nearby we had a pretty good 360 degree view.
West to the quickly vanishing Wallowa Mountains.

North

South

IMG_7509_stitch East into Hells Canyon

We rested briefly at the saddle admiring the view.

After the break we headed south on the Summit Ridge Trail passing more views into Hells Canyon and some different wildflowers.
Cutleaf daisy

A little white alpine pennycress

Largehead clover

The view toward the Wallows had taken a hit though as some dark clouds and rain showers now lay between us and them.

We began to run into quite a few yellow glacier lilies when we reentered the trees as we traversed around the west side of a rise along the ridge.

There were also a few kittentails present.

We ran into our first non-bovine obstacle in the form of a downed tree in this section.

Oh if that had been the only other obstacle. As we came around the hillside and spotted a snowfield in the distance.

The rain “showers” had made their way over to us and at an elevation of approximately 6200′ we were partly in the clouds.

We hoped it would pass quickly and stuck to looking for more flowers which we found in a clump of hairy clematis.

We arrived at the snow field and sized it up. There was a clear track crossing from the side we were on.

We had brought our microspikes for just such an occasion but the snow looked narrow and the footprints were well established from what we could see so we eschewed the spikes and started across. Big mistake as the footprints had smoothed over on the far side of the snow (which was icy and even slicker than usual with the rain falling). I managed to heal kick some footholds and get off the snow without too much trouble but Heather had gone higher thinking it would be easier to get off by going up. Luckily she was able to kick in a little bit of footing and jam her poles into the snow to help keep her from sliding down the hill. I was able to the get a hold of her pack and we got her off the snow as well. Lesson learned, we carry the microspikes for a reason, use them!

A bit shaken we continued on stopping to admire a yellowbell.

The rain was not letting up so we’d thrown on our rain jackets which we had put off putting on thinking that we were liable to get wetter from sweat while we climbed than wearing them in the rain. The trail had leveled off along the ridge now and we began encountering more patches of snow.

Just under three miles from Freezeout Saddle we arrived at another signed junction.

In our guidebook Sullivan has you go straight at this junction showing the fork to the right petering out after a short distance. The Forest Service map which is also on the GPS unit shows the right hand trail (Marks Cabin Trail) going all the way over to the Freezeout Trail. We initially headed straight but the footprints that we had been following through the snow patches disappeared and so had the trail. After about 450 feet we decided to go back to the junction and try the other way which would be shorter and we hoped less snowy. Incidentally the 450 foot excursion from the junction officially took us into the Hells Canyon Wilderness so we at least were able to mark off another wilderness area as visited.

Marks Cabin Trail was no easier to follow as it was faint even when there was no snow.

We used the maps to stay close to where the trail was supposed to be having to correct course a number of times due losing sight of it under the snow only to find it again by spotting cut logs or a bit of tread.

After crossing over a barbed wire fence we spotted a cairn in the grass but there was no sign of a trail anywhere near it.

More map work led us to what at least looked like a trail.

By now the rain shower had not only not passed over but it was now a snow shower. At some point we wound up a 100 feet or so above the trail and had to climb over a number of logs to get down to it.

Luckily we managed to get back to it near the junction with the Freezeout Trail which was marked by a small piece of white flagging (not shown as my hands were too cold to unclip the camera from my waist) 1.5 miles (they route we took) from the junction. Heather kept asking where the cabin was which I thought was a strange obsession to see some private cabin while all I wanted to do was get down below the snow. A couple days later she pointed out that we might have been able to warm up at the cabin (if it had been open or if someone from one of the vehicles at the trailhead had been using it) or use it to orient ourselves and make sure we were on the right trail.

We headed down the Freezeout Trail which quickly became faint in the grass.

The good news was it reappeared and the rain/snow was finally starting to let up.

The bad news was that after passing over a ridge the trail headed into a gully that was holding quite a bit of snow among trees and other vegetation (again not pictured due to cold hands and a bit of frustration). The trail is described as an old cattleman’s trail in the guidebook and that description fit in the steep gully. We knew the trail crossed the gully but we couldn’t see where and we didn’t want to try and cross any of the steep snow even with our spikes so we picked our way through the best looking gap in the snow patches and found what turned out to be the trail somehow.

We were now done with the snow for the day and soon we were back traversing an open hillside with views albeit more limited than those from the morning.

(The rest of the photos were a fight with moisture and numb fingers so please excuse the numerous water spots. 🙂 )

Despite being cold and soaked we were still looking for flowers.
Brown’s peony getting ready to bloom.

Mariposa lily starting to open.

This portion of trail alternated between grassy open areas and ponderosa pine forest.

After the first mile from where we’d turned onto it, the Freezeout Trail steepened a lot as it headed downhill fast to an unsinged junction with the Long Ridge Trail.

Shortly beyond the junction we crossed a scenic unnamed creek that refused to sign a waiver forcing me to blur out its identity.

The trail leveled out somewhat beyond the creek and at another opening we were able to look back up towards the ridge where we’d come from.

We were now traversing a hillside above Freezeout Creek and gradually making our way down to it through the forest.

Along this strecht we spotted this cute little flower.
Small flower miterwort

20190524_125157

As we neared Freezeout Creek we passed a junction for the Morgan Ridge Trail.

Our final obstacle of the day was navigating around Freezout Creek which has claimed a chunck of the trail as its own. A scramble path led up and around a tree which was lucky because the water actually looked quite deep where the trail had been.

From there it was just over a quarter mile back to the trailhead where we were more than happy to put on some dry clothes and warm up. The GPS tallied a 13 mile hike and it felt every bit of one with approximately 3700′ of elevation gain. The climb up really wasn’t all that bad but we were feeling the steep decent in our knees.

The day had one more bit of adventure in store for us as we headed down the narrow road from the trailhead. A pair of trucks, one with a horse trailer, were heading up and where we met the road was too narrow to pass. Heather had to back up a good distance until we found a spot where they could pass.

After the trucks went by we were able to get back to Joseph with the only other excitement being a pair of turkeys along the road.

In Joseph we stopped at the R & R Drive In for some comfort food which really hit the spot. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Freezeout Saddle

Tags brown's peony, Cows, Freezeout Creek, Freezeout Saddle, Freezeout Trail, Hairy clematis, Hells Canyon, hiking, Imnaha, Joseph, Marks Cabin Trail, Oregon, Saddle Creek Trail, Snow, Summit Ridge Trail, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowas, wildflowers

Hiking Oregon Trip report Wallowas

Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge & B.C. Creek Falls

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date May 30, 2019
6 Comments on Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge & B.C. Creek Falls

We took an couple of days off for an extended Memorial Day Weekend in order to take a trip to NE Oregon in hopes of checking off a few more hikes of our to do list of Bill Sullivan’s 500 featured hikes (post). The plans included our fist visit to the Hells Canyon Wilderness which would leave us with just seven more wilderness areas to visit in Oregon (post).

We also recently added a third goal of hiking in each of Oregon’s 36 counties. I had recently been looking at a map and began wondering how many of the counties we had hiked in and realized that there were only 5 in which we hadn’t as of the start of May this year: Columbia, Umatilla, Union, Gilliam, and Morrow. We checked off Columbia with our visit to Sauvie Island (post) and we have hikes planned in Umatilla and Union later this year. That left Gilliam and Morrow which are adjacent to one another in the north central portion of the State with the Columbia River acting as their northern borders. Neither of these counties are home to any of the 500 featured hikes but the John Day River acts as the western border for Gilliam County. We had been in Sherman County on the west side of the John Day during our visit to Cottonwood Canyon State Park (post) and remembered that there was a trail on the other side of the river, the Lost Corral Trail, which I quickly added to our future plans. That left Morrow County.

Sullivan does have a couple of additional hikes in the back of his Eastern Oregon book that are located in Morrow County but neither seemed to fit into our future plans. I turned to the map to see if anything would turn up and noticed that the Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge was located in the county just NE of Boardman just off Interstate 84. We would be driving that by on our way to Wallowa Lake so I did a little research on the refuge. The Heritage Trail is the only official trail there but other areas are open to foot traffic and we were just looking for something that would allow us to stretch our legs and would allow us to check Morrow County off our new list.

We took exit 168 from I-84 and followed Highway 730 for 3.7 miles then turned left onto Patterson Ferry Road at a sign for the refuge. We drove 2.7 miles along Patterson Ferry Road past a parking area with restrooms to left at a large sign marking the start of a short driving loop.

We had a map of the refuge with us, but the parking areas weren’t marked which was a little confusing. We followed the gravel road around a field parking at a lot on the right just under 1.5 miles from the start of the loop. A green fence blocked what looked like an old road bed.

We decided to follow this track thinking that it might lead us to the Heritage Trail. There were a few wildflowers amid the grasses and a pleasant scent in the air coming from the trees.
Yarrow

By the sound of them there were a whole lot of birds around but we weren’t having a lot of luck spotting them aside from a red-tailed hawk screeching in the sky above and a couple of western kingbirds.

Several signed tracks split off from what appeared to be the main track that we were following. We aren’t sure but think they were pointers for hunting blinds.

The track led us toward McCormack Slough where a bald eagle was keeping watch.

At the slough we tried following a fainter track to the left thinking it might hook up with the Heritage Trail but there was no discernible path around the slough so we made our way back to the main track and returned to the car. Along the way we spotted two coyotes, several deer, a great blue heron and a pair of white pelicans.
First coyote in the grass.

Second coyote racing off through the grass.

One of the deer running off.

Great blue heron flying off.

White pelicans circling overhead.

We continued on the driving loop and just about a half mile later spotted the parking area for the signed Heritage Trail on the right.

The paved trail follows an old road between a portion of the slough.

We followed this trail for about a half mile where it joined an open road and then turned around and headed back. It was a short hike but we did see some more wildlife and a few flowers.
Bald Eagle

Wild Rose

Butterfly

Killdeer

An egret on the other side of the slough.

Sagebrush lizard

Another butterfly

Deadly Nightshade

A goose in the reeds.

Each of our stops here consisted of 1.1 mile hikes with a nice amount of wildlife. We drove back to the Interstate and continued east onto Wallowa Lake and our second hike of the day.

We had made reservations at the Eagle Cap Chalets near Wallowa Lake, just under 3/4 of a mile from the Wallowa Lake Trailhead and the start of our next hike. We decided to see if our room was ready and it was so we unpacked the car, threw on our packs and road walked to the trailhead.

We started a 5 day backpacking trip here in 2016 (post) so the first quarter mile of trail was familiar before turning off of the West Fork Wallowa Trail onto the Chief Joseph Trail.

The first section of trail may have been familiar but being two months earlier in the year the flowers were different.
Anemone

Fairyslipper

Arnica

Rock Clematis

We turned onto the Chief Joseph Trail at the signed junction following a hand written pointer for B.C. Creek Falls

The trail descended through the forest to a footbridge over the West Fork Wallowa River.

On the far side of the river the trail climbed a series of switchbacks past more wildflowers and views down to the bridge below.

Bluebells

Prairie stars

More rock clematis

Paintbrush

Larkspur

The trail then leveled out a bit as it traversed the hillside above the river passing a viewpoint of Wallowa Lake 3/4 of a mile beyond the bridge.
Area near the viewpoint.

Looking further into the Wallowas.

Wallowa Lake

We arrived at B.C. Creek a tenth of a mile from the viewpoint.

After two bridges were washed out here the Forest Service stopped replacing them.

After admiring the falls we turned back, not being tempted at all to attempt a ford to complete a possible loop back via the abandoned portion of the Chief Joseph Trail beyond the creek.

Sullivan describes a second possible loop option by taking a spur trail through a private Boy Scout Camp. He noted that this trail could be closed to the public at any time but we decided to check it out turning left onto the unsigned but obvious trail .4 miles from the creek.

After just a tenth of a mile a rocky viewpoint offered another look into the mountains and some purple penstemon.

We also spotted a sign stating that the trail beyond was closed to the public and warning of surveillance cameras. We returned to the Chief Joseph Trail and headed back down to the bridge and recrossed the river. We then noticed another well used trail and followed it left along the canyon rim above the West Fork Wallowa.

Flowers dotted the rocky terrain here.
20190523_152152 Shooting star

Old man’s whiskers

Possibly a checkermallow

Paintbrush

We kept following the path along the rim to a viewpoint above a small unnamed waterfall.

The user trail kept going beyond the falls so we did too eventually hooking back up with the West Fork Wallowa Trail a little over 100 yards from the trailhead. We then road walked back past the ground squirrels patrolling Wallowa State Park to the Eagle Cap Chalets, but not before stopping at the Khao Neaow Food Cart to get some Thai food to take back to our room for dinner.

The food was great and after dinner we walked down to Glacier Grill and General Store to pick up some food and drinks for the room. On the way back we noticed a group of deer in front of the old Edelweiss Inn.
20190523_172745

They were a rowdy bunch.
20190523_172919

20190523_172922

Our outing to B.C. Creek Falls was a modest 5 miles and a nice reminder of how much we loved our 2016 trip to the Wallowas. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Umatilla WLFR & B.C. Creek Falls

Tags B.C. Creek Falls, Bald Eagle, Chief Joseph Trail, deer, Eagle Cap Chalets, Heritage Trail, hiking, Khao Neaow Food Cart, Morrow County, Oregon, Rock clematis, Umatilla Wildlife Refuge, Wallowa Lake, Wallowa Mountains, Wallowas, west fork wallowa river, west fork wallowa trail, wildflowers

Hiking Mt. Hood Area Oregon

Dog River Trail

A bit of potentially wet weather had us looking for a hike that had the potential to be dry and not too dependent on having a view. We, of course, also preferred it to be a new hike. We turned to Matt Reeder’s 2nd edition of “Off the Beaten Trail” for inspiration. A recent addition to our collection of guidebooks, “Off the Beaten Trail” features 50 hikes plus 5 bonus hikes within a two and half hour drive of downtown Portland. While a number of the hikes are also mentioned in Sullivan’s “100 Hikes” guidebooks (our usual go-to source) they are typically additional hikes from the back of the books so they lack in-depth detail. There are also several hikes that don’t appear in Sullivan’s books.

We chose the Dog River Trail (Reeder’s Hike #30) due to its location and a favorable looking forecast. According to NOAA there was a 30% chance of showers after 11am and being located on the east side of Mt. Hood often meant less cloud cover. After driving through a few showers in the Columbia Gorge we did indeed find some blue sky near Hood River and the views of Mt. Hood were perfect as we drove south on Highway 35.

The Dog River Trail
begins at the Dog River Trailhead along the eastern shoulder of Highway 35 18.2 miles south of Hood River (20 miles north of the junction with Highway 26).

The most common users of this trail are mountain bikers, a group of which have adopted the trail.
Plaque at the Dog River Trailhead

The trail starts off at an elevation just over 2100′ and climbs steadily nearly 5.5 miles to its end at a three way junction with the Zigzag and Surveyor’s Ridge Trails.

Just beyond the gate at the trailhead the trail passes very close to the Dog River.

We quickly lost sight of the river as we climbed along a hillside to a footbridge over Puppy Creek.
Dog River Trail

Puppy Creek

The next 1.8 miles was a gradual climb past a variety of wildflowers before dropping slightly to the Dog River.
Chocolate lily

Vanilla leaf along the Dog River Trail Vanilla leaf

Anemone Columbia windflower (anemone)

Red flowering currant

Ball-head waterleaf

Dogwood and a crab spider Dogwood (and a crab spider)

Arnica Arnica

Lupine Lupine

Lupine starting to bud Lupine yet to bloom

Woodland stars

Larkspur and biscuitroot Larkspur with biscuitroot in the background

Fairy slippers

Indian paintbrush

Popcorn flower

Sandwort

Sticky blue-eyed mary

Hooker’s fairy bells

Solomon's seal Solomon’s seal

One of the reasons for the variety of flowers was the variety of forest types along this stretch.
Dog River Trail

Dog River Trail

Another footbridge led us across the Dog River.
Dog River Trail

Dog River

Beyond the Dog River the trail climbed to a saddle and crossed over a ridge.
Dog River Trail

Dog River Trail

We were now on the west facing side of the ridge and had our first looks at Mt. Hood. Initially the mountain is only visible through the trees but 1.3 miles from the Dog River crossing we came to a rocky viewpoint. From the time we had last seen the mountain driving to the trailhead a line of clouds had begun to make there way in between.
Mt. Hood from the Dog River Trail

Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood from the Dog River Trail

Mt. Hood

Considering we had started the day thinking we would be lucky to see even part of the mountain this was a pretty nice treat, but after having an unobstructed view during the drive the clouds were a minor disappointment. While the view was impressive it would have been spectacular minus the clouds in front.

In addition to the view there were a couple of other types of flowers to be seen at the viewpoint.
Penstemon

Phlox Phlox

Reeder has this viewpoint be the turn around point in the guidebook making for a 6.6 mile out and back. He also describe a couple of options to extend the hike which of course interested us (okay mostly me). We continued on from the viewpoint promptly crossing over the ridge again. From this side we could now see Mt. Adams through the trees to the north. A bonus volcano sighting.

Mt. Adams

A series of switchbacks brought us back over the west facing side of the ridge and up a short, steep, rocky section of trail.
Dog River Trail

We began watching for any signs of an old road bed on top the ridge above the trail. The plan we had settled on to extend the hike was to hopefully use a forest road shown on the map to make the hike a lollipop by taking the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail to the forest service road. Approximately 100 yards from the end of the switchbacks we spotted a promising looking unmarked spur trail heading uphill to our left.
Dog River Trail on the right with a spur to FR 620 on the left

We marked that spot on our GPS and continued on the Dog River Trail which had leveled out a bit passing another viewpoint that Reeder has marked on his map as “Ponderosa Point”. The view here would have also been impressive but we arrived in conjunction with enough clouds to cover the upper 3/4ths of the mountain. A talus slope nearby was more impressive at that point and we wondered if any pika lived there.
Talus field along the Dog River Trail

We didn’t see or hear any and continued on. The trail began to descend slightly passing through some nice forest. We kept our eyes out for flowers and any other interesting sights.
Dog River Trail

Manzanita

Currant A currant

Jacob's ladder Jacob’s ladder

Something has been busy Popular tree

There were a few openings toward Mt. Hood but the clouds were keeping most of it covered. We did get a nice look at Polallie Creek Falls though.

We had been watching for wildlife too but aside from a few birds and a couple of millipedes all we saw was a slug on one of several small bridges over wet spots.
Slug on a footbridge

Slug

When we arrived at the junction with the Zigzag and Surveyor’s Ridge Trails we noticed a fourth trail signed “Viewpoint”.
Viewpoint at the Dog River Trail and Zig Zag Trail jct

This short trail led briefly downhill to a view north of Highway 35 and the East Fork Hood River (Mt. Hood was still hiding).
Highay 35 and the East Fork Hood River

After checking out the viewpoint we returned to the junction and turned onto the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail.
Surveyor's Ridge Trail sign

The Surveryor’s Ridge Trail climbed gently through the forest for nearly a mile before arriving at Forest Road 620 and Dufur Mill Road (Forest Road 44).
Surveyor's Ridge Trail

Trillium

Jacob's ladder There was quite a bit of Jacob’s ladder along this stretch of trail.

Oregon anemone

Forest Road 620.

There was a single truck parked here and an outhouse. Along the shoulder of Dufur Mill Road there was also a small patch of snow. We had wondered if there was any remaining at this elevation (4240′). We turned left and headed north along FR 620 where we soon found a few more patches of lingering snow.
Snow along Forest Road 620

Forest Road 620

It was a pleasant but uneventful road walk. We followed the road downhill ignoring two forks to the left followed by an overgrown fork to the right.
Forest Road 620

After entering an area that had been clearcut sometime in the past Heather spotted a sign post off to our right (approximately 1.75mi along FR 620). I went to investigate.
Wy'East Middle School sign amid trees planted by the 1994 8th grade class

Just in case anyone from the Wy’East Middle School 1994 8th grade class is wondering here are the trees that were near the sign.
Trees planted by the 1994 8th grade class of Wy'East Middle School

Shortly after finding the sign the road finished bending to the west and we began heading toward the Dog River Trail. The road then turned northward again along the ridge above the Dog River Trail. There were a couple of viewpoints along this stretch including one at the top of the talus slope we had scanned for pikas earlier that day.
Mt. Hood behind some clouds A still cloudy Mt. Hood

Dog River Trail below the talus slope Looking down the talus slope with the Dog River Trail visible between the trees to the right.

The road bed had been steadily narrowing the further we went.
Forest Road 620

After a little over 2.5 miles on the road we passed a promising view of Mt. Adams if not for the clouds that had now overtaken it as well. We settled for a nice view of Bald Mountain which we had hiked in 2017 (post) and is accessible via the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail.
Bald Butte in the distance

Bald Butte

Not far from that viewpoint the old roadbed ended and we found ourselves on a short section of trail connecting us back to the Dog River Trail.
Trail connecting Forest Road 620 to the Dog River Trail

We had indeed come out via the spur trail we had marked that morning. The stretch between the Surveyor’s Ridge Trail and Dog River Trail was 2.75 miles and we were now just over 3.5 miles from the Dog River Trailhead. We had seen the first other people of the day from the viewpoint atop the talus slope when a pair of trail runners went by down on the Dog River Trail. Now that it was later we encountered a few mountain bikers on our way back but it was far from busy. We stopped at the first viewpoint again to say goodbye to the mountain. The clouds had changed again and now they were just covering the very top portion.
Mt. Hood behind some clouds

This gave us a nice look at Barrett Spur.

We also had a good view of the Eliot Glacier.
Elliot Glacier on Mt. Hood

Our lollipop came in at 13.3 miles with approximately 2500′ of cumulative elevation gain. The showers never developed and we got to see a lot more of the mountains than we had honestly expected. The variety of wildflowers was good and there looked to be plenty more getting ready to bloom in the next week or two. It certainly felt off the beaten trail but it was definitely worth the visit. Happy Trails!

Flickr: Dog River Trail

Tags Dog River, Dog River Trail, hiking, Mt. Hood, oregon hiking, Surveryor's Ridge Trail, wildflowers, Wy'East Middle School class of 1994, Zigzag Trail

Hiking Year-end wrap up

2018 Wildflower Gallery

It wasn’t the greatest wildflower year in 2018 but there were still a few decent displays and several new species for us. Below are some of the better displays as well as individual blossoms from this years hikes. (Attempts have been made to identify, at least in general, the type of flower but please correct us if we are wrong or chime in on the unidentified photos.)

Snow queen – McDonald Forest, February

From Memaloose Hills in April:
Arnica Arnica

Larkspur

Fiddleneck

Lupine Lupine

Prairie star

Balsamroot

Wildflowers at Memaloose Hills Unknown

Large-flower triteleia

Giant head clover

Broomrape

From the Wygant Trail in April:
Fairybells

Hound's tongue Hound’s tongue

Dogwood Dogwood

Ballhead waterleaf

Chocolate lily

Kittentails

Grass widow

Penstemon

From Patterson Mountain in May:
Fawn lilies Fawn lily

Fairy slippers

Wood violet

A saxifrage

Red flowering currant Red-flowering currant

Skunk cabbage

Glacier lily

More flowers from May:
Wild iris Iris – Washington Park

Anemone Anemone – Lookout Creek Trail

Trillium – Carpenter Mountain

Buckwheat – White River Falls State Park

Thistle Thistle along the Deschutes River

Western prairie-clover along the Deschutes River

Clustered broomrape along the Deschutes River

Bitterroot – Rimrock Springs

Bluebells along Muir Creek

Gooseberry along Muir Creek

Wild iris Iris along Muir Creek

Lupine White lupine along Muir Creek

Pea Pea? along Muir Creek

Violets Violets along Muir Creek

Bleeding heart along the Muir Creek Trail

Tall mountain bluebells – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Jacob's ladder Jacob’s ladder – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Marsh marigolds – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Avalanche lilies – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Wildflowers along the Buck Canyon Trail Spring Beauty – Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness

Western stoneseed – Black Butte

June wildflowers:
Bunchberry – Salmon River Trail

Anemone Anemone – Salmon River Trail

Star flowers – Salmon River Trail

Valerian – Salmon River Trail

Rhododendron – Salmon River Trail

Spotted coralroot – Salmon River Trail

Cat's ear lily Cats ear lily – Salmon River Trail

Field chickweed Filed chickweed – Salmon River Trail

Stonecrop – Salmon River Trail

Wildflower along the Salmon River Trail unknown – Salmon River Trail

Paintbrush and plectritis – Salmon River Trail

Blue head gilia – Salmon River Trail

Candy sticks – Salmon River Trail

Salmonberry – Salmon River Trail

Showy milkweed along the Deschutes River

Chicory Chicory (non-native) along the Deschutes River

Blanket flower along the Deschutes River

Bindweed along the Deschutes River

Dwarf monkeyflower – Diamond Craters

Wild onion and lupine leaves Wild onion – Jordan Craters

Mariposa lily in Slocum Gulch Sagebrush mariposa lily – Leslie Gulch

Butterfly on dustymaiden in Slocum Gulch Dusty maiden – Leslie Gulch

Clarkia Clarkia – Leslie Gulch

Primrose Evening Primerose – Three Forks

Salsify Salsify – Three Forks

Grand collomia – Three Forks

Stream orchid – Three Forks

Mariposa lily – Three Forks

Wildflowers along the Owyhee River unknown – Three Forks

Tufted primrose – Chalk Basin

Orange globe mallow – Chalk Basin

Wildflowers in the Dry wash in Chalk Basin unknown – Chalk Basin

Smooth stemmed blazing star – Chalk Basin

Threadleaf phacelia – Chalk Basin

Penstemon – Alvord Desert

Beetle on yarrow Yarrow – Pike Creek

Purple sticky geranium Geranium – Myrtle Creek

Scarlet gilia – Myrtle Creek

Yelow and red paintbrush – Myrtle Creek

Skull cap – Myrtle Creek

Checkermallow – Myrtle Creek

Death camas – Myrtle Creek

Hedge nettle Hedgenettle – Saddle Mountain

Penstemon Beardstongue – Saddle Mountain

Twin flower – Saddle Mountain

Columbine – Saddle Mountain

Larkspur – Saddle Mountain

Wildflowers along the Saddle Mountain Trail Wildflowers on Saddle Mountain

Old man's whiskers Old man’s whiskers – Saddle Mountain

Wall flower Wallflower – Saddle Mountain

Wildflowers along the Saddle Mountain Trail Featherbells – Saddle Mountain

Inside out flower – Saddle Mountain

Foxglove (non-native) – Soapstone Lake

July Wildflowers:
Fireweed – Elk Lake Creek

Spreading dogbane – Elk Lake Creek

Scouler's bluebell Scouler’s bluebells – Elk Lake Creek

Washington lilies – Elk Lake Creek

Prince's pine Prince’s pine – Elk Lake Creek

Coralroot – Elk Lake Creek

Pearly everlasting – Elk Lake Creek

Wild ginger – Browder Ridge

Tiger lily – Browder Ridge

Larkspur and paintbrush – Browder Ridge

Vanilla leaf – Browder Ridge

Wildflowers along the Browder Ridge Trail Sagebrush false dandelions and cat’s ear lilies – Browder Ridge

Oregon sunshine? – Browder Ridge

Spirea Spirea – Browder Ridge

Shooting stars – Heart Lake

Owls clover – Browder Ridge

Lewis Flax – Browder Ridge

Northern phlox – Horsepasture Mountain

Foam flower – Horsepasture Mountain

Lousewort – Horsepasture Mountain

Beargrass – Horsepasture Mountain

Coneflower – Horsepasture Mountain

A fleabane – Horsepasture Mountain

Catchfly – Horsepasture Mountain

False hellebore – Opal Creek Wilderness

Monkeyflower – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Streambed globe mallow – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Mountain coyote mint – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Low jacob's ladder Low Jacob’s ladder – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Nuttall's Linanthus Nuttall’s linanthus – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Bog orchids – Wildcat Spring

Elephants head – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Lousewort Louewort – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Yellow paintbrush – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Rockfringe willowherb – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Wildflowers along the Strawberry Basin Trail Small wildflower meadow in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Wild rose – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Penstemon – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Wildflowers along the Skyline Trail Hyssop, yellow paintbrush and unknown yellow flowers in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Pussypaws – Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

Moving on to August:
Gentians – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Yellow monkeyflower – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Aster Aster – Elkhorns

Orange agoseris – Elkhorns

Mountain heather – Twin Lakes

wildflowers along Lower Twin Lake unknown – Twin Lakes

Bistort Bistort – Elkhorns

Wildflower along the Rigdon Lakes Trail Groundsel? – Waldo Lake

A couple from September:
Western pasque flowers Western pasque flower – Mt. Jefferson Wilderness

Wildflower on Mt. Jefferson unknown – South Climb Route, Mt. Jefferson

One from October:
Moth mullen – Cape Perpetua

In a little over a month the snow queen will once again begin popping up at low elevations and soon after the eastern end of the Columbia Gorge will begin to cycle through it’s blooms starting with the grass widows. Until then we hope these flowers will be reminders of the colors of Spring/Summer. Happy Trails!

Tags hiking, Oregon, wildflowers