Invariably, before we moved to Bend, we would see photos of the area that would include at least one shot of iconic Tumalo Falls, located just west of town in Deschutes National Forest. We had been looking forward to seeing it for a while and finally had a nice day when it appeared that snow would not be an issue. The falls are at about 5000 feet, about 1100 feet above here at the house, so snow is more a factor there than here.
Monday, we parked at Skyliners Sno-Park out at the end of paved Skyliners Road and walked the 3.5 miles up and along Tumalo Creek to the falls. And then we continued another mile and a quarter or so up the mountain to Double Falls and a smaller falls above that. By this point, the snow on the trail was more than we wanted to bite off and so we turned around and headed back for the car, leaving Middle and North Tumalo Falls for a summer hike.
The trail up to the falls is well-marked, with the exception of one confusing intersection, wide, smooth, and well maintained. Although it is often ridden by mountain bikers, we only met two on an early spring Monday morning. Above the falls, the trail becomes much narrower and has not been maintained yet this year. We had to navigate a few blow downs and in some instances, the slippery path was right on the edge of some fairly deep tree wells.
I managed the snow without postholing a lot, but I went in to my knees a few times, a pain because I was wearing shorts. I suppose that's the burden I have for being 6'4" and 215 pounds. On the way up, the snow was fairly passable, but by 11:30 in the morning, the air had warmed to the point where the snow was getting mushier and slipperier by the minute. If you go up this time of year, do it in the early morning when the snow is still frozen.
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| Tumalo Creek Trail is Well Maintained |
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| With One Exception, the Trail is Well Marked |
On arriving at the Sno-Park about 10 miles from where we live, things look very different, the predominant trees being Lodgepole Pines with a good sprinkling of firs. Back home and most of the way out to the park, it is Ponderosa Pines with an understory of Greenleaf Manzanitas.
As we started to climb, the Ponderosas returned and the sides of the trail were lined with manzanitas and another manzanita-looking shrub that I had seen in town, but hadn't yet identified. Its leaves seem permanently curled as if under water stress, but that is apparently how it grows. Looking it up, I see that it is called Snowbrush, Ceanothus velutinus. I could see vestiges of last years blooms and I am sure that it, like all the other Ceanothus species that I know, will be gorgeous when covered in white blooms later in the year.
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| Late Season Manzanita Blooms |
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| I Love the Red Trunks on Manzanitas |
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| Ubiquitous Snowbrush, Ceanothus velutinus |
After we had gained another 500 feet or so of elevation, I started seeing another low growing evergreen shrub that reminded me of Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), but clearly was not. In many places, it comprised the bulk of the foliage on the forest floor, with tiny red flowers peeking out of the axils. These tiny flowers made the identification of Oregon Boxwood, (Paxistima myrsinites) easy.
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Oregon Boxwood, Paxistima myrsinites
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The woods is not really a good place to spot birds, but we did see a few, including a bunch of Yellow-Rumped Warblers flitting across the path with their brilliant yellow throat and rump patches gleaming in the sunlight. Likewise, a lot of Chickadees called from the trees along with a handful of Nuthatches.
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| Yellow-Rumped Warbler |
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| A Harbinger of Things to Come |
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| Douglas' Squirrel, Tamiasciurus douglasii |
The Tumalo Creek Trail ends right at the parking area for Tumalo Falls, reached via FS 4603, the dirt road leaving off the end of Skyliners Rd. From the base of the falls, we took the North Fork Trail up to the viewpoint at the top of the falls and then started to climb towards Happy Valley to go visit Double Falls.
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| Trees Growing Improbably on Canyon Walls |
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| At the Viewpoint |
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| Looking Downriver from Top of Falls |
About a half a mile above Tumalo Falls, the snow and blowdowns started to become an issue, especially for traction in the rapidly warming temperatures. I left Ann on the cliff above Double Falls while I went up another few hundred yards to a smaller torrent. At that point, I turned around, collected Ann, and we headed back to the truck.
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