Bull of the Woods

The begining of summer... What better way to celebrate than a backpack trip with friends.

We (Behak, Nathan, and I) chose to trek a loop east of Salem called Bull of the Woods Loop. This trail promised gorgeous veiws from mt. look outs, wildflowers and impressive old growth trees. It truely surpassed my expectations. It was beautiful. With all the side treks the full loop is 50 miles. We aimed to hike a 40 mile loop. This plan, however, changed as we frequently found ourselves backtracking and cutting new trail. Much of this adventure was over, around and through fallen trees, fording streams, and even sliding over snow. With all of these obsticles, we still managed to find our way back to the car 46 plus miles and 3.5 days later.

Our first evening of hiking was 7 miles in past Opal Pool to a campsite veiwing a lovely waterfall. The next couple days had considerable elevation change and guessing on unmaintained trail- very exhausting! The second day, we hiked 20 miles up to a high lake. I also did a side hike up to Battle Axe and bathed at the lake that our camp was near. (I was nasty and totally fatigued after all those miles of hiking.) Our next day was a lighter 13 miles. We only forded a single stream (less than the day prior) and went up to the bull of the woods lookout this day. The veiw was definately worth the extra mile off the trail. Our final day was only 6 miles to the car - the trail just went to the top of a mountain and then straight down again. HA. The side jont to the top lended no veiw; as it was covered in cloud, but it was still fun knowing that I was at the TOP!

Back to civilization, I am so thankful for warm showers, clean drinking water, and a soft bed (It feels odd, all three of us were sleeping in about the same space that I now command alone.) My memories for this trip will forever be: the beautiful rhododendrons, huge trees, bathing in a high mountain lake, climbing fallen trees, the veiw from bull of the woods lookout (nine mountains! reineer, st, helens, hood, jefferson, three finger jack, washington, north and middle sister and broken top) and the silence of the trek. It was a great time!