Four in One Cone

 My goal this fall had been to try to get out on a hike each weekend. Running definitely was the more important activity for my body and my health, but the hiking was necessary for not just interacting with the same environments the whole time. I decided to do a hike to an area that I go to at least once a year. I drove up on a crisp fall morning. The weather was still expected to climb into the 70s, but the mornings were definitely cooler. It had been a while since I traveled up 242 because of the fires. There was still an active fire out on Linton Meadows, but the area that I would be hiking on the Scott Trail remained open. The fall leaves were out on the road, but I knew I would not get many leaves on my hike.

The trail that I was taking would lead me right by the Four in One Cone. This is essentially a small mountain that rises up in four different peaks that all produced lava flows at some point. I hiked by this so many times always thinking that I would go to the top the next time I came out there. The problem was that I had achieved every other objective in this area except for that. So I decided to take the day and get that done. When I got to the trailhead, I was the only car there. There was someone who had been camping there who was just leaving. I quickly threw the pack on and started out on my way. The great part about technology is that immediately I knew it was going to be around 4.5 miles to the turnoff and about 1500 feet of elevation gain.

I was in really good shape from all of the running, so this was not going to be an issue. I enjoyed the quiet trail and the forest scenery. There was definitely a hint of smoke in the air, but not enough to hamper me too dramatically. I was moving along at a swift pace averaging 3 miles an hour with ease. In my mid-thirties, my hiking pace had definitely dropped off, but now in my 40s with all the running I had been doing, I was moving pretty good. The trail took me mostly through dry woods with some occasional views when I popped out into old lava flows. Eventually the 4.5 miles came quick and I was at the junction for the hiker trail up to the top of Four in One Cone. 

It was a short excursion off of the Scott Trail, so within a couple of minutes, I was on top of the ridge. I first went over to the actual top where an old dead tree provided a place to sit for one person. I ate my sandwich and enjoyed the view. In the view I could see very clearly the remnants of the Collier Glacier. What is one of the largest glaciers in Oregon will likely be gone in less than 10 years and there is nothing I can do about it. I have watched this glacier retreat for many years without the hope of changing the outcome. I could also see the fire burning a few ridges over in Linton Meadows. Linton Meadows is so amazing and unfortunately its time to burn had arrived. The landscape is just so dynamic these days.

It was burning right in front of the Husband and I just wondered how much of the Obsidian area it would take with it. After I ate a bit, I decided to walk the entire ridge line. It was pretty cool because the side I approached on was rather gradual, but from the top of each one of these cones, you could see right down into the crater and envision what it was like when the lava was flowing out of here thousands of years ago. It was pretty cool to live so near to such a geologically active area. The route went up and down a little, but mostly just skirted the whole ridge until the cones ended. Here I snapped some photos to the north as all the peaks of Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, Mt. Washington, and Belknap Crater were very visible even though they were a little washed out due to the smoke.

Now it was time to head back. I went back down the trail the same way I came up. I kept a pretty good pace downhill and for once I did not get impatient and run down instead of just hiking. This was intentional to try to keep my legs in shape for running at practice with the kids the next day. Unfortunately when I got back to the trailhead, I ran into an employee for the forest service that informed me I needed a permit for that trail until October 15th. I felt really bad and apologized. I had hiked that trail so many times without realizing that. She did not give me a ticket. In my wilderness days, I would not have been so kind. It really never crossed my mind because it had never felt busy to me out there. Oh well, food for thought for next time.

MacDuff Mountain

A beautiful Sunday in October with so many choices, some of which are on fire, but you know, still so many choices. I went back and forth, but really I just wanted a good trail with a nice view and some wonderful hiking. I thought about a bunch of options, but finally settled on MacDuff Mountain. I ran on the King Castle trail frequently and often times I would take the  trail and run down the road. I knew the road was good up to the junction with the Castle Rock trail and I had only been on that section that connected to the O'Leary trail once. It had been many years, so I thought maybe I would go for it today. I got a nice early start and was beginning the drive up the dirt road when my low pressure light for the tire came on. I thought about turning around and even went back to the beginning of the road. Then I thought about it. The tire was not incredibly low and I knew I was in need of new tires. I decided to risk it and went back up the road. I made it to the trailhead and the tire was a little low, but I figured part of that was just the cool morning that we hadn't had for quite some time. I hoped that my tire would not be flat when I came back. The trail was actually pretty flat for the first couple of miles. I was not expecting that on the Castle Rock trail. 

I thought that maybe this would be a good place to bring the cross country runners because it was a clear path through the forest. The terrain was rather level and the trail was cleared without any big logs or brush along the trail. The forest was nice with some big trees. The only real highlight of this section is crossing Cougar Creek that I would then be following up the mountain for the rest of the day. The crossing was easy enough and soon I was at the junction with the O'Leary trail. From here, my workout got a little bit more intense. The trail switchbacked quite frequently as I followed the ridge uphill. These were some of the steepest switchbacks around so I was really getting a good workout today. 

I had been on this trail a couple of times before, but not for a few years. It climbed steeply through the woods crossing some dirt roads a couple of times. It also used the road a few times as the trail. In one of these instances, I missed the turnoff for the trail and had to cut uphill through the woods to get back onto the trail. It wasn't too difficult, though, and before long I was popping out into a clearing where I could see the top of MacDuff Mountain come into view. It was only a short jaunt off the trail to the top of the peak where a plaque for the former forest supervisor was waiting for me. MacDuff must have been a good man to get a plaque and a mountain named after him. 

The views were a little less spectacular than normal with all the smoke. It had been borderline unhealthy hiking up, especially in the lower elevation places, but up high was not too bad for smoke. Still, I could barely see the Sisters peaking out of the smoke. The hike itself had taken 7.5 miles to reach this high point with over 3000 feet of elevation gain. Definitely a good workout, but when it came time to find my way down, I was feeling a bit impatient. I decided to just run it. My little pack that I had on was actually pretty good for running and I was in good enough shape to do it. So I slowly ran down the mountain. My watch gave me an estimated time of arrival at my car and it was fun to see the minutes really start to tick away with only going at a rather slow speed. 

I felt pretty proud of myself for being in good enough shape to handle something as intense as running 7.5 miles down a mountain with a pack on and 3000 feet of vertical to drop. It was actually rather easy and I wondered how many more long hikes that I could do like this where I am half running and half hiking. These were my two favorite activities that I wanted to do nearly every day. I made it back to the car with over an hour taken off of my estimated time of arrival. That made me feel pretty good. I also was back in time to watch part of the Seahawks game which was exciting also. All and all, a great day in the mountains.

First Creek Meadows

 On most summer days, this would be a bad idea. I decided to hike the Old Summit Trail which I haven't hiked before. I think it used to be part of the old Skyline Trail before it became part of the PCT. The trail started at Santiam Pass. There were many cars at the trailhead. I wonder where they all go. I know it was easy access to the PCT, but really where are all these people. I saw some of them on the trail when I was leaving. They looked like the people who enjoy backpacking if they only have to go a couple of miles in and they could bring as many of their worldly possessions as possible. More power to them! It was just great to have people getting out. The more people out and about, the more people that would want to protect these places. 

The trail followed the PCT for only a short time and then it cut off and went in an easterly direction. Their were good views out to Hogg Rock and Mt. Washington. I was listening to the Seahawks game while I hiked, but as soon as I came over the top of a point and was heading down to the lake, I lost it. The lake was called Square Lake. It wasn't actually that square but it looked like a great place to do an easy backpack and hang out at the lake for the day. The trail went right past the lake and then the elevation started. Like I said before, this would have been a bad choice for the middle of summer. The hike today was all through an old burn and in the summer there would have been no break from the relentless heat of the sun.

I picked a good day today though as it was cooler than usual and there were even a few clouds in the sky. It was one of the few choices of places to pick that was not near an active fire. I had to drive right by the fire on Boulder Creek to get up here and I could still smell a bit of smoke, but for the most part this was a perfect day. The hike continued uphill until I went past Booth Lake. It was just another lake that was probably really beautifulsa at some point surrounded by a thick forest, but now it was still recovering from a fire maybe 20 years ago. I continued on the trail thinking that I would just hike all the way to Jack Lake, but instead I saw a place come on my map on my watch that said First Creek Meadows. 

This seemed like one of those places that not very many people visited, but was probably an amazing spot. I decided that was going to be my goal for the day. I found the best place where the trail crossed First Creek and went right up from there. It was a lot of hopping over logs from dead trees while going uphill. I had Three Fingered Jack in my sights the entire time, so it made the hike easy with the goal always in view. There were many places where I could have said, this is good enough, but I kept going always trying to find a better view.

This led me finally through a section of unburned forest that was rather thick until I popped out into the boulder field below Three Fingered Jack. Here I had lunch. It was a steep scramble from here if I wanted to keep going. I was pretty content with this though. The view was unique and I was sure not many people made it this far. When I headed back down, I finally found First Creek Meadows. Since it was fall, it was all yellowed out, but I am sure it was really pretty in the early summer. I also found a large toad in the meadow and figured this was a pretty good place to be an animal as there was water around and it was fairly quiet. I figured not many people made it up to here. 

From where I turned around, I took a slightly different route back. There was a much easier way through the burned woods back to the trail that would take some time off. It was nice having a watch that helped me know where I was at all times as finding the actual trail was not that difficult. I was back on it and then it was downhill. I had this mostly to myself until a trail runner came by. He said he was doing the "loop". I wondered what loop that was but most likely it was about 20 miles of running. Good on ya buddy. I continued on past Booth Lake and then by Square Lake once again. I was back to the car in not too long having enjoyed a really good hike. First Creek Meadows felt like a unique place where not many people visit and I was glad that I took the time to get off the trail to visit it. Another great Sunday hike that was only about an hour from my home.

Irish Mt.

 I was under a time crunch because we had received free tickets to the Oregon vs. Idaho college football game. Not being a Ducks fan, I was not too stoked about it, but Conrad wanted to go to the game. I decided that I could get a hike in during the morning as long as I was speedy and still make it back for the game in the afternoon. I was still really loving the Box Canyon area, so I decided to go back to the scene of the crime of a few weeks earlier. Corey and I were on a run around the Erma Bell Lakes when he lost his keys. We looked for them for an extended period of time before giving up hope. We had to jog all the way back to the trailhead and then from the trailhead another couple of miles down the road all while shirtless before walking the road for another hour or two until we finally got a ride. 

What was supposed to be a morning run turned into an all day affair. There was a trail along the way that made me curious, though. It jutted off kind of steeply toward Irish Mountain. It even had a sign that said Irish Mtn. on it and since Jacqueline, Conrad, and I had been on the Crossing Way trail a few weeks earlier, this trail made me want to hike it. So hike it I did. It is a bit of a drive to the trailhead which includes a dirt road, but not too big of a deal. I knew the trail would be in good shape until Otter Lake and it was. From there I took the junction toward Irish Mountain. The trail started to slowly deteriorate as it climbed uphill. There were numerous switchbacks and some places where the trees were cut. As I continued to climb uphill, those places got fewer and farther between.

I could still make the trail out for some time and I had it on the map on my watch, so even though I had to hop over lots of deadfall it was still reasonable for some time. Eventually though, it became so overgrown, I lost it in a few places. I was able to track it down again, but after some time it became easier to just take a straight line approach to Irish Mountain. This took me past some excellent views and some great meadows. One such view I could see far to the south toward Diamond Peak with a great view of the Cedar Creek fire scar. It still looked like an alien landscape. One such detour also took me past a lake which if I was in need of water, would have been a great watering hole.

After the lake, the trail was non-existent. I decided to just go for the peak. I was cutting it close on time as the difficulty of the trail was keeping me from making great time. Now the steepness of the route to the peak was deterring me also. It was still just in the forest, so I didn't have the ability to hurt myself too bad if I stumbled, but the angle was getting pretty steep. As I got closer to the ridge, the rocks became jagged. I had worked pretty hard gaining 2700 feet to get here over nearly 6 miles. I was looking at my watch, looking at the difficulty of the peak and I realized that if I wanted to go to the football game I was going to have to turn around soon. I thought I could make the top, but once I got there, I knew it would take a bit of route finding to make it to the right spot.

I had made it to about 50 feet from the summit, but I decided due to time constraints to save it for another day. I negotiated the way back down to the ridge where then I was able to start heading downhill. I was still not able to make great time because of all the deadfall, but it was still a faster trip downhill than up. This had really been a steep ascent and a lot of hard work to get up there in a short amount of time. In the future, I would have to come back to Irish Mountain, but I would probably use the approach from Crossing Way. Though longer, the trail was in better shape and you get to start at a much higher altitude. As I got back to the good trail, I made sure to utilize all my training.

I jogged the last couple of miles. It was so freeing to be in good enough shape that jogging a few miles at the end of a long hike was not a big deal. I quickly got back to the car and made my way back home. We were able to make the game though we arrived as the first quarter was expiring. That was good enough for me as we got to see Oregon figure things out eventually against Idaho. All and all a pretty enjoyable day in Oregon.

Sand Mountain Lookout via Santiam Wagon Road

 Well it finally rained. It had been a smoky summer as usual and we finally saw significant precipitation on Saturday afternoon. Probably about an inch of rain had fallen around the area, but still not enough to cancel the John Fogerty concert. We had a great time at the concert, so next morning I woke up refreshed and ready to get out on a trail somewhere. Everyone else was not feeling a 12 mile hike, so I went by my lonesome. I got to the trailhead a little late at 10:30. I decided to hike up to the Sand Mountain lookout. I've known of the existence of this place for quite some time, but had never made a trip. I studied the roads to get up there and many descriptions said that 4-wheel drive was required. I knew I could drive the long way around, but instead I noticed that the Santiam Wagon Road that left from the head of the McKenzie River Trail went directly toward Sand Mountain Lookout. I saw that another road, the 866 Road, went straight up from there, so I figured I could hike it. After looking at the map, I noticed that it was only 6 miles to the top. This would be a piece of cake. So I headed off up the wooded trail. The trail was looking very fresh on this morning. You could tell that the trail had received significant rainfall the day before as it seemed the water had used the trail as a temporary river.

The forest was cool and quiet. I really enjoyed the big trees and open feeling to the forest. It was hard to be here and not imagine the early settlers forging their way through the forest, camping with their wagons and horses. Which sites did they pick to camp at? Where did they get their grass and water? The trail went up for about 3 miles and then I crossed a road. The 866 Road was just a continuation of the Santiam Wagon Road. This road was now closed to automobile traffic, so it felt like just another hiking trail as no one else was on it. The topography started to change here with little bumps of volcanic craters starting to appear. The forest changed from predominantly fir to more pine trees and low bushes. The ground was not quite as smooth either with lots of volcanic rock ready to trip you up and sprain your ankles if you did not pay attention. Eventually Sand Mountain came into view. I could see with the map on my watch that the road continued until taking a nearly 180 degree turn and heading up the mountain. I decided that I could skip that 180 degree turn by just heading cross country until I met up with the other chunk of road.

This turned out to be a bit of a mistake. The bushes were so thick that my progress was slow and difficult. Add to that the steepness of the topography and it made for some very slow going. It did get me sweating a bit which wasn't too bad because up to this point the hiking had been quite easy even with the 2300 feet in elevation I would have to gain to make it to the lookout. I eventually came out to the road where I was happy to not be covered in ticks. Looking at my estimated time of arrival, I had saved 15 minutes of hiking by taking my shortcut, but it really had not been enjoyable hiking. Now, though, I was on the road again, that once again, was now turned into a trail leading to the lookout.

I was starting to get some incredible views to go along with it. I ran into a guy with 2 dogs coming down from the lookout. He was very friendly and we talked for quite some time. Always nice to meet a kindred soul out on the trail. The road/trail continued until I got to a large parking lot. This used to be the trailhead, but was now 1 mile away from the new trailhead. From here, the trail was only another .25 miles. 

The views out to Hoodoo, Three Fingered Jack, and Mt. Washington were fantastic. All three of them were right there in your face. When I turned a corner to make it to the top, I was greeted by a very friendly lookout attendant. His name was Tim and he was a professor at Portland State University. He had spent some of his summers since 2000 being the lookout at Sand Mountain. He had the outfit to prove it too as he was dressed in forest service apparel that seemed just about right for the 1920s or 1930s. I asked him about the previous night's storm and he talked about the thunder and lightning storm. We also talked about the Holiday Farm Fire storm. He let me go up in the lookout tower and we talked for quite some time. 

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One thing I learned from Tim was that the lava flows coming from this area were relatively recent, only about 3000 years old. The flows from Belknap were even younger as that lava is on top of the lava from Sand Mountain. I also learned that the lava flows from Sand Mountain actually created Clear Lake. He gave me lots of great information and I took a few pictures, but it was soon time to head back down. I decided that when going down, I was not going to take a shortcut. 

This took me too an amazing little field of cinders. I could tell that ATVs liked to use this area to drive around in, but after the rain it almost looked pristine. Our planet is pretty amazing. The non-shortcut route proved to be easy walking and I saw two other groups on the approach as I went down. As I got to the actual trailhead, some noisy ATVs came up the road and I was happy to be walking back down the other way with many miles of closed road ahead of me to walk. The only exciting thing to report on the way back was the only wildlife I would see on this day which was a horned lizard. He was a little guy, but I guess in this upper elevation semi-desert environment, this was good habitat for him. I continued on down the trail making it back to the car by 3:30. About 5 hours for a 12 mile hike was pretty decent. I was very pleased with the hike as most of it was really quiet with a nice big payoff at the end. I would definitely have to repeat this hike sometime in the future.

George Lake

Since I went to George Lake a couple of years ago, I had been trying to talk the family into returning with me. Given the difficulty of the hike, they were not all incredibly excited about it. Finally, we got a favorable forecast and Jacqueline agreed to make the trek. We drove up 242 to the PCT trailhead and began our hike. I expected a lot of PCT hikers on this day as mid-August is prime time for hikers in this area. It was actually pretty quiet in the morning though. The trail took us up through the two islands amongst the lava and then it was nothing but lava hiking for a couple of miles. Just an uphill slog without any tree cover and little baseball size rocks to step upon. We knew that a twisted ankle was likely with these conditions. We continued on up until we got to the junction with the Little Belknap Trail.

There was some disagreement amongst the crew, mainly from Jacqueline, but in the end we all took the short detour to the top. Zyla led the way and she scrambled her way to the summit. There was another person there, but he quickly left when our family of four made it to the top. We took some photos and enjoyed the view. Little Belknap is the place where most of the lava came from to make this big lava flow and there were places were you could see the fissures creating the lava tubes where the flow occurs. We did not stay long on top and we were quickly down the mountain and back on the trail. Here the trail leveled out and went into some trees for a bit before descending down into more lava flow. This we followed until we got to the very bottom of the lava flow.

We turned off the trail and started our cross country hiking. This required us to climb over some downed trees and loose soil. Last time I was here I made the mistake of going too far west. This time I made the mistake of going too far east. We did not have as steep of climbing, but we ended up adding an extra half mile or so to the hike. This made Jacqueline a little grumpy, but the rest of the family kept a good attitude, so we were happy when we finally made it to the lake. Here was the problem, though. The hiking was great on this day as we had cool weather and even a nice wind. I was hoping it would all disappear when we hit the lake, but when we got there, it was still cool. This lake was so amazingly clear and cool last time on a hot day. 

Now we would have to deal with a cool lake on a cool day. Still, I had prepared for an enjoyable lake day. I sat in my chair and blew up the cheap inner tube that I had brought. Everyone, except Jacqueline took it for a spin. It was actually pretty nice, but the wind was so strong it kept blowing us back into shore. The kids were troopers though as it took some guts to get out there on the lake. If we were lucky, the air temperature was somewhere in the low 60s with wind. It took a lot for me to jump completely in, but I had to make the best of it. Still it was enjoyable nonetheless, but we had to deflate the floaty and get back to the normal trail. It was making Jacqueline nervous to be so far away from the main drag.

I decided to take a more direct route back and it worked out pretty good. We were back on the trail in no time. On the way back we ran into a lot of PCT hikers. This is a common place for people to get off the trail and go to Bend, so many of them have to find a way back up in the afternoon. They were all cordial to us as they passed on by. I wished I would have brought something for them to hand out, but maybe next time. We made it back to the car a little bit after four. It wasn't quite the day that I was hoping for as I enjoyed swimming in George Lake so much the first time that I had been there that I hoped everyone could. Still we did our best to make it to this beautiful lake right under Mt. Washington and even got a 12 mile hike in because of it. Not a bad way to spend a day off.

Mt. Townsend

We were visiting my dad up in Port Angeles. We wanted to get out for a hike while we were there. I wanted to do the High Divide trail up above Sol Duc, but Jacqueline did not want to hike that far. My dad recommended Mt. Townsend, as he knew the mountain well since that is the place he scattered the ashes of one of his best friends, so we gave that a shot. It was not as long of a distance, but still a lot of elevation change. We got a good early start in the morning and were following our GPS. Unfortunately, the GPS took us on the wrong route. We ended up on a Forest Service road that dead ended. We had no choice but to backtrack to the 101 and take an alternative route that was actually the correct way to get to the trailhead. Since we did not have a map and did not know the area, we were really relying on the GPS to get us to the trailhead. 

The weird thing about it was that the actual correct directions to the trailhead were quite easy, we just had to travel on the 101 a lot further than we did. We chocked it up to a lost couple of hours and because of it, we didn't get our hike started until 11 AM. We parked at the lower trailhead. We were recommended to do this by one of the Forest Service employees at the ranger station that Jacqueline needed to stop at to go to the bathroom. This was strange because we were the only ones parked at this trailhead. This made Jacqueline a little bit grumpy because she wanted the hike to be shorter. I didn't think the little extra elevation would be a big deal. It took us by a trail shelter and a mostly dried up lake. The elevation change wasn't too much and the kids enjoyed munching on the huckleberries along the way.

We arrived at the upper trailhead where there was a bathroom and a big parking lot. The parking was completely full, so maybe it was a good choice to go to the lower trailhead. From here, the trail climbed steeply. It was a good workout for all of us except Conrad. He was still able to have a conversation while hiking uphill with very steep grades. I participated in most of it with him, but other times I was just dealing with the heat and climb. Jacqueline was not very happy with me for taking them on this hike and was even more grumpy when the trail started to open up more. To me, we were seeing beautiful meadows filled with wildflowers. For her, she was seeing potential places to go slip sliding away.

The kids handled the heights really well and honestly to me, every time it looked like it was going to get to a drop off, there was a switchback that took us up the hill. It was a wonderfully constructed trail and I just marveled at the workmanship involved in building this track up Mt. Townsend. We continued pushing on and eventually made our way up to the ridge. Here the views were spectacular. The top did not seem so far away and we could see a group of people having a break up on top. We continued on with Jacqueline in the rear. Eventually we all made it to the top and I just happened to have a fourth place ribbon from one of my races in my backpack. I gave that to Jacqueline for being the fourth person to climb the mountain out of our group of four and that lightened the mood.

From there on out, we seemed to all enjoy the hike. We even all had patience with Jacqueline as she worked herself up to be very nervous going down the switchbacks. The kids did fantastic as they have both become rather skilled at figuring out how to manage the risks. The other impressive thing about the kids was really just how great of shape that they were all in. The hike seemed like no big deal when we were climbing 3400 feet over 5 miles. They had been on a running program for cross country and I really think that this running program was working as they both seemed to handle this challenging hike with ease. We continued down eating as many huckleberries as we could. Conrad was the most excited about the huckleberries and often shared them with us.

Overall, it ended up being just around 10 miles. We did it in fairly good time, but were thwarted a bit by the driving directions. This meant that we were slowed down for what Zyla really wanted to do with the day and that was to get out to Glass Beach to find beach glass. We were supposed to meet my dad and his wife there.

By the time we made it, the tide was coming in and there was not too much beach glass to be found. We still got ourselves a pocket full and it made Zyla happy that we at least made the effort. Hopefully she will actually use the beach glass to make something pretty that we can all enjoy.

 

Kalaloch Tide Pools

 We took a trip up to Washington to go camping with my dad, his wife, and my sister. As kids, we went to Kalaloch nearly every summer. Now, it is hard to get a campsite reservation, so we were lucky we got one. We were on our last day there, but the morning provided a perfect opportunity to go see the tide pools. The low tide was perfect around 9:30, so we had an opportunity to get camp completely packed up before heading out to the beach. It was about a two mile walk down the beach from our campsite to the tide pools. All four of us were up for the hike, but also Laura was going to come with us. The weather was cool and overcast with a nice thick layer of fog hanging over the beach. Just another typical day on a Northwest beach.

We went down the beach to the north and our goal was to get to the first rocky area. This would provide us the best access to see the starfish, anemones, and sea cucumbers. We got there at just about the right time, but at the tail end of the lowest tide. We all wandered about on our own excited about our spots that we would see. We had a friend there to greet us also as a bald eagle was sitting on a rock above us. My goal was to get as far out as possible before the tide started coming back in. That meant that I broke away from the pack and walked out to the biggest outcropping out there. There was a natural arch closer in to the shore, but my goal was the biggest rock out there. I was glad I made it there because when I did there was the largest collection of starfish on the entire beach.

I tried to count them all, but there were far too many to count. I could tell the tide was coming in quick, so I tried to get the rest of the group to come with me out there before we lost the spot. It took a couple of minutes, but they were impressed when they made it out there and with no time to spare. Already the best spots were starting to get hit with waves. Tide pools are so interesting because they are a world that only exists each day for a short time period.

We had our fill of seeing the sea life, so we headed back the same way we came. Zyla was looking for beach glass and Conrad helped her. She found quite a bit which is surprising because this beach was definitely not known for its beach glass. The rest of us meandered on the sand until we made it back to the Tree of Life, which was a good landmark to tell us when we should go up the hill and back to our car. When we drove away from Kalaloch it did not take long before the world opened up to a nice sun shiny day, but at the beach I am sure that the ocean was still wrapped in a layer of clouds that would keep it nice and cool for the rest of the day.

Dillon Lake

 Jacqueline gave me a day off from chores around the house as she had a lunch with some friends. The kids were so focused on their running that they did not want to break that so I was on my own. On a day like this, I try to pick something on the map that is a little bit obscure. I had hiked up Horse Creek numerous times, but never had I ever taken any of the offshoot trails past the Separation Lake turnoff. I knew they were likely going to not be in great shape, but I decided this was my goal for the day. I chose the first one which was the Water Holes Trail that would take me out to Cedar Swamp and Dillon Lake. I got to the trailhead early enough that the air still had a little chill to it. This was fantastic as I was going to be hiking uphill through an old burn area with many thimble berries, mountain huckleberries, and huckleberries to  eat along the way. There were some thick bunches that I had to stop to pick a few. The benefits of hiking an unpopular trail.

Conrad and I hiked this trail during the spring and there was a lot of deadfall on the trail. This time there were only a few trees as someone obviously came through and cleared out the trail. This was true as I trudged uphill gaining about 1700 feet from the trailhead until I reached the Separation Lake trail junction. This junction is about 5 miles into the trail. This is where the cleared trail became a thing of the past. I could see a sign of things to come as right at the junction there were some major deadfall almost blocking the path and saying to me, wouldn't you rather go see Separation Lake. I guess that is the more popular trail in this area. I was not going there today, though, and began the arduous journey of hopping over logs every 30 seconds.

I also ran into the only other people I would see on the trail the whole day. They were out for 5 days and had spent the night at Separation Lake. They were moving much slower than me with large packs on, so I chatted with them for a bit and was on my way. It wasn't long before I was going around a big log jam on the left when I felt the pain. It was a bee stinging me right in the wrist. I said a few choice words and then was sprinting away. This is tough to do with downed trees. I ran for a couple of minutes until I felt confident nothing was chasing me, then pulled the stinger from my wrist. The sting would annoy me for the rest of the day, but I never reacted too much to bee stings.

It wasn't too long before I was at the junction of Horse Creek and the Water Holes Trail. I took the path less traveled by and it took me downhill. The trail was a little less discernible, but there were probably just as many trees down on this path as there were on the main trail. There were only a few points where I had to continue to look for the trail and for being 7 miles into the backcountry, this trail was in better shape than I expected. It was mostly flat, but went somewhat downhill until I was at Cedar Swamp. Here I would have to cross Horse Creek. The creek was low and I decided to just get my feet wet rather than deal with removing shoes. This might actually have been a fine place to remove my shoes though as the creek was filled with mossy vegetation at the crossing.

Upstream and downstream Horse Creek looked interesting. It definitely looked swampy upstream and like a strong flowing stream downstream. I made the crossing successfully. It looked like there was a log that used to be the base of a bridge there, but that bridge was long gone. The trail went uphill from here and I could see Dillon Lake appear on my watch. It was a short uphill journey to get to the lake. The trail actually went around the lake, but I could see a path that went off through the woods. I could tell that this was a path that someone at sometime had used to backpack and camp near the lake. It took me right to the best view of the lake. Unfortunately, this lake was not one to go swimming in. 

It was swampy with a nice layer of mud on the approach to the lake. Still, it was sure to be great habitat as a duck swam quietly in the lake. I had a quick bite to eat and then I turned around. The allure of going further was there, but since I had already put in over 9 miles, I decided to turn around. I took a quick look at the creek flowing out of the lake and then it was back the way I came. I went down the hill, crossed Horse Creek, and then hiked uphill to get back to the Horse Creek trail. I took a short detour as the trail to Nash Lake was only a quarter mile up the trail. I was expecting a bunch of problems with this trail, but there was a good sign and it looked like some cut trees near the trail. I figured this was a future trip for sure.

 Then it was back the way I came past the place where I was stung. I was careful to cross every log jam on the opposite side just in case, but I easily found the place where I was stung. I had a little burst of speed to get past it. Soon I was done with the deadfall. I appreciate trail crew so much and every time I see them, I make sure to thank them for their work. Once there were no trees and I was just going slightly downhill, I was feeling good, so I decided to jog for a bit. My body was in such great shape from running so much, that I continued this for the last 4 miles. It is amazing how much quicker you can cover ground at just a jog compared to hiking. I was back at the trailhead in no time happy to have gone somewhere new today. It made me excited to come back and try Nash Lake in the future.