Get a haircut, Bell Creek Trail

August was a hot and busy month, we didn't get much time outside, something was always up. Either people were visiting, or we were afraid to drive anywhere thanks to the predicted eclipse traffic (When ended up being overblown) or just general we were busy stuff. We have a month left until we climb St. Helens, so we're going to need to go hard to prep for it. I got a little bit of that started today at Larch mountain.

If it's not a perfectly planned outing or if I just go more on a whim, I try to do "dot connector" hikes. Basically finding sections of trail I haven't done between parts I have done, just so I can mark it off on the map. I figured I could do that again today with another trip into Larch Mountain's crater and another attempt at Bell Creek.

THE GOAL
Explore some connector trails in Larch Mtn. Crater, do Bell Creek

THE PLAN
Park at the lower gate on larch mountain, hike down into the crater, split off from the crater trail and take connector trails to the Bell Creek hookup, do Bell Creek, come back, link a few more connector trails, leave. Bell Creek is 3.3 miles long, so maybe not do the whole thing if the heat is too strong or the trail too steep.

THE TRIP
This was a very different kind of day from the last time I stopped up here to do Larch crater. Instead of misty, mysterious, and wet, I got hot as hell, hazy, and sunny. I think the trail makes for a better rainy day hike. It was so hot and hazy there still wasn't much of an actual view anyway.

Parked at the lower gate, walked up the short logging road to the connection with the Larch trail, and headed down into the crater. I crossed over the mild trickle that was Multnomah creek, then split off down the Multnomah Spur trail.

I immediately startled a group of about 5 pheasants. I've never even SEEN a pheasant in real life before, and then 5 get terrified when I get about 10 feet away and they take off. I finally see why they are such good hunting birds, the dummies fly in a straight line with their bodies very level and even. Easy target outside the movement.

Also saw a snake and lots of chipmunks and squirrels. A good day for wildlife.

In about a mile the trail hit the Franklin Ridge junction. I debated doing the brief quarter mile out and back to connect the dot to Franklin ridge, but I decided against it because it was downhill and I wanted to minimize climbing in the heat. So far the trail had been undulating and pretty easy. I set off on the Oneonta Spur towards Bell Creek. The trail was much of the same. I got to Bell Creek feeling good, and headed south on the trail.

The Bell Creek trail is one of those deep woods trails that doesn't see a lot of action. It probably gets around 100-200 people a year, I'd guess. Mostly backpackers and adventurers for solitude. It supposedly goes through some of the best old growth in the area and I can tell the trail was well constructed.

The problem with trails like this is the lack of traffic leads to overgrowth, and Bell creek needs a haircut. The first mile south is mostly fine. It turns a corner, heads east towards the actual Bell Creek, and that's when it gets bad. The trail goes across some open areas where the large trees don't cover the sky, which allows the undergrowth to flourish. Some undergrowth is fine, and I've pushed through my share of bushes, but this was constant and I could tell it wasn't going to end for a while. I didn't feel like dealing with more scrapes and bugs and whatnot, so I bailed on Bell Creek about 1 and a half miles in. This is a trail I need to hit in March, after the snowmelt and before the plants begin to re-grow. The best part about Bell Creek is that the trail is very flat. over a mile and I got maybe 80 feet of elevation difference. If you can actually reach Bell Creek, it's pretty easy!

The Bell Creek trail...yes the trail is in this picture, directly in the middle

After the audible I decided to climb up to the summit on a side connector trail. Two relatively mild miles later and I was at the top. I skipped the viewpoint, the haze that day was so bad I already knew I wouldn't see much. I went back down Larch's west flank to the car. I ran the last 10th of a mile because a big ass bug wouldn't leave me alone.

THE RESULTS
Somewhere in the vicinity of 7-8 miles, not too much elevation gain. I still haven't gotten to connect Larch to any of my gorge hikes, but it won't take too long to solve that.

I didn't take many pictures, it was all woods. I did take a few panoramas of the woods.

The Bell Creek Trail in better sections

Bell Creek can be pretty