One Night Wilderness: Portland. Douglas Lorain

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СКАЧАТЬ on a forested hillside before entering the lush canyon of loudly cascading Lena Creek. At 1.9 miles the trail crosses the creek on an unnecessarily large wooden bridge at a point where the stream flows underground and the creekbed is usually dry.

      After the crossing, three more gentle switchbacks and a lengthy traverse lead to the south end of Lena Lake. Unfortunately, it is initially hard to get a good view of this large, deep, green-tinged lake, since the trail stays on the heavily forested hillside well above the western shore. At 3 miles the trail splits. The trail to the right leads past a fine rocky viewpoint above Lena Lake before passing numerous excellent campsites on the lake’s northwest and north shores. This is where hikers with children or those looking for a relatively easy hike should call it a night. Fires are allowed only in established campsites with metal fire rings.

      To reach Upper Lena Lake, take the left fork (uphill) at the trail split and follow a narrower trail that winds mostly uphill into the canyon of Lena Creek. After 0.4 mile go straight at the unsigned junction with a trail turning sharply right back toward Lena Lake. Your trail, which is rough in a few places but easy to follow, continues up the canyon, and at 4.2 miles passes a sign marking your entry into Olympic National Park. Pets and weapons are prohibited beyond this point.

      At 5 miles you cross a side creek on a convenient log, after which the trail gets steeper, with more roots, rocks, and mud. Even with these obstacles, however, the route remains obvious and is not overly difficult. Numerous short, steep switchbacks now guide you into the high country, where forest openings provide enticing views to the east down the canyon of Lena Creek and up to a rugged ridge on the southwest shoulder of The Brothers. The trail makes a bridgeless crossing of Lena Creek at 6.3 miles just below a sliding waterfall, and then ascends several more short switchbacks to an open slope with fine views to the south of pyramid-shaped Mt. Bretherton. Finally, at 7.2 miles, you reach a junction just above the northeast shore of Upper Lena Lake.

      This gorgeous lake, which sits in the basin between Mt. Lena to the north and Mt. Bretherton to the south, is rimmed with forests of mountain hemlock and Alaska yellow cedar and open areas featuring an abundance of pink heather. Fires are not allowed at the lake, and hikers are required to camp in designated sites on the lake’s northwest, southeast, east, and southwest shores. Toilets and bear wires for hanging food are provided for your convenience.

      Mount Bretherton over Upper Lena Lake, Olympic National Park

      The lake is ideal for setting up camp and doing some exploring. A top goal is the rough boot path that goes west over a low pass before continuing to Scout Lake (no camping allowed) and the tiny but dramatically scenic Stone Ponds. You can also follow a scramble route to the top of Mt. Lena or go south into the narrow basin holding Milk Lake.

      Mount Rainier from Gobblers Knob, Mount Rainier National Park (Trip 4)

Southern Mount Rainier and the Goat Rocks

      The undisputed king of the Cascade Mountains, Mt. Rainier rises 14,410 feet into the Pacific Northwest sky and is visible for hundreds of miles in every direction. The national park that surrounds the mountain is a national treasure and is much beloved, not only by locals but by admiring tourists from around the world. Only the southern part of the mountain is close enough for a reasonable weekend trip from Portland, but that includes some of the park’s best scenery, including amazingly abundant wildflowers, enormous glaciers, stunning mountain views, plenty of wildlife, dozens of waterfalls—the list of wonders is almost endless.

      Not far to the southeast of Mt. Rainier is a less famous, but no less worthy, mountain treasure: the Goat Rocks, the ruggedly scenic remains of an eroded volcano. The trails in both areas are justifiably popular, but with reservations in the national park and careful planning in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, it is possible to enjoy a welcome degree of solitude in your backcountry adventures. Even without solitude, the outstanding mountain scenery in both areas will delight you and keep you coming back time and again.

      4 Goat Lake and Gobblers Knob

RATINGS		Scenery 8 Difficulty 5 Solitude 6
ROUND-TRIP DISTANCE		6.8 miles to Goat Lake; 9 miles to Gobblers Knob
ELEVATION GAIN		1650 feet to Goat Lake; 2850 feet to Gobblers Knob
OPTIONAL MAP		Green Trails: Mount Rainier West
USUALLY OPEN		Mid-July to October
BEST TIMES		Mid-July to October
AGENCY		Cowlitz Valley Ranger District (Gifford Pinchot National Forest) and Mount Rainier National Park
PERMIT		None

      Highlights

      The tiny Glacier View Wilderness, which borders the west side of Mount Rainier National Park, includes similar scenery to the park, but avoids that more famous preserve’s traffic jams and crowds. Long-distance hiking is limited by the small size of the wilderness, so most people who come here are dayhikers. The area is large enough, however, for a wonderful one-night outing to quiet Goat Lake with access to a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier from Gobblers Knob.

      Getting There

      Leave Interstate 5 north of Vancouver at Exit 68 and travel 31 miles east on U.S. Highway 12 to a junction at the town of Morton. Turn left on State Highway 7 and drive 17 miles to a junction with Highway 706. Turn right (east), proceed 11.1 miles to an unsigned junction near Milepost 11, and then turn left on gravel Forest Road 59. After climbing for 4.3 miles, turn sharply right on Road 5920 and slowly drive 1.6 miles on this rough and rocky road to the road-end trailhead.

      Hiking It

      The Lake Christine Trail starts in an ancient clear-cut now populated with 40-foot-tall Douglas firs and Pacific silver firs growing above a tangled mix of thimbleberry bushes, Sitka alders, fireweed, pearly everlastings, and various other shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses. The rocky path climbs very steeply for 0.1 mile, and then becomes more moderate when it enters uncut forest. In one switchback the intermittently steep path ascends through forest, and then across a hillside choked with elderberries, bluebells, salmonberries, cow parsnips, devils clubs, stinging nettles, and various other moisture-loving flowers and shrubs. At the top of the ascent, 0.8 mile from the trailhead, you arrive at the forested bowl holding tiny and rather shallow Lake Christine. Backed by a rugged but unnamed ridge to the east, this pretty little lake has nice views and features plenty of heather and other colorful wildflowers around its shore.

      The trail circles to the right around the lake’s south and east shores before reaching a pair of nice campsites just after a log bridge over the tiny inlet creek. From here the path pulls away from the lake and slowly climbs a meadowy ravine that is alive with midsummer wildflowers such as bistort, aster, wild carrot, Sitka valerian, arnica, СКАЧАТЬ