Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

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Trailmom
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Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

Post by Trailmom » July 14th, 2011, 10:25 pm

I have an old first edition of Sullivan's "100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon" (circa 1993) and a long-standing goal of mine has been to visit all 100 of the hikes featured in this book. I only have about a dozen left to go, so I'm getting ever closer! This past Sunday I decided it was time to pick one of these remaining hikes and check it out. I settled on Old Baldy and Squaw (Tumala) Mountain.
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My dog Bear finds the trail
The nice thing about this hike is that the trailhead can be accessed entirely by paved roads. It is just east of Estacada, and only took me a little over an hours drive from the Beaverton area. The trailhead itself isn't marked, and I did have to backtrack a bit to figure out its exact location. But Sullivan's directions were good, and I was able to locate the driveway-like pullout that is the trailhead. If anyone else wishes to try this hike, the trailhead parking area is the one outlined by a bunch of large boulders.
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Beautiful green forest

A few minutes after I'd parked, another car with two ladies pulled up. We both followed a trail from the pullout to a new sign that read "Old Baldy TR No. 502." The two women started out about the same time as me, but I took frequent photo breaks, so it wasn't long before they were well ahead.
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Some rhodies were blooming

The rhodies were just beginning to bloom along the trail, and I was able to get a few photos of their pink blossoms. There were also a couple of Beargrass plumes beside the trail. I was enjoying the pleasant walk through a beautiful forest when, it suddenly dawned on me that I had been hiking downhill for quite some time. Hmmm......I thought the trail was supposed to climb up to a mountain. Oh well, I continued on thinking I'd surely begin climbing soon. After walking a little bit further, I came upon the two ladies sitting on a log having a snack. They asked me if we were on the right trail, since all we'd been doing is going downhill. About that time I was begining to have my doubts, so I whipped out my map of the area. In addition to trails for Old Baldy and Squaw Mtn, the map also showed a trail down to Eagle Creek (not the one in the Gorge). I began to wonder if we were on the wrong trail.

But the ladies and I both decided to hike just a little further to be sure. We started out together for a few minutes, but then I saw something I wanted to photograph, so my companions continued on without me. The trail began to head down hill very steeply and I was encountering a lot of switchbacks. I decided this couldn't be the right trail - it had to be the Eagle Creek connector! Where had I gone wrong? I decided to retrace my steps back towards the parking area, to see if there was a trail I'd missed.

The unfortunate thing was that what goes down must come back up. I had to trudge back up all that steep downhill I'd been rambling down. I have no idea how much elevation I lost, but it was a lot. About halfway back to the trailhead, I took a break and downed a PB&J. I was just about ready to head back up the trail, when the two ladies came puffing up the hill. They had made it all the way down to the creek, and discovered the trail was impassable due to high water across the path. Then I knew for sure we'd picked the wrong trail. We had to be on the Eagle Creek Connector.
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Incorrect Trail Sign!
I huffed and puffed back up the hill, all the time looking for any trail I might have missed. I got all the way back to the "Old Baldy" trail sign and didn't see a thing. I looked all around the sign, searching for another trail, but there was none to be found.

Back at the trailhead again... It was only two o'clock in the afternoon, and I hated to head home so soon. I decided to try and find Squaw Mountain. Sullivan's book said it was only a little over 2 miles from the parking area, so I knew I could make it there and back before it got too late.
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This sign was at the trailhead for Squaw Mtn. Wrong!
Sullivan's book and my map indicated the location of the Squaw Mtn trail to be south of the pullout. I saw a trail in that general direction and headed towards it. Imagine my surprise when the sign adjacent to this trail read "Eagle Creek Cutoff - TR No. 504." That wasn't right at all!

I followed this trail, past a junction noted on my map. A large amount of avalanche lillies were blooming on the forest floor. Past the junction all of a sudden the trail disappeared under a large amount of snow. Uh-oh, where was the trail now? My dog, Bear, who seems to have a nose for finding the way, darted on ahead. I followed Bear and lo, and behold he was waiting for me on the other side of the snowdrift, and there was the continuation of the trail!
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The trail obscured by snow.
From that point on, the trail was intermittently snow covered. I was able to find my way following some faint footprints on the surface. A couple of times I had to kick steps and climb up a snowbank. But I was finally able to make my way to the top of Squaw mountain! Success!
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Killer view of Mt. Hood from Squaw Mtn. summit
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Mt. Hood close-up
There are foundations and an old concrete step for to what used to be a lookout tower on Squaw mountain's summit. I found an old benchmark too. A few flowers were blooming. It was wounderful to sit on the summit and take in the views I'd worked so hard for.
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Benchmark on Squaw Mtn.
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Phlox blooming on the summit
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One little paintbrush plant

So even thought I failed in my attempt to reach Old Baldy, I was successful in bagging one of the two peaks. And I had an adventerous walk through the snow!

Upon my return to the car, I happened to notice a very faint trail heading off to the north from one side of the parking pullout. Could this be the Old Baldy trail? I followed it for a little ways, and it appeared to be heading in the correct direction. However, it was getting late and the uphill climb had done me in. I decided to save this trail for another day!

However, I think I'll give the Estacada Ranger district a call and let them know their trail signs are not right.
"Life is a daring adventure, or nothing" - Helen Keller

See what I've been up to at Linda's Lens

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Crusak
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Re: Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

Post by Crusak » July 15th, 2011, 11:22 am

Nice report! Sounds like a great adventure. I'm glad you all figured it out.

I've seen areas where vandals have switched signs (or removed them entirely) but in this case, it appears that the rangers got confused. Or whoever replaced the signs last time around got confused.
Jim's Hikes

Solvitur Ambulando

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-Q-
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Re: Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

Post by -Q- » July 15th, 2011, 4:48 pm

hello trailmom,

thank you so much for posting this. i was going to post this information tonight but ya beat me to it :)

i hiked the old baldy trail on monday starting at the alternate squaw (tumala) mtn trailhead. i hiked the fanton trail to the old baldy trail and came across the incorrect signage on my way to old baldy.

you are absolutely 100% correct...

the trail thats signed "eagle cutoff" is actually the old baldy trail going south.

the trail thats signed "old baldy" is actually the eagle cutoff trail going east.

the trail thats unsigned is the old baldy trail heading north.

i called the clackamas ranger district yesterday (thursday 7/14) and reported this to the ranger. he was very concerned over this error. hopefully they will get out to fix it soon.

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Splintercat
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Re: Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

Post by Splintercat » July 15th, 2011, 6:45 pm

Thanks for the heads-up, Trail Mom - I'm going to post a linked thread in the Trail Rx forum for the USFS, since I know they visit that forum.

Tom :)

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-Q-
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Re: Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

Post by -Q- » July 15th, 2011, 8:57 pm

on another note, i came across the 'old bissell' trail on the way to old baldy. this trail doesn't appear on my map.
anyone know where it goes??

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Splintercat
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Re: Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

Post by Splintercat » July 16th, 2011, 10:04 am

It's a long abandoned trail to the rural community of Bissell, Q -- which you pass through en route to the Eagle Creek trailhead. You can read about it here.

-Tom :)

Barb Adams
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Re: Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

Post by Barb Adams » July 16th, 2011, 9:04 pm

Hi Trailmom,

Our Oregon Equestrian Trails chapter is going to be clearing Eagle Cutoff Trail. Any idea how many logs you stepped over?

Eagle Cutoff Trail is in the Zigzag Ranger District, and Old Baldy and Tumala are in Clackamas River Ranger District.

Thanks so much for your report. We hiked down Eagle Cutoff one year and found it to be an exhausting climb to get back out.

It will be nice to see it again.

barb

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Trailmom
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Re: Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

Post by Trailmom » July 17th, 2011, 5:29 pm

Hi Barb,

I think I stepped over about 20-ish blowdown logs. None of them were very large. Also, the trail is hard to find in a couple of spots. It kind of blends in to the forest floor. It would be good to have it re-defined in those areas.

A big thank you to your group for volunteering to clear this trail. And yes, it is quite an exhausting climb back up!

Linda (aka "Trailmom")
"Life is a daring adventure, or nothing" - Helen Keller

See what I've been up to at Linda's Lens

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jkb
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Re: Old Baldy - Squaw Mountain Hike - Incorrect Trail Signs

Post by jkb » July 25th, 2011, 9:50 pm

Thanks again for posting about this! We went up there this past weekend, and the trail signs are not fixed yet.

Trip Report: http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/vie ... f=8&t=8762

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