Home  •   Field Guide  •   Forums  •   Unread Posts  •   Maps  •   Find a Hike!  •    Search  •  

Portland Hikers Archive

Return to Portland Hikers Archive

Looking for Archer Mountain from Duncan Creek: 8/12/07

Posted by jeffstatt (2007-09-19)

I spent some time hiking with Dan Huntington last spring � the gentleman who was instrumental in the building of the Cape Horn Trail.  After hiking a stretch of the temporarily redirected Cape Horn trail, we took a drive over to Duncan Creek and hiked up that trail a ways.  During that hike, Dan mentioned that eventually the trail got to the top of Archer Mountain.  On that day, we didn't have time to venture further, so it's been on my list to return ever since.

 


Archer Mountain from Lemmon's Viewpoint

 

Well, that was my ambition on August 12th to reach the top of Archer Mountain from the Duncan Creek trail.  Sorry for posting this so late.  I�m just now getting caught up after a big project wrapped up at work. 

Well after my trek, it was obvious I will need some help  from Don (Don Nelsen), Dan (prindleman) or Jim (cluain) � because the trail just disappeared into the woods.  Even using my best John Locke tracking skills and a GPS I wasn�t able to figure out where to go next.

The trip wasn�t a total loss.  There were a lot of nice little falls along the way, and because it was so remote, the dog was able to go off-leash and get some much-need excersize.

 


"trailhead" at the end of Duncan Creek road.  The trail starts at that rock on the middle-right of the photo

 

 


The fiirst of many little falls along the trail. 

 

 


A second falls within the first half-mile

 

 


The same falls, closer up

 

 


The well worn trail ended at this point.  I'm guessing this is a favorite spot for locals.

 

Things got intersting after this point.  I crossed the creek, scaled a small cliff and found the trail.  It wasn't long before the trail got very sparse.  I had to use clues from my surroundings to keep track.  It eventually merged with an old grown-over wagon road probably left over from turn of the century logging. 

I found this interesting little artifact.  Ok so I wasn't the first guy to be here.

 


An old railroad artifact? Or a gas tank off an old Chevy?

 

The trail was navigatable until I got to this (unnamed?) falls.  You had to basically scale down a dirt cliff about 100 feet to get down here.  The "cliff" seemed to have seen it's share of visitors this summer.

 


Last falls I saw along Duncan Creek, although i'm sure there are more upstream

 

It was a pretty spot, and again I'm guessing that again, people who live around this area frequent this area as a summertime swimming hole.

 


A would-be swimming hole, just downstream of the falls.  The photo does this no justice.  This was a very pretty spot

 

After this point I was able to track the old trail for a ways, but it eventually disappeared.  I spend about 20 minutes backtracking and retracking to see if I could pick it back up again.  It was a bit frustrating because I had my GPS and a half-way decent map of the area - so I new basically where I needed to get to, but I didn't have the time for a full-fledged bushwhack.

 


After the last waterfall, this was the what the "trail" looked like for at least a half-mile.  Appears to have been an old road


 

 

 

Anyone know where I went wrong? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Re: Looking for Archer Mountain from Duncan Creek: 8/12/07

Posted by mandrake (2007-09-20)
I hiked the route several years back -- and did find a taped route from about where you lost it leading westwards and up onto the high points west of Duncan Creek and gradually turning south to reach the powerlines north of Archer Mtn.  The trail was faint to non-existent in places -- prolly best to check out after the leaves fall.  There's a number of old logging roads up on the high points, but generally one can follow the crest up & down to intersect the powerline road about here:
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=45.63483&lon=-122.10566&size=l&u=4&datum=nad27&layer=DRG

Return to Portland Hikers Archive

Disclaimer: Information found on PortlandHikers.org and PortlandHikersFieldGuide.org is provided by website visitors and volunteers and should be considered anecdotal. All trails and directions and subject to current conditions. Trails and roads can be rerouted due to natural events and the website is not able to provide current information for every hike. Please verify against two other sources before planning a trip. Outdoor activities present inherent risks. Portlandhikers.org, nor any of its members, accept liability for injuries relating to information found on this website.