Portland Hikers Archive

Return to Portland Hikers Archive

Vista Ridge Trail to The Rockpile, 11/3/07 Posted by Grannyhiker (2007-11-03)

I was going to do this trail last Monday but it clouded up, so I bailed. I was talking to Jeffstatt yesterday about this trail and decided to forget all my pending yard work and go today. I'm glad I did! There was quite a bit of fall color remaining along Lost Lake Road and Lolo Pass road. At the Vista Ridge trail junction, I spotted these. Splintercat has been busy! I did my little bit by flicking sticks off the trail with my trekking poles. Here's Hysson enjoying the newly graded trail. Most of the trail was snow-free, except for a few patches. This north slope still had snow--but mostly just on the trail! The meadow was mostly snow-covered. The only fresh tracks on the trail were deer. In the meadow I found the remains, melted out but still quite identifiable, of elk and bear tracks, and a few more. For photos of the fresh ones, see Jamie's photo on this report. Since Hysson decided that the snow-covered meadow was the perfect place to run in circles at top speed, all these tracks now overlain with lots of dog tracks! No foliage left up there, but the bare branches are beautiful. The meadow just north of The Rockpile will be lovely when all this heather blooms! In the meantime, please try not to step on it when you're going through there--heather doesn't hold up well to being walked on. At The Rockpile, it was so beautiful and so warm that Hysson and I relaxed there for an hour instead of going on to Owl Point. I was in my shirtsleeves and almost too warm! There was no wind until after I started back. The required view of Mt. Hood from The Rockpile: On the way back I checked out Jamie's Viewpoint and found this new sign: View of Katsuk Point from Jamie's Viewpoint: Those sure look like larch down there! Another view of Mt. Hood, this time with a jet going by--obviously lots of air traffic today. Every hike has its own story. Here's part 1: Several places in the snow all along the trail, I found old cat footprints (definitely no claws). The distance between the two black marks on my trekking pole is 10 centimeters. I suspect these are bobcat rather than cougar. The prints are close to the same size as Hysson's. Cougar prints would be bigger than that. (The depression behind the pawprint is not part of the cat print.) Here's Part 2: On the way back, just past Jamie's Viewpoint, I found this silky fur tail, minus its owner. The distance between the mark and the pole junction is 5 centimeters. Are Parts 1 and 2 related? Did the tail's owner become the bobcat's dinner? There was no evidence one way or the other--no signs of blood, a struggle or other bits of fur. But I think we can assume that the tail's owner became somebody's dinner! A wonderful way to spend an absolutely beautiful autumn day! Thank you, everyone, especially Tom, Al, Jamie and Jeff, plus all the gang from the September 22 outing, for resurrecting this beautiful trail! This trail is definitely no longer lost, so I'm posting this in the regular trip reports section.

Re: Vista Ridge Trail to The Rockpile, 11/3/07 Posted by Splintercat (2007-11-04)

Wonderful report, Mary! It's good to know that the trail is now officially canine-approved by your pup. Love the tail - lots of wildlife sign up there. Also good to see that the Forest Service has properly signed the trail, now that it has been reopened... Tom

Re: Vista Ridge Trail to The Rockpile, 11/3/07 Posted by hikingrandma (2007-11-04)

Hey Granny!! I and my friend, Corrin and Gus, her dog, did the Owl Point Hike on Friday (11-2) Saw the brand new signs that I too attributed to Splintercat. It is truly a gem of a hike and the destination is spectacular, indeed!! Gus had a great time romping across the snow in the meadow and sliding on the ice around the perimeter. We didn't see the tracks Granny saw, but we did see a lot of human tracks which were handy - they kept us on the trail when it was snow covered. Nor did we see the silky, furry tail Granny saw at Jaime's View. What we had was a glorius Fall day in a beautiful setting. We had lunch at Owl Point and lingered for over an hour. Before taking a drink of water, I raised my water bottle to Splintercat for being the moving force behind this whole effort. Thank you and all who worked on reviving this trail. We had met at the outlets in Troutdale, so we decided the perfect end to a perfect day was dinner at Tad's Chicken N' Dumplins. I"m sure Granny knows of the place. Talk about comfort food!! Life is Good!!

Re: Vista Ridge Trail to The Rockpile, 11/3/07 Posted by hikingrandma (2007-11-04)

Hi Granny, There was not a single bug abuzzin while we were there and those pink ribbons tied to the trees kept us on the trail as well as the boot tracks. We got off trail when we reached the meadow and were headed in the wrong direction when Corrin spotted the ribbons. I saw what i thought were cat tracks, but we decided they were dogs. Hmm! Maybe they were cat tracks. The day was crisp, so we didn't peel down to short sleeves and the snow was just as packed when we headed out as when we hiked in. Did you see the glasses and car keys nailed to the trail head sign at the beginning? I wonder who walked out.

Re: Vista Ridge Trail to The Rockpile, 11/3/07 Posted by jaimito (2007-11-04)

I looked through the Mt. Hood National forests list of mammal species and I think the tail might either be a " Bushy-tailed Woodrat" or a "Northern flying squirrel". Here is a link to a site that shows a good shot of a flying squirrel which looks pretty similar, but it's all guess work at this point seeing we only have this guys poor little tail to go by. http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/diversty/soc/wgraysquirrels/

Return to Portland Hikers Archive