Hike Henry Haag Lake
Hiking Henry Haag Lake
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| Jim, Me, Cheyenne, Mitchell, Mielie |
Elevation Gain: 912EG
Location: Henry Haag Lake
Drive Time From Gresham: 90mins
Trail Head:from SW Scoggins Valley Road
We started our adventure about 940am. The first part of the trail was a beautiful forest path with some bike ruts from mountain bikes. About 3 miles in we got kicked off the trail for herbicidal spraying which put us out on the road for about a mile. We got to a spot where there was no trail closed signs so we eagerly jumped back on the trail just to be put back out on the road again. As soon as we thought all was clear, we got back on the trail, again 'no signs' about trail closure. We ran into the maintenance crew spraying after walking through wet grass and unfamiliar smells. After a short discussion and a rinse of all the herbicides off our legs, we got back off the trail and had another mile off-trail out on the road.
There were some beautiful flowers in bloom, and open fields with gorgeous oak trees. Watch out for the poison oak. We got to see some beautiful birds, a snail, and a snake. We thought about naming this the trail of snacks. There were a lot of fruits growing along the trail including salmon berries, cherries, apples and others.
About mile 5 our feet were hurting from the concrete, and we crested the northern part of the lake. upon heading south we had some beautiful views of the lake. But was quickly met with some pretty rough mountain biking trails and some intense disc golf trails. We made it to the Boat Pier B took a break and refilled our water bottles. Then headed south on following around the lake.
About mile 8 many of us had rolled our ankles and were frustrated with the trail. We felt more like mountain bikers on rolling hills, following burms, rolling ankles through the rough terrain we couldn't get around. We were frustrated though luckily we didn't see a lot of mountain bikers. At one point I thought I might push one off their bike for tearing up the trail. We could tell that the miles weren't adding up at this point and we could easily hit 15 miles on this hike. Needless to say, Mielie was not enjoying herself in any way, so the last 4 miles of a 14.25mile hike was horrible for her. By the time we finished, I think all but one of us hated this trail. Though the lake was beautiful and the rest areas were as well. We could easily see coming back to paddle it but never hike again.
