2013 Trips
Angels Rest
4.6 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
Quick training hike. No crowds. Time up 0:53
December 27, 2013
Coyote Wall loop
9.23 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
It was a good weather in the Eastern Gorge today (quite a contrast with areas closer west) - no rain, no fog, even a little sun and Mt. Hood views... Forgot camera for a change. Made a loop over recently decommissioned trail, then above Burns Farm and down along Coyote Wall.
December 19, 2013
1
Icy falls in the Gorge
3 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
It's been more a photography day than hike day. Hit 6 spots in the Gorge (with warm-up breaks in the car in between) - Bridal Veil viewpoint, Latourell Falls, the caverns under Angels Rest, Wahkeena Falls, Multnomah Falls with a hike to about switchback 3 or 4, and Horsetail Falls with a hike to Ponytail. Was surprised the icy bridge at Multnomah was open.
December 7, 2013
Jordan Butte (Badger Creek wilderness)
6.21 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
Interesting bushwhack along rocky spine of upper Tygh Ridge, and very nice summit. Could see Adams, Rainier and Hood from the summit, and Mt. Jefferson with Sisters from lower on the hike.
November 29, 2013
Cannon Beach and Crescent Beach
3.5 miles of hiking • 0' elevation gain •
Low tide hike - we went around Chapman Point to Crescent Beach on dry ground!
November 28, 2013
Angels Rest - Foxglove trail loop
6.4 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Went to Angels Rest and then up to old Foxglove trail, then looped back on Angels Rest trail. On the way down went over backside trail off Angels Rest, very steep but short (first time for Pepper). The wind on top was so strong at times, it was impossible to stand! Post-sunset colors were awesome though.
P.S. I don't know how my GPS picked up 2500' in elevation, it looks close to 2000-2100'.
November 23, 2013
Thomas & Dee Lake
6.41 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •
Went to Indian Heaven to escape rain. Got to within 1.5 miles to trailhead, bigger trucks still get all the way there. With limited daylight I only visited the closer 2 lakes. There's a foot of snow at trailhead, but less snow under the trees and the lower trail is still hikeable without snowshoes.
November 16, 2013
School Canyon - Tygh Creek loop
12.3 miles of hiking • 3000' elevation gain •
The whole loop is 13.85 miles and 3350' EG, but I biked the 1.5 miles of the road in between the 2 trailheads. This trail is not known for many viewpoints (although there are a couple of big views to the east), but it goes through very narrow "transition zone" east of the Cascades - in just 5 miles you pass through oak savannas (still a lot of fall color there), ponderosa groves, larch/fir mixed forest, then back again - with cool rocks and some nice meadows on the way. This trail is rarely visited and along Tygh Creek it gets hardly visible at all. OTOH, someone did nice work clearing these trails in the past year - didn't see 1/10th of the blowdown I saw back in June 2012.
November 1, 2013
Divide Trail
10.5 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
Went from Lookout Mtn to Flag Point & back on my day off today. The larches are still nice on the lower trail, but it's probably the last week to see real color. The rock formations along this trail are superb; I couldn't tell which of the viewpoints is the Palisade (no real "best" viewpoint). It's amazing how few people hike in October, didn't see anyone after the first 1.5 miles...
October 22, 2013
Margaret Backcountry - 2
9.21 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
Boundary trail, this time with my brother. We stopped about 1 mile short of Margaret (this really isn't "destination" hike, it has views 100% of the time), at unnamed summit with great views of Mt. Whittier to the N and the lakes to the NE. Could see: Adams, Rainier, Goat Rocks, St. Helens, Hood, and Jefferson (which it turns out 114 miles away!). No goats, though we saw their tracks.
October 20, 2013
Cedar Mtn/Aldrich Butte
4.5 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Showed my coworker some trails in "Table Mtn Backcountry" (it really needs a name) - up backside Aldrich Butte trail/road/then off-trail to the top of the butte, then to Cedar Mtn. On Cedar Mt, he went first and saw a cougar running into brush just ahead of us. Also, we found a great viewpoint on Aldrich Butte, just east of the summit - much better views from there.
Met Don Nelsen - he was coming back as we were starting up from trailhead.
October 19, 2013
Margaret Backcountry
8.65 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
Hiked with my dad on Boundary Trail. We stopped around 5,500' where trail got covered with snow (didn't have a foot traction). No summit but had awesome day. Fall colors are mostly gone in many places, but still near prime in a few spots (seem to be better in cool, shady spots which makes sense).
October 17, 2013
Sandy River delta
5.07 miles of hiking • 250' elevation gain •
Lazy day, I'd say 0 elevation gain but my GPS says 265'. The trail is a bit urban for the most part, but sandy beach at the mouth of Sandy River is very nice, and very large. And it was cool to watch the planes land at Troutdale Airport. Also, this hike is very close to my work so I may bike there sometimes.
October 13, 2013
Huckleberry Mountain - N side
3.82 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
Did some maintenance on this little-known trail, but not much with 2pm start.
It's interesting and very quiet way up Huckleberry Mtn, but this year there's even more flagging than usual. I was reluctant to remove any of it, since someone also blazed some trees along the trail (completely unnecessary imho), and without flagging I think they can hurt even more trees... On the plus side, the trail got more established since last fall and very easy to follow.
October 9, 2013
1
Coldwater Lake loop
11.25 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain •
Hiked around Coldwater Lake CCW, the ridge part first because the other trailhead @ boat launch was gated. Saw 3 groups going around the lake, and several more hiking out and back. It was really warm and sunny there, almost felt like summer. Lots of great views; the narrow & long Coldwater Lake almost looks like big river. Not much fall color near the trail because vegetation is mostly alder (the best was 2.5 mile section from boat launch to the falls, with a good mix of maples) but the cliffs on Minnie Peak and in upper Coldwater canyon had a lot of vivid orange.
October 6, 2013
Indian Heaven - Blue Lake/PCT/old CCT Loop
10.5 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain • 1 night
Went in from Thomas Lake trailhead, camped at Blue Lake for the night. No one else at the lake, it was very quiet. I took some night pictures @ full moon light. Next day I went north on PCT and found the junction with abandoned CCT trail just past Junction Lake, and took it back to Rock Lake. CCT goes through several big meadows, the trail is quite rutted in places - it's clear why it was abandoned. Makes more scenic and non-crowded alternative to the PCT. Fall colors are starting good, and there are still lots of blueberries and mushrooms.
I saw only one other group camping at Rock Lake, otherwise all day hikers, and one group of PCT thru-hikers going north (said them about snow forecast for Goat Rocks on their way ahead, soon they passed me @ maybe 5mph). Hope the weather improves for their hike.
September 19 – September 20, 2013
1
Deep Lake - Indian Heaven
6.5 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
The amount of huckleberries is epic in IH this year!
September 14, 2013
3
Avalanche Valley
24.41 miles of hiking • 5250' elevation gain • 2 nights
Due to elevation gain and length of this hike, I went 2 days up (camped at Foggy Flats the 1st night), then 1 day back. I carried $15 in case I met reservation ranger but saw only 1 hiker past Foggy Flats. The trail past the boundary is very faint and disappears in some places; the cairns really helped, as well as Cascadehiker's GPX track. Once down from the pass on E side, the area looks very much like trails on Broken Top - with wide, dry, sandy meadows and islands of ancient whitebark pines, with many bleached trees. Saw some goats and marmots. The last stream crossing was wide and swift; I did some "water engineering" - moved some rocks to open 2 side channels and get water lower in the main channel, so Pepper could jump across. Avy Valley seems so remote and wild, and exceptionally nice at the same time. The mountain sounded like remote thunder from time to time, the echo reflected off Goat Peak. Saw a piece of glacier collapse while on the way back, the photos only captured the "tail" of that avalanche.
It's strictly nice weather hike, with plenty of chance to be cut off by the weather (like on the 7,700' pass at reservation boundary, or the 3 glacial stream crossings).
September 9 – September 11, 2013
August 30 – September 1, 2013
Mississippi Head - Paradise loop
11.31 miles of hiking • 3750' elevation gain • 1 night
Did a loop over Mississippi Head, camped in Paradise Park, then came back via Timberline trail (my GPS track is attached with the hillmap link).
Just as I got around the top of Zigzag Canyon and started down the other side, the clouds moved in and I got a little lost being there first time. I had pre-loaded topo map in my GPS, but what the map doesn't show is the lower part of Zigzag Glacier (below 7800' or so) have mostly melted out, and is now bisected with numerous steep, little gullies, and rocky moraines. I was on the correct way at first, but because of poor visibility I thought the canyon on my right is going into Zigzag Cn. and I'm going to be cliffed out on Mississippi Head. Also, I marked several waypoints to follow on the GPS, and 2 of them were on the opposite sides of that little canyon. I cut above it and tried to descend the other side.
However, these ridges and gullies I tried all got steeper and steeper to the bottom (maybe the height was exaggerated by the fog) and vanished out of view. After about 1.5 hours of circling among moraines or just sitting & waiting for clouds to go, I got back to my original waypoint and crossed to the left side of the first canyon. There, I was able to follow the rest of my waypoints, descending on gently-sloping snow, then a shallow rocky canyon, passed Mississippi Head by 7:30 pm and got to Paradise Park shortly after 8 on use trail. The cloud action was awesome at sunset. There were some great places to camp above the Paradise but there was no snow or water at this point so I had to go all the way down.
Paradise Park was pretty crowded, even on Tuesday night, but I found a campsite near shelter ruins so it was good. Slept until 10 am, tested my Cat Can Stove, then headed back on the trail. The flowers are still good but on the decline in the Park, and mostly gone along Timberline trail. The top of Hood was in the clouds all day, but that meant cool and easy hiking.
August 27 – August 28, 2013
Salmon River
7.8 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain • 1 night
Planned to do Paradise Park on Hood, but the mountain was in a cloud of smoke yesterday - so it was a plan B which worked nice. Got to the viewpoint @2400' then decided to backtrack to the river and camp on waterfront. Lots of great campsites to choose from, and no one else camping that night. There were a lot of ripe red huckleberries. Old growth forest along Salmon River is impressive.
As soon as it got dark, Pepper went into the river and tried to hunt crawdads (there were none, but she remembered our night "fishing" 2 weeks back on Veda Lake). And she used to hate water, not so long ago! Well, she found mice instead around the camp and had her share of fun. In the morning, I discovered I set up tent just 2 feet from yellowjacket nest (found out when I broke the camp and put some stuff almost on top of them) - they got disturbed and circled us but didn't sting.
Overall, it was nice, quiet, and uncrowded hike.
August 21 – August 22, 2013
1
Eureka Peak
2.2 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
Since I was there, added a short bushwhack up Eureka Peak. Way more brushy that Veda Butte, but the view of Hood is closer, wider, and more prominent. Could be one of the best Hood viewpoints if not 1-2 trees that always get into view. Attached link is today's GPS track for the 2 hikes.
August 4, 2013
Veda Lake - Veda Butte Loop
5.5 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain • 1 night
Changed my Cooper Spur plan due to looming thunder clouds, then decided against Trillium Lake due to hiker traffic on the trail (not like Multnomah - more like Vancouver Fireworks kind of traffic...could be 1000+ people at the lake!) so Veda Lake was kind of last minute thought.
It turned out a nice overnight trip - the lake was pleasant, very quiet (only 2 groups except me), and the trail has nice Mt. Hood views. There's so many crawdads, when you look into the water you see about 10 in one spot. "Fished" crawdads in the evening and then again at night with headlamp, which was easier by far. Despite a silty/rocky mix at the bottom, the lake is quite deep and the swimming was great (wading into the water was not). I parked 1.5 miles before the trailhead due to rocky road so next day made a loop over the ridge of Veda Butte off trail. The view over Veda Lake to Mt. Hood is almost as good as one from Tom Dick & Harry Mtn!
August 3 – August 4, 2013
1
Goat Rocks
27.5 miles of hiking • 6750' elevation gain • 3 nights
Thursday - drive in to Snowgrass TH (15 +/- cars at trailhead) and hike to Snowgrass/PCT junction, set a camp for 2 nights. Friday - up Old Snowy, then to Cispus Basin in the evening, to see the goats. Saturday - move camp to the base of Hawkeye Point (Peak?) and hike to the summit. It got down to freezing the 3rd night. Sunday - took some pictures around Upper Jordan Basin, headed out via Goat Ridge.
Snow is not an issue on the trail (snowy as usual on PCT near Old Snowy and at the lake but with good tracks, otherwise just a few patches), and the flowers are starting nicely. For the very best flowers, wait a couple of weeks.
July 25 – July 28, 2013
Silver Star
5 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
Did a loop on Silver Star with my parents yesterday, up Ed's Trail, down old road, skipped the last rocky bit to the summit. Tried Dole Valley approach this time (see the attached link) - very good gravel road, not a single pothole! Of course, the last rocky 2 mile road stretch is still there, but this alternative approach completely avoids the "pothole alley" above Sunset Campground.
The flowers are just past peak, near their best.
July 20, 2013
Observation Trail work w/WTA
7.3 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
Hiked from north (upper) to south end of Observation Trail with the WTA crew, we did some brushing and tread work. The hard part was not work, but hiking without the poles in hands; got completely addicted to them.
July 13, 2013
6 days in the Elkhorns
56.5 miles of hiking • 8500' elevation gain • 5 nights
Hiked all but the last 3.8 miles of Elkhorn Crest trail. Made side trips to see Anthony Lake, two Hoffer Lakes, Lakes Lookout, Dutch Flat Lake (night 1), Summit Lake (nights 2 and 5), and Twin Lakes (nights 3 and 4). Hiked Rock Creek Butte on day 4 - one of the coolest summit views I've ever seen. Saw a lot of mountain goats at Twin Lakes. Mosquitoes aren't hungry yet, and there's lots of flowers along the trail. ECT is one of the most elevated trails in Oregon (between 7100' and 8600') so the views are open almost entire time.
July 3 – July 8, 2013
3
Silver Star north loop
5.7 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
Hot day but awesome hike. The road to north trailhead got a bit worse yet this year - if you head there take the car with biggest clearance you can. Beargrass is still good on the upper meadows and around the summit, other flowers starting great on the lower trail and will get much better in the next couple of weeks. Today was a bit hazy, which limited views (especially to the West) but made for a great sunset.
June 30, 2013
School Canyon - Little Badger loop
9.69 miles of hiking • 2250' elevation gain • 2 nights
Did some trail work over the weekend. Friday afternoon cleared 5-6 smaller logs near Ball Point (still many left, bigger ones will require crosscut saw); Saturday cleared the short spur trail to spring (~150 yards - took me 5+ hours!) and spent the rest of time in camp reading the book; on Sunday went over lower trail at Little Badger Creek and cleared most of small stuff (not much to begin with). Found 2 cans of Coors Light - good til August 2013 and still fresh - right on the window of old cabin! There was no one camping and the cans looked just dusted, like they've been there for about a week.
Re strawberry shots with Pepper - I did not forget dog food - she just loves them, as well as huckleberries, raspberries... :)
June 21 – June 23, 2013
1
Cedar Mtn - different version of the loop
6.64 miles of hiking • 2500' elevation gain •
Made several discoveries today: 1. Aldrich Falls trail goes through Jurassic Park. 2. Hamilton Creek (rail?)road grades still make easy hiking route, and someone clears blowdown there. There's some poison oak but not bad. 3. There's a cavern about 200' above road grade, if you bushwhack up to Cedar Mtn saddle. It's about 8 yards wide, 5 yd deep, and 7 feet tall. 4. There's a trail marked P. H. that goes NW from Cedar Saddle. I never heard anyone mentioning it, or where it goes.
June 15, 2013
Lookout Mtn - various trails (Ochocos)
25.35 miles of hiking • 4500' elevation gain • 2 nights
Attempted to map all trails on Lookout Mtn to my GPS, but ran short on time for 1 more S side trail (& there's the longest north side approach but it'll wait for separate trip - i did only its upper end this time). Got up the mountain 4 times from various trails, but it's absolutely worth it - beautiful area! The desert is in bloom right now, wildlife is plentiful. Didn't see another person, which is kind of surprising for a nice weekend in this well-known place (of course I could have missed others while on "lost trails" around South Point half of Saturday and Sunday).
Photo upload stopped working for me, more pictures are at attached link
June 7 – June 9, 2013
Wapiki Lake/Foot of Lemei Rock
7.9 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain •
"Juneary" fun in Indian Heaven. Wanted to make a bigger loop from Cultus Creek Campground, but was stopped by the snow on the road at about 3850'. Hard to say on snow depth on the hike - it ranged from 0-6 feet; close to 100% coverage above 4400' but even there some bare spots. Not bad at all for the season. It was COLD today, felt like mid-30's.
June 2, 2013
Fifteenmile Creek up and back (+ some roads)
22.25 miles of hiking • 3750' elevation gain • 2 nights
Did the loop from lower trailhead, with 2 mile hike on the road after bottoming my car on a rock and breaking some steering (?) part. The car drives well, but I didn't want to risk more. Also explored ATV road that goes up the other side of the canyon (thought about finding a better public road access from S side, but soon run into property boundary).
Got rained Sat/Sun night, but other than that weather held well. It was very nice, long hike with not much elevation (only one serious hill). Parts of the trail are really different - from rain forest near the creek to semi-desert meadows and ponderosa pine groves on the ridges. First mile of the trail goes through awesome oak woodlands, the next 2-3 miles has more vine maple I even seen on one trail (not obstructing the trail - yet!). Really worth coming back in October to see fall colors. Also, as the trail is popular with mountain bikers, it's been cleared of blowdown really well (only 1 down tree in ~15 miles of trail).
Next time I'll start from upper end.
May 24 – May 26, 2013
1
Lookout Mountain
9.22 miles of hiking • 3250' elevation gain •
Did Lookout Mountain via Gumjuwac Saddle. 2-3 spots of snow about 100 yards wide just before Gumjuwac, some snow on Bennett Pass Rd, then nothing until about 5800 feet when I lost the trail. Saw only 1 other person all day, and couple of deer; heard a cougar screaming. The rain didn't come until we drove home. Great day.
May 13, 2013
1
Mill Creek Wilderness
24 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain • 2 nights
Did a loop clockwise; skipped a spur to S Wildcat Campground this time but added a short bushwhack to Whistler Point. Quite a wind storm on Saturday & many logs crashed down. Camped on Agate Beds the second night (even my fire ring was 40% agates) - pretty cool. Saw only a group of 2 + dog in three days. I like how remote this area feels; of course on Memorial Day it will have quite a bit more people but it never gets crowded.
May 3 – May 5, 2013
Coyote Wall with WTA and Catherine Creek
7.5 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain • 1 night
Joined trail work party with the WTA on Sunday. Got there Saturday pm and camped above Catherine Creek (almost with a view of the arch, but had to move camp due to wind); did a lower loop for the first time - super easy but nice. Great area for camping BTW, there's something for waking to sun, warmth and open views. Also easy to pick a nice place out of the view of the trails.
I only picked 2 ticks when I got into some brush, none at camp or at trail work.
Photo credit - Ryan.
April 27 – April 28, 2013
Angels Rest
4.6 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
0:54 up again.
Larkspur is already starting along the lower trail (lots of it), next 2 weeks should be really nice. Usual great views of the river.
April 25, 2013
Angels Rest
4.6 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
Quick hike after work. Time up 0:54 but it could be faster - lots of hikers this time.
April 23, 2013
Twin Lakes and Bird Butte
7 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
The weather alternated between sunshine and blizzard all day. Saw only 2 snowshoers and (maybe their) tent at Upper Twin lake. At the end decided to go over Bird Butte rather than around it on trail - while this little summit is not known for big views, it's pretty nice place, with old, open forest and partial views to the lake.
April 13, 2013
Crescent Beach (Ecola SP)
5.5 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
Were lucky to get to Crescent Beach 10 minutes before fog covered everything. Before that hiked Cannon Beach to Chapman rocks in low tide - pretty cool (but would have to wade to get around rocks to Crescent Beach, and I couldn't promise we'd make it back until high tide, so we chose to get there on trail instead).
March 31, 2013
March 30, 2013
Lyle Cherry Orchard
4.5 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
The flowers are going good up there, it finally looks like spring. Tick count is 1 between two of us (very low is you know that area). Got to watch Gorge Bison on the way back.
March 24, 2013
1
West Archer Mtn
2.25 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
Took my grandmother to another cool place on Archer Mountain.
March 23, 2013
Tam-A-Lau trail
3.5 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
This hike is a little treasure. This time was a recon trip (to drive & see new terrain), next time I'd plan time to actually hike all the loop trail, and also see the "Island" nearby.
March 17, 2013
Oregon Zoo
3 miles of hiking • 250' elevation gain •
Since it's almost all outdoors I think it qualifies as a hike. Plus, lots of wildlife...
March 15, 2013
Ar-Falls
3 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •
This ought to be one of the nicest places in the Gorge. I've seen Ar-Valley from the overlook above, but it doesn't even compare to being inside this vast moss-covered, rock-walled chasm, with waterfalls on all sides.
March 3, 2013
Road 777
8 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
Hiked Forest Road 777 from Eagle Creek to Mt Talapus viewpoint.
February 24, 2013
Scout Camp trail (Deschutes)
3.5 miles of hiking • 1000' elevation gain •
Hiked with my grandmother into Deschutes Canyon. Wanted to get close-up Arch view, but side trail stopped just short of it. Also checked another side trail to a small plateau mid-way in the canyon (looks like a good future camping place). Perfect day.
February 17, 2013
1
Mitchell Point
2.6 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •
Not knowing which of the two was Mitchell Point, hiked upper and lower one. Both were very nice. The wind was hard, but sun more than made for it. Saw a couple of grass widows.
February 10, 2013
Eagle Creek to High Bridge
7 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
No promised sunshine, but no rain either. All waterfalls are running strong!
February 3, 2013
Hood River Mountain
5 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •
Old trail/road loop, with a bit of newly reopened area to the east. Forgot the camera today, but view from that east viewpoint is pretty nice - the three volcanoes, Defiance, and a bit of the river.
February 2, 2013
1
Hummocks trail and Coldwater
6 miles of hiking • 500' elevation gain •
Hiked Hummocks trail for the first time - easy but beautiful 2.45 mile loop with half dozen lakes/ponds. Then we headed to nearby Coldwater Lake. The lake was frozen over, despite very warm (upper 50's) temperatures.
January 20, 2013
1
Larch Mountain from the gate
6.5 miles of hiking • 1500' elevation gain •
Cutting switchbacks on Larch Mtn road...
January 19, 2013
5
Table Mountain
7.17 miles of hiking • 3500' elevation gain •
Snow conditions were perfect - 3-5 inches of soft powder over hard, icy crust. Not slippery (though I did use crampons for the steepness), no postholing, and for so much snow around it was surprising to see almost none on wind-scoured Heartbreak Ridge. OTOH, on the summit there were drifts at least 5 feet high. "Old route" on the edge of the ridge is now much more preferable to the actual trail, which is very brushy & with large amounts of snow.
January 13, 2013
Timberline Lodge and White River
4.5 miles of hiking • 750' elevation gain •
Inversion weather in action: 37F upon leaving Timberline at 5900 feet, 22F at White River at 4500 feet. Went with my family for some XC skiing (hence no camera) but instead decided to hike for better views. Beautiful day.
January 1, 2013
