We had a great hike. It was beautiful and lush. Oh and don’t forget the cold babbling creeks they were AMAZING! We loved every minute of and also loved the changing scenery. We loved the green. So over all we had a pretty great time.
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Amazing hike and views! Google may try and navigate you to get on FS 20 but the bridge is closed that connects it to Still Creek Road.
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Beautiful hike through old growth forest, quiet. Views of Mt Hood are screened by trees even at the top
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Beautiful forest hike along well maintained and gradually ascending trail. The highlight are the views from the summit, south to Mt Jefferson and Sisters and north to Mt Rainier, Adams and St Helens.
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Beautiful old growth forest by Salmon River. Kinzel lake is a jewel clean water but not one you can get in… soft muddy, marshy type lake but if you backpack you can get clean water from it.
We did this hike at the end of a dry summer - I will definitely do it again once the rain starts.
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My partner and I hiked this loop the weekend of July 9/10/11. 2 nights.
Highlights:
- So many huckleberries, red and oval-leafed!
- Old growth.
- Owl sighting, either northern spotted or barred owl.
- Solitude, solitude, solitude.
- Cool, shaded temperatures along Eagle Creek.
Route:
Hiked in Friday evening from South Harvey TH along Eagle Creek trail #501, found several nice impacted sites along the creek beginning ~2 miles in. The early miles along Eagle Creek were our favorite of the entire loop.
Saturday, hiked from Eagle Creek via Eagle Creek Cutoff/Old Baldy/Plaza trails to directly south of Cheeney Creek, gaining lots of elevation to climb out of Eagle Creek. Big day ~ 13 miles, and Eagle Creek Cutoff and much of the trails a mile or two away from trailheads haven't received much maintenance in a while. Lots of downed trees and overgrown vegetation. Also, once we left Eagle Creek, the only reliable water sources we found were the spring feeding Plaza Creek and another feeder spring into Cheeney Creek, which isn't marked on Gaia but there's a trail marker and a small social trail leading to a clear pool of water. We had carried a drom expecting to dry camp.
Sunday, hiked from our camp south of Cheeney Creek back to South Harvey TH via Douglas Trail, stopping at Wildcat Mountain and the several viewpoints along the way. Ran into two day hikers near the Douglas TH. Other than that, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Not sure we'd do it again. But the sites and old-growth along Eagle Creek were worth it. Such a gem.
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Trail is in pretty good condition. Green Canyon is a bit of a grind getting up to the top. Some blowdown to hop over and under at times. Devil's Lookout makes for a good lunch spot. We continued to the lake and ended up camping near Kinzel Creek. The Rhodies were spectacular as well as good showings of beargrass. Salmon River Trail was in great shape and had lots of open campspots for backpacking.
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Beautiful, butt kicker hike with lovely views of Mt. Hood. Wasn’t too busy for a Saturday. A few blown down trees to navigate, but not bad at all. The trail is narrow in some spots, so it was nice to see most people covering up their faces when passing by. Road 20 is closed. Take Still Creek Rd instead. Happy hiking!
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Steep! Your quads may be sore. Took green canyon to hunchback then over to devils peak, just a bit under 11 miles. In late June there was a small amount of running water you cross on hunchback trail. I took 2 liters and was fine. A little grown over on portions of hunchback but green canyon was mostly clear. 1-2 blow downs but nothing crazy. I’d recommend everyone do this trail once, it’s punishing though so I may not repeat it unless I’m in the mood for a training hike.
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Difficult but fun! Expect lots of snow (5+ feet) during winter months.
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The water was flowing pretty good a couple of weeks back. Surprisingly few people out. Fungi starting to show up.
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Trail in good condition with few blowdowns. Gorgeous views up the Salmon River Valley, then, from Devil’s Peak, of Mts Hood and Jefferson. Wonderful fall colors. Would be a nice, easy two-night backpack trip.
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Did this hike 5/13/19 Cell reception is sporadic for Verizon here, nothing in lower areas. Parked at West Salmon River Trailhead (lots of break-ins must happen here, lots of broken glass in the parking areas) at 3:42am, two other cars in the lot. Road is paved until the last bridge on east salmon river road. 2 porta potties that smelled clean in the am, no TP though. Took Green Canyon Way trail to Hunchback trail to get to Devils Peak Fire Lookout. 14.14 miles and 3588 elevation gain moving time 8.5hrs total time 11hrs. From west salmon walk down to green canyon campground, straight across from the campground is Green Canyon Way trailhead. Green Canyon camground is closed at this time, but there is day use parking available here when open, need a NW forrest pass or america the beautiful pass to park in this area of Mt. Hood.
Green Canyon Way trail is a very steep tiny trail, you climb quickly in a short (3.5 miles to hunchback) amount of miles. There are a couple of really sketchy areas on Green Canyon, but most of the logs have been cut that were on the trail. Trail is in decent condition with good trail signs. Hunchback trail section I did was nice, mostly flat with some steep sections, couple areas where you could loose the trail due to blow-down debris. There is a water trail marker on hunchback and a neat little camp site. 3 miles from hunchback to devils peak. Snow starts when you here running water and there are a couple of big snowy areas, but mostly sporadic snow covering the trail. Follow the boot path or make sure you have some sort of navigation as you can loose your way. Cool creek trail is still snow covered near the top, not sure about the lower area, but as far as I could see there was at least a foot of snow. Devils Peak Fire Lookout was really cool! Well worth the hike to get there. I did not check out the top or inside as people were staying there when I went. No stunning views at the lookout, but some space to have a seat and take a break. Returned hike on the same trails as I did not know what to expect on the other trails. This is most definitely a difficult hike, be prepared.
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