Oregon Day 12 - Bike to Rose Garden

Dowwwwn by the ree-uh-ver.

09/19/11 Monday

We went for another bike ride along the Willamette with Mom & Dad. It seems like every time we visit Eugene the trail network has been expanded.

Taking the extreme line.

Dad has been clearing and connecting a bunch of trails along the river to get more of a mountain bike experience.

Sniff test.

We stopped at the Owen Rose Garden to check out the varieties.

¡Qué bonitas flores!

You’ve got to hand it to Eugene, it’s a great place for bicycling.

Oregon Day 11 - Hike McKenzie Pass

A new informative walkway.

09/18/11 Sunday

The weather turned chilly in Bend, so we drove back in the morning, stopping at the Dee Wright Observatory on McKenzie Pass.

They’ve added a new walkway, but the info signs haven’t been installed yet.

What, more lava?

We stopped at Proxy Falls on McKenzie Pass. The trail has been lengthened into a one-mile loop which accesses a second set of falls.

Lower Proxy Falls

It’s been years since I’ve been to Proxy Falls. My most vivid memory is once finding a garter snake on the trail, picking it up, and having it crap on me.

Taking a shortcut

It’s nice being back in a lush rain forest, something we don’t get in Tahoe.

Upper Proxy Falls

I’d forgotten what the upper falls look like. The water collects in a pool and then disappears into an underground stream.

Moss and stuff

The west side of old McKenzie Pass is very scenic. Remember to bring your parking pass, or you get dinged at every little stop.

She only comes out at night.

After getting back to Eugene, we joined Mom for an evening bike ride.

Oregon Day 10 - Hike Smith Rock

Picnic Lunch Wall from the vistors parking lot.

09/17/11 Saturday

I had read many articles about Smith Rock and how it had become a Mecca for rock climbing, but I’d never been there.

We decided to take a day off from biking and go hiking, so we drove up to Smith Rock to see what all the fuss is about.

Climbers on Picnic Lunch Wall.

Smith Rock is a formation of welded tuff, about 550’ high, wrapped around by the Crooked River.

There’s a series of trails that loop around the rocks. As you hike, you encounter climbers on nearly every face.

Chugging up Misery Ridge.

We decided to hike the 4-mile loop that winds up to the summit and back down along the river.

A view of the Crooked River and Staender Ridge from the Misery Ridge Trail.

The Misery Ridge trail quickly takes you up to the summit. The trail really isn’t miserable, it’s just a little loose and steep.

However, hiking it in summer would be another story. It was chilly in Bend, but quite a bit warmer here.

A view of the Smith Rock Group from the summit (3,360’).

The appropriately named Crooked River nearly runs into itself as it winds around Smith Rock.

Unfortunately, it was an overcast day, which limited our view of the Cascades.

Climbers on Monkey Face, with McMansions in the background.

There’s a pillar on the north side of the area called Monkey Face. It has at least ten routes visible from the trail with anchors bolted into the rock.

Descending the Mesa Verde Trail, with Monkey Face in the background (and cimbers in the monkey’s mouth).

The trail descends back down to the river and follows it back to the visitor’s center. The views are striking, with basalt cliffs on one side of the river and the Smith Rock cliffs on the other.

During our hike we saw at least 200 climbers. There’s nearly 2000 climbing routes in the park.

Coming back on the River Trail, watching climbers on Morning Glory Wall.

After our hike, we sat on the bluff on the south side of the river and watched the climbers for awhile.

It was well worth the visit. With the views, the trails and watching the climbers, it’s a cool place to hang out.

A panorama of the south-facing walls from the parking lot.

Oregon Day 9 - Bike Phil's Trail

About a mile into the easy uphill.

09/16/11 Friday

We spent the day riding the Phil’s Trail area, which is a complex of trails just west of Bend.

We started at the original Phil’s Trail trailhead, which begins at 3,900’ and is a gentle climb through the Ponderosas on a buffed trail virtually devoid of rocks.

Easy rolling.

The trail is so smooth that most of the riders we saw were on hardtails; we even saw a few people on 10-speed city bikes.

Hard rolling.

As you approach a point called the Heli Pad, things suddenly get very steep and technical for a brief section.

“H” = Heli Pad.

We took a break at the Heli Pad, the high point of the ride at 5000’. It’s just a point on a mound that serves as the intersection for several trails.

One drawback to these trails is that you’re always in the trees, so you never get a good view of the nearby Cascade volcanoes.

Whoop-de-doo!

After heading down the wrong trail for a mile (there’s trails everywhere), we found the Whoops trail.

The Whoops is a two-mile section that is filled with features—jumps and banked turns and whoop-de-dos—that’s the equivalent of anything at the Northstar bike park.

Still whooping.

After Whoops, we continued down Bens Trail back to the Phil’s Trail trailhead. It’s a fast and flowy downhill.

There are some log features on Bens Trail as you approach the parking lot. A local rider talked me into trying one of them.

Getting logy.

Also recommended—a cold beer after an 18 mile ride.

I highly recommend checking out the Phil’s Trail trails. It’s a lot different than riding around Tahoe—there are few rocks and few steep sections, just a lot of low-angle fast cruising—but a lot of fun.

Reflecting.

After riding Phil’s Trail, we spent some time in downtown Bend, going for a walk along the Deschutes River.

Oregon Day 8 - Hike Tamanawas Falls

Good morning, glory!

09/15/11 Thursday

We found a campground last night in the dark while driving south from St. Helens.

We got up early and drove into Hood River to have breakfast before making our way south to Bend.

Crossing Cold Spring Creek.

While driving south on Highway 35 (which was heavily damaged by floods on the Hood River from the big winter), I saw a trailhead sign for Tamanawas Falls. We decided to break up the drive with a hike up to the falls, which is four miles round-trip.

The trail crosses the east fork of the Hood River and then parallels it for a half-mile. You then cross Cold Spring Creek and follow it up to the falls.

Cold Spring Creek

The trail climbs gently along the creek. I don’t know if mountain bikes are allowed, but it’s too rocky and twisty to be any fun on a bike.

A rare break from the trees.

There’s a short section where a rockfall wiped out part of the trail, and a new trail was cleared.

Tamanawas Falls

Tamanawas Falls is 150’ high. It thunders in the spring with the snow runoff, but in late fall it’s much more subdued.

It’s a typical Oregon waterfall, a basalt overhanging cliff.

Tumalo State Park campground

We arrived at Tumalo State Park expecting it to have plenty of sites available on a weekday afternoon, but found it 99.5% full due to a big mountain bike race coming up.

We lucked into the only available site when someone cancelled their reservation. Surprisingly, it’s the only campground within twenty miles of Bend.

Oregon Day 7 - Bike Ape Canyon

The Ape Canyon trail starts at 2,800’.

09/14/11 Wednesday

Our main objective for going to Mt. St. Helens was to ride the Ape Canyon Trail, which has gotten glowing reviews from mountain bikers.

It was a rough night—our new Coleman inflatable mattress sprang a leak and we lost a lot of sleep languishing on bare ground.

The climb is strenuous, and pretty humid in the trees.

The trail can be divided into three parts: a steep four-mile climb in the forest, a flat section on the eastern flanks of the volcano, and a traverse along steep ridges to approach Windy Ridge.

The section in the trees is amazingly smooth, but a pretty steady 1,400’ climb.

Uphill, then downhill, then more uphill.

The climb through the trees is on a ridge bordered to the west by the Muddy River lahar. There’s a half-mile downhill half the way up followed by another 1.5 miles of climbing.

The view from Ape Canyon, with Mt. Adams in the distance.

After 4.5 miles of climbing you reach Ape Canyon and are out of the trees.

Just past Butt Crack.

There’s some more climbing up a bare pumice trail around Ape Canyon itself before you reach the Plains of Abraham. The Ape Canyon trail intersects with the southeastern end of the Loowit Trail, which circumnavigates the volcano.

Ape Canyon has a very short section called Butt Crack that has some exposure. It was too loose to ride up, but we both rode down it on the way back.

Starting the moony section of the ride.

Mt. St. Helens has very little snow on it this late in the year.

The trail winds around several drainages, some of which feature sharp dropoffs on the eastern flanks with waterfalls during the wetter months.

A profusion of wildflowers.

We found one drainage with running water before reaching the Plains of Abraham.

Large cairns mark the trail.

The Plains of Abraham is a two-mile slightly uphill section with few features besides large pumice boulders here and there.

The intersection of the Abraham Trail and the Loowit Trail.

The Plains of Abraham concludes at the northeastern intersection of the Loowit Trail.

A ridgy section through the blow-down.

The section leading to Windy Ridge winds through steep ridges with wildflowers and old blown-down trees from the 1980 eruption.

Our turnaround point, with Mt. Rainier in the background.

We originally planned on riding all the way to Windy Ridge road, but the ride was longer and harder than we expected, so we turned around on a ridge above the road.

Starting back.

The trail is very smooth and non-technical throughout. There are only a couple of spots around drainages where the trail gets rocky.

More wildflowers.

The views are fantastic—steep ridges, flowers everywhere, and Cascade volcanos off in the distance.

Look at that dike!

Even though the trail winds around steep ridges, there’s no drop-offs to worry about.

Heading back up to the Plains of Abraham.

After making the short climb back up to the Plains, we hurried back down the trail.

The tree section is especially fun, as it’s smooth dirt all the way down.

Many riders call Ape Canyon their all-time favorite trail. I wouldn’t put it in that category; it’s kind of like the Flume Trail, spectacular, but sandy and non-technical.

Stopping by the lahar, about a quarter-mile from the trailhead.

After our ride, we hiked the 1.5 mile Lava Canyon interpretive trail, which is located at the same parking lot as the Ape Canyon trailhead.

The Lava Canyon trail features a 100’ suspension bridge across the river.

The trail features views of lahar damage, waterfalls, and the steep Muddy River canyon.

Checking out the waterfalls.

It was a long day of biking and hiking. Afterwards, we spent two hours driving in the dark before finding a campground closer to Hood River.