Yapoah Crater

It was my half birthday and I need to get a hike in. The weather was not cooperating, but this was my day, so it was time to make it happen. I had been wanting to go up Yapoah Crater since last summer and after walking by it on the PCT it renewed my interest. This was a day when a long hike would mean exposure to wet weather all day. So Yapoah Crater it was. The trail out to Yapaoh Crater was the Scott Trail which went right by the Four in one Cones. I should have realized I was in for it when the trailhead was almost completely abandoned except for one other car. At first the weather started out good, but it changed rather quickly into a blustery, rainy day. I had researched Yapoah Crater last summer when Conrad and I went to Yapoah Lake. Ya-po-ah was the Kalapuya Indians name for Skinner Butte which is located in Eugene. It means the High Place. 

I liked that. So my goal was to make it to the High Place today. I followed the trail until it took me to  the PCT. I did not stay on the PCT long, but did head north for a short stretch. I went to about the highest place that I could find and then headed out to the woods. The route took me uphill and eventually I ran into a trail. This took me past one challenging obstacle, but mostly it was just hiking uphill. The terrain was a bit challenging but nothing too difficult. The goal was to make the ridge and head north from there. I picked my route carefully and soon I was topping out on the ridge. This is where the wind really picked up. I was staying on the west side of the ridge to avoid the big winds, but there were times when I had to top out. Given that this was the highest thing around, the winds had nothing to stop there path and they were tremendous. When I finally got to the base of the peak on the ridge, I considered turning around. It was sort of foolishness but I was here, might as well finish the trip. I started up the rocky slope. Here, it was just volcanic rock as Yapoah Crater is one of the youngest features in Oregon being only a few thousand years old. The wind whipped as I tried to keep my balance charging up the steep volcanic slopes until I hit the crater proper. It was hard to tell what was the high point of the crater, so I decided to just circumnavigate the entire summit. The wind and the rain just whipped at we coming out of the west. All my clothes were pointing east as the wind tried to rip them from my body. This would have been a great day to wear rain pants as I was soaked from the waist down. My rain jacket kept my upper portion dry, but the rest of me was nice and soaked. I kept my balance the entire way across the summit. I can't say the view was spectacular and I did not have the energy to take pictures for long. I quickly made my way back down, happy to be out of the driving wind and rain. Following the ridge and steep slope down was relatively easy. Soon I was back on the PCT and then the Scott Trail. The hike back was a piece of cake except for the fact that I was a little chilly. As long as I kept moving, I did not get cold. Besides, this weather was great for finishing off the fires. Nothing like a good soaking to cool the flames as this would mark the end of fire season in Oregon. I am not going to lie, I also enjoyed the hike a little more in the weather. There was literally nobody out there except for me and it made what would have probably been a fairly easy scramble a little bit more exciting. It turned out to be a great day even in the driving wind and rain.