June 2003 |
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We are staying on this large spacious site, with good facilities, for a month which has many advantages. It doesn't matter too much if you have some cloudy/rainy days as those provide rest & relaxation and the opportunity to make future lodging/hiking/sightseeing plans. Our intention is to spend a month in the Sisters area of the central Oregon Cascade mountains and then a month in the Cascade mountains around Leavenworth in Washington state. As these are popular areas in prime holiday time we need to make reservations ahead of time. Also since these areas are very popular not all RV parks will give a monthly rate as they reckon to be full anyway. During one of the cloudy/rainy days we investigate the Sisters area of Oregon for our next months stay but the July 4th holiday gets in the way and those RV parks that will do a monthly rate are full up. This necessitates a change of plan, we will spend 10 days in the Columbia River Gorge (no hardship there) and spend a week in the expensive Sisters KOA over the holiday. Our selected RV park in the Leavenworth area can't take us until the 10th of August so we have plenty of time to arrange something in the Sisters area and in August even more hikes will be available as the snow level improves.
Evergreen Curling Club, Portland/Vancouver Bonspeil -The Portland area is undergoing a five day hot spell with temperatures in the 90's, quite unusual at this time of year. It happens to coincide with the Portland/Vancouver Bonspeil (Not Vancouver, Canada but Vancouver, Washington state). We had intended visiting the Bonspeil on the Saturday but Friday is much too hot for hiking so we combine a supply expedition to Portland with an evening Bonspeil visit. Not a bad day to be shopping as the air-conditioned shops are a haven of cool. We start to wonder if they can keep the ice sheet frozen (will it be stiff ice?) and since ice for coolers is selling like hotcakes today perhaps the ice rink has been mugged? We arrive at the ice rink at the same time as some of the competitors, including a Scot from California. Found Arnie Iwanick, who we had met at the Ogden Bonspeil. He was busy working on the ice but had time for a bit of a blether before he played in the first session. We were offered the opportunity to play in the Bonspeil, but we had deliberately left our Curling gear in the RV as we both agreed Ogden was a Bonspeil too far. Arnie recommended a nearby German Restaurant, which brewed it's own beer, an excellent meal washed down by terrific beer. Suitably watered & fed we returned to watch some of this summer Bonspeil. The Bonspeil was well supported (28? teams) with Seattle and the Vancouver (Canada) area providing the bulk of the visitors.
Evergreen Curling club has a large number of expat Canadians in their membership, which is growing to such an extent that they will have two sessions of Curling next season and they are looking at premises to house their own dedicated Curling club. Some people in Curling criticized NBC's coverage of the Olympic Curling but stories like Florida, Ogden & Portland (and no doubt many more) suggest that perhaps the criticism was unwarranted. On a lighter note this Bonspeil is worth visiting just as a spectator as they were serving 2 draft ales from the Portland Microbrewery (Beer with flavour!).
Mirror Lake/Tom, Dick & Harry Mt - This 6.4 mile round trip is well worth the small amount of effort required. The trip to the lake requires almost no effort through old growth forest, with wildflowers along the way to hold your interest, making this one
of the most popular hikes in the area. It is especially popular with photographers because as the name suggests, at the correct time of day, a mirror image of Mt. Hood's peak is reflected in the lakes surface. 
Beyond the lake the wildflower lined path ascends steadily, with regular views, to the 3 peaked Tom, Dick & Harry mountain. Two of the peaks are out of bounds due to Peregrine Falcon breeding grounds. Don't worry the view from the available peak (Tom, Dick or Harry?) is terrific. We were up early to beat the rush hour and were sitting atop of Harry (or Tom? or Dick?) before 11 a.m. but more importantly 45 minutes before anyone else. From the top there are great views of five Cascade volcanic peaks - Hood and Jefferson in Oregon, and Adams, Rainier and St. Helens in Washington, all covered in snow. We took a very early lunch while noting how many bodies had arrived at Mirror Lake, and wondering how many would join us in the peace and quiet. Eventually we were joined by three guys all amazed at how clear the views were. As more hikers arrived we vacated our prime position (an armchair of rocks) for the late arrivals, meeting many more parties on the way down. Wildlife included toads, small snakes, lizards, birds and some city dwellers from Portland. Based on a reward for effort basis this is surely one of the best hikes in the Mt Hood area.
Twin Lakes - This 9.1 mile loop starts & finishes on the Pacific Crest National Trail (Mexico to Canada). Unfortunately it is not the most interesting section of this long distance path as it is relatively thickly forested. The lakes were deep in the forest (I guess lake lovers would find them attractive?) with the upper lake offering a glimpse of Mt. Hoods peak. We continued to Palmateer Point having to remove our boots and socks to ford a fast running and very cold creek. We were rewarded by an excellent view of the southeast side of Mt. Hood, and the Badger Creek Wilderness. Swallowtail Butterflies enjoyed the many wildflowers (including Indian Paintbrush) on the ridge. The return path had some deep patches of snow but the trail was wide and the forest thick so only the path had snow making it easy to follow.
Wild Wood Recreation Area - This forest service day use area is adjacent to our RV park connected by a short trail. It has a well designed and interesting nature trail & the Salmon Creek trail. The Salmon Creek trail has lots of points of interest throughout, including an underwater viewing area, where you can watch and learn about the underwater inhabitants. The nature trail is set out on a boardwalk over marsh and ponds, a great environment for wildlife particularly birds. We arrived there in early afternoon and vowed to return at a later date when the birds would be more active, although we spotted a few birds including a Pileated Woodpecker.
Wildcat Mountain - A 10 mile round trip to the site of an old fire lookout tower atop Wildcat Mt.
The 4.1 mile drive to the trailhead took us high above part of the forest, giving us views of the valley below and Mt. Hood. The trail gains elevation gradually up Mcintyre ridge, lined with Rhododendrons, with intermittent views of Mt Hood and the surrounding mountains. At 2.1 miles the trail emerges in a clearing with good view of Mt Hood, crosses a meadow of Beargrass to a bare rocky rise for the best full view of Mt. Hood we've enjoyed so far. On a very clear day you can see Mt Jefferson and the Coastal mountains from this point but the heat haze made it impossible the day we visited. There is even a bench seat at this scenic vista, allowing you to eat your lunch in real comfort (no stone edges digging into the posterior). Unfortunately our guidebook told us to continue a further mile (which at this time of the year was mostly covered in deep snow) to the old fire lookout site atop Wildcat Mountain. The views are inferior to those a few hundred feet lower and a mile further back, and there is no bench seat. We ate our lunch in the interesting company of Jean & Bill Glynn from Oregon City whom we had encountered previously on the nightmare slog up Hunchback Mountain. On our return journey we spotted a Varied Thrush, lots of Junco's and Yellow Rumped Warblers. Apparently the Beargrass in the meadow is not grass at all but a disguised Lily that blooms on a 2 or 3 year cycle, but not this year.
A very good hike, much easier than Hunchback Mountain with a far superior view of Mt Hood and the surrounding wilderness.
Ramona Falls - This 4.5 mile loop would be better done as an out & back alongside Ramona Creek as the southern leg along the Pacific Crest trail is dry, dusty and featureless, other than an occasional view of Mt Hood. Admittedly we did this hike on a very hot day and as this is normally a very popular hike we believe the forest service like the loop concept to ease congestion. The 45 foot fan type falls themselves are well worth the visit, set deep in the forest making for a very cool place to stop (some might say cold?, especially today when our body heat had reached a year high). The falls fan picturesquely across a stair-stepped cliff of columnar basalt. We shared this cool spot with a couple from Portland who told us they have frequented the falls often as they are high on their list of Oregon waterfalls. We left the falls just before the rush hour passing around 20 people in the first half mile of the return loop. This creekside path was much more enjoyable so we stopped for lunch and launched twigs down the mini rapids to see how far they got before succumbing to obstacles in Ramona Creek.
The waterfalls are well worth the visit, but better on a cool day before the rush.
Upper Salmon River Trail. This 6 mile loop along the Salmon river seemed ideal on a a cloudy day not expected to improve much. As we had not had much exercise for a couple of days we decided to go ahead. Rhododendrons throughout the trail compensated for the lack of views. Lunch was taken by the rushing Salmon River. The path had quite a few obstructions in the form of fallen trees some which we cleared (the small ones) the rest we climbed over. The sun came out in the afternoon making for a pleasant return leg. Visited Trillium Lake on the way back home, a picturesque water Lily covered lake with a good view of Mt Hood towering above.
East Zigzag Mountain- The trailhead is reached via 4.5 miles of very rough, narrow and winding road made narrower in places by fallen trees that had not yet been completely cleared from the road. The road itself had not been open all that long after the winter snow and Linda was pleased to see the end of it. There were lots of fallen trees to clamber over, under or around on the first mile of the very wide trail but once these obstacles were out of the way we got into full stride. The trail winds through many meadows filled with numerous wildflowers before ascending steeply to a magnificent lookout point. Sadly the cloud was quite thick with just a patch of blue sky and cloud covered Mt Hood. We clambered the final few feet to the top of 4,975 foot East Zigzag and settled down to lunch. While we ate lunch the sky started to clear allowing us to get a clear view of the top of Mt. Hood, the closest view we've had. Burnt Lake was nestled amongst trees below. As we started making our slow descent down the beautiful wildflower covered slope the sky cleared even more giving us views of Mt. Adams and Mt. Jefferson and the surrounding mountains. We took a few pictures of the flower covered slope with Mt Hood in the background. Our guidebook suggests a visit to Cast Lake on the return journey, so not wanting to miss anything we took the 1.4 mile trip to the lake. The steep descent to the lake offered not even a glimpse of anything but trees and meant we had a steep uphill climb back to the trail. Avalanche Lilies, Western Trillium, and a wonderful meadow of Wullie's favorite flower - red Paintbrush were just a few of the flowers we saw on this great hike.
After descending the 4.5 miles of rough, narrow & winding road Wullie thought Linda needed some consolation and treated her to a visit to the Mt. Hood Brewery for very tasty pizza washed down by a pitcher of Microbrewed beer. The perfect end to a near perfect day.
Bald Butte - This hike is on the east side of Mt Hood and had everything that makes for a good hike. As soon as we got out of the truck we were surrounded by such a variety of wild flowers we knew this was going to be enjoyable. Red Columbine, Honeysuckle, Nootka roses, bright yellow Balsamroot, Indian Paintbrush to name but a few (and others we are still trying to identify, Onion plant?). We ascended 2000 feet to the top of Bald Butte where we had a good view of St. Helens, Adams and Rainier, plus of course Mt Hood that watched over us the entire journey. While relaxing for lunch we were joined by a couple of young paragliders who hoped the thermals would take them soaring into the fruit growing Hood Valley below. The young lady asked us if we would like to drive her 4x4 down the mile of very steep and rough track we had slogged up. We declined not because we were afraid of the track? but worrying about it not being our vehicle to turn over on the way down. How trusting people are here - how did they know we would not take it for a joy ride? The descent was more difficult than the ascent. Whereas the open aspect of the trail had provided grand views as we rested on the way up, now it was very hot in the afternoon sun. We passed horse riders and cyclists as we made our way back to the trailhead.
A very enjoyable hike except for the last half mile to the Butte where the path crosses under powerlines before ascending over rocky, steep and dusty terrain to the top of the Butte. The wildflowers here are pretty & profuse but the trail demands such attention it detracts from the flowers beauty. At 2.6 miles the trail reaches Surveyors Ridge and turns left for 1.6 miles to Bald Butte. According to our guidebook you can turn right for 2.3 miles to the Rimrock viewpoint (old fire lookout) where the views are as good but the wildflowers are missing.
Little Crater Lake - Much smaller than it's famous namesake but almost as blue (I say almost because nothing is as blue as Crater Lake). The day after a long hike this is a gentle leg stretcher across a wildflower meadow where an Artesian spring has created Little Crater Lake. The Pacific Crest Trail follows the shore of the much larger Timothy Lake with views of Mt Hood & Mt Jefferson. We strolled another mile or two before returning to a picnic table in the woods by the truck for a snack lunch.
McNeil Point - This hike circles Bald Mountain, travels part of the Timberline trail yet only ascends 1500 feet. The secret? let the truck take the strain, climb 2,500 feet on forest roads to the trailhead and its only half a mile & 400 feet of ascent to flower bedecked Bald Mountain. As we emerged from the trees the view took our breath away. A very colourful meadow of bright red Paintbrush, deep blue Larkspur, red Columbine and the best show of Beargrass yet. What do you think provided the backdrop to this magnificent meadow, you've guessed it, Mt. Hood with its numerous melting snow fed waterfalls cascading into the creeks below. To the west we looked deep into the Williamette Valley. The open trail skirted around Bald Mountain for about a mile before re-entering forest and climbing once again, emerging to another beautiful meadow nearer to Mt Hood, it's waterfalls and our first real view of McNeil Point @ 6,100 feet. As we continued under McNeil Point the snow became deeper making the path very indistinct so we decided to terminate before reaching the ponds below the point as we suspected they would still be frozen and covered in snow. We returned to the meadow for lunch, found a large rock to use as a seat with the waterfalls and chirping birds the only noises to be heard. The view from the other side of the path about 6 feet away included the snow capped volcano Mt Adams. As this was a very exposed spot we cut our lunch break short due to the heat of the sun. Today we were thankful for the few shaded areas of forest as we made our descent. This is a terrific hike and when the snow melts, making the Point accessible, will be even better.
Ainsworth State Park, Columbia River Gorge
We haven't visited this area since our fact finding trip in 1998 and that seems strange as this is waterfall lovers paradise, as well as a good hiking area, year round. This State Park does not accept bookings, it's first come first served. Since we were moving on a Friday even although we had less than 50 miles to travel we decided to start early to beat the weekend rush from Portland. We arrived early morning and enjoyed a choice of sites before the park filled up later in the day. One problem with this park is the huge trees and the cliffs of the Gorge blotting out the path to the Satellite so we will be without the Seattle Mariner games for 10 days, what will we do? Wullie suggested cards or dominoes, early to bed and remember what we did when we were younger! Linda suggested Wullie catch up with his reading and occupy his fertile imagination with a good mystery! We have no intention of revealing which idea prevailed, suffice to say "The Butler Did It" (Wullie certainly didn't).
Ainsworth SP is situated on historic US 30 very convenient for the heavily visited waterfalls (those you can drive to) and lots of hiking. If you have never visited then travel US 30 east from exit 35 of I-84 to view waterfalls of all shapes & sizes and call into Crown Point for a panoramic view of the mighty Colombia River as it heads north of Portland to the Pacific Ocean. The Oregon weather returned to more normal for the time of year, temperatures in the 60's with occasional light showers for 3 days.
If we had stayed in the Mt Hood area the temperatures were much cooler, with snow falling around the 4,500 foot mark. We were determined not to be kept captive by the weather, our waterproofs needed the exercise and waterfalls run faster during & after some rain. The Columbia River Gorge is famous for its wildflowers & plants some of them unique to this area.
Bonneville Dam - The source of the Columbia river is in British Columbia, Canada, and all the communities along the river make use of it's resources. Water for irrigation and drinking, dams for Hydroelectric power stations etc. Bonneville Dam and its associated Lock is a good example. The Lock controls the flow of water down the river and the Dam generates Mega amounts of electricity. The visitor center at the Dam reminded us of the Pitlochry dam (Only Bigger!) with a fish ladder for the Salmon able to be viewed by the public. There were no Salmon when we visited only some Eels adhering to the glass by using their lips as a sucker, Ala. Mick Jagger.
Wahclella Falls & Elowah Falls - These are two separate walks which can easily be done in half a day.
Wahclella falls is rated a 4* falls (5* being the highest). The mile long trail winds up alongside Tanner creek. The tiered falls first plunges 20 feet before veiling down 50 to 70 feet into a very clear deep pool. An ideal spot for a bathe on a hot summers day. Due to the shock of inclement weather Linda forgot her many varieties of camera. This <2 mile hike is ideal for escaping the crowds & noise of the more famous waterfalls. Take along a packed lunch, paddle in the creek, but avoid weekends & holidays.
Elowah falls is rated 5* but is not as easily accessible, which has the advantage of keeping the crowds away. The 3 mile round trip has 600 feet of ascent taking in the 290 foot Elowah falls on McCord creek from two viewpoints a lower (most attractive) and an upper. A further 0.2 miles beyond the upper viewpoint are the 60 foot twin falls (fan type) of upper McCord creek. Flower highlights - Penstemon & Red Columbine.
Ponytail Falls & Horsetail Falls - The Columbia Gorge trail connects the State Park to these falls so we can walk out of the RV and leave the truck behind. Ponytail falls are horsetail type and are rated 3*. Their "novelty factor" is the trail passes behind the base of the falls. We returned along the road stopping at Horsetail Falls before returning home. Horsetail Falls viewable from US 30, are rated 4* and fall an impressive 176 feet into Horsetail creek. On entry to the park we spotted our first White Headed Woodpeckers (a pair) obviously park residents. Flower highlights - Tiger Lily and Indian Pipe.
Eagle Creek Trail - This trail was constructed in 1910 to accompany the opening of the Columbia River Hwy. and the achievement of such a consistent grade is remarkable. The trail ascends 1200 feet in 6 miles and you hardly notice you are climbing at all. That is partly due to the engineering expertise of the trailbuilders and partly due to natures wonders along the way. The path has been cut from sheer rock in places with hand rails for assurance that you won't fall into Eagle Creek deep in the gorge below. A few bridges have been erected across the gorge with the most impressive High Bridge, a metal footbridge across a dizzy slot canyon. Six major Waterfalls, abundant wildflowers, cascading Eagle Creek and the exciting trail itself make this one of the most popular hikes in Oregon. Our turnaround point (6 miles in) is Tunnel Falls. The engineers who constructed the trail, tunneled behind the waterfall to allow the trail to continue. The best view of these 5* falls is obtained 200 yards after passing through the tunnel (slightly leaking roof). The plunge type falls gush at a great rate over the lip falling well over 100 feet, a truly magnificent sight. Tunnel Falls tend to dwarf the other five falls along the trail but 2 of these are 4* and the others 2*.
To sum up: 6 waterfalls varying from 15 feet - 100+ feet, a garden of wild flowers, birds singing, easiest 12 miles ever and of course sunshine - you've got to be crazy to miss this!. Tip - Hike it midweek and start as early as you can. Something this good is very, very popular.
Wahtum Lake, Chinidere Mountain, Tomlike Mountain - The trailhead for this hike was 46 miles from our RV but when the guidebook suggests that the view from Chinidere mountain is arguably the best in the area you need to visit if only to be able to join in the argument. The final six miles were so scenic as we zig-zagged up to the trailhead taking in magnificent views of both Mt Hood & Mt Adams that we wondered if we could possibly get a better view by hiking all those miles. The answer came later in the day as we ascended Chinidere Mountain. The view was "awesome", 360 degrees taking in seven snow covered peaks on a hot but very clear day. On the Oregon side - Mt Jefferson, Olallie Butte & of coursed Mt Hood. On the Washington side Mt Adams, Goat Rocks Wilderness, Mt Rainier and last but not least Mt St. Helens the last of the Cascade volcano's to erupt. All this striking scenery while surrounded by a wonderful array of wild flowers - blue Gentian, red Indian Paintbrush, purple Aster to name but a few.
If this description brings to mind comparisons to heaven, there was one negative, big black flies. Not too bad if you keep moving, but they will get you if you stand still. Not wanting to finish this hike too quickly we decided to take in Tomlike mountain, another peak visible from Chinidere. Atop Tomlike we had lost the view of Jefferson but on the positive side had also lost the flies making for a nice spot to relax and take lunch. Tomlike Mountain also had a wide variety of wildflowers including a very rich purple version of the Gentian which were a big attraction for the Anise Swallowtail butterflies and the less spectacular white butterfly.
This 7.5 mile loop is mainly through forest which at this time of year means Mosquito's! (get the repellent on before you open the vehicle door). One advantage of doing the loop of Wahtum Lake, Chinidere, Tomlike, Wahtum Lake is that the trail starts by descending 252 steps to the lake and the return leg of the loop bypasses the steps. A very rare wildflower is found at Wahtum Lake and nearby lost Lake (nowhere else in the world), Cutleaf Bugbane, but we didn't come across any although we might have had we walked around the lakeshore?.
By the time we were on our way back to the truck the temperature was in the 80's and this made obvious the two sides of hiking in dense forest. On one hand you can't see much (although some of the old growth trees are beautiful) and the Mosquito's thrive and on the other hand the trees make for a much cooler environment giving cover from the direct sunlight.
Having traveled so far for this hike we intended to eat out which meant a tricky decision had to be made on reaching the truck. Should we eat in Elliot Glacier public house and brewery at Parkdale or the Big Horse Brewery in Hood River. We decided to visit Elliot Glacier Pub in Parkdale first as it was nearest. Their food menu was limited but their beer was very good, and when quaffed in their beer garden looking into the north face of Mt Hood seemed even better. Reluctantly we left the Elliot Glacier Pub as another beer on a hungry stomach could cause problems. The Big Horse Brewery in Hood River served both good food and brew, augmented by an excellent view of the water sport activities, including Parasailing, on the Columbia river. Sometimes it's tough being retired!
Starvation Creek/Hole In The Wall/Lancaster Falls- After two days of fairly long and strenuous hikes Wullie decided on this "easy" hike that took in three waterfalls, plus a view of the gorge. Nothing is as it seems! Starvation Creek Falls, 4* Horsetail type, drop 186 feet and earned their name when two trains were trapped nearby in an 1884 blizzard. Stranded passengers were offered $3 a day to dig out the track while waiting for skiers to arrive with food from Hood River. These falls are very popular as they are only a few feet from the rest area. The first part of our trail was flat and easy taking in Cabin Creek Falls (3* Horsetail) then on to Hole in the Wall falls in Warren Creek, originally called Warren Falls. Warren Creek dumped a lot of water onto the old Columbia River highway so the Oregon highways Dept. decided to divert the creek through a cliff. These 3* cascade type Falls plummet 100 feet from the tunnel created by the highways Dept. A further 0.2 miles along the trail is Lancaster Falls a 4* Plunge type 200 to 250 feet high. The view of these falls is such that you cannot see all of the falls at one time but they are still quite impressive. The return leg of the loop heads uphill steeply with rewarding views of the Columbia river flowing west towards the Pacific Ocean. The trail then descends very steeply on a scree like surface making it difficult to get any grip. Our guidebook never warned that some parts would be extremely steep so we stupidly decided to don trainers instead of hiking boots! Once again we were thankful for trees as they saved us plunging down the slope more than once. The best part of the descent was watching a fledgling Black Headed Grosbeak waiting on a bush for mother to return with food.
Angels Rest - One of the most popular hikes in the Gorge is available all year and gains 1500 feet in 2.2 miles. We had been warned this hike gets very busy and knew it was to be a hot day so we started relatively early. Although we started hiking early it was so hot and humid it made it a slog. 
The views from Angels Rest, up and down the Columbia River are certainly spectacular making for a very popular hike. While we were relaxing quite a few other hikers joined us, but on the way down we passed a steadily increasing stream of hikers and as it was well into the 80's by now they were suffering. We chatted to 3 young college girls who were on a botanical study course pursuing data on a rare Oregon wildflower, Douglas Catchfly. This grows alongside the Angels Rest trail and apparently is pollinated by a nocturnal moth. We had actually taken a photo of the flower on the way up, but we probably would not have been able to identify it without the young ladies help as it is not in our wildflower books.
Computers - Our Laptop is playing up at the moment (4 years old) and we need it for e-mail so in an effort to make it live longer we decided to buy a Desktop to give the Laptop a break. Another very hot day (the truck registered 103 degrees in the afternoon) after the hike up Angels Rest seems a good day to visit the air conditioned shops of nearby Portland. We obtained what seems like a good bargain at Best Buy, although it is HP technology. Linda was champing at the bit to get playing with her new toy but Wullie insisted on a visit to McMenamins/Edgefield in Troutdale. McMenamins is a Pub/Restaurant chain in the Northwest who brew their own beer and have a reputation for buying old properties of note, returning them to their previous condition, and operating them as Pubs. They certainly made an excellent job of renovating this old mansion bought for $300,000 (what a bargain). The beer & food were very good, if slightly pricey, but probably in keeping with the standard of this Resort Hotel/Restaurant & associated golf course.
Our next destination - Sisters, Oregon. Please join is............................................
Miles traveled this month: 1,173
Total miles traveled since May 1999: 93,030
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