Backpacking in March. This could get interesting.
Looking out my office window, I can’t say it is going to rain, but I
also can’t say it isn’t. The sky looks ominous, but it may also simply remain
ominous and overcast. We’re heading east of the Cascades, where the forecast
looks to be drier, but in the PNW in March, forecasts are a relative thing.
Both of us stir crazy to get out, Shel and I have been planning this quick
overnighter for a while (I think she officially has the bug, GRIN), so we’re
giving it a go regardless of what it looks like outside the window.
My loaded down with just-in-case shit backpack still only weighs in at
a little over 26lbs, water included. Not perfect yet, but getting there, and a
far cry from the 40+ lbs I was carrying when Andy and I first started
backpacking a little over a decade ago. The dog is bouncing around the house as
I wait for Shel to arrive, and I re-eyeball the dark sky from inside my cozy
home.
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| spoiler alert: it's not raining at the trailhead, but it's still pretty ominous looking out |
I want to go backpacking in this, at 4000 feet? I must be insane.
Good thing I have insane friends.
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SCHOOL CANYON-BALL POINT-LITTLE BADGER CREEK LOOP
Badger Creek Wilderness, Oregon 03/25-03/26/2015
~9 miles, ~2150 elevation gain
This has been a very unusual winter for us, and one of our driest on
record. The lack of precipitation and snow directly correlates with trails that
are normally snowbound at this time of year being wide open. The flower bloom
in the eastern gorge is early. So, time for a backpack.
Andy and I sold the Nemo Meta 2P this winter. Although it was a good,
lightweight two person trekking pole tent, I was getting really tired of the
condensation buildup issue common to single wall tents. Always a gear junkie,
I’m trialing our new Brooks Range Tension 30, which has dropped a pound off of
our old tent. And the space ratio for a tall guy like Andy is better too.
I’m slowly upgrading gear and dropping weight/ounces. The only gear
still left over from my old school days (2004- shameful, I know) are my Marmot
Sawtooth 15° bag and the bomb proof, field serviceable MSR Miniworks water
filter. I haven’t found a bag yet with the warmth/weight/cost ratio of the
Sawtooth, which has made it hard to upgrade (mostly because I’m not quite ready
to jump into the $400+ range for a bag), and the filter has saved my tail a
number of times with glacial flour streams. They are both, by far though, some
of the heavier items in my pack.
When Shel showed up with Dave in tow, I found out everybody, not just
me was trialing new gear. Shel had a new tent, stove and water filter. Dave,
getting back into backpacking after a hiatus, was trialing almost everything
new.
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| photography/trail shenanigans |
I was glad this was going to be a short and sweet overnighter. Nothing
like being forty miles into wilderness determining you hate your gear.
Passing thru Government Camp, we hit snow and rain. It was positively
dismal. I really, really hoped the east side was drier or this was going to be
a short trip.
The gamble paid off. While not exactly sunny and dry, it was only
drizzling off and on. More than manageable. The new snow that hit Hood over the
weekend appeared nonexistent here. Starting up the School Canyon trail toward
Ball Point, we were initially bundled up against the gray skies, cool temps and
wind, but quickly began shedding layers with the climb.
Suspended between the end of winter and beginning of spring, the trail
was newly green and is going to be a veritable flower explosion in the next
month.
I’ve been as far as Ball Point before; beyond that, this entire trail
was new to me. A continuation of my explorations in the Badger Creek
Wilderness. We had initially wanted to backpack in the gorge, but forgot it was
spring break….in our hunt for solitude, we ended up here. It was a good choice.
We saw only one other person, as surprised to see us as us them, on our way out
the second afternoon.
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| approaching the saddle, 3250' elevation, by Ball Point |
It’s clear the trail doesn’t see much use or maintenance. We worked our
way across, over and under several blow down in the burn zone around the north
side of Ball Point. Temperatures dropped as we gained altitude, but we were
sheltered from the wind as we entered cool, pine forest. Camp robber jays
followed us along the trail, but remained strangely absent after we made camp. The
pine forest gave way, finally, to an open meadow sprinkled with juniper, ponderosa
and blooming manzanita, and littered with rock gardens.
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| burn zone: ponderosa detail |
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| Shel, contemplating one of many blow downs |
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| Pepper, trying to figure out why this is so hard for us humans |
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| Dave led the way, entering cooler, pine forest |
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| blooming manzanita |
We made home for the night at the helispot, watching the sky gradually
clear, taking in the world.
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| camp and clearing skies, evening chores |
That night is one of the coldest I have spent in the backcountry. I rarely
fully zip up my bag, but this particular night I was very, very glad to have
the down mummy in full mummy mode. Which meant the dog commandeered the toe
box, and a fight for space and the sleeping pad ensued all night. Pepper still
has a lot to learn about backpacking manners.
That said, it was really, really nice to wake up in the morning to a
double wall tent. I’m kind of over the single wall condensation issue.
We backtracked from the helispot to the junction with the Little Badger
Creek trail and began the plunge down the trail- steep. Toe-smashing steep. But
short. At the junction of the two trails, we took some time to explore the
creepy Kinzel mine and the remains of the old cabin, met our only fellow hiker
of the trip and proceeded out on the Little Badger Creek trail.
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| the descent to Little Badger Creek was short, steep and quick |
And what a lovely trail it is. Rambling and rolling through open, dry
eastern forest, it was dotted here and there with wildflowers trying to break
through, all the green of spring exploding. It was very peaceful, very quiet.
Our trio hiked our own hike, occasionally coming together, but more strung out
on the trail, the dog bouncing between us, deep in our own thoughts.
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| lovely Little Badger Creek |
The new tent rocked too.
