Deschutes RIver Hike 6-25-2022

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JBG
Posts: 32
Joined: June 21st, 2021, 7:01 pm

Deschutes RIver Hike 6-25-2022

Post by JBG » June 27th, 2022, 10:04 am

Last week someone in heaven must have tripped and pushed all the summer buttons at once. We went from trying to stay dry and warm in the coastal range last weekend to trying to stay hydrated and cool along the Deschutes this weekend. https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guid ... River_Hike

We arrived at the Deschutes River Recreation Park late afternoon on Thursday and set off on the BlackBerry trail, hiking about 3 mi to Colorado camp. It was warm but not too bad. We saw no one on the trail and pitched under a sycamore for a quiet evening excepting the train that woke me up around 1 AM.
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We got an early start to beat the heat, accompanied by local deer, and hiked about 7 miles the next morning. The sun really started to beat down around 9:30. Saw one snake, no rattle, and ran across what looked like a hair ball hacked up by something much larger than house cat. There were also a few of what my wife said were Monarch butterflies, but I'm not an expert. Honestly I'm fond of the black ones.
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We made it to Fall Canyon campground just before noon for lunch. Having to get back at a decent hour the next day we decided to camp there along with a small group of rafters. There were plenty of rafters and boats on the water today.

I had never been to Harris Farm so after lunch I hiked the half mile or so. The fields and burnt out frame remain with abandoned farm equipment along with what looks like pieces of crockery and odds and ends. I don't know if they were original or later additions.
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There's not really a place to camp there that I could see, but the trip was very much worth it. Up in a lone burned up pine was the giant nest of a particularly large pale-pated raptor, the chicks just visible if you looked close, but were very audible. I highly recommend making the trip out here just for that, especially if the weather gets a little milder.
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It was my first trip out here and I look forward to coming back, especially in the shoulder seasons, and if gas gets a little more reasonable.
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retired jerry
Posts: 14396
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Deschutes RIver Hike 6-25-2022

Post by retired jerry » June 27th, 2022, 1:32 pm

Thanks for the report.

I did that exact same trip a few months ago. I had to scrape snow off the ground to find a place to sleep on. It was 20F overnight and the outside of my bivy was and ice man. Better at Fall Canyon, probably mostly because I pitched my tent.

JBG
Posts: 32
Joined: June 21st, 2021, 7:01 pm

Re: Deschutes RIver Hike 6-25-2022

Post by JBG » June 29th, 2022, 7:49 pm

Many years ago I did a short trip, I think in the Siskiyou's, and when we lifted the fly off the tent it held it's shape because of the freezing rain :lol:
The Fall Canyon spot is nicely shaded and right on the water, so it was nice and cool, a good 10 or 15 degrees at least. We did have to keep moving around the camp a bit to stay in the shade.

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