Tumble Lake & Dome Rock, thwarted!

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HopAlong
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Tumble Lake & Dome Rock, thwarted!

Post by HopAlong » June 20th, 2010, 10:37 am

So this late season snow thing is really becoming a pain in the rear. This is the 3rd time in the last month that I've had to go to Plan B :( Or, I guess I need to get my bf out of the house earlier! Anyway, we had planned to hike to Dome Rock and Tumble Lake near Detroit from the upper trailhead. Conditions were looking pretty good until about 6 miles up Road 2223. I saw some snow patches on the road and said "uh-oh, this is not looking good". Then, wa-lah, we turned the corner and there was a large patch of snow covering a steep section of the road and a cliff on the other side. Plan A thwarted, so we decided to hike a portion from the lower trailhead, which required driving back to Hwy 22 and backtrack about a mile west of the Detroit Ranger Station.

We saw this pretty little cascade on the side of the road:
TumbleCreek_0276.JPG
unnamed waterfall
..and this family of geese crossing the road just before Hwy 22:
TumbleCreek_0335.JPG
mom and pop and their kiddos
When we finally got to the lower trailhead, it was already 4p (yes, Saturdays have been lazy days) so I'd figured we'd hike for a couple of hours and then turn back. At least we'd get some exercise out of of the nice little switchbacks shown on the map :-) Although several cars were already parked at the trailhead and other than a dad and his boys returning just as we arrived, we never did see another person the whole time.

The first 0.4 miles along the old road was kind of a mess, with blow downs and what looked like recent trail clearings in and about Tumble Creek. Once we turned onto the trail itself, everything was much quieter (less road noise) and greener. Lots of bracken fern along this first part, some waist high and more. Less than a quarter mile in, we got the first view of Detroit Lake below. We could see several white streaks from powerboats in the green waters. Then the trail turned some more and switchbacked into the forest. There were plenty signs of bear grass, but only several with actual flowers. Not sure if it was past blooming time? Some rhododendrons were still in bloom along the lower sections. There were a few more on the upper sections for a nice surprise of pink here and there.

We passed a ridge crest about 1.5 mi in where we could hear all kinds of birds chirping but cannot see any of them. It was pretty neat considering it had been just the two of us and the trees for a while. Then at an open section of the trail, we got an even better view of Detroit Lake and the canyon that surrounded it. Looking immediately across to Halls Ridge, we could also see a few odd-shaped lava plugs here and there. Not sure if any of them were named as this was our first venture here. Immediately above us were more random lava plugs in various shapes. One of the rock formations actually reminded me of a Maori idol I had seen in NZ some years ago. Overcast skies obscured any chance of seeing Mt Jefferson, but it was nice to have the trail all to ourselves. We made it about 3.0 miles in around 3950 ft according to my altimeter watch before deciding it was time to turn around. All in all, a nice little hike in about 3.5 hrs of walking, picture taking, etc etc. Hope to make it to Tumble Lake and Dome Rock next time, whichever TH we end up at :-)
TumbleCreek_0278.JPG
Detroit Lake from the lower viewpoint
TumbleCreek_0282.JPG
some irises were in bloom
TumbleCreek_0293.JPG
and a few bear grass too..
TumbleCreek_0301.JPG
Detroit Lake from a little higher up
TumbleCreek_0309.JPG
some neat rock formations.. this is the one that look liked a Maori idol
TumbleCreek_0310.JPG
use your imagination on this one.. I thought it looked like a bird idol, then I blinked and thought it looked like a crinkle-faced person
TumbleCreek_0357.JPG
blue skies came out to visit here and there..

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kelkev
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Re: Tumble Lake & Dome Rock, thwarted!

Post by kelkev » June 20th, 2010, 1:19 pm

I did this one from the lower trailhead last year, and ran into snow on a northern exposure just beyond Margie Dunham Spring, a large open meadowy area. I've been to the summit of Dome Rock from the upper trailhead, but that was in September. Didn't make it to Tumble Lake, but the view down onto it was awesome from up top!

Kevin
"Going to the mountains is going home."
— John Muir

pdxgene
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Re: Tumble Lake & Dome Rock, thwarted!

Post by pdxgene » June 20th, 2010, 3:51 pm

Nice pictures!
You haven't by chance tried wandering up the Whitewater Trail (to Jeff Park) yet this year, have you?


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HopAlong
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Re: Tumble Lake & Dome Rock, thwarted!

Post by HopAlong » June 20th, 2010, 4:55 pm

pdxgene wrote:Nice pictures!
You haven't by chance tried wandering up the Whitewater Trail (to Jeff Park) yet this year, have you?
not yet, but it's on my list from the Breitenbush side this year :-) There were snow patches on some of the rocks nearby Tumble Rock area, including this one taken from Road 2223 near the upper trailhead. I think this was looking west toward Hall Ridge area.
TumbleCreek_0294.JPG
There's also this one taken from the same vantage point as the upper viewpoint Detroit Lake pictures, but looking further south through the trees...
TumbleCreek_0344.JPG
Detroit Ranger station website from 6/8 had said TH accessible, but not yet cleared. I had also emailed them on 6/18 about snow levels and received this:

"I know that there is snow on the ground in shadow areas above 3,500 feet. Above 4,000 feet in the areas where there are steep slopes, I have been informed that snow can get to 4 feet deep in low spots, obscuring trails.

Snow has fallen at higher elevations, but did not stick. The snow that is remaining is from previous weather events."

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CuriousGorgeGuide
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Re: Tumble Lake & Dome Rock, thwarted!

Post by CuriousGorgeGuide » June 20th, 2010, 7:20 pm

I Loooove Tumble Lake in August....here's a pic of my swimming companion from last summer---there were tons of the happy guys!
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HopAlong
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Re: Tumble Lake & Dome Rock, thwarted!

Post by HopAlong » June 20th, 2010, 9:44 pm

CuriousGorgeGuide wrote:I Loooove Tumble Lake in August....here's a pic of my swimming companion from last summer---there were tons of the happy guys!
NEAT! Looks like newts? How big were they?
So much fun to find critters :D

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CuriousGorgeGuide
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Re: Tumble Lake & Dome Rock, thwarted!

Post by CuriousGorgeGuide » June 22nd, 2010, 1:17 am

Their bodies are like 4-5 inches plus a tail...there were swarms of them in August...enough that i could swim under some and look up to see them swimming above me--pretty cool!
Have you ever seen the Phantom bridge Rock arch just up past the upper Tumble trailhead a couple of miles more??

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HopAlong
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Re: Tumble Lake & Dome Rock, thwarted!

Post by HopAlong » June 22nd, 2010, 5:32 pm

CuriousGorgeGuide wrote: Have you ever seen the Phantom bridge Rock arch just up past the upper Tumble trailhead a couple of miles more??
no, missed that one - snow was blocking road about 2 mi from the upper TH. do you have any pictures? the ones I've googled were pretty small..

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