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New Hiking Trails, Campgrounds at Mount Saint Helens?

The Vancouver Columbian has an interesting story about Mount Saint Helens. Apparently the Forest Service is looking into …

the possibility of adding one or two campgrounds and two trails at Mount St. Helens, including a new climbing route on the north side of the volcano.

Read the rest here. The trail wouldn’t go to the summit, but would reach 6,500 feet on the rim and give a view into the crater. That sounds cool!

I’ve been thinking more and more about hiking up at Saint Helens. The trails on the south side are well known to me and in my book — Lava Canyon and Ape Canyon being the coolest ones — but the north side is less known to me, since it’s beyond the range of my book.

But when I see pictures like this, I ask myself, “Self, why aren’t we hiking at Mount Saint Helens?”

So, who’s got suggestions for up there? Where should I take myself hiking? Anybody want to go?

Both photos via the Washington Trails Association.

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Portland Outdoorsy News: Larch Mountain Road open, Sandy River Delta closed.

Just a couple of news items from the Oregonian I thought I’d share.

One is that the road to Larch Mountain, one of the great  viewpoints in the Columbia River Gorge, is now open. The view of the Gorge and Mount Hood  from up there is pretty stupendous, and it’s  a great place to go see the city lights on a clear, moonless night. I think we get one or two of those each year.

Lewis and Clark Recreation Area in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

The other piece of news is that the Sandy River Delta, aka Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area, is closing June 11-15 so they can build a new trailhead. It’s a pretty cool place to go for a walk, and if you have a dog, I am  sure you already know this.

The Sandy River delta, by the way, will be featured in my new book this fall, Peaceful Places in Portland.

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The “Lost Trail” Crowd

A while back, I wrote a piece for The Oregonian about people who like to hike lost trails around Oregon — or who just wander off-trail looking for adventure or old stuff that was left out there.

You can read that piece here.

Well, since it ran, I’ve gotten a couple of requests along the lines of “How do I find these people and keep up with what they’re doing?”

The best way to get in touch with that whole crowd is to register (for free) at PortlandHikers.org and then look for them in the forums, especially the “Off-trail trip reports and lost trails” forum. You’re looking for Don Nelsen, Raven, and Splintercat. Those are the main guys in the story.

But they’re all entertaining, and their adventures are really something.

Happy hiking!

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Dog Mountain Flower Report

Every year about this time, one of the most popular hikes around is to the top of Dog Mountain. That’s because the whole top of the mountain is a big meadow covered in wildflowers, the most conspicuous being balsamroot:

Now, imagine about a million of those blooming all at one, 3,000 feet above the Columbia River. That’s Dog Mountain at peak wildflower bloom.

In fact, you don’t have to imagine it at all. Here’s a shot from a few years back:

And that wasn’t even at peak bloom!

Well, it’s getting time for Dog Mountain in 2012. According to this report on PortlandHikers.org (thanks, TrailMom!), the summit meadows are about two weeks away, but the action is going strong on the way up.

So get your legs ready; it’s getting to be time for the wildflower show on Dog Mountain.

 

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Ah, Wildflower Season!

Many thanks to Darryl Lloyd of Long Shadow Photography for these amazing photos from Memaloose State Park. It is getting towards the end of wildflower season in the Columbia River Gorge, so let’s get on out there and see what there is to see!

Take it away, Darryl:

To Columbia Gorge hikers and wildflower lovers,

The wonderful Memaloose Hills Loop “trail” was first scouted by naturalist, Russ Jolley many years ago. It’s known as one of the best wildflower hikes in the Columbia Gorge. Paul Slichter listed 128 species on a late-April field trip in 2009.

The unmarked trail is unofficial and few people know the route beyond the western part. There seems to be no map of it online, so I’ve undertaken the task with this draft. Since I didn’t use a GPS device, the route sketched in red is approximate. The total distance is about 6.5 miles, and you’ll be on public land all the way.

Below the map are some photos that I’ve taken over the years. There’s still a large number of flower species in bloom, but balsamroot is waning over most of the area.

Darryl