This was an easily-graded, 12-mile day hike on Mt. Adams’ south side.
Several old stock ways, used by Basque shepherds in the late 19th century and, by the mid-20th century, becoming conduits for cattle, run up through Mount Adams’ montane forest to the timberline. The Shorthorn Trail is one of these but, although there were a few cows near trailhead, the rest of trail was big mammal-free except for a couple of pairs of backpackers.
The Shorthorn Trailhead is just above the Morrison Creek Forest Camp, which was at the center of the 2012 Cascade Creek Fire. A shed at the camp was stacked with firewood: the blackened snags around guarantee a steady supply for decades to come. The trail crosses Morrison Creek and heads up the slope among a rather pornographic scene as the burned conifers shed their bark and reveal their fleshy cambium layer. A scorched, buckshot-peppered tin sign, announcing this is the CENTER STOCK DRIVEWAY, reminded me of the trail’s original purpose. I was delighted to spot a rare bucket-nosed bear
(Ursus galvanizus) not far away, standing sentry above the gully carved by Morrison Creek. Higher up, four woodpeckers, one pair hairy and one pair black-backed, were working the burn. This was my first sighting of the latter, which are uncommon here and much more at home in the boreal forests of the north. The entire-stand burn is the preferred habitat for them, though, and they may forage here for the three to five years that insects remain present in the dead trees.
Out of the burn, I was finally in lush subalpine parklands.
Once on the Round the Mountain Trail and heading west, I had exited the burn area, but I was crossing one of the Cascades’ most volatile slopes, the scene of frequent debris slides over the decades. Every so often, the trail needs major repairs as the rubbly moraine slopes above and the gullies carved by the headwater streams of Crofton Creek, Salt Creek, and Cascade Creek readjust themselves and wipe out the tread. In 1997, a large lahar came down these drainages from the aptly-named Avalanche Glacier, the largest such slide since 1921, when a massive wall of debris carried four miles down the Salt Creek valley. In the fall of 2006, the Crofton and Salt Creek gullies were gouged 10-15 deeper by tides of pooled water flowing off the glaciers above after heavy rains (This was the same storm that wiped out Highway 35 in Oregon at the Robin Hood Campground). I passed above two massive, gushing springs that contribute to Salt Creek and through numerous glades and parklands before making the crossings of Cascade Creek’s East and Middle Forks.
I reached the Lookingglass Lake Trail and dropped down to recross the forks of Cascade Creek and reenter the burn area. The lake itself is rather forlorn these days as no thick wall of conifers hems in its meadowy shore. With a little breeze gusting about, it was not reflecting its best, but gentians were beginning to bloom, the mosquitoes were all gone, and the glaciers and icefalls above sparkled in the sunshine.
