2014 Trips
1
Nick Eaton Ridge via "Camp Creek Spur" to Deadwood Trail/Deadwood Point
16 miles of hiking • 5000' elevation gain •
Dead camera battery=no photos. Started from Herman Creek TH and went up the Herman Creek Trail 3 or so miles until I reached the southern ridge of Camp Creek (first substantial creek crossing after the wilderness sign). I ascended this ridge for 3000 ft to Nick Eaton Ridge just north of the Casey Creek trail junction. The lower half had alternating bands of oak and doug fir/hemlock coupled with rocky spines and open hanging meadows, offering great views of the watershed and surrounding ridges. The second half was solid tree cover but easy cross country. Hit snow around 3200 ft. Followed a bear's tracks for some time but never saw it. Nick Eaton Ridge had 2-6 inches of snow along its entirety. Followed one other set of boot prints in the snow until I turned left at Deadwood Trail junction. Took Deadwood Trail for its entirety. Parts of it are in rough shape, particularly around the talus field openings. Slumping grade, drainage issues, overgrowth on the trail thicker than just shin-high brush. Numerous logs were down across the trail. I had a folding saw and removed what I could, but there is still much work to do. Once the trail goes along a north/south running ridge east of Deadwood Camp, I left the trail and continued along said ridge; soon dropping steeply to a knife ridge that offers a spectacular 180 degree view, including a unique look at Indian Point. Some have dubbed it Deadwood Point and what a viewpoint it was! Re-traced my steps back to the trail and continued west where it becomes Gorton Creek Trail and also made a detour to Indian Point before descending Gorton Creek Trail back to Herman Creek to complete the loop.
December 26, 2014
Angels Rest
5 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
Had a few hours in the afternoon and took my son up to Angels Rest. Hadn't been there in a few years. Nice day and friendly folks on the (justifiably) busy trail!
December 19, 2014
Powell Butte again
2.5 miles of hiking • 250' elevation gain •
Quick afternoon trip with the family. Tried out the new stroller on the trails. Worked great. Even negotiates stairs! Did a little lollipop loop to the summit from the 147th Ave TH. Nice views, cold weather.
November 29, 2014
Powell Butte Loop
4 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
Took my son out on a rainy day and did a clockwise loop and two lollipop loops around the park. Started at 148th TH, but the construction of the subterranean reservoir halted my clean loop. Instead, we walked the perimeter fence of the construction area to find a way through (there was none), and looped back via deer trails through pleasant doug fir and western red cedar understory on the north "rim" of the park. Continued toward the summit and did the orchard loop before dropping south and linking with the Elderberry trail to make our way north back to where we parked. Quiet and wet with good fall color.
November 21, 2014
Munra Point
4 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
A snowy sunset trip to Munra. Beautiful and cold. There was solid snow cover the entire way up.
November 15, 2014
Oxbow Regional Park - North Side
4 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
Had a couple hours in the afternoon and took my son out on the quiet side of Oxbow Park. The colors were great, the Sandy is flowing strong, and the trail is covered in maple leaves for nearly the entire way. Also, didn't see a soul.
November 7, 2014
Cedar Mt.
6 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Started at Aldrich trailhead and went with my dad to Cedar Mt. Went up the PCT and looped back south along Cedar Ridge. A dry cloudy day with very wet Oregon Grape underbrush on Cedar Saddle. No views past the immediate Gorge area due to the low cloud ceiling (around 2000'). Very mild for November, though.
November 1, 2014
Council Crest from Terwilliger through Marquam Nature Park
5 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
Started on the 4T trailhead along Terwilliger, then took the Flicker Trail to the Towhee Trail where I intersected Marquam Hill Rd. Dropped into the canyon along the South Marquam Trail where I saw an Oregon Slender Salamander! Then I joined the main trail up to Council Crest and savored the great view on top. Some high clouds in Southwest Washington blocking Rainier and St. Helens but Adams came into view. The views east and into the Gorge were outstanding. I was to pick out points I'd never seen before from that vantage point (Table Mt, Three Corner Rock, Mt. Defiance, Benson Plateau, Nesmith). A bald eagle swooped right over the summit and somehow no one else on the summit noticed! A fine 70 degree fall day!
October 18, 2014
Lamberson Spur Cooper Spur Loop
16 miles of hiking • 6250' elevation gain •
Went up to Cooper Spur via Lamberson Spur. A very splendid day in the high country. Read my trip report on Portland Hikers that I have linked.
October 3, 2014
McNeil Point (with an extra loop around Bald Mt)
10 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
Took some friends and Acorn Jr to McNeil Point. The ridge between the point and Bald Mt. was windy and chilly. Conditions were perfect atop the point, though. Went up the climbers trail to McNeil and took the established trail back. On the way back the party got separated and the remaining three of us unexpectedly came back to the trailhead and the other two were not there and had been ahead of us. We waited nearly an hour and I went back up the trail to find them, planning to go to the 5 way junction and then on around Bald Mt. Caught them on Bald Mt. and one had been stung numerous times while trying to relieve themselves above the trail! The remaining two of us went to retrieve her bag that had been dropped during the melee. The bag was swarming with ground wasps and I had to use a 10+ foot stick to retrieve it (done by retreating five times before pushing it down the hill to successfully avoid getting stung). An unexpectedly long day!
September 12, 2014
1
Robin Lakes & Mt. Daniel
31 miles of hiking • 8000' elevation gain • 2 nights
Glorious alpine hiking/scrambling in Alpine Lakes Wilderness in central Washington. Click link to trip report on Portland Hikers.
September 5 – September 7, 2014
Hardy Ridge to Phlox Point
8 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
Took my son on our first long solo hike outside of the city. Excellent day with great weather and a gratefully cooperative happy child!
August 29, 2014
Dakota Ridge Hogback in west Jefferson County, Colorado
5 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
Was able to walk/jog from my mother's house to this ridge a couple miles away. Ascended through scrubby sagebrush, lodgpole pine, and cactus to the hogback ridge, which is the first uplift of the Rocky Mountains. Great views of the Front Range and the city of Denver. Had a thunderstorm open on me while I scrambled along the cliffs and rocks. Followed rough animal trails and dropped off the ridge to the north into a thicket of overgrowth in a small drainage, which I had to do in order to avoid trespassing on private property on either side. Cool little ridge that I finally did after I've looked at it over the last 15 years of living/visiting the area!
August 13, 2014
Chief Mt. (Mt Evans Wilderness-Colorado)
3 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
Went on a family trip to Denver. Had a brief window in the morning to do a hike with my dad. We went to one of his favorite short hikes in the area. Rather than take the trail we followed the west ridge from the road on up to summit of Chief Mt. Better views, more varied terrain, melts out earlier, and no people on an otherwise justifiably popular hike! There was thunder and rain minutes after we reached the summit above timberline at 10:30am! Off we went back the way we came up. Great short subalpine hike!
August 12, 2014
Rooster Rock (Table Rock Wilderness)
3 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
After blueberry picking outside of Molalla and hanging along the Molalla River, the woodpecker family ventured to Table Rock Wilderness for a quick hike. There was no one else at Rooster Rock TH and no one on the trail. The forest was pleasant and the air mild. The views were good albeit hazy in the Willamette Valley. Loved the solitude.
August 9, 2014
Council Crest from Marquam Shelter via Conor Trail and Gibbs Road
5 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
Took my son in his new pack and traveled to Council Crest after meeting Mrs. Woodpecker for lunch at work downtown. Took the Conor Trail to Gibbs St. and caught the Marquam Hill Road trail, switchbacked down, and eventually connected with the Council Crest trail. Sonny loved the pack and the hike and was fawned over by people on the summit! So nice that this hike is only five miles from my house.
August 1, 2014
Adventure Ridge
14 miles of hiking • 4750' elevation gain •
Linked Bear Point and Park Ridge for a magnificent off trail high country day. Started and ended at South Breitenbush TH, to Jefferson Park, PCT for a 3/4 mile, then cross country all the way to Bear Point. See link to my TR on Portland Hikers for more info and pictures.
July 26, 2014
West Zigzag Mt. from Enola Hill
5 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
Took my visiting father and carried my son to the old lookout side atop West Zigzag Mt. Perfect weather day (breezy between 65-75). Love the views of the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness from the summit. Caught a few good views of Hood along the Zigzag ridge. Saw the huge plum of smoke from the fire on the Warm Springs Reservation. Plenty of Tiger Lilies in bloom along the trail. A surprisingly large amount of cougar sign along the trail from the last creek crossing up and onto the ridge (scratchings in the dirt along the trail and scat).
July 18, 2014
Bald Mt. via McGee Creek
4 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
Took the whole family up to Bald Mt. HOT DAY! Beautiful views, of course. Wildflowers great. Even some wild blueberry ready to eat along McGee Creek trail. Such a nice quiet option and a little more of a work out to Bald Mt or McNeil Point.
July 12, 2014
3
Minnie Peak from Coldwater Lake
13 miles of hiking • 3750' elevation gain • 1 night
Spent the night near the trailhead the night before to get an early start and enjoy the shortest night of the year in honor of St. Solstice. Beautiful hike/bushwack/scramble/climb. Plenty of flowers, granite, and views. Weather was perfect for early season and no bugs. Mt. Minnie was a real adventure and feels good to have made it to the top as there is no easy way up to it.
June 21 – June 22, 2014
1
Nesmith Direct
8 miles of hiking • 4000' elevation gain •
A "direct"(i.e. dumb way) to Nesmith Point. For adventurous buffoons with climbing skills only!
May 31, 2014
"West Gorge Washington Wonder"
6 miles of hiking • 1750' elevation gain •
The family and I went into the Gorge on the Washington side Saturday and went somewhere to avoid the crowds. Great hanging meadows, flowers, forested summits, and grand ridgeline viewpoints. Saw a record one car at the trailhead.
May 24, 2014
Larch Mountain
5 miles of hiking • 1750' elevation gain •
Started from the gate on the still-closed (thankfully) and completely snow-free Larch Mt. Road. Took the road for a mile and then the old logging road to the junction with the trail up the north ridge to the picnic area and on to Sherrard Point. Pretty good views with a higher cloud ceiling than expected. Unfortunately, there was enough haze to hamper distant high volcano views; relegating them to mere apparitions. Immediate views were grand, however. Plus, no one else on the summit and encountered no one on the way down. Trillium, salmonberry, yellow violet, and anemone were out in force. Spring has just begun in the forest between 3k-4k ft.
May 16, 2014
Mt. Kiesano, Horsetail Ridge
11 miles of hiking • 4250' elevation gain •
Went up a gully east of ROA arch from Horsetail Falls TH, gained ROA Ridge Trail, climbed further and dropped to Mt. Kiesano for astonishing Gorge views. Then, checked out another sub ridge off of ROA Ridge higher up before staying on ROA Ridge route to Horsetail Creek Trail and descended back via Horsetail Ridge. At the terminus of the ridge, we descended west rather than east into copious poison oak and periodic deer trails that kept petering out whereas the east has steep, yet consistent deer trail with no poison oak. Never again on west descent! Great day, though.
May 3, 2014
Forest Park.
3 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •
Did a short family hike in Forest Park. Started from Linnton trailhead and ascended to Fire Lane 10 and continued to the Wildwood Trail intersection. Descended via a short lollipop loop and intersected the fire lane lower down and returned the same way. Temperate damp weather with nice bird life, filtered views, some spring flowers, nettle harvesting, and babbling creeks.
April 26, 2014
Munra Point
4 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Didn't have much time so I went for a quick burn with rewarding scrambling, wildflowers, and views. The top ridge of Munra above the chimney is COVERED in avalanche lilies! No distant views of high volcanoes, but great immediate views. Munra never fails to disappoint, regardless of conditions or season.
April 19, 2014
Ruckel Spur-Ruckel Ridge-Benson Platter-Benson Bluffs
10 miles of hiking • 4250' elevation gain •
Took Eagle Creek trail at 7am to just before first bridge crossing at Sorenson Creek. Left trail and followed prominent spur ridge to Ruckel Ridge. Surroundings were incredible. Intersected Ruckel Ridge at 2600 ft and on to Benson Plateau. Rather than take Ruckel Creek trail down, I opted to stay high and descend on the humpbacked Benson Bluffs until intersecting the trail at 2000 ft. Then on down the trail back to car to join the throngs in the parking lot. Read my full report posted on Portland Hikers and linked here.
April 12, 2014
Rock of Ages via RJ to Horsetail Creek Trail
11 miles of hiking • 3750' elevation gain •
Bosterson and I went up ROA via RJ, checked out the cabins, poked around off ROA ridge, and took Horsetail Creek Trail back down to Oneonta Creek for the standard return loop. The bypass to avoid the Oneonta ford is getting more and more defined. A wet day, particularly in the end.
April 5, 2014
Bridalveil Plateau loop via "Pablo's Ridge"
4 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Had a wild hair after work and went somewhere close and uncrowded. Angel's Rest TH had at least 40 cars at 5pm! Walked up Palmer Mill Road a quarter mile before cutting up the ridge west of "Pablo's Ridge" on the west side of the small creek. Nice and open cross country/elk trails for the first half with a steep grassy cliff band at 800 ft. After that, a burn area with dense young alder until the plateau. Looped counterclockwise seeing the "sights" like bullet-riddled cars, old motorcycle parts, and various other human detritus. Topped out at "Wine Bottle Junction" and headed down toward the rusted chair decorated with moss and ferns and admired the view of Angel's Rest. Continued cross-country and along rough trails northwest to "Pablo's Ridge" where the best views of the Gorge were to be seen. Watched the sun set and schwacked through currants and vine maple before hitting good elk trail for the rest of the way down. Made it to the road before needing a headlamp.
March 24, 2014
Neahkahnie Mt
4 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
Mrs. Woodpecker and I took Woodpecker Jr. out for his first hike on our anniversary trip to the coast. He saw the ocean and was in the woods for the first time at 5 weeks old. Walked the beach along Manzanita and then drove to the Neahkahnie Mt. TH. Weather was windy, sunny, and 50 degrees. Lots of trillium, salmonberry, violet, and anemone. View from Neahkahnie was stellar. Watched the sunset at Cove Beach.
March 21, 2014
1
Dublin Lake Direct and Wauna Point
14 miles of hiking • 5000' elevation gain •
Joined E and Bosterson on their way to Tanner Butte. Started at Eagle Creek TH and went up Road 777 past the Tanner Butte TH onto a ridge about a mile south that happened to make up part of the wilderness boundary. We took this pleasant mostly bushwack-free cross country ridge up to Tanner Ridge and hit the trail around a mile north of Dublin Lake intersection. I continued a little farther with them to around 4000 ft. before turning around. Only hit shin-deep firm snow here and there but there was still bare ground, at times. I went down to Dublin Lake, then back down the Tanner Ridge trail to Wauna Point junction and dropped down to Wauna Point to enjoy splendid views and calm warm weather. Took the Wauna Cutoff back to road 777.
March 15, 2014
Aldrich Butte & Cedar Creek
4.5 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
From Aldrich TH went around Aldrich West trail (which had fresh pink flagging with directions on where the trail went written on the flagging) to Cedar Creek crossing. My dad got his feet wet during the crossing and we turned around and went up to tag Aldrich Butte and looped back down to the road. Windy and cold on the summit.
February 27, 2014
Mt. Tabor escape from home
3 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
This will be the place I "hike" the most anymore due to the birth of my son on Feb. 14! All Mt. Tabor hikes were done with him attached to me.
February 21, 2014
Greenleaf Basin via Two Chiefs Trail
10 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
Pretty wet day. Went up Two Chiefs Trail with the intent of hitting Greenleaf Peak, but knew I didn't have enough time so I hoped to explore Greenleaf Basin instead. Greenleaf Creek was raging and a crossing looked unappealing. Stayed on the west side of the creek and shwacked up steep muddy deer trails to the notch where Upper Greenleaf Falls cascades down. Saw a rope below me that I later learned was a more direct way up. I had been to the left of it on my ascent. Didn't get as far into the basin as I hoped due to wetness and time constraints. Snow level was around 2000 ft. Returned the way I came up.
January 31, 2014
Tanner Butte via North Opal Creek Ridge
19 miles of hiking • 5250' elevation gain •
Dry day with an inversion in the Gorge as well as strong east winds. Took advantage of the low snow pack and attempted Tanner Butte. Eagle Creek trail to 4.5 Mile Bridge. Off trailed to cross Tenas Creek and ascend the ridge separating it and Opal Creek. Beautiful scrambly knife ridge on the lower stretches that actually requires route finding. From 2500 ft up it is a classic forested cross country ridge with minimal bushwacking. Great rare views of Tanner's imposing east face along talus field openings. Topped out a mile or two north of Tanner Butte and hit the summit. Great views above the inversion and minimal wind. Spent 40 minutes on the summit before hoofing it back down Tanner Ridge. Took the Wauna Cutoff down for a more interesting descent than the trail and through the inversion down to Road 777.
January 24, 2014
January 18, 2014
1
Cedar Mt. Table Mt. Hamilton Creek figure eight
13 miles of hiking • 4500' elevation gain •
From Aldrich TH, went around Aldrich West trail, dropped into Cedar Creek drainage and climbed Cedar Mt. At Cedar Saddle I followed an old road northwest where a rough trail materialized and descended into Hamilton Creek drainage. Once at the old RR grade, I followed a still-used ATV road for some time before ascending steadily until crossing the PCT before continuing on toward the saddle between Birkenfeld and Table. Followed Table's NW ridge to its summit and descended the Westway Trail and continued across the PCT and south along Cedar Ridge back to Cedar Saddle. Dropped into Hamilton Creek again along same rough trail and descended Hamilton Creek back to Cedar Creek and Cedar Falls. A rugged and rough figure eight of the area for sure!
January 10, 2014
Larch Mt. via east ridge
18 miles of hiking • 5000' elevation gain •
Larch Mt. from Multnomah Falls. At Multnomah Cutoff trail we went west to make a balloon loop. Went cross country northeast of Larch and ascended its rugged east ridge to Sherrard Point. Took standard route back down until Wahkeena junction where we dropped into Wahkeena Creek and completed the loop via an extremely fun detour at sunset!
January 4, 2014
View trips from: 2015