Journalist By Nature: Breaking Trail on the Upper Salmon River

Trailhead

It was the best of days. It was the worst of days. In contrast to the run of hot days in town, this particular Thursday followed a few uncharacteristic days of rain. With indomitable spirit as recently demonstrated by our Glacier Girls' hike to Sperry Chalet, we donned rain gear and headed for Mt. Hood National Forest to hike an old favorite, Upper Salmon River trail. Old as in distantly remembered by our hiking planner, the term gained deeper meaning further into the hike. The drive to the trailhead took us on a series of Forest Service roads off Highway 26 at Trillium Lake. Many of these roads are old logging roads and have become access points to hiking trails. Wandering around without specific directions to a destination can leave travelers stranded in the forest with no cell service and dying daylight. William Sullivan's book 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington serves us well in this regard with his excellent maps and succinct instructions.

Arriving at the twin trailheads of Salmon River and Jackpot Meadow we discussed the last hike taken on this trail and its discouraging amount of downed trees crossing the path which put an early end to the hike. Surely, after ten years, the trail would be cleared. So went the logic. The understory hugged the trail edges, soaking shoulders and legs with remnants of the heavy rain that had fallen. But the trail bed was clear and soft, padded with years of falling plant debris. Descending 1200 feet towards the river basin and crossing the river on a soggy log foot bridge, we made our way to a trail intersection. The Dry Lake trail and its connecting Fir Tree trail were remembered as a splendid and delightful section of the hike. They join to loop with the Upper Salmon River trail for a 6+ mile trek.

Oregon grape berries turning blue

The rich, heavy understory tapestry of the forest botany was brimming with young rhododendrons, tiny pink monkey flowers, carpets of Oregon grape, huckleberries, bracken, and beargrass. The rain gave a fresh, damp smell to the air and kept the temperature in the low 60's. Water droplets clung to the vine maple leaves like tiny diamonds sparkling in the daylight. The birds were mostly quiet while a faint rushing water sound mingled with the whispering breeze in the treetops.

Disappearing trail

Not far into this branch we began to question our decision. Perhaps it had been more like 15 or 20 years since some had hiked this route. The trail began to narrow due to the encroaching plants. The surface was noticeably not compacted by any recent foot traffic. Lush new rhododendron growth, supple and snappy, slapped each succeeding hiker as we began to fight our way through the understory. Beautiful in bright green color yet annoying in its density and slippery underfoot, the rhodie foliage made for slow progress and time to further consider our choice of trails. We began to refer to this disappearing trail as a mere animal trail and started hanging trail tape to mark our way should we decide to reverse course. As the trail descended further, we had to clamber over and under assortments of downed trees, boulders and general undergrowth. We were definitely breaking trail at this point. Some voted to return to the main path while others voted to keep going on this faint version.

A pause for refreshments

We encouraged our "Tonto" point woman to move ahead at times to scout the terrain for solid evidence of a trail. She would call back to us "it's better here!" and we could continue our trusting trek another hundred yards. Scout. Repeat. After two hours of this adventure we decided to pause for refreshment and consider our circumstance. One hiker climbed up the side of a nearby hill and sighted a creek running parallel to our "path". Partially based on this we decided to continue our journey, convinced that we would eventually converge with the main trail. Another hiker still had a GPS connection and kept track of our mileage, noting that it reasonably compared to the hike's description.

Encountering remnants of a campfire of undetermined age, we renewed our expectation that we were going to make it to the main trail. Trudging onward, crossing creeks on slippery rocks and branches, carefully advancing over sections of scree, stomping out a rudimentary trail through bracken, tripping on the arching clumps of beargrass we finally heard the hail of "Tonto" calling that we had made it! A cheer went up from the group of seven behind her as we said a silent thanks for our safety.

Once back on the wide, well-trodden main trail we split into two groups, one waiting while the other took a short side trip to a view point which turned out to be a mere look at a small waterfall of little note. Suddenly a large group of hikers appeared along the trail, inquiring about the Dry Lake loop trail. We vigorously encouraged them to skip it and stay on the main trail. They were happy to take our advice. The final 2.6 mile exit to our cars gained back that 1200 foot elevation drop from the beginning of the hike. It seemed to be an endless trek with no views, no signage, no campsites, no fauna other than the occasional animal skat (pictures for those interested in such things) and a brief discussion as to which animal left it. Step by step we slowly made our way out of the river canyon to our vehicles and the relief they provided. Changing into dry clothes we took off for civilization and hot coffee at Govvy.

Tired hikers

Reveling in our woodswomen adventure, we were happy for the challenge and satisfied that we had met it successfully and safely. Without views or significant attractions other than a trek through a forest, I would not recommend this hike when there are so many others with a better check list of rewards. As we arrived back at the highway we noticed an expansive movie location setup in the snow park area. The bevy of trailers, motor homes, caterers and assorted other vehicles and personnel gave rise to speculation that the TV series Grimm might be filming on location. This stems from another encounter we had with the movie set at the Union Station in Portland. Too tired to stop and inquire, we left with our speculations unverified. Another day, another great hike. What adventures are you considering?