Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

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sparklehorse
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Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by sparklehorse » March 2nd, 2010, 10:50 pm

This is my new favorite hike! The summit views are awesome, but what makes this hike special is the gorgeous, uber-mossy rain forest you hike through on the way up. I haven't done all the hikes on the coast, but I've done a lot of them and this is equal to or better than any I've done. Of course, you have to get past the fact that there is a road to the top, allowing you to reach the summit in the comfort of your car if you wished. And there's microwave towers at the summit, a la Mt. Defiance, but for me those things didn't detract from enjoying the hike. This seems to be a lesser-known gem as I could only find a couple of reports on it here at Portland Hikers, one from pdxgene last fall and a couple in the archives from Jane. If you're interested, the hike is described well in Sullivan's Coast and Coast Range guidebook.

I went with a group from the Portland Hiking Meetup Group. Claudio (aka Yeti), was our intrepid leader. The hike starts at Hebo Lake, and follows what's called "The Pioneer Trail", which originally was a route used by native americans, then for a time in the 1800's became the single major horse trail over the coast range.

I didn't get the greatest of photos today, but here's a few that will give you some sense of the day:

Starting out at Hebo Lake:

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Heading up through the mossy, hobbit-land forest:

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Approaching the summit area:

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Kirah and her new pal Buddy enjoying the huge, open summit plateau:

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This was once the site of a large, cold-war era radar installation, which has been completely removed.

Enjoying the fantastic summit views:

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Heading back:

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Here's today's map, about 9 miles roundtrip, 2000 feet total elev gain.

It was a great group of folks, and special thanks go out to Claudio for organizing!

Awesome day!

Gordon
Last edited by sparklehorse on March 6th, 2010, 10:42 am, edited 2 times in total.
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BaileyBoy
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Re: Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by BaileyBoy » March 2nd, 2010, 10:59 pm

Great report Gordon, I hadn't thought about hiking that area because of the road up but now I'm interested.

And that 2nd photo certainly whets my appetite even more, you really captured the beauty of the area.

Skip

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Excursionista
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Re: Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by Excursionista » March 2nd, 2010, 11:19 pm

About two years ago a few friends and I camped at Hebo Lake. It rained so steadily that by morning, we were wet and covered in mud. We planned on hiking to the summit but we were socked in at the lake and collectively didn't have the energy for a hike with no views.

But holy cow, look what I missed out on! Those forests are incredible, and the summit looks like it would be crazy fun even in "bad" weather. Thanks for the report!

pdxgene
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Re: Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by pdxgene » March 3rd, 2010, 6:22 am

The trail also continues on past the summit for a few more miles back down to North and South Lake(s). I haven't had a chance to do the whole roundtrip yet. The views from the summit are incredible if you catch it on a rare clear non-hazy day. I want to time it better this year to try and spot the also very rare (and endangered) Oregon Silverspot Butterfly. Mt Hebo's meadows are one of the last remaining strongholds for them.
Even though you're never far from the road you almost never hear any cars. iIthink the amount of people in your picture equals the total number of people I've seen on that trail the 4 or 5 times I've hiked it. It doesn't get much of a crowd. And they've done a fantastic job of maintaining the trail. A couple years ago the brush was so thick you couldn't see the trail looking down at your feet a good chunk of the time. It would be cool to drive to the summit for sunset pictures.
Great report on a nice secret hike!

Oh yeah, tons and tons of huckelberries too..

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mattisnotfrench
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Re: Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by mattisnotfrench » March 3rd, 2010, 6:55 am

How long is the drive from Portland to the trailhead? I'm waiting until spring to do this hike and I want to know if it's something that's reasonable for a dayhike.
Author of Extraordinary Oregon!, PDX Hiking 365, 101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region, and Off the Beaten Trail. Website: www.offthebeatentrailpdx.com

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sparklehorse
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Re: Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by sparklehorse » March 3rd, 2010, 7:00 am

mattisnotfrench wrote:How long is the drive from Portland to the trailhead? I'm waiting until spring to do this hike and I want to know if it's something that's reasonable for a dayhike.
Hi Matt,
It's about 90 miles from Portland, so something under two hours. It's not very far from Pacifiic City.
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sparklehorse
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Re: Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by sparklehorse » March 3rd, 2010, 7:01 am

I see Claudio's got his pictures up now, you can check them out here. He's has some even better photos of the mossy woods than I do.

G
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CherokeeDriver
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Re: Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by CherokeeDriver » March 3rd, 2010, 1:20 pm

Just added this one to my list. Thanks for the pics and map! -Robert

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Yeti
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Re: Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by Yeti » March 3rd, 2010, 4:54 pm

Nice report Gordon!

I'm so far back in my own blog that it will take me weeks to get to this one! Just for simplicity (and maybe some laziness) I might just copy your report ;)

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Splintercat
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Re: Mt. Hebo, 2/28/10

Post by Splintercat » March 3rd, 2010, 10:18 pm

Great report, Gordon! Lots of history of there, and fairly recent, too:

Old Pictures of Hebo AF Structures

-Tom

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