Spencer Butte Magic
The night before plans were set to drive to Westfir to hike North Fork of Middle Fork; of all the idea hikes, Marys Peak, Silver Falls, and Ridgeline, North Fork was the only one forecasted to have sun without fog. Then morning of the hike while checking weather one last time and finding no changes, I realized that all the hikes were similar wrt traffic, remoteness, conditions, etc … except Westfir required 1.5 car hours – for the same type of experience as Spencer Butte with 30 minutes. A river hike with sun didn’t remove the extra hour hurdle.
Spencer weather turned out to be warmer and more sun than Tuesday’s Ridgeline hike.
— clicking on photos opens higher quality resolution version —
The last days of the full moon were barely visible through the fog in the early morning …
… but by the time I reached Spencer summit, the sun was shining. The valley fog remained lower down, but beautiful.
The Route
Started at Blanton Ridge and then to Spencer Top; down to S. Willamette back to Spencer Top and then down to Fox Hollow and finally back to Spencer Top before heading back to Blanton.
Left Blanton before 07:00 with headlamp on. Again, 450L headlamp barely pierced the thick fog at the start. Immediately within the woods a group of 2-3 deer met me with their star-light eyes reflecting bac my headlamp. Human traffic was light until Spencer – in fact, nobody until after the final summit section the first time. Trail conditions were perfect.
Tree sun-dance magic
Once the sun and fog start their dance and one finds themselves in the right place at the right time … pure tree sun-dance magic
Data Geek Cellar
- Shoes: Altra Lone Peak mesh trail runners
- Pack: Yar.gear Ultra 38L – full shoulder season kit
- Upper Layers: 3 (base layer, med Patagonia tech, FarPointe Fleece only first 3 hrs)
- Upper shell: None
- Trekking Poles: Yes
- Approximate Times: 06:45 to 12:15
- Carbon ratio: .5 total driving – 1.5 target, 5.25 actual – 15 hours banked YTD
- Notes: More leisurely hike than Tuesday with more photos taken
All Trails
