South Santiam River

This was pretty much a fail, as far as hikes go. But it was a qualified fail for the trail was green and mossy while the forest was downright magical. Too bad a rambunctious Elk Creek kept me from hiking more than 2.7 miles. But hey, at least I got a taste of this area and I'll be back with a backpack on for a more protracted acquaintance with the historical Santiam Wagon Road. So, for now, I'll just wax philosophical about the whole short-hike fiasco because the day wasn't a total loss.

Trail marker on the old wagon road

The Santiam Wagon Road first opened for business in 1865 and was the toll road that connected the towns of Sisters and Lebanon. Nowadays, Highway 20 closely follows the route of the Santiam Wagon Road and from Soda Creek east, the historical road has been converted into a long distance hiking and mountain biking trail. Numerous trailheads provide access and a myriad of connecting trails take hikers to other worthy destinations along the canyon of the South Santiam River. Because my guidebook said the trail (at lower elevations) was open all year, I made the 3.5 hour drive to the Mountain House trailhead on a gray and occasionally rainy day.

The South Santiam River

Just after beginning the hike by crossing the South Santiam River on a stout footbridge, a T-intersection provided an unexpected choice as I had thought the trail began here. The trail heading west seemed faint and sketchy while the trail heading east obviously gets more use. East it was, and I turned left and headed up the trail towards House Rock. Up was the key word here and despite the chilly weather I was soon sweating profusely underneath my winter clothing. 

The enchanted forest

The brisk climb had lungs huffing and puffing while leg muscles burned with the sweet agony of walking uphill. However, I cared not a whit because almost immediately the trail entered a forest that was simply magical and enchanting. One halfway expected pixies, leprechauns, or sprites to scamper across the mossy trail. Much photography ensued and made for socially acceptable rest stops.

Moss covers all

The forest here was comprised of thick stands of spindly alder trees, uniformly leafless in the middle of winter. Normally, alder trunks are colored white but these trees were all green and hairy, like last December's lasagna still sitting in a bowl in the refrigerator. Of course, the green "hair" had nothing to do with rotting food but more to do with moss, which claimed everything that wasn't motile. I made sure not to stop for too long, lest I too get claimed!

One of many small creeks crossing the trail

Periodically, small creeks ran across the trail, on their way to join the much larger river in the canyon below. The South Santiam River could be heard but remained mostly unseen due to the lush growth flanking the river. About a mile into the hike, the trail left the alders and entered a more standard Douglas fir forest. Almost immediately, the temperature dropped and it felt that snow just might be a distinct possibility.

Elk Creek

And at the 1.3 mile mark, the trail rounded a bend and Elk Creek was running across the trail. The water was probably about knee-deep or better but was running pretty fast. I could see a doable flat and wading part beginning about halfway across the white water. However, between me and the flat part, the creek was bounding vigorously between boulders. I could not see where it would be safe to cross so after some creekside dithering with my daring and incautious alter ego, I decided to turn back.

I owe you one, Elk Creek!

So, this wound up being a long drive for a short hike. But on the plus side my appetite is stoked for a return visit when Elk Creek will be more manageable. I'm thinking that hiking the Santiam Wagon Road and then going down the McKenzie River Trail might be epic. Stay tuned!

The tree monster reaches for me

For more pictures of this hike, please visit the Flickr album.

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Rooster Rock

Years ago (and, sigh, how often I say that nowadays) I hiked to the top of Iron Mountain and looked west into the odd towers, turrets, pinnacles and other rock creatures of The Menagerie Wilderness and filed the area away for a future exploratory hike. Well, in mid-September, the future became now when I paid a visit to Rooster Rock.

Sunlight and leaves were one
of the stories on this hike

Basically, there are two trails in The Menagerie: Trout Creek and Rooster Rock. Both are steep but the Rooster Rock Trail can crow as the winner of the steep-off contest between the two trails. Everything else in the wilderness requires cross country bushwhacking. It is possible to connect the two trails as a loop hike but the loop requires a 2 mile walk along busy Highway 20. Not wanting to share our hike with the car crowd, Maggie the Hiking Dog and I opted for the 7-mile round trip out-and-back on the Trout Creek Trail.

A virtual poem

First of all, apart from a brief view at the trailhead, the misnamed Trout Creek Trail never provides another view of the creek, contouring instead on a forested ridge with the creek hidden from both sight and earshot well on the other side of the formidable ridge. The trail could have been more appropriately named by calling it the Really Steep Trail or the Spider Trail.

Gah!

Spiders were a large part of my Rooster Rock experience. September apparently is the month where the spiders succumb to their biological impulse to snare hikers before the winter snows arrive. Invariably, the webs were strung across the trail at face height. And of course, the fine strands of sticky web were virtually invisible so the only warning was an all too brief cross-eyed glimpse of the spider just before it landed on my nose. I had many opportunities to do the spider dance which consisted of spastic hand-waving and dancing punctuated by panicked shouts of "Gah!"

I can see the top of the ridge!

The trail was beautifully shaded with big leaf and vine maples growing among tall fir trees. There was ample opportunity to admire the leaves filtering the sunlight while bent over gasping for breath. You see, the trail gains 2,300 feet at the challenging rate of nearly 700 feet per mile which works out to be a 12% grade, something cars don't even like to do. All the uphill didn't seem to bother Maggie and she waited patiently at all the frequent master-induced rest stops.

Rooster Rock

Shortly after the intersection with the even steeper Rooster Rock Trail, sky could be seen above the ridge crest which gave me hope the trail was topping out. The topping out did occur shortly after passing Rooster Rock. The rocky tower is probably a thrilling sight to the climbing crowd but was hard to see otherwise what with a forest growing around the base of the rock. Despite being on the edge of The Menagerie, it was difficult and nigh impossible to make out the interesting rock features that define this wilderness area.

Our lunchtime view

Not to worry, though, because a short uphill push on an ever increasingly rocky trail brought us to lunch and rest on a rocky viewpoint. Not quite a 360 degree panorama, trees kept us focused on the east where we looked up the South Santiam River valley to Iron Mountain and Cone Peak; in the hazy distance were North and Middle Sisters. To the north of North Sister a massive plume of smoke demonstrated that the Pole Creek Fire was still misbehaving.

Gah!

After about 15 minutes or so, another hiker arrived at the viewpoint and we exchanged pleasantries. He complained about all the spider webs across the trail which was surprising because there shouldn't have been any left after I knocked them all down on the way up. He was kind enough to take a picture of me doing my pose (I think I freaked him out when I did that) before he left and after a 15 minute wait, I also headed back down the trail. Surprisingly, there were lots of spider webs back across the trail with more hand waving and face slapping.  Industrious little buggers!

Nothing quite like the sensation of a spider crawling on your face

Forest, on the way down

It was a pleasant descent through forest as the shadows lengthened despite the occasional eight-legged arachnid creep-out. Next time I come here, I'll bring a racquetball racquet to keep the spiders off of my incredibly handsome face.

For more pictures of this hike, see the Rooster Rock album in Flickr.