1/4 mile from Burnt Lake 6/22/08

[pdxgene]

On a cloudy morning that would turn into a sunny afternoon Jane joined me for what has turned into my weekly trek up towards Burnt Lake. The snowmelt has been amazing. We made it to the last snowfield about 1/4 mile from the lake but decided that was probably the spot to call it a day for the outbound leg and head back. The sun hadn't poked through yet, there were some huge hollow areas under the snow so it seemed a good point to turn around since there was a nice clearing to take a break. I'd tend to guess it was a touch over the 4,000' level (and this is a north facing trail).
Here's the look forward from where we stopped. From here the path to follow is not staright across the snowfield but goes up and to the left.

There are no footprints leading that way yet. Since I didn't take any pictures until here I'll be a slacker and cover the way back and let Jane fill in the rest..
A lone Gray Jay happened to luck into his best free handouts in probably the last 8 months or so.. He seemed to like strawberries...

One of the challenges was this creek crossing where the choice was to wade across the stream and climb the snowbank or find faith in this rapidly fading snowbridge. We had no faith and chose the wade and climb option...

Throughout the last mile up the hill past Lost Creek Falls there are dozens of cracks in the trail that look like little fault lines. Unfortunately they are at their worst in the section of the trail that was already the most fragile. It's the first open area about a quarter mile up the hill. The trail is splitting away from the hillside. The hillside is to the inside, the dropoff to the outside. There's no easy way to go. This mud puddle in the next picture you are either stepping down into or up from. It sucks your foot down a few inches quick. Heavier use could cause a big problem here..

Here the trail is just splitting away from the hillside..

Again here you have the steep hillside to the inside and the sharp drop to the outside and the trail breaking away from the hillside...

And one last one looking back down towards where the trail goes back into the forest. The water coming down the hillside is usually a trickling stream that flows on down the hill. Now it's pooling on the trail and undercutting the trail a bit. I couldn't really stand where I wanted to in order to take these but if anyone goes through here, you need to be very, very careful. This was the most exposed area on the trail to begin with. You really need to pay attention. If you have your dog, keep him/her on a leash. That hillside drop will rapidly fill in with Devil's Club. That's not a good option either.

We stopped to take a look at the roaring Lost Creek Falls. The best pictures are from across the other side where it's wide open but the snow was hollow over there near the edge and the log crossings didn't look too tempting at the moment. I did scurry down the hillside and get this through the trees..

A nice look to the sky with the sun hidden behind the tree..

In another week or two the lower forest floor will be a sea of green. The trilliums were already blooming and the oxalis just beginning to cover the ground. We parked at Lost Creek CG and went from there though it turned out that the road had been cleared halfway to the trailhead. We left the car around 930a, got back about 4p and never saw another soul. More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/pdxgene/BurntLakeTrail2

A final look back at Mt Hood on the way out from a great day in the woods!

[Jane]

Thanks Gene for an adventurous day on (and off) the Burnt Lake Trail Sunday! I'll just add or fill -in to Gene's above report and photos:

There were MANY Trilliums, some as tiny as a violet, but all bustin' loose toward any sun sneaking through the trees:

and the violets:

There were intermittant snow sections along the trail, this was a slow-step at a time one:

Lost Creek:

roaring Lost Creek falls:

the trail damage is serious:

There were many water crossings:

But as Gene mentioned above, one was particularly "adventurous" - this pic is hard to tell on the drop off into the creek (we basically slid on on butts down):

but this unflattering pic of me (thanks Gene ; ) shows us on the way back - No I didn't get up that way, but a bit to my left where the log and more solid footing were, my "creek scramble " for the day

Our decided turn around point was this daunting snow field:

I was more than happy to stop here...enough snow already!

We had our lunch here, and were entertained as Gene mentioned, by this polite Grey Jay:

But I was just thinking, hey! He got more strawberries than me!

Around 1-ish the sun and blue skies finally made appearances:

Gene had brought along his loppers and did some serious clearing as needed at least for our manuverability:

Guardian Snow Faerie with Mento cap; )

On the road walk back to Lost Creek Campground where we parked the car,we noticed a campsite and were curious about it:

and low and behold guess what was left in the fire pit They did have the "North Burnt Lake Trail" info among those too, or they would have been very lost (?)
Not sure why they just left the papers like that (they were dated June 14) but we gathered them up so they wouldn't be litter:

Another parting shot of a brilliant Mt. Hood on the drive out:

Gene estimated we did 8-9 miles. The campgrounds in that area are open and we saw several groups there, but not another soul on the trail - what an excellent day and adventure in the woods indeed!

[Martell]

Funny field guide picture Jane. That reminds me of the time I got a fire going with the pages I'd already read in the novel I'd brought on a particularly damp backpacking trip (it wasn't a very good book).

[fettster]

Me thinks you will make it up to Burnt Lake for your next trip. Bummer for Jane missing out on the strawberries!

[jeffstatt]

How's that for a sign of success? LOL

Gene is that your new camera yet?

Wow this is a record year for "well we almost got there but we had to turn around due to snow" trip reports!!

[pdxgene]

It really wasn't so much the snow that stopped us. If we could've been sure the sun would have made it out in time it would have been more tempting to go on. I've crossed that field with more snow than it had yesterday. I know exactly where the trail is and the alternate route if it's needed through that stretch (trial and error multiple times)... Plus I had left my pole down at the trailhhead not wanting to carry it and also carry the pruning shears and knowing that I needed the shears for sure to get thru the branches on the trees down across the trail (it's a lot easier now than it was..). With all the hollow areas and knowing there's two areas of running water under that snowfield to cross , it was better to wait another week. We mainly just didn't expect to get that far and I didn't plan for it. I figured maybe Lost Creek Falls would be limit. Snow free trails at 4,000' around Mt Hood haven't been something you could count on yet. It's just really amazing how much snow melted in only a week.

[pdxgene]

A peek from today on another day without a soul on the trail other than me...