Catherine Ck / Coyote Wall Loop 08-Apr-2011
Posted: April 8th, 2011, 5:05 pm
I (and perhaps many other hikers) had been fantasizing what I’d do if a sunny day materialized. For the last two months this has seemed an impossible dream but today, finally, that dream was realized. The Coyote Wall / Catherine Creek area beckoned, so I headed out there with a plan to make a loop between these two popular hikes. It was cloudy/foggy when I left Portland but at the Catherine Creek TH all was sunny.
It felt odd not to be pulling on an extra layer and rain gear but I fought off that urge and headed W toward Rowland Ridge and Coyote Wall. After about 0.75 mi I came to a boulder field,
with numerous vision quest pits in it. These are mentioned in Sullivan’s guide but not Lorain’s.
The only problem with this area is that getting to it involves a lot of poison oak – not too bad now as it is just stems (but still toxic) but when they leaf-out, be careful! Not having tried this loop before, and wanting to hit the bottom end of the Coyote Wall trail, I maybe did not contour as high as I could have above Rowland Lake. Ultimately I had to use a bit of the road to get around the lake. After that, I headed up a ramp on a game trail to lose the road and regain the outdoors.
I soon hit a more prominent use trail that made travel easy.
Thanks(?) to all the recent rain, there are little ephemeral pools tucked in pockets all along the trail.
There is one major creek that drains the slopes E of Coyote Wall, but it came equipped with a handy log bridge.
I had to do a little back tracking to get around Coyote Wall and on to the trail below but soon I was on the side trail (“Wizard Trail”) that goes to the top of Coyote Wall. I used DerWanderer’s trip report and photos to verify the turnoff – which is flanked by 3 logs and some pink tape. The trail wanders through the woods and rocks for a while then climbs steeply to the top of the wall.
There’s an old 4WD road – now mostly a trail/bike track – that goes from Coyote Wall all the way back to Catherine Creek. I eventually connected with it after wandering past a vineyard and maybe on to some private property. I should have swung a little lower from the top of the Wall before heading E. This old road contours at about 1400’ and provides many, many big views of open vistas.
Not having seen it in so long, I had to stop myself from shooting picture after picture of sunny, rain-free, blue sky.
The old road eventually connects, near the head of Catherine Creek, with another old road that heads down, paralleling the creek, back to the TH.
Along the way, I got a view of the natural rock arch above Catherine Creek.
Shortly after that I was back at the Catherine Ck TH. Mine had been one of three cars when I arrived – the lot was nearly full when I got back. I guess I wasn’t the only hiker suffering from cabin fever. New trail (for me), a little exploring, blue sky, sun, light wind, no crowds (once I was 1000’ beyond the TH), and no ticks (on me at least) – it just doesn’t get any better. 10.8 mi, 1600’ gain.
It felt odd not to be pulling on an extra layer and rain gear but I fought off that urge and headed W toward Rowland Ridge and Coyote Wall. After about 0.75 mi I came to a boulder field,
with numerous vision quest pits in it. These are mentioned in Sullivan’s guide but not Lorain’s.
The only problem with this area is that getting to it involves a lot of poison oak – not too bad now as it is just stems (but still toxic) but when they leaf-out, be careful! Not having tried this loop before, and wanting to hit the bottom end of the Coyote Wall trail, I maybe did not contour as high as I could have above Rowland Lake. Ultimately I had to use a bit of the road to get around the lake. After that, I headed up a ramp on a game trail to lose the road and regain the outdoors.
I soon hit a more prominent use trail that made travel easy.
Thanks(?) to all the recent rain, there are little ephemeral pools tucked in pockets all along the trail.
There is one major creek that drains the slopes E of Coyote Wall, but it came equipped with a handy log bridge.
I had to do a little back tracking to get around Coyote Wall and on to the trail below but soon I was on the side trail (“Wizard Trail”) that goes to the top of Coyote Wall. I used DerWanderer’s trip report and photos to verify the turnoff – which is flanked by 3 logs and some pink tape. The trail wanders through the woods and rocks for a while then climbs steeply to the top of the wall.
There’s an old 4WD road – now mostly a trail/bike track – that goes from Coyote Wall all the way back to Catherine Creek. I eventually connected with it after wandering past a vineyard and maybe on to some private property. I should have swung a little lower from the top of the Wall before heading E. This old road contours at about 1400’ and provides many, many big views of open vistas.
Not having seen it in so long, I had to stop myself from shooting picture after picture of sunny, rain-free, blue sky.
The old road eventually connects, near the head of Catherine Creek, with another old road that heads down, paralleling the creek, back to the TH.
Along the way, I got a view of the natural rock arch above Catherine Creek.
Shortly after that I was back at the Catherine Ck TH. Mine had been one of three cars when I arrived – the lot was nearly full when I got back. I guess I wasn’t the only hiker suffering from cabin fever. New trail (for me), a little exploring, blue sky, sun, light wind, no crowds (once I was 1000’ beyond the TH), and no ticks (on me at least) – it just doesn’t get any better. 10.8 mi, 1600’ gain.