McKenzie River Trail August 7th thru 9th, 2015

McKenzie River Trail - Northern Route

Details
Distance: 15 miles
Elevation Gain: 880ft
Location: McKenzie River
Attendance: Boy Scout Backpacking Trip - Kris M, Greg W, Aaron W, Sage M, Dallas L, Ethan V.



Let me first start off by saying this is an absolutely beautiful hike, but I am so surprised that it is not backpacked alot. Maybe its the high traffic areas, or a lot of Mountain Bikes that you share the trail with. Not sure, but I highly recommend this hike, its absolutely stunning.

This particular event was a Boy Scout Backpacking Trip, where a 15mile hike with packs, and a two night camping requirement is in place. We chose this particular hike this year because of the lack of water in so many places, this was a for sure thing with the water problems this year.



Day One: Drove down to the Belknap Springs where we dropped off one vehicle, and than drove back up to the Northern Trail Head of the McKenzie Trail, where we heard there was a camp spot. NOPE.

Great Springs, on the Northern side of Clear Lake

No biggie, instead we hiked from the Trail Head to the southern most part of Clear lake (about 3miles in) and set up camp in one of the few places we could find that would be considered a dispersed camp spot. Sadly we ran out of light, and it wasnt much of a campsite, but it worked. (I did not mark it on the map below as an option for camping, because I wouldnt recommend it for further dispersed camping options.)

A poor bird with a fish hook stuck in its mouth, and the fishing line stuck in a tree

Let me say the hike around Clear lake was beautiful, especially as the sun was coming down. We walked around a couple of underground springs, and through a lava field. Though the hike was beautiful we got to experience the affects humans have on wildlife with a bird that had a fishing hook wrapped around its beak and the string was caught on a tree. We were able to get the string from the tree but unfortunately were not able to get the hook from the birds mouth before it had gotten away. Sadly I would be surprised if the bird is still alive. (Later i heard that this is a rare bird) It broke my heart. Please people make sure to clean up any trace of your activities while in Nature, no matter where you are at.

The boys stopping to enjoy a view of Clear Lake

My son at a Clear Lake View Point

My view from my hammock on Night One

Day Two: We approached this hike a bit differently, for a couple of reasons. One: I wanted the boys to experience more miles in a day than they had so far, in case our big hike of the season had more miles in a day, they would have some experience in it. Two: The elevation gain is low on this trail, so it was a great opportunity to find some miles with backpacks. Three: Since this particular hike was further away from home and required a longer drive, it was a great opportunity to try the mileage here.  

So today we saw about 10miles as we left Fish Lake traveling south through a beautiful forest, some amazing water falls such as Sahalie Falls, Koosah Falls and Tamolitch. Two Reservoirs: Carmen and Trail Bridge and than ended our hike just before Olallie Campground (which is technically located on the other side of the river and not accessible from the trail.) in this beautiful little mossy area. It was the a beautiful spot that was perfect after all the rolling hills and a long day of hiking the beautiful scenes of the McKenzie River.

The boys were tired but fared well. When we arrived around 3:30pm, many of them took a nap. Got up in time to eat dinner, makes some plans for a 30mile hike coming up in a few weeks, played some card games and made dinner.

Dinner proved to be a scary experience as one of the boys had a nut allergy and tried one of the meals that had cashews in it. So it was a rush to the Hospital instead of another night on the trail.  

Sahlie Falls

Tamolitch's Blue Pool. Where the McKenzie River pops back up, from going underground

Lunch on the McKenzie River below Tamolitch Falls

Now this is a Yummy Backpacking meal. Garlic Italian Pasta Salad

Lunch is over, ready to get back on the trail?

My Son lounging on the Trail after lunch.

The end of Day two, Selfies with the Man Cub

Dad and Son enjoying some time together on the River.

Our mossy view from camp. Just Gorgeous.

Day Three: For those of us that stayed behind, we got up the next morning for a short hike out to Deer Creek, where we drove over to Belknap Springs for an hour in the Mineral Spring Pool. What a treat. I can honestly say I have never been so pampered after a weekend of hiking/backpacking before. After a soak in the pool, it was a fabulous lunch at the Belknap and than on the road for a 3 hour drive home. Perfect weekend.

Yep, me with my NEXT ADVENTURE towel. Showing my spirit on the trail.

Selfie!

Our beautiful view of the Olallie Creek joining the McKenzie River.

Can this trail get any more beautiful?

Deer Creek. The trail curves off the McKenzie for a short distance to follow the Deer Creek. But no worries, it rejoins again, very soon.

Crossing Deer Creek. Many of these beautiful bridges along the trail.

One of the problems we had on planning this trip, was information. I had checked in with all the facebook groups, looked on Oregon Hikers, and there wasnt much about dispersed camping, and the information wasnt very helpful. The facebook groups had posts about the popular areas, and the only people that had backpacked couldnt tell me anything about where there was any dispersed camping. Oregon Hikers didnt have anything on the trail. I called the Willamette National Forest, and they said there was camping, but couldnt tell me where. So this was a trip of hoping to find a campsite where we could. We lucked out the second night with a beautiful spot.

This is a trail I would take the boys on again. So in an effort to help others, and myself with dispersed camping spots I created a map for the first half of the trail. I will be back to do the second half.

The map below was a map I found online. I cropped it to only include the area we covered. The Green highlighted triangles are the dispersed camping spots I found. All the ones shown are big enough to hold a small group of people that would include hammock and tent campers. I hope you all find this useful, and take the time to backpack this area.

If you feel up for it, there's a hot springs in the McKenzie River at the Deer Creek TH, its free, but keep in mind that clothes are optional.