McKenzie River Trail

This area has numerous old (very old) lava flows running through it. Unlike the newer flows up by Dee Wright Observatory, these flows are weathered and have been overrun by trees, plants, and moss:

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Well, mostly anyway:

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When these flows came down the slope, they dammed the river. Because the lava rock here is so porous, most of the water runs underground for about a mile. When the water is at normal levels, the river just fades. First the riverbed is simply slow water. Then it is dry, but with a profusion of plant life due to the water just under the surface. Eventually the bed goes completely dry and fairly bare. Then suddenly, it flows out of the ground to form Tamolich pool:

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Because the water flows through all that lava rock, it comes out super-pure. The blue color is not a color aberration due to my camera; this next image is a pretty accurate rendition of the hue of the water. The water is almost perfectly still. It is spectacular:

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When the water flow is a bit higher, it seeps from the cliff on the far side and flows down the rock face. When it is really high, it actually flows through the bed and over the cliff edge in a waterfall. The pool is only about 75 feet in diameter. At the other end of the pool, it flows out as the McKenzie River again. Seeing an entire river’s worth of water flowing out of this small, still pool is somewhat surreal:

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Because it is only about 2 miles from the nearest access point and this section of the trail is reasonably easy, it does attract a lot of day hikers just out to see the pool. We probably saw at least 10 people there, with many more on the section of trail leading up to it. Nevertheless is was well worth it. This is definitely one of the most beautiful sights I have seen in the Oregon mountains.

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A mile and a half up the trail, just above where the river disappears into the riverbed, we came across the small dam at Carmen Reservior. The dam is only about 60′ high. As we had hit the midpoint of our day, we turned around where the trail from the reservoir meets the trail we were on, and headed back to the van.

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The bridges along this trail tended to be longer than most of what we have seen in the last 9 months. Several, like this one, simply bridged low areas that are probably very wet at other times of year, but were essentially dry for our outing. This one seems to have rolled to the side a bit as is has settled, making the crossing safe but a tad unsettling:

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This is that same bridge. It is perfectly sound and stable. It’s just tilted:

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This one was very bouncy. We had a lot of fun here:

This bridge was curved. The setting, and especially the large cedar at the north end, made this a beautiful sight:

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Overall, we covered 13 miles (6.5 each way). It went well. Being 12 years younger than I am, Jody had little trouble with the distance even though he has not been getting out nearly as much as I have. I am pleased, because it looks like we will be in fine shape for the 75 miler.

You can download my KMZ file of the hike here. Open it up in Google Earth and take a look.

Only 3 more hikes before our long outing. We expect to get out the weekends of June 21-22, July 5-6, and July 26-27. We expect to hit the PCT for the 75 miler on July 29th or 30th. My gear is nearly ready to go (I just need a new camera, probably a new backpack, and a small collection of odds and ends), but we are still getting Jody’s gear together, as he had less to start with and is upgrading or replacing almost everything he has. We are getting excited!

4 Comments:

  1. Absolutely gorgeous! So glad Jody is going with you on the 75 miler. My heart is with you.

  2. I’m surprised at how loud the river sounds. Beautiful pics as always.

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