Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

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bobcat
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Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by bobcat » April 24th, 2017, 5:37 pm

After two weeks of the worst rhinorrhea I’ve had in years as well as a hacking cough, I took myself out past the downpours and indulged in an ambling loop on the Washington side of the Gorge.

I began at Rowland Lake, which was jammed with anglers dreaming of spring chinook and expressing frustration at the unusually high water levels. There was a cautionary sign on Old Highway 8: perhaps someone got shot last fall? I took the Labyrinth Trail up to Atwood Road, and then meandered across the meadows. Views were fine, but Mt. Hood was cloud-covered and it was pelting rain just a little farther to the west.
Hunting sign, Labyrinth Trailhead.jpg
Labyrinth Falls, Labyrinth.jpg
Balsamroot slope, Labyrinth.jpg
Looking to Mosier from the Labyrinth.jpg
Buttercups under the oaks, Labyrinth.jpg
Oak skin, Labyrinth.jpg
Up the creek, Labyrinth.jpg
Upper falls, Labyrinth.jpg
At Labyrinth Creek, Labyrinth.jpg
View upstream, Rowland Basin Viewpoint.jpg
Homestead outhouse, Atwood Road.jpg
At the Burns Farm, I took their cutoff, which involves a single-track path up through the oaks to the B & B Road (essentially Burns’ driveway), and then a rough and rutted jeep road that gets you back onto public land in short order. Burns has signs asking you not to invade the immediate vicinity of their house, unless you bear gifts, but it’s very generous of them to permit this passage across their land, thus allowing you to avoid the boring (and somewhat contentious) detour on Atwood Road or the dip too far south on Old Ranch Road.
Burns Farm warning, Atwood Road.jpg
View from Burns Farm Cutoff.jpg
The Burns Cutoff dumps you off at Coyote Wall just below the Lone Ponderosa Viewpoint. For good measure, I took the jeep road back into the woods to join Atwood Road and then to the Coyote Wall Trail junction (Now the Coyote Wall Trail has a number: #4428). Then it was the glorious stroll down the cliffs and lunch at an isolated promontory on the rim, where I got the mandatory whooshing fly-by by one of the local carrion eaters.
Atwood Road-Coyote Wall Trail Junction, Coyote Wall.jpg
At the ponderosa, Coyote Wall.jpg
Looking north, Coyote Wall.jpg
View upstream, Coyote Wall.jpg
On the cliff, Coyote Wall.jpg
Desert parsley fringe, Coyote Wall.jpg
Looking down to Mosier, Coyote Wall.jpg
Turkey vulture, Coyote Wall.jpg
As I got lower, I encountered more humanity and, branching off on the Little Maui Trail, found it quite busy. Looping down Little Maui Creek, I experienced a few sprinkles, but all in all I can attest that the wildflowers here were at their peak and east of Hood River/Bingen was the place to be!
The crossing, Little Maui Creek, Labyrinth.jpg
Vernal pool on Little Maui, Labyrinth.jpg
Little Maui Falls, Labyrinth.jpg

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bobcat
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Re: Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by bobcat » April 24th, 2017, 5:43 pm

Here's a smorgasbord of wildflowers from the day - about 60 species ID'd in all:
Ball-head waterleaf (Hydrophyllum capitatum), Labyrinth.jpg
Small-flowered fiddleneck (Amsinckia menziesii), Labyrinth.jpg
False agoseris (Nothocalais troximoides), Labyrinth.jpg
Poet's shooting star (Dodecatheon poeticum), Labyrinth.jpg
Baby stars (Leptosiphon bicolor), Labyrinth.jpg
Lindley's annual microseris (Uropappus lindleyi), Labyrinth.jpg
Upland larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum), Labyrinth.jpg
Hood's phlox (Phlox hoodii), Labyrinth.jpg
Dwarf owl clover (Triphysaria pusilla), Atwood Road.jpg
Columbia puccoon (Lithospermum ruderale), Coyote Wall.jpg
Fern-leaf desert parsley (Lomatium dissectum), Atwood Road.jpg
Bicolored lupine (Lupinus bicolor), Coyote Wall.jpg
Sand clover (Trifoilum variegatum), Little Maui, Little Maui, Labyrinth.jpg
Naked broomrape (Orobanche uniflora), Coyote Wall.jpg
Big-head clover (Trifolium macrocephalum), Coyote Wall.jpg
Northwestern balsamroot (Balsamorhiza deltoidea), Coyote Wall.jpg
Woolly-pod milk-vetch (Astragalus purshii), Coyote Wall.jpg
Northwestern saxifrage (Micranthes integrifolia), Little Maui Creek, Labyrinth.jpg
Narrow-leaf owl clover (Castilleja attenuata), Little Maui, Labyrinth.jpg

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Double Tree
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Re: Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by Double Tree » April 24th, 2017, 8:11 pm

Thank you for the report. I just became aware of the broom-rape myself, when I noticed it at Ferry Springs trail on the Deschutes a couple weeks ago. New one for me.
Kelly

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adamschneider
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Re: Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by adamschneider » April 24th, 2017, 10:33 pm

bobcat wrote:Image
Dwarf owl clover (Triphysaria pusilla), Atwood Road.jpg
Huh. Does anyone know if this plant sometimes grows like a "weed" in disturbed areas? I saw tons of something that looked a lot like that at a city park in Salem last Friday, and I thought, "weird, that stuff looks like paintbrush or owl's clover."

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miah66
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Re: Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by miah66 » April 25th, 2017, 6:40 am

The little valleys in there are just jewels. I absolutely love the "Little Maui" and "Hidden Valley" areas. I think if I could only hike in one small area for the rest of my days it would probably be over there somewhere. I never tire of the views, the flora, the neat history, the wildlife, the birds, etc. A real treasure, and admiring crowds to boot!
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drm
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Re: Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by drm » April 25th, 2017, 10:19 am

What is contentious about the detour off Atwood Road? I assume you are referring to the short section of single track below the Burns home, that as of a couple years ago now also has the junction for the upper Coyote Wall traverse. The road crosses some private property so they needed to detour off it to stay on public land, at least that's what I was told.

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bobcat
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Re: Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by bobcat » April 25th, 2017, 12:42 pm

adamschneider wrote:Does anyone know if this plant sometimes grows like a "weed" in disturbed areas?
I've seen it in carpets on road cuttings and it is a westside species in general, so that makes sense.
drm wrote:What is contentious about the detour off Atwood Road? I assume you are referring to the short section of single track below the Burns home, that as of a couple years ago now also has the junction for the upper Coyote Wall traverse.
No, I'm talking about Atwood Road above the Burns Farm and above the vineyard. There was a section there in the past where locals had put up No Trespassing signs. I don't know what it looks like as of this spring since I avoided it. Anyway, Caltopo seems to have most of these routes, so I traced my loop in yellow, with the cutoff across Burns property as a dotted line. They have their wine and cheese signs posted at strategic points so you don't venture into their yard.
LabyrinthCoyoteMap.png

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miah66
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Re: Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by miah66 » April 25th, 2017, 12:50 pm

Another post of mine was apparently lost, but I posted my route from a few weeks ago where I ran into the "Burns Farms" private property signs, as well as a large aggressive dog and a private road I inadvertantly rode up. If you look at the satellite view, you can see the pathways behind the signs that I didn't take. AFAIK, this route is legit, though the Private Drive (in green) is signed at the North end so you don't see it until you've already wandered up it. Not sure if the road is off-limits or just the land on either side of it.
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bobcat
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Re: Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by bobcat » April 25th, 2017, 1:19 pm

Yep, that's what's a little ambiguous about that part: Atwood Road, as far as I know, is a county road even though vehicles can't use whole sections of it; also, people like to post No Trespassing signs facing up or down a road, even if it's a throughway, when they should be posting them with the back of the sign against private property.

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drm
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Re: Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

Post by drm » April 25th, 2017, 1:48 pm

When I first started hiking this area almost a decade ago, I explored up higher and found roads, no trespassing signs, vineyards, etc. And for the most part no views. So some years ago I decided that it is better hiking to just stay below that tree line that is usually just below the ridgeline. I sometimes go exploring on Mts Adams or Hood, but in these local areas, I am just fine staying on the public lands trails. I also don't go exploring in the ticklands, er, I mean the grasslands.

By the way, there are fields full of buttercups all over the Coyote Wall area now.

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