I had intended to take a rest day today. Then I woke up and discovered it was already 57 degrees well before dawn. I'm not at all sure what a nice spring day was doing in Eugene in January, but I wasn't about to waste it, so I drove back out to Westfir with the plan of seeing how far I could get on the
Alpine Trail before running into snow.
I started off at the main trailhead/park in Westfir, and set off on the first quarter mile or so of the North Fork Trail. From there it's a left turn on to the Westfir Tie trail. This trail starts off parallel to the train tracks, but quickly starts climbing up the side of the valley. The initial part of this climb is through a section that was logged off (or burned off?) not too long ago, so it offers some views back down to Westfir and the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River.
- Looking back at the Office Covered Bridge
In fairly short order the trail crosses on to forested slopes. Not old growth (unsurprising given that Westfir was originally a logging town) but enough to keep the direct sun off the trail. After about 3/4 of a mile (and 600 feet of elevation gain), this trail ends at the Alpine Trail itself. I took a right turn to keep heading up the front of the ridge.
- Junction of Westfir Tie Trail (right) and Alpine Trail (left)
In less than half a mile the trail levels off on a flat area around 2000' elevation. This area had been previously logged, but a long time ago, and the big stumps had grown up into multiple moss-covered trees. They were pretty spooky in the morning mist.
- Spooky trees
The trail here runs just a bit east of FR5828, and I kept getting glimpses of a clearer area on the other side of the road. Eventually I found a side road and hiked over to have a look. I'm confused by what I found: a large area surrounded by deer fencing, with evenly-spaced pine trees that seem way to big to be saved for Christmas, and no understory. Someone had even collected all the storm-fallen limbs into large piles, and done it without leaving a bunch of tread tracks.
- What the heck?
Around the 3-mile mark the trail gets into an area that's being actively logged. There have been some trail re-routes here compared to the map I was using (the Oakridge Trail Map from Adventure Trails) but they were easy to follow and well-used. There was a road crossing with a helpful sign warning of logging trucks and the need to be careful. On the other side was a sign warning the drivers to watch out for hikers and bikers. Someone had helpfully taken this sign down and tossed it into the woods.
- Thanks for the warning
After the second logging road crossing, things get steeper again as the trail heads up the face of the ridge towards Buckhead Mountain. This was about where I started seeing storm damage - lots of limbs and a few trees down on the trail, a few spots where falling and sliding trees had wiped out bits of the trail. Nothing I couldn't navigate, but no one will be mountain biking that section until a work party goes through.
- Second logging road crossing
After crossing a burn scar it was back out into another pretty open area. The views were great. Well, not "I can see big snowy mountains with famous names" great. More like "I'm definitely not in Indiana any more, Toto" great.
- Crossing the burn scar
- Looking back and down towards Hwy 58
Oh, and "hike till I hit snow?" That didn't really happen. There were a few patches in shaded spots starting around the 3200' level, but basically, this entire area is currently snow-free. I'm sure if I'd kept going long enough I would have eventually hit more serious snow, but 7 miles in put me at the Buckhead Shelter, elevation 3302'. This seemed like a good spot to have a quick snack and turn around. After a look inside I opted to snack outside though; for some reason (fire-starting?) someone has left a great mess of newspapers inside the shelter.
- Outside the Buckhead Shelter
- Inside the shelter
I'll definitely be back up here in the future, most likely with a pack and a few days supplies so I can hike the rest of the Alpine Trail and some of the other connecting trails in the area.
Overall, I was on-trail about 6 hours. I met 4 other hikers (5 if you count the sleeping baby in a sling) 1 dog, and 1 mountain biker - less than I'd expected on such a nice day. When I drove back to Eugene the Hardesty Trailhead was full to overflowing though. I guess the other side of the river was busier.
