2014.6.28. Silver Star via Bluff Mt

A rainy Saturday. 11 of us (all who have signed up) hiked to Silver Star Mountain via Bluff Mountain, skirting Little Baldy. About 13 miles, mostly flat rocky trail with water running on it. Wed and cold. No view to speak of due to the weather. Can only imagine what it could be like when all is clear, as part of the trail are on the ridge. About a mile first on a logging road. Flowers along the trail for the first few miles. Lots of bear grass, but only about 10 in bloom. According to Wikipedia, they have a 4-6 year cycle. So I should come here again in 2017-19. It was such a disappointment after what I saw last year.
Had a lesson of changing tire at the parking lot, in the rain. Rough road. This time I had a ride to and from Gateway from Erin, who happened to have spent 3 years in France. Too bad, we didn't really practice the foreign tongue.

2014.6.26. Food Truck in Portland - a book talk

Thursday evening. I happened to be downtown for a short meetup. Decided to walk to Powell's afterwards. Steven Shomler of "Portland Food Cart Stories" and Tiffany Harelik of "Trailer Food Diaries Cookbook" talked about food truck owners and their stories tonight. Quite a few food truck owners were present. Shomler's son happened to sit next to me: a very amicable and courteous boy. During the course of today's talk, Roy and Kimmy Swope, owners of Retrolicious Food Cart, brought 4 courses of tasty creations: watermelon with balsamic vinegar and basil, pulled pork sandwich, crispy chicken on waffle, mini burger.

2014.6.22. Observation Peak

Sunday. 26°C. Cloudy in the morning. 6 of us started from Trapper Creek #192 then turn off on #132 where the slope gently starts along Howe Ridge. Turn left on #132A for half a mile to Observation Peak where we stopped for lunch. A small flat spot covered with little flowers. A couple of beargrass were blooming. View is excellent, left to right: St Helen, Rainier, Goat Rocks, Adams, Hood, Jefferson. However too many mosquitos chased us out pretty soon. My finger and faces were attacked, as I was wearing permethrin coated long sleeve and long pants. Continue onto #158 Big Hollow. Upslope is about 7 miles 3000', so pretty gentle. Down is about 4 miles, not particularly steep, but it was continuous. Total about 5:10 hours on the trail. Good to come back to town early.

2014.6.21. Coldwater Peak at Mt. St. Helen

Saturday, clouds, later sunny. One way: South Coldwater trail (230A) - Coldwater Peak (230) - Boundary Trail (1) - Johnston Ridge visitor center. 11 people, 3 cars to shuttle the 6.5 mile between the two ends. Total distance about 12-13 miles, mostly of gentle grade or flat. Hiking time: 9:40 - 4:40.

Coldwater trail is green, in the woods for only the first 10-15 minutes. The rest of the hike is exposed. Lots of strawberry plants, already in fruit (I picked some) in lower elevation, and still flowering in higher elevation. View of the lake first, and then St Helens, and then abandoned logging trucks (3 in different places).

At the first major junction, turn right towards Spirit Lake and Coldwater Peak. On the way, you can see St Helens Lake. At the junction with Boundary Trail, all but one turned left for a spur towards the peak. Two started scrambling up (too bad, the wrong peak). The rest hit snow patches. Only 3: the fastest, me and the slowest actually got to the very top. What's waiting for us? Cell towers, an old lady, and excellent 360° view. After lunch we headed down to regroup.

Continued to the right (south) on Boundary trail. Go under an arch, which I suspect was created by dynamites. Soon, view of Spirit Lake and Mt Adams behind it is excellent, until passing Harry's Ridge. Then it gets a bit boring. The last hour close to Johnston Ridge visitor center was lined with paintbrush, penstemon.

2015.6.15. Larch Mt via Oneonta Trail

6/15 Sunday. Mostly rained. Jess and I hiked from Horsetail Falls to Larch Mt, ~17-18 miles R/T, 9:30 - 6:30. Horsetail Falls is at the trailhead - by the road. Ponytail Falls is very nice, and you can walk behind it. Oneonta Falls is small. Triple Falls is quite pretty. However, there was a mudslide at one point, and the new short workaround is very muddy and slippery (I fell on the way down). From then on, it's woods and overgrown bushes, spreading water on my clothes. I was at least half wet before it started raining, and it continued until we were back to Triple Falls. At the next fork, with a sign to "Franklin Ridge, Larch Mt Trail 2 miles" on the right, take the LEFT (no sign). We took the wrong (right) one for awhile, until meeting a 72-year-old hiking alone, who complained about the brushy trail. After somewhat miserable hours: we were both cold and wet, we finally hit Larch Mt trail. It's 2 miles to the top: a giant parking lot! I walked on the 0.3 mile PAVED trail to Sherrard Point - a lookout named after Thomas Sherrard, forest supervisor 1907-34. White paint of 4056 EL, and names of distant mountains. Of course, I saw nothing other than people, and a bit of flowers. Jess waited for me, half shivering, in front of the toilet (the only place that has a roof). Sorry.

2014.6.14. Nesika Lodge

6/14 Saturday. Cloudy. 10 people hiked to Nesika Lodge from Multnomah Lodge. Very scenic from the top of the Multnomah Falls for the next 2-3 waterfalls, along Larch Mt trail. At mile 3, we veered to the left, walked on a gravel road (gated). We checked out a tiny side semicircle for the Christmas ornaments (yes, you can hang them on the trees here), before checking out the camping area (with nothing, and far away from the main lodge), and finally at the lodge itself. The nice stone/timber main building (common area, kitchen, toilet) and two dorm buildings. The Trail Club volunteers (with 2 little kids) are repairing for the summer use. Really bad paint giving off nauseating smell. James, there, shared his newly baked ginger-walnut bread/cake, very good!
A small trail leads to a stone lookout for the Columbia Gorge. I ate my lunch here by myself. Was a bit chilly. Eventually all the ladies showed up, and we started down.
A nice group, but mostly senior ladies, and one guy (husband of one lady).

2014.6.7-8 Lookout Mountain in Ochoco National Forest

Saturday 6/7, high mid 20s-C (70s-F), low in single digit (low 40s-F), early start. At 5am, I was already waiting for my ride, B, who arrived ~5:25. ~6am, picked up M near Gateway. After a stop for bathroom and coffee, we arrived at Independent Mine trailhead at ~10:10, at the end of a one-mile bad road off FR 42 (nicely paved Canyon Creek Rd - off Hwy 26, signed to Walton Lake / Big Summit Prairie), some 200 miles east of home.

We hiked up to Lookout Mountain via 808 (leftmost trail). 4.1 easy miles to the summit, where a vague foundation of former lookout can be seen. The high plateau is mostly flat, 360° view, large expense of green trees. Very rocky, hard to find flat and soft space for 3 tents. We dumped our backpacks close to the summit under a tree with more grass than rocks. Mixed habitat. On the way, we passed many large fields of lushly green corn lily and mossy evergreen, and dry fields of low sage bush and wild peony (lots), juniper trees, lots of balsamroot, larkspur, bluebell, desert parsley, ~16 bikers, ~6 hikers. Views at times. Very little snow left.

Continued to the North Point (0.7 mile), along the edge of the plateau (lots of geum). We then backtraced to South Point (no trail to follow, but easy to figure out). Other than the rocks (wear supportive boots!), this is a lovely place to stroll around (if you don't mind the sun): continuous views all along, and endless flowers at your feet. ~6pm, we ate dinner at the edge of the bluff (windy), finished the beers (we carried the M's cooler and ice up). A long wait for sun to set (8:45pm). The clouds during the day somehow all evaporated. More hazy. It was getting quite chilly, and M abandoned the wait and went to his tent. I only packed a thin sleeping bag, and woke up cold ~2am. Quite windy until early morning.

Sunday 6/8, we packed up ~7am. Clear sky. Down via 804. 0.3 miles down from the summit is the Snow Shelter in the woods, with a wood stove. Graffitis on the wall (log). Outside, plenty logs to sit. A good snowshoe destination. Almost at the trailhead, up from a creek, is the abandoned ore processing building (cinnabar?), with a rusted boiler, big pipes. A collapsed mine shaft a short distance down.

We decided to check out Big Summit Prairie, which we could see from the top of Lookout Mountain. Continuing on FR42 for ~10 miles, seeing the immense grass land mostly on the left (north). Very nice, all private land (fenced), other than the small stretch by the road. At its beginning (western end), at the junction of the gravel FR300 is a nice flat patch of mule's ear in their peak, where we stopped for snacks. Saw some cream colored mule's ear.

Before turning back, we visited Painted Hills further east. It's rather small. Interesting, hot (85°F/27°C), some flowers. Did two very short hikes. Arrived back home before 7pm, early enough to clean up my gears. Thus concludes this easy and enjoyable road trip.

2014.6.1. Bald Butte

Sunday, sunny. 8 miles, 1600'. 9 of us hiked to Bald Butte, among other motorcyclists and mountain bikers. Great view of Mount Hood across the Hood River Valley (orchards and vineyards). View starts early on this trail, as you walk in and out of woods, cross some gravel roads (4 times?), and giant power line stations. The Bald Butte is aptly named. Balsamroot is on its last leg. Need to be here at least 2 weeks ago, or maybe in fall: plenty vine maples. The cornflower here has two colors: regular blue or purple, and the white one with blue center. You can see Hood, St Helens, Rainier, and Adams on the bald butte (Adams is more clear before you get to the butte). Lots of space on the top to spread around.

2.3 mile up the Oak Ridge Trail, passing 3 gravel roads, turn left at the sign, then 1.8 miles on the Surveyor's Ridge Trail to Bald Butte. Oak Ridge Trailhead (Latitude: 45.51997, Longitude: -121.5620): I-84 Exit 64 for Highway 35. 15 miles later turn left on Smullin Road (one mile past the Hood River Ranger Station) for 0.3 miles and make a left onto a gravel road.