A landslide lake is – as the name suggests – a body of water formed when a canyon wall slides or slumps to dam a creek or stream. These aren’t created very often, as major slides are not common events. Nor do they usually last very long, as the dam is typically swept away by subsequent rain events. Little Silver Creek Lake is unique in that it is a landslide lake that has survived for over 100 years – it is one of the only landslide lakes to survive in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. This made it a worthy destination in the ongoing search for, and exploration of, trails not previously hiked.
Taylor Creek has its confluence with the Rogue River just west of Merlin, Oregon. Forest Road 2500 runs along the northwest side of the creek and the Taylor Creek Trail (#1142) runs along the opposite side. Up until 2016, hiking this trail involved several wet crossings of Taylor Creek – crossings that were fun, a chore, or difficult depending on the season and the creek’s water level. Then, thanks to a huge collaborative effort, five new bridges were built at these crossings and this hike became a dry one. Our first (and only) hike of it occurred in late 2016 when we ventured out to see these new bridges for ourselves. They were a wonderful sight and so new then that they still gave off a wonderful piney scent. 🙂
In 2002, the Biscuit Fire roared through Southwest Oregon’s rugged Kalmiopsis Wilderness, reducing 500,000+ acres of cool, green forest to charred sticks and cinders. Then the Chetco Fire in 2017 and the Klondike Fire in 2018 added to this misery. Trails were lost along with the trees and, for many years, access (to the extent there was any) was a brush-chocked steeple chase over miles and miles of downed trees on faint tread. Then Gabriel Howe and the Siskiyou Mountain Club stepped-up and began the arduous task of bringing these trails back from oblivion.
In 2015, the Siskiyou Mountain Club (SMC) resurrected the Wild Rogue Loop from neglected trails in the Wild Rogue Wilderness. We backpacked that loop in 2017 and had a great trip. This year the SMC announced the rehabilitation of a 27-mile loop in the Sky Lakes Wilderness, around the headwaters of the Rogue River’s Middle Fork. With a lot of help from the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, the Fremont-Winema National Forest, the High Desert Trail Riders – Back Country Horseman, the Pacific Crest Trail Association, and REI, the SMC removed about 5,000 logs from portions of existing trails that had become impassable after acute wildfire damage and years of neglect. So, of course, we had to do it. Unfortunately, The LovedOne’s knee, while getting better, wasn’t ready for a trip like this. We could have waited, but I was anxious to do this loop while the weather was still relatively cool and before any (hopefully none) wildfires closed areas or spoiled the air (like they did last year).
I’d hiked the Lone Pilot Trail in 2015, not too long after it had been brushed out of old ranch roads by the Siskiyou Mountain Club. The Lone Pilot was (and still is) about the only way to visit the interior of this wilderness’ western half without having to thrash your way cross-country. I did the Lone Pilot counter-clockwise starting from the Pilot Rock Trailhead, returning along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). The last two miles of the trail before it reaches the PCT run along an old road atop Lone Pine Ridge. Maps show this old road also running down the ridge, into the Dutch Oven Creek drainage, and on east to the Skookum Creek drainage. I got curious as to how far down the ridge you could go on that old road before running into a nasty wall of Ceanothus. Today, with The LovedOne busy being a volunteer treasurer, was my chance to find out (I doubt she would have joined me for a potentially tick-infested bushwhack regardless).
While we were hiking in Nevada, a couple of cold fronts swept through Southern Oregon and Northern California, clearing out the choking smoke and bringing rain to stifle the many wildfires plaguing our area. Although the rain helped a lot, it wasn’t sufficient to put the fires dead-out, so several national forest and wilderness area closures remain in effect (likely till next Spring in some cases). This required a major re-think of our Fall hiking plans. Fortunately, the nearby Soda Mountain Wilderness was still open for business. It’s adjacent to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, which is now under threat from the current administration’s utterly misguided belief that we have too much wilderness and not enough clear-cuts. Sometimes it’s hard to tell which is more of a threat to our outdoors – wildfires or politicians? To assuage this unsettling thought, I headed out (The LovedOne having resumed her volunteer duties at the county library) to visit the various “pilot” rocks and peaks dotting the Soda Mountain Wilderness.
Oregon’s Rogue River flows some 215 miles from its headwaters at Boundary Springs within Crater Lake National Park to the Pacific Ocean at Gold Beach, Oregon. Although not as large as the Columbia or the Willamette, it is nonetheless one of Oregon’s iconic rivers. It’s been in our hearts for years but only recently have we had the time to give it the attention it deserves. Between 2012 and 2016, we hiked (in sections) the entire Upper Rogue River Trail (USFS #1034) as it roughly parallels the river from near Boundary Springs to Prospect, Oregon. In 2015, we backpacked the famous Rogue River Trail (USFS #1160) from Grave Creek to Foster Bar and also did a rafting day trip from Robertson Bridge to Grave Creek. In 2016, we bolstered the local economy again with a multi-day rafting trip on the Wild and Scenic Rogue from Grave Creek to Foster Bar. After attending a presentation earlier this year by Gabriel Howe of the Siskiyou Mountain Club on their 2015 restoration of the Wild Rogue Loop, we knew we had to hike it. With lingering snow keeping us from the High Cascades and parts of the Siskiyou Crest, now seemed like just the time to do this lower-altitude loop.
As the Northern Hemisphere enters its inevitable transition from Summer to Winter, the usually mellow weather here in Southern Oregon becomes conflicted, turbulent, truculent, and garrulous. Weather fronts sweeping in off the Pacific Ocean interact with our variously oriented and variously elevated mountain ranges to make local weather predictions tricky at best. Deep conversations about white-outs and snowshoes once again enter the conversation and sneaking in just one more summer-like hike becomes a crap shoot. But when all the different weather prognosticators seemed to agree that the remainder of this Thanksgiving Week was going to be locally fraught with storms, rain, and snow, we decided to try for that one last snowshoe-free hike of the season. With the weather being difficult, we weren’t going to go all in for a big hike and so cast around for something short and close but (maybe) with a view. After consulting the oracles, we settled on Boccard Point from a new (for us) trailhead.
The Soda Mountain Wilderness is a 24,707 acre area within the Cascade–Siskiyou National Monument in southwestern Oregon and was created by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. The 53,000 acre Monument was designated in 2000 to protect the extraordinary biological diversity in this area. Both are located in Oregon and are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Soda Mountain Wilderness is an ecological mosaic where the state’s eastern desert meets towering fir forests, and whose biodiversity includes fir forests, sunlit oak groves, meadows filled with wildflowers, and steep canyons. The area is also home to a spectacular variety of rare species of plants and animals including Roosevelt elk, cougars, black bears, golden and bald eagles, goshawks and falcons.
While wilderness exists in its own right, and hence doesn’t “need” trails leading into and through it, such trails are appreciated where they do exist (particularly when compared to thrashing through buckbrush!). There were no trails per se when this wilderness was established. It is, however, traversed by a number of now long abandoned, dirt, ranch roads. Several of these have been actively decommissioned and the land restored, or have otherwise faded into obscurity. But the Siskiyou Mountain Club (SMC) stepped up and converted one such road into the Lone Pilot Trail – a 17 mile loop which gives hikers and backpackers ready access to the deepest recesses of the wilderness. The SMC has cleared and groomed this road to make it easy to follow. Although it’s not a pure “trail”, it is the very best way to visit the interior of this wilderness. I first hiked this trail in 2015 (Lone Pilot Trail) and really enjoyed it. But I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to explore some more of this wilderness. So, after staring at various old maps, I conjured up a loop involving the PCT, a descent of Scotch Creek on an abandoned road, a short section of the Lone Pilot Trail, and a cross-country and old road return to the trailhead.
Prior to the establishment of this wilderness, it was possible to drive on a dirt road almost to the base of Pilot Rock. Now a new parking lot (with pit toilet) and a boulder barrier add a short (0.8 mile) walk along a new trail to reach the PCT at the old trailhead. A considerable amount of work has been done to revert this old road to a trail and restore the land on either side – it looks good!
The new trail from the trailhead to the PCT
After reaching the PCT, I headed north on it, catching a glimpse of Mt. McLoughlin to the north.
Mount McLoughlin
This section of the PCT was in pretty good condition – there were a number of downed trees but all of them could be either stepped over or otherwise gotten around.
Tree down on PCT just east of Pilot Rock
About 1.5 miles along the PCT, I came to an open spot with a view south toward snow-covered Mount Shasta and Mount Eddy, with Black Butte between them, and Black Mountain in the foreground.
Mount Shasta, Black Butte (in distance), Black Mountain (foreground), Mount Eddy
Mount Shasta
This hike makes a complete loop around Pilot Rock, allowing you to see it from all sides. Here the east side is characterized by prominent columns of basalt.
Pilot Rock’s eastern side
A closer look at Pilot Rock’s basalt columns
After about 2 miles, the PCT comes to a junction with a gravel road (BLM 40-2E-33) coming in from the north. Back in the day, this road continued over the crest and connected with a road that continued down along Scotch Creek – but not any more. The roadbed south of its junction with the PCT has been actively decommissioned and, while some stretches of it are still an obvious gap through the trees, other stretches are now just use trails at best.
Old roadbed just south of its former junction with the PCT
There is a tangle of old roads in this area and it wasn’t obvious which one was the one down Scotch Creek. While wandering around, I came across this nice little pond sitting at the end of a soon to be lush meadow.
Small pond and meadow at 4,800 feet
I eventually found the right “road” – by now just a use trail – and followed it down the east bank of Scotch Creek. It was faint at first,
Use trail descending the east bank of Scotch Creek at around 4,400 feet
but got progressively more obvious and easier to follow as I descended. While it was clear that the old road had been decommissioned, it was also obvious that folks continued to use this path – likely during the hunting season.
Use trail descending east bank of Scotch Creek around 4,200 feet
As I approached the Lone Pilot Trail, the old roadbed reappeared.
Old roadbed about 0.25 miles before its junction with the Lone Pilot
There’s nothing along the Lone Pilot Trail to indicate the existence of this route back up to the PCT and clear evidence of it is hidden behind some fallen logs and brush (arrow). But push past that and the old roadbed will appear and that will take you to the use trail.
Use trail up Scotch Creek leaves the Lone Pilot Trail at the arrow
Then it was west on the Lone Pilot, for a yet another view of Pilot Rock – this time from the southeast.
The southeast side of Pilot Rock from the Lone Pilot Trail
I followed the Lone Pilot to the west side of Slide Ridge – to the first drainage west of Point 4488 – and then started cross-country up toward Point 4881. I thought I’d picked a route with minimal brush (it wasn’t too bad) but, as I climbed higher, it became clear that if I’d started up from just below Point 4488, I would have missed the brush all together – ah, hindsight.
The open cross-country route from the Lone Pilot Trail to Point 4481
When I topped out on the open ridge just east of Point 4881, I found myself with an unexpected view of Pilot Rock’s southeast side – just much closer this time. Curiously, this open area was covered with numerous piles of predator poop (made up of hair and small bones). Why here? The view? One wonders.
Pilot Rock from Point 4881
From the top of Point 4881, I worked my way down to another old road (formerly BLM 41-2E-3.1) which is still pretty easy to follow but is beginning to fill-in with brush and downed trees. It has now been completely decommissioned at its west end – where it meets the Lone Pine Trail – and is no longer evident there as a road. But judging from the number of local hunters I encountered here last Fall, it won’t be entirely forgotten as a path into the wilderness.
Old road below Point 4881
Along the way, I stopped to admire a few of the wildflowers that had already put in an appearance on this hotter and drier side of the Siskiyous.
Yellow Bells
Lyall Rock Cress
I soon rejoined the Lone Pilot Trail just south of the PCT for a view of the west side of Pilot Rock.
Pilot Rock from the west
Then it was back past the PCT and down the new access trail to the trailhead. Overall, a fun, interesting mixed (trail/old road/cross-country) hike (11 miles round-trip; 1,900 foot elevation gain) through less-explored areas and with numerous different views of Pilot Rock. I also seem to have avoided being invaded by ticks or caressed into itchiness by poison ivy! So, win-win!
I did some research on trails in the Soda Mountain Wilderness and came up with not much, other than the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) along its northern boundary. Further digging took me to the Siskiyou Mountain Club’s (SMC)Â Lone Pilot Trail – a trail that the Club constructed along roads that had been abandoned long before the wilderness was designated. These old roads are fortuitous in that money for building new trails from scratch seems nonexistent. So kudos to the Club for creating this trail as it is the only way you can explore the depths of the western half of this wilderness without bushwhacking. It also provides a neat way to literally circumnavigate Pilot Rock. So with The LovedOne committed to a home improvement project for the day, I headed to the wilderness to be a lone pilot (sigh) on the Lone Pilot.
BOOTS on the TRAIL 