The "Hike On!" thread of Hiking, Camping, Backpacking, and Outdoor Adventure

[CraigM]

So my approach is… well I acclimate to cold well so I tend to go lighter. My typical day gear is, for sub freezing, an under armor base layer, a long sleeve shirt, and a wind and water resistant outer layer. This will do me good into the single digits if I am active. If it is colder I upgrade the long sleeve tee or use my full winter jacket.

My lower half is typically a pair of cold gear running pants, though for certain times I’ll use a pair of warm base layer under jeans. Truth is that base layer makes all the difference for me. By the time I get going, i may strip down to just the under armor layer if it is above freezing.

Also current report says 50’s and sunny for Saturday now 😉

[Matt_W]

@CraigM

Also current report says 50’s and sunny for Saturday now 😉

11" of snow fell over this last weekend at Timberline Lodge. 😬

[CraigM]

The mountain, she is a tease!

Taken this morning. Beautiful skies and as clear a view as I ever get from by home.

Yeah, it got pretty chilly. Last night was 36 in the valley. After today should warm up and be at, or above, freezing the rest of the week. Though snow potential Thursday and Friday.

Not sure how to parse it. Thing is that Timberline is on a permanent glacier (for now) so some snow on the trail in the immediate area is not just normal, but to be expected. Even in July, leaving from the lodge, there is usually snow the first mile or two in spots. And as you go, with the exception of the 4-5 mile portion on the Cooper Spur region, you’re below the elevation of the lodge.

For a day hike, it wouldn’t dissuade me at all. However, for a circumnavigation I can’t answer. I have done pretty much the entire western half, and don’t think it would be too bad at all. But the Cooper Spur is unknown to me.

[Matt_W]

@CraigM

For a day hike, it wouldn’t dissuade me at all. However, for a circumnavigation I can’t answer. I have done pretty much the entire western half, and don’t think it would be too bad at all. But the Cooper Spur is unknown to me.

Love the golden light in that photo!

Yeah, I’m pretty committed to doing it at this point. My concerns with snow are that it will cover the trail, making trailfinding more difficult, and I’ll have wet feet in near freezing temps. I’m resigned to wet feet already; I bought a pair of neoprene socks to wear over my wool ones. It may even make stream crossings easier and safer to just ford them wet. And I’ve got a Garmin inReach, my phone with Backcountry and Google Maps, and a physical map for navigation. My sleeping setup is 3-season, so I’ll probably try to pick lower elevation campsites (e.g. Elk Meadows instead of Cooper Spur), but I think I’ll be ok, and it’ll be good experience.

I just signed up to do Mt. Whitney again next September, but this time via the High Sierra Trail. Good excuse to ask for a pack upgrade for Christmas.

[CraigM]

Well the good news is that one of the most difficult crossings, the White River, is very near the end of the trip, the last few miles.

The Sandy River, which can be a treacherous crossing, wasn’t too bad when I did it a few weeks ago. It is wide, and the trail hard to follow, but if my 2.5 year old can do it (and downstream of where you would be) the only problem is picking the trail up on he other side.

The Muddy Fork may be another issue, and is shortly after the Sandy River. Last time I did it was at a low flow, but the terrain is tricky, but beautiful.

The Sandy River crossing is the lowest point on the trail, but I’m not sure it is a great spot to camp, it is at the bottom of a several mile long descent, and dumps right out into the river. Not a lot of camping ground there. If you continue a little further, to the Ramona Falls area, there is a wider plateau you should be able to camp at. McNeil Point is a great camp ground soot, but is more like 5500’ instead of 3500’ and about 18.3 miles into the hike, instead of around 10. Aside from that there is some cover and woods near where the Timberline trail and the Pacific Crest trail meet again. And that may be an option, split from the Timberline at Ramona Falls and take the north spur of the Ramona Falls trail, join with the PCT and follow that to where the Timberline, Top Spur, and PCT trails meet. It’ll keep you at lower elevation longer, might give you an easier crossing of the muddy fork, large caveat I have not crossed it there, and could provide more camp sites than following the timberline proper. I think it is also slightly shorter, by ~1/4 mile.

All that said, I have clearance from my wife for Saturday. So if would like, we can discuss more by PM.

[TheRockSal]

I was all set for a circumnavigation of Hood years ago. Set out with a nice lightweight pack setup. Got about a mile from the Lodge, and while on a curvy party of the trail, spooked a black bear cub. He darted away.

Got a little nervous for mama bear but kept going. Came around a corner and at the end of a long straightaway, there she was, picking through downed trees. I stopped and watched her. At one time she looked up and glanced down the trail toward me but I was kind of peeking around the corner so she didn’t see me or smell me i guess.

But, that was the end of that trip…turned around, hoofed It fast to the car and drove back to NW Portland for a I’m-still-alive brew!

[Matt_W]

@TheRockSal

I was all set for a circumnavigation of Hood years ago.

I was all set for a circumnavigation of Hood a week ago. I wish I had some cool story about a bear to tell, but sadly I just got scared off by the snowfall last weekend. Trip cancelled, and now I’m at work rather than flying north for adventure. So bummed :(

[CraigM]

That makes two of us!

However it was probably the prudent decision. We got another two inches above 6000’ overnight. So about 14” in the two weeks, and without the temps to clear trails. An unseasonable cold snap scuttled things.

Unfortunately I was only going to be able to do a day trip, as I work Monday. Had I been able to commit to doing the full circumnavigation with Matt, it probably could still happen. Alas life didn’t work out that way.

[Matt_W]

I think I’m gonna skip out early from work and tackle a local 10 mile loop I’ve never done before this afternoon. Then maybe another loop tomorrow morning. At least bank some miles. I thought about doing the 40 mile Trans-Catalina Trail across Catalina Island, but decided to keep my vacation days for now.

[TheRockSal]

Jeez…I need to hit the treadmill. Got tired doing a 4 mile 1,500 foot hike a month ago. Legs weren’t tired but no aerobic training made me very winded way too many times. Age…gotta love it.

[Tman]

So this thread got me off my butt. I asked my son to invite me next time he went somewhere and he called this morning and said he’s going to Saddle Mountain - a hike I have never done. It embarrasses me when @CraigM, who has only been in Oregon such a short time, has done so many hikes!

Anyway, you couldn’t have asked for a better day. Clear skies. From the top you could see Astoria, Mt Rainier, Mt Hood, Mt St Helens and Adams. Incredible. This shot below, that is the Ocean over our shoulders!

Here’s the Astoria / Columbia River shot:

Trip Report: It was a tough 4.7 mile roundtrip with 1,700 ft elevation gain which incidentally felt like 1,000 was in the last 1/2 mile. It didn’t kill this 55 yr old overweight guy, but I’m sure I’ll be paying for it tomorrow.

Edit to add more details

The trailhead off Hi-way 26 is an adventure / sightseeing in itself, a 7 mile curving lemans like road through the dense thickets of the PacNW range. Keep going till the end. There is a decent cinderblock restroom with running water at the beginning of the trail.

It’s strange, the first 100-200yds of the trail are remnants of what can only be described as an attempt to pave the trail for that initial portion. I can only guess they did this b/c at the lower elevations it could get pretty muddy.

You start off in a beautiful old growth alder forest, with the trunks dominating the landscape. This quickly turns into a more coniferous forest with towering firs and cedars. The moss covered branches are their own beauty. At just over mile marker 1, there is the first of many picnic tables strategically placed to give people a nice place to sit down and enjoy the views.

The trail then turns to rock. I think Saddle mountain is 90% basalt and most of the trails have been carved out. In several places, you will have a running water stream over the trail, but only an inch or so deep. Still, I was glad I had my waterproof shoes on. As you get into this rocky area, the trail is a never ending series of switchbacks that give you a cascade / endless patchwork of fir forests that are being harvested. At this point, you will start to see portions of the trail covered in a fencing like material to create a more firm path than the chipped away basalt.

About 1/2 mile from the top, you will have a nice scenic look-out that gives great views of the forests and ocean beyond. Then you turn a corner and are presented with this view showing the last portion to the top. This is where the mountain gets it’s name. It’s a short hike down to the bottom of the saddle and then a very steep climb to the top - almost all of it covered with chain linking material.

We were very lucky on the weather. My son has done this hike several times and he’s had fog, wind and light rain on several occasions, giving no views at all at the top.

[CraigM]

Nice pics! Couldn’t have picked a better day for it either.

I haven’t done Saddle Mountain before, but that definitely moves it up my list.

[Matt_W]

Wow, that looks awesome! What a gorgeous day for hiking in the PNW.

To assuage my bummed-out-ness for not hiking in the PNW this weekend I did a new (to me) loop hike in Cuyamaca State Park, about 40 minutes east of San Diego. The Cuyamacas are a mountain range, which along with the Lagunas further east and the Palomar range to the north, comprise the alpine areas of San Diego County: 5000’+ elevation, snow in the winter, stands of conifers and alpine vegetation mixed with the more typical coastal sage and chaparral that characterizes most of the wild spaces in the county. Cuyamaca’s conifers were decimated by the 2003 Cedar Fire, and restoring them is a many-decades-long project, but a few stands remain and my trail, the East Mesa trail took me through a few of them.

It’s fall, which means it’s dry and brown here. The trail starts out climbing a couple of hundred feet up the steep mesa headwall. But once at the top, opens out to the north for views of Stonewall and Middle Peaks.

After about 3 miles of slow climb over a series of low ridges, the top of the mesa opens out into expansive grassy meadows:

On the east side of the mesa, the trail passes through some stands of widely spaced oak and pine trees. I startled a couple of deer walking through this area. (The startling was mutual.)

On the north side, the trail drops about 800’ down a series of switchbacks to the Harper Creek canyon.

Harper Creek is dry, like all the creeks up here in the fall, but the canyon was beautiful in a Southern California way in the light of the late afternoon sun.

I finished up the hike in a little less than 3 hours. Not a spectacular hike, but it’s nice to find relatively close moderate-but-long routes. I’d love to come back in the spring, when those meadows are filled with waving green grasses and wildflowers.

[Tman]

@CraigM

I haven’t done Saddle Mountain before, but that definitely moves it up my list.

I could have sworn you’ve done it & had a nice trip report on it. I’ll re-edit it and give some more details. It really is a pretty hike, with many views on the way up.

[CraigM]

Probably thinking of my Elk and Kings Mountain reports. I’ve hiked pretty much every mountain trail along route 6, but only have taken 26 on the way to Cannon Beach really.

[Matt_W]

A couple of weekends ago, I did a short overnight trip in the San Gorgonio Wilderness up to the summit of Mt. San Bernardino. I’ve only ever previously hiked on the south side of the San Bernadino divide before and this loop was entirely on the north side.

I met with a buddy from my hiking group. Our hike started at the Forsee Creek trailhead (6700’ elevation) and proceeded up the John’s Meadow Trail. Some fall colors were starting to show through in the oak and manzanita covering the streambeds running down the canyons we crossed on the way up.

It was a 4+ mile hike 1500’ up to where our trail met the San Bernardino Divide trail at Manzanita Flats. We got to the flats with the sun low in the sky.

But we still had another 2-3 miles and another 1000’ up the divide trail to go before we reached our campsite at Limber Pine. The views from Limber Pine look west out over Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Mountains.

We got up early in the morning and made our way toward San Bernardino summit. Along the way, the sun rose over Mt. San Gorginio (tallest mountain in SoCal) , with Mt. San Jacinto looming off in the hazy distance.

The summit was nice

We came back down the Forsee Creek Trail to complete our loop. On the way we passed through the very edges of the devastation left by the Lake Fire in 2015.

But all-in-all a lovely fall hike

[TheRockSal]

Nice report.

I’m so glad I live in the PNW…so many hiking opportunities year round…uh…oh yeah, not.

[CraigM]

So my wife is out of town for a ling weekend, leaving me with the older kids. So, naturally, I took them for a hike. In factI took them to the same hike @Tman posted a few weeks back, Saddle Mountain.

Obviously with a 2.8 and 5.8 year old, pace was going to be slow at best. But it would be a good warm up for next summer at the Utah National Parks.

The drive out and start were extremely foggy, visibility in the 1/4-1/2 mile range. Temps were decent enough though.

We went 1/4 mile or so then stopped for lunch, as it was that time by the time we arrived due to distance and stopping at Winco for some trail snacks. The kids enjoyed the rocks, but my son was really being a butt about the whole thing. He can be like that unfortunately, because near 6 year olds can be like that. However as we hiked, the clouds started to thin out. Partly due to the layer dissipating, partly climbing above them.

As we continued upward the view in the distance really started to break. We even could start to see the edge of the coastal range, Ecola State Park, as well as the ocean.

Time for a snack break! The reward for reaching the top was gummy worms!

The way down was much eaiser, though the sun was starting to get low. However, at this point, we were racing daylight and tides. I had promised the kids we would go to the tide pools (low tide was +.5 ft at 5:20pm, sunset 4:50). I was having to hustle the kids to get them down, particularly my son who was getting tired. My daughter was really tired, and wound up sleeping on my arms the last half mile or so.

But we made the car by 4:30, so rushed the 30 minutes or so to Cannon Beach. Slightly after sundown, but with still some twilight remaining.

It was a good day. Not my usual pace or hike, but given I spent a good chunk of it carrying my daughter, a decent enough work out still.

[Enidigm]

What fantastic pics for the wall! I’ve probably never seen a better high iso image in amateur digital photography than that last pic - suitably eerie and full of stories and placenames. And you have some little troopers! 2.8 and 5.8 are doing way better than i’dve expected!

[CraigM]

Is it any wonder why I’m not missing Chicago:)