More Oregon hikes

Cascade Lakes Loop

I had unfinished business with the PCT at the section I had needed to leave at Irish Lake when fire came close to the trail. I planned a return here to do a round trip hike between Elk Lake and Irish Lake, using various trails, which would pass many of the lakes in the area (I love a mountain lake) and also follow the PCT stretch I had missed. This looked on the map like three connected loops and enabled me to walk the PCT in my correct direction while not having to out and back the trail.

16 September Trail angel Michael took me from Bend to Elk Lake and I walked along the road for 2 miles to the Six Lakes trailhead. There I went into lodgepole pine forest and had a long gradual climb while the weather tried to decide if it would rain or not. Answer: it rained lightly for a few minutes, long enough for me to put on my rain jacket then immediately have to take it off. My first lake was Blow Lake, lots of logs accumulated at one side, next Doris Lake. I arrived at Ledge Lake through a meadow and went back into forest to descend to Goose Lake, full of reeds. Now on the Mink Lake trail I continued to Porky Lake and Mink Lake, these lakes were bigger with trees down to the water's edge and I skirted high above them (I glimpsed a snow specked mountain emerging from a cloud) before descending on the PCT to South Lake. I was very pleased to see I could camp here close to the water and sit in the afternoon sunshine. It was a nice still evening but so much colder than when I was here in August. Ducks. 13 miles/21 kms

17 September Lakes, lakes, lakes. It was raining lightly when I got up but stopped. I walked past Desane Lake and saw my only hiker for the day. Passed Puppy Lake. I went onto the Snowshoe Lakes trail and soon came to Upper Snowshoe Lake then Snowshoe Lake with small rockfalls and lots of scattered boulders to sit on.

At Winopee Lake, very shrunken in a large meadow, I went onto the Winopee trail and later another large meadow with Muskrat Lake and a ruined log cabin that I couldn't access unless I waded a creek. I got to Cultus Lake, the biggest lake by far, with a long sandy beach and picnic tables and toilets. It was hard to get water and this was my introduction to a problem I had not anticipated: the lakes are low after a dry summer and to access the water you need to walk over soft sucky mud, there the water is shallow and as soon as you start to collect it the sand/soil under the water gets stirred up and rises to the surface. I had to collect tiny amounts of water at a time.

I continued on the Many Lakes trail climbing to cross a ridge with granite rock gardens, rock falls and lots of boulders and reaching Merle Lake where I sat in the sun.

Lots of ponds, and lake after lake: Kinnikinnic Lake with several peninsulas jutting into the centre (a feature of many of the lakes), Phantom Lake, Kershaw Lake with masses of logs at the water's edge.

It suddenly started raining quite seriously. I passed Middle Hanks Lake and East Hanks Lake to get to the Many Lakes trailhead where I turned onto the dirt road that we had taken to leave Irish Lake on the day of the fire (passing large Taylor Lake which I didn't notice last time).

In a couple of miles I was back at Irish Lake. I was surprised to see I was in an area that had been very recently burnt, as I didn't remember this from before. When I got to the Irish Lake PCT trailhead there were also signs of a very recent fire. I tried to get water at Irish Lake and stepped into soft mud up to my ankles, shame about my new socks. It was still raining. I walked on (now on the section of PCT I had missed) passing a few ponds until I got to Brahma Lake. I saw a tent site near the water. As soon as my tent was up the rain stopped and the sun came out. Water collection was still tricky and there were lots of deep footprints in the mud by the lake. 19 miles/30 kms

18 September Blue sky when I woke up but I was in shade so I was cold. I walked a mile to Jezebel Lake and sat for a long time drying out my tent (condensation not rain).

I was in quiet pine forest. Stormy Lake below craggy rocks was next after a forest climb.

Blaze Lake on a crest followed by its twin. A little pond with the red leafed bushes nicely reflected. I heard a noise and saw several elk stampeding uphill onto a ridge; they stopped there and I got a good look at them. The path undulated nicely through the pines, as usual a mess of fallen trees everywhere with a few uncleared logs across the trail, passing several black ponds.

Then a few miles without lakes until I reached Desane Lake, completing the lower loop of my route.

Just a short walk past South Lake at Mac Lake the tent sites looked great, on pine needles, close to the water and sheltered by trees. A rock seat with a view of the lake. Reasonable water collection from rocks. One of the best PCT campsites I've seen. So my walking was done by 3pm. 9 miles/14 kms

19 September The lake looked great in the morning with mist blowing across it and the sun was shining. I took a small detour to Cliff Lake passing big rock piles (where I closed the second loop) and chatted with some hikers there.

Mostly I was in forest, pine and fir, and I crossed a couple of large meadows, one was full of ponds. More rock gardens. At Island Lake I went into a burnt area which continued to Dumbbell Lake (one shore was always unburnt). The last ponds had good reflections from the right angle. I saw 3 deer cross the trail then stop to watch me pass. 

A few miles from the forest edge I came to a flowing creek which was great but a bit late for my water needs. As the PCT left the forest I suddenly had a wonderful view across to Mt Bachelor and craggy Broken Top,

and then to South Sister. I could just see Elk Lake. I descended to the road and then the lake resort (to finish the top loop and the missing PCT stretch) where a big disappointment awaited me: the ice cream hut was closed! This had been the best ice cream of my trip and I had been looking forward to it all the time I was walking. I had to settle for coffee. The resort was a lot less busy than my previous visit even though it was by coincidence also a Saturday last time. I camped at the resort. 11 miles/18 kms

Total 52 miles/83 kms

Timberline Trail

I had enjoyed my visit to Mt Hood on the PCT so much that I returned to walk the Timberline Trail loop around the mountain. I went anti clockwise so that the few bits that coincided with the PCT would be slightly different and I expected much colder weather.

21 September I set out from Timberline Lodge on the southeast side of the mountain with a short stretch on the PCT descending on sandy trail to White River. I was immediately meeting a lot of hikers on the trail. It was hot. After my descent I began a long steep climb - initially I went the wrong way because there was a landslide on the trail which meant that I didn't see a path there and I went around in a circle instead. The trail climbed in forest and came out onto Hood Meadows, an extensive ski area with several chairlifts. Good views of Mt Hood and I liked the autumn colours.

The trail crossed several creeks, some glacial and milky and churning away requiring rock hopping, others were little clear trickles, sometimes more like waterfalls, and generally easy to step over. 

I was climbing steadily but descended to cross glacial Newton Creek. Here I had some trouble. I was coming down to the creek when there was a landslip obliterating the trail and I couldn't go on so I turned back and descended on what I thought was a used trail, but at the end I was still too high above the river to cross. As I tried to reach the river bank a boulder was blocking my way so I went above it but couldn't get down on the other side without taking off my pack and lowering it. The surface was sand and rocks and very loose, with nothing I could safely grip onto. When I had got around the boulder I was confronted by unstable slopes and I somehow got stuck being unable to move forward or back. The weight and bulk of my pack was the real problem. There were hikers on the far bank and they were watching me and gesticulating where I should go, which I knew but I couldn't move. I yelled and eventually they came to the river bank but the river was extremely loud so they had no chance of hearing me. At the same time a trail runner was coming up to where I was and she helped me; I took off my pack, passed it to her and was able to walk across the slippery slope easily. All was good. Wading across the milky thundering creek was nothing after that.

More climbing in forest on the eastern side of the mountain until I was close to the tree line. I had been intending to camp a bit higher but it was very windy; I put up my tent at the edge of the forest, watched it blowing around like crazy, took it down and went a little way back down and found a spot among low trees, just below 2000 m. A deer came by and paused to check me out.

I had a nice view of Mt Hood. 11 miles/17 kms

22 September The valley to the west was full of clouds, only Mt Jefferson and later Broken Top poking above them. I continued uphill, it was cold, and Mt Hood was lit up in the sunshine. I found the uphill hard (I was dehydrated) until I came to a creek with water and then a second one where collection was easy. The trail was convoluted having to get onto a high ridge (Gnarl Ridge) and very rocky; when the descent started it was a nice change.

The going was still slow because I was on loose dirt.and rocks but as I came around the mountain I had a wonderful view of Mt Rainier and Mt Adams - Rainier looked smaller because it was much more distant.

A bit further along the trail I could see Mt St Helens. I descended below the tree line to Cloud Cap picnic ground.

On the north side of the mountain the trail was completely different: gone were the barren sandy slopes and I was back in forest crossing mostly clear creeks, some like Coe Creek with impressive waterfalls.

The only glacial one was Eliot Creek, supposedly the hardest to cross. I had no problem wading after selecting a crossing point carefully; on the far bank there was a rope to help get up the sandy loose slope and it was tricky. I was soon in an extensive burnt area. I would go in and out of burn scar and it was notable for the enormous number of logs across the trail, many very hard to get around/over/under. Progress was slow. The only other awkward water crossing was a clear creek with several channels which I managed to rock hop but then I couldn't see where the trail continued. I went through an overgrown tunnel of foliage on boulders and I think this was the actual trail. I was keen to get to Elk Cove; it was a meadow still surrounded by burnt trees but had a beautiful view of the mountain and red/golden vegetation.

To the north I was still seeing the big volcanoes and the green Columbia River valley in the foreground.

I was soon out of the next burn and had more creeks to cross, the glacial ones flowing fast. I passed a lot of hikers towards the end of the day. I descended low to Cairn Basin and at the far edge was a lovely golden meadow below a huge rock fall and little ponds nearby.

I found a secluded tent site just past there with a view of the rock fall. It got very cold very quickly. 14 miles/22 kms

23 September Frost! I descended on the rooty track to a lower ridge where I had wonderful views up to the summit, seeing the mountain's distinctive horn for the first time, crossing numerous tiny springs and there was a bit of mud. A lot more descending into spruce forest until I reached two Muddy Fork glacial creek branches, crossing higher up than on the PCT. After that the trail was sketchy for a while: lots of short steep bits on loose ground and sharp drop offs caused by landslips, also lots of overhead blowdowns to go under.

I could clearly see the ridge I walked along earlier and appreciated what a long way I had needed to go in and out of spurs to be able to cross Muddy Fork creek. Then a cruisy descent to Ramona Falls, as impressive as last time.

Now I'm on the west flank. The next part was on the PCT. The Sandy River was easy to cross this time as most of the branches were dry.

I began the long climb back up on the other side and reached viewpoints I remembered well with the sight of waterfalls pouring off the mountain and massive sandy slopes. I thought there was less snow on top. It was truly amazing to see such a complex mountain face: glaciers, rock pinnacles, pine trees growing out of sand, sheer granite cliffs, weathered sand slopes and scree, waterfalls, creeks, smashed boulders. In the other direction sat Mt St Helens almost free of cloud.

Soon I turned off the PCT/Timberline trail onto the Paradise Park loop. This was great: at the tree line so mainly grassy with autumnal bushes, a few fir trees and fabulous views of Mt Hood and over tiers of mountains. Not to forget Mt Jefferson. It was very dry and sandy and I was concerned about water but I came to a series of babbling creeks. I reached a spot with a tent site next to a creek with little falls and a view directly up the mountain so although it was early to stop I decided to camp there. There were even flat rocks to sit on. 12 miles/19 kms

24 September I finished the Paradise Park trail with more autumn colours

and rejoined the PCT descending to the Zigzag River (a rock hop).

It was a solid climb back up, now on the south side of the mountain, with views south over all of Oregon's mountains, of course Mt Jefferson looming above everything.

I was able to get off the PCT for the last half mile and cross ski trails/mountain bike trails back to the lodge. It was a greyish day but the views from the lodge were clearer than last time because there was no smoke. The waiter in the restaurant recognised me when I showed up for breakfast. 6 miles/10 kms

Total: 43 miles/69 kms