Deschutes River Hiker 1/18-1/19 2014

 PH Field Guide for this hike

EG: ~1200' Distance:14.4 miles
Garmin Track 

obligatory TH shot

Our First backpacking trip for 2014 took us east.  We opted for some drier climate and a slightly easier trail and chose to hike along the Deschutes River Trail.

The trail starts out at The Deschutes State Park, which is just about 15 miles east of The Dalles.  

We hiked along the lower river trail for about 2 miles, until we climbed up to the main trail, which is along an old railroad grade-turned gravel road.  

hiking along the lower river trail

Diego enjoyed all of the smells near the vaulted toilets

There were a lot of river access points along the way

the trail varied from rocky, to sediment, to swampy at times

There are some spots along the trail that you can easily end up off trail due to many user paths and animal paths.  We saw a lot of fishing tackle along the trail that looked brand new.  We figured that someone must have had a hole in their pocket.  We opted to leave it and pick it up on the way out (since it looked like the other fisherman would probably make out pretty good even if they dont catch any fish)

Along the old road, at about mile 3, there was a spur road that led to Colorado Camp.  

As we started walking down the spur, we spotted some old relics. 

Diego was wondering who ate his food ;)

one of the many rusty relics we saw

This was the first area that can be used for overnight camping.  There was a vaulted toilet.  A little further down, there was a nice oak tree near a fire pit, that looked like it would have been a nice place to camp.  There wasn't a view of the river from here.

spooky old tree

We continued on the hiker trail, until it began to disappear and we decided we should make our way back up to the main trail.  The hike back up was pretty much straight up, probably about 1/4 mile and 400' EG.  There was a lot of loose lava rock that we had to navigate around.

there were a lot of rock formations to check out

Once we got back up to the main trail, we sat for a few minutes and enjoyed the views.

there were some nice looking rapids

lots of beautiful colors

After a snack, we continued on.  At about mile 5, we saw a flock of bird that startled suddenly up in the rocks.  Looking around, we spotted 3 female elk.  The were watching us as intently as we were them.  As we kept walking, we would try to keep a lookout for them, but they eventually were too hard to spot as they were so well camouflaged to the surrounding rock.

At mile 5.3, we came to another spur, that led down to a camp area (Gordon Ridge Camp) and another vaulted toilet.  We looked around for a bit and decided we liked the area and found a good spot to set-up camp.

Diego keeps watch while we set-up camp

I know the tent is a little too close to the fire

We found a nice open spot and built a small fire pit.  Got the tent set-up and made some lunch (pepperoni and cheese wraps...mmmm)

After refueling, we went back up to the main trail for some exploring.  

On the other side of the trail, at the top of the hill from the spur, there is some kind of old dilapidated corral.  It looks like it has been burned, so it was hard to tell if that's what it actually was.  

vertebrae on the fence

ribs and vertebrae

jawbone

There were some animal bones in the dirt.  Part of a spine and a skull.

After checking out the bones, we headed further south.  At mile 5.6, there was an old wooden railroad car sitting on the west-side of the trail.  We spent some time checking it out.  It was pretty cool.

Spooky old wooden train car

I spy Cher

Its me

After exploring the railroad car, we decided to head back to camp, so we could finish setting up and collect some fire wood.  

On the way back to camp, we saw a train running along the track that are on the other side of the river.  We were noticing the train seemed to pass by every couple of hours...it continued to do this throughout the night.

one of the many trains we saw

After making a fire, it was time for dinner....Homemade, dehydrated Tofu spaghetti...yum!!
This was our first time trying out our new MSR pocket rocket stove and GSI Pinnacle dualist cookware.  We use to use a Jetboil.  I think I liked the new set-up.  I was able to boil more water in the same amount of time.  It was nice to have bowls and insulated mugs (that were also bowls).  Now we can rehydrate our meals and have a hot beverage at the same time :)  It took a little to get use to making sure the pot was balanced on the stove, since with the Jetboil, the pot screws on in one place.

We enjoyed the fire, the stars and the sounds of the rushing river...

Diego enjoying the evening

We also enjoyed the vaulted toilet! It was getting pretty cold and was a little windy, so it was nice to have a sheltered place to go to the bathroom.  Since it is winter time, it doesn't see much use, so the smell wasn't bad.

This was our first trip with our new Big Agnes Q-core SL sleeping pads.  They are not self-inflating, which kinda sucks, but the comfort they provided definitely made up for it!!  

It got pretty cold overnight.  We both had a few hand warmers each, but it was a little too cold overnight to get a good nights sleep.

Overnight, we heard the train every few hours, as well as something big that sounded like a horse walking around camp (so Im guessing it was an elk).  

When we got out of the tent in the morning, I immediately noticed several hoof prints that weren't there the day before.  There were some by the Tupperware that house Diego's food and some over by the bag that had his treats in it (better an elk than a bear I guess :) )

there were many more of these around camp

I used the remaining wood we had collected the previous day to build a small fire to warm us up after our very cold might.  We made some breakfast (homemade dehydrated soy breakfast hash...yum!) and enjoyed the sounds of the river.

relaxing by the fire during breakfast

While we were enjoying breakfast, we saw a heron land on the other side of the river, so we went to get a slightly closer look. 

After a few minutes, we heard a popping noise from the fire and headed back.  And then we were reminded why you should never leave your fire unattended (even if you are just a hundred feet away and it is only for a few minutes) a rock had fallen into the fire and hit a burning log, which launched an ember onto my insulated camp chair.  it burned a softball sized chunk though half of the layers (at least it wasn't all the way through and at least that was the only damage).

We decided this would be a good time to start cleaning up, taking down camp, putting out the fire and get headed back.  

On the way back, we opted to stay on the main trail.  We ran into a few hikers and a couple of mountain bikers.  We found some more bones, cool relics and enjoyed the geological and botanical sites...

There was a sage brush that was almost as big as a Smart Car that we came across...

it took up the whole road

Diego was starting to fall behind on the way out, so he got to hike in style for the last few miles.

luckily he's a little guy

Once we got back to the car, we were immediately thinking where to grab an early dinner.  We decided to check out Cousins restaurant in The Dalles.  They had some good down home cooking.  They also have huge cinnamon rolls.  We opted to take a cinnamon roll to go... It made an excellent breakfast the next day.

After our delicious dinner, we hopped back in the car and got back on I84.  Then we were hankering for some ice cream... and the best place for that is in Cascade Locks at the East Wind Drive-in, of course.

a cone to share ;)

It was a nice winter backpacking trip to start out the New Year!