My new quilt is like a dream. It is so fluffy and warm that I feel like I’m glamping. This is my first Katabatic quilt, but friends have been using them for years. When my pal Speedstick did a winter thru-hike of the AT a few years ago she kept talking about how she loved her chocolate caterpillar. She lived in her dark brown quilt that winter, and I will live in mine for the next month.
I was walking at first light and soon saw two hunters also out in the early day. This weekend was the start of hunting season, so I draped my pack in an orange hunting vest and wore my bright red coat.
It was incredibly warm for early October, and soon I shed my coat when it was time to ford the Imnaha River. I was due to climb up Blue Creek to walk below Sugarloaf Mountain later in the day.
The trail was in decent shape, although not exactly where drawn on the map. Once I got to my trail junction, a trail junction was not to be found, so I bushwhacked up the drainage until I stumbled on trail tread a short while later….I guess I should have hiked past where I thought the trail should be. This trail was in good shape too, although I lost it up top…but when the climb ends at a saddle, it’s pretty easy to find your way…the terrain practically leads you there by the hand.
A beautiful and smoky view awaited me up top and I took my first break of the day, three hours in. I don’t usually wait that long to sit down, but I was meeting Mike Higgins, one of the brains behind the BMT tonight at Twin Lakes Campground, and I didn’t want to be late!
When I turned on my phone I had a message from Allgood, Mike, and Naomi that they had finished their hike of the Blue Mountains Trail! When I knew Jared was looking for more people to ground truth the trail, I mentioned it to Whitney (trail name Allgood). He decided to take it on with 2 friends, and they set off in early September to hike it all. We had been sharing data and determined I would hike a series of alternates this fall when they encountered sections that posed some issues. Some of yesterday and most of today would be a different route than what those three had hiked…lots of options out here!
The walking from there was wonderful; the trail the rolled up and down folds of the earth. Everything was hazy due to fire smoke drifting over from Idaho, but I loved it none the less.
At a small cow-poop infested pond, the trail got confusing with cow trails crisscrossing every which way, but I finally found myself again.
More lovely trail, more lovely terrain.
I made it up to a decommissioned lookout tower on Russel Mountain and walked dirt roads from there, listing to episodes of Timber Wars, a new podcast from OPB.
I beat Mike to the campground, he said he’s bringing chips and beer!!!
Months of planning can feel almost uneventful when the trip finally arrives, or maybe it’s just hard to believe I’m actually here. The way 2020 has unfolded has been anything but expected, and here I am, at the start of a 500-mile, month-long hike to walk the rest of the Blue Mountains Trail and almost everything is going as expected. In fact, for an early October day, it’s warm…unseasonably warm. The extended forecast is warm and dry. I’ll take it!
We woke at first light in our car camping site at Wallowa State Park, and soon had mugs of coffee to fuel the packing up. The drive out from Bend yesterday had gone smoothly, and now it was time.
We drove to the trailhead which was perched at the mouth of the west fork of the Wallowa River. Kirk decided to hike in with me a couple miles, so we set off on the gentle climb through the lush forest. Even though the days had been warm and dry, the trees and brush had gotten the memo that it was fall, and were turning brilliant yellows and golds.
When it was finally time to say goodbye to my beau, I got a little choked up…I had all the feels, as they say, and I was overcome with the realization that I was here, I was hiking, and I wasn’t alone…metaphorically speaking. The day washed over me in a cascade as I hiked beneath towering granite mountains. I was finally here.
The first few days of the Blue Mountains Trail from the eastern terminus are quite different from the hike out of John Day 600 miles to the west. Oh I was gaining thousands of feet in elevation, but instead of hiking on hot chip-seal, I was walking on the soft dirt of a well-loved trail heading into the heart of the Eagle Cap Wilderness: the Lakes Basin.
The climb was gentle until it wasn’t. As I approached Frasier Lake the granite walls got vertical and towered over the drainage. Simply out of this world.
I had a short lunch at Little Frasier Lake and couldn’t resist the draw of the next climb…another 1,000 feet up to Hawkins Pass. The trail switch-backed through a gauntlet of granite, and I could spy the route from my lake-side lunch spot, so I cut lunch short, eager for the views up top.
Many steps and photos later, I reached the pass at 8,570 feet and audibly gasped when I saw the other side.
I won’t ruin it for you….consider this your invitation to visit Hawkins Pass.
I slowed waaay down and positively sauntered down to the headwaters of the Imnaha River. I didn’t want to rush a moment of it.
Camp was a small nook perched high on a slope with views and sounds of rushing water.
I settled in for my first night on the trail, cowboy camping under the stars. My first meal would be a NEMO-special. Nemo is my soul-sister hiking partner (we met on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2006 and have since hiked thousands of miles together) who sent me a few goodies to take with me on the trail. In fact my breakfast this morning was a pear and tomato grown by my dear friends Brooke and Adryon. Who says this is a solo hike? My friends are feeding me already 🥰.
Thank you to all who helped get me here! The list is long, and I appreciate you all so much.
I decided to dedicate this hike to a dear friend of the family who passed away suddenly a few weeks ago, Pete Morgan. Pete and my dad worked together at the University of Wisconsin- Stephens Point for years. When our family later moved to Illinois, my parents would meet up with Pete and his wife Verona regularly. When I started writing about all of my adventures, Pete was always there with an encouraging word. He has been one of my biggest supporters as I threw myself into the unknown year after year, trail after trail. It was comforting to know he was cheering me on, and it’s my time to be thinking of him on his next journey.
In 2020 I plan to do a fair amount of hiking in the fall, so have prepared this gear list for cold temps and snow hiking. Some of these items will be switched out for other items on the list as I go. The main objective for a mid-fall hike? Stay warm, stay dry, stay alive.
The eating habits of thru-hikers can be quite abysmal. We typically look for calorie-dense, easily accessible, and cheap options. This is where you can insert the ongoing joke of thru-hikers eating a snickers bar a day (but seriously, I have eaten a snickers bar a day for some of my adventures).
Access and price are often determining factors when filling your food bag, especially when you decide to resupply on the way, meaning for the duration of a hike your provisions come from the next grocery store you encounter. Sometimes that grocery store is a gas station or remote wilderness outpost where you are lucky to find ramen, pop tarts, chips, and candy at three times the usual cost.
For many of the 13 different long-distance trails I’ve hiked over the last 20 years, resupply along the way has been my strategy. It massively cuts down on the logistics of putting together food boxes before you go (can you imagine how many food boxes you would need for a 2,000-mile trail?). Buying your food along the way can lead to more flexibility, for example: if you send your food box to a post office, you are tied to the post office’s open hours (which can be quite minimal in very small towns), where most grocery stores (and gas stations) keep much longer hours. Buying along the way also allows you to change up your diet as your tastes change. I’ve met more than one hiker that got a deal on 200 energy bars of a certain brand only to find by week two that they couldn’t stomach eating even one more….and…as luck would have it…those bars were in every pre-made resupply box for the whole trail.
Now that I’m in my 40s, I’ve started experimenting with eating more nutrient-dense and healthy foods off-trail, so accordingly have begun to experiment with how I could eat that way on the trail. No more She-tos for me! (The She-to mix combines cheetos – a long staple in my trail diet – with nuts and cheddar pretzel bits. If your blood pressure just went up reading that, then you get the salt-bomb intent of the snack.)
She-to mix
I’ve had some hikers try to impart the wisdom of nutrition on the trail over the years; probably the most passionate food-aware hiker I know is Zoner, who I met in 2006 on the PCT. Zoner created his 2,000-mile Hot Springs Trail with the express purpose of routing you through towns with farmers markets. His real agenda for this route was to help hikers eat better. Wow!
Katie Gerber is a nutritionist who hiked the Oregon Desert Trail a few years ago and is a frequent guest on hiking podcasts to talk about eating and nutrition on the trails, she also has a hiker nutrition consulting business. So the knowledge and resources have been there for a while, I just needed to listen.
Last year I started to experiment with a plant-based diet. I was given the nudge by my good friend Carrie and her journey in exploring how food can improve different aspects of life.
What changed my perspective about my eating habits was considering food as medicine, that everything I put in my mouth could be working for me instead of against me.
Once I started eating this way I would bring actual fruit instead of gummy bears on a hike (I used to say I would eat something from the gummy family every day on a thru-hike). Instead of chips, I choose roasted chickpeas or veggies and hummus. Instead of a potato bomb (ramen with instant potatoes to soak up the salty msg soup), I would eat meals from Food for the Sole (a vegan and gluten-free backpacking food company started in Bend), or something that had a list of ingredients that contained real food (can’t pronounce an ingredient? Don’t eat it).
Pocket of gummies
the way lunch can be if you try…
I know, I needed to do this years ago.
For short trips this strategy works great! Kirk and I hiked the Timberline Trail around Mt Hood last year, and for the 5 days we were out I could eat and carry lots of fresh foods, but for longer trips fresh gets heavy, and the availability of good fresh fruits and vegetables in gas stations or very small remote towns can be hard to come by.
Then the pandemic happened…I let the global pandemic derail my new-found good habits, and I’m still not quite where I’d like to be with treating everything I put into my mouth as a performance enhancer or detractor. (It really can be that simple).
But I’m trying to pay attention to how my body feels and acts when I eat certain foods and think critically about changing my resupply strategy thanks to COVID. On a recent 100-mile section hike to ground-truth part of the Blue Mountains Trail, I hiked out of town with 7 days of food. 7 days is really the longest stretch I’ll do between resupplies. It’s just an almost unbearable weight and quantity if you try to carry much more than that. I spent some time dehydrating food and making my own cold-soak lunches and hot dinners. I carried dried fruit, dried veggies, and tried to find bars and other snacks with as few ingredients as possible.
I’ve always eaten a lot of nuts, and they can provide a powerful punch of calories and protein on a hike. A lovely and tasty addition to my diet has been to carry Gather Nuts, a soaked and then roasted line of very flavorful nuts and seeds. I met the owner, Shanna, this summer and was taken with her process of soaking each batch for 24-hours then slow roasting them on a low temperature… which all allows for better digestion and nutrient absorption…and they taste AMAZING! The nuts and seeds come out super crunchy (I love a good crunch), and the variety of flavors can satisfy both my sweet and salty tooth. (I have a trail “happy hour” with the Rosemary Olive Oil nuts, and the Maple Cinnamon Brasil Nuts are….well…you’ll just have to try them for yourself.)
Good with breakfast
Good until they are gone 😦
I have also found MicroBiome Bars which includes four prebiotic fibers, omega-3 fatty acids, beta-glucans and fermented protein (that’s all to say they include whole foods like organic wheat, oats, flax, and barley malt) and other ingredients like chocolate, cherries, oats, honey, peanut butter, cranberries, raspberries, apples, and almond butter. YUM.
MicroBiome bars are good on a ski tour too!
So finding healthy foods that have a shelf-life, or dehydrating whole foods (check out this great dehydrator cookbook by Julie Moser, founder of Food for the Sole) has become part of my food resupply strategy, and with COVID in our lives for the foreseeable future, making my own food boxes and avoiding extraneous contact on a hike is the new normal.
And lucky you! You can try some of this too. Gather Nuts has created a coupon code so that you can get 20% off an order of $25 or more at their store using the code: WEAREHIKERTRASH (my instagram handle).
Food for the Sole has a one-time use code you can use to get 20% off your order by using the code: SHERAHIKES.
So join me on my journey to be more intentional about what I put into my mouth, I can’t promise that cheetos and gummies will never pass these lips again, but I want to make them the exception, not the rule.
I woke early and spent some time writing up my blog posts. Most days I don’t write much when I get to camp. It’s all I can do to stop staring at a nearby tree stump in a tired daze to set up camp and make dinner. Now the mornings…that’s my jam! Words flow in the morning.
This morning I also decided to rock out to some yacht rock as I ate breakfast. 💜💜💜
I am so thoroughly Gen X it’s not even funny…the nostalgia of light-rock radio growing up in the ’80s is right up there with my grunge rock loves from the ’90s (Candlebox anyone?) Thanks to Spotify premium (this is not an ad, but you can download music for offline use), and my local library which has digital downloads (just started Michael Pollen’s new book last night) and podcasts (The Trail Show!), I am overflowing with things to do, and now have a supercomputer at my fingertips. I started hiking before this mobile technology, and I can definitely say I appreciate both styles, but this trip is definitely tech-heavy and I’m embracing it. (Now Steve Miller Band is playing 😄).
This trip has highlighted how much public land we are fortunate to have in Oregon. 100 percent of what I hiked is public, and I’m really looking forward to learning more about the history and current issues facing these lands. I know this route travels on Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and Northern Paiute land. I know there are important habitat and wildlife concerns along the Blue Mountains Trail. I know there is much to discuss and discover.
The morning walk was quiet and didn’t touch the creek again. I guess I stopped at the right time!
All smiles (especially since I know there is a cafe at Austin Junction!)
I rolled into Austin Junction about 10am to see Christy and her husband, who own the place, just back from a week in Idaho. I had considered stashing my bike in the woods, then I thought this would be a great opportunity to get to know what is available at Austin Junction as it will be a very important resupply stop!
I ordered a breakfast sandwich to eat outside on a picnic table (there is a cafe, gas, small store, ice cream…the perfect trail stop), and after eating, picked up my bike.
Tots in my fanny pack for later
I had asked if I could drop the bike off here last week. (Hiker tip: if a small business is going out of their way to do you a favor, consider donating some $$. A lot of these small stops do everything from making fries to pouring gas to running the store, and even a small ask can be very well received if you respect their time).
As I was hopping on the bike for my 28-mile ride back to John Day, Christy came out to chat some more and take my picture. We had a lovely talk, and I look forward to visiting again when I do the next section.
Thanks for the pic Christy!
And the bike. What was I thinking? Riding with a full pack on my back is not a great idea. I wanted to be self-contained and human-powered in my loop, but I could have put a rack on my bike for the pack, or at least remembered padded bike shorts? But no. It was a slog up to the pass, but I knew the other side would be mostly downhill back to John Day.
This seemed like a good idea….mmmmm not so much when you forget padded bike shorts!
At the pass my life got easier, and I rode the brakes as I picked up speed down the hills, still feeling a little unsteady with my pack and change in velocity. I had been traveling at 2-3 miles per hour for the past week, and now I was hurdling down a pass on two skinny wheels.
I passed through Prairie City, a charming little town, and spied a coke machine, so got myself a cold root beer that I enjoyed in the shade. It was another hot day.
I peddled on, only to find a flagger stopping cars for a crew chip sealing the highway. Oh noooooooooo.
Chip seal consists of a layer of hot tar covered with loose gravel. There are steam rollers to smush the gravel into the tar, but they also use cars driving over it to compact the bits of rock. That wouldn’t go over well with my skinny bike tires.
I followed a line of cars over the fresh surface and immediately moved to the opposite side of the road that hadn’t been worked on yet until a road crew directed me to the other side. I rode carefully as close to the drop-off as I could to avoid the worst of the piles of gravel that had accumulated on the side of the fresh tar. What timing!
I was a few miles out from John Day when a car pulled over in front of me. To my delight it was Beth! My co-worker at the Oregon Natural Desert Association! Beth and her boyfriend had been adventuring and just happened past when I was biking by. What are the chances!!! So fun.
Then I was back on the bike, and finally pulled into town and found my car where I parked it behind the 1188 Brewing Company.
Shannon, the owner, was generous enough the let me park there for a week, and a trip to brewery seems the most fitting way to finish a trail! I expect that will be a hot spot once the route is complete.
I changed out of my sweaty clothes, put on my N95 mask, and got a growler of lager to go. My stomach wasn’t up to food after the ride, all the outdoor tables were taken at the brewery, and I’m not comfortable eating inside a restaurant at this point in the pandemic.
So that was it! I got in my Honda Fit for the 3-hour drive back to Bend, and managed to make the whole trip in one take of gas! I had wanted this to be a self-contained trip and managed to do it, with just a few interactions in town/Austin Junction.
One of the parts of long-distance hiking I enjoy the most is interactions with folks along the way, and in trail communities. I really enjoy sharing the culture of long-distance hiking, and helping to pave the way for future hikers out there…but a lot of those interactions are derailed by this pandemic.
I sure hope we can see the other side of this soon, but I do know a week hiking a route that engaged my body and mind so fully that I didn’t have time to ruminate on the world was a gift I had given myself.
So now, I’ll pass on the data to Jared and the Greater Hells Canyon Council, and prepare myself for the next phase of hiking the BMT….stay tuned!
I’ve been rocking the socks with chaco look the past few days on any road walks. My feet are blistered enough that I just can’t bear to have them in my shoes, rubbing all those spots raw again and again. This happens to me on every start to a hike. I have soft feet…especially in this pandemic summer when I have been much more sedentary than most summers.
This hike ends tomorrow, just when the blisters are hardening up and preparing themselves for the next phase of hiking. Bringing my chacos gives my feet relief. So much relief. I will never hike without them. Long live sandal hiking!
The morning began with a chill road walk along the South Fork of the Burnt River. There were countless developed and primitive campsites along this stretch, and campers too!
I actually saw blue sky today, I seem to be walking away from the smoke…but it caught up to me mid-morning when strong whiffs of burning started to descend in the river canyon.
Walking next to flowing water all morning is blissful for the background noise and to know I could quench my thirst whenever I wanted to.
As I said, lots of car camping in this stretch, although I noticed with anger some campers having a morning fire. There were “no campfire” signs ALL OVER THE PLACE. Ignorance is not an excuse in extreme fire conditions. NOT COOL.
I continued on, and got water at Last Chance Creek before heading up Thirsty Gulch. Sometimes you have to take your cues where you can get them!
Thirsty Gulch was really an ATV trail (there are a lot of them in the area) before it turned into a giant game of tree gauntlet. Not easy hiking when I was climbing up and around the barriers. And I thought road walking all day would be easy?
There was a road…once??
So I want to give a shout out to my amazing partner Kirk. Kirk is my rock-solid support. I’m not doing this alone, he has my back. Through texts or InReach messages, I usually check in daily or every other day. He has my route info, and this time of year, is helping me keep an eye on fires in my vicinity. I am much more comfortable out here knowing he is looking out for me and has a general idea of where I am. It allows me to be focused on the hike, and I love that he understands why I like to do these types of adventures by myself. We have plenty of adventures together as well…but as I like to say: he is to rivers like I am to trails…and oh man! We have quite the long-distance river adventure in the hopper sometime soon.
Back to the trail…I thought I’d have an early day today, and just have a few miles remaining to cruise into Austin Junction in the morning, but 17 miles took me most of the day still. I guess my hiking style has changed some on this trip, I have been doing more moseying than charging, which takes longer. I take breaks whenever…I think it may be that I’m listening to my body more? I haven’t quite gone from couch to the trail…but my fitness (and feet) of my pandemic summer is certainly part of the equation.
I posted up late afternoon by Clear Creek…giving myself another blissful evening next to moving water, and reveled in washing off my body in the clean cold water.
Entering the Clear Creek drainage
I had a dehydrated curry meal and struck gold when I put some maple cinnamon brazil nuts in it (thank you Gather Nuts!). I’ve been doing some different things with my food and nutrition lately, and think I’ll write up a separate blog post about that soon, but I did partner with the new Bend company Gather Nuts on this trip, and I think I’ve discovered my dirtbag gourmet side…more about that later.
I could see flashing from under my closed eyes. I hadn’t been sleeping for long when a massive and fierce lightning storm rolled through. Rain poured, thunder crashed, and I lay in my tarp willing the lightning strikes to pass me by and leave the terrain I still had to travel alone.
I slept hard, and in the morning decided on an extra special treat: dessert for breakfast! I had picked up a triple berry crisp when ordering a few things from Garage Grown Gear, and this caught my eye. A berry delight with my morning french press coffee? Don’t mind if I do!
I cruised up the road, noticing more and more smoke. I tried to find more trails…and always they petered out and I found myself on game trails searching for the real thing. I guess it doesn’t get more real than a game trail though, and it is a certain acquired skill to find them.
Trail or game trail?
I decided to take a detour to capture some photos of a particular watershed that had some importance. Checking off a few conservation monitoring actions while on this hike? Sign me up!
I made another route decision after my 4-mile off-route adventure and decided to keep walking the road up to the top of Table Rock. There was an active fire lookout there, and I was curious about all this smoke in the air. There was a trail through Monument Rock Wilderness, but it was torched and my notes said it probably didn’t exist. So up the road.
I passed a primitive campground at Elk Flat and noticed with disappointment that cows had gotten in the spring. Guess it’s cow water for me; I’d suggest an enclosure to keep the poop out of the spring right next to the campground…
A real picnic table to dry off my gear!
Onward.
Then I came across a woman in the bushes. She was with the forest service and spraying invasive weeds on the side of the road. I picked her brain about the smoke and fires and learned, yes, there were a bunch of new fires, but no, they weren’t nearby. Whew!
I shared some stories and my encounters with recent trail work, and she said she would be sure to pass my appreciation on.
Yes!!
Hazy day…with Table Rock coming into view
I was making miles, but the day eternally felt like evening…you know those wildfire suns that leave an orangy/red haze in the air? That was all day.
Since I had bypassed the trail through the wilderness, I didn’t get a chance to visit another notable drainage, so at a giant switchback in the road up to the fire tower lookout, I veered into the Monument Rock Wilderness for a few miles to take some more photos….and oh my…do I have a place at the top of my list to come back! The top of the ridge hadn’t been burned in the fire that claimed some of the lower reaches of the mountains, and wowowowow, I want to come back and explore, and it looks like there are more trails snaking their way through…
Monument Rock Wilderness
Once that mission was accomplished, I had some lunch and walked back towards the lookout. And the lookout! I have never seen a more dramatic and imposing lookout tower in my life. It was a mid-evil castle. It was a table of a rock that looked like a fortress, and i could see it for miles as I approached, could see its hulk overlooking the entire landscape. I guess that’s the point…
That’s where I’m headed next
I took in the dramatic views all around, and let my sweaty back dry in the hazy light. I had more trail down from Table Rock through more burn area; yep, you guessed it, a trail that might not be there.
I went within shouting distance of the working tower to ask the lookout if they knew any info on the next trail…but that person didn’t respond, I could hear crackling from the radio, and I guess they were pretty busy after the hundreds of strikes that landed last night. As I have seen and will continue to see firsthand, this is a fire-prone landscape. Very fire-prone.
I hefted my pack on once more and walked over to the trail that started right under the summit. Another unmarked sign. I dropped off the back of the mountain into…surprise surprise, a giant burn area. Some thoughtful human had stacked cairns and even positioned burned logs to guide the way.
Looking backSomeone moved the logs to line the trail!
How lovely!
Just as I was taking some pictures and applauding the creative trail work, it ended. Looking at my map and phone, this “trail” had been taking me in the opposite direction than I wanted to go, but you know, these trails have been all over the place, so I never know if I should look for the trail where it should be, or where it happened to be.
When in doubt, see if the trail exists where drawn on the map. I made my way easily through the more intense part of the fire which burned almost everything clear to the ground. Then, to my horror, I ented the next zone of the fire…where only some of the trees are burned, some are standing, and some are resembling pick up sticks in front of me. Oh yeah, and there was a lot of new pine tree growth…super thick.
Not fun…i.didn’t even take a picture of the worst of it
This is nightmare bushwacking. Pure nightmare. One step at a time, trying to push my way through without tripping or getting a stick impaled in my eye. One step at a time. I would eventually get out, right? I continued to work my way towards the line on the map and tried not to get overwhelmed. I looked for the path of least resistance in the trees. Finally, I spied a stand of timber that hadn’t burned…an island of refuge in the mayhem.
Not fun
And then I found it! I found the trail! It was where it was supposed to be! These moments are pure gold.
Much excite! I found the trail!
The trail hadn’t been maintained in a while, but it was infinitely more walkable than what I had just been through. So much relief!
I neared the trailhead, but then the trail kept going for another mile and popped me out where there was no trail on the map. Huh? Go figure.
I walked road the rest of the afternoon, my feet increasingly unhappy with me. There had been no water since the dank cow spring…many miles ago, and I was rationing. I was determined to camp next to flowing water. I would hike as long as it took me to get there.
A lot of the drainages were dry, so I had to walk almost to the bottom of the mountains to find my babbling brook. And it was as good as I was imagining.
BMT stands for Blue Mountains Trail (a working title).
The Greater Hells Canyon Council has had the idea for a long-distance heritage hiking trail for years. Far longer than the Oregon Desert Trail has been around. I believe some work had been done before and there were some possible alignments on the ground, but the idea remained an idea for the most part.
A few years ago I was in La Grande to give a presentation about the ODT when Brian Kelly from the GHCC invited me for a chat. The organization wanted to make their trail happen, and wanted to pick my brain since the ODT went from 0 to fairly well established in such a short amount of time (trails can be decades-or-longer objectives for organizations)…and the model of a conservation organization creating a backpacking experience to immerse people in the landscapes they were actively trying to advocate for and protect was a common denominator.
I looked at some maps with Brian and immediately got excited about their vision. There were so many trails already on the ground in NE Oregon! The Wallowas, Hells Canyon, the Elkhorns, and more.
I suggested they think more about a route than a continuous trail, especially since there was so much trail around them already.
Routes link trails with roads and off-trail travel to meet their objective, in this case traversing the Blue Mountains. Roads are viable paths for walking and connecting to other trails. When you have a trail or a route that goes right through town, it’s a win-win for all. It makes hiker resupply and feasting opportunities infinitely easier (not to mention showers, laundry, sleeping in beds), you don’t have to spend hours trying to hitchhike to town and back, and you often meet people who like hiker stories so much that they become trail angels in these communities.
I didn’t hear much more about the trail/route idea for a while…at least a year later I met Marina Richie, a GHCC board member, who was serving with me on an Oregon state outdoor coalition. In fact, on the same coalition was Jared Kennedy, an entrepreneur who helped start the Outdoor Project website. Jared and I had already crossed paths a few years earlier through the Oregon Desert Trail.
Stay with me here…Jared’s dad is also a Greater Hells Canyon Council board member…and Jared and his dad decided to have a go at making the trail a reality. I had a series of phone calls and emails over the last six months where we talked about some good next steps. I was/am so grateful to participate in helping a new long-distance hiking opportunity launch.
So this summer Jared had a line on the map, and the plan was to see if it worked.
Some friends will be ground-truthing the route from the other end soon, and I will be following them later this fall (if all goes well). It will be wonderful to follow their notes about what goes and what doesn’t and see if I can come up with some other solutions, or avoid the worst of the bushwacking.
All and all though, it’s a grand adventure! So very exciting 😀 then I’ll have to connect it into the Oregon Desert Trail, naturally.
So my main goal in being out here for a week is to ground-truth a series of trails and roads between John Day, Oregon, and a small little resupply spot along highway 26, Austin Junction. This 100ish mile section I was on was the first stab at linking together trails and roads in an attempt to complete a long-distance hiking route in northeast Oregon.
Yes, this assignment was made for me!
The route is the vision of the Greater Hells Canyon Council, a conservation organization based out of La Grande. I’ll tell you all about how I got involved in another post coming soon.
I woke up to a cloudy, moody morning. Last night was the first time I wore my fleece layer…so I was more than willing to welcome cooler temps.
This morning is a great example of why I built in some extra time to hike this route. Not long after leaving camp this morning, I noticed that even though I was hiking on the only trail in the area, I was pretty far off where the line appeared on the map. (I check Gaia often on my phone when I’m hiking something that might not be accurate). This isn’t unusual for short bits of trail, but this morning I was on the trail for 3 miles, much longer and farther than the maps indicated. Well, that’s exactly why I’m here…to find out what’s exactly on the ground.
I got to the trailhead and to my surprise saw a trail register in a kiosk! I signed in, very excited at the opportunity, and saw from the entries that, yes, in fact, a few folks had been through that month, and all remarked on the discrepancies. I think a trail crew left it… I love you trail crew!
I continue to the first paved road of the hike and went in search of water…unfortunately this turned into an almost 3-mile detour that involved an off-road hike down a drainage until I found water seeping out of the ground. Then I went in search of a trail that probably wasn’t there. My notes indicated the trail was gone, but I thought I should do my due diligence and check it out. And no trail. OK! There was an alternate indicated on a series of dirt roads nearby, so I climbed up to a feature named starvation rock, then began a cross country hike up the remainder of the ridgeline. A cool 1,000′ in a mile. Oofftaaaa.
The road up top existed and made for some sweet and easy walking. I walked under Lookout Mountain and at a saddle between Glacier Mountain (no glaciers to be seen) started down into the Sheep Creek drainage.
This was another area that might be nearly impassable due to a recent fire. Extremely recent it seemed, the ground was scorched bare. Right away I started seeing fresh cuts on the burnt logs crossing the trail…oh happy day! It seems like someone had just been through here to open up the trail…maybe just days or a week ago! I started singing a little song that mostly involved “thank you” over and over, with a few “trail crews” thrown in. I could see what backbreaking work it must have been, and was even more grateful.
Most of the 5.5-mile trail was cleared minus a small section in the middle. The fire ravaged everything, and there was no place to camp or even a good spot to access the water…but there was water, so that was notable!
I reached another paved road and turned left. My next trail up an unnamed drainage was marked “probably doesn’t exist.” I started down the way…so far it didn’t really exist, and then spied a large camp the direction I was going. Now I didn’t see anyone, but I got the sense that I didn’t want to be seen. I have to listen to my gut when it flares up. This feeling was that I should avoid walking by the camp.
Since the trail was probably gone, I decided to road walk around. It would add a bunch of miles…but again, when I’m feeling vulnerable out here I can only do what is in my control, and today that was to find another way.
Partway up the road around I pulled off on a side road that led to a big campsite. I walked to the back and found a flat shelf overlooking the drainage that may or may not have a trail.
And what did I see on a log??? A beer bottle. Not so unusual, except this beer was unopened.
I picked it up.
The sun had faded one side of the label, and the bottle date was just last year….so….
I opened it, and enjoyed my trail magic as only a dirty tired hiker can.
I woke up smelling wildfire…a storm had moved through last night, dumping a bit of rain and one rumble of thunder.
I slept a few hours later than yesterday and know my body needed the extra rest. This hike is demanding, and I’m trying not to burn myself out too fast. Listen to the body!
In fact, the physical challenge is preventing me from thinking about much else…exactly what I needed.
I made it to the shoulder of Strawberry Mountain, a hulking 9,300′ mass of rock towering over John Day. I decided to pass on the summit because I wanted to leave time to deal with overgrown or fire-damaged trail. And, I wanted to spend a little extra time swimming in Strawberry Lake!!!
I had reception on the shoulder of Strawberry Mountain, so I called my dad for his birthday. He is 72 years young today.
The walk down rivaled any alpine mountain wonderland. Lush wildflower-covered meadows, babbling brooks, towering mountains, and waterfalls.
That’s a patch of snow!
I ran into the first people of the trip near Strawberry Falls. The first trailhead I’ve encountered is a short hike away from Strawberry Lake…my next destination.
Unfortunately, the spot i picked for a swim was shallow and mucky, so I resorted to splashing off.
Strawberry FallsTaping up the feet at Strawberry Lake
I filtered some water and readied myself for the next climb….and climb I did. The next destination for some at the trailhead is Slide Lake. I would be heading in that direction for a while, which meant the trail was in great shape. For as stunning as this mountain range is, it is remote enough that it doesn’t get much traffic, and trail conditions away from the one popular trailhead were not awesome. That said, the trails weren’t totally neglected, I have only had a few spots where I lost the trail so far.
And then down and back up…and that’s when some big trees were down on a steep bunch of switchbacks…it appeared that someone had gone through because branches were broken at just the right spot to climb over. I did overshoot a switchback and must have been following a game trail instead of the real trail. I caught myself before I had gone too far (thanks GaiaGPS!).
The rest of the afternoon I strolled in and out of burned areas, but there was always a way through…I looked for the cut ends of logs which indicated a trail crew had gotten most of the trees cleared from the actual tread.
I called it a day just short of another trailhead. I will have some gravel road walking, and some trail that may or may not be there tomorrow.
She-ra Hikes 