Well, that does it. Tanner Butte viewpoint was on my to-do list for 2014, so let's get started right away. I had never been up Tanner Butte and I was curious how much snow was retained at it's high point after the storms from last weekend. Seemed like a good reason to go check it out.I took a group of three follow hikers on this adventure from Wahclella parking lot to Tanner Butte viewpoint. I required each person to bring snowshoes in case (gasp!) we actually hit enough snow.
We started from Wahclella parking lot at about 7:25am. Clouds were already clearing as we headed up the #400 trail past the powerlines to the #777 road. Our only "bouldering" of the day:
I guess this trip report will seem a lot like Karl's, because we took his lead on ascending via the Wauna cutoff trail (is that the correct name? Edited the offtrail name to be more "correct" and/or less "incorrect"). The trail actually started as an old access road:
..and continued as switchbacks up to powerlines above:
There was a defined path that continued up the ridge:
With a view off to the left (north):
In fact, there were a number of nice views on this ascent up the ridge as the fog continued to lift:
Almost to the point where we started flattening out:
The path was a little header to follow in sections as the terrain began to flatten out, but it wasn't too hard to get the general idea of where to go. Ah, a campsite and the intersection with the #401 Tanner trail:
Thus began our long stroll south, passing the Dublin lake junction - still no snow:
As we continued south towards the Tanner Butte viewpoint, I heard rumblings from my colleagues about the merits of bringing snowshoes along. More like, "Hey Craig, it is possible we will be carrying snowshoes along almost 20 miles for nothing?". I respond with the standard/safe response, "It's better to be prepared".
I couldn't think of anything else better to say. Any snow yet? Hmmm, nope. In fact, it felt rather warm, like a clear autumn day:
Snow? OK - a little bit as we continued on Beargrass Alley:
A little more, but never more than a foot deep in very short sections uncovered by trees:
It was just easier to posthole through the short sections of packed ice/snow. No views until we were within a mile or so of the highpoint:
Ah, the unsigned junction to the Tanner Butte viewpoint:
The junction turned out to be a moderately steep hike through a foot of snow at points, but it was easy to see where the trail was. We came upon the lower viewpoint - 6 inches of packed snow on the ground - easy to walk on:
The viewpoint was ahead 1/10 of a mile:
We got to the viewpoint at 12:45pm and spent 40 minutes lunching at the Tanner Butte viewpoint - high 40s, light wind...in January? Really? Yes!!!
Views? Of course!
My (very) amateur attempt at a panorama:
More views:
Do we really have to go? Yes - it's 1:30pm, need to start heading back.
OK - time to descend. I think I heard mumbles in this direction about carrying snowshoes almost 20 miles for nothing?
One more look at Hood from the first butte viewpoint as the afternoon slips away:
We took the #401 trail all the way down to its trailhead:
A neat cloud stream through the Gorge right before dark:
Crossing Tanner creek as we get our headlamps out:
We got back to the car at about 6:05pm in the dark.
Raw hiking stats - track not cleaned up nor analyzed yet. Includes some wandering on my behalf, so distance is slightly longer:
Distance: 19.9 miles
Overall Time: 10:37:20
Moving Time: 8:53:28
Stopped Time: 1:43:52
Avg Overall Speed: 1.9 mph
Avg Moving Speed: 2.2mph
Total Ascent: 5338 ft
Max Elevation: 4496 ft
Thanks for putting this idea into my head Karl!
