August fire skies above Ridgeline

Initially, Fuji Mt was the target destination to climb above the fog and smoke to photo the near-by fires, Emigrant (lower left) and Flat (upper right).

Emigrant fire closed all recreational sites around the Middle Fork of Willamette River and is now burning over 10,000 acres and extremely close to Indigo Springs (a small creek that pops out of hill at 10-15 ft wide like Metolius River). Given those closures and fires burning, I decided to forgo that trip and stay in-town on Ridgeline Trail.

Sadly, not everybody on the Ridgeline Trail is familiar with Leave No Trace Behind.

The Route

Started around 5:45 with headlamp from Spring Blv TH and then to Spencer Top; down to S. Willamette TH and back to Spencer Tp; down to Blanton Ridge TH and back to Spencer Top; finally, down to Spring Blvd TH around 2:00pm.

Trail conditions were ok – ground was really, really hard with that crushed gravel the parks applies. Human traffic was light except the Spencer summit section. Animal life was minimal and only 1 deer showed itself as I stopped for lunch down by Blanton.

Fire Skies

Early morning before the sun blasted it away, a bit of fog and smoke from those fires colored the eastern sky.

Once atop Spencer, the skies opened up a bit, but still strange, and that weird rainbow in the fog probably came from something on my pack or hat, but I couldn’t find it. Maybe my aura?

Coming back around Baldy after noon, the smoke against the eastern hills showed where one would NOT want to hike on this day.

I am not a fan of the hard, hard gravel on the trail, but when the mountains are not safe, a close-in hike can be just what’s needed.

Data Geek Cellar

• Shoes: Altra Lone Peak 7 mesh uppers
• Pack: Gossamer Gear Fast Kumo. 36
• Upper Layers: 1 (Far Pointe Sun Hoodie)
• Upper shell: none
• Trekking Poles: Gossamer Gear
• Approximate Times: 05:45 – 2:00
• Carbon ratio: 6.25 hours (1.5 hours driving: 7.75 hours hiking); YTD = 144 hours banked
• Notes:
  • Photos: few
  • Speed: medium
  • Difficulty: moderate with 3x up Spencer Butte