6 miles / 1,250 feet gained
A little snowshoeing around the rim trail. Went up toward Garfield Peak and then a little in the other direction. The far side seemed to have little snow, but the lodge side had a bit.
Chris
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Hikes by Chris in 2013
3 miles / 1,000 feet gained
13.5 miles / 4,500 feet gained / 1 night
Left Saturday morning, home Sunday night. The snow courses were saying a few inches around 7000' and they were right, but the snow made for slower going than expected, so the original plan for Four Lakes Loop was out. We set up camp in Siligo Meadows and had nice views of the granite. Very nice weather, highs of about 50, lows of about 25, and a great sunset...
22.5 miles / 4,750 feet gained / 2 nights
A trip down to Trinity Alps. 3.75 hours from Grants Pass, taking Rt. 3. Left Saturday morning, arrived at 10:30a. This was a nice leisurely trip up to the lakes. The next morning, we did some exploring up the canyon that leads to Thompson Peak. The second night we camped lower. The trout were spawning. Went FR 17 to Weed to I-5 to get home and got a picture ...
6 miles / 750 feet gained
Very cool redwoods; it's hard to capture the magnitude of these puppies. Definitely worth a trip if you're in the area. Also went up to Brookings and wandered around a bit on the beaches in Boardman SP.
10 miles / 2,500 feet gained
Poor planning meant that I ran out of time to get to the top. Next time...
2 miles / 500 feet gained
Quick and simple. To call this Corvallis's Silver Star would only be partially accurate.
16 miles / 3,500 feet gained / 1 night
Goat Rocks, to the section just before the knife ridge. A PCT crew was out working on the washed out section. Nice!
4 miles / 1,500 feet gained
Wandering around Silcox Hut and the trail to Paradise Park.
12 miles / 3,500 feet gained
An afternoon trip up to Adams. Man this drive is long. Also, when I retire, I want to live in Trout Lake.
58 miles / 11,500 feet gained / 3 nights
Ah, the Wallowas. This is a trip I have been wanting to do for some time, and I finally had the time to do it this weekend. Fri 8/2 - 6 miles Friday, around noon, I drove out to Joseph, stopped in the Fly Fishing shop for some flies, and then drove around Lake Wallowa to the trailhead. Prior trip reports cautioned about how many people I would see, but I onl...
21 miles / 4,250 feet gained / 1 night
I didn't have time to hike this weekend, but had a few spare hours this morning and last night, so I went down to a place that was on my list for this year—Canyon Creek Meadows—to do some studying and hiking. I left at 2p on Monday and got to the Santiam Pass trailhead by 4:30. As mentioned elsewhere, after the burn, this area has been rather dusty, hot, and...
2.5 miles / 0 feet gained
To call this a hike might be stretching it, but this is a good place to store pictures. Definitely coming back here to camp.
8 miles / 4,000 feet gained
I was up in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, for a wedding this weekend. We had hoped to camp out at Roman Nose Lakes and fish in the Selkirks, but the road was impassible to anything but very high clearance trucks (foot-deep mud), and still wanting to hike, we looked for something else in the area that would be doable Sunday afternoon. (Although we did see a very cool...
17.5 miles / 3,750 feet gained / 1 night
Wow—what a great area this is! I headed down to the Pamelia Lake area for a little break from studying yesterday. The plan was to head up to Hunts Cove and see how far around the "Hunts Cove Loop" I could get given the current snow levels. I left in the afternoon, (after paying what I think is a reasonable $6), and by 2p, there were only three cars in the Pa...
4.5 miles / 750 feet gained
It was a short hike today, due to a busy schedule and an unfortunate sidewall flat (didn't see the rock through the dust cloud from the car in front of me). But it was a nice little hike with some great views. Thanks to Tom K. for such great effort on maintaining this place! Snow on about 1/3 of the trail, which made for two minor gettings lost. Not a big de...
9.5 miles / 1,500 feet gained
This trip was prompted by a few recent mentions of this area and an interest to see how high the east side of Hood was melted out. There were just a few groups at Boulder Lake, doing some fishing and camping. The road to Boulder Lake isn't bad at all, despite all the reports of bad roads in the area. There is almost no snow at Boulder and Little Boulder Lake...
30.5 miles / 4,000 feet gained / 1 night
Saturday, I decided to head up to the East Fork of the Quinault for the weekend. The forecast was rain with a chance of rain, but I was in the mood for some bear watching. While the bear totals were 1, the weather panned out to be better than expected. Last time I did this hike in 2011, I did it on a Friday and saw no one after mile 4. This time, there were ...
4.5 miles / 1,250 feet gained
Big miles on the Douglas Trail. Was going to do McIntyre ridge, but that road takes forever to melt out (and wasn't melted out), which meant the ridge would likely be as bad. The Douglas Trail wasn't too snowy. The quarry near the parking area is totally covered in shotgun casings. No views from the top of Wildcat, but there are several nice overlooks. I'm a...
25.5 miles / 5,000 feet gained
10:30 AM start from Tooth Rock, 8:00 PM finish. Was just going to do Tanner, but my time was looking good. Nice views from the top. Did the old highway instead of the 400 to get from the hatchery back to the Tooth. There was a 1/2 mile stretch of snow behind Tanner, and a few spots here and there above 4000', but everything else was clear. Eagle Creek crossi...
9 miles / 1,750 feet gained
After North Lake, headed up to Larch. The gate is still closed and there is a good bit of snow 2 miles from the parking lot downward. The trail has very little if no snow by now.
11 miles / 2,250 feet gained
Started up Wyeth, wasn't a fan of the exposure on that trail, so I drove around to the back of Defiance and hiked North Lake from the back. Snow started around 3800'.
11.5 miles / 1,250 feet gained
Went almost to about the Kinzel Lake turn off. Another nice day!
2 miles / 250 feet gained
A little more hiking. It was too nice out to return to Portland so fast.
12.5 miles / 1,250 feet gained
Now is the time to go up to the Lewis River. The river is flowing really nicely right now, and even on a Saturday, there were very few people there—I don't think people realize it's melted out. I hit a few spots I haven't done before—the Big Creek Falls trail, the trails between the main falls, and a smidge of Quartz Creek. The overlook at Big Creek Falls wa...
3.5 miles / 1,250 feet gained
A very brief trip up Ruckel Creek to do some thinking and look for some waterfalls.
9.5 miles / 1,750 feet gained
The "other" Eagle Creek. This place is pretty cool—has an ONP kind of river walk vibe, but is far closer to home. (A high-wall canyon with tons of moss). Started around 2p and just had a few hours—I'd like to get farther next time, but started a bit back from the trailhead due to some iffy logging roads with mud that kept my little car from making it the who...
8 miles / 2,250 feet gained
Didn't quite make it all the way up to the top due to super warm weather, a desire not to do 1 mi of side hilling where the regular road/trail is, and the cornices on the scramble route—went to the northern "peak" instead. Sustained 40mph winds around the top. Nice day!
22 miles / 1,500 feet gained / 1 night
I have the whole week off (sort of), so I thought I'd spend a few days hiking and fishing. The Metolius River was recommended as a great place to fly fish and hike in the winter, so I thought I'd give it a shot. This trail is a mix of complete solitude and crowded trails. There are stretches where I would see no one for miles and then I would see a bundle of...
9 miles / 1,000 feet gained
A mid-day jaunt around the Molalla River trail system. It's eerie how strikingly similar this area is to Forest Park. (Plus ants; thousands and thousands of ants).
8 miles / 500 feet gained / 1 night
Another quick overnighter, this time to Siouxon Creek. 1hr 20 min from door to trailhead. Got the green light from weekend_warrior that the road hump was snow free. As always, this one's a winner—without a doubt the best creek hike in the area. Got in around 3p, hiked about 4 miles out to the slick waterfall before the bridge to Chinook falls. That thing is ...
8 miles / 750 feet gained / 1 night
I wanted to take advantage of the great weather this weekend, so I made a quick Friday afternoon trip out to Opal Creek. Camped a few hundred feet from Opal Pool in a small melted out spot. Saw no one else in the evening. The wood was so damp I could not get a fire started—even with a little cheating. Fantastic weather.
2 miles / 250 feet gained
A quick pre-trip hike to Henline Falls. This would make a really nice summer swimming hole—but it's probably really crowded on weekends. Also, the Silver King mine is gated only a few dozen feet in now.
10 miles / 3,250 feet gained
Some wandering along the PCT. Was going to go up Table the back way but the amount of snow and 2p start made me decide to call it at 10 miles.
2.5 miles / 250 feet gained
Was going to go up to Trapper Creek but the snow level was around 1000'. Decided do scrap the hike and just go up to Panther Creek Falls. Ran into snow about 1 mile from the falls, so hiked in about a mile.
12.5 miles / 750 feet gained
I was hoping for some more sunny weather so I made the trip out to Swale Canyon. Other past trip reports made this place look appealing, and indeed, it was a nice area to explore. I didn't see another soul—except a few birds, some ducks and two marmots. No flowering just yet—still another few weeks out I'd bet.
4 miles / 1,250 feet gained
I felt like I needed to hike so I made a quick late Monday afternoon trip to the back end of Archer Mountain complex from Dunn Creek Road. The dog in the picture lives next to the trailhead and followed me around everywhere.
9 miles / 2,250 feet gained
It has long been thought that Medieval labyrinths were used as ritualistic pathways; a place to accomplish prayers and devotions. The Labyrinth area at Coyote Wall offers an oddly similar opportunity. Frankly, I've always put off going out to this location because it looked, well, boring. But now that I've visited, I can see the appeal. While somewhat occupi...
5 miles / 1,250 feet gained
A quick trip up to Tri-County/Ghost Ridge and a bit beyond. Cloudy weather. Hard snowpack.
10 miles / 4,000 feet gained
A nice sunny day on the mountain. The snow was pretty firm from the use up to Tilly Jane, mush from Tilly to the shelter, and then solid ice past the shelter. Took a few wrong turns on the way up and down, but they ended up being helpful because they put me in an icy river basin that was easy to climb up on. Went up to about the 7200' mark—a sheet of ice, no...
8 miles / 2,500 feet gained
Headed up the PCT towards Table. Again, foul weather so turned around near the Heartbreak Ridge turnoff and went down toward the powerline road to make a small loop
10 miles / 2,500 feet gained
Hamilton Mountain on the free day. The winds had to be approaching 60 mph down at Beacon Rock. Went down the horse trail way to make a bit bigger loop.
5.5 miles / 500 feet gained
Did a little bit of wandering around the Starvation area, and down to Viento. Thought about doing Defiance but decided against it due to poor weather and a late start
4 miles / 750 feet gained
I was planning on doing Newton Creek for a shorter morning hike, but things were very mushy due to the nice weather up on Hood, which made things painfully slow. So I decided to make better use of my time and head down to a place I hadn't been before—Tamanawas Falls. This is a nice little hike, and it's definitely worth doing in the snow. The pictures don't ...
6 miles / 500 feet gained
It was nice out today. A bit shorter of a trip than planned due to a late start and bad roads taking up more time than expected. About 20º out, but breaking trail kept the cold in check. The snow was powdery and just a little sinky. I ended up turning around at the terrible traverse—the snow looked fine, and the avalanche forecast was okay, but because I was...
8 miles / 1,750 feet gained
A last minute decision to avail myself of the fine weather we've been having, and a great first hike of the year. Did the quick hike up to Larch from the gate. I hit the weather just right, with sun just until I returned to the car. It was really the nicest I've ever seen it up there.
