Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

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Chip Down
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Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by Chip Down » October 9th, 2016, 11:43 am

START TIME: 7:15
NUMBER OF CONFUSING UNSIGNED TRAIL JUNCTIONS ENCOUNTERED: countless
NUMBER OF SIGNED TRAIL JUNCTIONS: One. Yep, I saw one trail sign all day.
NUMBER OF RIDICULOUSLY CIRCUITOUS VIEWLESS TRAILS THAT ONLY SERVE TO ENTERTAIN BICYCLISTS: one
MIKES HIKED ON THAT TRAIL: Maybe a couple? Eventually straightened out and got scenic though, so worthwhile.

OTHER HIKERS: Desolate until I started down toward Catherine Creek TH, and then it got pretty crowded with casual hikers and families. Pretty quiet again as I worked my way back west towards Coyote Wall.
CYCLISTS: Maybe ten to twenty, not enough to be annoying. Some talent exhibited. I'd be scared to ride a bike down some of the terrain these guys were descending.

ANIMALS ENCOUNTERED: Three deer, lots of lizards, a mammal that moved too fast through the brush for me to identify. Heard something that sounded like a rattle, but can't be sure.
ANIMAL I SMELLED LIKE AT END OF DAY: goat

PRECIP FORECAST: 20% chance of showers (that's why I was here: seemed like the lowest chance of rain within a reasonable drive from Portland, and not a terrible place to be if it did shower)
PRECIP ENCOUNTERED: at home before and after, but none on the hike
WIND PREDICTED: light breeze
WIND ENCOUNTERED: Picked up in the afternoon, to the point that it was hard to keep things from blowing away at rest stops. I was grateful though, because...
TEMPERATURE: Freakishly warm at sunrise. I started out wearing a single light base layer, and never put on more, even when it was very windy. Hiking back up from Catherine Creek was the worst: hot and sunny, no wind. At beerthirty, even when it was cloudy and quite windy and I was sedentary, I still didn't put my jacket on.

END TIME: 5:45 (wasn't even thinking about time; much later, I realized I finished just an hour before sunset)
MILES: yes
ELEVATION GAIN: same as elevation loss

ANTICIPATED FUN: 6
EXPERIENCED FUN: 7
FUN CATEGORY: Type 1
DISAPPOINTMENT: Too many distractions, poor focus, didn't cover as much ground as expected due to exploring nooks and crannies. Was going to return the next day (Sunday), but forecast changed from 30% chance of rain to 90%. If it was my only day off, I'd do it, but I'm enjoying a rainy home day instead.

FOLLOWUP PLANS: Take a more direct route up Coyote Wall, then over to Catherine Creek to see the arch, return XC low.
ADVICE FOR NEUROTIC CONTROL FREAKS: One of the reasons I didn't do this hike before is I expected a messy network of confusing trails. It was worse than expected. If you always need to know where you're at and where you're going, you'll naturally experience distress in a place called The Labyrinth. Either take a GPS and notepad and meticulously map it all out, or just wander as you please and try to enjoy the confusion. I think any middle ground will just drive you crazy.
Attachments
0.jpg
The first time I saw one of these jutting out, I felt compelled to scramble up. Eventually I realized I couldn't do them all, if I intended to cover some trail distance by the end of the day. (most are accessible if you walk around and look for easier routes)
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The only signed junction I saw all day.
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Chicken!
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Coyote Wall gets all the attention, but there are other geological wonders to explore.
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High and west, but not quite to Coyote Wall, the geological wonders faded, but a different kind of beauty prevailed.
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Can't get lost here. The confusing trail network won't leave you wondering how to get out safely.
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The only running water I saw all day. Filled my filter bottle just in case, but I never needed it. Carried 50 oz of good clean water at the start, and that got me through the day.
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The second and final water source I encountered. No thanks.

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Chip Down
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Re: Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by Chip Down » October 9th, 2016, 11:46 am

ABV: north of ten

DELICIOUSNESS: outstanding

PAIRED WITH: Rugelach and nilla wafers
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BigBear
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Re: Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by BigBear » October 9th, 2016, 1:00 pm

You are very fortunate you did not attempt this route when it first opened. It was a Labyrinth with all of the cow trails heading to and fro. It must have been a low visability day for the junctions to have been confusing.

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aiwetir
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Re: Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by aiwetir » October 9th, 2016, 10:00 pm

Check the OpenStreetMap trails on this area, I think they are pretty well laid out last I checked.
- Michael

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RobinB
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Re: Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by RobinB » October 9th, 2016, 10:39 pm

Equipment question: is that beer glass made of glass? And if so, do you do anything to pad it in your pack? (I usually drink from the bottle, which sometimes feels a little silly.)

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Chip Down
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Re: Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by Chip Down » October 10th, 2016, 5:10 am

Didn't know about OpenStreetMap. One more fun distraction to keep me from getting any work done today! :lol:

Robin: It's pretty sturdy, but I put it in a Outdoor Research water bottle parka. The only beer mishap I've ever had involved a can, when I took a little tumble on an offtrail gorge hike and landed hard enough to breach the can inside my pack. Oh, what a mess that was!

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aiwetir
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Re: Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by aiwetir » October 11th, 2016, 11:32 pm

Chip Down wrote:Didn't know about OpenStreetMap. One more fun distraction to keep me from getting any work done today! :lol:
It's becoming a decent source for a lot of stuff and it's not without it's problems, but I recently have fixed thousands of miles of trails and added the ODF State Forest boundaries (inholdings a wonky on them because I messed those up) Finding useful derivatives of it are more useful that OpenStreetMap itself.

Graphhopper is a useful start for routing and generating a GPX.
https://graphhopper.com/maps/?point=45. ... 20Outdoors
- Michael

pcg
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Re: Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by pcg » October 16th, 2016, 2:58 pm

Did you find the cave? Or the trees with bones and feathers hanging in them? The Indian pits? Lots of cool stuff in there...

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retired jerry
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Re: Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by retired jerry » October 16th, 2016, 2:59 pm

The trees with bones and feathers hanging from them?????

pcg
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Re: Labyrinth, between Coyote Wall and Catherine Creek

Post by pcg » October 16th, 2016, 3:17 pm

Yes, for many years there was an area where people hung bones and feathers in the trees. Kinda like the Xmas ornaments in Multnomah Basin - only spooky. I added a couple myself. Last time I saw it was about five years ago. I assume it is still there.

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