Trip to Hart Mountain

The Chewaucan River near Paisley

A three-day Memorial Day weekend provided a great opportunity for a road trip out east. Our objective was Hart Mountain, where I have not been in over a dozen years. I was eager to see what 10 years of rest from cattle grazing have done for the antelope refuge. Our first night out was spent on the banks of the Chewaucan River, one of my favorite Oregon streams. There has been a good deal of enhancement work done along the lower portion of the river and it looks great. Now if only the upper portions can be restored we'd have a fully functioning Great Basin Redband Trout river system. Still, a beautiful place to hang out for a night. We then continued on to Hart Mountain where the throngs of Memorial Day campers were waiting. In all of my previous trips combined I have not seen this many people at the Hart Mountain Hot Springs Campground. Too bad, this is not a place that benefits from too much company. Still, the sagebrush ecosystem is looking great, and the wildflowers were terrific. We managed to grab a hot springs pool away from the "improved" tubs and had it to ourselves. The wide open spaces were great once one got away from the campground. The next day we decided to head back west a bit and ended up in the North Warner Mountains. Not many campgrounds around here and the mosquitoes were hungry near the water sources so we stayed at the South Fork Crooked Creek trailhead instead. A nice high elevation aspen grove with trails heading off in two directions. Good trip, I am eager to return to the Chewaucan area for more explorations.

Hart Mountain views

Looking north to Poker Jim Ridge

In the North Warner Mountains

Champoeg State Park

Meadow near the old Champoeg town site

Spent the weekend camping at Champoeg State Park and Heritage Area near Newburg, between Salem and Portland. It was here, on the banks of the Willamette River, the the Oregon Territory got it's start in the 1840's. There was a thriving town here until 1861 when a flood wiped it out. The park is large and contains a great trail system on the river and several historic sites as well as beautiful meadows and oak groves. It feels like the Willamette Valley as the early settlers must have seen it. Would have been more fun if I hadn't been sick the whole weekend - but it was still nice to see something new (to me) so close to home.

A hike along the East Fork of the McKenzie River

Step pools along the east Fork McKenzie River

A friend and I took advantage of a free Sunday to head out of town for a hike. We chose a nearby trail head - barely an hour from Eugene - which offered an almost guaranteed opportunity for a seven mile (one-way) wilderness walk along a gorgeous western Cascades stream without seeing another sole. We left town at 7:15 and, after a stop to fill the tank we arrived at the East Fork McKenzie River trail head at about 8:20. We were on the trail before 8:30 and quickly entered an old growth dominated canyon beside the snow melt filled, crystal clear East Fork. The trail has been maintained recently by the Lane County Department of Youth Services Community Service Forest Crew and is in great shape. We hiked the seven miles up to the East Fork USFS road and back down without seeing another hiker - indeed, aside from the recent trail work there appears to have been nobody on this trail all season. The lush, mossy forest floor, surprisingly open, and boulder strewn river channel provide for a very pleasant hike that, even at 14 miles round trip, went by too quickly. A great day - good to get out!

One of many tributaries entering the East Fork from snows melting high atop Sawtooth Ridge