CottonwoodCanyon 7-1-2020 Lost Corral Trail

[arieshiker]

An absolutely gorgeous July 1st was just too hard to pass up by not heading to a trailhead, so that’s what I did.

My choice was Lost Corral Trail at Cottonwood Canyon State Park, My last trip down to the trailhead was just a week ago, but the parking lot was almost full of vehicles (it holds probably close to 75+,) and given the current state of things that number freaked me out, as the most I’d ever seen previously was perhaps eight.

I made the assumption that most of the vehicles were there for floaters either launching to ride down river or taking out at this landing. I made the assumption given that every previous hike, about ten, on LCT I’d never encountered more than four people on trail, and that was only once.

Turns out some assumptions have merit - I only encountered two women coming back from over-nighting at one of the new dispersed campsites after the 4 mile mark. I’d never seen the campsites before, so went at least far enough to check them out.

Not much has changed as far as the trail (road) goes - where the river flooded and took out some of the road bed, the tread is an ankle-twisting scree field, but a small side bar is available for part of that area - maybe a quarter mile during the first mile of the trek.

For summer, the weather was amazing - low-to-mid 60s, a breeze and clouds that threatened to block the sun, but never completely fulfilled the threat..

There’s still not much shade out there, but a few scattered very old Junipers have been cleared out at their base to provide some shade for a brief respite.

About 2.5 miles out is a bench overlooking the river, and a second bench about another mile up the trail, then there is the corral with whatever sitting you can work up at the old terminus of the trail, which has now been extended to add optional distance for those who prefer to walk all day.

It was still warm walking under the exposed rays all day, but the breeze really kept it tolerable, and of course for those who prefer a blazing sun overhead, well......to each their own.

The cliff swallows were busy dive-bombing the river for dragonflies and other food for their hatchlings. It was not quite as busy as in previous years, but I didn’t see too many predators circling the cliffs harassing the nests this time either.

The campground across the river seemed quite busy, and on my return walk I saw and heard several small groups on the Pinnacles Trail.

This trip's photos focused mainly to show what the various stages of the trail look like for those who are curious. The river is not a constant companion but quite often is right alongside the trail. I've seen it near flood stage and also where you could almost walk across it at several points. Not many wildflowers now, and generally not a place to go wildflower hunting, but when they're about, they're quite gorgeous.

[retired jerry]

I wonder what people do for drinking water at those campsites.

That could be a nice winter backpack. If it wasn't super cold as it can be sometimes

[arieshiker]

If you're going in solo, I would guess you just have to pack in some extra, or hit the faucets in the day use area before heading out. If more than one, someone's just gonna have to be the pack mule. I'm not certain even boiling the river water for a full day would cure all the ills, not to mention what evaporation would do to it in the pan. With all the brush clearing they've done to establish some of the campsites, exposure could be a winter wind issue. What the campsites closer to the old corral remnants look like I can't address.

[retired jerry]

The john day river isn't real appealing

[cfm]

There is actually a spring in Esau Canyon, just beyond the Lost Corral and the Esau loop trail! It was running in early June. The waterfall in Rattlesnake Canyon was also still running.

spring

campsite

Rattlesnake Canyon waterfall

[retired jerry]

thanks

this would be good in the off season when the spring would be more likely to be running