|  ptownexplorer | Nov 15, 2006 10:04am | Olallie Butte is a 7215' peak ten miles north of Mt. Jefferson. That's pretty much all I knew about it before I hiked it. I left early Saturday morning a few weeks ago (before all this rain and snow) on one of the last clear days of the fall. It was me, my dog, one other guy, and our gear in his Honda CRV--we drove southeast away from Portland, OR, through Estacada and along the Clackamas River. The last few miles to the trail head were packed earth and gravel, but the ground was dry and the few potholes were iced over and easily negotiable. It took us two and a half hours to get there.
Olallie Lake is part of a resort area; it's actually a national scenic area. I've heard it's one of the really pretty areas along the PCT--maybe not quite as spectacular as the high Sierras, but certainly worth seeing. There are a number of small lakes in the area that cater to fishermen, canoers, photographers, and picnickers. There are also trails for hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking. We were just there to hike, but the campground at Olallie Meadows would have been a peaceful spot to spend the night.
We got there at about 10AM. I let my dog out of the car and the two of us scouted around for the trailhead while my friend geared up. The trailhead is fairly obvious, but it's not marked. My somewhat-trusty 1960s hiking guide said to park under the powerlines and the trail would be right there. The powerlines are still there, but the trail actually starts about 20 or 30 yards off the primary road from a small access road. There were footprints in the snow, so we figured we were heading the right direction. We were able to verify our course after about a quarter of a mile when trail 720 (if that's what it's still called) crossed perpendicular to the PCT. As much as I wanted to, I decided to hike to Canada or Mexico some other time.
Much of the Olallie Butte trail (and the peak itself) are on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. I had my own reservations about there hiking because, though the trail has not been officially closed, the Reservation tries to discourage hikers. My justification was that all we were leaving was footprints, all we were taking was pictures, and as far as I could tell based on the limited information online, we weren't breaking any rules.
There was snow at the trailhead and on much of the trail, but it was clear under the trees. We didn't have or need snowshoes because most of the snow was just a few inches deep. Toward the top on the exposed southwestern side the snow was up almost to our knees (and we sank in because it was all powder), but we only had to tramp through that for a few hundred yards. We stopped a few times to drink and snack and admire the views of Mt. Hood about 50 miles to the north. Higher up we could see Mt. Rainier on Hood's left shoulder and Mt. Adams on the right shoulder: it was quite a view.
The peak was incredible. We had unobstructed 360-degree views of Mt. Jefferson, the Sisters, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, the Willamette Valley, and lots of smaller peaks along the Cascade Range. Olallie Butte has over 2200' feet of prominence, which means that it's that much higher than the nearest higher peak. We felt on top of the world. Earlier that week I had gone for a walk on Powell Butte in SE Portland. I could see Olallie Butte 48 or so miles away, but I was unable to pick out Powell Butte looking the other direction.
It took us about two and a half hours to hike to the top. The trail started at about 4600' and ended at 7215', which meant we gained about 2600' in four miles. The trail was very manageable, though; it didn't feel nearly as steep as the trail to Devil's Peak Lookout (see my trip report from that hike: adventuretaxi.com/view_articles.php [adventuretaxi.com/view_articles.php]). On the way up I kept thinking about how good Burgerville sounded, so that's what I had for dinner. |
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