I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

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greenjello85
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I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

Post by greenjello85 » November 24th, 2014, 7:34 pm

So I finally had time to go hiking. I wanted to go into the bull of the woods but I didn't want to detour all the way up to Timothy lake to get around the 224 closure. Instead, I decided to climb up whetstone mountain from the opal creek trailhead.

Opener
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I made it to the trailhead around 9:30. It was very foggy on the drive up there but the fog began to lift. I started cruising down the opal creek road and after about three-quarters of a mile I hit the turn off and started the long climb.

Foggy
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The water was raging today!
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First giant on the whetstone trail. The first small tree to the left is about 18" diameter...
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The trail follows an old road bed for a mile or so. Today this was more of a creek bed! At one point there was a series of a half dozen springs pouring onto the trail. No rain today but it was WET! It was at this point that I realized my old boots just aren't exactly waterproof anymore :roll: This trail goes up. and up. and up some more! After MANY switchbacks the trail starts following a ridge. And still goes up. and up. and up! After climbing this ridge for quite a while, there is a summit! Unfortunately this is not the summit you are looking for :lol: The trail actually goes down here for a bit following a ridge saddle before climbing again towards whetstone. This section isn't as steep but my legs were burning a bit after all those switchbacks. There were some really big old growths on this ridge saddle. 6-8' diameter. I was kind of surprised to see them because of the elevation.

That's way up there...
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Gratuitous naked tree.
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And the sun shines through!
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A burned area, not sure how old it is though...
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A fungi I hadn't seen before
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So a brief tutorial on why wind storms are dangerous...
Literally just sitting there.
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This tree top was securely in the ground and 6" diameter at the BASE! I assume the ewoks were trying to stop a walker....
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Theres the snow!
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An interesting rock formation with bull of the woods mountain and mt jefferson(not really visible in pictures), I would like to explore this when things are a bit less slippery...
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There wasn't much snow until I started up the last few switchbacks up to Whetstone.
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So after some careful and tired footsteps, I finally made it the summit of Whetstone! And boy did the hard climb pay off! Pictures don't do it justice but these were some of the most amazing views I've ever seen. This is the first time I've been able to summit any of the bull mountains during the snow! I was definitely in my happy place! :mrgreen:

*corrected battle ax mountain and Mt Jefferson
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Hood
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South
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Towards Sisters
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Huey loves cliffs. He makes me nervous sometimes :oops:
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Pano
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The elusive Danimal(yes I really just said that.)
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Olallie Butte
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On the way back down I noticed this old phone or power line attached to the back of a tree. Weird.... or wired!
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The middle section of this tree seems to be missing but the entire tree is actually still alive. This thing is going down eventually!
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My last surprise was this little fella sneaking up on this mushroom
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I love tree.... do you really Brick?
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We made it back to the car and the rain started as I took my boots off. Second time this has happened to me in the last couple of months. The hiking gods smile on me today ;)
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This hike was AWESOME but it was not an easy one. I'm not sure on distance but I think its gotta be close to 10 miles and probably 3000 elevation. I forgot to turn on my GPS and I haven't found a lot of info about this route.
~Dan

**I found the distance and elevation in a statesman journal article 3900 e.g. 11 miles. Yikes! I usually over-estimate:)
Last edited by greenjello85 on November 26th, 2014, 9:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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RobFromRedland
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Re: I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

Post by RobFromRedland » November 24th, 2014, 8:24 pm

Cool trip! The view from the top of Whetstone is pretty amazing.... It is one of the best views around.

When did you go? Today? I would have expected more snow up there now, but maybe there is a small window until the snow closes it down for the year.

I've wanted to do that hike for a while, but instead of coming back the way you came, you keep going down the other side and end up coming back thru Jawbone flats - it is supposed to be a 14.5 mile loop.

Thanks for posting the trip.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

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kepPNW
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Re: I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

Post by kepPNW » November 25th, 2014, 6:40 am

That just looks awesome! It's an area I've never explored, but clearly need to. Those views are really incredible.

Saw a treetop snapped off about 30' up on Larch the other day, still attached and resting on a nearby friend and creaking (loudly!) with each gust. Hope no one was near when it finally came down.
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

greenjello85
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Re: I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

Post by greenjello85 » November 25th, 2014, 11:09 am

Thanks for the replies guys. Rob, I went up yesterday and I had expected to encounter more snow. I try to hit whetstone a couple times a year but this was my first attempt from Opal Creek trail head. I was considering trying the loop but I wasn't sure what the creek crossing is like and water levels in general are pretty high. It's on my list for next summer though!

Karl, those big branches are definitely a little scary! The best views in that area are from bull of the woods watch tower imho but I like the trail approaches to whetstone better and there is generally no one else there.

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kelkev
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Re: I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

Post by kelkev » November 25th, 2014, 1:07 pm

Very Nice!! Never been up there before, but looks like a great workout. Nice trip report.
"Going to the mountains is going home."
— John Muir

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RobFromRedland
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Re: I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

Post by RobFromRedland » November 25th, 2014, 1:28 pm

One other thing - that wire you saw attached to the tree was part of the forest service "telephone system" that they used to communicate between lookouts before radios became common.

Here is a document that talks about a similar setup at a national forest back east. I've seen similar documents about the NW forests, but I couldn't find one quickly.

http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Pub ... /chap8.htm

If you look at old maps, you can see the route of the old phone line - you'll see dots alternating back and forth next to the trail. Here is a snippet of a 1939 map that shows one going up the Bagby Trail and also one that follows the road to Jawbone Flats:
1939MapSnippet.jpg
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

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RobFromRedland
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Re: I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

Post by RobFromRedland » November 25th, 2014, 1:31 pm

greenjello85 wrote:Thanks for the replies guys. Rob, I went up yesterday and I had expected to encounter more snow. I try to hit whetstone a couple times a year but this was my first attempt from Opal Creek trail head. I was considering trying the loop but I wasn't sure what the creek crossing is like and water levels in general are pretty high. It's on my list for next summer though!
Amazing there isn't more snow. I'm kind of glad, though. I'm not ready to give up the higher elevations to winter yet.

Yeah, I hadn't really thought about it, but that creek crossing would probably be a bit of a challenge this time of year. I did it once several years ago, but it was in July or August and it was easy.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

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Karl Helser
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Re: I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

Post by Karl Helser » November 26th, 2014, 9:05 am

Thanks for the report and great tree pics... This trip is a great conditioner with lots to see. Next time continue on east, then south down to Battle Ax creek, then back west through Jawbone Flats...and out to the trailhead...for a grand loop.
FYI...what you are calling Bull of The Woods Mountain, is Battle Ax Mountain.

greenjello85
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Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:31 pm

Re: I huffed and I puffed and I climbed Whetstone Mountain

Post by greenjello85 » November 26th, 2014, 9:37 am

Karl Helser wrote:Thanks for the report and great tree pics... This trip is a great conditioner with lots to see. Next time continue on east, then south down to Battle Ax creek, then back west through Jawbone Flats...and out to the trailhead...for a grand loop.
FYI...what you are calling Bull of The Woods Mountain, is Battle Ax Mountain.
Whoops! :oops: Here's a pano shot to make up for it ;) Image

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