Blue Pool around Christmas

We had spent Christmas at home. We were waiting to go up to my mom's house until around New Years. It was a fun day and the kids enjoyed their presents as to be expected. We even did a Christmas walk out on the nature trail by the campground near our house. It was great except for the very end when there was definitely a crazy guy on drugs dancing on the trees. We even did a quick high tail it out of there which was not easy with a two and a four year old. The next day, I decided to check out a section of the McKenzie River trail that I had not hiked before. I started from Koosah Falls and headed down the trail from there.

The falls were really impressive given all the precipitation that we had been experiencing lately. The trail followed the river that was flowing quite intensely until it popped out at the reservoir. I should have looked at a map before I went, but I figured the trail would just be following the river and easy to find. In retrospect it was pretty easy to find. What I did, though, was to go left when I hit the road at the dam. Big mistake because it took me all the way to the other side of the reservoir. And who was the genius who kept going until he got to the outlet of the dam with no way to get across to the other side. You guessed it. So I had to back track which honestly was fine because I needed a bit of a hike anyway.

I found the trail which was fairly close to where I left it. There were a few other wanderers on the trail, but mostly just me as I followed the lake before popping out on the other side. From here, I was following the river downstream again. The area was almost swampy in many places and I really appreciated all of the lava flows that had carved this river valley a long time ago. This was a great hike to see big basalt cliffs. My goal on this day was to get to the Blue Pool and Tamolitch Falls. It was longer than taking the trail from Trail Bridge, but I guess it was much quieter. The river itself was not nearly as spectacular as hiking up from Trail Bridge, but I could still appreciate it.

It was almost surprising when I abruptly came upon the Blue Pool. Coming from the other direction, it was easy to anticipate from trail impact, but this way it was like I came around a corner and there it was. The waterfall was not flowing but there was quite a bit of underground stream flow coming out of the rocks. The Blue Pool is a pretty fantastic feature. I honestly didn't stay too long as I was really enjoying being out hiking today. The hike back was the same as the hike in, so I really just enjoyed the day being off work and out. The following day we were looking forward to Uncle Paul's visit which would be short and sweet. Oregon sure had a lot to offer just in our river valley.

French Pete Creek

It had been quite a while since I went on a noteworthy hike. I went back to Proxy Falls which is incredible, but since I had just been there a few months earlier was not really worth blogging about. I had also found it much more convenient to get my hiking bug out by taking the King Castle trail up Castle Rock that was right up the road from the house. I was also doing much more trail running given that Oregon had this perfect climate for running. I was a sweaty guy, so dealing with the heat was always an issue. Running out here, though, was just incredible because the temperatures always seemed to be in that comfortable range.

We had also taken quite a bit of time off and made many sacrifices to take a trip out to Arizona to be in my good friend Steve's wedding. Being teachers in our first year at a new school, most of our time was taken up getting prepared to teach, teaching, and evaluating student progress. It was exhausting and I was feeling it. The wedding itself took a lot out of us and by Christmas Break we were in need of a break. We were both tired. Jacqueline handled that by sleeping in and taking it easy for many days. I handled it by wanting to get out. The problem with that idea is that Oregon is much rainier and snowier than when we were living around Zion.

In fact it had been really rainy. Once Christmas Break started, it rained for 3 days straight. The field across from our house was turning into a lake. It would have been more nerve racking if our house was not situated on a hill above the field. Still, it was not leading to a very good feeling that the trails would be open for hiking. We took one day to celebrate Jacqueline's birthday in Eugene. The next day, though, I was off for a new hike. The goal on this day was to hike French Pete Creek which was up the Auf der Heide Road. I was not quite sure how far I would make it, but I was getting out. The weather was finally a bit better with the rain giving way to just soggy conditions.

I got up to go early and I was on the road by 7:30 AM. The waterfalls were really going especially by the hot spring. The road was in good condition for the most part except for a few rocks and branches on the road. I pulled in to the parking lot and I was the only one there. That was not too surprising. Not many people would consider this a good day to go out hiking. It wasn't too long before the trail put me out by the creek and it was raging. I was struck by the power of what I assumed was typically a fairly mild mannered stream. I hiked the trail which was nearly to water level in many places carefully as I did not want to take a dip in that rushing water.

The hardest part was crossing the side streams. They were really challenging making sure that I did not take any risks. Staying dry was not an option, but staying upright was essential. I was really moving for most of it expecting a good full day by this rushing river. Instead, after just a couple of miles, I found myself trying to figure out where I had lost the trail. I backtracked until I found where I left it. I looked across the creek to see it continuing on the other side of the river. Getting over to that spot was out of the question on this day, but I wondered if I could continue on the other side of the river for a while to where the trail would meet up again.

No luck and I found myself scrambling up steep and slippery terrain for no apparently good reason. I was actually pretty disappointed that my day was ending early, even before lunch time. I took some pictures and headed back to the house. I guess I picked the wrong trail, but I was glad I got to see the river with this much water and power heading out to the Cougar Reservoir. Later, I would learn that French Pete Creek was one of the only examples of low elevation old growth forest that was a topic of discussion in the 60s. It was set to be logged, but environmentalists saved it from the chain saw to eventually be burned by the fires in 2017 and 2018. On this day, though, I was back to spend the day with the family and wait for warmer, drier weather to return.

H J Andrews Lookout Creek

The nice part about living someplace new is that it is easy to find a new hike right in your neck of the woods. Popo was up visiting, so we decided to take him for a hike with the kids. I was still carrying Conrad, so we had to find a hike that Zyla could do. We chose to go up to HJ Andrews which was an experimental forest connected to the forest service right up the road from Blue River Reservoir. We took two cars so that we could make it a through hike as the trail paralleled the road as it followed the old growth forest along Lookout Creek. We dropped Jacqueline and the kids off first at the lower trailhead to try to get them to get as far ahead of us as they could given that the kids were going to be the slowest.

We dropped the other vehicle off and then made it back to the trailhead. Jacqueline had actually made it down to the first bridge with the kids, so we got a bit of a head start on the day. The rest of the day was following the trail that went along the creek. Most of the time it was in good shape, easy to follow, and fairly flat. Sometimes though we would get to a point where we had to cross a side creek or crawl over a log which made it more challenging with Zyla doing all the walking and me carrying Conrad on my back. Zyla was doing great and Popo was urging her along. Still we were moving slow as would be expected with small children.

Eventually it got to the point where I think Jacqueline wanted the hike to be over. Zyla was getting tired of hiking and there is only so much you can do to motivate a 4 year old to continue moving through the forest. So Popo carried her on his shoulders for a while. This is always dangerous because once it starts it is hard to take that away. He was able to do that for quite some time while also taking some breaks and having Zyla walk. The hike was over after only a couple of hours with Jacqueline a little frustrated by the length. Still, it was a worth while trip through an excellent forest right near the house. 

Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Having spent a few months on the west side of the Cascades, we decided it was worth our time to travel over to the east side and see what all the hype was about. Sisters and Bend were both rather trendy spots in Oregon being near the Cascades but having much better weather than we experienced on west side. It had been a trying couple of months as our new positions required a huge portion of our time and energy. What was especially difficult is just how exhausted we got just managing our jobs, daycare, and living in a new place. A trip over the Cascades was worth while. Jacqueline had a friend that she knew in Bend, so we drove through Sisters and made a plan to meet up with her at Newberry Volcanic National Monument.

It was only a couple of hours to drive there and soon after we arrived, her friend Shimiko whom she knew from growing up in Midland arrived. There was a paved trail that left from the visitor center up into the lava fields. This would have to be our path today as she had a stroller to move her daughter who was 1 year old just like Conrad. Her son had plenty of energy, but it was nice for our kids to have other kids near their age to hang out with on a hike. The volcanoes were interesting as this was once again a fairly recent lava flow, so you could really see how it had changed the landscape. There was a beautiful cinder cone, but we were not destined to make it there. We completed our hike walking to the end of the paved path.

We spent much of the evening hanging out with her and her husband before departing for our own family dinner. We stayed at this not so exciting hotel, but Jacqueline had made the arrangements using Expedia when the hotel was actually out of rooms. They had no choice but to put us up in one of their suites for the night. We did not actually need it or use it too much, but it was nice to have a little more space. The next day we headed out again with her friend Shimiko. We met her at there rental house as they were jumping in on the building craze and building a house in Bend. We decided to head up to the mountains for a hike. The plan didn't go so well, though, as it was unexpectedly cool. Eventually it began snowing on us, so we bagged that idea and instead went back down to the trails around the Deschutes River. We found our way to the Big Eddy Trailhead. This was a popular spot around the Deschutes for hikers and kayakers. The water looked a bit too rough for me to consider kayaking, but there were plenty of people in the water including a group of guys that seemed to want to take a plunge down this crazy waterfall. We watched them for a while and I realized how not tough that I am compared to these hearty souls.

The cold was so unexpected that we had to borrow a jacket from Shimiko for Conrad. We walked for a bit enjoying the river and the scenery. As we were about to leave, we ran into Howard and his wife Dinah from Zion that we had worked with. We chatted with them for a while, but I thought it was so funny to meet up with people that we had known previously from somewhere very far away. They had retired in Bend and it was very nice to see a familiar face. We enjoyed our short walk along the river, but unfortunately work called us back the next week. We said adieu, but knew that we would be back to the east side to explore more of what the dry side of the Cascades had to offer. 

McKenzie Pass

We couldn't really expect too much from these kids. We had a 4 and a 1 year old and we were taking them for an anniversary hike with the two of us. It was our sixth wedding anniversary and we just so happened to have the day off. Besides that the kids were already tired and had fallen asleep in the car on the way up the hill. I had never been up all the way to McKenzie Pass before. Jacqueline had assured me that it was this crazy, scary road with huge drop offs.
 After driving it, it was a well maintained paved road that was curvy, but one of the easiest ways to access some of the beautiful high country of the Three Sisters Wilderness. I was stoked for this road. It was beautiful up there with the geologically recent lava flows. This is what I had moved to Oregon for. This place was truly stunning. We got out at the the Dee Wright Observatory. It was this structure that was built in the '30s out of the lava flows.
When we got on top, it had a room where you could look out and each peak was framed within an opening. It was a nice clear day so we could see them all, even Mt. Hood. After that, there was a trail around the lava flow. It was a short trail, but that meant nothing with young children. We were able to coerce them enough to take the trip and even listen to us read out the information on the sign.
 A few trips on the shoulders was necessary but the kids were happy most of the way. This was a great area and I was loving the views. I would spend much of my time up here. We left the Dee Wright Observatory and headed a minute down the road to the Lava Camp Lake Road. There were some picnic tables near a trailhead where we had lunch.
 After that, we went out on the trail. The goal was to make it out to North Mathieu Lake. I say goal because who knows with kids. The trail was in really good shape and we quickly found ourselves on the PCT. It was in the forest, but there were these huge lava flows rising right above us.
This time we had the baby backpack as Conrad could not be expected to walk the 3 miles to the lake and back. He was a load by this point, though, so there were times when we let him out to walk. The trail was even in most places, but there were spots where his 1 year old legs would not support him well enough. The kids did great and we did not make the lake, but we got out and hiked for quite a while. It was a very enjoyable day. Then we went back down the hill for a dinner at Takodas.
All and all, a very enjoyable day in the high country of the Three Sisters Wilderness.

Separation Lake

My one day of free time and a chance to get out I took with a trip up the Foley Ridge Road to the Separation Lake Trailhead. I had gone for a hike with the kids and my mom to the viewpoint overlooking Rainbow Falls earlier in the month. I figured out that this like many other long dirt roads in Oregon was in pretty good shape. So I came back and went a little farther up the road. The road was in fantastic shape all the way there. I was able to park in the early afternoon and get a hike in. This one, I was by myself as my buddy Conrad would not be joining me. Having a little less weight on my shoulders, I was able to really get moving. I was still feeling like I was in pretty good shape even with the challenge of the new job with early mornings and late nights. The trail was mainly flat from the beginning. I ran into a couple doing an overnight. They seemed in such a good mood and I felt jealous of all their free time. I kept moving and the trail stayed mainly flat going next to Separation Creek here and there. I was really moving. I talked to some other older ladies who were out there and let me pass. The trail was mostly wooded. Eventually I crossed a couple of bridges and I was on my way to Separation Lake. I arrived at the lake and honestly it was a little non-descript. It was like any other wooded lake you might see. The main thing for me is that I was back out there in the beauty interacting with nature and really just able to move. My job was really keeping me tied down and I was starting to really need these weekend trips.
During the week, I had been trying to find time to continue to run and I figured this trail would be a good one to come back and run some day. I had been enjoying running in Oregon, but there was nothing as good as being out in the wilderness and really interacting with the trail. I headed back. It started downhill and then once I crossed the last bridge, I went up. I ran into those older ladies again and I stopped to talk to them for a bit. The rest of the way there was nothing to get in my way except for a section of muddy, wet trail and a giant colorful spider hanging over the trail. Back to the trailhead in under 5 hours for a trail that is 13 miles round trip made me feel pretty good. I really enjoyed that trail and knew that I would be back there to enjoy it again as it was in such good shape, very comfortable being along the creek, and it just made for such an enjoyable day. After this though it was back to work for the rest of the weekend.

The Coast

Okay, so this was not a hike or anything ambitious. It was just a day where I needed to get away and have some rest and relaxation. The last two weeks of my life had been so hard and exhausting. Starting a new job, having new students, and trying to establish yourself in a school can be so challenging. I worked through my last weekend, so finally on a Friday, I decided that I needed a break. We jumped in the car and drove out to Florence. The drive out there was good though the road was winding and there was lots of traffic.
 Florence was about 2 hours away from where we were living. When we got there, we found a place to eat first and then the closest beach we had access to. We hopped out of the car got down to the beach and boy was it great. Just to hear the ocean and see the surf was wonderful. The kids enjoyed a little sand castle building while I enjoyed a little R&R. I really did not move too much and just enjoyed the waves, the view, and the kids. It was strange to me just how quiet it was out here, but I guess if you have hundreds of miles of beach access, a little quiet can be had.
It was just what I needed. As we left though, we got stuck in a long traffic jam. We ended up sitting there for an hour only to see someone get life flighted out of there. The traffic was horrendous the rest of the way back as everyone was going to Eugene. When I got into Eugene, it was not much better. I was in an unfamiliar city trying to find my way to the right exit in a busy part of town. I looked down to check the GPS briefly and then back up to the signs and before I knew it I was going too fast into a small truck right in front of me.

 I hit it at a slow rate of speed, but quick enough to mess up our hood. The truck was fine and they left without a scratch. We called our insurance company and a tow truck came. In the process of waiting, we saw possibly the creepiest people I have ever seen. They were definitely strung out on something. The tow truck was able to give us a ride to a car rental place where we were able to get a rental for the week while our hood was repaired.

All of this was of course very stressful and embarrassing. We took our new rental car and had dinner at Applebees of all places. I don't like Applebees but it was just what we needed tonight. Quick decent food and a place to just sit and relax. We found our way out of Eugene after that and back home. The car was fixed by the next weekend when we were able to pick it up. So much for the rest and relaxation, but the Oregon Coast was definitely high on my list for places that are awesome!

O'Leary

Labor Day Weekend! I started my new job at McKenzie High School and boy was it going to be challenging. There were a lot of issues to address. I had my warnings initially from other staff members, but it was going to be an uphill slog. Speaking of uphill slogs, I chose the O'Leary trail to go explore with Conrad. This was really just seeing a place on a map and thinking that I wanted to see that place.
Conrad was a good sport as usual, but the trail was steep from the very get go. I drove up a dirt road to get there, hit the trail and just started climbing. Almost immediately it was just switchback after switchback of steep inclines. This seemed to be a theme on my Oregon hikes. I was sweating like crazy, but Conrad was having a good ol' time.

 Eventually I had to take a break. There was never really a good spot, so I found a place where Conrad could sit on a rock and have some food. I was even a sucker and let him take the bag of goldfish into the back of the pack. He was such a good sport to come with me on these trips. The view opened up a bit after a while and I could see Cougar Reservoir below, but mostly it was just going up switchback after switchback. Finally, the trail started crossing roads and eventually came upon where the trail continued to climb up to MacDuff Mountain. I figured this was a good spot to turn around.
The downhill was a lot more enjoyable. I am not saying I would not hike this trail again, but going down seemed like a good alternative compared to what I was just doing. The forest could get a bit repetitive, but I was still enjoying it. 

King Castle/Castle Rock

It was just Conrad and I. He was willing to go on a hike with me. He was a pretty good companion despite the fact that I would be carrying him the whole way. It was not particularly easy any more as he was getting heavier each day. I could not complain, though, because I was able to get out with him despite the whole parenting responsibility thing. We still had another week off before we started our new job at McKenzie, but Jacqueline and Zyla were in town. She took a day off from going in to school as she was extra nervous given the fact that this was going to be her first teaching job.
I had not taught in a few years, but I understood the stress that went with it, so getting out and enjoying the rest of my summer was definitely on the agenda. The trail I chose was the King Castle trail. It left from a paved road right off of the McKenzie Highway. There was a small trailhead for just a few cars. I loaded Conrad up in the pack and off we went. The trail did not stay flat for too long as soon we were zig zagging through a beautiful forest. I was just so impressed by the forest in Oregon. The trail was lined with very tall trees, but there was still an openness to the area. You did not feel closed in and also we were so close to the main road, but still felt completely away from it all.
There was a lot of sweating going on as the morning was cool, but the kid kept me in shape. We popped out on to a road that looked like it was in fairly good shape. We sat down to have a snack and then continued on up the trail. It crossed the road and continued on uphill. Eventually it reached a point where we stopped going uphill and then went down. We got to a trail junction and I thought this would be a good point to turn around. I couldn't keep him in the pack all day and this gave me a point that I could easily return to and finish the trip up Castle Rock which is where the King Castle trail eventually led.

As we went down, we reached a flatter section, so I stopped to give Conrad a chance to walk a little bit. I was amazed at just how small he was compared to the trees around him. We did a good job, but he was a little wobbly out there. I only gave him a few minutes and then he was happy to be back on my back and down the trail we went. I really liked that trail. It was so close. I only saw two other groups the entire time. I thought that maybe I could even get out and run that trail it was just in such good shape and so well maintained. Excellent use of my last days of freedom.

Two days later, I was back to finish it off. I did not let that fester for long.
 Conrad came with me once again. We drove to the top which was up a long forest service road which at times I doubted whether I was going the right direction. I figured as long as I continued going uphill it was going to be okay. I was right as I came to a trailhead at the end of this road. It was only a mile from here to the top. This was a flatter trail at first, but with some steeper drop offs. Eventually, it switchbacked and came out into a more open area. The top was a spot where there definitely was an old lookout. You could see a lot of the McKenzie Valley from here and most of that was forested.
I felt so lucky to live in such a wild place. This felt so much more remote than where we had come from, but yet there was a lively history here. I left there knowing I would return to Castle Rock many times.

Proxy Falls and Linton Lake

It was a sort of drizzly summer day in the McKenzie River Valley of Oregon, but we were determined to get the kids out for a hike. So we set out up the road to head up toward McKenzie Pass. There were numerous trail heads that we had not been hiking on that were short enough and pretty enough to make it worth the struggle that it took to keep the kiddos moving.
 I had Conrad in the backpack, but Zyla was now old enough that she could do a lot of the walking herself. The first trail that we chose was Proxy Falls. There were two waterfalls, but we did not know that. We pulled into the trailhead, parked, and paid for our group of four. Then we headed down the trail. Zyla was really excited about the huckleberries and it was hard to keep her moving as she always wanted to stop to eat some more. We got her to the first fall and it was a little hard to see. There seemed to be a lot of trees growing around it and it was a bit rainy. We debated about whether to go the other way, but finally decided for it.
I was glad that we did for their was another much more prominent waterfall and this one was way better than the other one. There seemed to be a perfect cut in the forest to see the water pouring down. It was a nice spot and I knew we would have to take our friends and family back to see this again in the future. We finished the loop, but we still had not had enough. So we packed the family up and went up the road to the trailhead to Linton Lake. For some reason this trail was a little bit busier.
It seemed to be a popular spot for young people to go backpacking into as it was close enough to the trailhead that they could actually bring in their beers and flotation devices. Not really my style, but it was a good hike and though it was an effort, Zyla was really putting those 4 year old legs to use. She was a bit slower than other hikers on the trail, but she was able to keep going. The trail was fairly level, which helped, but slowly went downhill to the lake. When we got to the lake the kids were excited.
 Having lived in Southern Utah all of their lives it was nice for them to see the alpine lake and be able to throw rocks in it. We enjoyed hanging out at the lake, but it wasn't really necessarily a typical August day. We were in our rain jackets for most of the day. As we fled the multitudes of unprepared and sort of gloomy looking backpackers that seemed to set up camp haphazardly near the lake, we went back up the trail running into more silly 20 somethings coming up the trail. Zyla and Conrad for that matter did great and it was awesome to be able to take the two of them hiking in Oregon. I think we were really going to enjoy the awesome scenery and excellent trail system that was out here. 

Horsepasture Mountain

 Still trying to figure out the new country that was surrounding me, I rode in Carl's truck up into the mountains again. We took a forest service road that seemed to climb for a long time. As we took a turn around the corner, we were rewarded with a view of the Sisters that was shrouded by the smoke that seemed to permeate up through the forest. It had been a hot, dry summer in Oregon and now the area was paying for it with wildfires. The area we were going to did not have any issues, though, and soon we were at the trailhead ready for the hike. Carl decided to sit this one out and he spent his time eating some berries and wandering around a bit on the Olallie trail that connected with the trail that I was going to take up to Horsepasture Mountain.
The hike started out pretty gradual, but I made sure I really put a lot into it because I did not want Carl to have to wait for too long. There were a few other folks on the trail and it was nice to chat with them as they went by. The trail spent most of the time in the forest, but toward the end it popped out into some nice meadows with many switchbacks. I zigzagged up until it ended with the one last switchback where you could see the top right at the end of a long semi steep meadow. I could see why it was called Horsepasture Mountain given the large meadow that would have been right near the top. The horses of the old timer Forest Service workers could have grazed while someone went up to the fire lookout.
 The fire lookout, though, was no more as it was one of the many casualties of the helicopter. In the 1950's, it would have been efficient to man these hundreds of lookouts across Washington and Oregon, but now we have the ability to watch the fires from the air so much easier. It was a good view from up on top, but once again the smoke really hid the majestic mountains which beckoned me to come climb them.
On this day, though, it was just a minor peak with a short trail, but I sure was enjoying the area. I quickly made my way back down and looked forward to all the opportunities that Oregon had to offer me.

Carpenter Mountain

We had been continuing to unpack our stuff and get used to living in Oregon, but it still was summer vacation, so we had to take the time to get out and enjoy it a little bit. We had a bit of time in the afternoon, so I went with Carl and the kids up to Carpenter Mountain. It took us a long time to drive the miles and miles of dirt roads to get to the trailhead. Some were better than others, but eventually we got to the trailhead. The view from the trailhead was good enough to be worth the drive as we could see the Three Sisters from there.
The trail was not very steep, but was covered in huckleberries. This was Zyla's first introduction to huckleberries and she was all over it. Conrad and Zyla had been enjoying the blackberries growing right near our new rental. This was a bountiful harvest that Oregon had to offer. There were multiple kinds of huckleberries on this hike to enjoy and the harder part was just keeping Zyla moving enough to keep our momentum going. I would hand every other huckleberry back to Conrad so that he could enjoy it also. I think Carl was happy with the pace of the four year old because his knees could not take a long walk. The trail wound through the woods with expansive views along the way of vast expanses of forest. The region we were living in just had an immense amount of trees. I think we were really digging the green even though it was rather hot and dry during the summer.
We eventually made it to the lookout. The last hundred feet were pretty steep and I was glad Jacqueline wasn't there because I had to carry the kids up to the lookout with a pretty significant drop off on the side. It all went fine. There was a forest service worker there manning the lookout. We talked to him for a while and he showed us how he used certain things to report fires. There was a fire going on currently and we were able to see it pretty well from Carpenter Mountain. In fact you could really see quite a bit of forest from up top. We enjoyed the view, but did not stay too long as I was a bit nervous having the kids up on top.
Down we went eating more huckleberries as we went. The pace was just perfect and Zyla did great. It took a bit of plodding to get her to keep moving all the time, but all and all she was turning into a pretty good hiker. She was starting to enjoy it too as she got to reap the rewards of a fruit harvest along the way.