Had a two-hike weekend! Been a while since I was so fortunate.
All week we basically planned to hike Catherine Creek, in the far eastern gorge past Coyote Wall. However Catherine Creek provided a dog logistical problem because all trip descriptions heavily mention the amount of poison oak and ticks in the area. My dog is curious and stupid and would have zero ability to tell what poison oak is, and would likely plunge her face directly into it in order to sniff a leaf. That would leave the oils on her face for me and the wife to accidentally pick up later giving the dog some pets. Ticks would be impossible to spot on her black coat, though we could treat for them beforehand.
Both of these problems are easy to handle by just staying away from brush and not sitting in the grass. So a dog was out of the question. But we didn't have anyone to watch the dog, so it was beginning to look like a failed idea. Then we swapped hiking days so the wife could go to brunch with friends, and I took the opportunity to go out myself for a classic Dave solo hike.
The following day the 3 of us went out together to explore Herman Creek. The two hikes on back to back days offered an excellent contrast to each other.
-Catherine creek is the dry eastern gorge. Herman creek is the wet western gorge.
-Catherine creek is on the Washington side, Herman the Oregon side.
-The Catherine creek trail is wide, open, and full of views. The Herman creek trail is almost all covered, narrow, and viewless
-Catherine creek barely follows the creek, and instead quickly climbs up onto a wide ridge. Herman Creek stays close to the creek and is often perilous with steep drops
-Catherine creek is mostly just uphill. Herman creek climbs for a mile, then mostly gently rolls uphill
-I was alone for Catherine creek, and with my wife and dog for Herman creek
-I've never done Catherine creek, but I'd done Herman creek
-Catherine is a girl's name and Herman is a boy's name
-I've stretched this out as well as I can, I think.
There are obvious similarities and such, but it was a nice dual feature. I'll start in chronological order.
CATHERINE CREEK
The Goal:
See the Arch, scout to see how rough the trail is
The Plan:
Drive out, wander around, see if I could find the proper routes since the area is a confusing labyrinth of trails, and mostly explore. Since the area has a ton of trails, none "official" as the designated route, maps are hard to come by and inaccurate. There are old roads, side trails, and scrambles all over the place and none of it is signed well. I just wanted to get a sense of the area at least once so I could come back one day with a good idea of what I was doing. It was really a scouting mission.
The Trip:
Catherine creek is another on my long list of "hikes I gotta see once" that has been on my mind for ages. The main barrier to entry was always driving distance. It's a good hour and a half from Portland. Ticks and Poison oak were also factors, as I hate ticks and oak complicates wandering around. But the hike is supposed to have great wildflower displays. There is also the Catherine Creek Arch, a neat geological landmark, that I wanted to see.
The drive is long but always scenic. I got past Coyote Wall and hit the turnoff. Parking was limited but I got there late, so the early birds had just left their primo spots wide open for me. The trailhead is pretty easy to access. To the south, across the road, lies a short, almost mile paved loop wandering the lower Catherine Creek cliffs, offering a view of the short Catherine Creek falls. It's mostly unremarkable and basically here for the kiddies/creaky knee folks. You can skip it.
To the north, on the side with the parking, several old roadbeds head up the hill. The one to the left heads towards Coyote Wall via the Labyrinth trails. I wanted the path to the right, which swept downhill into the Catherine Creek canyon. My plan was to take all the rights when I came to a fork, just to keep myself oriented.
I shouldn't have worried about the dog as much as I did. Ticks may be an issue on dryer days (it was drizzling for the first half of my hike, which I personally loved), but I didn't see any poison oak and the trail was very wide. Managing a dog here wouldn't be that hard. The gravel road that serves as the trail goes down into the canyon, then begins a gentle climb. A branch of road splits off to the left right before you hop the creek itself. Shortly after the creek climb, maybe a quarter-half mile into the hike, I noticed an old corral and a wood fence.
I glanced up and bam, the arch was right there looming over me. That soon? I had been walking for 10 minutes! The arch looks to be a section of wall that basically detached but didn't fall down. It's very close to the wall behind it and is closed off by a fence. The arch is sacred land to the native people of the area, so they don't want you wandering in it. I can respect that.
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| The mighty Catherine Creek Arch |
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| Pano of the arch |
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| The trail begins to climb, looking back |
The trail climbs and eventually rises into the meadows on the ridge. This is when everything paid off. The hills are open wide and the views are magnificent. The hill seems endless but climbs at a reasonable grade. My goal was the tree line. Every step gave a better view. I was alone, walking through the mist, rising into the ether. It was the kind of moment I do this for. If there is such a thing as zen, this is where I find it. When I daydream about going into the woods, this is the kind of moment I dream about. I love hiking with people, but there's something truly special when it's just me alone. Something I can't share with other people. Something that's impossible to communicate here.
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| Top of the hill |
There is a makeshift bench on the top of the hill. I took some pics, recovered my heartrate, and enjoyed the solitude. The trail plunged into the woods behind me and curious to see if anything came of it, I went back further.
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| Rowena plateau on the right looks cool from here |
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| The seemingly endless grassy fields |
Turns out it just quickly ascends the nearby ridge and offers an even better view. I puttered around a pond, I found a small, tiny cluster of daffodils on the grassy hill, and I just loved it. The trail appeared to climb back down a different creek valley towards the car for a loop, but because I wanted to see the top of the arch still I turned back. Maybe next time.
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| Down the hill, further than I was willing to go this time. unlike those people. |
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| The Catherine Creek Canyon from on top the arch |
My trip down the hill was also wonderful. I detoured a bunch to see better angles. Eventually I found myself above the canyon wall, waving down to hikers 200 ft below me. I found the top of the arch, but you can't really see anything and it's blocked off here as well. A short time later, I was back at the road, my day complete. I stopped briefly at Bonneville Dam on the way home to snag a few extra photos.
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| My car is a great photo model |
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| Table Mtn in the mist |
THE RESULTS
A resounding success. Certainly an area worth coming back to. I did just over 7 miles, and got roughly 1600 feet in elevation.
HERMAN CREEKThe Goal:Reach Casey Camp. See the burned zone.
The Plan:
Get up early, just plunge straight back on Herman creek to the Casey Creek junction, and turn around.
The Trip:
I'd done this section of Herman Creek once before during my hardest ever day out, when I climbed Casey Creek and hiked 16 miles by myself. I had no plans on being that dumb again. I just wanted to head to the base of the trail, see Nick Eaton Falls, treat Keeley to a new trail, and see the burned areas from the Eagle Creek fire.
The first mile is still the hardest. Once we reached the Gorton Creek junction everything got easier and from here to the end 3 miles further in the trail is pretty mild. It was also far more open than when I did this the last time. All the undergrowth shrubbery is gone, even in the less damaged areas. The really damaged areas are starkly sobering. The base of the trees are black, and the lower remaining branches are all stark white, creating this forest of ghost trees on bare dirt. You can see far more of the surrounding landscape.
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| looking at the burned trees |
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| Nick Eaton Falls |
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| Into the burn |
The trail isn't the most exciting thing even with the changes. It has some fun cliff edge sections and some creek hops, and Nick Eaton Falls is still pretty spectacular. The trail just follows Herman Creek up and up and up with the rushing water far below as a constant companion. When the trail finally reaches a flat forest section away from the creek, things get so quiet. Shortly after that sections arrives, you'll see the campsite to the right and the Casey Creek trail heading up to the left.
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| The worst area, also the panorama made the dog look weird |
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| spot the hiker! |
The Casey Creek trail didn't look like anyone had walked on it in two years. I wouldn't be surprised if that trail honestly vanishes and becomes forgotten. It was hardly used before the fire. Now it's likely dangerous and will see even less people because Casey Creek sucks.
We turned around here and went home.
The Results:
Nothing special to report. Dog had a great time. We walked just over 8 miles, with 1700 feet of elevation gain.
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