Uniquely Ochoco Mts – Walton Lake

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, except for a one deer at the Lookout Mt TH.

Walton Lake campground is dark, very dark (no electricity anywhere close); the stars explode over you at night. The campground itself is split in half with the more ‘modern’ sites on one side of the lake and the more primitive (tents mostly) on the other. We stayed the entire time on the ‘tent’ side. Directly opposite the eagles’ nest.

These eagle parents behaved oddly. They never sat ‘in the nest’ but one was always perched high above the lake. The first 2 days we didn’t see them hunt – fish or ducks. Then later, they caught a couple fish and just dropped in nest. Every morning their cries came before most birds and then one adult would fly off.

Other years, the eagles were very interested in the baby swimmers, but they seemed to ignore them mostly (one dive miss at ducks). We counted 3 different groups of babies and sadly, humans feed them.

One night, we were sitting at lakeside a dusk waiting for a planet show – Jupiter and Mercury vertically aligned. Fish were jumping all day catching flying insects and kept at it as the sun fell. Then, a kettle of nighthawks arrived and took over the bug catching. We watched a great show while the birds swooped, swarmed and moved like magic. Then they were gone. The kettle never came back – just 1 or 2 birds the other evenings. After that show, Jupiter and Mercury staring still in straight line was ‘ok’.

Wildflowers were a tad past ‘perfect peak bloom’ but didn’t disappoint. Different elevation had unique flowers and they were different between Round and Lookout Mountains; those two mountains being about 7 miles apart are NOTHING alike.

Given the lateness in the season, not calendar, the Big Summit Wild Horses were not seen. Their territorial markings were at least weeks old around both springs where water was hardly flowing. We also noticed MTB traffic that was non-existent in past years.

Three Walton Lake camps in four years, and the lake has never given the same adventure twice. This season was weeks early — no snow and the large mammals simply gone — so wildflowers and eagles carried it, until the one night the nighthawks came swarming in a kettle larger than 20 birds. Jupiter and Mercury, stacked vertical in a dark sky later capped the night.

The Hikes

Lookout Mt

The longer hike of the two starts 7 miles below Walton Lake. I hiked solo on the way up to Walton Lake and my sister and I hiked on my way home. The first day was very cold above the trees after frozen fog. Lookout Mt is a large flat rabbitbrush meadow and most of the way is through ponderosa pine meadows so unlike those at Camp Sherman.

Trail conditions: rocky ground and a steady climb and in perfect condition. Human traffic was very light and MTBs come down the hill usually going up Round Mt.

Round Mt

I hiked Round 3x over the stay and each time was different. The trail is shorter than Lookout but steeper it seems. The last section is around and through a huge California Corn Lilly meadows. From top of Round Mt the first morning, Mt Bachelor to Mt Adams and then around to John Day Plateau and Painted Hills were all visible.

Trail conditions were pristine, perfectly clean but soft.

Gear Box

Altra TIMP 6 were worn exclusively on this trip. Boots for Lookout Mt with all the uneven rock surfaces, and low-tops for Round Mt with smooth forest-duff trail surface. Over the 62 miles in 4 days, my feet were never in pain. Timp 6 is now my ‘default’ shoe.