After what seems like years, the heat and sun (and all the fire impacts) gave a little way for a series of rain storms from the Pacific. I think everybody wanted to be out in the rain after the desert-like parching. Initially, I thought hiking Hardesty Mt to walk under those great trees in the…
Honoring a request, I changed a backpacking plan for car-camping at Crescent Lake to explore the lakes between Crescent Lake and Diamond Peak for 3 days. Three very different hikes: a) Whitefish Creek and Crater Butte; b) Oldenberg and Windy Lakes; and c) Maiden Peak (on way home). The larger lake names read like characters…
To expand Saturday’s PCT hike from Willamette Pass to Bobby Lake, yesterday was the PCT from Bobby Lake NOBO to Charlton Lake and back with a pass up The Twins. The woods were basically empty – literally. I saw maybe 10 PCTers and 1 local hiker the entire time. Animals and birds were scarce as…
Saturday, I headed up to Willamette Pass to hike PCT NOBO and back with objective of hitting Bobby Lake and Maiden Peak. I arrived around 5am and was hiking by 5:15 with headlamp – just as 2 trail runners were heading out as well. The runners informed me that about 150 runners – The Waldo…
I initially planned to go to Willamette Pass, but woke up unwilling to drive far … so at last minute, went to Pisgah. Timed the start for sunrise after the top … the view to Sisters was as expected and they hid behind clouds and haze the rest of the day. A full (or nearly)…
With good weather and wild fire smoke avoiding the west side of Three Sisters Wilderness and an Obsidian TH day hike permit … perfect. I started at TH around 6:00 went straight up Obsidian Trail. At one of the first burn scar clearings, sunrise came over the ridge on the knoll. Middle Sister quickly comes…
For several nights, my sister, her partner and I camped at Walton Lake in the OR Ochoco Mountains. This was my third visit in four years, and their first time. Seasonally, this was the latest I’d been there even though same on the calendar. Snow was complete gone even above 7,000 ft. Large mammals non-existent,…
On the way to Portland to visit friends, I stopped over at Silver Falls State Park for a quick trip through the 10 Waterfalls. My car was the first in North Falls TH parking lot and that early start gave me about 3 hours of solitude. By 10:00-10:30, the parking lot was full and humans…
Central cascades snowpack remains historically low and suggests that early June could be the start of Willamette National Forest’s great mosquito gauntlet – a couple weeks early traditionally. If you have not experienced that gauntlet, don’t … find another hike. I headed to Mckenzie River trail to add the lower, wild section downriver from Koosah…
A warm, balmy day threatening rain all afternoon, but the scrub oak meadows were full of summer flowers, interesting lizards, new song birds … how better to spend the afternoon? I left North TH around 11:15 and hiked Mt Pisgah via trails #3 and #4. Human traffic was seasonally low – almost none. The threatening…
