Archer Mountain 11-24-18
Posted: November 26th, 2018, 9:12 pm
Archer Mountain is the westernmost of a quartet of similarly formed basalt prominences on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge, the others being Hamilton Mountain, Table Mountain, and Greenleaf Peak. All are the result of layers of Columbia River Basalts backflowing up creek valleys as the main flows sizzled down the valley of the big river. Softer strata between them, once ridges separating drainages, are now highly eroded drainages themselves.
The goal for the outing was modest: simply to head over to Arrow Point and the summit of Archer Mountain and return, keeping strictly legal on national forest land and not infiltrating the closed Columbia Falls Natural Area Preserve, which, by the way, protects two state threatened plants, four sensitive plant species, the Larch Mountain salamander, and nine endemic plant species. Beginning at the trailhead at the end of Smith-Cripe Road, I first did the figure of eight around the environs of the old commune and then headed down to Archer Creek. The footbridge is slick when wet and a “Friend of Archer” has told me they will reroute the trail and build a new bridge a little farther upstream.
Then I hiked up the slope and began the steep part, where multiple short switchbacks have been shored up since the fire. At the viewpoint with the lone Douglas-fir, there was a great vista into the glaring sun to Multnomah Falls and Larch Mountain. A passing hiker told me that the tree has a yellowjacket nest, so I admired from afar. The rough trail to Quiver Point was all but obliterated by the fire, and a new trail, part of a hand made fire line, forms the western edge of the 2017 burn and takes you straight to Scott Point, from which I could enjoy a vista up High Valley to Archer Falls.
I took the trail over the old logging road and across the “plateau” to arrive at the south face of the mountain near Arrow Point. Here I was back in the fire zone, and it was a very sketchy traverse across the face of the ridge where the soft soil has been denuded of vegetation. Arrow Point, too, is a little more risky than before without supple vegetation to cling to. Still, the views were commanding to Horsetail Falls, Oneonta Gorge, Beacon Rock, and Hamilton Mountain.
Then I scrambled up over a prominence to the top of Archer Mountain, where there are slightly better views now that the summit trees have been scorched. The northern edge of the fire is just below the summit on its back side, where a big Douglas-fir got itself singed almost to its crown. I dropped off the ridge and reconnected with the plateau trail to return down the mountain to the trailhead.
The goal for the outing was modest: simply to head over to Arrow Point and the summit of Archer Mountain and return, keeping strictly legal on national forest land and not infiltrating the closed Columbia Falls Natural Area Preserve, which, by the way, protects two state threatened plants, four sensitive plant species, the Larch Mountain salamander, and nine endemic plant species. Beginning at the trailhead at the end of Smith-Cripe Road, I first did the figure of eight around the environs of the old commune and then headed down to Archer Creek. The footbridge is slick when wet and a “Friend of Archer” has told me they will reroute the trail and build a new bridge a little farther upstream.
Then I hiked up the slope and began the steep part, where multiple short switchbacks have been shored up since the fire. At the viewpoint with the lone Douglas-fir, there was a great vista into the glaring sun to Multnomah Falls and Larch Mountain. A passing hiker told me that the tree has a yellowjacket nest, so I admired from afar. The rough trail to Quiver Point was all but obliterated by the fire, and a new trail, part of a hand made fire line, forms the western edge of the 2017 burn and takes you straight to Scott Point, from which I could enjoy a vista up High Valley to Archer Falls.
I took the trail over the old logging road and across the “plateau” to arrive at the south face of the mountain near Arrow Point. Here I was back in the fire zone, and it was a very sketchy traverse across the face of the ridge where the soft soil has been denuded of vegetation. Arrow Point, too, is a little more risky than before without supple vegetation to cling to. Still, the views were commanding to Horsetail Falls, Oneonta Gorge, Beacon Rock, and Hamilton Mountain.
Then I scrambled up over a prominence to the top of Archer Mountain, where there are slightly better views now that the summit trees have been scorched. The northern edge of the fire is just below the summit on its back side, where a big Douglas-fir got itself singed almost to its crown. I dropped off the ridge and reconnected with the plateau trail to return down the mountain to the trailhead.