We met up at Cascades Hiker's house around 6 a.m. and his wife(mrs CH) drove us over to Angels Rest. We were all super stoked and CH, I know the guys and I cant thank you and your wife enough for keeping the dream alive. but thx buddy, u guys are awesome
Arriving at 7 a.m. we took a few pre-Hatfield party pics and headed on our way:
I had never been to Angels Rest and was excited to see one of the most iconic points in the gorge:
With a close up of some early morning hikers enjoying the views:
There were irises and thimbleberries flowering with some salmon berries ripe for the picking:
And then BOOM! The hurricane of hiking and laughs that only Ep and Mayhem can create unexpectdly appeared and offered us some great energy, and some buttons
This only lasted for about 30 seconds and then they ran away leaving us t-hikers in the dust! But they would return later on with proper goodbyes:
Meeting up with Multnomah Creek we pushed on and reached the Franklin Ridge Trail at the 7.2 mile mark. Pretty soon we were hiking through the overgrown Bell Creek Trail and enjoying some more laughs with EP and Mayhem!
They headed up further toward Larch giving us the chance to save some time and sneak ahead but those cheetahs caught us again just before the Bell Creek Trail. A brushy spot on Bell Creek overgrown with salmonberries and thimbleberries:
Crossing Bell Creek and a bridge full of hiking superpowers:)
Bell Creek lacks maintanence in many areas and doesnt see much travel but its always a trail I enjoy. On our way up toward Nesmith Point we were unexpectdly greeted by another ph'er of legendary status, Pablo! He seemed to be on one of his amazing off trail adventures that he is famous for in the gorge but he paused briefly to take the time to stop and chat with us. Thx Pablo, it was a pleasure to meet you out on the trail
Pablo heading into the mist:
And this is the majority of the views for the trip
: 
Onto Nesmith where Mayhem and Ep parted ways and headed back toward Eagle Creek via the Nesmith Trail and some 84 hiking:
We were all feeling good when we reached the Moffet Creek Trail around the 17 mile mark. The Moffet is still rough but is in much better shape than it was a year ago thanks to some great efforts from some of ph's finest members
McCord Creek along the Moffett Creek Trail and the beautiful McCord Creek meadows:
The views from the rim were hiding in the clouds on Saturday but there were some nice rhodies in bloom near Wild and Cuddley Frog Lake:
And some nice tread work done by the guys a few weeks back with a special CH log. Chase plans to add "ase" to make the "ch" into chase in an attempt to claim the glory for himself!
Down at Tanner Creek Chase had set some logs a few weeks back and they were still holding strong to make the crossing swift and easy:
This moth, seemingly plastered to the face of this rock didnt fare so well on his fording attempt
The Tanner Creek Trail is still very rough near the Tanner Crk crossing and could use some serious tlc. Despite spending hours and hours working in there a few months back and feeling like I was hit by a Mack truck the trails in this section of the gorge still deserve some serious respect for their ruggedness and lack of maintanence. Preparing for the last climb of the day with an intended camp out a top Tanner Butte, good old CH had a hidden surprise in store as soon as we hit the Tanner Crk cutoff trail. Off into the bushes he goes saying, "hmm whats over here guys?". Beer Stash!!!
Feeling strong around the 23 mile mark we started up the relentless Tanner cutoff with about 7 miles to go before camp. About halfway up we all started getting pasty faced and feeling pretty looned out. Thanks has to be given again to the incredble work that has been done to the tanner cutoff trail over the last few months or so. It's in in the greatest shape any of us have ever seen and it made our hike up to the ridge much more managable. Just before we hit the ridge and the Dublin Lake turnoff things went from loony to flat out pasty faced squishiness as we struggled up the last few hundred feet to the ridge. With the misty weather, sweat soaked t-shirts and only fumes left in the tank we all decided to bunk the surely viewless butte and head for the quiet comfort of Dublin Lake just a short distance away. Only Joe mentioned pushing past at this point but he was quickly over ruled
There were a few other folks at the lake but several large sites were still available for the taking. Here are some serious dudes enjoying a little much needed dinner grub at the lake:
The next moring I snapped a shot of Chase's tent(left) and Ch's hammock under the outstanding Silver Firs of Dublin Lake:
Feeling surprised by Ep, Mayhem, the unexpected Pablo encounter and the beer stash I wasnt ready for any more surprises. But Chase pulled a fast one the next morning when he introduced his awesome homemade tyvek chaps!
Assless ofcourse
Wondereing if the door to the Silverado on 3rd ave would appear lakeside we opted not to stick around and find out. But the Vanilla Leaf near the lake would be an excellent indicator of the wet trees and shrubs we would be pushing through in the next several miles:
After a leisurely exit of camp around 9 am we turned on the jets and I was soaked in about ten minutes. I too now want some of those a-less chaps!
Speaking of trail work, we met a guy I call meandering Mike working on the Tanner Butte/Tanner spring trails again. I saw him working in there last year and several of us met him again earlier this year. Mike is a great guy and you can tell he just loves the area with every bit of his heart. He also told us he put up the popular "trail from hell" sign that has since been taken down now that the tanner cuttof is in much better shape. Meandering Mike and the guys:
We pushed on past thrush pond and the amazing giants of Big Cedar Springs hitting the Eagle Creek crossing around the 34-35 mile mark:
Stepping onto the well traveled Eagle Creek Trail felt like a dream after many of the previous trails we had been traveling on. Crossing one of the streams before reaching Wahtum Lake at 3723 ft:
Wahtum Lake from the logs:
From the lake we opted to take the north bound pct cutoff and headed off trail very shortly to an old road that used to lead down to the lake. I was way off here and would have dragged us back to the lake thinking we were a little further up the rd then we really were. Chase did this last year so he guided us through and CH/Joe helped out as well, thx guys! The only snow we encountered over the entire trip was along this road, but we heard reports of lingering snow at the top of herman crk from a runner we saw at Wahtum:
In stead of going over Green Point Mtn and heading down to North Lake we took the safe bet time wise and used road 670 and rd 2820 to reach the Defiance Trail's western terminus. CH thought he was pretty special leaving a few brews down at the cutoff but I had bigger plans waiting for us at the Rainy Lake Campground:
Bummer!! Some boozers robbed my stash and ruined our chances for a "drunken defiance". Here I am junkying-out for that last drop:
Nah, but I wish peeps would pick up there trash, specially if they're gonna take the time to gather it in a garbage bag. Still feeling strong after some CH espresso beans we bypassed a known smorgasbord of slugs down at Bear Lake and summited Defiance around 7 pm-ish. Here's the guys on top of Defiance:
I forgot to give them out the night before but had some Bruce's chocolate covered caramels from the coast to hand out(mmmm they were good)
Dropping past Warren Lake we picked up some trash in one of the campsites and felt the final stretch within our grasp. I got a slight bit ahead of the guys for a bit and snapped some shots of the scenery on my way down, this Douglas Fir is a real battle hardened vet of the Starvation Trail:
Hiking in the clouds for over 50 miles made the last 4 or 5 back to the TH seem glorious as the sun set over the river:
A couple of birds of prey were watching over me as I descended toward the starvation cutoff:
Feeling pumped heading into Starvation we waved down Mrs. CH just as she pulled in around 8:40 pm. From Dublin to Starvation in 12 hrs we were all feeling like hungry bower marmots. But the Char was closed so we opted to go back to CH's and then Joe's house where we all went our seperate ways. I could not wipe the smile off my face heading back to town after having such an amazing trip with these legends of the field guide:
With trail heads and access points only an hour or so from Portland, the Hatfield Trail/trans-gorge is one of the most spectacular circuits available in the area. As popularity continues to grow surrounding the Hatfield route hopefully it will someday garner the same respect and love so many of us have for the Timberline Trail and the other iconic trails of our day. Thank you for reading.
Some people have no respect for the great outdoors. That sucks.
I was really looking forward to some red coconut curry and a western burger with fries. Oh well, I got a couple pints and some fish&chips and fried mushrooms and will eat something tastier tonight.
