North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

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bobcat
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North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by bobcat » July 2nd, 2022, 8:42 am

* Crooked Creek *

The Fremont National Recreation Trail drops towards Lakeview from the north, but this segment was burned in the 2021 Bootleg Fire. The trail continues about 12 miles north of Lakeview as it heads east up Crooked Creek from the Mill Trailhead. Although the route follows an old logging road up the creek, the latter is rarely visible through the thickets that shade the stream.

A log footbridge crosses Crooked Creek at the trailhead. In about half a mile, I arrived at the site of the Crooked Creek Lumber Mill, which began operations in 1926. Only a few small foundations remain. In the early 1930s, Lake County got its first big infestation of western pine beetles, causing logging restrictions. By 1943, however, Lake County was producing more timber than any other county on the Pacific Northwest. Those days are long over, and Lake County has gone from dozens of mills to one (in Lakeview).

Trail sign, Mill Trailhead, Crooked Creek.jpg
Outcropping above Crooked Creek.jpg
Woolly mule's ears (Wyethia mollis), Crooked Creek.jpg
Sticky starwort (Pseudostellaria jamesiana), Crooked Creek.jpg
Foundation at the old sawmill, Crooked Creek.jpg

I continued up the creek, passing through a rocky defile where the valley narrows to a mini-gorge. In one area, the valley opened up where the creek meandered through lush meadows blooming with camas and checkermallow. Dozens of butterflies flitted among the wildflowers and crowded muddy seeps seeking sips of water. Eventually, I had to cross Crooked Creek again and then Big Cove Creek to pass into a ponderosa parkland that has been well-thinned. After another crossing of Crooked Creek, the exact route of the trail became a little nebulous, with three distinct possibilities, so I decided to turn around and call it a day.

Gate passage, Crooked Creek.jpg
Bald slope, Crooked Creek.jpg
Rim above the gate, Crooked Creek.jpg
Ruddy copper (Lycaena rubida), Crooked Creek.jpg
Checkerspots and blues, Crooked Creek.jpg
Passage throough the defile, Crooked Creek.jpg
Willow bottomland, Crooked Creek.jpg
Camas (Camassia quamash), Crooked Creek.jpg
Checkermallow by the creek, Crooked Creek.jpg
Aspen by the road bed, Crooked Creek.jpg
Upper crossing, Crooked Creek.jpg
Ponderosa parklands above the upper crossing, Crooked Creek.jpg

* Drake Peak *

There are actually three Drake “peaks.” The Drake Peak Lookout sits at the end of a road on Peak 8222. A little to the northeast is the Drake triangulation point, named Light Peak on maps, at 8,325 feet. Drake Peak itself (8,407 feet) is farther east.

A narrow track actually leads to the summit of Light Peak, but I couldn’t drive it because of a large, deep patch of snow and some downed trees. Instead, I parked just off the lookout road, and followed the track through a whitebark pine wood and then up an open ridge to the top of Light Peak. Crane Mountain, the highest point in Oregon’s North Warners was to the south. Twelvemile Peak, McDowell Peak, and Crook Peak stretched north from the Drake Peak Lookout. The Fremont NRA winds around these three on its way to Vee Lake. To the west of these three peaks was the top of the Abert Rim, looking completely different than it does from the sere lands below.

Trailhead and Crane Mountain, Drake Peak.jpg
Whitebark pine road, Drake Peak.jpg
Woolly-pod milkvetch (Astragalus purshii), Drake Peak.jpg
Crane Mountain from Light Peak, Drake Peak.jpg
View of the lookout from Light Peak, Drake Peak.jpg
Twelvemile Peak, McDowell Peak, and Crook Peak from Light Peak, Drake Peak.jpg
Matted wild buckwheat (Eriogonum caespitosum), Drake Peak.jpg

From Light Peak, the jeep track descends to some dark rocky outcroppings at an intermediate peak and then to a saddle. From here, it was a cross-country jaunt on a open slope with the sagebrush so stunted it was only an inch tall. It was a very clear day, so to the east I could see Hart Mountain and the Warner Valley as well as Steens Mountain beyond. Mount Shasta was the only Cascade peak easily visible.

View back up Light Peak, Drake Peak.jpg
Wolf spider and egg sac (Tigrosa sp.), Drake Peak.jpg
Drake Peak from the intermediate peak, Drake Peak.jpg
Hairy paintbrush (Castilleja pilosa), Drake Peak.jpg
View back to Twelvemile Peak and Crook Peak, Drake Peak.jpg
The ascent ahead, Drake Peak.jpg
View to Hart Mountain from Drake Peak.jpg
Light Peak and the lookout from Drake Peak.jpg

I then drove up to the lookout. Two fellows from the Bay Area were leaving after renting it a few days ($60/night). Then a Forest Service fire truck drove up. They were showing a “new guy” the lay of the land, and we spent some time identifying features. In a couple of weeks, I suspect those guys will be fairly well occupied with the usual summer conflagrations.

Drake Lookout cabin, Drake Peak.jpg
Bull Prairie from the Drake Lookout, Drake Peak.jpg
Twelvemile Peak from the Drake Lookout, Drake Peak.jpg
View to Drake Peak from the Drake Peak.jpg

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Bosterson
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Re: North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by Bosterson » July 2nd, 2022, 10:29 am

Very cool, John. I have heard of Drake Peak but never seen a TR of it. You're really knocking it out of the park in the Fremont NF! Great to see different terrain and all those ponderosas. What was that spider with the egg sac? It was hard to tell from the pic but seemed maybe too small to be a tarantula - do we have tarantulas out on that side of the cascades?
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bobcat
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Re: North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by bobcat » July 2nd, 2022, 4:31 pm

Bosterson wrote:
July 2nd, 2022, 10:29 am
Great to see different terrain and all those ponderosas.
Nice part of the state to visit mid-May to mid-June if you can carefully avoid the footprints of all the big fires.

I think the spider is some kind of wolf spider. It was about 2 1/2 inches long. It was the egg sac that caught my attention, of course.

We don't have any real tarantulas in Oregon, just some 'fake tarantula' species.

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adamschneider
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Re: North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by adamschneider » July 2nd, 2022, 7:48 pm

Do you think this would be a good time to go down there if wildflowers were the goal?

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bobcat
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Re: North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by bobcat » July 3rd, 2022, 8:05 am

Just a little past the peak for many blooms but still good, I would say, although it did warm up a lot the last couple of days I was there. In normal years, the month of June is probably best.

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Re: North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by justpeachy » July 8th, 2022, 7:58 am

We were down that way just a little bit after you, John, renting the lookout June 29 - July 3. We were under the mistaken impression that we were the first renters of the season!

Even though you can see the lights of Lakeview from up there, it's not a big town throwing out tons of light pollution so the star show is pretty dang nice.

Image

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bobcat
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Re: North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by bobcat » July 8th, 2022, 9:09 am

Wow. Magnificent - and looking very cosy!

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adamschneider
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Re: North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by adamschneider » July 8th, 2022, 4:41 pm

And I was just there on Wednesday! I hiked up Twelvemile Peak and stayed one night at Mud Creek Campground.

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BurnsideBob
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Re: North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by BurnsideBob » July 9th, 2022, 6:05 am

adamschneider wrote:
July 8th, 2022, 4:41 pm
And I was just there on Wednesday! I hiked up Twelvemile Peak and stayed one night at Mud Creek Campground.
I find it fascinating that from 30,000 feet we do seem to move as a herd. So many trip reports from this corner of our state this year. And how is Mud Creek Campground? It was the site of a motorcycle rally a few years back and I couldn't convince my daughter we should check it out.

We traveled thru in May and the North Warners were still well mantled in snow--can't believe I didn't take any photos as they were striking with all that white in an otherwise sagebrush green landscape.

A fabulous photo Justpeachy!!!

We did stay at Hart Mountain Campground, the site of a CCC camp, which is located where the pavement ends North of Plush. The original water source for the CCC camp was a small reservoir below a waterfall on the escarpment.

The campground is exposed but has good water and a large common building with picnic tables for shade. And it is free! And is a good base of operations for exploring Hart Mountain and the Sunstone Collecting area.

We've very much enjoyed the recent trip reports from the area. Thanks, all!

BurnsideBob

Photo from a place in the area.
IMG_6765v2.JPG
I keep making protein shakes but they always turn out like margaritas.

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adamschneider
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Re: North Warner Mountains (Oregon) 6-24-22

Post by adamschneider » July 9th, 2022, 8:51 am

BurnsideBob wrote:
July 9th, 2022, 6:05 am
And how is Mud Creek Campground?
No complaints. The toilet was relatively non-stinky and had plenty of TP.

Including myself, only two sites were occupied, and we were both sleeping in our cars.

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