About a month ago, Ann and I hiked from Skyliners Sno-Park to Tumalo Falls. From Tumalo Falls we attempted to go up the North Fork Trail, but we had to turn around just barely up the trail at Double Falls for deep snow and tons of blow-down across the trail. We could barely get up the bottom of the trail, let alone make it to Happy Valley at the far end of the trail.
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| Tumalo Falls |
We have been watching reports on trail conditions for weeks, waiting for our chance to climb the full trail. And this was the magic week. The final half-mile of the trail had some snow, but it was easy enough to traverse, if a bit slippery. In the open areas, we certainly needed our sunglasses to keep from going snow-blind in the brilliant sun.
This time, rather than parking on Skyliners Road at the sno-park, we continued out FS4603 to Tumalo Falls and parked on the side of the road, not even bothering to go all the way across the bridge to the parking lot. It was extremely busy when we arrived and as we walked up to the falls, we could see that the parking lot was already overflowing.
Our route saw us climb from 5000 feet up North Fork to the intersection with the Metolius-Windigo Trail in Happy Valley at about 6200 feet, an easy and gentle cliimb. Then we traversed the hillside maybe gaining another feet on Met-Win, reaching the 370/4601 trailhead, where we started down on Mrazek. We left Mrazek on Farewell to return to the truck, parked just yards from the Farewell trailhead on 4603, ten miles in the bag for the day.
The day was a day of contrasts and changing flora. The climb up North Fork is one of the most spectacular creek trails we have ever been on. To sum it up in a phrase: "So many waterfalls, so little time!" Shaded mainly by Douglas Fir with smatterings of hemlock, true fir, and Lodgepole Pine for seasoning, the trail was moist and cool with the top half-mile snow-covered.
Happy Valley is a gorgeous tree-lined montane meadow with beautiful Tumalo Creek running gently through it, in stark contrast to the raging torrent lower down the hill. The Met-Win traverse is much more open, running through long stretches of dead and dying Lodgepoles and a lot of blowdown, punctuated here and there by stands of Grand Fir and the odd Mountain Hemlock.
Heading down on Mrazek, we started into the woods again under mainly Doug Fir, but once we turned even more downhill on Farewell, we started moving though dry and open Ponderosa forest underlain by Snowbrush and Greenleaf Manzanita. Soon enough the trail became totally exposed for a very long set of switchbacks headed down to Tumalo Falls. Even though the ambient temperature was about 70, it felt really hot on the totally exposed dusty trail.
As soon as we stepped onto Mrazek, we saw no more footprints, only bike tracks. I really disliked being on what is primarily a bike trail: it is no fun hiking while being constantly alert for bikes coming bombing down the hill behind you. Mrazek and Farewell are steep and narrow in places with lots of limited sightlines. And you know certain bikers bomb the hill with a bit of reckless abandon as did I when I was a kid.
The next time, and there will certainly be many next times, that we take the North Fork Trail to see the waterfalls, we'll probably turn around in Happy Valley and head back down the hill on Swampy Lakes/Bridge Creek to avoid the bulk of the bicycle traffic.
Photos appear in the order that I shot them. Tumalo Creek has many, many waterfalls, most of which are not named; they appear in the order that they occur going up the hill.
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| We Parked Right by a Gorgeous Western Serviceberry, Amelanchier alnifolia |
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| Just Downstream from the Main Tumalo Falls |
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| Tumalo Falls, 97 Feet High |
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| From Overlook Above Main Falls |
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| Comma Butterfly |
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| Sticky Currant, Ribes viscosissimum |
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| Double Falls |
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| Upper Portion of Double Falls |
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| Set of Triple Falls |
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| Woodsy Thyme Moss, Plagiomnium cuspidatum |
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| Log Crossing the River, About 2/3 Way Up |
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| Littleleaf Huckleberry, Vaccinium scoparium |
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| Cascades Desert Parsley, Lomatium martindalei |
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| Pale Agoseris, Agoseris glauca |
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| Thinleaf Huckleberry, Vaccinium membranaceum |
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| Jacob's Ladder, Polemonium sp., and False Solomon's Seal, Maianthemum sp. |
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| A Yellow Violet, Viola sp. |
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| Western Toad, Anaxyrus boreas, Oregon Species of Concern |
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| Snow Still Present at 6000 Feet |
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| Creek at Lower End of Happy Valley |
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| Cooling off with Snow Rub-Down |
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| Happy Valley, a Beautiful Montane Meadow |
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| Picking up the Met-Win Trail |
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| Distinctive Lodgepole Pine Bark, Pinus contorta |
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| Engelmann Spruce Cones, Picea engelmannii |
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| An Anemone, Probably Anemone deltoidea |
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| Mountain Hemlock, Tsuga mertensiana |
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| First View of Mt. Bachelor |
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| Tumalo Mountain and Bachelor from Met-Win Trail |
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| Unknown Yellow Ray Flower |
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| Pinemat Manzanita, Arctostaphylos nevadensis |
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| Tumalo Falls Overlook from Farewell Trail |
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| Three Sisters |
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| A Paintbrush, Castilleja sp. |
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| Lone Ponderosa Pine |
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| Tiny (Young?) Yellow-Pine Chipmunk |
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| Silverleaf Phacelia, Phacelia hastata |
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| Spring is Late, Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, Just Emerging |
The first half of our hike was beautiful with one waterfall after another. We'll certainly do that part of the hike again, but we'll probably loop back a different way to avoid the mountain bikers. I'd say that this is one of the better hikes that is close of our home in Bend.
