Larch Mountain (Washington County) 2-8-23

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bobcat
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Joined: August 1st, 2011, 7:51 am
Location: SW Portland

Larch Mountain (Washington County) 2-8-23

Post by bobcat » February 9th, 2023, 7:39 pm

Well, why not another Larch Mountain? This one is in far western Washington County, Oregon, on private timberland. I devised an approach from the Tillamook State Forest side, however, that included some roads open to vehicles although I was not sure of their condition.

I took Storey Burn Road from Rogers Pass, and then peeled off down Drift Creek Road, which was littered with rockfall that I was barely able to dodge in places. There’s a nice waterfall above the road after you cross Drift Creek. I parked 0.4 miles up from Drift Creek where a steep connector runs up a ridge to join Larch Mountain Road.

Waterfall near Drift Creek, Drift Creek Road, Tillamook S.F..jpeg

The connector, although steep, could be driven by almost any vehicle in low gear. Since it’s on a ridge, there’s no rockfall and the surface is good packed gravel with some shallow ruts. The connector ascends about 650 feet on 0.8 miles to reach Larch Mountain Road. Then I hiked Larch Mountain Road for 1.3 miles up Larch’s southeast ridge another 600 feet or so. This is also a good road, and could be driven by a passenger car. The surrounding woods were Douglas-fir and hemlock, but higher up, where there was a light dusting of snow from the previous day, noble firs begin to creep into the mix.

Douglas-fir woods, Larch Mountain Road, Tillamook S.F..jpeg

(None of the Larch Mountains in our area have larches, but they do grow noble firs, which in the lumber trade was often labeled by the more favorable moniker of “larch.” In fact, the western larch was a far more coveted tree, often used for telephone poles and far less prone to rapid decay and insect infestation than fir. Indeed, larch stumps out in nature survive three or four times longer than fir stumps as it is the “hardest” softwood in our area. Thus the industry hoodwink.)

Snow on noble fir, Larch Mountain, Tillamook S.F..jpeg

I was surprised to see a new bike trail named Fear and Loaming crossing the road. This is a one-way bike only trail that originates at the vast gravel panorama of the Fear and Loaming Trailhead at the end of the road. From the trailhead, a bulldozed corridor, blocked at both ends runs a narrow ridge towards the summit of Larch Mountain.

Fear and Loaming crossing, Larch Mountain Road, Tillamook S.F..jpeg
Target Shooting Prohibited, Larch Mountain Road, Tillamook S.F..jpeg
Fear and Loaming Trailhead sign, Larch Mountain Road, Tillamook S.F..jpeg
Corridor to the summit, Larch Mountain, Tillamook S.F..jpeg

I followed this corridor, hemmed in on both sides by a dense conifer plantation. The boundary between public land and private timberland is stark, transitioning abruptly from 80-foot-tall trees to a plantation of 15-foot saplings. I joined a logging road, and made my way along it to the nearby summit. There was residual snow on this track where I could make out the prints of elk, deer, coyote, and hare. The 3,457-foot summit has been logged, with only a few scraggly noble firs about. There are views - northwest to Saddle Mountain, east to the comm. tower on Round Top, west down into the Idiot Creek drainage and towards Elk and Kings mountains. Lowland mists were still rising up the valleys and, except for a target shooter perhaps a mile away, all was quiet and frozen.

Approaching the summit, Larch Mountain, Tillamook S.F..jpeg
Foggy valleys, Larch Mountain, Tillamook S.F..jpeg
Looking towards Round Top from Larch Mountain, Tillamook S.F..jpeg

So there’s really only about 1.2 miles that you need to hike from the Fear and Loaming Trailhead although I chose a longer route and 1,440 feet elevation gain just to get a few miles in.

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