Fish Creek Mountain

Welcome to another edition of "New Hike Fridays."  Today's hike takes us to a little-known trail near the Clackamas River, deep in the heart of Mt. Hood National Forest.


Size matters!  Click on any photo to enjoy a larger version.

Attention-getting first photo (did it work?)

Flex Friday off work rolled around again.  Time to pick another untrodden trail from my Sullivan "100 Hikes" book.  Fish Creek Mountain was this week's winner.  The road to the trailhead was washed out back in 1996, so this hike had never made it on my radar.   Inaccessible for many years, I discovered the trailhead had been reopened after seeing a couple trip reports on the Portland Hikers website.  Apparently the Forest Service had created a new access from a different road.  That was good enough for me.  Time to check it out!

The trailhead was marked by this tiny sign

I was nervous about finding the trailhead, as it was down a long, winding, isolated Forest Service road.  Armed with maps and detailed instructions from the Trail Advocates website, I bravely struck out that morning.  Turned out the road was a snap to find, and even better, it was paved most of the way.  Bonus!

The trailhead, however, wasn't as obvious.  If I hadn't wandered into the bushes for a "nature break," I don't think I would've seen the small, brown message board uphill from the parking area.  This was the beginning of the new connector trail built to lead hikers to the old trailhead.

The columbine was going strong

This crude trail switchbacked up a ridge.  It was overgrown in places, and not very easy to follow.  I twice lost the path and had to backtrack.  Not even my gps was helpful.  But just as I was starting to wonder if I was on the right track, the trail popped out onto an old abandoned road.  Some nice person had left a rock cairn and flagging to mark this junction.  A good confidence booster, these markings confirmed I wasn't lost.

So were the rhodies!

My directions were to follow this long-abandoned road for a third of a mile to reach the original trailhead.  The road was totally overgrown and in a few places nearly impassible.  But there was a couple of nice patches of columbine flowers and another spot full of small purple flowers that made the journey enjoyable.

Original trailhead sign - I was very glad to see this!

I walked on, looking for a fork in the road with a ridge rising between the junction.  According to my directions, this was supposedly the start of the old trail.  After traveling a distance that felt longer than a third of a mile I came upon the said intersection.  There was a well-worn gash in the ridge between the roads - was this the trail?  Only one way to find out.  I ascended the ramp and once on top saw, much to my relief, a sign for "Trail 541" affixed to a nearby tree.  I'd found the old trailhead!

 

Larkspur everywhere

The top of this ridge was a lovely place. Large pink rhododendron blossoms sprouted from a nearby bush.  Purple penstemon flowers covered the ground.  And bright orange Indian paintbrush added accents to the forest floor.  Happy to finally arrive at the "official" trailhead, I celebrated by capturing images of these magically beautiful woods.

 

Forest views

From this point on, the trail was easy to follow.  But it began a relentless climb up a ridge.  I trudged on, panting and puffing under my backpack's load.  Not remembering so much elevation gain in the hike description, I looked it up later and discovered the trail climbed 1300 feet in a little less than two miles.  No wonder I was sucking air!

 

My doggie is havin' a ball

Bear and I came upon a clearing that offered nice views down to the forested valley below.  The adjacent slope was chock-full of wildflowers.  There were purple larkspur, and a yellow flower I didn't know the name of.  A wonderful sight!  Time for more Kodak moments.

Almost to the summit.  Yippee!

I kept looking for the next trail junction.  This junction gave visitors the choice between a 0.4 mile trek to the top of  Fish Creek Mountain, or 0.7 mile descent down to High Lake.  I traveled along, debating whether to head for the summit first, or check out the lake.  Finally coming upon this sign, the summit called louder, so that's where I headed.

Summit shot with Bear

I'm always happy to reach the top of a mountain, no matter the size.  Fish Creek Mountain was no exception.  Bear and I checked out the remains of an old fire lookout tower, long gone.  All that was left were four concrete piers, some melted glass, and an old rusted bucket.  The cloudy skies obscured any view of Mt. Hood, but I was able to spot Olallie Butte and a few glimpses of Mt. Jefferson.

 

The trail to High Lake was obliterated by snow

After taking in some lunch, it was time to head back down to High Lake.  Bear and I turned at the junction, this time choosing the trail to the lake.  I love tiny alpine lakes that are tucked into remote corners of the forest, and was looking forward to discovering this one.

Gorgeous trailside rhodies

The path crossed a small patch of snow.  Not a big deal.  Then we encountered a longer patch.  Still okay, I could see the trail continuation on the other side.  But then I hit a a huge snowbank that totally obliterated the trail.  Hmmm........

Caterpillar on a flower

I pulled out my gps.  Could I navigate my way to the lake?  Looking around, the forest floor was covered with snow as far as the eye could see.  Even if I could find my way, did I really want to deal with hiking through snow?  I love skiing in the snow, but hiking in it, not so much.

 

Rhodie close-up

So I turned around and picked my way back through the snow, following my footprints to the trail.  High Lake would have to wait until another day.

Another columbine photo - just because!

My return trip was even better.  Not only did I get to see (and of course photograph) all those lovely flowers and forest scenes again, but my path was all downhill!  I arrived at my car with a full memory card and a tired dog.  And I got back late enough to avoid most of the rush hour traffic on the way home.

That concludes this week's episode of "New Hike Fridays."  Another hike closer to finishing the book.  Join me again next time!

 

Salmon River Trail

Last Friday was my scheduled day off from work.  With gorgeous sunny weather forecast, there was no question what I was going to do.  Time for another new hike from Sullivan's book!  (I'm going to start dubbing my flex days "New Hike Fridays")


Size matters!  Click on any photo to enjoy a larger version.

Mandatory trail sign photo

After perusing my book, the Lower Salmon River Trail called to me.  A short, flat, easy riverside path, I'd kept passing it up for longer, more challenging hikes.  But combining the lower trail with a portion of the upper Salmon River Trail, I created a trek of nearly 9 miles.  A respectable distance for a sunny Friday.  Salmon River Trail, here I come!

Huge trees and tons of ferns

This trailhead is easy to find.  It's located a mere 5 miles south of the town of Zigzag, with access entirely via paved roads.  The lower trail parallels the Salmon River for 2.6 miles.  If one wishes to hike further, the upper trail continues along the river for another 14 miles.  My goal for today was to hike from the lower Salmon River Trail to "Rolling Riffle Camp," an area of designated backpacking campsites about two miles down the upper Salmon River Trail.

River rapids

The lower trail starts in an incredible old-growth forest.  It promptly descends to the Salmon River's banks.  The ancient Douglas Fir trees lining the river are enormous.  The forest floor is thick with all things green - large ferns, vine maple, and carpets of moss.

Columbine topside

As the trail winds through the forest, one is never far from the Salmon River's sparkling waters.  It's a lovely clear mountain stream, intermittently broken by small rapids.  Numerous side trails lead one to its rocky shoreline.  I made frequent detours from the main trail to check out the water's edge.

Ginormous tree!

With occasional stops to hug a humongous fir tree!  (Didn't know I was a tree-hugger did you?)

Pretty pink flowers

The forest greenery was occasionally interrupted by a bright splash of color.  The wildflowers were in bloom!  There were bright orange columbine blossoms, and these cute pink tubular numbers (that I don't know the name of!)

Trees growing on a nurse log

The above photo was a cool sight.  In these ancient forests, when old trees fall over and die, the rotting trunks become nourishment for new plant growth.  These old trunks are referred to as "nurse logs."  I've seen all kinds of moss and small plants sprouting out of these trees, even small saplings.  But never have I seen full-grown trees with roots wrapped around a nurse log!  This was a first!

Colorful river bottom

I ate my lunch at a very scenic riverbank beach.  It was a great spot to sit back, enjoy my PB & J, and watch the water flow over the rocky river bottom.  So relaxing!  The sun was out in full force, taking away the morning chill.  It's warmth felt great.  

Scenic Upper Salmon River

Although the lower trail was very beautiful, when I crossed the road that separated the upper from the lower portions, I found I enjoyed the upper trail even more.  It immediately climbed until I was perched atop a high cliff, peering down to the river far below.

Vibrant flower patch

I came upon a hillside bursting with wildflowers.  There were dark purple larkspur blooms, bright orange Indian paintbrush, and vibrant pink blossoms that looked kind of like thistles.  An amazingly colorful scene, I tried hard to capture with my camera.

Hillside full of flowers

But this was the best I could do.  Most of the flowers were located on the steep slopes high above me.  I wasn't about to try and scramble up it.

Larkspur blooms

Bear and I hiked until we saw the deserted campsites of "Rolling Riffle Camp."  By then the trail had wound back down to river level.  Although this section was mostly in dense forest, things occasionally opened up to provide grand river views like the one below.

Beautiful river view

By the time I reached our turn-around point, the sun was high and bright in the sky, and temps had heated up quite a bit.  Not used to hot weather yet (we've had an extremely cold and wet spring) the heat began to tire me out.  The return trip wasn't quite as pleasant, but seeing all those great river views a second time helped ease my discomfort.

Bear cools off

Near the trailhead, I stumbled upon an especially pretty stretch of river.  The bottom was covered with flat rocks, stained an orangish-rust color.  The water was a lovely blue-green.  Such an inviting place, I had no choice but to stop.  Bear cooled his paws off in the refreshing water.  I snapped photos and enjoyed a cool breeze coming off the water's surface.  I forgot all about being hot and tired.  It was a great way to end my hike.

Another wonderful trail discovered.  I can't think of any better way to spend a sunny day off!