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Wednesday, September 13, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Fish Lake and the Santiam Wagon Road
By Craig F. Eisenbeis
Correspondent
In our search for a hike
with smoke-free breathable
air, we thought we’d give it
a try on the west side of the
mountains. The results were
marginal at best, but we still
had a nice hike. We started
at Fish Lake, which has long
since completed its annual
vanishing act. When I was last
here in May, it involved a two-
hour kayak trip on a beautiful
lake teeming with waterfowl.
Last week, however, that
same space formerly occu-
pied by the lake had become
a grassy meadow, with well-
traveled trails across what
had, not so long ago, been
the lake bottom. The lake’s
peculiar geology causes this
unusual annual phenomenon.
Each year, the lake’s basin
fills with snowmelt; but the
underlying lava and volca-
nic soils are so porous that
the lake cannot sustain itself
when the water input tapers
off during the summer.
As a result, the lake goes
dry each year. Still, there actu-
ally are fish in this seasonal
lake. They survive by retreat-
ing into the lake’s principal
tributary, Hackleman Creek,
as the water level begins to
fall.
For our outing this time,
we chose to retrace part of the
historic Santiam Wagon Road.
This is one of those hikes that
you can tailor to your prefer-
ence for that particular day.
Given the heat and smoke, we
decided — before we even
started — to limit our out-
ing to between 5.2 and 7.2
miles. It’s 2.6 miles to the
Hackleman Road Trailhead
and 3.6 miles to Lost Prairie.
The Santiam Wagon Road
was built in the 1860s and
stretched from Sweet Home
across Santiam Pass, down
Indian Ford Creek, through
Camp Polk, and eventu-
ally reached the Deschutes
River north of present-day
Redmond. Little more than
a wide trail, the road was a
principal trade route between
western and eastern Oregon
through the remainder of the
nineteenth century and on into
the twentieth.
In response to the increas-
ing cross-state traffic, road-
houses appeared along the
way, the largest of which was
at Fish Lake. There, shel-
ters were built to accommo-
date travelers; and the site is
reported to have included a
hotel, blacksmith shop, cab-
ins, and a saloon. Starting in
1905, the site was also used
by the U.S. Forest Service as
a ranger outpost.
The structures remaining
today date primarily from
1910 and 1924. Of special
interest, however, is the pio-
neer grave of Charity Ann
Noble, which significantly
predates that era. In October
of 1875, 19-year-old Charity
Ann died in childbirth at this
remote waystation when her
family was trapped there by
an unexpected early season
snowstorm. Her infant also
died, and they were buried
together at the site.
The grave is less than half
a mile from the parking lot
and can be visited without the
necessity of a formal “hike.”
On this occasion, though,
after paying our respects at
the gravesite, we continued
on up the hill and farther
along the historic wagon road.
Last year, we walked another
section of the wagon road,
20 miles farther to the west,
near the site of the former
Mountain House waystation.
This day, however, we had no
intention of going anywhere
near that far.
Trail guides and contour
maps show very little eleva-
tion gain, but there are some
notable ups and downs along
this trail, especially if you are
prone to wheezing in Central
Oregon’s 2017 blanket of
smoke.
The most stunning fea-
ture of this hike is the trees.
First of all, they are green and
unburned; but, beyond that,
they are gigantic. Rivaling
the majestic Douglas firs of
the better-known Hackleman
Grove, another mile west of
Lost Prairie, these are some
of the most magnificent trees
you will see anywhere in our
region.
One disappointment is
that, although the trail par-
allels Hackleman Creek
the whole way, it is not vis-
ible anywhere along the route
until it approaches the Lost
Prairie Campground. West of
the Hackleman Creek Road
Trailhead (2.6 miles from
Fish Lake), there is also a sig-
nificant amount of road noise
from Highway 20, which
makes turning back at that
point an attractive alternative.
If you continue on, how-
ever, the trail narrows to
something more akin to a
single-track, and the under-
growth becomes more lush.
The trail crosses picturesque
Toad Creek on a heavy-tim-
bered bridge that looks sub-
stantial enough to hold an
eighteen-wheeler. Continuing
to Lost Prairie makes for a
7.2-mile round trip; and it is
more than nine miles for a
round trip to the Hackleman
Grove.
If you are really ambitious,
a round trip to Tombstone
Pass would be a whopping 18
PHOTO BY CRAIG F. EISENBEIS
These photos of Fish Lake — here in May and below in August of this year
— illustrate Fish Lake’s annual vanishing act.
miles, but a judicious car drop
at any of these locations halves
the total distance. We chose to
stick to our pre-determined
limit and returned by the same
route on the wagon road.
The old wagon road
became obsolete in 1939
when the new Santiam Pass
Highway was completed
along its present-day route.
This new road means that
today you don’t need to worry
about becoming trapped, like
Charity Ann, if you choose to
visit the site of the old Fish
Lake station.
To relive this bit of local
history, to enjoy hiking the old
wagon road, or to visit Charity
Ann’s final resting place,
travel west from Sisters over
Santiam Pass on Highway 20
— fire conditions permitting.
At the Santiam “Y,” take
the left fork on Highway 20
toward Eugene and Corvallis.
Three miles later, take the next
left fork toward Eugene on
Highway 126. The Fish Lake
parking lot is about a mile
farther on the right. The first
road, to the Guard Station,
is usually gated, so take the
Forest Service-marked road-
side turnoff that follows. The
site and buildings continue to
be used by the Forest Service
as part of the Fish Lake Guard
Station. The guard station also
serves as an historic and inter-
pretive site.
PHOTO BY CRAIG F. EISENBEIS
Fish Lake in August of this year.
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