Tanner Butte - 7/10/11

Tanner Butte is a 4500' peak on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge. Many times I have hiked on the Tanner Butte trail but never attempted to hike all the way to the summit. There is no short way of getting to Tanner Butte. The shortest way is nearly a 20 mile round trip starting at 150' in elevation. I read somewhere that it is the peak that is the furthest by trail from any trailhead in the Columbia River Gorge. The reports of the views on a sunny day said they were some of the best in the Gorge.

Last weekend, my hiking buddy, Chris, and I found out for ourselves about the views and how long the trail really is. Recent trip reports indicated that the trail to the top was snow free. The dogs were left at home because this trip would be too demanding for them - even Buddy.

We starting off at the Toothrock Trailhead about 9 AM with mostly sunny skies. Having hiked the multitude of trail options many times, we knew to head for the old Tanner Butte trailhead 2 miles up the closed road.

At about 1 mile from the old trailhead are solidified mudslides that cross the road several feet high. I came across the mudslides earlier in the year shortly after the event happened. It would have been an amazing sight too see it happen - from far away.

At the old trailhead is where two unnamed creeks join and form several beautiful unnamed waterfalls. Years ago I named one of them Bradley Falls.

The creeks must be forded in order to proceed, easy during the summer, but more difficult during the spring snowmelt or times of heavy rain. The trail continues on uphill, never getting very steep. Shortly after crossing the second creek is an interesting auditory display. As one walks past a chainsawed log at head level, the angle of the end of the log perfectly reflects the sound of the creek below as if a speaker was playing sounds of a babbling brook. For some reason this delights me every time I pass it.

There are not a lot of spectacular views along the way, but at various times of the year many different types of flowers are blooming. Plus the forest is always there, which is beautiful in its own way. Just before the campsite 2 miles from the old trailhead is the last reliable source of water until another 2.5 more miles at Dublin Lake - and that source is 500' down and back up to the main trail. Not something you want to do if hiking 20 miles. Chris and I took a short rest at that campsite at 2700'.

At the Dublin Lake turnoff at 3700' we took another rest. My new boots were starting to cause some hot spots on my heals. Being proactive, I took off my boots and socks and applied some moleskin, then taped up my feet. I didn't want to wait until blisters had started.

Shortly after the Dublin Lake turnoff, the trail turns into an old abandoned logging road the rest of the way. Continuing south the views finally open up in a bear grass and huckleberry filled meadow. At the meadow the first view of Tanner Butte, as well as Mt. Hood, can be seen.

We soon found out that before the turnoff to Tanner Butte, the trail loses about 300', which, of course, we had to gain right back before the final assault on the summit. That also meant that on the way back, we had to lose that same 300' and gain it back.

Since neither Chris or I had been this far on the trail before, we both kept a sharp eye out for the turnoff to the top. The description for the turnoff indicated that it was not marked well and to look for a sign saying "Please find scramble route to the summit". Just when we thought we were getting close, we came across a solo hiker who could not find the turnoff to the top. He had passed it and eventually got to a sping that I knew was past the turnoff, and was on his way back. After hiking 10 miles and up 4500', he was giving up getting to the summit. Not more than 30 seconds of hiking after we crossed paths, Chris and I found the turnoff. It was a little overgrown, but marked with an orange flag.

The trail to the summit is 1/2 mile and gains 500'. On the way up we past one solo hiker and a group of 4 on their way down. The group of 4 said they were training for backpacking around Mt. Hood so they were going to take the long way back via Eagle Creek. That would make for a 27 mile day hike! No thank you.

When we got to the summit, we had it all to ourselves. The sky was sunny, the wind was light and the temperature was perfect for shorts and a T-shirt. And the views? Let me start out by explaining that Tanner Butte is one of the very few true 360 degree views in the Gorge. Nothing obscures any of the view. Cascade Mountains that can be seen include, Mt Hood, Mt. Washington and Mt. Jefferson in Oregon, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens in Washington. The lesser peaks of Goat Rocks, Silver Star Mt., Larch Mt., Chinidere Mt. and Indian Mt could also be seen. Points in the Gorge we could see were Hardy Ridge, Hamilton Mt., Table Mt., Greenleaf Peak, Mt. Defiance and the long flat Benson Plateau.

We enjoyed the views for about 45 minutes while fueling up for the trip back. Speaking of the trip back, much of the time was spent thinking about all the things I was going to eat when I got back in town. Burgers, pizza, Izzy's all you can eat buffet.

Upon getting back to the truck, it was almost 6:00 PM. The hike was one of the longest day hikes I have ever done. My body told me so for the next few days.

Here is a link to some pics of the trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/72157627095643143/detail/

Backpacking In Central OR - 6/30/11

I am unable to write as completely detailed trip report as I would like, but I wanted to share this trip report with others because many people enjoy reading them.

Goal: Do the 37 mile round trip from Cultus Lake to Mink Lake, then to Irish Lake, then back to Cultus Lake. The National Forest Service had info that in this area the snow level was between 5300'-5600'. My friend, Chris, and I were going to find out.

·        Left the Winopee Lake TH (4700') at 2PM on 6/30/11. Very few mosquitoes.

·        No snow or blow-downs on the trail along Cultus Lake to the turn off to Winopee Lake. Very few mosquitoes except for one small creek crossing.

·        No snow or blow-downs on the trail up to the Teddy Lakes turn off. Very few mosquitoes.

·        No snow and minor blow-downs on the trail after the Teddy Lakes turn off up to Muskrat Lake (4880'). Mosquitoes increased, but tolerable with protection. Old shelter at Muskrat Lake.

·        Small patches of snow and more blow-downs from Muskrat Lake to Lake Winopee. Some blow-downs require climbing over or walking all the way around. Mosquitoes about the same.

·        Increasing patches of snow and steady blow-downs from Lake Winopee to Snowshoe Lake (5060'). Mosquitoes about the same.

·        Due to the extra time it took to navigate over the patches of snow and blow-downs, we decided to camp at Snowshoe Lake. BTW, the campsites at this lake are awesome! We also came to the conclusion that doing the full round trip would not be possible due to the increasing snow and blow-downs. The round trip would entail going above 6000'.

·        The next day we decided our destination would be Mink Lake (5034'). Even though Mink Lake is at 5034', we would have to climb to around 5300'.

·        From Snowshoe Lake to Upper Snowshoe Lake the snow coverage changed to almost 100%, even though the elevation did not increase much. The contour of the land was more of a factor. Very few blow-downs to cross because of the near 100% snow coverage. Also a difficult creek crossing.

·        From Upper Snowshoe Lake we passed Long Lake (5165') and Puppy Lake (5195') and then up to where the trail meets the PCT (5200'-5250' ?). Snow coverage almost always at 100%. Very few mosquitoes. Relied heavily on map, GPS and trailblazes.

·        Short jaunt on the PCT until it meets the Mink Lake Trail. 100% snow coverage. Easy to follow PCT on this short section even with the snow. Very few mosquitoes.

·        From the PCT, the Mink Lake Trail climbs a small amount of elevation (50-75' ?) and then drops a couple hundred or so feet to Mink Lake. Snow coverage quickly goes from 100% to 0% based on elevation change and contour.

·        Camped at the rocky outcropping on the north side of Mink Lake (very good campsite!). An old shelter on the NE side of the lake. No snow around the lake except some on the south side due to Packsaddle Mountain. Very few mosquitoes.

·        Hiked all the way back the next day. Mosquitoes were very bad from Upper Snowshoe Lake to Muskrat Lake. Might be that we hit that area a different time of day or more hatched in two days. DEET and permethrin are wonder chemicals.

·        On the way back we saw a red fox.

·        We were the first people of the year to go to these places. Didn't see another person the whole time until back at the Cultus Lake Trail.

I want to stress that one should not try a trip such as this without a good map, compass and a GPS. You should also know how to read trailblazes in trees. We used all of these. I hope this trip report is enjoyable to all. Maybe in two or more weeks the full loop can be done and I can report on that.

Link to the pics and vids of the trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/72157626992641943/detail/

Dog Mountain 5/10/11

Since the forecast for 5/10/11 and 5/11/11 called for sunny, warm weather, I decided to take those days off from work and go hiking one of those days. As the time got closer, it looked like Tuesday would be the better of the two days.

The hike I chose was Dog Mountain, on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. Normally I avoid that hike because of the massive crowds, especially as it nears peak flowering time. Since it was a Tuesday pre-peak flowering, I figured it would be safe. My hope was to get some good exercise, some good views and some good pictures of the pre-flower explosion.

Since there is alot of poison oak along the lower portion of the trail, I decided to leave the dogs, Buddy and Timmy at home. Dogs do not seem to be affected by poison oak, but the urushiol oil that causes rashes would get on their fur and then transfer to me and other things that I might touch. However, leaving them at home when I go on a hike is a sensitive issue. They know what hiking gear is and if they see me load it into the car then leave without them, they have something to say about it. My plan was to put them in the dog run, then quietly load the gear. It worked. They thought I was going to work as usual.

When I got to the trailhead at 7:30, there was only one other car there. The wind was brisk and the sun was shining. I decided to take the new (not really new, but newer than the old) trail to the top. All along the trail there were many varieties of wildflowers blooming and signs that the famous Dog Mountain wildflower explosion would happen in about two weeks. Even though I was a little too soon for that, I was not disappointed in the flowers that I did see.

What I was disappointed in was the weather. The higher I got, the windier and cloudier it got. My estimate is that the wind was a constant 30+ mph. The temperature was such that I could see my breath. Good thing I brought a windbreaker, hat and gloves.

Due to the weather conditions, I did not feel the need to go the last 0.1 mile to the true summit at 2920'. Instead, I continued on to meet up with the Augspurger Mt. trail to finish the hike as a true loop. To my surprise, there seemed to be more of a variety of flowers on that trail then up on the open meadows of Dog Mt.

All told, the hike was 6.7 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 2800'. The whole time I only came across two people.

When I got back home, I let the dogs out of the dog run, then proceeded to unload the hiking gear out of the car onto the deck. They had a betrayed look as if to say, "Wait a minute. You went on a hike and didn't take us." I gave then a treat and they forgot about the whole thing.

Brad

Here is a link to the Dog Mountain pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/72157626695051158/detail/

Brad's Flickr photo sets:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/

Snowshoeing Silver Star 4/30/11

On Saturday, April 30th, my friend Chris and I packed up our gear and the dogs and headed out to snowshoe to the top of 4390' Silver Star Mountain. I had read a recent posting online that the Grouse Vista trailhead at 2375' was accessible.

The road to the trailhead was almost entirely clear of snow. Even vehicles with low clearance made it there. There we were met by the largest group of people I have ever seen there. I think they were a group of Mazamas. And I thought that the snow would thin out the crowds.

We all headed up the Grouse Vista Trail. The very start of the trail was clear of snow, which then gave way to patches of snow that could be walked on with just our boots. Soon there came a point where snowshoes were necessary. If we had not strapped our snowshoes on, we would have been "postholing" up to our waist. We broke the trail most of the rest of the way to the top. Many of the snow drifts we had to cross were 45+ degree angles.

Just before reaching the top of Silver Star Mt., we ran into Portland Hiker's own Don Nelson and a friend Jamie. Portland Hiker is a popular website for hikers in the Portland metro area. Meeting Don was almost like meeting a rock star, as I have been in awe of many of Don's trip reports. They were heading over to Sturgeon Rock and asked us to take a picture of them over there from Silver Star.

Sturgeon Rock is a rock formation 207' lower than Silver Star Mt. with a difficult-in-summer goat trail to the top. I've been to the peak of Sturgeon Rock in summer when the ground is dry and I'm not wearing awkward snowshoes. The peak is only a couple of feet wide with death fall cliffs on two sides. Obviously, the word agoraphobia is not in their vocabulary. Amazing.

After summiting Silver Star Mt., we decided to take the loop back on the Tarbell Trail. Rather than backtracking a bit to get to the Tarbell Cutoff, we took a shortcut off trail through the woods. We both know that area well, so there was no danger in getting lost. In three directions are trails, while the other direction is Sturgeon Rock. Plus Chris has a GPS.

Let me tell you, going downhill in the snow is much easier than going uphill. We soon ran into the large group of Mazamas, who had the good fortune of following in the tracks we had just broken.

Even though snowshoeing is much more difficult than hiking, there is something to be said for getting some strenuous exercise. The sense of accomplishment garnered from doing something very few people have done is amazing.

In all the trip was 8.3 miles round trip with a total elevation gain of over 1700'. Next up...?

Enjoy,
Brad

Link to 4/30/11 Silver Star Pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N ... 493635041/

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Link to Brad's Flickr photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/