Tanner Butte & Wauna Point - almost snow-free 4/18/14

[mjirving]

Well, this hike was a little longer than I expected, but still a great one. I started at dawn from the Wahclella Falls trail head and went up to Tanner Butte. I hit snow at just under 4,000', but it was easy to get through and easy to follow the trail. Just a few mounds here and there and postholed only about 10% of the time and even then just 1/2 foot or so deep. Watch for the small cairn in the middle of the road/trail for the final 1/2-mile summit approach as it is NOT obvious. The summit had about a foot or so of snow in places but it was well consolidated and easy to get through. While it was pretty cloudy, it started to lift as I departed.

View to the south

View to the north

Anyone know what these tracks are?

Gotta love Oregon!

On the way down I figured I'd check out Wauna Point. A sign down low had mentioned it was closed due to landslide so I figured I'd just to to that point. I never saw a "landslide" but there was a section that had some pretty narrow trail on a steep bank, but it was in pretty good shape. Definitely a little sketchy though. I made it out to the Point which actually felt more sketchy to me as I'm not a huge fan of heights, but I pushed myself to the edge of my comfort zone!

Wauna Point

All in all a great day!

My route

Here's a link to my blog with more pictures, more details and a video of my hike:
http://goaltechhikes.blogspot.com/2014/ ... point.html

-GoalTech/Mike

[retired jerry]

Cougar?

[payslee]

Nice TR and thanks for the snow conditions report!

I'd also assume cougar - looks like no claw marks (cats have retractable claws, canids don't). Probably a slightly overlapping front and back track, unless the kittie has an extra toe

Fun find! I've always suspected a lot more cougars have seen me than vice versa.

-payslee

[mjirving]

That was pretty fresh snow too so probably a pretty fresh track.

[northridge]

Nice report.

I suspect the landslide mentioned on the signs refers to the recent event right near Wauna Viewpoint where the powerlines cross the ridge far below the spot you hiked to from above.

Here's what the slide looked like last weekend, taken from Wauna Viewpoint looking directly west.

[mjirving]

Thanks northridge. The sign at the trail head looked brand new so I was surprised that I didn't see something "fresh". Makes sense now.

[trekkerdave]

We went up to Wauna Point on 4/19, the closest thing we found to a landslide was a spot were some rocks and mud had come across Tanner Creek Road, but that looked like it had been there a while, and was certainly no trouble crossing.

I also just wanted to highly recommend the hike up to Wauna Point. It is a fairly long haul (10+ miles and over 3000 cumulative elevation gain), but the view at the end is great. Also, we encountered no one during the hike, had the road and trail to ourselves. So, on busy weekends when everyone else are hitting the usual crowded spots, try this one out instead.

Here are a few shots from along the trail and at the point…

My hiking partners of the day, Ryan, Banjo the dog, Mark, and Mike

Typical Tanner Butte trail scenery, a nice hike through a mature forest

Mike and Banjo at Wauna Point

A more complete trip report and pictures can be found on my web page at http://trekkerdave.com/#/Day%20Hikes/2014WaunaPoint/

[mjirving]

Great angle on the shot on the point. Love that shot...well done!

[Billri9685]

Nice report, I wonder how much of that snow will be left this weekend.

[mjirving]

Probably got some fresh stuff in the last few days. I'm sure the 80-deg weather this week will knock it down. Don't worry though as it was easy to navigate through and walk through.