Our planned three day, first season hike was cut short by rain. Still, we had a blast and look forward to the next. Will you join us?
Plan A: Depart Eagle Creek Campground, head east to Eaton Ridge, South to Wahtum Lake, and return via Eagle Creek.
Plan B (incase of snow which we assumed about 4000ft on Eaton Ridge): Backtrack North to Trail 410 or 476, drop into Herman Creek, loop around to Benson Plateau, drop into Eagle Creek via trial 434, and return to Eagle Creek Campground.
My coffee pot broke during finals week due likely to overuse and my pouring water into an already hot coffee pot. The little light would still come on, but the pump and the heater were no more. I will miss you dear coffee pot!
So that morning I settled for an instant coffee packet that I usually reserve for morning backpacking use. A stomach ache began to set in that I figured would pass… but it didn't.
Truck loaded, relatives notified of our plan, and Jane excited, we hit the road out of Tillamook about 6am. Weather was supposed to have some scattered showers, but nothing we hadn't been through.
The stomach ache persisted to IHOP where we thought we would get a good high-calorie breakfast before hitting the trail. I stuffed everything I could on top of that stomach ache. By the time we got to Eagle Creek, it was so bad I was afraid we may need to wait… or worse, cancel after driving for two-and-a-half hours!
I decided to gear up and see if walking would make it feel better. It did.
Packed heavy for rain, pack weights were as follows:
- Jeff: 40.5lbs
- Gena: 28.5lbs
- GI Jane: 7.5lbs (her food, our ponchos)
At 1000 we headed east on Trail 400 along highway 84. This trail is mostly blacktop along the historical Columbia River Highway. It is very pretty, but the sound of the more modern freeway gets old to me. I prefer to get out into the woods and away from this sort of noise and into the clean air as soon as possible on a hike.
By Noon we made it to Dry Creek Falls. Eagle Creek camp to Dry Creek Falls would be a worthy day hike if you are interested in rolling terrain without any major hills and want to see a new waterfall. The columnar basalt formations under the pillow basalt with the tall narrow water fall dropping out from high above is very pretty. You can drive to it from Cascade Locks, but I would rather walk it. This part of the trail is after Trail 400 turns onto 2000, the Pacific Crest Trail.
We broke for lunch about 1:30pm where the Pacific Crest Trail forks toward Benson Plateau. Instead, we headed south toward Herman Creek via trail 406E. Herman Creek is beautiful and very green this time of year. On the way back, we learned the bridge makes a great shelter under which to eat lunch when precip is raining on your parade.
From Herman Creek we hiked our way to trail 408 and began our long slow ascent up to Deadwood Camp. The first part of this trail is more of a gravel road as indicated on the map. Later, however, it turns into the narrow, well groomed trail the area is known for, but it climbs, and climbs, and climbs. We won't be taking our kids on this one anytime soon, but for the rest of Plan A, it would have been fine. Water could have become an issue here as we were packing light and counting on creeks and springs for water. There is a creek bed marked on the map between Herman Cr. And Gray's Cr. But we found it dry. Grays Creek at Deadwood camp may also be a concern in the late summer. It was very shallow this time of year so I have to wonder how much water will be there in late summer.
One interesting feature of Deadwood camp is that the cell phones worked! We used this to check the weather forecast the morning after the "chance of rain" meant "over "100% chance of rain."
Part of that is that we were using a new tent. We had found the Gigatent Recon 2 online for around $50 and thought, "Wow! What a Deal!" Turns out you get what you pay for with this thing. It leaked at every zipper despite reassuring fabric flaps over the zippers. The rain-fly dripped water through the zippers all over my pack and gear that I left out in one vestibule. I have an email into the vendor to see what they will do for return/exchange. For now, let me say the Gigatent Recon 2 is a great price for dry weather camping. The materials seem durable and the square footage is excellent. The weight is a little heavy; I don't know how the spec sheet gets 6lbs, 3oz. I couldn't get that if I was removing all the tent stakes. Call packed weight closer to 7lbs 6oz.
We woke up a little before sunrise to strike camp and continue on with Plan A. We shook the water off everything as best as we could, loaded, had some P90X nutrition bars for a quick snack, figuring we would stop for some oatmeal later. At 3200 feet we saw our first signs of snow but nothing to be concerned with. At 3500ft, it got more interesting. Visibility was gone as we were in the stratus cloud. The snow was not likely from the previous night, but was covering the trail just the same. About 50 meters passed the photo below, was a spot on the trail that was snowed over on a steep slope and we couldn't see where the trail was on the other side. Learning from a Tanner Butte experience last year, we decided to turn around. About this time, we also noticed Gena's jacket was wet all the way through.
At Deadwood camp (again) we had some hot oatmeal to warm us from the inside. So much of the gear was wet, including so much of Gena's clothing, damp sleeping bags, etc. we decided to call our trip and head back to the truck.
This time we left Deadwood camp heading west at about 1030. Being down hill, we figured we could make the 13 miles back to the truck by 5pm. We had some extra weight due to water, but had eaten some of our food weight, and it was mostly downhill… but we were fatigued from yesterday. The rain continued to pound on us. We had to keep moving the rest of the time despite our Navy issue ponchos because Gena was wet underneath the poncho! We had to eat lunch under the Herman Creek Bridge at about 1:45pm, and then get back to moving. Just after 3pm, where the trail crosses the power lines above Cascade Locks west of Dry Creek, the sun came out. Poor Jane would have to carry wet ponchos.
This was our first overnighter for the season. As such, feet and major muscle groups fatigued easier than assumed. After several breaks, we made it back to the truck about 5:15pm as the rain was picking up again.
Finishing pack weights were as follows:
- Jeff: 42.5lbs
- Gena: 30.5lbs
- GI Jane: 9lbs (her food, our ponchos)
All in all, this was a great first hike for the season. We tested our gear, our wits, and our training. We identified several weaknesses that will be fixed before the next hike… This is Wednesday afternoon! Ok, that one won't be an overnighter, but we are carrying near full packs for physical training purposes.
See you outside!
Photos on Flickr.
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