Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

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sparkpilot
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Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by sparkpilot » September 23rd, 2012, 2:24 pm

We headed to the Bull of the Woods Wilderness on 9/22 to go on the 7.4 mile Pansy Lake Loop. The weather forecast predicted thundershowers for the area, we therefore knew that it would be sunny and clear and a perfect day. We ran into only a few hikers and felt like we had the place to ourselves for most of the hike. The 1900 ft gain in elevation seemed like all that and more:)
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Pansy Lake Trailhead; a lush mature forest with a soft needle covered trail is so inviting.
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Bull of the Woods Wilderness
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Pansy Lake is so pretty. It's shallow and warm. We made it this far last year when we saw smoke coming over the ridge and had to leave. The trail was closed that afternoon and for weeks to come after that.
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Riley had a great time!
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Pretty fall color
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Above the lake the trail heads up a bunch of talus slopes. The trail always seemed to deposit us on the top of something and we felt like we had made it somewhere even though we were far from our destination.
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Once we crossed the ridge on Mother Lode Mountain and got on to Trail 558, we started seeing vistas like this. It really started to climb up from here as we headed toward the lookout tower.
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Mt. Jefferson

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We met up with Brad from Corvallis who informed us it was only 5 minutes to the lookout tower. This is when we discovered a new mathematical relationship which we call the ideal hiking law: 5 minutes down= 20 minutes up.
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Once on the ridge it was amazing. Such pretty colors
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Finally... we see the lookout. Whew
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Riley at the lookout. I'm not sure those stairs are up to OSHA standards...
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Matt at the lookout. We went up to get a look around and decided the lookout itself was the most dangerous part of the hike.
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Riley loves to hike, especially when snacks are involved.
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We saw a beautiful lake from the tower that turned out to be Big Slide Lake. (thanks to McGib for the info)
We took the 550 trail to the 549 trail to complete the loop. The route offers a quick, steep drop off the ridge. It was kind of a dark and foreboding stretch of woods as we got into late afternoon. Armed only with animal crackers, every time we pulled a gorilla out the package, we waved it around to scare off any would-be attackers before biting its head off.
Last edited by sparkpilot on September 24th, 2012, 8:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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hlee
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Re: Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by hlee » September 23rd, 2012, 5:08 pm

lol, great TR! Riley is adorable. Good idea, using the animal crackers for personal protection.

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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sparkpilot
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Re: Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by sparkpilot » September 23rd, 2012, 6:44 pm

hlee wrote:lol, great TR! Riley is adorable. Good idea, using the animal crackers for personal protection.

Hannah, Thank you! Looks like you have an adorable dog too.
yes... the animal crackers seem to do the trick:)

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hlee
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Re: Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by hlee » September 24th, 2012, 12:46 pm

Thanks, yeah I have two. They don't get out hiking too much, as I don't want to be one of those pet owners who just drags their dog along, regardless of the dog's fitness level and pad toughness. And a few of my recent hikes are no dogs allowed. Right now the dog in my icon is doing an impression of a corpse, draped halfway out of his bed onto the floor. smh...

What kind of mix is Riley?

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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sparkpilot
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Re: Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by sparkpilot » September 24th, 2012, 4:22 pm

hlee wrote:Thanks, yeah I have two. They don't get out hiking too much, as I don't want to be one of those pet owners who just drags their dog along, regardless of the dog's fitness level and pad toughness. And a few of my recent hikes are no dogs allowed. Right now the dog in my icon is doing an impression of a corpse, draped halfway out of his bed onto the floor. smh...

What kind of mix is Riley?

HaHa:) Right now Riley is blending in with the environment in his natural habitat. You can only make out his head against the white pillow cases and comforter.

He's a comfort puppy for sure but wow does he ever love hiking and he is built for it. He is all muscle and full of pep and bounce ...that is unless he is lounging on the bed:)

He is a corgy/shelty mix. How 'bout yours? The one in your profile pic sure is cute.

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hlee
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Re: Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by hlee » September 24th, 2012, 4:39 pm

Jack Elam is just some kind of spaniel mix (as listed on his humane society 'dossier'), and our other dog Esther is a rat terrier.

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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sparkpilot
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Re: Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by sparkpilot » September 24th, 2012, 8:11 pm

hlee wrote:Jack Elam is just some kind of spaniel mix (as listed on his humane society 'dossier'), and our other dog Esther is a rat terrier.
I love spaniel mixes. They have such beautiful faces and wonderful dispositions.

I got Riley from Oregon Friends of Shelter Animals and they thought he was corgie/shelty. But he has a white body and markings and ears that are so much like a fox terrier that I can't help but wonder if he has that too.

Fran

mcgib
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Re: Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by mcgib » September 24th, 2012, 8:15 pm

That's Big Slide Lake.

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sparkpilot
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Re: Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by sparkpilot » September 24th, 2012, 8:22 pm

mcgib wrote:That's Big Slide Lake.

Thank you! I wondered if it was Big Slide or not. I have a worn out fold on my map right over the name and couldn't quite make it out.

thanks again
Fran

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rick6003
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Re: Pansy Lake Loop - Bull of the Woods Wilderness - 9/22/12

Post by rick6003 » September 25th, 2012, 7:58 am

We did a short backpack up there the other week. Very nice camp sites at Pansy Lake. I goofed up though by not bringing a good map. We climbed up the 549 to the 550 and were almost to the lookout but couldn't see it throught the trees. So we went back down and set up camp at Pansy. Next day we hiked to the Lookout. Then the best part was Austin Hot springs on the way home.

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