Right Angle Viewpoint Area Tour

On July 13th I lead a tour to the Right Angle Viewpoint area on the Molalla-Clackamas watershed divide for the Clackamas River Basin Council. As noted earlier this outing was delayed three weeks due to snow. On this hike snow was present in some spots but gone in others - depending on the winter accumulation and aspect, not on elevation. With about 700 ft. elevation change, the deepest snow was at the flatter lowest 4200 ft. heights, while the 4900 ft ridge was bare of snow and flowers were blooming.




Dry Meadow at Right Angle Viewpoint

The road was blocked by snow at the 4500 ft. high point. There the slope of the road changed from south to north, and from bare ground to two to four feet of snow. As a younger crowd had showed up for this tour, we elected to bushwack at an angle to the north up the slope. We alternated between patches of snow and bare ground and brush. Once the trail was located less snow was found and finally it ended, with the viewpoint clear of snow and blossoming. This was a shortcut, though a steep one.


Larkspur and paintbrush bloomed on Right Angle Viewpoint. Oregon sunshine was growing but not yet flowering. We saw it in full bloom along the road two thousand feet lower.



Lost Creek Overlook Cliffs from the south

Lost Creek Overlook is comfortably broad but cliff on three sides. The rock is a chaotic jumble characteristic of volcanic mudflows. As this entire area was once on the slopes of an ancient volcano, one can assume that this mudflow filled a valley and after millions of years is now exposed by glaciation as a headwall cliff.

Evening Star, Saxifraga bronchialis vespertina



An unusual plant growing only on the dryest cliffs is the Evening Star (Saxifraga bronchialis vespertina). Though widespread, it is limited to rocky, dry faces with little competition because of drought and lack of soil.



Lost Creek watershed from Lost Creek Overlook

This interesting little valley is glacial at first with steep wet meadows high up. There was once a trail but the luxuriant wetland growth now hides it. Much of the area was clearcut. The road at the bottom was removed a few years ago. The glacial section runs north towards a tributary of the Clackamas but makes a quick 180 degree turn to the south and connects with the Molalla. A notch where this creek could have continued north long ago is now hundreds of feet above the creek.

Old Whitespot is interesting and the open south wall is snowfree and looks ready to freeclimb.

A fuller discussion of this area is available on an earlier post from last September.

Further changes to hike schedule

With the heavy, wet winter snowpack meltoff running a month or more late, rearranging hiking plans is required! A second problem with the Bull of the Woods tour has appeared - a section of road is gone, and a 30 mile detour over twisting gravel Forest Service roads will add two to three hours travel time to any trip there. This is a doubling of travel time. And on top of that, the detour route as of this writing is still blocked by snow! So Bull of the Woods tour slated for July 13th will be put off until next year.


The outing on June 22nd was moved to a lower elevation tour around Clackamas Lake. Even with lowering the top elevation a thousand feet (300 meters) a late season snowfall had just melted off. The original destination, Right Angle Viewpoint, is now rescheduled for July 13th, replacing Bull of the Woods. It's possible snow will still be present at the highest elevations of the hike and on the road leading to the trailhead. Alternative routes are available if the road is blocked by snow.


The next tour, July 20th to the Headwaters High Elevation Loop, will go ahead as scheduled. Again snow is possible, and interesting alternative routes at lower elevations are available at several points along the approach road. Lakes are frequent throughout the Olallie Highlands area.


So the new schedule is:

July 13th - Right Angle Viewpoint area

July 20th - Olallie Highlands High Elevation Loop

See the original descriptions of these tours below in this blog.

Clackamas Lake Tour

On June 22nd I lead a tour for the Clackamas River Basin Council to the Clackamas Lake area. This was relocated from the original Right Angle Viewpoint area due to the late lying snowpack, which at this time prevents driving anywhere near the trailhead up there. Clackamas Lake is a good 1600 feet (500 meters) lower than the viewpoint and well below the snow zone. A peculiarity of this season is that once you reach the snow its depth increases very rapidly.

The route for this Tour is past Estacada on Highway 224, which becomes Forest Service Road 46. The ‘turnoff’ onto Forest Service Road 57 is actually a ‘straight ahead’, with 46 turning sharply south towards Bagby. 57 is followed to its end at Forest Service Road 42, where you turn right for the short jog to the historic Clackamas Lake Guard Station. This is now a museum which celebrates the long history of this locale.

Bigleaf lupine, Lupinus polyphyllus, along Forest Service Road 46

The first point of interest we stopped for was the large masses of bigleaf lupine. Its located on the recently built section of road before Ripplebrook Ranger Station. After the 1996 floods proved the old section of road unstable, a new shorter and steeper section replaced it. The lupines were planted only along this new part of the road. The photo was taken at about 1300 feet (400 meters) elevation, higher than the native range of this lowland native. It is thriving along the new section of road in huge drifts.



Vanilla leaf or Moose plant, Achlys triphylla

The trailhead closest to the museum is perhaps a hundred feet past it to the left and downhill. The path immediately enters a conifer woodland floored with huckleberry and patches of herbaceous material. The season at this elevation was mid-spring, and the vanilla leaf or moose plant was flowering. Small spikes of white wave over the triple clusters of leaves, which bear some resemblance to the antlers and nose of a moose.


The trail soon reaches Clackamas Lake Campground. A short sidetrail leads to a boardwalk across wetlands to the edge of spring-fed Clackamas Lake. Shrub birches line the wooden trail, and occasional stunted spruce occupy the wetlands along with many more usual residents. From this angle the water appears teal rather than blue.


A little ways past that another spur to the left drops down to the location of many of the springs that keep the lake full. None are more than a few feet above the surface of the lake, and likely more are hidden in its waters.



Clackamas Lake from near the springs.

Large patches of monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus guttatus) cover big areas around the springs and in the short streams that drop into the lake. It was too early to see this in bloom. the mountain bluebell was at its peak. A large plant overhung spring and lake, its roots bathed in cold springwater.



Mountain Bluebell, Mertensia paniculata borealis,
overhanging the springs at Clackamas Lake

Broad grassy meadows surround the lake, and continue downstream - and up the Oak Grove Fork that enters below the lake. No stream directly enters the lake but those fed by nearby springs. Stunted, scrawny spruce and lodgepole pine dot the grasslands, which are mostly wetlands. There is a fringe of low shrubs and then dryer meadows. A heavy forest covers the uplands. The area appears to have burnt in the distant past, with a few larger trees scattered among thickets of their offspring. Lodgepole pine, Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, and silver fir are the main trees.



Clackamas Meadows

Heading downstream across the road the stream wanders through more wet meadowland. The stream moves but slowly. Past the end of Road 57 the Oak Grove Fork picks up speed and enters deep forest.




The meandering outlet stream is
the Oak Grove Fork of the Clackamas.

A variety of plants bloomed on the forest floor and the patches of meadow. The low shrubby evergreen woodland Oregon grape (Mahonia/Berberis nervosa) was providing a scattering of yellow.






Cascades or woodland Oregon grape (Mahonia nervosa)

A sunny spot and the shade of a rock provided a shot of the Cascades penstemon (P. serrulatus), happily growing in an apparently dryer habitat.

Penstemon along the trail (P. serrulatus)




Some large lodgepole pines grow around the meadows. Here there is no sign of the bark beetles which have been destroying so many pines nearby. They are quite happy in the meadowside sun.




Lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta latifolia with Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, in the background left.

The widespread blue violet (Viola adunca) grow in the dryer meadows above the narrow shrub belt. These plants are usually assumed to be woodland plants are happy on a sloping southern exposure.

Blue violets, Viola adunca

Past the end of the lake, hidden anyway in the large meadows, some sizeable old growth firs still grow. The picture below shows their scattered nature. Marked with fire and woodpecker scars and surrounded by young thickets of many species, a few of these centuries-old trees survived long ago a major fire, and now stand nearly lost in a much younger pole forest. Such dual-age stands are indicative of past fire history.





One old growth Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

Old corrals and barns from the days of the Civilian Conservation Corps still stand in the forest near the big trees. Once upon a time most forest service trail maintenance was done from horseback, and this was a busy place indeed. Lookouts were supplied monthly mostly by mule train, and the mostly college-age lookouts had to be careful to make that food last. The long trails to the lookouts before many roads penetrated the mountains meant that few if any casual hikers would be seen in a summer season.


After a splurge of road building following World War II a decision was made to stop using horses and mules, and the colorful pack trains and mounted crews disappeared. Trails have deteriorated since.




Old corrals at Joe Graham Horsecamp

This spot is known as Joe Graham Horsecamp, and it still sees quite a bit of recreational use. This area was early accessible by road but only from the east, away from the populated Willamette Valley. Pack Trains would start instead at the now disappeared Oak Grove Ranger Station, since replaced by Ripplebrook on the present highway. Oak Grove was a little west of the junction of the present FS Roads 4630 and 4635, then the only and furthest access from the west up the Clackamas. Only abandoned roads, concrete slabs and an opening in the fir forest mark what was once a thriving and crucial camp. At that moment, Bagby Guard Station was 22 miles by trail. Later the road crossed the Clackamas at about Riverford Campground, and from there it was 13 miles to Bagby and 19 to Bull of the Woods Lookout.



Historic barn at Joe Graham Horsecamp

Nowdays its a mile and a half to Bagby Hot Springs, within reach of teenagers carrying large coolers full of beer. Bull of the Woods Lookout, no longer manned, is but 3.2 miles, an easy and worthwhile dayhike.


For a short 2.5 mile (4 km) hike at Clackamas Lake, turn left at the paved road past Joe Graham and continue back to the Museum. Good views of the meadows and streams line the road. For a longer day, continue northwest on the trail to Timothy Lake. One trail is northwest of the Oak Grove Fork and the return trail is southeast. Linking the two is a mile and a quarter (2 km) trail along Timothy Lake. This route totals about 6.2 miles (10 km).

Changes to My Hiking Tours

Due to the heavy snowpack (see post just below) and the continuous unseasonably cold weather, I'm forced to change the destination for the first tour in the Cascade Mountains. The original location tops out at 4900 feet (1500 meters) and according to the SNOTEL sites there is as of yesterday eight to nine feet of snow still lurking about at that elevation. As the sites display a weeks worth of data, we know that only 18 inches melted off in that period.


After reviewing several options, I've settled on a 2.5 mile (4 km) loop trail at Clackamas Lake. Though this will be early in the season flower-wise, this hike offers open water, wetlands, springs, old growth fir and some historic Forest Service structures. Elevation change is perhaps 70 feet (21 m).


As an optional longer tour, those wishing more time on the trails will continue on to Timothy Lake, following the northeast side of the Oak Grove Fork of the Clackamas River, returning along the other bank. This is a 6.2 mile (10 km) loop with only 100 feet (30 m) elevation change. Included is a mile and a quarter (2 km) along the lakeshore of Timothy, skirting two campgrounds.

Meeting time and place remain the same, 9 AM at the Estacada Ranger Station.





Clackamas Lake






And what about the following two tours? If too much snow still lies on the ground, I will push the earlier hikes to the next date. So the Right Angle tour will replace Bull of the Woods, which will replace Olallie Highlands. No matter how this falls out, any missed tour will be on the list for next year.

Tours with the Clackamas River Basin Council

Changes to My Hiking Tours


Due to the heavy snowpack (see post just below) and the continuous unseasonably cold weather, I'm forced to change the destination for the first tour in the Cascade Mountains. The original location tops out at 4900 feet (1500 meters) and according to the SNOTEL sites there is as of yesterday eight to nine feet of snow still lurking about at that elevation. As the sites display a weeks worth of data, we know that only 18 inches melted off in that period.


After reviewing several options, I've settled on a 2.5 mile (4 km) loop trail at Clackamas Lake. Though this will be early in the season flower-wise, this hike offers open water, wetlands, springs, old growth fir and some historic Forest Service structures. Elevation change is perhaps 70 feet (21 m).


As an optional longer tour, those wishing more time on the trails will continue on to Timothy Lake, following the northeast side of the Oak Grove Fork of the Clackamas River, returning along the other bank. This is a 6.2 mile (10 km) loop with only 100 feet (30 m) elevation change. Included is a mile and a quarter (2 km) along the lakeshore of Timothy, skirting two campgrounds.

Meeting time and place remain the same, 9 AM at the Estacada Ranger Station.





Clackamas Lake






And what about the following two tours? If too much snow still lies on the ground, I will push the earlier hikes to the next date. So the Right Angle tour will replace Bull of the Woods, which will replace Olallie Highlands. No matter how this falls out, any missed tour will be on the list for next year.

The Original Post:

More than just a hike!

Leader Bryon Boyce will provide a running commentary on wildflowers, geology, and other natural history points of interest.

The Natural City Tour will meet at 9 AM at the offices of the Clackamas River Basin Council.

The later three tours will meet at the Estacada Ranger Station to accommodate those living farther out. 9 AM for all.

April 27th - The Natural City Tour

Our urban area is blessed with a variety of natural areas which feature remnants of the diverse "valley floor" habitats. Many of these areas are little visited even by those active in preservation work. This tour visits three outstanding examples in two locations. In the morning see the newly linked Camassia Natural Area (The Nature Conservancy's first purchase in Oregon) and West Linn Wilderness Park, home of the largest and oldest firs in the urban area. The dwarf oak savannas of Camassia are unique, and the quaking aspen pond is unusual locally.

Camas and Corn Salad at Camassia Natural Area






This tour is timed to catch what is probably the best flower display in the Portland urban area. The effects of the Missoula Floods are especially obvious here. Hopefully the osprey nest will be occupied.

In early afternoon we will visit Mount Talbert, the first Metro acquisition to be developed and opened to the public. The 750 foot extinct volcano has high quality natural vegetation little affected by invasives. The remnant wet oak savannas are receiving preferential management, including fir, cottonwood and brush removal. This woodland type was once common in the urban area. Some uncommon plants are present. The area is large enough to host deer, coyote, owls and in winter pileated woodpeckers.

Meet at the Clackamas River Basin Council offices (street address and on web link to map) at 9 AM. Bring lunch, water and hiking shoes or boots. Dress considering the weather. Expect generally good trails with a little rock hopping. There will be two to three hours on the trails, depending on discussion and picture taking.

June 22th - Right Angle Viewpoint

This outing into the lushly forested Western Cascades includes open wildflower areas and a sampling of features that illustrate the ancient volcanic history of the region.

After driving up the Molalla River past the interesting Molalla Eye, the hiking trail weaves between the Molalla and Clackamas drainages, and between Forest Service and BLM land. The unsigned route was long abandoned but has been reopened during the past few years.




Old Whitespot aka Baty Butte from near Right Angle Viewpoint









At Right Angle Viewpoint on the Clackamas side, drought-prone unstable soil on an ancient pyroclastic flow prevents tree growth, and provides the 180 degree viewpoint. Spires formed by volcanic action in the volcanic flow still stand. To the north is Old Whitespot (on the maps as Baty Butte) and Mount Hood, to the east Thunder and Fish Creek Mountains, and southeast Olallie Butte and south Mount Jefferson. The white spot of Old Whitespot is an ancient creekbed filled with white pumice, and now dissected, leaving a U-shaped display in a large little-vegetated area. We will also visit an overlook above a glacial valley and onto the lower slopes just below the white spot.

Easy to moderate 3-4 miles hike with a cumulative elevation gain of 5-600 ft. Trailhead is about 4500 ft and the highpoint is 4900 at Right Angle Viewpoint. Milage and gain are approximate as the route is not on maps that show trail milage or elevations.

July 13th - Bull of the Woods

Expect wildflowers and views on this 6.4 mile long round trip. Natural rockgardens and meadows are seen as we pass over to the shoulders of Dickey and South Dickey Peak to Bull of the Woods Lookout at 5523 ft. This is the westernmost ridge which features plants more common to the east.

Cardwell's Penstemon enroute to Bull of the Woods







The lookout was built in 1942 and is the only surviving one from the WWII era in the Mount Hood National Forest. It was formerly available for rent from the Forest Service, but is currently undergoing restoration. Mules have been put to use for this project, one of the first uses of either horses or mules in decades in the area.

An 825 ft. elevation gain along this ridge just east of Pansy Basin. A easy to moderate hike at 250 ft. gain per mile.

July 20th - Headwaters High Elevation Loop

Visit the under-appreciated highlands of Olallie Scenic Area. Most of the area underwent sheet glaciation rather than valley glaciation, resulting in flatter terrain and so many lakes and ponds that many have never been named. This 5 mile partial loop hike will pass well over a dozen water bodies. Other features include wide-ranging views with the glaciers of Mount Jefferson only 9 miles distant, glacial striations in bedrock, wildflowers, and a mixed woodland vegetation with subalpine variations.

Mount Jefferson from Olallie Highlands







This is a easy to moderate hike with a 900 ft. elevation gain, most of which will be on the way up Double Peak to the high point of 5900 ft. The route meanders between the Clackamas, Santiam and Deschutes watersheds.

Map to the start of the April tour:

View Larger Map

Map to the start of the Summer tours:

View Larger Map

Right Angle Viewpoint

This is an interesting area especially geologically. Millions of years back this area was on the flanks of a once large volcano of the West Cascades Geologic Province. The thick layers of pumice and pyroclastic deposits that are common here indicate that. Erosion of the former cone has been so extensive that its location cannot be determined. Hot springs -Bagby 4 miles to the south and Austin 7 miles to the east - indicate still-hot magma not very deep down. A quartz-vein mine and quartz outcrops near Pansy Basin indicate the past presence of once deeply buried magma in the next valley east of Bagby. Like virtually the entire Cascade Mountain range, all the rocks here are volcanic.

None of this gives definitive information linking to any single volcano however. The two hot springs are at low elevation and do not necessarily indicate location of any former peak. Quartz veins form adjacent to bodies of magma so likely are some unknown distance from any volcano fed by that magma - and some bodies of magma never make it to the surface. The eruptive deposits in the Baty Butte - Right Angle Viewpoint area certainly indicate a position downslope from a volcanic peak - but what was the direction of that slope? Once flat deposits could easily been tilted in any direction by later mountain uplift, and the chaotic structure of volcanic deposits often gives little indication of slope anyway.

On the drive up, easily spotted pyroclastic deposits across the bridge from Freyer Park likely originated from the general Right Angle Viewpoint area, but millions of years of erosion may have masked another stream valley source. Their location 20 miles distant does indicate a high volcano to provide the momentum to travel that distance.

The drive up follows the Molalla Forest Road, most of which was once privately owned by Weyerhauser Logging. Most of the Old Growth timber in the Molalla drainage went down this road directly to mills on the Willamette, all on unregulated private road.

The road is reached through the town of Molalla and the district of Dickey Prairie. A distinctive feature alongside the road is The Molalla Eye. Part submerged in the clear Molalla River, this is a radial set of basalt columns. Normally these columns form in a vertical position. They are created during the solidification process in the lower, slower cooling part of a lava flow. Geologists once assumed that these were basalt crystals, but a closer look shows that they are actually shrinkage cracks, similar to those in mud.

The Molalla Eye

The circular nature of The Molalla Eye is so different from the norm to beg explanation. Most likely a lava tube cave was refilled by new molten lava. As cooling proceeded from all sides rather than from top and bottom, columns formed in this circular pattern instead of the typical erect fashion.

After the eye the route immediately passes a narrow section with high cliffs before entering a broader portion of the valley. Past the road crossing of Lost Creek, a left turn onto an unmarked road on BLM property climbs quickly to the unmarked trailhead, which is past the highpoint of the road, at about 4400 feet (1345 meters). The trail quickly reaches the Molalla - Clackamas watershed divide. The entire route taken today meanders back and forth between these two watersheds and includes parts of three subwatersheds - Blister and Stroupe Creeks connecting to the Clackamas, and Lost Creek draining to the Molalla.

One spot along the Clackamas-Molalla divide

Watershed boundaries can be at knife-edged high peaks (Baty Butte), along long steep ridges (Right Angle Viewpoint) or along gentle slopes with only slight changes in slope angle (like the spot pictured to the right or the trailhead area).



A viewpoint along a small spur road past the trailhead looks down on Lost Creek Canyon and Lost Creek Meadows. The upper portion of Lost Creek is a classic example of glacial widening of the highest portion of a valley; just below the glaciated section is a very narrow, cliffed canyon formed exclusively by water erosion. Lost Creek has another secret - it once flowed north into what is now Wear Creek and down to the Clackamas.

This notch marks the former route of Lost Creek

For unknowable reasons it now makes an almost 180 degree arc and heads towards the Molalla. 600 feet (185 m.) of elevation separates the two routes now, resulting from the power of glacial erosion.

The upper, glacial portion of Lost Creek Canyon is filled with mixed conifer forest, meadows, rock cliffs and boulder talus. The road that once followed the creek has been removed. Some of the broad glacial valley was logged some decades ago. A strange ditch system was constructed at that time, with the excavation spoils forming a high wall along it. This runs along both sides and the headwall in a more or less square pattern. Built to contain a slashburn? Certainly overkill for that but possible with a "bigger is better" mentality. A fireline built during a wildfire? No sign of a recent wildfire exists here. A vain attempt to control the natural drainage in this wet canyon? As the ditch runs little or no water, it has little effect here. A continuous high water table along the entire slope creates wet soils in this canyon, not surface drainage. Whatever the intent of this sizeable structure, it has little impact other than to annoy off-trail hikers and to provoke wonder at why it is there.

Young Noble forest in Lost Creek glacial canyon

A young forest dominated by noble fir with some Douglas fir mingles with shrubfields and wet meadows across the clearcut canyon. The wettest soils here do not grow conifers, nor do the rockiest. Formerly a trail dropped down the headwall slope into the canyon. This route can be followed on the flats where Lost Creek originates, but it is lost in the lush wet steep meadows in the highest part of the headwall slope. To the left of where this abandoned trail drops into Lost Creek canyon is a slight highpoint with glacially-created cliffs. The view is partially screened by trees.

Thunder Mountain

On this hike I headed south on the recently reopened (but long abandoned) trail which now reaches June Lake in five miles (8 km). Still abandoned trails formerly reached the Nohorn and Bagby areas.

The first open view is to Thunder Mountain, a 5185 ft. (1580 m) peak two miles (3.25 km) off to the east. It is reachable from here by following a combination of obliterated road and abandoned trail. There is also a newer unmarked USFS trailhead on the south (right) side of the peak. Skookum Lake is nestled on the north side. Before the 1996 floods the Fish Creek Road passed about 100 yards from that lake. The floods caused such severe damage to the poorly designed road network that the USFS eliminated over 100 miles of both gravel and asphalt road, so that access from the north now is around a dozen miles over obliterated road. I'll be posting about hiking to Thunder Mountain soon.

The trail climbs stairstep-fashion with alternating steeper and more gradual sections. High cliffs soon make their appearance, providing views into the upper Clackamas basin. Visibility west into the Molalla never fully opens up due to the dense forest.

To the north Baty Butte makes its debut from an open rocky clifftop. An older name for this 5052 foot (1540 m) peak is 'Old Whitespot". The salient feature behind this name is a large U-shaped pumice bed exposed high on the south side in a shallow incurved slope. Surrounded by mudflow deposits below and capped with dense basalt, the pumice stands out well from just this one trail. The extensive open rockface is primarily ancient mudflow and extends down to the trail below. Mudflows are actually a mix of every size of materials, and rocks imbedded in the mass provide hand and footholds making for a simple rock scramble up from the trail to the pumice bed, and up to the top at the bare knife-edged near cliff at the top, visible left of the pumice. This is one of the most southernly outposts of Douglasia, a primrose family evergreen with bright flowers each June.

At the time of the pumice eruption, a stream channel had cut into an earlier mudflow, which subsequently filled with pumice. The bottom layer of pumice is pure white, but then black basalt rock from the eruptive vent was included in the mix. Following all this, lava covered the mudflow and pumice, with remnants of that topping the mountain today.

The little vegetated bowl channels snowslides into a narrow chute hurtling over the trail and then a cliff of erosion resistant basalt before landing in Blister Creek canyon. Slide alder with a edging of Alaska cedar follows the chute - other vegetation can't survive the avalanches.

Baty Butte

Heading south along this trail its obvious how little human use this area gets. The only readily identifiable tracks were of elk.

Elk Tracks at Right Angle Viewpoint

Its not that this area has not attracted human attention in the past. Usually excess runoff is handled with a simple dirt ditch. Near Baty Butte several stone lined ditches were constructed by some forgotten Forest Service worker. The picture below is of the only one no longer carrying summer water.

Drainage Stonework

Another feature showing that this area was a focus of volcanic deposition on the flanks of a major volcano is seen in windthrown trees. In some spots the soil around the roots is made up entirely of pumice. This is an exposure about a yard (meter) deep, but unrevealed is how deep the pumice goes. And was this bed from the same event that gave nearby Old Whitespot its name, or some other? The number of eruptions millions of years ago in the Western Cascades Province was no doubt large.

Deep Pumice Beds

The trail zigzags up and finally travels just below the ridgetop in the thick old growth forest on the Molalla side. Occasional closed-in views to the west are too limited to be sure what is being seen between the trees. The forest floor has extensive carpets of pink-flowered betony, an effective muscle relaxant.

The route finally crosses the ridge at about 4900 feet (1500 m). The trail is now Right Angle Viewpoint. I named it because Mounts Hood and Jefferson are at a 90 degree angle from here. An extensive exposure of ancient mudflow, crumbling and unstable, is little vegetated and treeless. The picture below is across the Cascades Range to Olallie Butte in the distance. See this earlier 2007 post for more on the Olallie Scenic Area, and this one.

Olallie Butte and the Cascades from Right Angle Viewpoint

The very steep east face of the ridge is soft enough to sink a foot into, so it is climbable. A fall however could be disastrous. I picked my way down and across to photograph close up a most peculiar feature (pictured below). Apparently Flow Face consists of pyroclastic deposits that were hot enough to weld together and form erosion resistant layers that now have been naturally excavated from the surrounding pyroclastic material.

Flow Face

This trip was late for most flowers, though a variety of drought tolerant types exist on the slope around Flow Face. Most of these bloom early, going dormant for the summer dry spell. Young spirea plants were blooming in white; and some plants of the mountain goldenrod were in bloom on the slope at Right Angle Viewpoint.

Mountain Goldenrod

Purple Coralroot in seed

This leafless saprophytic orchid is so deeply purple that even the seedpods shown here are strongly the flower color. Its a common plant in the deep humusy conifer forests of the Northwest. It makes a living from decaying forest duff and produces no green chlorophyll. It no longer needs leaves so they have degenerated into mere semi-transparent sheaves.

Mushrooms aplenty

Speaking of saprophytes, this hike in late summer or early Fall will reveal many types, especially in the mushroom family. No member of this group develops chlorophyll. Most are saprophytic and a few are parasitic.












Here a saprophytic mushroom fruit cluster is being parasitized by another mushroom. The white filaments is the body of the parasite mushroom. In most mushrooms these filaments are hidden underground or in decaying wood, with only the 'fruit' or mushroom showing.










This bright coral mushroom is considered a primitive form, without the specialized spore-producing gills, pores or teeth of other types. The spores are produced on the branched fruiting body instead.

Olallie Scenic Area Highlands

This expansive backcountry area is underappreciated by forest users, with almost all use limited to around the larger lakes at trailhead elevation. The higher elevations here give access to one of the most extensive regions of upper montane forests and meadows not on a high glaciated peak in The Cascades. At 7215 ft. (2200 m) Olallie Butte is the highest point between Mount Hood and Mount Jefferson. If you try this area out, you will find few other folks on the trail.

Family at an unnamed lake

On this outing I met only one other group - a young family of four with their dog. From northern Washington and used to the deep-canyoned, steep-trailed North Cascades, they found the comparative gentleness of this landscapen better suited to their growing family. The unnamed lake is a short hop off the trail. Its outlet was dry at this time, and I'm uncertain if it is part of the Clackamas or Santiam watershed.



The Ice Age glaciation of these highlands took the form of sheet glaciation rather than carving deep valleys. The ice sheets left behind so many water bodies that many have never received names. Hiking on any trail up here reveals a series of pretty ponds and attractive lakes.

This hike starts just of Forest Service Road 4220, accessible using Roads 46 and then 4680 or 4690. I started at Lower Lake Campground and proceeded south on Road 4220. No trail completes the loop hike planned, and the road gives access to some little-visited ponds and lakes which have little or no parking available.

Beaver Tarn

First stop was a mountain pool with no outlet. Its waters are strongly tainted with organics. Usually tannins and such are flushed out by an exit stream, but this old beaver pond has none. So the tannins and other chemicals build up, making the tarn tea-colored.

Two linear grassy strips cut across the pond and support some straggly trees. They are remnants of very old beaver dams. No sign of current beaver activity could be seen. The pond backs up to the roadfill but has never flowed across it.

Next up the road was First Lake. Limited parking exists here and a few primitive campsites are near the water. A trail follows the north bank (to the left in the photo) but peters out just past the lakes westernmost point. The outlet is also on the north near the road. It is choked with large logs too big to wash down the creek. Like all the outlets found on this hike, the outlet creek is dry during the rainless summer.

First Lake

The clear water supports salamanders and some fish. Like other glacial lakes nearby, this radiates out from Olallie Butte and the view from the west edge gives the length of the lake with the Butte on the skyline. Sunlight on Road 4220 is visible just past the lake, with the gravel rising towards the south.

Also visible in the background are grey patches of bark beetle killed lodgepole pine. The adults burrow their eggs under the bark, and the larvae fan out to feed on pitch, girdling and killing the pine in the process. The thin bark falls off in two years, exposing the tunneling that did the tree in. In around ten years the trees fall. Many thousands of this common pine have died. In fire-history areas the lodgepole made up almost all the forest, and the big trees are all gone. The young pines that have yet to mature their bark are spared, so we can hope that this insect epidemic will see the bugs run out of food and die out.

Beetle Tunneling

Fire danger will be higher with all this dead fuel around. The current cool wet summer has put an end to high fire danger this year, but next year could bring drought.


I reached the Pacific Crest Trail at Head Lake, one of the ultimate sources of the Clackamas River via Squirrel Creek. At first the route follows the divide between the Clackamas and the Deschutes drainages. After crossing and recrossing this divide the trail enters into the Santiam drainage.

Head Lake
with Jefferson behind

The Pacific Crest trail climbs from the lake. Many ponds and meadow areas can be seen along it. The first was some distance below the trail and had tannin-tinged water, indicating lack of an outlet.

Most of the area is quite rocky, with only the little soil that has developed since the glaciers melted. Occasionally the path enters deeper soils of unglaciated areas. The forest thickens, more undergrowth appears and everything looks more like a typical westside woodland, without the rocks and pines more common eastside.

Mount Jefferson from the cliff

High up the ridge a glacial dropoff provides stone seats for lunch. Mount Jefferson is on the skyine nine miles (14.5 km) distant. The cliff exceeds 100 feet (35 m) height. The view over the treetops extends from the south slope of Olallie to Double Peaks. Drought tolerant wildflowers and shrubs take advantage of the sun on the cliff face.

Glacial striations in Bedrock
just off Trail 2000

The faint, eroded glacial striations indicate the ice moved more or less at right angles to the cliff, which it helped create during the Ice Age.

North Side Mount Jefferson

The heavy crevassing of Russell Glacier is clear in this 8X telephoto of Mount Jefferson. The apparent secondary peak to the right of Russell Glacier is a remnant of the west slope of the once higher and larger mountain, cut off by the notch created by the glacier. Originally the slope would have been continuous to the original peak. Likely thousands of feet of rock have eroded off all sides of the mountain by ice, water and wind.

Cigar Lake

This rock-strewn lake was the high point of this hike at 5500 feet (1675 m). The sheet glacier divided at what is now the lake, with part flowing to the right in the picture and the rest directly into the camera. In that direction below the water down the very steep slope are springs fed by the lake. They support a colony of spirea and other wetland plants which is bisected by the rocky trail.

Cigar Springs and the trail

More trails are available in this area. Close by is the Double Peaks (5900 ft., 1800 m.) trail, which forks off at Cigar Lake. A second steeper route parallels the Pacific Crest Trail giving access to a different set of lakes. The Crest Trail heads south and two trails branching off it give access to the high terrain above Breitenbush Lake. Other forks pass more lakes on the way to trailheads downstream.

Clackamas Headwaters Tour

This excursion is one I set up for The Clackamas River Basin Council, and lead for them the first time this year. In it participants visit a series of springs and lakes all of which are headwaters of one fork or tributary of the far-flung Clackamas River. Date was July 8th.

We visited in order deep bright blue Little Crater Lake, teal-colored Clackamas Lake and nearby Forest Service museum, Summit Lake, Lower Lake, and Head Lake. Finally we barely passed out of the Clackamas watershed to visit Olallie Lake, store and resort.

Butterfly in the Trail

Though our group saw no single wildflower display to match that in Pansy Basin, there were a variety of sometimes unusual plants present in bloom. The peak of the Cascade Mountain butterfly season was only a week off, and we saw hundreds of them from several species - orange, black, white, blue and yellow colors usually with two or more per kind. A large black and white one was seen once; a pale yellow, orange and black one was very common.

Our route passed through the Summit area on Mount Hood with the intent of entering the Clackamas watershed on its northeast side and ending up in the southeast corner. This allowed us to traverse mid-elevation areas only lightly eroded as well as higher areas with many lakes due to sheet glaciation during the last ice age. Elevations visited range from 3300 to 5000 feet (1000 to 1525 meters), so includes mid-elevation sites up to the watershed boundaries. Much of the route (up Forest Service Road 42 and then 4220) was through dry piney woods with much eastside influence. Firs were always present but the pines dominated much of the area. A beetle infestation has killed thousands of pines in this region. Its a borer whose larvae girdle the tree. This is heavily affecting this region, especially lodgepole pine but also the larger white pine.

Little Crater Lake

Little Crater Lake is an artesian spring which has carved out a 45 ft (14 m.) deep lake in the soft siltstone. The pure, cold water displays a striking deep yet bright blue. It was named by comparison to the much larger water-filled caldera in Crater Lake National Park. You can see whole trees at the bottom, preserved by the 34 degree (1 degree C) water. Elevation here is the lowest of our stops at 3250 ft (990 m.).

White Bog Orchid

In the wet meadows the white bog orchid was making a show. (Habenaria dilatata). These sturdy perennials are quite obvious and showy spread throughout the acres of damp meadow. Other common names include bog-candle and scent-bottle.

Saint John's Wort

Another perennial flowering in the meadow was a St. Johns Wort (Hypericum formosum scouleri). Though related to the European species which sees use as an herbal anti-depressant, this one sticks to wet meadows, rather than dry ground. Weather it has herbal uses is unknown.






Next we visited Clackamas Lake, which has cold springs both in and just above the lake. This lake is tinted a teal due to Mares Nest algae growing there. Its not fully understood why this lake has so much that it colors the water. Perhaps temperature, perhaps something else or some combination of factors. Elevation here is 3400 ft (1035 m.)

Clackamas Lake

The lake is surrounded by wetlands and meadows which host a number of unusual plants. Betula glandulosa is a small birch which is common in the wetlands. This is very shrubby, growing 5 to 10 feet high (1.5 to 3 m). It is small leafed and not particularly ornamental. The swamp cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris) shares the wetlands around the lake with the birch. Its flowers are a dull dark red-purple, much unlike its usually yellow relatives. Potentilla is a large genus of the rose family, and includes both perennials and shrubs, some useful as ornamentals and offered in the nursery trade.



Just downstream from the lake is a Forest Service museum, housed in a 1930's Civilian Conservation Corps-built guard station. The structure was crafted almost entirely of clear fir, then widely and cheaply available. Twenty-foot long knotfree tongue and groove paneling line the walls. Such lumber can scarcely be found today at any price.

This small museum contains examples of early 20th Century equipment 70 and more years old, along with period photographs. The volunteer staff is talkative and informative.

USFS Cabin for Rent

We were also treated to a tour of a nearby cabin also part of the 1930's CCC legacy. Its now rented out for only $80 a night ($100 weekends). The two story structure has beds for 9, includes a kitchen and woodstove and a wonderful view at the edge of Clackamas Meadows, with old growth out the back.



Further down the road we visited Summit Lake. A mile off the road down an upgraded gravel road, it features picnic tables but no other facilities. The maps show a creek entering and exiting this lake, but in reality none exists at any time of the year. Springs and underground drainage must exist to keep the water level even. It will drop less than two feet from its depth during our visit by the end of summer. A similar rise would overtop the road, which judging from the complete lack of erosion never happens. This lake is inhabited by very shy ducks who keep to the untracked east shore away from people. Colorful dragonflys abound, and huckleberries fill the forest floor. At 4200 feet, this lake has both low and high elevation trees.

Heading down the 42 Road keep an eye open for 4220 painted in green on the pavement - with frequently disappearing road markers this has proven to be successful in guiding travelers. The junction is easy to miss. The route changes to gravel or dirt, following the old Skyline Road. Along the route Lemiti Creek and wetlands prove to be attractive. Once away from the creek the junction with FS Road 4690 is reached, with a better gravel road ahead for the rest of the trip. 4690 is a good return route to return through Estacada. Pavement is reached soon and then a high speed road most of the way back.

Heading south past the junction Olallie Meadows and Campground is reached on the left after a little more than a mile. The meadow is bisected by the boundary with the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Nearly 3 miles past this we stopped at Lower Lake Campground to access the trail to Lower Lake. The longest hike we undertook, the stroll to the outlet of Lower Lake is less than a 1.5 mile (2.25 km) round trip. Elevation here is 4740 ft (1445 m.).



Lower Lake

Unlike most viewpoints, you hike down to this one. This unimpeded view of Olallie Butte and the length of the lake is the reward for this short jaunt. Olallie is a young volcano with its most recent red-tinted cone obvious and little eroded. The far eastern side shows signs of glaciation, perhaps late in the last ice age. Its height is 7215 feet (2200 m.) and it is only 2 miles (1.25 km) distant.

The stony forest floor offers a scattering of wildflowers and many huckleberry plants of several species. Along the lake we found a butterfly hangout - about 25 in a few square feet. A single osprey flew off towards Olallie Butte and disappeared.

Head Lake

Only a mile down the road we rolled out of the vehicles to view Head Lake at 4935 feet (1500 m.). The ridge in the background framing Mount Jefferson is the boundary between the Clackamas and Deschutes River drainages. The Pacific Crest Trail follows that ridge. Head Lake's outlet is dry at this time of year, but signs of flow earlier are obvious. It is the head of Squirrel Creek. The mainstem Clackamas originates on the north side of Olallie Butte perhaps a thousand feet (300 m.) below the summit. The steep trail to the top passes close by the source. The Clackamas watershed collects about a third of the Buttes runoff, the rest running to the Deschutes.

Our final stop was Olallie Lake, just over the divide from Head Lake to the southeast. This mile-long lake is the largest in this glaciated region. We parked at the store lot. Cabins are available at the resort as are non-motorized boats. Two pair of Ospreys soared over the lake.

Our return route took us down the mainstem Clackamas River. We quickly left the dryer woodlands for the rainforest dominated by Douglas fir typical of the Western Cascades. Occasional views of the river and patches of old growth are a feature of this route.