Four in One Cone 30 Sept 2011

Four in One Cone (including a side trip to the PCT junction) is a 10.6 mile RT hike with 1500 ft altitude gain.  The trailhead is accessed off of McKenzie Hwy 242 about 5.6 miles passed the McKenzie Pass.  It starts off through a rather scruffy forest of nondescript trees and undergrowth but the views improve when the trail comes out on the view below.  Soon the trail crosses a lava field and then continues to follow the field's flank before entering the moon-like landscape beneath the volcanic cones.  The the Sisters loom off to one side, the cones to the other.  You are in a barren valley with cinder rock everywhere.  The trail eventually heads up the side of the cones and from there you see Mt Washington and Jefferson in the distance.  While on top the cone ridge you can walk the entire length of the four cones.  I decided to take the 0.8 mile trip to a meadow my hiking book said was pretty spectacular.  Since it was October, the lupines had finished blooming for the most part, but the meadow was pretty neat just the same.   The meadow was in a bowl, one end dominated by North Sister and the other sides were flanked by rocks and hills.  Not a soul in sight and no sounds of civilization...the meadow was a perfect lunch spot.

coming out of the dry lodgepole pine forest

 

crossing the lava flow

 rocks of many colors

 trail through the lava flow

these plants were plentiful and looked like little bits of fire on the lava rocks

 my destination - Four in One Cone

 the trail after you leave the lava field wall

 North and Middle sister from the cone

 view southwest

 on top Four in One Cone

 Mt Washington, Three Fingered Jack and Mt Jefferson

 the trail from the meadow

 North Sister from the meadow

 North and Middle Sister from the flank of Four in One Cone

 Huckleberries

Mushrooms

Jefferson Park 23 September 2011

I hiked this trail with Jean and her husband, Dan, in September.  It was a beautiful 10+ mile RT hike to a meadow at the base of Mt Jefferson.  We accessed the trail via Whitewater Road 10 miles east of Detroit on Hwy 22.  Even at 8:45a on a Friday morning in September, the parking lot was pretty full.  This is a very popular hike for the wildflowers and the views.

The elevation gain, around 1800ft, occurs in the beginning of the hike.  After the trail joins the PCT, the trail levels out...and you are in the meadows surrounded by flowers and lakes and a huge snow covered mountain.  Even though we hiked the end of Sept, there were still plenty of flowers.  The huckleberries were ripe so we often stopped to grab a handful to eat.  We lunched at Russell lake, then walked around it before heading back.  The huckleberries were turning red and we aimed to go back to see the fall colors but didn't make it this year.

 the forest trail

 Bunchberry

The Three Pyramids (check out the Pyramid hike - July 2011)

 Dan and Jean at the first Mt Jeff view point

 huckleberries

 lupines

 flower meadow and Mt Jefferson

 the intrepid hikers with Park Butte behind us

 Mt Jefferson in the afternoon light

 Whitewater creek

 snowfields in Sept (from previous winter)

wildflowers

Harts Cove 16 September 2011

Sylvia and I hiked to Harts Cove on a beautiful sunny day in September - and we had the trail all to ourselves.  The hike is 5.4 miles RT to the cove through a Sitka spruce and hemlock forest.  The the trailhead is accessed off of Hwy 18 just east and north of Lincoln City, 3 miles from the hwy on a narrow road.  It is about 65 miles from my house.  The first half of the hike is all downhill, so the 900 ft altitude difference is a loss until the return trip.  

The most interesting feature of this hike is the surreal sound of surf and barking seal lions while hiking through a forest.  You never do see the sea lions but you finally see the surf when you come out on the headland.  The viewpoint for Harts cove is a perfect spot of for lunch.

 mushrooms

 the trail

 more mushrooms

 view from the headland meadow

 Harts Cove

 view from the lunch spot

 the sea lions are around the rocks

 Harts Cove waterfall

Sylvia and Marley

Basket Slough 29 August 2011

Basket Slough is a National Wildlife Refuge.  You can hike around the area, but the trails are not well marked.  I wandered in general directions and ended up eventually finding the car again.  In August there were not many birds in the water, but fall and spring bring the birds in droves.  Some of the area is closed in winter to protect nesting birds.  The forests are oak, and the area is surrounded by farms.  This nature refuge is only 30 min from my house in Keizer.

Grizzly Peak 24 August 2011

Jean and I took this hike to Grizzly Peak (a side trip from Pamelia Lake off of Hwy 22 just east of Detroit) in August on a pretty, sunny day.  It is a 10 mile RT out and back hike that gains 2700 ft in 5 miles.  We took Pepper with us, Jean's dog.  Pepper was such a trouper on this hike, and it turns out it was her last as she died several weeks later from cancer.  The hike showed off beautiful views of Mt Jefferson - really in-your-face -  across a ravine.  This would be a good springtime hike when the rhododendrons and beargrass are blooming because those two types of plants were everywhere!

 Pamelia Creek

 Pepper at Pamelia Lake

 the forest trail

 Mt Jefferson

 Pepper made it!

 Jean

 the weatherman was predicting storms - clouds were coming in

 You could also see Three Fingered Jack looking the other direction

 Rhodys

interesting mushrooms