Continued...
There are three closely-spaced P2Ks in south-central Oregon, none of which are
well-known outside the area. Located about 15mi west of US97 at the junction of
three counties (Lane, Deschutes and Klamath), they seemed like
they'd make for a good short day on my way back from North Sister to San Jose.
I never made it to the third peak as my info was lacking and I was running out
of time, so Hamner Butte would have to wait for another trip.
Odell Butte
The Odell Butte Road allows any vehicle to drive to within a mile of the
lookout that sits atop the summit. With two dirt/gravel approaches, the
shortest is
from the west along SR58 while the longer one comes in from the NE off
Crescent-cutoff Rd. Both approaches are signed as Odell Butte Rd, and having
driven both, I can say any vehicle could use either option. Following our
successful outing to North Sister and a celebratory dinner in Sisters
afterwards, Bob Sumner and I parted ways. I headed south to Odell
Butte, driving the last portion of the road in the dark. The parking area at
the
was not terribly flat for spending the night, so I drove a short
ways back down the road and parked at a flat point on one side of the road.
Smoke from a fire (or fires) somewhere in Southern Oregon were obscuring views
ever since I had left US97. The smell would linger over the area through the
night and all the following day. I had a restless night because I kept waking
up with the smell in the air and noticed the clouds outside thickening. I could
see them wafting past the nearly full moon overhead, sometimes obscuring it
completely, sometimes opening for a brief minute. I opened the van door to look
at the moon and noted a cold chill in the air and the ever-present smell of
burning forest. Was it possible the fire was close? I had no idea, other than
there had been no signs or indications during the drive in. What I didn't know
until morning was that coastal fog had pushed in over the mountains during the
evening and it was this, along with the smell of smoke, that made me think that
the smoke was thicker than it was. I did notice the chill in the air which
should have been a good clue, but I was not thinking with all my faculties
during those brief waking moments in the middle of the night.
Come morning it became clearer and I set out to hike the short distance to the
top of Odell. Views were not going to be on the menu this morning. Following
the road on the way up, it took about 20min to cover the mile distance. It was
7a as I approached, and from a distance I could see the lookout's
caretaker descending
the steps to use the outhouse located near the base. He was inside when I came
up
and noted the sign announcing visitors were welcome after 9a.
Would he mind if I was a few hours early? Hard to tell. I noted that there are
two summit outcrops. The lookout is built on the side of the higher western
outcrop. I decided to avoid the stairs in case I wasn't welcome and scrambled
up the summit rocks from the northeast side, finding the USGS
at the
top. The rocky top and lookout tower were very close to the cloud ceiling and
for brief moments I could see that the tower must have very fine, far-reaching
views. But faster than I could focus a camera the clouds would
and
obscure any chance for a good photo. The caretaker came back up the stairs to
find me atop the rocks. I gave what I thought was a cheery, "Good morning!" only
to get a barely audible reply in return
without any smile, suggesting the hearty welcome
I might have hoped for was not likely to be forthcoming. I surmised he probably
just wanted to go back to bed for another hour. No tower visit for me
today. After descending the summit rocks I used the GPS to make a steep, but far
more direct descent off the north side of the mountain, getting me back in less
than 10min.
Maiden Peak
Heading west on SR58, I went by Odell Lake and then over Willamette Pass. A ski
area is located here and there appears to be a large network of cross-country
ski trails available around the downhill area. The Gold Lake Sno-Park is
located across the highway from Gold Lake Rd which I used to access the Maiden
Peak
about a mile and a half from the highway. The sign indicated 5.8mi to the
summit, starting out not long after 8a. is quite nice,
traveling through greener forest than one finds on the east side of the crest,
though not as lush as those closer to the coast. The trail is open to bicycles
as well, making me almost wish I'd brought mine to enjoy the good single track.
In fact I saw no other footprints - just tire treads on the trail, though
I saw not a soul on the trail with me today. At the two mile mark the trail
crosses which came as a surprise to me. I hadn't realized I
was that close to the crest. The coastal cloud layer was already dissipating
though the hazy smoke continued. It made for some picturesque scenes with the
sun's rays filtering
to the forest floor. It is not until the last half mile or so that the trees
begin to give way and the views open up. The last quarter mile as the trail
winds around the north side of the summit has the best views. The Three Sisters,
Broken Top and Mt. Bachelor were visible to poking through
the clouds. This view is somewhat obscured as one reaches the rounded summit
where views in other directions open up. The pointy spire of Thielsen can be
seen far to , while nearer to the southwest rises
, the most impressive peak in this area. I would have
liked to climb that P2K as well, but the one-way distance is something like
10mi by the easiest route - not something I was going to get in with a 7.5hr
drive ahead of me. To and lower,
obscured by the thin smoke layer, were the rounded bumps of Royce Mtn and Odell
Butte. As on other Oregon summits I visited this trip, there was no register
to be found. I returned via the same route with some jogging in about an hour
and a quarter, getting me
well before noontime. At this point I decided to
forgo Hamner Butte, changing into some fresh clothes before starting the long
drive home. The three days had been the shortest trip I'd yet made to Oregon,
but was thoroughly enjoyable. I told myself I should do this more often.
As I drove home on I5, I marvelled at all the
Coast Range mountains in California I had yet to visit and started making
mental notes to pay some of them a visit in the coming weeks...