Spring Break
Get your outdoors on
Get lost in star-spiked grandeur at top of a trail
Lauren Dillard
Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: Diversions
The night wind was as gentle as Luna moth in flight. The sweat on my back where my daypack had rested was cool against the colorless boulder I leaned upon. The culmination of the little rocky knoll was a perfect perch to survey the burgeoning stars.
A couple miles and 1,500 feet gain in elevation ago, when my friend and I had begun our hike, the sky still contained the golden and pastel tell-tale signs of sunset. Now, however, there was only the subtlest of navy tones to the west. To the east the Columbia Gorge was a dark blur outlined only by a silent glowing ribbon of car lights. There weren't many of them, nor were there the stagnant lights of civilization.
A little fatigued by our constant climb, I sipped on some water, broke the silence with a bite into a juicy apple and allowed myself to get lost in the star-spiked grandeur of the clear Northwest night.
In the full green-and-flower-saturated glory of spring, it's now time to heed the call of the trail. There is a seemingly countless array of hiking options here in our slice of the Beaver State that lie closer than the Columbia Gorge.
The following suggestions rest well below the thick comforter of Cascade snow. You can get to them all within a range of a brisk bike ride to an hour and a half's drive.
Opal Creek is a virtually untouched serving of old growth forest. While a few patches of giant Western red cedars and towering Douglas firs are worth a trip in itself, it is the waters of Opal Creek that are the stuff of unparalleled awe, for the "opal" in Opal Creek is not just a clever name.
More Mediterranean blue than emerald, the main waterway of the area forms shallow runs and handfuls of deep, inviting swimming holes - but don't even think about it until mid-summer.
The Drift Creek wilderness is another splendid area of old growth goodness. Here, towering trees host pileated woodpeckers as well as northern spotted owls without much attention from fellow hikers. I recommend the three-mile descent to the shallow Drift Creek itself, which bisects a quite pleasant valley. Pay attention on this one though - the trail is not well posted.
A couple miles and 1,500 feet gain in elevation ago, when my friend and I had begun our hike, the sky still contained the golden and pastel tell-tale signs of sunset. Now, however, there was only the subtlest of navy tones to the west. To the east the Columbia Gorge was a dark blur outlined only by a silent glowing ribbon of car lights. There weren't many of them, nor were there the stagnant lights of civilization.
A little fatigued by our constant climb, I sipped on some water, broke the silence with a bite into a juicy apple and allowed myself to get lost in the star-spiked grandeur of the clear Northwest night.
In the full green-and-flower-saturated glory of spring, it's now time to heed the call of the trail. There is a seemingly countless array of hiking options here in our slice of the Beaver State that lie closer than the Columbia Gorge.
The following suggestions rest well below the thick comforter of Cascade snow. You can get to them all within a range of a brisk bike ride to an hour and a half's drive.
Opal Creek is a virtually untouched serving of old growth forest. While a few patches of giant Western red cedars and towering Douglas firs are worth a trip in itself, it is the waters of Opal Creek that are the stuff of unparalleled awe, for the "opal" in Opal Creek is not just a clever name.
More Mediterranean blue than emerald, the main waterway of the area forms shallow runs and handfuls of deep, inviting swimming holes - but don't even think about it until mid-summer.
The Drift Creek wilderness is another splendid area of old growth goodness. Here, towering trees host pileated woodpeckers as well as northern spotted owls without much attention from fellow hikers. I recommend the three-mile descent to the shallow Drift Creek itself, which bisects a quite pleasant valley. Pay attention on this one though - the trail is not well posted.
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