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| Hood from Gunsight Butte, Badger Creek Wilderness |
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| gnarled beauty on Gunsight Butte |
Continuing the theme of new-to-me trails…
East of Hood (my favorite backyard Portland stomping ground) lies the Badger Creek
Wilderness. It’s a medium sized wilderness that packs a lot of punch into
its 29,000-ish acres. Badger Creek is situated on that ecosystem dividing line
between the wetter, western and drier, eastern Cascades….it’s generally steep,
less maintained and somewhat less crowded than Mount Hood.
I’ve done very little exploring in this area. This is probably due to
the fact that really scary forest
service roads (I don’t mean the ones that are rocky and washboarded and filled
with potholes, I mean the ones that feel like they will drop you off a cliff at
a moment’s notice), don’t agree with my acrophobia…I have a distinctly
less-than-fond memory of trying to reach Badger Lake many years ago with Andy
on a road that had me close to hyperventilating. Our second experience in
Badger Creek was beautiful but also spent trying to outrun a thunderstorm near
Ball Point. Third time’s the charm.
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| outrunning thunderstorms near Ball Point, May 2010 |
Last year, on a larch stalking hike with Allison, my
interest in Badger Creek grew more pronounced as she pointed out the area from
our high point on Lambertson
Spur. A year later, headed up Highway 35, I am on my own larch & color
hunting expedition, and the drive alone did not disappoint- a world of color
was on full display as I headed toward the High Prairie trailhead, the air and
light picture perfect reminiscent of fall.
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| deep forest/fall color along the Divide Trail, nearing the Palisades |
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| Hood & Lookout Mountain |
From Lookout Mountain, the Divide trail loses some 700+ feet in
elevation (steeply, at times) to arrive at Palisade Point, a lovely series of
rocky outcroppings with expansive views of its own (alas, my vertigo won out so
no scampering on the rocks for me…I’m sure views from on top of the Palisades
are amazeballs).
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| Palisade Point |
My original plan for the day had been to head out towards Flag Point,
another two miles down the trail. According to Allison, Flag Point is “Larch
Ground Zero”, and from my vista on Lookout Mountain and Palisade Point, I could
see golden trees shining likes torches in the sun. I wasn’t feeling my wheaties
this day though, and reluctantly decided that a ten plus mile day was beyond
me. Ultimately it was a good call as the weather began moving in by afternoon-
a hike I began in shorts and a short sleeved shirt ended in a puffy and wool
hat.
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| golden, western larch |
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| weather moving in over Hood, from Lookout Mountain |
Ah, fall. My favorite season.
HIGH PRAIRIE-LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN-PALISADE POINT
Badger Creek Wilderness, Oregon
~6 miles, ~ 1200 feet elevation gain
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