Paradise Park from Timberline Lodge 9/1/12 - FLOWERS!

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Krystle
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Paradise Park from Timberline Lodge 9/1/12 - FLOWERS!

Post by Krystle » September 2nd, 2012, 12:04 pm

A friend and I got to the trailhead and started hiking at 10am. It was surprisingly uncrowded for almost the entire hike, except the very end when coming back to the lodge. It took us 7 leisurely, photo-taking hours. I thought I'd missed the boat on seeing carpets of Oregon wildflowers, but Paradise Park did not disappoint!
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Bumped into a group of runners approaching Zigzag Canyon:
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Getting a closer look at the appropriately named Zigzag Canyon:
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Contemplating how we'll cross Zigzag River. Backpackers on the other side were putting their shoes back on, we followed suit and took off our shoes and crossed hobbit style. On the way back though, we hopped on the rocks.
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The flowermania hit us at the junction with the Paradise Park trail. The colors were vibrant and almost overwhelming; the scent was incredible; the sound of bees buzzing happily around was pretty nice, too. We lingered here for a while, draining our camera batteries with glee.
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Not sure if this is the south fork or the north fork of Lost Creek?
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Somewhere after Lost Creek we got "lost" in a maze of campsites. Found this spot, which I thought would be awesome for a hammock:
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We backtracked and found a faint trail up a hill which joined perpendicular to the proper trail (turning left), and continued on the colorful journey. We ventured out to a viewpoint, Paradise Branch Canyon I think?
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Descended into the canyon, past a few waterfalls, and back into the woods, where we found the Timberline Trail junction and started heading back. We took a break at this viewpoint, sitting on a sunny log.
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I took a bathroom break in the wooded area next to this spot and it was pretty gross. There was a ziplock bag with what looked like a diaper in it, and someone just left it there. The more time I spent there, the more dirty toilet paper I saw. Ugh.

Anyway, our lunch view was spectacular, of course:
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On the way back, we were so surprised by the elevation gain that we questioned whether we were on the right track. We didn't remember, at all, the first leg of the trek being so downhill. Hiking amnesia? We were probably so distracted by the flowers that we didn't notice.

The soil was so sandy, like beach sandy, for much of this hike. I wore my minimalist shoes (way lighter and more breathable than my boots). The first time I wore them, I got a lot of stuff (pine needles) in them (because the opening is so low on my ankles) and I also got blisters on the balls of my feet. This time (second time) I wore gel pads and body glide (recommended here!) and made gaiters from old soccer socks.
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The gaiters were effective (no gravel in my shoes, though not much could be done about the sand slipping in through the mesh) but with my feet swelling and the gel insoles taking up some of the minimal room in my shoes, it got too tight and one of my toes got badly crunched. Back to boots next time.

I drank 1L of gatorade and almost 500mL of water. Pack weighed in at 12 lbs, pre-hike. I'm starting to feel the need for a quality backpack, I'm using a standard backpack, which is better for textbooks than hiking. Everything bulged at the bottom of the pack, which bounced on my lower back and today the skin is a bit sore around there.

In conclusion: This hike was amazing! If you've seen the movie "What Dreams May Come" I felt like I was in the scene where Robin Williams walks through an oil painting. I don't think I've ever seen so many flowers at once. I hadn't been hiking in 2 months and this was a wonderful way to get back into it.

justpeachy
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Re: Paradise Park from Timberline Lodge 9/1/12 - FLOWERS!

Post by justpeachy » September 3rd, 2012, 6:44 am

Great! So glad to see the wildflowers still in bloom since we're headed up there next weekend. Beautiful!

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Crusak
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Re: Paradise Park from Timberline Lodge 9/1/12 - FLOWERS!

Post by Crusak » September 3rd, 2012, 11:52 am

wow, from your TR and the one by pdxgene it looks like Paradise Park is the place to visit this week. Nice trip report. And I like the 'sock gaiter' idea - works exactly for what you intended, and yet still breathable and light. :)
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Boozeman
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Re: Paradise Park from Timberline Lodge 9/1/12 - FLOWERS!

Post by Boozeman » September 3rd, 2012, 4:53 pm

I made pretty much the same trip right around the same time last year and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of flowers still blooming. Glad to hear that Paradise Park is consistently amazing. It's funny that you mentioned the "hiker's amnesia" because when I was on my way back from P.P. I was also kind of shocked by the amount of elevation gain that there was too. I was huffing and puffing and dragging my hiking poles by the time I got back to the car. :lol:

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Krystle
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Re: Paradise Park from Timberline Lodge 9/1/12 - FLOWERS!

Post by Krystle » September 3rd, 2012, 6:17 pm

Crusak wrote:wow, from your TR and the one by pdxgene it looks like Paradise Park is the place to visit this week. Nice trip report. And I like the 'sock gaiter' idea - works exactly for what you intended, and yet still breathable and light. :)
Thanks! I felt pretty proud of my "hiking hack" :)
Boozeman wrote:I made pretty much the same trip right around the same time last year and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of flowers still blooming. Glad to hear that Paradise Park is consistently amazing. It's funny that you mentioned the "hiker's amnesia" because when I was on my way back from P.P. I was also kind of shocked by the amount of elevation gain that there was too. I was huffing and puffing and dragging my hiking poles by the time I got back to the car. :lol:
It's definitely the procrastinator's flower show! I'm glad I'm not the only one who was surprised by the ending elevation gain. I'm so used to doing hikes where the end is all downhill. Not sure if my feet were any better off with an uphill finish, ha.

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Krystle
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Re: Paradise Park from Timberline Lodge 9/1/12 - FLOWERS!

Post by Krystle » September 3rd, 2012, 6:19 pm

justpeachy wrote:Great! So glad to see the wildflowers still in bloom since we're headed up there next weekend. Beautiful!
Charge your batteries, empty your camera memory! Should be awesome.

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