Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
User avatar
retired jerry
Posts: 14396
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by retired jerry » May 10th, 2017, 2:42 pm

it was a bit warm :)

Fishinak
Posts: 11
Joined: May 4th, 2017, 8:06 pm

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by Fishinak » May 10th, 2017, 4:56 pm

Awesome got some good ideas going. The Trinities look amazing. As far as Olympic park, I'm sure it's great. But I live in southeast Alaska and do a lot of the temperate rainforest coastal hikes. Kinda looking for something diff. Btw if anyone needs any help or info on southeast ak, I'd be happy to help.

I hope and pray the Trinities could work out as they look great. Let's keep the ideas flowing.

Btw my dates unfortunately are not flexible.

Thank you again!

User avatar
drm
Posts: 6133
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: The Dalles, OR
Contact:

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by drm » May 11th, 2017, 6:54 am

If the Trinities do end up being too snowy, the Castle Crags area right next door might be a fallback.

And I gotta say this: if temperate rainforest is what you do normally and you want something different, maybe you should go to Utah. No problems with rain or snowpack. Some parts will be too hot, but Bryce or Canyonlands are fairly high up and should avoid the worst heat. Or go to the slots in SW Utah. It will be very hot on the ground above you, but it is cool inside and wading that water will cool anybody down. Long backpacking trips can be tough due to lack of water, but there are a few options. Most likely it would be a road trip with single overnighters. A collection of shorter trips might not be your first choice, but snowpack ruled that out a while ago.

User avatar
VanMarmot
Posts: 1924
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Contact:

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by VanMarmot » May 11th, 2017, 2:06 pm

CampinCarl wrote:I'll throw a few more suggestions in:

Rogue River Trail (40 miles one way) (shuttle or out and back option)

https://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recrea ... il-map.pdf

Wild Rogue Loop (25 miles)

http://www.wildscenicrogue.com/trails/wild-rogue-loop/

Illinois River trail (28 miles one way) (out and back option)

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/rogue-s ... ecid=70554

Possibly Kalmiopsis Wildnerness - tougher navigation and water- check Siskiyou Mountain Club Facebook for recent photos from Babyfoot lake (elevation 3950) - mostly snow-free.
The main Rogue River trail is snow-free but sustained some minor damage. Should be fixed my Memorial Day. But this trail is HOT in July.

The Wild Rogue Loop is getting a little maintenance now and should be good by Memorial Day. But this is another one that's HOT in July.

The Illinois River Trail is also HOT in July and also sustained some heavy damage north of Silver Creek - making for slow & tricky travel. The chances of this damage being repaired this season are slim. Water sources are very limited between Pine and Silver Creeks. But an out and back (22 miles) to Bald Mountain from Briggs Creek, with one of your nights at Pine Flat, could be good.

The Kalmiopsis will also be snow-free by July (at lot of it is now) but, again, it can be HOT there in July. Also the trails that have been restored gain/lose a lot of elevation. Can be an amazing trip if you're ready for a work-out. And, as noted, water sources are limited.

As drm as noted, the high Trinities are packed with snow this year, so snow-free travel in July over the higher passes is unlikely. You might be able to do a loop in the Marble Mountain Wilderness (out of Lovers Camp or to Horton Lake, for example) and not encounter too much snow by July.

You might also consider the 37-mile Siskiyou Crest Trail (#4 in Lorain's "Backpacking Oregon"), which is best between late June and mid-July. Could be good this year because the wet winter will have reinvigorated a lot of the water sources.

The Sky Lakes Wilderness should also be accessible by early July. Last year the snow was gone by June but downed trees were an issue. We had less wind this winter which may mean fewer downers. The big problem with the Sky Lakes are the mosquitos, which can be fierce in July/August.

User avatar
CampinCarl
Posts: 573
Joined: June 17th, 2011, 7:41 am
Location: Salem

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by CampinCarl » May 11th, 2017, 4:06 pm

VanMarmot wrote: But this trail is HOT in July.
Yep, SW Oregon sure would be different than a drizzly Alaskan rainforest! Wear sunscreen and hike early if you choose any of my suggestions! And VanMarmot, your suggestions are probably even better than mine :)

User avatar
cunningkeith
Posts: 209
Joined: June 26th, 2010, 4:28 am
Location: Portland

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by cunningkeith » May 16th, 2017, 9:37 pm

Go for the Trinities in July. Your meltout should be decent. Check out daily updates here:
http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/earth/

I'd head for Caribou Lake . . . a little slice of heaven.

The Marble Mountains would be even drier with plenty to explore, but slightly less impressive than the Trinities.

User avatar
cunningkeith
Posts: 209
Joined: June 26th, 2010, 4:28 am
Location: Portland

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by cunningkeith » May 17th, 2017, 8:53 am

P.S. I should add that either place could still be under snow in July, but I doubt there will be much, if any, snow on the trails in the Marbles. The Trinities would be more of a roll of the dice. Call the rangers down there toward the end of June for the best info. They are very helpful and usually provide better trail condition info than most ranger stations.

User avatar
Double Tree
Posts: 248
Joined: September 6th, 2012, 10:51 am

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by Double Tree » May 20th, 2017, 7:47 pm

As I learned last summer, in California (Trinities included) you'll need a campfire permit in addition to the wilderness permit. Gotta get one during ranger station open hours. The permit is for stoves as well. It's to bring awareness to fire danger, not simply campfires.
Kelly

Fishinak
Posts: 11
Joined: May 4th, 2017, 8:06 pm

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by Fishinak » May 21st, 2017, 4:40 pm

Thank you. Got the help everyone!
I guess I'll wait anther 2 weeks the begin calling rangers and rereading trip reports.
I hope that as long as we keep our options open either the timberline trail the wallowas, 4 sister, or the Trinities will workout.
Thank you. Again!

User avatar
RobinB
Posts: 803
Joined: September 9th, 2013, 11:29 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Wallowas (or other ideas) 1st week of July

Post by RobinB » June 10th, 2017, 10:56 pm

Double Tree wrote:As I learned last summer, in California (Trinities included) you'll need a campfire permit in addition to the wilderness permit. Gotta get one during ranger station open hours. The permit is for stoves as well. It's to bring awareness to fire danger, not simply campfires.
Kelly
You can get self service permits too. We got one at Coffee Creek, but I presume there are other places as well.

Post Reply