22 miles of hiking • 250' elevation gain • 2 nights
3 Day winter backpack from Macks Canyon Campground down the Deschutes River to the mouth of the Columbia in The Dalles. After a long car shuttle, we got underway. The first 6 miles or so follow a brushy old railroad bed and fencelines with alot of washouts and landslides. The bridge crossings have disintegrated many years ago, so you have to scramble up and down several steep canyons.
After 6 miles, you begin walking on a somewhat maintained railbed or what is essentially a gravel service road. We hiked the first day in sleeting snow. Alot of animal tracks. Coyote, raccoon, deer, bobcat, bighorn sheep, many birds, etc. The first night was cold and dreary, but we awoke to sunny and clear skies. We had lunch at an an old homestead/rail stop where the Bighorn Sheep scrambled overhead on the steep slopes, munching on scrubby foliage. The buildings were in surprisingly good condition given their age. The weather was wonderful, with highs in the 40's. Some wet feet from walking in the morning snow led to some blisters, we dried out our footwear at the evening fire.
Higher temps on Day 3, sunny skies. We were in short sleeves by lunchtime, as we hiked closer to the end of the trail. We saw another person on Day 3, a biker about 4 miles from the end, the first we encountered since we started. We had lunch high on the hill above the river as raptors flew overhead, enjoying the sun and the grassy hillside. We arrived at the deserted parking lot and headed back to complete our long car shuttle to Mack's Canyon.
