Ramona Falls 9/14/13

PH field guide entry for Ramona Falls

EG: 1100' Distance: 7miles

We decided to do a day-hike up to Ramona Falls with mom.  We chose Saturday, since there were T-storms in the forecast for Sunday.

Cher and I at the trailhead

 It was a beautiful day.  We arrived at the trailhead and got on the trail around 10am. The forest is amazing in this area.  There was moss and mushrooms everywhere.  It was beautiful.  I love all of the large boulders that are randomly placed throughout (probably from an ancient eruption).

Cher's stache is getting a little outta control

mossy trees

Do you see that rock?

The trail goes along the Sandy river for about 1.5 miles, where it goes down to the river and crosses it.  We took a few minutes at the river to wet our hair and cool off a little.  

The river level was pretty low, but it was still rushing along.

the "trickle" of a river

The girls

cooling off

the rushing river

"Sassquats"

Cher and Mom

the bridge crossing

Cher on the bridge

There she is...

what a beauty!!

 We spent about 10 minutes at the river and then continued on the trail.  The path start to gain a little more elevation after crossing the river.

After about mile 3, you come to the junction with the PCT.  

PCT

new FS sign

slightly older sign

Going to the left, at the junction, you have just about 1/3 mile more, until you get to Ramona Falls.  Not too far from the falls, there is a fence/corral area to keep horses away from the falls.

When we got the the falls, there was a humongous raven in the area.  He was amazing! I have never seen one up close before.  He was about 4 times the size of the little crows that I always see.  He was just hanging out, waiting for forgotten food, I'm sure.

We ate some lunch, took some pictures and refilled our water bottles.  There were a lot of people at the falls.  We spotted a few mushroom collectors passing by...one of them had a layer of mushrooms in his bucket.

We spent maybe 45' just enjoying the beauty, as well as the cool breeze coming off the water.

Ramona Falls

interesting moss covered rocks

On our way back, in the horse corral area, we took time to enjoy taking photos of all of the different mushroom species that were popping up.  It was pretty cool to see how many different ones there were.  I just wish I was familiar with edible VS toxic mushrooms.

a sampling of shrooms

It was a nice trek back.  The sun was really beating down on us.  By the time we got back to the river crossing, we were ready to take a soak!!

Cher and mom on the trail

We saw one group of horses on the way back

Cher admiring the river

"mini Mt Hood"

 We got back to the car just after 4 and our stomachs were starting to growl.  We decided to stop off at Calamity Janes on the way home for some burgers.

This burger and fries was a couple meals for me...crazy huge!!

It was a great hike.  We saw some nice little camp spots, near the falls, that we might take advantage of in the future.

Three Fingered Jack via Canyon Creek Meadows-Labor Day weekend 2013

PH field guide entry for this hike

We were going to do the 20 mile loop around Three Fingered Jack, but with one of us suffering from a respiratory cold, we opted for the shorter hike through Canyon Creek Meadows. 

It was a beautiful weekend in the area.

We got to Jack Lake trailhead around 2pm on Saturday Aug 21.  With rest stops and picture taking, it took us about two hours to get to the meadow below TFJ.

Fungus along the trail

TFJ from just below camp

TFJ from lower meadow

Since we had been to the area the same weekend last ear, we knew where we wanted to set-up camp at and hoped that the spot was available.  Since it is up a hill and away from the creek a little, we were in luck!! The secluded spot was all ours.

arrow marks our camp.  Mt Jefferson peaking out from behind the ridge

There is a great view of TFJ from this spot.  There is a nice sitting area, where we like to have our meals and enjoy the view of the ancient volcano.

Dinner with a view

a little wine to go

Its a great spot because it is just enough out of the way that people dont normally pass by.  Its also close enough to the creek, that we can go cool off, or filter water as needed.

Diego helping to filter water

getting ready for bed

We took it easy for the rest of the evening and turned in at dusk.
In the middle of the night, there were some faint thunder rumblings in the distance, but no lightening was seen.

After a good nights sleep, we woke up and had some yummy breakfast.  We spent the day exploring the areas along the creek.

TFJ from a little further east, down the creek

Lots of bloom-less Lupine in the area

love to be able to cool off in the creek

TFJ from creek

so many colors

we saw a lot of frogs hanging out by the creek

most of the wildflowers were already gone

 
As we were exploring around, Diego found a nice spot (probably really stinky) to roll around in.  After a few minutes, I noticed he went to pick something up in his mouth...

Deer bones?

In the early afternoon, we decided to head up to the cirque and check it out.  The cirque is about 1/4 mile and a couple hundred feet of elevation gain from the base of TFJ.  The trail is filled with loose rock and it is easy to loose your footing.  There are also some areas where recent rains have washed out portions of the trail and it is hard to tell if you are on it, or not.

us at the cirque

Southeastern side of TFJ.  Almost up at cirque

pano from just above cirque

the cirque was pretty grimy looking

Cher enjoying the view to the east.  You can see Mt Jefferson in the upper left of the photo

We didnt have the will power to make it up to the viewpoint on the ridge above, on the southern shoulder of TFJ(maybe next year).  When we were eating dinner on Saturday night, we saw some mountain goats hanging out on this ridge.  We also heard from another hiker that about 30 minutes before we got up here, there were a group of mountain goats walking across the glacier.

Diego loves this place!!

When we woke up on Monday morning, we noticed that the area we had been using as a lavatory, looked like something had come through and was brushing the dirt around.  I had read a week or so prior that mountain goats love human urine...maybe they decided to come down and see what we had to offer...

Monday, we ate breakfast and took our time packing up.  We headed out from camp around 10am.  As soon as we crossed the creek our dog, Diego, started yelping.  The area was a little mucky and there were some bees hanging out.  He was licking his paw and wouldn't put any weight on it.  He either got stung(although there was no stinger to be found) or bit a few times by a pesky yellow jacket(there were a lot this year).  We went down to the creek and I held his paw in the water, hoping the cold water would soothe it.  A minute later a guy pops out from the trees and said he was a veterinarian and would be more than happy to take a look at Diego's paw.  He said that since it just happened, it could still swell in the coming hour.  He offered some anti-inflammatory medication, some cream and a sting pad.  Talk about perfect timing!  I didnt catch his name, but he works at Birch Street Animal Clinic in Canby.  So, if your in that area and need a vet, he gets my seal of approval :)  I carried Diego out until we made it to the main trail.  He seemed to be walking fine by that point.
After going through the lower meadow, the trail forks.  The right fork takes you back the the trailhead the way you came and the left fork completes the loop.  Both are about the same distance.  There is less elevation gain, if you go to the left.  Also, the forest service would like you to take the left fork, to keep the traffic going one-way.  Going to the left, you will also pass a trail that will take you to Wasco lake.

We made it back to the trailhead after about 90 minutes.  We stopped off at Jack Lake to cool off a little.  We saw a few more frogs and a small garter snake.

pano of Jack Lake with TFJ in the diastance

This is definitely one of our favorite areas to hike to.  We would probably be here every weekend, if it wasn't for the drive time from Portland.
Our journey home, we decided to head towards Redmond and up through the Mt Hood area, to try and avoid the holiday traffic that was most likely going to be on I-5.  It was a pleasant drive.  We were able to see the Three Sister, Jefferson, TFJ and Hood together.  It was also seeing Smith Rock and the rhyolite cliffs in the Crooked river area.