Oregon Hikers

At Catherine Creek on 01-20, did a loop to the East. Found a few inches on the way up. At the top it was closer to 1 - 1 1/2 feet. Snow was pretty granular and no traction devices were needed. It was more like slush.

I did Dog Mountain yesterday (1/21/22). There was a fair amount of snow on the trail starting at the lower junction, but I made it to the summit without gaiters, poles, or traction.

I took the Augspurger Trail down, and I definitely needed gaiters on the traverse to the north, almost immediately after leaving the DM trail. Some of the snow on those steep meadows was 2 or 3 feet deep, and that trail gets very little traffic in the winter.

Has anyone hit up Hamilton Mt since the last trip report on the 12th? The snow map shows just a hint of it around the saddle, but curious if anyone can confirm. Was thinking of hitting it up tomorrow

I hiked Bells Mt. yesterday and it was completely bare on top at 2,223' elevation. One small area of snow, well off-trail on a north facing, sheltered area was all I saw.

Trapper Creek trailheads totally snowbound. You can really only hike there if you can drive to the trailhead, and as the photo shows, you can't. There is a snowpark if you have a snowpark permit, but I don't. Looks like the trailhead probably won't be accessible till March.

Railcar Falls loop (Duncan Creek), high point 2250', bare in spots, up to 3'-4' on some flat roads.
Picture below (Railcar Bridge over Duncan) is a bit misleading, it was generally deeper.
Really firm in some places, I could actually ride my bike!
I'm glad to see we're following the tradition of starting a new snow-level thread a month after solstice.

gallione11 wrote: ↑

January 22nd, 2022, 12:17 pm

Has anyone hit up Hamilton Mt since the last trip report on the 12th? The snow map shows just a hint of it around the saddle, but curious if anyone can confirm. Was thinking of hitting it up tomorrow

A relatively snow free hike can be done if you do an in-and-out using the Hamilton Mt. Trail, but any loop and you'll still have some snow. Didn't encounter any until the last few switchbacks on the way up. Summit still had up to 2 feet.
From the summit to the saddle, at least the first half mile or so, was still under 18+ inches. It was still fairly early in the day so it was pretty hard. I think we only each postholed once or twice each. However, there was also a ton of branches/bushes in the way as well, so it was a relatively slow grind. If you don't know the trail or have a map, you have to follow footprints to find your way.
Lastly, we made the poor choice to use Don's Cutoff on the way back. It started out ok with just some spotty snow, but as we got further along, it went up to 18 or inches in spots. Lots of branches and debris in the way as well. I do not recommend using that portion for a few more weeks unless you like tromping around in the snow. The Upper Hardy Creek Trail still had at least two feet as well which finally dropped off once you meet up the the Equestrian trail. From there, there was no more to deal with. All told, it added about an extra 45 minutes or so to the hike, but was still doable with no specific snow gear.

Don's Custoff was pretty difficult, right? I planned to hike there in a week and want to know what expects me.

vacagol wrote: ↑

January 25th, 2022, 10:45 pm

Don's Custoff was pretty difficult, right? I planned to hike there in a week and want to know what expects me.

I don't know if I'd call it difficult, but it wasn't fun, but another week or so of melt may get it back to relatively normal

Returned to Duncan/Railcar loop one week later.
It's been a chilly week. No snow has melted. My tire prints were still so crisp, I thought somebody was ahead of me, but nope, I recognized my distinctive unusual model.

Cold enough for my water bottle to get slushy. Snow was very firm, but not icy.