I had read about the Criterion Ranch on Portlandhikers years ago, but never made it there until yesterday. I've been really enjoying the East side recently, and have been reading Andy Kerr's Oregon Desert Guide. The book gave me a vague plan to visit (and hopefully hike a loop around) all of the proposed Wilderness areas he mentions. Criterion is among them, so I made a loop on gmaps pedometer:
I ended up not following the lollipop at the top.
A somewhat reliable BLM map can be found here:
http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/prinevi ... ct_map.pdf
I had a lovely walk up the road grades from Locked Gate to the private land, where both the maps I had printed (USGS quads as well as the BLM map) didn't line up with any feature visible on the ground. Furthermore, I'd made up the route using Google's satellite viewer function, which seemed to show tracks heading the right way. I couldn't see anything on the ground, though, so I just walked up and over some hills to the next bit of road that I did see.
I found some tracks on the ground this morning, though, and some of those match up with what I saw online. I'd say that, after the most recent range fire (did I remember correctly that there was one in 2011?), and after the lessening of grazing (I only found a few patties in one spot, so it's not getting that much attention, I think), some of the roads grades and jeep tracks are becoming obscured. User beware.
The terrain is open with a scattering of junipers. Excellent views all around.
After I wandered around shooting photos of junipers with rime ice on them, it started raining, and I hurried uphill to get to a high elevation to make camp. I spent the night near the 5 mile mark on my map. As I set up camp, the temperature dropped and the rain starting freezing. It froze on the tent. I was warm and dry (after taking off my wet hiking layers) in my sleeping bag.
This morning was COLD and WINDY. A layer of ice covered all surfaces, and I didn't look forward to getting out of the tent. That said, there were great views across the river, and beautiful photos to be made. So I got up and squished around in the mud and ice for several hours, with my ankle hurting (it's an athletic injury that probably does not appreciate walking around soaked trail runners and soaked socks). I decided to bail on the loop portion of the trip, due to a large fog bank hovering over the main ridge. I figured I'd have trouble with the route-finding on the off-trail portion, not being able to see in front of me!
So I walked around the northern part of the tract, looking for what I thought were ponderosa, but turned out to be just more junipers. During that time, it went from windy and cold to warm and windy. It was downright balmy at times!
Anyway, the views are great, the mud is awful, and the solitude is much-appreciated. You should check it out.
With global warming, maybe it will start looking like that on the West side 