Day 1

The first day started at my house near Portland, Oregon.  The previous evening we had balanced the load between all of our backpacks so we all ended up with backpacks weighing about 45 pounds.    Now we all realize that 45 pounds was a lot heavier than we needed for a 3 day trip.  Now, nine months later, we all know lots of ways we can keep the weight down for the next trip.

All of us were inexperienced backpackers but we were ready for an adventure. We had new gear (or borrowed gear) and were looking forward to the fun and excitement.

We woke around 7am and were on the road by around 8am.  The drive to the trailhead took 2.5 hours and we arrived at the trailhead around 10:30 am.  We stopped at a couple stores along the way to get some food and add weight to our backpacks.   At one point we drove past the forest district ranger station and I thought that we should stop and get a map of the region.  But since we were running later than I had planned I skipped the oportunity.  That was my lesson #2, always take a map.

The original trailhead for the Chimney Peak trail was located off of one of the fire roads that weave throughout the forest.  A massive landslide several years ago wiped out a large section of the road and it has not been repaired.  So there are two choices for starting points.  The first option is to take the original forest road to the point where it is blocked, then hike about 3 miles up the closed road to the original trailhead.  The section option is to take a spur off the main road to an alternate trail.  This trail leads past Shedd Camp and after about 5 miles ends up at the original trailhead.

The forest ranger had told me that the first option would be easier but the second option would be more interesting.  As a group we decided on taking the second option.

The alternate trail started heading down hill at a pretty steep angle.  Within about 100 feet we discovered the first blowdown.  A blowdown is simply a large tree that has been blown down over the trail.  Some times it is possible to crawl under the tree, sometimes it's possible to crawl over the tree, but in the worst cases you have to go off trail and go around the tree. The picture here shows an easy blowdown.  That is, it's easy enough for someone to just step over.  Most of them were not this easy.

 After another 25 feet we discovered the second blow down.  And about 100 feet later, the third.  During the entire trip we counted over 200 blowdowns!  Crawling over, under, or around a log that's two to three feet in diamater with 45 pounds on your back takes quite a bit of energy.  After a couple dozen blowdowns we were tired.

Shedd Camp is not much more than a three-walled shelter with a little bench in it. I'm not sure what it was used for in the past but currently backpackers use it as a shelter to keep from the rain.  Fortunately we weren't seeing any rain during this trip.  The temperature stayed well above 90 degrees with clear blue skies the whole trip.

After passing Shedd Camp the trail became very steep as it headed down to the Pyramid Creek crossing.  This was the first of several crossings we were going to make on the trip.  The forest ranger had advised me that we would want an extra pair of shoes to use for wet crossings.  However, this stream was too deep and moving too fast (at this spot) for us to cross by wading.  Fortunately there was a point where we could jump across a couple of large boulders to cross.

About this time we decided it would be a good time for lunch.  On the far side of the creek there was a nice sitting area.  Logs were arranged around a firepit and most of the underbrush was cleared away.  No doubt this area is used by people coming to the creek for a swim on a hot afternoon.

The next leg of the trip started off steeply uphill.  We were climbing out of the valley we'd just descended into.  After a couple more miles we popped out of the forest onto the old, abandoned road that we could have taken to start with.  The road was covered with shin-high grass and wild flowers.  Clearly it had been abandonded for quite some time.  Directly across from where we came out of the forest was the original Chimney Peak trailhead with a sign-in booth.  So we knew we were on the right track.

The trail from here on to the campsite was mostly level but was still litered with blowdowns.  The trail lead through some awesome old growth forest areas.  It was amazing to walk through these forests and the scenery was great and inspiring.

After another couple of hours of hiking we began to feel like we were never going to find the campsite.  Of course, not having a map, I was a bit concerned that we'd taken a wrong turn.  The uncertainty of knowing where we were going was starting to drag us down a bit.

In the mid afternoon we stopped for a break.  A couple of us were just a bit too tired to continue but I was certain that we had to be close to the lake.  So I went ahead on the trail with one other person (I don't remember who...) and told the others to catch up.  Within about 100 yards I found the lake.  It was a site for sore eyes.

We set up camp at the far end of the lake.  The camp site was perfect.  Right next to the water and nestled between tall firs.  

Once the tents were set up people started to do some fishing.  The rest of the day was relaxing and talking about the hike on the way in.  It sure seemed hard to us.  Then we saw a couple of guys hike in to do some fishing at the lake.  They were carrying an ice chest!  Now who's crazy enough to carry an ice chest several miles into the forest over and under blowdowns?  Don't know.  But they left early the next morning.