Blow Lake - Oregon Cascades - with Shane and Nico

It's magic when, out of the blue, your teenage son says "hey, let's go backpacking". You drop what you're doing and go gather gear to head out. Shane had the brilliant idea to just get out and so we did. It was 45 minutes of driving from Bend, Oregon up to the Six Lakes Trailhead, just south of Elk Lake. An easy 1 mile hike in and we were searching for a camp site at Blow Lake.

Here's the other thing that's amazing about this simple trip. Shane torn his ACL a few weeks back. He'll have surgery soon. As part of the prep, he needs to build his strength. He can't do much. A little too much movement side to side could be really bad. A short flat one mile hike with a 100 foot gain would work.

We had a very mellow, fabulous time.

Six Lakes Trail - Headwaters of the McKenzie River

Black Butte Father's Day Hike with Drake

There's nothing like the simple times. The singular focus of a hike. The experience when you do it with someone you love. The memory that'll always be there.

Drake, knowing that I'd really appreciate all of the above, offered to take me on a hike up Black Butte on Father's Day. We'd done it before. It was just over 10 years ago when the six year old boy and I climbed the Butte in snow and cold and camped on top.

2007

2017

Now he's a young man and the joy is still great.

Dad, Nico, and Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood

Mt. Washington

Three Fingered Jack

Odell Lake to Elk Lake - PCT

48 miles on the PCT from Odell Lake to Elk Lake. For this journey, I was helping the PCTA (Pacific Crest Trails Association) with some survey work. The challenge that faces the Pacific Crest Trail is the proliferation of hiking phone apps. The apps use GPS to tell hikers the distance to the next water source and camp site. Trouble is, fragile areas, often too close to water sources are being promoted on these apps. It's like putting up a billboard in a fragile area inviting people to camp there.

The app makers and the PCTA worked together to have volunteers like me go out and survey the camp sites listed on the apps. We were to target sites that were too close to the trail or water, take pictures and recommend the most troublesome ones for closure.

It was a nice trip getting out there in October to survey a section of the trail and hopefully help it heal a bit. I was out for three days and did not see or talk to another person. In fact, I very quickly started to develop a flee instinct when I heard human created noise. A couple of ATVs came to within about a mile from me and I found myself thinking about hiding. It was a weird feeling. Was I afraid? I just very quickly developed the sense that I didn't want to be around people.

The video shows the quiet and zen vibe of the hike:

Walking from California to Bend - Expedition Film 2015

Walking from California to Bend-Day 9-PCT mile 1884-1913

It's before 5am. This is when I like to get up. It's all about beating the heat. If I can be up before 5am, I'm on the trail by 6am and can get 10 miles behind me by 10am. Once you've cruised in the cool air of the morning and put away some mileage, you can slow it down, take a siesta, a swim, and relax a bit more in the afternoon.

Today's goal is Odell Lake. There is a resort there with lovely prizes like potato chips and beer. The alternate trail for this reach, The Oregon Skyline Trail has NO ONE on it. I camped at Oldenberg Lake last night, about 15 miles shy of Odell. 

Oldenberg is nothing super special, though it was very calm and it had another element that made me very happy. The mountain in the left middle of the photo is Walker Mountain. For those that drive Highway 97 between Washington and California, this is very noticeable mountain south of Gilchrist. The mountain is prominent for the area and has a fire lookout. Waking up and seeing this scene, knowing the mountain's proximity to my house (about an hour drive) was really inspirational. I hiked fast! I'll end up with under 20 miles today, light day.

Oldenberg Lake @ 5am

Creek flowing into Odell Lake

Diamond View Lake, with yes, a view of Diamond Peak

Crescent Lake

California to Home in Bend

A week from tomorrow, I will walk off the pavement of Interstate 5 in Northern California and step over step walk back to my house in Bend, Oregon. It'll be about 270 miles, crossing only SIX paved roads.

Follow postings and updates here.

Three Sisters Mountains Circumnavigate

43 miles, 2 nights around the Three Sisters

Choogle, Paul, Wiggy at the Trailhead

The area map

Broken Top from the north just above Green Lakes

Forest returns after fire

Manzanita burns white

campsite south of Scott Pass

Green Lakes

Looking south onto Green Lakes with Mt. Bachelor

North Sister from Pole Creek Burn

Burnt tree

South Sister from Green Lakes

South Sister Peak

Fried pine

Wiggy on snowfield

Black Crater from near Reds Meadow

Middle Sister from Separation Creek

Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Jefferson, Hood from south of Scott Pass

Obsidian Falls

North area of Pole Creek Burn

Scott Pass looking south

Obsidian glass scattered all around

Sister Spring that gushes out of the hill and flows to Obsidian Falls

We have company

Fall Creek falls

Paul on Wickiup Plain with South Sister

Chuck swims in Moraine Lake

The Husband from Hinton Meadow

Tumalo Mountain area-unnamed caldera butte

Sledding on Butte with South Sister & Broken Top in back

We needed an overnight and the mild winter weather provided. Lows were set this weekend for about 30 overnight. We figured that might be about 20 where we planned to be camping just shy of 6,800 feet. No snow remaining in town so in order to get some decent sledding it's up to the Cascades.

full of stoke at the TH at Dutchman Flat

Broken Top on the left, Ball Butte on the right-hiking along Dutchman Flat

The hike is along a snowmobile trail. We anticipated that there wouldn't be much traffic due to the thin snow pack and there were only a few machines. Once we broke away from the trail and started gaining elevation we followed a creek bed.

Sunrise over Tumalo Mountain

 We set up camp a few hundred feet below the unnamed butte (we are calling it caldera butte) and hiked up. Check out the map above and you can see the depth of the butte bowl. We hiked up the steep side to do some sled runs, but the other prize was the view!

Sunset over Mt. Bachelor from Butte

The crew en route back to the TH

The short film:

Hike Length: 4 miles Hike Duration: 2 days

Hike Configuration: out and back Blaze: mostly on Flagline Trail, some x-country

Start Elevation: 6,348 feet Highest Point: 7,145 feet Elevation Gain: 797 feet

Hike Rating: easy to moderate, some postholing in the snow, slick areas.

Trail Condition: On the trail, packed down by snowmobiles

Starting Point: Dutchman Flat 

Trail Traffic: a few snowmobiles around Dutchman Flat, no one else on Butte.

Access:  Oregon Snow Park pass required for TH parking. 

How to Get There:

From Bend, County Road 46 (Cascade Lakes Highway) about 20 miles to Dutchman Flat TH.