Starvation Creek to Angel's Rest 6/5-6/8

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Sehnsucht
Posts: 3
Joined: June 10th, 2017, 7:50 pm

Starvation Creek to Angel's Rest 6/5-6/8

Post by Sehnsucht » June 13th, 2017, 11:26 am

Hey this is my first trip report as I know a lot of people are curious about the conditions in the gorge this year. I did this same route early May of 2016 and there was less snow and debris than this time. Overall it was a challenging exhilarating experience but I would not recommend it until some of the snow clears or the trails are better maintained. Given the recent cool weather I wouldn't anticipate the route being snow free until July. I didn't take a lot of pictures as i normally don't write these but I wanted to do a service to this community which has been so important in helping me realize my hiking dreams.

Day One
I started on the Starvation Ridge trail around 10am Monday June 5th. The weather was warm and sunny and I made decent time up the ridge. I didn't see any snow until well past warren lake around 4400' the road up to the summit looked like this

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Once I made it over the top the descent down towards North Lake was also fairly snowy. I opted to take the road adjacent to the North Lake Rainy Lake trail as I got lost there last year and it was covered in snow again. This proved to be a good decision as it also cut the length down a bit. The trail from Rainy Lake to Wahtum Lake is almost completely covered in deep snow as Waucoma Ridge rides right along that 4400' line. Fortunately the Rainy-Wahtum trail is broad and easy to follow.

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The Anthill trail, unfortunately was very difficult to follow under all that snow and I got turned around a bit before finding the trail again. This portion also had a very dangerous segment I didn't get a photo of. As you descend down towards Wahtum Lake there are multiple snow drifts along the steep ridge. If I didn't have my micro spikes I would have seriously considered turning back as one slip on that could have been fatal. Luckily I carried on and descended towards Wahtum Lake which also had a lot of snow where I made my first camp.

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Day Two
I woke to a swift sunrise over the lake and set out along the easy downhill segment to the Eagle Creek crossing. After the lake there is no snow however the further you descend into the lower elevations the more debris and downed trees there are. This is the general state of the Wahtum-Eagle trail.

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The creek itself wasn't flowing as high as I had feared and I managed to cross at a log thanks again to my micro spikes. Past Big Cedar Springs there is another patch of snow as you ascend towards Tanner Ridge but it is light and easily passable. Although Tanner Ridge is almost entirely snow free Tanner Spring is completely covered in feet of snow which seemed a bit odd to me. I made my way down beargrass alley to an early camp at Dublin Lake to prepare myself for the most grueling segment of the hike.

Day Three
The "Trail from Hell" wasn't quite as bad going down however once you get to a low enough elevation it is all completely overgrown. It is rather simple to follow despite the new spate of downed trees and the Tanner Creek crossing is easily fordable. The Moffet Creek trail has numerous downed trees in the lower segments right along the steep ascent making it hard to find the trail and navigate in the dense brush. Once you make your way up however it gets easier to follow and I was past the ravine looking back by afternoon.

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The rest of the trail is free of snow and i looked forward to an easy day four until I started to feel the rain start and hastily made camp hoping it would pass by soon.

Day Four

Needless to say it rained heavily all night and through the morning as I packed up camp along the Bell Creek Trail and rigged my tarp into a makeshift poncho to quickly make the last segment of the hike to Angel's Rest. The rain was relentless but made for a super spooky hike in the mist along Franklin Ridge and down Multnomah Creek.

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The rain intensified as I made my way to Angel's Rest coming down in thick sheets as wave after wave of storm cloud blasted its way down the gorge. I made it to Angel's Rest around 2pm just as the sky cleared and the sun opened up to a truly incredible view of the clouds racing past.

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It was a remarkable adventure and I had a great time. I hope this report was useful to you guys and let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.

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drm
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Re: Starvation Creek to Angel's Rest 6/5-6/8

Post by drm » June 13th, 2017, 1:54 pm

When I hiked up Eagle Ck to Wahtum Lake a week ago, the trees were not too bad. There certainly were a number down, but I don't remember seeing that big mess in your photo.

Maybe one of these years you should do this after the snowmelt so you can just cruise. :P

nsutherl
Posts: 28
Joined: October 11th, 2015, 4:41 pm

Re: Starvation Creek to Angel's Rest 6/5-6/8

Post by nsutherl » June 14th, 2017, 6:48 am

Thanks for the report! I (and many others like me) are grateful for people more adventurous than ourselves for giving us the beta this time of year.

Chazz
Posts: 321
Joined: May 26th, 2013, 12:53 pm

Re: Starvation Creek to Angel's Rest 6/5-6/8

Post by Chazz » June 14th, 2017, 8:02 am

Great trip report. What was your mileage per day?

JT1
Posts: 6
Joined: May 24th, 2017, 3:00 pm

Re: Starvation Creek to Angel's Rest 6/5-6/8

Post by JT1 » June 14th, 2017, 8:17 am

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I've been frustrated as heck trying to get to the summit of these mountains. I'm training for an 8 night backpack through the high sierras to Mt. Whitney in August and don't have microspikes or GPS to help me find the trails here in the snow. What are the chances of the starvation ridge/Mt. Defiance loop trail being snow free by 25th of June?

Sehnsucht
Posts: 3
Joined: June 10th, 2017, 7:50 pm

Re: Starvation Creek to Angel's Rest 6/5-6/8

Post by Sehnsucht » June 14th, 2017, 7:07 pm

I'm pretty sure now in hindsight that photo comes from the Eagle-Tanner segment of the trail after it veers away from Eagle Creek.

I averaged around 15 miles a day give or take. There really isn't much snow on the Starvation-Defiance route it shouldn't be a problem in late June. Waucoma Ridge is the snowiest part of the traverse.

Thanks for the replies i hope this report is of use to some people.

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