Black Butte

 

Waking up at the campground along the Metolius River, Conrad and I were right near the trailhead to Black Butte. We both slept in a little bit after a hard day of hiking the previous day. I think we both had a pretty good night of sleep in the tent. It got light rather early, but we still found a way to sleep in until 6:45, Conrad making it all the way until 7:30. Our breakfast was pretty easy as we each had a bagel and a small orange. Then it was time to get the tent all packed up, the sleeping bags put away, and the air mattresses deflated. We got the car packed up quickly and were out of there a little bit after 8 am. I decided it would be interesting to drive through Camp Sherman just to see what it was like. It was like a little village complete with a camp store, a restaurant, a school, etc... Then it was off to the Black Butte trailhead. 

There were quite a few cars parked at the trailhead. We found a place along the side of the road, but even before 9 am, we were still the 15th car parked there. This was the lower trailhead. I thought it was only 3.1 miles to the top based on the guidebook that we had, but when I looked at how far away that the top was, I realized that it must have been 3.1 miles to the upper trailhead. The trail was supposed to climb over 3000 feet, but we were heading up rather slowly. After a few junctions, it began to climb. It was not a big deal to either of us. Conrad was so tough for 11 years old. He just took whatever challenge was thrown his way. The forest was pretty thick and it was rather overcast. I was surprised to see so many trail runners coming down the trail. This trail had a lot of vertical, so I guess it was a way to get that training in. Plus, it was probably the only thing this high that the snow was completely off of the trail. 

We continued up the trail and sure enough, the 3.1 miles was to the upper parking lot. There was still another 2 miles to go to get to the top. We continued on up. Conrad was doing great as the trail just climbed steadily. There were not even really many switchbacks, just continuing uphill. The upper trailhead had a bunch more cars, so this section was definitely a bit busy. There were trail markers next to plants and we guessed some of the plants. I got a few right, so I felt good about that. Eventually the trees died away. It became a little more exposed and I could tell that Conrad was a little bit nervous. He tried his best not to show it, but I could tell that he was thinking about it. Soon, though, we were coming around the corner and heading for the top of the mountain. 

Right above us was a family with young kids so it was hard to revel in our accomplishment too much, but 3400 of vertical gain over 5.3 miles was still a good day's work. We wandered over to the viewpoint, but it was very cold and windy. We found a place out of the wind to sit down and have some lunch. 

We ate and then we started on down. It was much faster going down, but we had to stop quite a few times for people coming up. Conrad was least excited to see the people with dogs. He had this thing, but I kind of get it as people treat the dogs like they are humans. They can be irritating, but they can be sweet too. We were quickly down to the upper trailhead and then we kept moving quick until we were back down to the lower trailhead. About 4 hours to do 10.6 miles, so we felt pretty good about that. Plus we had a great workout and got to hike a new trail. Definitely a hike that we enjoyed. I was so lucky to be able to do something like that with my son. I hope for many more experiences like this in the future.

Metolius River

I had heard of the Metolius River. I had driven by the turnoff for the Metolius River. I hadn't ever experienced the Metolius River. Conrad and I were seeking a place to go camping. It was still a school week, so I didn't want to do anything too ambitious. The Metolius was only an hour away. I figured that would be a great place to go camping. So Thursday night, we got the car all packed up. We were ready to go Friday morning and after a few errands we were on our way. The drive went pretty smooth as traffic was slow, but not exceptionally slow. We made the turnoff for the Metolius in no time at all. I was definitely acting like a tourist at this point. Road side sign, let's stop and check it out. Head of the Metolius, definitely going. Not very remarkable once we got there as it was hard to see after walking down a lonely paved path to a view that really was not much of a view. The river emerged from the base of Black Butte, but I could not have told you that if the guide books didn't. 

Then it was off to find a campsite. We tried the Riverside Campground. Sounds nice, right. No river side to be had at this campground and just up the road they were doing a controlled burn. Not so nice. We drove up the road a ways and after looking through one campground, we found our way to site 1 in Pine Flat. $21 a night is pretty steep for a campsite, but the bonus was that the trail we were looking to hike left right from our campsite. We set up the tent, ate some lunch, and then were on our way down the East Metolius River trail. The trail paralleled the river, sometimes being high above it on the plateau and sometimes being right by the banks. The water in the river was so clear and the trail was so quiet. The best part of the whole day was after we went down a series of switchbacks and were right along the water's edge. Here were the most rapids and we saw monster fish in the river.

We followed this for quite some time going about 3.5 miles before getting to Wizard Falls. Wizard Falls was not much of a falls as it was just a part of the river that was carved out deeper. It still looked pretty cool though. From here the trail made a 6 mile loop. We followed the banks and saw many middle aged to elderly men out fly fishing. I don't think we saw any women and I wondered why fly fishing did not appeal to females. I am not a fly fisherman myself, so I could not answer that question. Instead we just continued to hike seeing I flock of geese with about ten young geese and a species of duck that seemed unusual. About 3 miles down the river, we came to another bridge and this time crossed over to the west side of the river. 

This was nice because this side of the river was shaded and more forested. We still had great views of the river and walked by many a focused fly fisherman on our way back to Wizard Falls. From Wizard Falls we could stay on the west side and add another 3-5 miles to our hike or go back to the East side and walk with the sun in our faces. Since it was already going to be a 13 mile hike, Conrad chose very quickly to do the east side. I looked longingly to the west side and its shady shores while we baked in the 80 degree afternoon sun. Soon we were back at our campsite to hang for the evening. We took a quick dip in the freezing creek where the best I could muster was a sponge bath and Conrad could really only muster a good foot washing. Then it was some pasta and peas for dinner. We played some cribbage, threw the football around, played some other games, read our books, and turned in once it was dark. All and all a very successful day seeing a very pristine part of Oregon. 

Separation Lake Trail

We had a four day weekend which meant that we had plenty of time to do all of things we wanted to. The previous day, we went to Eugene to watch the Prefontaine Classic. Tomorrow, the girls were going to town for Zyla's birthday. Today we got to hike on the Separation Lake Trail. This was one of my favorite early season hikes because it was snow free, it was along a river and it was really pretty. The drive was fine. I had been up the Foley Ridge Road so many times that I new it pretty well by this point. We got to the trailhead and we were the only car there. Actually we had the trail to ourselves the entire day. Everyone was happy to be outside getting some exercise on a beautiful day.

The first part of the hike was in the forest. Trails were dry and clear and trail crew had just been through there clearing the trail. After a while, though, we reached the terminus of where the trail work had been done and there was a little bit of getting around downed trees. There is always one section where the trail is muddy, but other that that, we had dry conditions. Once we got by the river, we were really happy. It was loud. There was a lot of runoff and we went to our favorite spot with plenty of whitewater. We had a quick snack there and then we continued on up the trail. My goal was for us to make it to Separation Lake. 

I don't think the rest of the group was going to let me do that. I convinced them to go at least as far as the bridge. We did that and along the way I was reminded of my previous year's trip with Spencer. That was quite the experience. We made it to the bridge and the group consensus was to turn around here. It had been such a pleasant hike, that I wanted it to continue. Everyone else was not feeling as ambitious as we had already put so many miles in and we still had to make it back to the trailhead. My family were all such good hikers, though, that I knew they could handle it. Still, it is a lot less fun when someone is being pushy, so we turned around at the bridge.

This made me excited for all the hiking possibilities this summer. The sun was out. It was still a bit cool outside, but comfortable hiking weather. With only a few weeks of school left to go, I had a whole summer ahead of me for hiking, backpacking, etc... We all just hoped that the forest would stay wet and green long enough to keep the fires at bay. All and all the hike was about 11 miles roundtrip which was a decent effort for the day. It was really just a great day to spend with the four of us with a special place all to ourselves.