Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

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forestkeeper
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Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by forestkeeper » November 3rd, 2014, 1:56 pm

Hey everyone. Took to the trails at the popular Salmon River Trail #742 on Saturday. I kind of got off to a late start from constant debating with myself to go hiking or not in the cold wetness of a typical Pacific Northwest Fall day. The days prior, forecasters were predicting a few sun breaks under mostly cloudy skies, but with no rain. But as I woke up to the sound of 'rain drops are falling from the sky,' I opened my front door to check if the 70's of September returned to us surprisingly, to find that the temps were in the low 50's. Then the little Forestkeeper on my shoulder whispered in my ear, "Quit whining you big baby! Get your butt out there. NOW!" So, I arrived at the trailhead around 10:30.
Salmon River Trailhead-1-1.jpg
The parking lot wasn't too full but it had enough cars to show this was a pretty popular trail. The beginnings of the trail parallels the Salmon River, and promising some excellent views.
Salmon River Pano-1.jpg
Salmon River Trail 742-1-1.jpg
Salmon River Trail-1.jpg
This trail takes you through a dense, very green, Pacific Northwest rainforest with an abundance in Firs, Hemlocks, Cedars, various ferns and forest floor shrubs and plants.
Pacific Rainforest-1.jpg
As well as the plentiful bounty of mushrooms.
White Dunce Cap-1-1.jpg
Variable Russula-1-1.jpg
Pink Russula-1-1.jpg
The trail traverses a couple of very nice footbridges!
Salmn River Bridge 1-1.jpg
Salmon River Bridge 2-1-2.jpg
Salmon River Bridge 2-1-1.jpg
After the second footbridge, you enter into the Salmon Huckleberry Wilderness.
Salmon Huck Wilderness-1.jpg
Then the trail goes up, up and a way. Nothing like a long ascent to get the fluids flowing. And if you tend to sweat a lot (like me :oops: :cry: ), make sure you drink plenty of fluids for the uphill on this one. I gained 1,100 feet until I reached the first viewpoint above. Glad I'm still on my low fat diet, for if I had that short stack of Pig n Pancakes that I dreamed of the night before, I'd be wearing it on the front of my shirt. :lol:
Salmon River Trail-1-3.jpg
The trail is beautiful, especially going through the yellow colors of Fall.
Salmon River Trail-1-5.jpg
And reached the viewpoint.
Salmon River Trail-1-7.jpg
(Will continue in the reply, due to Portlandhikers low maximum photo limit. ;) )

forestkeeper
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Re: Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by forestkeeper » November 3rd, 2014, 2:05 pm

Here's another pic of the viewpoint.
Salmon River Trail-1-9.jpg
I hiked another 1/2 mile or so to the next viewpoint, in hopes off descending down the cliffs to get some views of Frustration Falls, but the clouds rolled in, and I was pretty chilled, especially from getting pretty sweaty from the uphill ascent. I should have peeled a layer of clothes to no have gotten so sweaty but it felt pretty cold up there at the 2,667' level. So I downed a Peanut Butter Snickers Bar and a Diet NOS and headed back.
Salmon River-1.jpg
Hiked a little on the Old Salmon River Trail #742A before calling it a day. Eight miles and a 1,200' EG.

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kepPNW
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Re: Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by kepPNW » November 3rd, 2014, 4:00 pm

Fun reading that! We were just there yesterday. That's an excellent rainy-day trail. (Some of my photos.)
forestkeeper wrote:(Will continue in the reply, due to Portlandhikers low maximum photo limit. ;) )
Thought about just doing the quick, simple link from your Flickr account?
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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Splintercat
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Re: Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by Splintercat » November 3rd, 2014, 5:44 pm

Nice report, Will! One of my favorite trails, though I didn't make it up there this year... so far. What I love about that trail is that it's usually open year-round, and the forest is just as pretty in its mossy winter phase as during the leafed-out months.

Thanks for posting - nice pics!

Tom :)

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UTurn
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Re: Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by UTurn » November 3rd, 2014, 7:58 pm

I love that Pacific Rainforest shot! Very nice.

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romann
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Re: Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by romann » November 5th, 2014, 11:11 pm

Nice pictures! I like cliff top viewpoints up there, real payoff for steep climb. In the early summer, there's good wildflowers on these mossy outcrops.

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jdemott
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Re: Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by jdemott » November 6th, 2014, 8:22 am

Nice report, Will. I have always enjoyed that hike. The mushroom shots are really great!

Some years ago, no trip to Salmon River was complete for me without a visit to Frustration Falls. The lip of the little side falls makes a great lunch spot. But now my sense of balance isn't so good and the scramble down doesn't seem safe. It is a beautiful spot, but probably not completely safe for anyone (especially not if the path is muddy and slick).

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kepPNW
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Re: Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by kepPNW » November 6th, 2014, 9:51 am

jdemott wrote:Some years ago, no trip to Salmon River was complete for me without a visit to Frustration Falls. The lip of the little side falls makes a great lunch spot. But now my sense of balance isn't so good and the scramble down doesn't seem safe. It is a beautiful spot, but probably not completely safe for anyone (especially not if the path is muddy and slick).
Went there for the first time last weekend, which was very wet. I'll just reiterate the above, for amplification (emphasis mine). There are some short stretches where you're counting on, basically, moss-on-mud to keep you from sliding down towards some fairly gnarly cliffs. Odds are, you could fall prone and stop most slides, but I'm certainly glad I didn't have to test that semi-reassuring thought!
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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-Q-
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Re: Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by -Q- » November 6th, 2014, 11:06 am

kepPNW wrote:
jdemott wrote:Some years ago, no trip to Salmon River was complete for me without a visit to Frustration Falls. The lip of the little side falls makes a great lunch spot. But now my sense of balance isn't so good and the scramble down doesn't seem safe. It is a beautiful spot, but probably not completely safe for anyone (especially not if the path is muddy and slick).
Went there for the first time last weekend, which was very wet. I'll just reiterate the above, for amplification (emphasis mine). There are some short stretches where you're counting on, basically, moss-on-mud to keep you from sliding down towards some fairly gnarly cliffs. Odds are, you could fall prone and stop most slides, but I'm certainly glad I didn't have to test that semi-reassuring thought!
Such an awesome spot though.
One of my favorite fall viewpoints to visit.

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kepPNW
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Re: Salmon River Trail #742 November 1st, 2014

Post by kepPNW » November 6th, 2014, 11:15 am

-Q- wrote:
kepPNW wrote:
jdemott wrote:Some years ago, no trip to Salmon River was complete for me without a visit to Frustration Falls. The lip of the little side falls makes a great lunch spot. But now my sense of balance isn't so good and the scramble down doesn't seem safe. It is a beautiful spot, but probably not completely safe for anyone (especially not if the path is muddy and slick).
Went there for the first time last weekend, which was very wet. I'll just reiterate the above, for amplification (emphasis mine). There are some short stretches where you're counting on, basically, moss-on-mud to keep you from sliding down towards some fairly gnarly cliffs. Odds are, you could fall prone and stop most slides, but I'm certainly glad I didn't have to test that semi-reassuring thought!
Such an awesome spot though.
One of my favorite fall viewpoints to visit.
Agreed! "I'll be back!" :D
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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