Bull of the Woods?

[Charley]

I was all excited to start my backpacking season up, after being gone in Africa the last month, and was planning a trip for Tuesday and Wednesday, but the Bull of the Woods still snowed in? I was up at 6000 odd feet the other day on Lookout Mountain, and at 5000 feet on Salmon Butte, and didn't see any bad snow on either.

But the N.F. website said that there's still snow up in Bull of the Woods. For example, regarding the Dickey Lake Trail, "Trail not accessible due to snow and not cleared as of 8/08". Yikes! I may have to find a different route. Maybe high country on Mt. Hood?
Has anyone been up there and seen the snow?
Thanks,
Charley

[mattisnotfrench]

Bull Of The Woods and the Pansy Basin, Dickey Creek and Elk Lake Creek trailheads won't be accessible this year anyway, due to the Rt. 63 road failure. It's possible to detour around the washout but it requires something like a 40 mile detour. Wowee zowee!

If you want some Bull Of The Woods high country you could try Battle Ax or Whetstone Mountain on the west edges of the Wilderness Area. Elk Lake is still melting out (which is utterly incredible, considering it's only at 3900 feet!) so Battle Ax is probably still under some snow but apparently Whetstone is now almost completely melted out from both sides (you can access it via the Opal Creek trailhead or the northern trailhead past Bagby). Both make excellent summit hikes in that area.

[mcgib]

Other than through Bagby or trying to reach the affected trailheads via a 40 mile detour (can you get to those trailheads from the south?), what are the options for entering Bull of the Woods right now?

[Cattrapper]

Elk Lake seems to be accessible, here's a TR posted on Wednsday. http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/vie ... ?f=8&t=636

[RobFromRedland]

Other than through Bagby or trying to reach the affected trailheads via a 40 mile detour (can you get to those trailheads from the south?), what are the options for entering Bull of the Woods right now?

You can also get in by going on the Whetstone trail: http://lo.redjupiter.com/gems/trailadvocate/546.pdf. That is how my daughter and I got in a couple of weeks ago. The road to the trailhead isn't great, but the trail is pretty good. As far as I know, that is the only access from the North, other than taking the detour. We also took the detour, and it is VERY long and VERY tedious. A lot of narrow, windy gravel roads. It took well over an hour just to take the detour, maybe two. I'm not sure I would do it again.

Rob

[Shelby]

I went up to Whetstone Mountain August 8th. The trail only had a few patches of snow and it had been cleared of downed trees. Beautiful view and a lot of butterflies. On FS road 7020 the shrubs will scratch your car. I wish I'd had my clippers.
I went up to Bull of the Woods lookout August 12th. I started from Pansy Lake Trail head, only four or five trees down. On the Dickey Lake Trail there are twenty plus trees down and some are in groups. I climbed over most and went around others. A few snow patches. Bull of the Woods trail, about four or five trees down. The bugs are heavy and they don't know about bug spray. I sprayed myself down twice, but they didn't care. There were also a lot of butterflies on the Dickey Lake and Bull of the Woods Trails. No one had signed in at the trail head since the 8th. I didn't see anyone until I was leaving and on FS road 6350, it was two guys from the forest service. It is a long and dusty detour. I have a Nissian X-terra so I wasn't worried about the road. There are some potholes and washboard parts, but all in all not too bad. On FS roads 6340 & 6341 there are tree tops in the road; some you can drive over others you have to go around. It is suggested that you carry a side arm due to cougars, I do. Great view from the lookout. It's closed and there is an outhouse.

[mattisnotfrench]

I went up to Whetstone Mountain August 8th. The trail only had a few patches of snow and it had been cleared of downed trees. Beautiful view and a lot of butterflies. On FS road 7020 the shrubs will scratch your car. I wish I'd had my clippers.
I went up to Bull of the Woods lookout August 12th. I started from Pansy Lake Trail head, only four or five trees down. On the Dickey Lake Trail there are twenty plus trees down and some are in groups. I climbed over most and went around others. A few snow patches. Bull of the Woods trail, about four or five trees down. The bugs are heavy and they don't know about bug spray. I sprayed myself down twice, but they didn't care. There were also a lot of butterflies on the Dickey Lake and Bull of the Woods Trails. No one had signed in at the trail head since the 8th. I didn't see anyone until I was leaving and on FS road 6350, it was two guys from the forest service. It is a long and dusty detour. I have a Nissian X-terra so I wasn't worried about the road. There are some potholes and washboard parts, but all in all not too bad. On FS roads 6340 & 6341 there are tree tops in the road; some you can drive over others you have to go around. It is suggested that you carry a side arm due to cougars, I do. Great view from the lookout. It's closed and there is an outhouse.

Whetstone is fantastic...we went there yesterday and had a great time. Ditto about the road scratching car sides, though the road surface itself is nice most of the way. The drive is about 2 hours from SE Portland.

And everything you say about the Bull Of The Woods, Shelby, is why I love that area. We didn't see anyone else on Whetstone yesterday. Nobody at all. It was wonderful.

As for entering Bull Of The Woods, here are the North Trailheads:

Elk Lake Creek
Dickey Creek
Bull Of The Woods
Pansy Lake
Bagby
Whetstone Mountain

The first four all require using the detour via 4670 and 6350.

Another great backpacking loop would be to go in via Opal Creek, hike up to Elk Lake, catch the Bagby Trail north, returning via Whetstone Mountain. That's on my agenda for next year.