Silver Star, July 2, 2012

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hlee
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Joined: April 16th, 2012, 12:41 pm
Location: St. Helens, Oregon

Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by hlee » July 3rd, 2012, 8:04 pm

My dog (Jack Elam) and I went up Silver Star on Monday, July 2. The forecast was for partly to mostly sunny skies, depending on who you listened to. It was completely overcast when we left home at 8:30am, but I have every faith that it would clear off by the time we arrived at the summit, so I could get at least SOME volcanic peak views.

So, OK, the forest roads heading up to the trailhead are spectacularly ridiculous with potholes and such. I cunningly took someone else's truck to get up there, and thus it didn't bother me too much. But it was interesting. I'll post some photos of the road shenanigans, so you can see and judge for yourself the likelihood of your car arriving at the TH in one piece.

Thanks to the directions in the Field Guide here at PH, I only got lost one teensy bit (12 miles) and ended up in La Center. But no matter. We suddenly burst out into the trailhead parking area at 11:30am. There were 3 other SUVs there, to my somewhat surprise. (I kept thinking "How in the world can this trail be so popular, with the hassle to get here?") When we left, there were 4 other vehicles in the parking area, including one Subaru wagon. And I barely had time to get Jack in his harness and leash and get my backpack strapped on before two more SUVs were roaring into the parking area.

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Feeling rushed, I didn't bother to read any signs, just dashed up the nearest trail. So... I'm not sure if I went the wrong way or what. I think all the other people I saw went down this trail:

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But I went up this trail, off to the left.

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I mean, I got to the top and all. But this trail was a little steep-ish and I just wonder if I missed something, and should I have gone the other way? Someone will enlighten me I hope, lol.

In any case, by now the weather was full of sunbursts, but still clouds hanging low and no chance of seeing mountains at the current status. Nonetheless, the trail is really beautiful, and full of things to see and take in.

I shall now barrage you with images of the hike up, in vaguely the order they were taken.

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Bear grass with Jack in background

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Looking back the way we'd come.

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The area where it levels off--something about this area makes me want to spin around with my arms wide open, singing about how the hills are alive...

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Heading through the forest briefly, before pushing on to the summit.

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Jack and I inspect a rock cairn. I felt the overwhelming urge to contribute, so I added a rock to the pile (the one circled in red, to be specific).

The saddle would've snuck up on me if I hadn't heard voices above me and glanced up.

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Looking down the non-trail side of the saddle.

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A moment before he was yelled at to not get close to the edge.

There were I think two other couples up on the true summit, so Jack and I went over to the southern summit to have lunch.

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Jack leads the way.

It was pretty darn cool (no pun intended) watching the clouds actually sweeping up the side of the mountain and swirling past my head. We were right at that elevation.

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String cheese for lunch, om nom nom

When it was our turn to have the summit to ourselves, we hopped on over.

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At first I thought "Oh hey, someone built a big bench!" And then I remembered that this was the remains of a lookout tower.

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Jack rests his chin on my leg, taking in the view.

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My first ever panorama! *hugs it* It's getting re-sized here, either by photobucket, or the site here, but I still enjoy it.. the way the clouds hang low....

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Used the self-timer to take a picture of Jack and I in front of Sturgeon Rock before we headed back down.

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This was the most we saw of any of the five peaks. But it's OK. It gives me something to look forward to next time, which there assuredly will be.

For our trip back down the trail, simply scroll back up the way you came!

Now, here are a bunch of wildflower shots in random order.

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Iris

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Iris

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Desert Parsley and Phlox

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Spider in residence

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Avalanche Lily

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Ugh, I found (on PH no less) what this flower was once, and I thought I wrote it down, but can't rememeber. The males and females look different. I forget which sex this is.

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Same flower, with optional bug attachment,

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Violet

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Iris

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Phlox

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Lupine

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Bleeding heart

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Indian Paintbrush

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Indian Paintbrush

(It's late and I am too lazy to look up all the wildflower IDs. If anyone knows off the top of their heads, please let me know. :) )

Hannah

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
-- T.S. Eliot

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hlee
Posts: 513
Joined: April 16th, 2012, 12:41 pm
Location: St. Helens, Oregon

Re: Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by hlee » July 3rd, 2012, 8:06 pm

OK, here are some quick and dirty (again, no pun...) photos of the road--the most nerve wracking bits. The whole road is very pot-holey, but most of them you can drive around or straddle.

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Hannah

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
-- T.S. Eliot

airoff
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Joined: March 15th, 2012, 8:35 am
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by airoff » July 3rd, 2012, 8:41 pm

Absolutely gorgeous photos!

What angers me most is I was able to drive around that area in a Dodge Neon fewer than 10 years ago. I wish they'd charge a fee to enter the roads above Sunset and use the money to fix the roads. There's just so much to see up there between Moulton Falls and Stabler- and many of us have no access to the area anymore simply because of the atrocious road conditions. I know they're improving roads to the east- I drove across some nice new bridges on some of the forest roads up above Carson a year or so ago, so who knows...

Ok off my soapbox- thanks again for the great TR!

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KimLizzie
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Re: Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by KimLizzie » July 3rd, 2012, 9:21 pm

Glad you made it up there! . Gorgeous flower pics!

Yes, the roads suck! The access is a little better of you take Dole Valley Road to the L1100 road to the 4109 road and bypass the sunset falls entrance altogether.

The trail you took initially to the left was the old 4x4 access road when there was a lookout on top of Silver Star. There is another trail with a few switchbacks that begins near the signboard. After the flat area about 600 yards up (and up and up) is where Ed's trail starts. I usually try and take Ed's trail up, and the road back down for alternating views.

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Banksia
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Re: Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by Banksia » July 3rd, 2012, 9:22 pm

The flower whose name you forgot is Meadow Rue.
Thalictrum sp. I wouldn't venture to guess the
species without seeing more of the plant.

This one is a boy. Anthers. Pollen. ;)

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kepPNW
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Location: Salmon Creek

Re: Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by kepPNW » July 3rd, 2012, 9:31 pm

Any day's a nice day up on Silver Star! Looks like the mix of flowers is changing, from just a couple weeks ago.

The roads are definitely atrocious. But I really wonder about that frequently recommended approach from the north and east. Does anyone else come at it from the west, through Orchards and Hockinson, past Larch Correctional, and up Dole Valley?

http://goo.gl/maps/ItjT <-- seems easier to me.
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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hlee
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Joined: April 16th, 2012, 12:41 pm
Location: St. Helens, Oregon

Re: Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by hlee » July 4th, 2012, 4:06 am

Thanks airoff. Yeah I could see myself trying to take my Cavalier up it, just to see if I could, but... there's no point in being needlessly risky I guess.

KimLizzie, I heard about the other route to get there from some other TRs, but since it was my first time I thought I'd keep it as simple as possible and follow the directions here on the site. Maybe next time I'll try to map that out. Thanks for the info about the 4x4 access road. Next time, I'll try the other trail, sounds gentler.

Thanks banksia for the ID!

kepPNW, I think that's the route that KimLizzie suggested above, using 1100. I will maybe try that route next time. Or maybe not--if I'm hiking with other people, it might be fun to freak them out a bit.

Hannah

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
-- T.S. Eliot

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kepPNW
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Re: Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by kepPNW » July 4th, 2012, 5:17 am

Ed's Trail, on the east side of that ridge, has at least one place where you're scrambling a bit, and might be a bit of a challenge for dogs (and/or anyone with vertigo inclinations).

http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/vie ... f=8&t=8336

The split right out of the parking area between trail and jeep road doesn't last too long. You can actually see the two paths coming together again on Google Earth, just 2000 feet or so up the hill.

I think KimLizzie was suggesting coming from the west as well, but I wasn't sure where the start point was. I've seen folks suggest coming south on Dole Valley road from up around Moulton Falls, but that just adds another 30-45 minutes for anyone coming from anywhere below Battle Ground.
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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hlee
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Joined: April 16th, 2012, 12:41 pm
Location: St. Helens, Oregon

Re: Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by hlee » July 4th, 2012, 6:03 am

Yeah, that makes sense. I saw someone coming up behind me off that split you were talking about.

I do want to try Ed's Trail at some point. The first time, I just wanted to keep it simple and not get turned around or anything. I also really wanted to go over and see the Indian Pits as you did in your post. But I forgot to write down the instructions to get there. Next time!!

Hannah

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
-- T.S. Eliot

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kepPNW
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Location: Salmon Creek

Re: Silver Star, July 2, 2012

Post by kepPNW » July 4th, 2012, 7:05 am

To get to the Indian Pits, you cut south at that cairn below the summit, then go east at a 4x4 post marking a 4-way junction less than a 1/4 mile or so down the road.

Attached is a KML of all the trails I know of to explore SilverStar. (Next one I want to try is via Little Baldy!)
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SilverStarMountainTrails.kml
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Karl
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