Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

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Splintercat
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Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by Splintercat » September 18th, 2016, 8:39 pm

For some reason, I had never hiked the Mazama trail until a couple of weeks ago! Well, I did barely start up the trail a few years ago, and turned back when an ashen-faced hiker came RUNNING down the trail and told me he'd encountered a growling, ears-back cougar with a deer kill just a few feet off the trail. Gulp..! :shock: I headed over to Vista Ridge that day... :lol:

The Mazama Trail used to be a grind until the late 1980s, when the Mazamas adopted the trail and rerouted the first couple miles to well-graded switchbacks. If you look closely, you can see the old trail -- a steep chute that barrels down the nose of the ridge above the trailhead... aargh! The trail also passes through the western edge of the Dollar Fire, but the devastation is much less here, with lots of small trees and undergrowth spared. I started kinda late, so wrapped up my hike with some photos of the tarns below McNeil Point before my turnaround time, but this is a very direct route to McNeil if you'd like to avoid the cattle call at Top Spur/Bald Mountain. I saw a total of 6 hikers with just four vehicles at the Mazama TH on a gorgeous Sunday... but passed dozens parked at Lolo Pass, and who knows how many were jammed into the Top Spur trailhead!

Some photos from the trip, starting with my trusty 11-year-old trail car and a view of the mountain...

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The Mazamas have done an outstanding job with the new trail where it crosses a large talus slope above Ladd Creek -- really nice:

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After 14 well-graded switchbacks through rhodies and deep forest the trail emerges at a viewpoint and the first burn section along the crest of Cathedral Ridge:

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The forest is bouncing back fast, here, with no help from humans... whadaya know, it's almost like trees know what to do without us! ;) :D

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The trail passes through a young, unburned forest (in what looks like a recovery from an earlier fire) then another burn section before entering green forest for the rest of the hike. Near the ridge crest, there's a lovely view across a long meadow that is covered in heather and (I presume) avalanche lilies in early summer

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After more forest hiking, the trail passes the Mazama Tarn and soon reaches a junction with the Timberline Trail just west of Cairn Basin and the McNeil Point Trail. This was my turnaround point, so I took a few photos of the pretty meadows along the McGee Creek headwaters...

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...then headed down to the McNeil Tarns for a few photos:

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...and finally back to the Mazama Tarn for a couple photos... running a bit dry this late in the season, but always pretty:

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It was getting late, so I started a quick hike back down to the Mazama Trailhead, and arrived just as the sun was setting and a baby lenticular cloud was forming on the summit... looking back at the mountain from near the trailhead:

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I waited for the sunset to unfold to the west, and had quite a display as a backdrop to Hiyu Mountain:

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...another beautiful day on the mountain! Tough to go back to the office the next day... :roll:

Tom :)

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kepPNW
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Re: Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by kepPNW » September 19th, 2016, 5:44 am

Really love the (rock) colors on the mountain this time of year!

I still need to do that route, as well. Looks much more pleasant than either McGee or Top Spur approaches.

How far from TH to TT?
Karl
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bobcat
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Re: Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by bobcat » September 19th, 2016, 3:34 pm

Haha - something tells me you purposely leave late so you can gloriously capture the sunsets!

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Chip Down
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Re: Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by Chip Down » September 19th, 2016, 5:02 pm

Splintercat wrote:For some reason, I had never hiked the Mazama trail until a couple of weeks ago!
I read that this morning, and nearly fell out of my chair! Guess you've bagged them all now, eh?

I've used that trail because, if memory serves, it's an easier drive in bad weather/snow.Unless the snow level is really low, in which case I won't be up there.

I was intrigued by your comment that it's hard to go to the office after a day hiking. I find it's the opposite. I'm tired, don't feel like going out again, and ready to relax at work. I start getting itchy around wed/thurs.

Intriguing story of the old vs new trail. I never noticed. If I'm ever back there, I'll look for it.

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Splintercat
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Re: Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by Splintercat » September 19th, 2016, 7:34 pm

Ha! Well, work is anything but relaxing for me, Chip -- don't get me wrong, love my job, but it's non-stop face-time all week, so my brain is pretty much screaming for peace and tranquility by the weekend..! :lol: But yes, it does put a spring in my step on Monday morning to spend some serious time on the trail over the weekend (one reason why I'm usually a solo hiker).
...if memory serves, it's an easier drive...
Looks much more pleasant than either McGee or Top Spur approaches.
That's probably true coming form the Hood River side, as the spur road is just at the end of the paved section of Lolo Pass Road and in pretty good shape (as old logging roads go). From the Lolo Pass side, it's less wonderful, as you have to suffer the washboard/dust extravaganza from the pass to the trail head -- pretty much the entire gravel section of Lolo Pass Road. But the TH is roomy and uncrowded, so a nice break from the weekend circus at Top Spur. :roll:
How far from TH to TT?
Bobcat wrote the Field Guide entry for this one, and puts it at 8.8 RT to Cairn Basin, so I'd say about 4 miles to the TT, roughly? The pre-realignment editions of the Lowe books put the RT to McNeil Point from the Mazama TH at 8 miles even, but that leaves out a lot of switchbacks in the first 1.5 miles or so in the modern trail -- maybe as much as 3/4 mile? So, I'll say between 3 and 4 miles to the TT (and about 2,400 feet elevation gain). This rambling response is my way of requesting that somebody with a GPS unit hike this trail and post a track! :lol:
Haha - something tells me you purposely leave late so you can gloriously capture the sunsets!
True, I'm chasing that evening light... but I'm also a notorious night owl AND leaving the TH in early afternoon means that I won't have fast hikers constantly passing me, and me having to constantly pass slower hikers... for some reason, encountering hikers coming down is less of a buzzkill on my hiking experience than encountering faster/slower hikers going in the same direction... possibly weird, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Tom :)

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kepPNW
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Re: Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by kepPNW » September 20th, 2016, 6:20 am

Splintercat wrote:From the Lolo Pass side, it's less wonderful, as you have to suffer the washboard/dust extravaganza from the pass to the trail head -- pretty much the entire gravel section of Lolo Pass Road. But the TH is roomy and uncrowded, so a nice break from the weekend circus at Top Spur. :roll:
How far from TH to TT?
Bobcat wrote the Field Guide entry for this one, and puts it at 8.8 RT to Cairn Basin, so I'd say about 4 miles to the TT, roughly? The pre-realignment editions of the Lowe books put the RT to McNeil Point from the Mazama TH at 8 miles even, but that leaves out a lot of switchbacks in the first 1.5 miles or so in the modern trail -- maybe as much as 3/4 mile? So, I'll say between 3 and 4 miles to the TT (and about 2,400 feet elevation gain). This rambling response is my way of requesting that somebody with a GPS unit hike this trail and post a track! :lol:
Sounds like the most productive use of time may be to go up from an easier-accessed TH, then down and back up this Mazama route! ;) :lol:
Karl
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Jack
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Re: Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by Jack » September 20th, 2016, 9:11 am

According to what I have tracked, it’s approximately 3.7 miles from the Mazamas TH to the TT. It starts at around 3400’ and intersects the TT at around 5600’.

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kepPNW
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Re: Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by kepPNW » September 20th, 2016, 10:45 am

Jack wrote:According to what I have tracked, it’s approximately 3.7 miles from the Mazamas TH to the TT. It starts at around 3400’ and intersects the TT at around 5600’.
Perfect! I went up McGee a few weeks ago, and ended up having time to kill without any great ideas of new places to explore. This sounds like a great diversion for one of those sorts of days. Thanks! :)
Karl
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Waffle Stomper
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Re: Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by Waffle Stomper » September 20th, 2016, 11:59 am

Lovely trip report, but I hate it to think that now that a bunch of people have just been invited to fill up the trailhead. Yes, I know, greedy and selfish. :evil:

Sigh.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

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kepPNW
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Re: Mazama Trail (Sept 11)

Post by kepPNW » September 20th, 2016, 12:08 pm

Waffle Stomper wrote:Lovely trip report, but I hate it to think that now that a bunch of people have just been invited to fill up the trailhead. Yes, I know, greedy and selfish. :evil:

Sigh.
Not gonna happen. Too much work (getting there) for the masses of asses. :)
Karl
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