Cascadia Hiking

Native forest along Larison Creek Recently I've had the craving to hike around Oakridge, I'm not sure if it's the incredible forest, or the food and beer at Brewers Union Local 180 after the hike. But I've been twice in a week. The first hike was a lower portion of the Middle Fork Willamette Trail and the second was Larison Creek. For those who don't know Oakridge is a mecca for both hiking and mountain bike riding. I like to do both, but prefer hiking. This time of the year you will likely find yourself alone on the trail, whatever your mode of transportation. The Larison Creek Trail starts off where Larison Creek is part of Hills Creek Reservoir, though this changes quickly to a more native setting. Larison Cove Bridge over a small stream near campsites along Larison Creek This December has been great for checking out all different forms of Fungi. Normally the larger parts of the forest capture my attention first, but some of the large or l...

One of the many small stream crossing along the lower Middle Fork Willamette Trail  Most Oregonians are at least somewhat familiar with the Willamette River. It runs through the largest cities in the state and was once a major thoroughfare for goods. If you live downriver from Eugene the river you know is probably fairly wide and nasty looking. This isn't the case at all with the Middle Fork Willamette River. The Middle Fork Willamette trail  meanders for nearly 35 miles from Timpanogas Lake to Sand Prairie Campground. Often forgotten by hikers, bikers and equestrians it offers solitude without being far from Oakridge. Middle Fork Willamette Trailhead just downriver from Sand Prairie Campground My friend and I had planned on starting our hike at the northern terminus of the trail at Sand Prairie Campground, but it was sadly gated off and we didn't want to block the gate and possibly get a ticket. Knowing that there were many access points we continued south along FR...

Normally I'm somewhat apprehensive about hiking on old roads, especially ones that run parallel to a modern road. But I also love to hike any longer trails in the area. The full length of the trail portion of the Santiam Wagon Road is approximately 21 miles, running from Fish Lake to Mountain House. Some of the trail is still on drivable road, but thankfully much of it is only open to non-motorized transportation. Bridge across the South Santiam River South Santiam River  The hike starts out at a small pull out next to a gated bridge across the South Santiam River. The trailhead would hold about 5 cars, but I wouldn't expect to see many other people. Shortly after you cross the bridge you enter into an almost pure stand of Red Alder. I'm not sure what kind of disturbance caused this early successional forest, but it's beautiful.  Dense Red alder (Alnus rubra) line the trail Bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) and Red alder (Alnus rubra) leaves c...

Only being about 70 miles from home the Old Cascades region has quickly become one of my favorite areas in Oregon. Now that winter is setting in, most of the great hikes will be covered by snow. This is bad for hiking but opens the area up to low impact snow camping and snowshoe trips! The majority of the hikes in the Old Cascades are fairly short and often climb mountains. Some of my favorites are Iron Mountain and Crescent Mountain , these would be substantially more difficult in heavy snow, but with proper planning could be done. Knowing that little snow had fallen and on the advice of one of my professors at Oregon State, Caitlin and I decided to hike Echo Basin before any more snow had fallen.  Echo Basin: Rain falling Heavy rain had been falling most of the drive to the trailhead, so we had decided to park at the plowed Hackleman Old Growth Grove trailhead about .2 mile west of FR 055. When we arrived FR 055 was mostly free of snow so we drove to Echo Mountain trailhe...