The Craft Cabin Trail is located in the extreme southeastern part of the Malheur NF. Per the kiosk it is 9.6 miles long. It travels from near Craft Spring on Thompson Mountain to Pine Creek and then goes about 5 miles along the creek to a nice meadow. Finding the trailheads will involve a good map. The roads are mostly gravel, and the trailheads can be reached by a vehicle with standard ground clearance. A Prius would most likely scrape bottom. There are some nice views, and the trail travels mostly through nice old growth ponderosa. It also goes the transition area of the forest where ponde ..read more

I was there a few days before you were! Yes, so pretty! We didn't have much time so just explored the first mile or so where the canyon valley was flat and wide, which is why I didn't post about it in the trip report section. There were a few other cars at the trailhead but we didn't encounter any other people while we were there. It's definitely on my list of places to return to -- it very much has a central/eastern Oregon kind of vibe, for those who like that sort of thing. Which I do. The lupines were beautiful. So was the poison oak. There was flowing water but we ran out of time to see i ..read more

You're a little over two months out, and I presume still following this thread, with Mt. Hood as a primary goal. The raw snowpack fact I would tell you is this fall/winter/spring has been "normal". Well, there has been nothing normal about it, with waves of snow, then moist rain, then light snow, creating odd numbers to a meteorology analyst. But it's not bone dry, and not heavy amounts of snow. So "normal" as far as you are concerned for plans. Wildfires are always a risk. But they will be at Goat Rocks, Three Sisters, Mt. Shasta, etc. Welcome to the west in the 21st century. You mentioned e ..read more

Over a week old now, and sad news, but I felt the need to share anyway. A young women fell to her death in what appears to be the cliffs just past Ponytail falls near Oneonta. There have been a handful of people who have fallen in this area, both near the viewpoint, and also up above where the boot beaten path leads east of Horsetail. This follows a similar incident that happened in that area in March. Be careful out there. https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/ ... 785338007/ Statistics: Posted by Rider51 — Fri May 31, 2024 11:35 pm ..read more

I hiked from Wahkeena Falls up to the Devils Rest trail junction with Multnomah Basin Road, over to the Larch Mountain trail, and down to Multnomah Falls. The Forest Service was working at two points on the Wahkeena Falls trail, one below and one above Fairy Falls. A sign proclaimed that trail work could require hikers to wait thirty minutes, but the workers waved us along. In both cases I had to use my hands to climb beyond the blockage. The Devils Rest trail up to that junction is in excellent shape. It has seen a lot of careful attention recently. On Multnomah Basin road, I saw a motorcy ..read more

The gate has actually been open for a while, presumably thanks to vandalism, but now it's official https://www.multco.us/roads/larch-mountain-road Statistics: Posted by squidvicious — Fri May 31, 2024 10:38 am ..read more

Thanks for the report! Looks like things have melted out nicely up there. Statistics: Posted by bobcat — Fri May 31, 2024 9:58 am ..read more

Splintercat’s recent posts about the colorful coves on the west side of Sutton Mountain complement the entirely different terrain on the east side of Sutton. I parked off Girds Creek/Twickenham Road and began this exploration by heading up the broad wash at the bottom of Black Canyon. A boot path follows the left edge of the wash initially. Looking back down the canyon, you can see to the John Day River valley, with Kentucky Ridge and Tap Horn Butte across the river (Tap Horn is one of the many Squaws that recently had a name change). A creek came running out of a slot canyon, which I resolved ..read more

That area where you hit snow is called The Rim, and it is hard route-finding in snow without a GPS track as it's kind of flat or undulating and without obvious markers. And it usually doesn't melt out till some time in June. That area is even tricky when there isn't snow But it's such a cool place. Statistics: Posted by EricInVancouver — Fri May 31, 2024 8:59 am ..read more

Hiked from the Lookout Mountain North Trailhead to the Lookout Mountain-Fifteenmile Trail Junction, stopping to check out Eightmile Meadow. The timing was good, as most of the snow had cleared and the meadow was stunning. Patches of snow, mostly near the trailhead along the creek and near the trail junction. Had to scramble over snags to get to the meadow, but it was worth it. Lots of work went into clearing the trail. Only saw two mountain bikers, no other hikers. Statistics: Posted by Sugar Pine — Thu May 30, 2024 9:29 pm ..read more