East Fork Trail

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In my ongoing quest for a longer trail to hike during the winter season I decided to try the East Fork Trail. It follows the East Fork of the McKenzie River, starting at Cougar Reservoir and following the creek up toward the source. My research indicates it is a good trail for my purposes because it stays to relatively low elevations for much of the trail, helping me to avoid the snow. This sounded good to me, and the trail was especially intriguing because it is one I have never hiked, in an area I never seem to get to.

I got a late start again. Why does important stuff always seem to come up the night before I plan to go hiking? I was up late the night before, so I didn’t even get out of bed until 7am. I made my best effort to get out the door and up to the trailhead as quickly as possible, but by the time I got there, got saddled up, and headed out it was already 10am. That was fine by me, because even though I was looking for a longer hike, this trail only goes about 6 miles, so a late start wouldn’t shorten my day much, if any. In the end, it didn’t matter at all.

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It was a beautiful day with fairly clear skies and temperatures in the mid-40s. Only a small chance of rain was forecast, and that was only one of the 4 sources I checked. There was no-one else at the trailhead when I hit the trail. The creek (river?) was swollen with runoff from recent rains and snow, so it was running deep, fast, and a bit violently.

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Log bridges are cool. This trail has several of them, with varying designs. This one has two rails and had recently been rebuilt. Up and across.

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Some of these bridges have only one rail, and you feel a bit exposed over rushing waters like this. This next video not only give you an idea how strong the current is, but if you pause at the 9 second mark, you’ll notice I was filming on just such a bridge:

There were a lot of feeder creeks flowing into the main channel from the walls of the narrow valley. Most were much more sedate, but some were little ragers in their own right. Most were small flows a couple inches wide coming over the embankment and across the trail. Some places it seemed like there was a new feeder stream every 20 feet.

This was a nice little offshoot. I like how the trail meanders through the image. I wish it had come out sharper, and with better color. I really do depend on dumb luck and tech to get decent pictures:

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With the river running high, it splits and rejoins regularly as it overwhelms the normal banks.

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Some feeder streams are quite serene.

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Waterfalls are a dime-a-dozen out here.

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The sound of water hurtling over rocks fills the day.

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Sometimes it’s tricky to cross a feeder stream without getting wet feet.

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Sometimes I get lucky and snap a great shot.

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One Comment:

  1. Tim, I’m so glad I finally got around to checking this out. Your pictures are gorgeous. The first one took my breath away (no, not the one with the car), and your comments are clear and helpful and often poetic. This is a neat project! I just finished reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed and that gave me some info and insight about what you are planning to do. Fortunately, you’re doing better planning than she did! I’m looking forward to getting your updates. Faith

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