Diamond Lake – BOOTS on the TRAIL

Tipsoo Peak on Snow (Mt. Thielsen Wilderness) 06-Jul-2017

2017-07-062022-01-30Posted in Hiking, Oregon Wilderness Areas, Southern OregonTagged Beckie's Cafe Oregon, Crater Lake National Park, Day Hiking, Diamond Lake, Hiking, Mount Bailey, Mount Thielsen, Mount Thielsen Wilderness, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), PCT, Southern Oregon, Tipsoo Peak Oregon, Union Creek2 Comments

Tipsoo Peak Mount Thielsen Wilderness Oregon

Tipsoo Peak (8,034) is one of the few 8000-foot Cascade volcanos (it ties for #38 in terms of elevation) with a well-graded trail to its summit. Located in Oregon’s Mount Thielsen Wilderness, it is an easy hike to spectacular 360º views, including Howlock Mountain, Mount Thielsen, Mount Bailey, Diamond Peak, the Three Sisters, and Diamond, Miller, and Maidu Lakes. Directly south of its summit is the highest point (7,560 feet) on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in Oregon and Washington. We decided to do a quick hike to its summit to: (a) take in the views on what was to be a full bluebird day, (b) check-out snow levels along the PCT, and (c) generate an excuse to stop at Beckie’s Cafe in Union Creek for some of their delicious pie (because hiking is hard and you need to stay fueled!).

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Tenas Peak (Mount Thielsen Wilderness) 14-Aug-2016

2016-08-152022-01-29Posted in Hiking, Oregon Wilderness Areas, Southern OregonTagged Cowhorn Mountain, Day Hiking, Diamond Lake, Hiking, Kelsay Valley Campground, Mount Thielsen Wilderness, North Fork Umpqua River, Oregon, Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), Tenas Peak, Umpqua National Forest

Tenas Peak Mount Thielsen Wilderness Oregon

Tenas Peak (6,558 feet) is an ancient cinder cone that sits just west of the Cascade Crest on the northern boundary of the Mount Thielsen Wilderness (details). The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is a short distance to the east and Cowhorn Mountain (also called Cowhorn Butte by some), a somewhat better known hike and short scramble, lies a few miles to the north (post). What drew my attention to Tenas was a write-up about it by Oregon Wild (post), presumably to build interest in either expanding the Thielsen wilderness or creating a larger Crater Lake wilderness (details). It sounded like an interesting loop hike in an area I hadn’t visited before (it’s off the Windigo Pass road as is Cowhorn Mountain, but sooner). The clincher was that Tenas used to host a Forest Service fire lookout and supposedly has excellent views (yes, but not in all directions).

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Thielsen Creek Divide (Mt. Thielsen Wilderness) 06-Jul-2016

2016-07-072022-01-29Posted in Hiking, Oregon Wilderness Areas, Southern OregonTagged Cottonwood Creek Basin, Cottonwood Creek Falls, Cottonwood Creek Spring, Crater Lake National Park, Day Hiking, Diamond Lake, Hiking, Howlock Mountain, Mount Thielsen, Mount Thielsen Wilderness, Oregon, Oregon Cascades Recreation Area, Thielsen Meadow, Timothy Meadows

Nine days after this hike, I hiked over the Sawtooth Ridge and across Cottonwood Creek Basin to Cottonwood Creek Springs and Cottonwood Creek Falls, as described HERE.

The 55,151 acre Mount Thielsen Wilderness runs along the crest of the Cascades from the southern end of the Oregon Cascades Recreation Area to just north of Crater Lake National Park. Elevations range from 5,000 feet to the 9,182 foot summit of Mount Thielsen. Born of the same volcanic activity that created Crater Lake, this is an area with a seriously tortured geology. Last year, we did two hikes in this wilderness, one a loop from the Howlock Mountain trailhead (USFS), up the Howlock Mountain trail (USFS #1448) to the Thielsen Creek trail (USFS #1449) and up that to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). We then took the PCT south to the Mount Thielsen trail (USFS #1456), followed the #1456 west to its junction with the Sprague Ridge trail (USFS #1458) and took the #1458 back to the Howlock Mountain trail and the trailhead. It was screaming hot that day, so this became known as the Beau Geste hike (post). About a month later (and on a much cooler day), I did a trail and cross-country hike to Tipsoo Peak (USFS #1472) and the eastern summit of Howlock Mountain, again using a piece of the PCT to make a loop (post). An upshot from this hike was a question about the spring (what we’re calling “Cottonwood Creek Spring” since it appears to be the source of Cottonwood Creek) in the large pumice basin immediately east of Mount Thielsen.

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Mount Bailey (Umpqua National Forest) 28-May-2015

2015-05-282022-01-28Posted in Hiking, Southern OregonTagged Crater Lake National Park, Day Hiking, Diamond Lake, Hiking, Mount Bailey, Mount Thielsen, Oregon, Southern Oregon, Umpqua National Forest

Mount Bailey Umpqua National Forest Oregon

Diamond Lake (north of Crater Lake National Park in Southern Oregon) is bracketed to the east by Mount Thielsen and to the west by Mount Bailey (8,368 feet). I’d been up Mount Thielsen before but Mount Bailey was still on the never diminishing list of hikes to do and I wanted to hike it while there was some snow to add character to the climb. So, with large patches of snow still lingering above 7,000 feet, and a favorable (non-electrifying) thunderstorm forecast, off I went up Highway 62 to Diamond Lake.

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