Grassy Knoll

You just can't trust the weatherman.

Planning ahead for last weekend's hike, I consulted the local forecast.  Saturday was typical Oregon cloudy and rainy, but sunny skies were predicted for Sunday.  My destination - Grassy Knoll, a flower-filled trek near Carson, WA.  I'd visited this trail twice before, and knew it offered some great views.   Naturally, I chose Sunday for my hiking day.


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At the foggy trailhead

I recruited my skiing friends John and Young to join me (they're now also my hiking friends!)  As we drove the long, winding, endless gravel road to the trailhead, the sky started looking cloudier.  Then we were engulfed in a thick bank of fog.  Mist dotted the windshield.  Where was that sunny day we were promised?

Nice lupine right at the trailhead sign

Foggy, wet skies greeted my party at the trailhead.  We all donned gaiters, rain jackets, and slung plastic trash bags over our packs.  Ugh - it's late June!  I thought we were done with waterproofing ourselves.  Apparently not.
 

Foggy woods

The hike begins climbing almost immediately from the trailhead.  It winds through a dense forest of huge Douglas firs.  Fog clung to the woods in a misty white cloud.  Although I was still feeling disappointment about missing the great views this hike showcases, I had to admit the fog made for some cool photos.

John discovered a bird's nest

About a mile in, we began seeing the wildflowers.  First there was "paintbrush alley," a spot in the trail lined with glowing orange Indian paintbrush blooms.  Then a rock outcrop, brimming with bright pink penstemon.  Finally, the side of Grassy Knoll itself anointed in a kaleidoscope of wildflowers.

Wildflower meadows on the side of Grassy Knoll

As we hiked the steep trail up the side of Grassy Knoll, John was surprised by a bird bursting from the flower fields, practically next to his foot.  Peering under the vegetation, he spotted a small nest with four tiny speckled eggs.  Young and I crouched down for a look.  Careful not to touch the nest, Young snapped a couple of quick shots for documentation.

 

Lunch with a nice view

We arrived at the top of Grassy Knoll to find it enshrouded in a thick fog.  There were a few small scattered flowers, but without the views there was no reason to linger.  Time to move on.  Nothing to see here.

The larkspur were abundant!

 

Beyond Grassy Knoll, the trail continues a mile to Grassy Pass.  From previous hikes, I remembered the flowers at Grassy Pass being even more spectacular than at Grassy Knoll.  I suggested to John and Young we continue farther and check things out.

The trail leads right through a flower patch

And boy am I glad we did!  The best was yet to come.  The trail continued through open areas where the wildflowers raged.  There were fields of purple larkspur, interwoven with yellow and white flowers (which I couldn't identify). 

 

Taking time to smell the flowers

When lunchtime rolled around we all sat down in a small open area amidst a sea of yellow and purple.  Lunch spots don't come much better!

Now we're in a huge balsamroot patch

Post lunch my party continued its journey, first through a huge field of balsamroot.

The largest amount of paintbrush I've seen in one place - ever!

Then encountering the largest field of Indian paintbrush I've ever seen.  The hillsides were dotted with orange spots as far as the eye could see.  It was breathtaking!

Vivid orange paintbrush

And the foggy weather actually made for good photographic conditions.  No shadows and super saturated colors.  I got some wonderful shots.

 

We crossed the Pacific Crest Trail

After trekking through all those amazing meadows, the trail again re-entered the forest.  My maps showed Big Huckleberry Mountain an additional 2 miles away.  Still thinking we had plenty of time, the group consensus was to push on.

Reaching the summit of Big Huckleberry Mtn

After all those beautiful flower fields, the forest path seemed downright boring.  We trudged along through endless woods.  It was the longest two miles I've ever traveled.  But we finally intersected with the Pacific Crest Trail.  From the PCT it was only a steep 0.2 mile climb to the top of Big Huckleberry Mountain.  We celebrated our arrival on the summit by taking a few group victory photos.

The skies began clearing on our return trip

We didn't linger long on top.  Big Huckleberry's summit was windy, and besides it was getting late, and the brewpub was calling.  The promise of a cold beer was good motivation to get us back through the boring 2-mile stretch of forest.

Path to the top of Grassy Knoll

As we re-entered the grassy flower fields, I noticed the skies clearing.  Adjacent hillsides earlier cloaked in fog were now visible.  Maybe I'd get some views today after all.

Old fire lookout foundations

Approaching Grassy Knoll's summit a second time, visibility was much improved.  Not only the slopes of Grassy Knoll, but also adjacent hillsides could be seen.  And breaks in the clouds offered occasional glimpses of the Columbia River.  This time I actually stopped and spent a couple of minutes photographing at the top of the knoll.

Finally some views!

Returning back through the rocky outcrops, the skies cleared enough to provide a reason to stop and gaze towards the horizon.  Although the clouds wouldn't lift high enough to show Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams, I was still happy that at least we could now see something.

Arriving back at our vehicles, all declared the hike a success.  Although we missed the famous views, the prolific wildflowers more than made up for it.  The fog was fun to photograph and created vibrant colors for our images.  And the cool, wet weather made for comfortable hiking conditions.

Ironically, driving home through the Gorge later that evening, I was almost back to town when the sun finally decided to make an appearance.  (No, you really can't trust that weatherman!)

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.


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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!