Off-trailing in the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness

For our final foray into the wilderness for May, we decided to head into some previously uncharted territory for us. And, as it turns out, for many others in the last 70 years.

We had a rough, late-ish morning after attending our friend's wedding. I was mildly hungover and very tired/sore from a week of intense crossfit. We started along an old forest road full of salmon berries.

Salmon berries!

At this point we expected the trail to be pretty easy going up to McIntyre Ridge. We encountered some very cold but beautiful mist among the large trees and rhododendron bushes.

Just below McIntyre Ridge.

After climbing for almost 9 miles, we stopped for lunch atop Wildcat Mountain.

Chilly lunch overlooking wildcat creek.

Despite telling ourselves we'd take it easy on miles after our last outing, we ended up picking a route that required between 12 and 15 miles every day again. After spending the night at Twin Springs Campground, we hiked to Tumalo Mountain, a spot Peter has been eyeing for some time now.

Taking a break atop Tumalo Mountain.

Following our short morning break, we began our descent down to the Roaring River. We should have known it would be a brutal trek when we lost the trail at the very start. Once regaining it, we started an extremely steep descent. We took a break near half way down by Huxley lake. It was intensely overgrown and the water was so red/green that we weren't even tempted to swim.

Skunk Cabbage - there were gardens of this near the lake in the marshy fields.

All told, we had 3.5 miles to get down to the river and back up the other side, hopefully to a nice ridge-trail. Starting at 2:30 in the afternoon we assumed we'd have no problem. We finally made it to the river which had no bridge. We decided to cross in our shoes (sans socks) due to slippery rocks and a substantial current up to waist height (for me).

Roaring River, preparing to ford.

Crossing proved cold and tiring, we pressed on for a little while to dry ourselves a bit before stopping to have dinner. After about 30 minutes we found a trail, which soon dead-ended at a nice campsite.

At end of abandoned trail near sunset, beneath Dry Ridge.

We decided to have dinner as we were pretty calorie deficient at this point (per usual). We filled our water (5 liters) at a small tributary in anticipating of not finding anything up on top of the ridge. At this point, the GPS and our two different maps were telling us 2 different things. We decided this time to trust the GPS/forest map and crossed the creek.

Creek Crossing.

We spent the rest of the evening bushwhacking up Dry Ridge. Every 15 minutes we would think we saw a trace of a trail, but it would always disappear. It was a beautiful time of day, the sunset light filtering in to the forest.

Rhododendron at sunset on Dry Ridge.

We had 2400 feet to climb over 1.5 miles. We were sometimes pulling ourselves up more than 45 degrees on a ridge covered in fallen trees, vine maples, densely packed bushes and old rotting wood that would collapse under our weight every 5 - 10 steps. By dark, we decided to stop, but we weren't even half way up yet.

I'm bushwhacking in this forest. Can you find me?

We kept thinking we'd find the trail if we just went a bit further. Just a bit further. Luckily by 8 pm we used our better judgement and stopped to let our bodies rest.

Camp. The most flat spot we could find.

In the morning we headed out in anticipation of finding an obvious trail crossing, according to the maps. After several hours, we didn't find it. There was no trail anywhere within 2 miles of the river. Eventually, we made it far enough to get near some more recently used and maintained trails.

'Road 4611' was back across the Roaring River.

It took us 8 hours to go 2.5 - 3.5 miles. This trail has not been touched in probably nearly 70 years. It was a brutally steep, incredibly overgrown ridge. It was such a spectacular relief to reach this point. Our next stop was a place I'd visited myself on my first solo backpacking trip: Serene Lake.

Siesta at Serene Lake.

It was a wonderful stop. We spent nearly 5 hours lounging around - taking a nap, a long lunch, a dip in the lake. We didn't see another soul. In fact, at this point, we hadn't really seen anyone on our trip aside from a couple mountain bikers on the first night. This isn't altogether surprising, looking back at the state of the trail :).

Dinner near High Rock.

We continued on, weary from our travels. We still had more than 20 miles to cover, and only one more day to finish. We hiked for several hours, finally settling at a spot off of a forest road that had views of the mountain.

Hood from campsite

When we first reached this spot, we decided to just take a look at the mountain, maybe have a bit of whiskey to celebrate. At this point, our trail was expected to be all downhill, at a relatively gentle grade. Something we knew we could finish, despite the many miles ahead. We were ready to stop, but felt like we should hike for another 5 - 7 miles first. We checked the gps and found a surprise: we only had 13 miles left.

Fire after dinner, watching sun set on the mountain.

Confident we'd be able to finish in time to make it back to Tualatin for Haile's final middle school orchestra performance, we decided to stay. Our only concern at this point was water - we were running low. We hiked to Hambone Springs and spent a solid 20 minutes trying to find water after finally heading down a tiny trail to an old work-camp pool which we slowly filled from.

Napping near Hambone Springs.

It was cold enough to warrant wearing a long sleeve top most of the morning. This helped keep the pesky mosquitoes at bay as well. We walked along an old forest road, headed toward Salmon Butte. There were many rocky cliffs in the forests, lush valleys below. This area seemed to get no traffic, we guessed that many of these cliffs had never been explored.

Unnamed butte.

When we finally reached Salmon Butte we were so utterly devastated that we were barely able to move our legs. Any uphill, just lifting our legs, required intense effort. It wasn't painful, just slow. Salmon Butte was a supposed 100 foot climb up from the main trail. It felt more like 500 feet.

Salmon Butte. From here we could see Jefferson, Adams, Helens & clouds where Rainier should have been.

We stopped for awhile, finding it difficult to get up from our seats. We were supposed to meet Hanna at 5pm at the trailhead and expected to get there by 3 at this point. When the GPS told us we had a mile left, we slowed down, enjoying wonderful fields of flowers and tall grasses dappled with sunshine, swaying in the breeze.

Unexpected spring explosion on the old forest road.

After more than an hour of walking on this old road we popped out into a parking lot. Civilization. My shoes were still semi-wet and soggy from the climb through the river and we smelled like we hadn't showered in a month. It was a relief to hop in the car.

Dappled grasses and soft trail.

As always, it's good to be home. To shower. To be with the kids. But the wilderness is calling and I wonder how long we'll hold out before we're there full time.

Northern Deschutes: Maupin to Columbia River

On April 30, 2016, we headed to the property for a relaxing evening before what would prove to be our highest miles/day backpacking trip yet.

Roasting some sausages at the creek.

You can see my new-ish sandals here - which I took on the trip. This was a mistake. I ended up not bringing extra shoes and these were too narrrow - something not apparent until hiking several miles. Before bed, I made up some trailmix... a very mundane task, but everything feels so much more satisfying in the wilderness :).

Chopping some dried fruits, kerosene lamplight.

Early in the morning, Peter's mother drove us to Maupin, a mere 51 miles south of our final destination at the mouth of the Deschutes River as it crashes into the Columbia just outside the Dalles.

We started in Maupin (map 5) and headed north through maps 6 - 10.

Second half of trip

Despite being in the high desert, the river country can be quite beautiful. Within a couple miles we were greeted with some very enticing falls.

Falls just outside of Maupin.

Around 9 miles, we came to a fork in the road with a small farm and creek. It was quite the little paradise and the owner appeared to have a decent amount of land as his name was on many signs along the trail.

Farm, approximately 9 miles north of Maupin.

Around this time, my feet became a nuisance. I had massive blisters on both sides of both feet - the only way to make progress was to walk without stopping. Around 10 miles I stopped and popped the blisters and tried to clean everything. I've never before experienced such intense stinging - it only got more irritating as the day progressed.

Above Trestle Hole Rapids

We had less than 72 hours to complete our 51 miles. This worked out to 17 miles a day. Our first campsite was at Jones Canyon - a surprisingly lush campground. It was to be our only night on the road portion of the trail. After 20 miles we anticipated the road ending and only foot traffic permitted. With my feet acting up around 10 miles, I was quite relieved to make it to camp.

Filling up at Jones Canyon.

After learning our lesson in the Grand Canyon, we try to hike as early as possible and take long breaks mid-day in the desert. The sun is just too intense.

Approaching Beavertail, early morning on day 2.

We have found that early morning and late afternoon are our favorite times of day. Places we visit during these hours are often most memorable and most beautiful.

Approaching Rattlesnake Canyon

By late morning we were headed toward Box Elder canyon, a canyon full of more jagged, abrupt edges.

Approaching Box Elder canyon

While there, we spotted a bald eagle - we saw this eagle throughout the day fighting with other birds.

Bald eagle atop Box Elder canyon

By midday we were very happy to make it to Mack's Canyon - finally dropping back down to the river and shady trees aplenty. This was the last spot on the trail that would allow cars, so we looked forward to the afternoon hike.

Mack's Canyon

The afternoon proved much more difficult than anticipated. It started off easily enough with old railroad ties.

Start of old abandoned railroad trail

However, there were a number of miles of completely un-maintained trail. In some spots, the owner of the nearby land had placed a 2.5 foot tall barbed wire fence right in the middle of the overgrown, narrow trail. There was a decent amount of cursing and very very slow going. Places that used to be fortified for the trains had fallen apart and required a lot of steep, rocky descents/climbs.

Final stretch of abandoned trail. Valley with 'steps' in the distance, steps much too tall to climb up.

We finally made it back to a more maintained trail with about 20 miles left. It was a spectacular relief, less large rocks in the trail and no more barbed wire. Our final resting spot for the day was Lockit, a nice flat area beneath the trail. We were in a bit of a no-man's land for trail camping and water access was a bit more questionable. Most of the camping along the no-car section caters to boaters rather than hikers. That being said, it was wonderful as always. In the morning we were greeted with a beautiful sunrise on distant hills, and finally some cloud cover.

Sunrise near Lockit

On our final day, the miles went much more slowly. I was back in my sandals (Peter let me use his tennis shoes for day 2) so walking was more difficult.  The clouds came in more as the day progressed, keeping us much cooler for the final stretch.

Clouds moving in.

This old railroad used to house many folks in an old town called Harris. The railroad on this side of the river was in competition with the railroad on the other side of the river - the other side won out.

Harris water tower. Last one remaining of 8 that powered the steam engines.

There were more signs of life at this section of trail than anywhere else.

Abandoned home on farmland.

The rest of the day remained quite hot - it wasn't until just a couple hours before making it to the Columbia River that it actually cooled off significantly.

Clouds on the final stretch

We were heavily medicated for the last 6 - 8 miles, me mostly for my feet. This was a time that I was grateful we packed a bit more liquor as it was pretty intense.

It's nice to know that we're capable of such long distance backpacking, but I think we'll generally stick to our usual routine of more relaxing, less intense hiking. It's fun to do occasionally, but we really prefer to take everything in.

Eastern Gorge Extravaganza

It always happens at the start of spring that we are jonesing to get out for a solid backpacking trip, but the snow hasn't melted on the mountain, or even in the typical Columbia Gorge hikes. This year, Peter found us some spectacular wildflowers + sun.

The El Nino year is giving us some beautiful blooms + lots of sunshine (though I cringe at the thought of what's to come for us by mid-summer).

Memaloose Overlook Trail

We started Saturday morning with a drive out to the Memaloose Overlook - it was crowded, but the Balsam Root were prolific! The trail crossed over one or two tiny creeks, winding through beautiful oak forests.

Creek in Oak Forest

The trail splits and you have the option to climb Marsh Hill:

Marsh Hill + Mt. Hood.

Or the slightly taller Chatfield Hill:

Entrance to Chatfield Hill.

Every few minutes we would come upon a larger field of wildflowers. Mostly Balsam Root, but also lots of Lupine. It smelled incredible.

Balsamroot + Lupine on Chatfield Hill.

The clouds started to come in (which was a welcome break - it was nearly 80 degrees with no cloud cover) so we headed back toward the trailhead to find a lunch/nap spot.

Clouds over Chatfield Hill.

On our way back, Peter spotted an alligator lizard in an old oak tree skeleton. I spent 15 minutes hanging out with a family of about 3 - they were so curious and interested in just sitting near me, doing 'lizard push ups'.

Alligator lizard.

We found a pretty stellar oak forest for resting:

Oak forest at lunch time.

With a couple hours of daylight left, we headed out for one more hike.

Walking back toward Memaloose Overlook.

Since it was a beautiful Saturday, we continued to anticipate very large crowds and lack of parking. To get the most of out of this non-standard setup (for us), we headed to another very popular spot: Rowena Crest.

Rowena Crest, Catherine Creek in the distance.

We've been trying some barefoot walking/hiking of late, and the trail here was perfectly soft. A good way to slow down, immerse yourself in your environment.

Barefoot on Rowena Crest.

We walked to the end of the Plateau and had it to ourselves for a bit. Staring off into the nearby valley and across the river, we spotted a family of deer feeding at sunset.

View of Columbia River from Tom McCall.

After a very full day, we tried to find some satisfying camping. (sidenote: we are looking forward to getting a truck so we can sleep in the bed rather than needing an established campground for our tent) We ended up finding a good spot at Memaloose State Park - a very crowded campground, but the sound of the train + highway was actually enough to lull us to sleep. In the morning, we enjoyed the rest stop which shares the same exit off of 84.

View from Memaloose State Park rest area.

We enjoyed some wraps for breakfast

Mmmm breakfast wraps.

while eyeing our destination for the end of the trip across the river...

Catherine Creek from the rest stop.

Following breakfast, we went to another new trail - the Klickitat River Trail. Rumored to be reminiscent of another favorite of ours (the Deschutes River Trail), we set out to spend a day exploring. The first couple miles were pretty wonderful with lots of hidden coves.

Klickitat River.

We spotted a waterfall off the main trail.

Waterfall near Lyle.

After not too long, we came across some poorly maintained land which was full of trash and abandoned buildings. We continued on, hoping for some kind of oasis in the desert. It was hot (>80), no clouds, largely shade-free with how high the sun was in the sky.

Glaring sun at every turn.

After 4 hours we stopped in the shade and turned around, eager to climb off the trail into a lunch spot above the river.

Looking for picnic/nap spot in the forest.

There were a lot of wild cucumber plants around - speckled with tiny white flowers.

Wild cucumber.

It turns out that wild cucumber is not edible. This didn't stop us from trying some, but I would not recommend it. After lunch/napping, we headed back - eager to splash around in the waterfall we saw on the way in.

Much needed dip above the waterfall.

The water was cold, but perhaps the most refreshing dip we've had in awhile. We spent awhile here, having a bit of whiskey, enjoying the shade. One of our favorite parts of the trail, second only to the spot we found at sunset.

Gate between waterfall and main trail.

The walk back found us mesmerized by the river, birds, magical afternoon light.

Water patterns in Klickitat River.

Peter remembered a spot off the trail he wanted to visit - a special private island. We could see people on the opposite shore, but we had this spot to ourselves!

Walking down to sunset oasis.

Drunk on love, whiskey & sunshine, we decided to go for another dip.

Swim # 2 in the Klickitat.

This dip was even more magical than the last. A couple wild turkeys joined us as we were headed out. We wandered off the main trail on the way back to the car and fell in love with the setup of a little house on a long driveway... fantasizing about a simpler life in a place with oak trees and rivers and fields of flowers in our yard.

Driveway to a dream.

We tried to find another camp spot, but ended up back at Memaloose State Park. In the morning, we ventured to Catherine Creek - a favorite for springtime sunshine.

Waterfall west of the Labrynth.

It was HOT. This meant not many photos. We were on the lookout for a good spot to backpack but it turns out there really isn't much that's especially cozy. Most of it would require a very long trek in the heat which isn't very satisfying with a big pack.

Climbing the hill above Coyote Wall.

We revisited some of our favorite spots and ended the day traipsing through the beautiful rolling hills of silvery grass and tiny white flowers.

Columbia River at sunset.

A throwback to our prior trip out here:

Lunch above Catherine Creek.

Our favorite oak tree + creek:

Oak at sunset.

Another successful outing. Every time we venture into the wilderness it's incredibly satisfying. We wonder if we'll ever tire of the outdoors, staring off into a field of flowers or mountain streams. I expect I'll crave this the rest of my days.

Shadows at sunset.