Obsidian Trail (Oregon)

Friday, August 14 - the last day of AMC August Camp - dawned, and I found that I was again signed up for my first choice hike - the Obsidian Trail.  This hike had been offered earlier in the week and folks really liked it.  It is 12 miles long and thus considered to be an "A" hike, but the leader was Eva, who led my hike the day before to Tam McArthur Ridge.  She assured everyone that while we would be moving along, we would not be on a rapid pace and that everyone would be able to keep up.

This ended up being my second favorite hike, and I have to wonder if it would have been my favorite if the weather had been more clear.  It goes through some very scenic country, and while it didn't rain, it was overcast and very cool without some of the long vistas that we had on all of the other days.  As I said, the hike was 12 miles long and of a lollipop orientation - an out and back section of about four miles each way with a four mile loop.  Here is a map of the track.  We started and ended at the upper left, and we did the loop portion of  the lollipop counter clockwise as the arrows indicate.

You'll note that the trail climbs steadily all the way up and for the first part of the loop, then it more or less descends all the way back to the trailhead.  The total elevation gain and loss was about 1,800 feet, and it was never extremely steep as were some of the other trails this week.  It was a good workout without being totally nuts.

Here, we've zoomed out a good bit so you can get an idea of the terrain.  Note the peaks to the east - the three Sisters, some of the tallest and most rugged peaks in Oregon.  North Sister is almost exactly due east of the loop portion of our hike.

We had a really good group on this hike, just as on all of the others.  There were 11 of us, at many different paces - a couple of speed burners, some moderate but steady folks, and some a little slower.  But even those like me who like to look at things and take photographs never really felt rushed.  The speed burners waited at any major trail junction for everyone to catch up, and our leader did a good job of making sure everyone was together.

This hike had it all (other than the big vistas, and I think those were hidden in the weather).  We started in beautiful forests, hiked past rugged volcanic areas and pumice, trekked through open meadows, crossed streams, had lunch by a waterfall, and even saw a couple of tarns.  And that doesn't include all of the amazing obsidian!  For wildlife, we saw a pretty cool marmot, which I'd only seen  few times before in my life.  It was a marvelous hike, and I am really glad that I didn't take the white water rafting option on the last day as I nearly did.  That evening, I turned an account of the day into verse for the August Camp Talent Show: "Ode to Obsidian Trail."

One of the highpoints was seeing the obsidian - black volcanic glass.  In places, it was everywhere.  And I found a number of pieces that look like they had been shaped into tools by peoples long ago, like scrapers or spear heads.  I really wanted to bring some home, but we were all told that it was off limits to take any from this place.  So I captured some photos of it, and memories.

Our hike started in a lovely forest, and climbed moderately but steadily uphill.  This hike was the only one of the week where I wore layers - it was that chilly at times.

About three miles in, we took a break at the start of volcanic area.  The remains of volcanic activity was everywhere through here.

Can you find this cliff on the topo map showing the hike's track?  Hint - it is south of the "stick" part of the lollipop, but fairly close to the loop portion of the hike.

Just left of center you can see a couple of hikers picking their way across a lava field.

This hike had several lovely meadows, like this one.

I think this was the first hike all week that we crossed a stream, so it was pretty exciting.  I was beginning to wonder if Oregon even had streams!

Part of the "lollipop" portion of the hike involved me hiking on the PCT for the second time ever.

Lovely Obsidian Falls ended up being a great spot to have lunch near.

 

In places, obsidian was scattered all over the place.  See more obsidian photos here.

Just above Obsidian Falls, we found an ideal lunch spot.

We saw two of these tarns on the loop portion of the hike.  They were very cool!

Some of the landscape was almost bleak at times.

I wish I knew more about geology.  I'd like to know the story of this amazing boulder!

Like a shepherd looking for a lost sheep, hike leader Eva searches for a straggling hiker.

Eva told me that this was bear grass post-bloom.  It was about three feet tall, and when it is in bloom, it has white flowers.

 

This was just a fabulous hike.  Everyone enjoyed it.  And later, the hike gave me grist to create an entry in the Camp Follies that night - the end of week camper talent show!

Tam MacArthur Ridge (Oregon)

On Thursday, August 13, I took my fifth Oregon hike with the Appalachian Mountain Club August Camp.  This time, we went up Tam MacArthur Ridge, a 5 mile total out and back that climbed 1,200 feet up to a ridgeline overlooking a lake.  It was a fun hike, once again, but a little lonely - thanks to a very basic mistake that yours truly made!

Let's start with a track of the hike.  We started and ended at Three Creek Lake.  See the big purple star on the map - more about that later.  Let's just say that I got very familiar with that area!

Here is a 3-D view of the hike.  We started and ended at the red arrow - up to the ridge and back out.

From a little bit of elevation over Three Creek Lake, here is a view of our destination - Tam MacArthur Ridge.

There were 13 of us on this hike.  Here are some of us admiring the views.

I am not sure, but I think this might be some of the Sisters Range.  Note the glaciers.  South Sister is the third highest mountain in Oregon, and I think is the highest that can be hiked without technical skills.

Three Creek Lake lies 1,200 feet below.

I mentioned that there were 13 of us?  Well, by the time I took the pictures above and the one below, I was in a group size of one, thanks to a decision making error on my part.

A group that large gets a little strung out.  I was probably in the middle, with about 6-7 ahead of me.  I came around a bend, and there were three of them sitting on a log in a shady spot.  One of them said "We're taking a little break - men to the right, women to the left."  I counted 3, subtracted from the number ahead of me, and realized that there were 3 or 4 still ahead.  I didn't need a bathroom break, so I kept walking to catch the others.  Mistake #1.  I walked.  And walked.  I came to a trail junction with a horse trail.  Odd that no one was waiting at the junction. So I kept walking.  Mistake #2.  After a good 20-25 minutes, having come to the ridge without meeting anyone, it dawned on me that everyone was taking the break back in the woods, not just three hikers.  So I turned back, thinking I would just meet them on the trail.  So I walked back until I reached the spot where the break had been, and this is what I saw:

How had I missed them?  Then only thing I could think of is that they had taken the horse trail.  So I could either go back up hunting for them, or I could sit my butt down right here and wait.  Staying put was the clear winner, even though I would miss out on more scenery.  So I sat in the shade and relaxed - this is where the purple star on the route map is.  I ate lunch.  I explored right around a bit - leaving my pack at the log.  I talked to people who were hiking up and down.  If they hiked up, I asked them to look for a group of 12 and tell them that Art was fine and waiting for them down the trail.  I even saw a couple of riders:

My one fear was that they would divide up and search for me at the top, but I was pretty sure that Eva, our hike leader, would not let that happen.  Better to have one person separated from the group than three or four.  And after two hours of waiting, who should appear than the other dozen!  I was happy to see them!

We hiked down together, pausing for a few more wonderful views:

And we ended the hot day with a cool and refreshing swim in Three Creek Lake, with Tam MacArthur Ridge looming above us.

I made several fundamental mistakes to get separated from the others.  First, I assumed that only three were taking a break - and worse, I didn't ask for confirmation.  Eva gave me advice afterwards when we linked back up - don't count the people at a break, count the packs.  And memorize your hike leader's pack!  If it is on the ground, then the hike leader is nearby.  Second, I did not stop at the trail junction, assuming that the others were just ahead and hadn't stopped because it was a horse trail.

But I also did several things right.  First, I eventually realized that I was ahead and instead of keeping going or waiting where I was, I backtracked.  Second, when I got back to the break spot and everyone was gone, I waited there instead of going back up looking for them all.  And third, I sent word up with ascending hikers, and as it turned out, at least one of them contacted the group and told them that I was fine and waiting.

It was not my most fun day of the week, but fun enough, and I learned some things!

Hackleman Old Growth Grove (Oregon)

On Tuesday, August 11, we had time after the hike up Iron Mountain to visit the Hackleman Old Growth Grove.  This was only about a one mile loop, so I am not going provide a topo map, but it was fascinating because the Douglas fir here were up to 500 years old - basically seedlings when Chris Columbus came over this way!

I guess since I finally had a day of hiking without falling, something had to happen, and it did.  I, and one other, were attacked by yellow jackets when we posed by one of the trees!  I got stung twice, and she got stung once.  Interesting enough, we talked to at least three other people on other hikes who were stung that day.  I didn't feel like I had done something wrong, but clearly, I violated some important protocol shared by these wasps!  Or maybe it was payback for killing the one that crawled into my sandwich bag the day before up at Rooster Rock.

For only a mile of hiking here, we sure saw some pretty forest land!  Here are a few photos.

Iron Mountain Loop (Oregon)

On August 11, my third day of hiking in Central Oregon at AMC August Camp, it was tempting to take a break and do something a little easier, like the trip into Bend for biking, kayaking, and brews!  But instead, I hiked the Iron Mountain loop trail, and am I glad I did, because it was my favorite hike of the week.

After two out and backs, a loop trail was a great change!  You are always seeing something new.  The only out and back part was a short spur to the summit of Iron Mountain, with many switchbacks as we gained about 600 feet in a half mile.  The total hike was 7.3 miles, and we went through some mature forests, open wildflower meadows with great views, and to the top of Iron Mountain with a deck on top and 360 degree, if hazy, views.

Here is a track of our hike.  The start and end is marked with the red star, and the red arrow marks the direction of travel (counter-clockwise).  A purple star marks our main objective, the summit of Iron Mountain with its wonderful views.

Here is a three dimensional view of the area.  We hiked across the saddle between Cone Peak and Iron Mountain.  The red star  indicates where we started and ended.

We started the hike through mature forest.  Very relaxing and pretty.

After some climbing, we arrived at an open area with views, including of Cone Peak to the north, and...

Iron Mountain to the west.  That is where we hoped to have lunch.

The views from the saddle here were really great.

The shaggy-barked Alaskan cedar is rare in Oregon but fairly common in this area, our naturalist hike leader volunteer told us.  By the way, all of the hike leaders were great.

This whole region seemed to be the results on volcanos.  Look at all of this volcanic rock.

As we started the steep switchbacks up Iron Mountain, some wonderful views began to come.

Pearly everlasting is the name of this wildflower - a pretty name for a pretty flower!

You can see how hazy it was there.  Some of this is the result of forest fires.

I was the last to reach the summit with its wonderful deck.

Even with the haze, the views were plenty gorgeous from the top.

We saw lots of wildflowers on this hike.

Near the end of our hike, I think that I am celebrating actually completing a hike without taking a spill!  Also, I wanted to show that there some big trees in this area.  However, the short hike that we did after completing this one had some truly huge trees - 500 year old Douglas fir!

This hike had everything but wildlife - a good group of hikers to enjoy it with, a great hike leader, wonderfully varied views and scenery, a great cardio workout, beautiful forests, lovely open views, mountaintop views, and gorgeous wildflowers.  For that reason, it was my favorite hike of the week, although they were all so good that it is difficult to choose.  One thing I found about August Camp - you can randomly pick a hike each night and not go wrong!

Rooster Rock (Oregon)

The second AMC August Camp hike of the week, Monday August 10, was up to Rooster Rock.  It was another out and back hike, 3.2 miles each way, uphill on the way out, and downhill on the way back.  The 2,300 feet that we gained hiking up to Rooster Rock was all lost on the return.  It was rated as a moderate hike.  The views at the top were good but not as spectacular as the Dome Rock hike.  However, we explored a kind of secret side trail that led to some amazing views.

Here is a track of the hike, starting at the lower left with Rooster Rock on the right.  The hike climbed steadily through a nice forest and only had views at the very top.  The secret trail led to the north about a half mile from the view point.  The purple star shows the approximate location of the end of the side trail with the fabulous view.

Here is a three dimensional view of the hike.  I've marked the approximate location of Rooster Rock.  There was a huge cliff face there, as well as other giant rocks.

The start of the hike featured large trees hanging with Old Man's Beard lichens.

I hiked with five others.  At this point, I snapped a shot of some of them ahead of me in the thick forest.

This hike had about four major obstacles to cross on the trail.  We had to climb over some very large logs, at steep angles, and for this one, we all crawled under it using various techniques: a roll, a crab crawl, and so forth.

Very close to the summit, we paused to look at the huge cliff and rocks that made up part of Rooster Rock.

The summit had nice views to the east-south-east, which was also the direction that the sun was shining from.  It was a good lunch spot, and several yellow jackets also showed up to see if they could steal some food.  One crawled into my sandwich bag, which crossed a line, so I dispatched her.  Would I perhaps find some bad karma from this later?

After lunch, we decided to see if we could follow the secret side trail from the summit the north.  The trail book suggested a possible view of Rabbit Ears.  After a while, sure enough, we spotted the two giant pillars of stone partially visible through the trees.  These columns are very popular with rock climbers.  For me, attempting it would lead to an early death.

A while past Rabbit Ears, the trail seemed to end.  I was in the lead, and it looked like we would have to risk climbing over this huge rock.  Good views seemed to be ahead, but were they worth the risk?  We decided not!  But then, a fellow hiker spotted a faint track to the right of the rock, and scouted it out.  It was steep and narrow, requiring caution, but was passible, so I followed him out there.

And am I glad I did, because there was a fabulous view!  The two of us who went over there took turns snapping photographs of each other.  It was literally a place where if you stepped about three feet backwards, it was a very, very long way down.  So we both went very slow and carefully here.

Being an out and back, the trip back to the car was a repeat of the trip up, except downhill.  Sound easy?  Well, we still had to climb over and under some big logs, and at the very start, I took a step in a patch of gravel on a steep slope that was like stepping on ball bearings.  I took another quick and painful fall, gashing my elbow open.  It bled enough that our trip leader got out her first aid kit and patched in up.  Two weeks later, I still have a big scab on my elbow.  Two hikes, two days, two falls, two scraped up arms!

Did that spoil the trip? Heck no!  I had a fabulous time doing another great hike, and I wondered what tomorrow would bring.  It turned out that it would bring the best hike of the whole week!