Early Morning Hike

After hiking to our campsite along Mill Creek and then continuing to the Twin Pillars and back, that evening my hubby and I turned in early.  Worn out by the fresh air and exercise, we slept soundly (well, the before-dinner wine may have contributed...)

Early morning light on the forest

I awoke at dawn to the sound of birds singing.  They made such a racket we couldn't sleep, so Roger and I ended up rising in the wee morning hours.  Our early wake-up call did have a silver lining, as we witnessed some gorgeous light from the rising sun.

Desert parsley

After a quick breakfast, we decided to pack up and trek back to our car.  This way we'd get a jump on the hikers, and maybe even hit the closest town in time for brunch.

My hubby shows his strength!

So off we trotted, retracting our steps from the day before.  It was still very early in the morning, and no one was stirring as we passed by the lush meadow with it's multitude of tents.  Roger spied a leaning tree, and posed for some macho photo ops.

Arnica

Roger is a fast walker, and marched ahead as if on a mission.  I, however, moseyed behind, stopping frequently to photograph all the things I'd missed on the hike in (and recapturing some of the lovely scenes once again)

More burned forest

The big difference between the day before was the wonderful bright sunlight streaming into the forest.  It even made the burned-out areas look good.

Morning shadows

I made sure to get photos of all the wildflowers I'd spied on yesterday's walk. 

Unusual purple flower

And the bark of the Ponderosa Pines, which glowed orange in the early morning sunshine.

Love the color of this tree's bark

Coming upon our first creek crossing, (the one that we had to don sandals and wade through) I was quick enough to capture Roger on video.

One great thing about early morning hiking - seeing dewdrops bejeweling the vegetation.  Like tiny diamonds!

Morning dew looks like jewels

Arriving back at our car, after offloading our packs, and changing clothes, we headed down the dusty, gravel road.  Not far from our trailhead, we stopped at a roadside pullout to take in another wonder of this wilderness area - Steins Pillar.

Steins Pillar

Rising 350 feet above the valley below, Steins Pillar is a noticeable landmark.  Formed by rhyolite ash erupting from old Cascade mountains some 25 million years ago, this compacted ash turned to stone.  Wind and water over the millennia weathered the rock, producing the tall pillar seen today. 

Nearby paintbrush

A short, 2-mile trail takes visitors to Steins Pillar's very base.  I really wanted to explore this path, but after hiking all day yesterday with his old worn-out boots, Roger was finished.  So I decided to save this path for another visit. 

Steins Pillar close-up

One final glimpse of this magnificent formation (and a few photos too) and I bid the Mill Creek Wilderness goodbye.  A successful weekend backpacking trip, I'd gotten my hubby out hiking and discovered a new favorite Central Oregon destination.

(Now for that second breakfast...)


Sharing with:  Wednesday Around the World

The Twin Pillars

After backpacking a short distance to our campsite, the day was still young.  Not ones to lounge around all afternoon, my hubby and I wanted to explore more of Central Oregon's Mill Creek Wilderness.

This bridge is in poor shape!

My hiking guidebook (the most excellent "100 Hikes in Eastern Oregon" by William L. Sullivan) noted the Mill Creek Trail continued past a landform called the Twin Pillars.  Sounded interesting!  We were game to check it out.

More of the burn area

So Roger and I shouldered our much-lighter backpacks, bid our campsite goodbye, and jumped back onto the Mill Creek Trail.  Not twenty steps from our tent, we crossed Mill Creek for the final time.  No wet feet for this crossing - this time there was a bridge.  Although in extremely poor condition, this ancient bridge held both our weights, and I was thrilled to escape more rock-hopping.

Little pollinator

Almost immediately after the creek crossing, our landscape changed dramatically.   In 2000, a huge fire swept through this area, and we again entered into the burn zone.  Although the charred tree trunks were a somber sight, the forest floor was lush and green, even sporting pockets of wildflowers here and there.  I caught a busy bee, hard at work pollinating some lupine.

Adjacent hills rising up from the creek

It wasn't long before our flat, mellow creekside trail got steep.  To reach Twin Pillars, we'd have to gain 1400 feet in 2.5 miles.  From here on out, it was all climbing.

Roger spots our destination

Puffing up the first steep pitch, Roger and I were rewarded with a glimpse of our destination - the rocky monolith of Twin Pillars, perched high on a ridge.  It reminded me of "Pride Rock" from the Lion King movie.

Lush creeklet valley

After climbing for a long while, I was disappointed to find we lost all our elevation, snaking down into a small valley.  A tiny creeklet trickled through the very bottom, and the surrounding area was lush and green.  Although a lovely place, all I could think about was the steep climb up the other side.

White ghosts

The lack of trees meant no shade from a late spring sun.  As temps began to warm up, sweat poured from my body.  Even intermittently cloudy skies provided no relief from the heat.

Halfway up the hill

The trail began climbing in earnest, winding up a steep hillside.  As I descended, the surrounding landscape spread out below.  The lack of trees and vegetation meant wide-open views.

Twin Pillars and burned forest

Twin Pillars stood out like a beacon, slowly getting closer, guiding us up the hill.  A pair of eroded volcanic plugs 200 feet in height, these monoliths were local landmarks.

Large blowdown tree

The fire seemed to have done the most damage near the top of the hill.  Hardy any trees were left standing, and those that were looked to be merely burnt-out shells.  Roger found one large scorched tree that had recently blown over, leaving only it's splintered trunk.

Huge burn area

Looking back down the hill, the fire's devastation spread for miles.

Under the twin pillars

Finally, the trail leveled out and contoured around the hillside, until we were directly below Twin Pillars. 

GoPro selfie at the pillars

Good opportunity for a selfie shot with my GoPro!

Torched trail sign

My guidebook mentioned a signed trail branching off the main path that would take hikers to the very base of Twin Pillars.  I looked around everywhere, but wasn't able to locate said sign.  Then on the way back, I happened to spot a charred remnant of a trail sign bolted to a burned out tree.  It appeared the trail was also a casualty of this fire.

Heading back down

As we began retracing our steps, Roger noticed storm clouds building over the surrounding hills.  We'd heard there was a possibility of thunderstorms that afternoon.  Not wanting to get caught up high during an electrical storm, we decided to hustle downhill as fast as we could.

Threatening clouds

Of course as soon as we descended low enough, the clouds blew away, and blue skies returned.  Oh well, as least we'd have a peaceful night sleeping!

As we continued down the trail, Roger and I were met with at least a half dozen other hiking parties, most with large backpacks, trudging up the steep grade.  I'd always heard this was an uncrowded place to visit, but the wilderness area seemed to be anything but.  Maybe it was due to the Memorial Day holiday?  Either that, or the cat's been let out of the bag about this fabulously scenic area.

Lovely little blossom

Tromping through the last mile of burned-out forest, I struggled to keep up with my hubby, who was nursing a serious case of "horse in the barn" syndrome.  (I think he was looking forward to some of the wine we'd packed to camp with us).  But a lovely tiny pink flower blooming amidst the devastated forest caught my eye, and I just had to take a photo break.

Cooling my feet back at camp

After eight-plus miles of hiking that day, our campsite was a wonderful sight!  Yet another reason I was thankful we'd camped right next to the creek - it made a great place to soak hot, tired feet!

Toast to a successful day!

Now for that wine!  Happy hours don't get any better than this - sitting on a log, drinking vino out of our coffee mugs, enjoying some string cheese and dehydrated backpacker meals.

Yep, the perfect ending to a great day.


Sharing with:  Our World Tuesday

Mill Creek Backpack

Memorial Day Weekend in NW Oregon is typically cold and wet.  If my hubby and I do any camping, we always head east of the Cascades.

The trail beckons...

For a couple of years now, I've been wanting to start backpacking again.  After several failed attempts, I decided 2015 would be the year I'd make it happen, and chose Memorial Day weekend for our first trip.  Knowing this holiday's rainy reputation, I picked a trail in sunny, dry Central Oregon.  Hearing lots of glowing reports, the Mill Creek Wilderness, just east of Prineville, got the nod.

"Official" trailhead

Roger and I rose early that Saturday morning, and after a 4-hour drive, pulled into the Twin Pillars Trailhead, at the Mill Creek Wilderness western edge.  After lots of last-minute adjustments (it had been a long time since we'd donned humongous backpacks!) we set out along the trail, Roger charging ahead, and me meandering behind.

Lush forest

After passing through a pretty car campground, we found the "official" trailhead, next to a gated crossing.  Stepping through this threshold transported us into a lush, green, magical wilderness.

Entering the wilderness area

Although the trail was supposed to follow Mill Creek, the stream didn't show itself for the first half mile.  Our path finally climbed up a steep bank, and we gazed at the lovely little creek, burbling below.

Our first sighting of Mill Creek

The forests here were predominately ponderosa pine.  The undergrowth was much more grassy than the forests on the Cascade's western slopes.  But I enjoyed the change of scenery, especially when we passed through a meadow chock-full of yellow Arnica blossoms.

A meadow full of arnica

I'd read this trail was known for it's multiple creek crossings.  Realizing we might have to wade, Roger and I had strapped sandals to the outside of our packs.  Not a huge fan of water crossings, I was a tad bit apprehensive about high spring runoff creating a raging torrent.  But at mile 1.3, when we encountered our first crossing, Roger discovered a large downed tree spanning the creek.

First creek crossing

We both easily shuffled across it's trunk, no problem.  Our feet stayed dry - this time.

Tentative log shuffle

We continued on, trekking through more gorgeous scenery.  The wildflowers were out in force, and I enjoyed the colorful display of purple larkspur, orange columbine, and more yellow Arnica.

Larkspur

Then we came upon creek crossing number two!  But again the crossing was easy-peasy, thanks to a few well-placed logs.

Log balance

Crossing number three was another cinch - the water was shallow enough we could almost walk across.  Roger and I hopped over on a few well-placed stones.  Only the  bottoms of our boots got wet.

Hopping through the shallow part

I was beginning to think these creek crossings had been over-hyped when we came upon our fourth ford.  This one was different.  There were no rocks or tree trunks to hop onto.  The water was just deep enough that wading would totally submerge our boots.  Good thing we brought those sandals!

Sometimes you just have to take off the boots and wade!

Sooo......we dropped our packs, off came the boots, and on went the sandals!  It seemed a lot of work just to walk across a twenty foot wide creek.  But I didn't want wet boots for the rest of the weekend, so that's what I did.

Lovely meadow

On the creek's opposite shore, our efforts were rewarded with a wonderful bright green meadow to walk through.

Columbine bloom

And more wildflowers to stop and admire.  Or, in my case, photograph.  And, no Roger didn't pick this columbine blossom.  He merely held it up so I could capture the yellow underside.

Entering the burn zone

About two miles in, we began seeing blackened tree trunks and scorched bushes, remnants of a 2000 forest fire.  Although the burned out trees made for a somber landscape, seeing so much lush green undergrowth was encouraging.

A large survivor

Some of the larger trees appeared to have escaped the flames.

The forest is coming back to life

Around the three mile mark, we came upon a side creek draining a lush meadow.  This area was  reputed to have some nice campsites, and I'd hoped to find one for ourselves here.  But after counting a half dozen tents set up, I decided to keep going in hopes of finding something more secluded.

Evidence of rebirth

By this time, Roger was starting to tire.  Carrying our tent and a couple other items, he definitely had the heavier load.  That, and since he didn't hike as much as I, wasn't as conditioned.  And, in our haste to leave, he'd accidentally grabbed his old worn-out hiking boots, and now his feet were beginning to protest.

Creekside campsite

I offered to hike ahead, and scout for possible campsites.  A short quarter mile later, I stumbled upon the perfect spot.  Situated on the creek's bank, we'd be serenaded by it's babbling waters.  The site also boasted a fire ring, a couple of log benches, and a private wooded area to pitch the tent.  And, best of all, there were no other campsites nearby.

A peaceful place

Yes, this place would do quite nicely!  After setting up camp, and enjoying a leisurely lunch, it was barely noon.  The day still young, we decided it was time for more exploration.  The trail continued to a rock formation called the Twin Pillars.  Since we now had lightened loads, Roger and I decided to go check it out.

Stop back for my next post and see what we found.

Sharing with:  Weekly Top Shot and Scenic Weekends.