Wednesday, June 8, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
23
A new twist on Whychus Creek Trail
Correspondent
Three weeks ago, the
Forest Service opened a new
handicapped-accessible trail
to a scenic overlook above
Whychus Creek south of
town. It’s a very easy loop
trail of about a mile. In the
process, however, another trail
— in Whychus Draw — was
also opened. Although it is
less than half a mile in length,
it opens up the area to an en-
tirely new hiking opportunity.
The trail in Whychus Draw
takes off from a spot adjacent
to the new overlook. In all the
years I’ve been wandering
Whychus Creek, I had never
actually been up or down the
“draw.”
Since the “new” Whychus
Creek Trail opened four years
ago, I’ve traversed it dozens
of times since it’s the perfect
place to go for a close-by, im-
promptu outing in the woods.
Both the Whychus Creek and
Whychus Draw trails are des-
ignated for foot traffic only:
no horses or bikes.
The last time I took the
Whychus Creek Trail was just
a few days before the formal
opening of the new overlook,
and the signpost marking the
trail junction that heads up
the draw was already in place.
Knowing that it was not “of-
ficially” open, I resisted the
temptation to explore on that
day.
So, last week, my son and
I decided to have an “official”
look at the new trail. After
stopping to enjoy the view at
the new overlook, we headed
down into the canyon on the
new trail. Almost immediate-
ly, the trail enters landscape
burned by the Rooster Rock
Fire in August of 2010. More
than 6,000 acres were burned
here.
This route offers a shortcut
down to the most upstream
mile of the Whychus Creek
Trail. With this new access,
the hike to the junction with
the Metolius-Windigo Trail
can be shortened to a round
trip of about four miles. It also
provides new opportunities
for different one-way car-drop
possibilities.
The trail down Whychus
Draw joins the main trail at
ground zero for the Rooster
Rock Fire near the creek.
The trail junction here is
at a sharp bend in the main
Whychus Creek Trail where
it switchbacks for a long hill-
side traverse above the creek.
This was one of the new por-
tions of the trail that was laid
out by the Forest Service and
largely completed by Boy
Scouts in the late winter and
early spring of 2012.
All along this section lies a
wild, tumbling creek deserv-
ing of the “Wild and Scenic”
designation. Although outside
the official boundary of the
Three Sisters Wilderness, this
stretch offers all the beauty
and grandeur of wilderness;
but, it’s still close to town and
— for the most part — is pret-
ty close to being an all-season
trail.
Portions of this trail seg-
ment were intentionally left
somewhat rough to limit ac-
cess to foot traffic only, with
a goal of minimizing human
impact to the area. On one
trip through this section, I en-
countered four bicyclists who
had ignored the warning signs
prohibiting cycling on this
trail.
The cyclists found them-
selves rather boxed in and
wanted to know how to get
out. After I explained the to-
pography to them, they were
forced to carry their bikes up
Whychus Draw. Although it is
only about a mile to the road
at that point, there was no es-
tablished trail then, and it was
pretty rough going.
Whychus Creek is largely
the product of seasonal snow
and ice melt, so the flow var-
ies wildly from time to time;
and that aspect of the stream is
quite apparent on this segment
of the trail. Of particular note
on this hike are the streamside
rocks, beautifully sculpted by
the rock- and silt-laden high-
water flows that occur with
regularity
Multiple falls and rapids
roar through narrowly carved
cuts in the rock, or pass be-
neath log and debris jams that
bear witness to the force and
volume of dramatic seasonal
stream flows.
Wildflowers are not abun-
dant but are still in evidence
all along the trail. The last
stretch of trail terminates at
a junction with Metolius-
Windigo horse trail and is also
the location of two dispersed
camping sites that can be
reached by a quarter-mile trail
from the end of Road 880.
This access point also cre-
ates the possibility of a car
drop for a shuttle return, to
either the Whychus Overlook
Trailhead or the Whychus
Creek Trailhead. Road 880
can then be used to reduce the
hikes to two- and three-mile
one-way options, respectively.
Before returning toward the
overlook, we wandered down
the Metolius-Windigo Trail to
where the horse ford crosses
the creek, as the trail contin-
ues on its way north.
This hike offers dozens of
great stopping places along
the stream for lunch or sim-
ple contemplative moments.
There are perches where long
stretches of the creek can be
seen tumbling down from the
mountains. From a few spots,
the mountains themselves are
visible; and there are many,
photo by craiG f. eisenbeis
rocks along Whychus Creek are scalloped and sculpted by centuries of
wear from silt-laden glacial waters.
many views of falls, rapids,
and pools.
The return hike was a dif-
ferent view of the same coun-
try, but there are new sights
every step of the way.
Two surprises awaited
us after we returned to the
Whychus Draw junction —
one good, one not-so-good.
The not-so-good surprise
was that the first part of trail
up the draw was a lot steeper
than I remembered on the way
down!
The nice surprise, how-
ever, was an unexpected peek
at an unexpected peak. While
approaching the overlook
through a relatively barren
section of the burn, we could
see the summit of Mt. Hood!
Our first reaction was, “What
the heck is that?” But there it
was on the skyline, partially
visible at the notch between
the northern shoulder of Black
Butte and Green Ridge.
To reach the Whychus
Creek Trailhead, turn south
off Highway 20 (Cascade
Avenue) onto Elm Street,
which becomes Three Creek
Road (also Forest Road 16)
and continue south for about
4.2 miles to a small gravel
parking lot on the right. The
Whychus Overlook Trailhead
is about 5.4 miles down the
same road.
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