Day 2
I have always loved waking up in the wilderness; the sounds that await you are amazing. I lay in the warmth of my sleeping bag enjoying the birds and their joyous morning symphony. Other critters could be heard as they moved about hoping to find some scraps that we had left out, even a few deer were wondering what these strange animals were. In the background was the sound of wind in the trees and the creek cascading over the rocks.
Our hike took us along South Pyramid Creek. The trail was well maintained through second growth woods. As we were hiking along the side of a hill we encountered fresh bear sign, and near by we heard the unmistakable sound of something rather large moving away from us. That was as close as we got to a bear; it was a good reminder that they are almost always present.
As the trail nears the Middle Santiam River we began to see more Old Growth trees, many of the trees were huge. The diversity of plants and flowers in the lush undergrowth is truly amazing. If like me you are not a plant expert you might want to take along a plant field guide, or hike with some one that does know the various plants.
When we got to the Middle Santiam we ran into a group of young men that had hiked in from the Chimney Peak Trail head, something less that a mile. The Shedd Camp Shelter is near by and a fun swimming pool with a waterfall makes a nice spot to cool off. I do have a story that I will tell in a later blog about another visitor to the area.
The forest transitions from second growth to old growth forest. Sections of the forest are quite old and potentially nearing the time when some catastrophic event will occur to start the whole process over again. A year after we were there a large forest fire was in the same general area so I don’t know whether it was impacted or not.
Night two was spent at the Pyramid Creek crossing. This was an awesome spot in a stand of old growth Douglas Fir and Red Cedar. I did some fishing in the creek and was able to catch a few.
Day 3
My morning started looking up at these magnificent trees. As they swayed in the light breeze I wondered about all of the things that they had lived through. You could hear them creaking and scrapping against each other. Again in the background was the sounds of the creek. It really gives you a different perspective on time.
First thing in the days hike we had to cross the creek. It wasn’t difficult, the cold water got our blood flowing. Having some type of water shoes is a real plus, it would have been difficult to find a way across where you didn’t have to get wet and the rocks were hard on the feet. Fortunately we both carry Crocks as our camp shoes and they served the purpose well.
This day took us through some of the most spectacular old growth forests of the trip. Much of trail is on very steep side hills so at times you felt like you were in the canopy of the forest. It was in this area that we stumbled into an owl, no more then 20 feet away right at eye level.
The last portion of the trip was marred a bit by rather poor trail signage. We would come to trail junctions with no signs, missing signs and in one case a sign that had clearly been moved to point in the incorrect direction. This is where having the GPS with the location of our car marked proved helpful.
