#2: [07-Jul-22] (incomplete)

20-Aug-2001 -- My son Drew and I headed out in the morning for the three- hour drive to Days Creek. From Days Creek, we followed the topographical map for one-hour drive on some roads that started paved and ended up as two parallel tracks separated by tall grass. The closest point on the trail was about a quarter mile from the confluence. We hiked back and forth on the trail looking for a decent opening in the brush to make our descent easier, but without success, so we plunged into the foliage. The slope down to the confluence was quite steep, with an approximate loss in elevation of 400 feet. We clambered down over rotting logs and burned stumps from some not-too-ancient fire. Most of the new trees looked maybe ten years old. The ground was gravelly so the young pine trees provided good handholds to prevent a fall into the gully.

Looking across the gulch, it was clear to see that the opposite hill had been completely logged. From top to bottom, the cleared hill is over 1000 vertical feet high. Our climb back to the top was a real workout. We went directly up, hand over hand using the smaller trees for assistance. The hike down and back up took almost two hours.

On the drive back home we saw smoke from several of the currently active wildfires in Oregon. Fortunately, none of them were near enough to affect our trip.