Come On Eileen

"At this moment, you mean everything..." ha ha, yes - I'm an 80's girl; as you can tell from my second post with a reference to a song from that era. Come On Eileen was Janet and I's "rally cry" as we suffered our way to said named lake while hiking a loop trail in Oregon on a near 90 degree day last week. 

Actually, Lake Eileen is a side trip off the iconic "Three Sister's Hike Loop"; one of several "extras" that were originally planned for our 6 day adventure. But, life had other plans.

Poor Heidi - she had painstakingly planned this trip for months. With permit in hand and days off approved, everything was in place to conquer the loop along with her sixth volcano summit...until her doctor ordered her to stop hiking until her stress fracture is healed.

Sammy and son Rocky

Is it bad to say I was somewhat relieved? Of course I felt terrible for Heidi, but with the forecast of HOT and the multiple double digit mile days planned, I was seriously doubting my abilities for this one. In fact, it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay in a state of denial about it. 

Obsidian Falls

Thankfully Janet agreed to an altered plan once we knew Heidi was out - and by "plan" I mean not having a plan at all. (The itinerary that developed is below for those interested.) There was one plan though; we both knew we would hike out early enough to meet Heidi on the Oregon coast to spend some time just being tourists and trying to keep her from walking too much. (Not an easy task!) 

Life often has a way of messing up our plans, doesn't it? Though oftentimes, if we can roll with the punches, we find our altered outcomes can still turn out to be good ones. Happy "embracing the pivot" trails! 

We love you, Heidi! Heal fast!!!

TRAIL LOG:

Day One: 6.5 miles to Minnie Scott Spring going CCW from Lava Camp Lake TH. We thought we could make it to Glacier Creek, but when we arrived here, it was too good to pass up. We didn't start hiking until 11:30 am or so, and it was definitely heating up. We took the PCT at the split you come to at .9 even though it's slightly longer with more elevation. We figured we'd appreciate the different view, and would want to take the easier way on the way back. We saw plenty of thru hikers all three days -- maybe 30 to 40 total?

GREAT spots just across the spring - hard to see from trail

 

Day Two: 8.6 miles to Lake Eileen. I wouldn't call these hard miles, but like I said; we were struggling. It had to be the heat. I don't know how hot it actually was, but it was the only day in RED on the forecast the day we left. The bugs at the campsite were annoying, but I've seen way worse. We talked a lot about what we wanted to do the next day, and the next. There are several different "mini loops" you could do here. Ultimately we decided we would try to make it back the way we came so as to possibly have an extra day on the Oregon coast. 

First spot is best!

Day Three: 15 miles back to our car. This is about my limit as far as miles in a day goes, but we got a really early start, so that helped a lot. Plus the elevation is a little better going this direction. 

I love morning light

Day Four: Heidi had gotten a hotel room right on the Seaside beach, so we met her there and crashed her place. I know this isn't hiking related, but if you are staying in Seaside and like Karaoke, the Capricorn Pub is the place to be! We had SO much fun, and it was an easy walk back to the hotel. 

Singing our little hearts out!

Day Five: Even though it was probably too much walking for Heidi, we had to visit Cannon Beach and get as close to the famous Haystack Rock as possible. We were lucky to score a campsite at the incredibly cute and family owned "Wright's For Camping" campground where we just hung out and played games, though if you wanted you could walk to town from here.

We actually walked right up to it!

Day Six: A quick stop at Hug Point before heading home is worth it, especially at low tide! The waterfall was anticlimactic though for sure.

More like a water dribble ;)

Third Time's the Charm - Devil's Dome Loop

The Devil's Dome Loop has been on my list since 2014. I've been so intrigued by it, as well as terrified of it. With camps like "Bear Skull" and "Devil's Park" it sounded very intimidating. And even more intimidating is the 13k of elevation you'll gain if you do the whole 43 miles.

Still my girl group had it in our sights for our yearly trip in 2022, but then switched plans (Hannegan Peak) because the snow pack made me too nervous after my Boundary Trail experience. Then after tons of planning and permits it got canceled again last year due to fires.

 But the stars finally aligned. Dani had just finished a solo thru hike of the JMT and was road tripping up to Washington. She decided to start the loop without me, as I was not interested in doing the East Bank portion again. She is probably the one and only person who has done the loop by starting and ending at Devil's Junction with an expensive boat ride both in and out. But having her with me for the hard part is the only way I would have the courage to do this trail early July. 

 

Though the snow wasn't that bad...except for the glissade. It was my first one, so it made me nervous as hell (listen to me mothering poor Dani) but all said and done it was a total blast. After all our failed plans and constant itinerary changes, this trip couldn't have been better. Happy "worth the wait" trails! Trail log below for those interested. 

TRAIL LOG

*like I said, Dani started a couple days before me because she wanted to complete the loop. She camped at Canyon Creek TH after coming out at East Bank TH and road walking those three miles between the two. Lots of reports stated the trail is really bad in that section, so it made sense; plus then we could ford the creek together. 

DAY ONE: 7.2 miles/4172 elevation gain. I met Dani at 6:45 am and we walked down to face the dreading crossing. I was shocked to see such great camping here...and a bridge! Hell yes, they must have just made it - we are saved! Ummm...no says Dani, the ford is the next creek. How did I not know this after all my research? Anyway, after reaching the actual creek, we bushwacked up about 100 yards as other reports suggested. The ford scared me, but the tree cross further in scared me more. (Others we had met had crossed that way, but said the bushwack back to the trail on the other side is bad.) Once across, we only had to climb straight up and we ran right into the sign.

Our second obstacle was the waterfall with the harrowing drop off, and after that I thought we were golden, but the next day would have it's own challenges.

First night at Devil's Park

 

DAY TWO: 7.4 miles/4172 elevation gain. After spending most our time in our tents due to mosquitoes, we left early to climb up to Jackita Ridge. A couple uneventful snow crosses, and then it was time to go down. We expected to glassade (already got intel from others) but damn it was steep! And the fog wouldn't let us see where we'd end up.

After traversing a little (eek) the fog lifted enough to see we wouldn't be sliding to our deaths. From here it's a lot of ups and downs until you're back up for an amazing ridge walk to Devil's Pass. We camped about .2 shy of the intersection at a sweet but dry stealth spot. 

DAY THREE: 7.2 miles/1300 elevation gain. At the intersection we went right instead of left so I could get a few more PNT miles, as this is the START of where I could count them. (This trip got me to 460 miles! Only 40 away from my 500 goal :)) If you are only doing the loop, there is water about a half mile down towards a little lake here, but we had Sky Pilot Pass as a goal. Didn't happen though. We only made it a little past the first camp and then the trail gets bad enough to make you question your life decisions. Instead we loaded up on water, and then headed the 1.6 miles back to the intersection, then 4 more miles to the dry camp up on Devil's Dome. We got the primo spot and got to welcome all the visitors to the peak. And the sunset? To die for.

First visitor, triple crowner "Veg" (as in vegetarian)

 

We even got trail runners! Just doing the whole thing in one shot is all

DAY FOUR: 7.7 miles with a loss of around 5k so tape your knees! A fun and beautiful descent...

until you hit the brush about 2 miles from the park boundary. FYI if you are going CW and want to stop before Bear's Skull, there is a nice looking dry spot about half mile before. So, the 3.5 miles of good down, then 2 miles or so of bushy hell, then 2 miles of cruise. The lake is crystal clear and amazing to swim in while you wait for the boat if you choose that option. (Info here) Oh wait, there's the extra mile up to the parking lot after you get off the boat, which is a killer. (Always have to end with an up, right?) Dani had her car there so we didn't have to risk a hitch. 

PS We extended our trip with a stay in Twisp at Idle-A-While (meh...the price you will pay for a shower!) and then at a hipcamp in Plain near Leavenworth that I would HIGHLY recommend. Being close to Leavenworth meant Dani could apply early for a walk up permit in the Enchantments which she did end up getting. (I call her the permit queen) Unfortunately I had to go home, but I was okay because I was lucky enough to have already hiked it. Plus I have to save my knees for the Sister's Loop at the end of month! I'll keep you posted!