I began volunteering
to lead hikes for the Friends of
the Umpqua Hiking Club several
years ago and it was about then that the
phrase "Richard hike" began to creep
into the club vocabulary. When someone said
"that was a Richard hike" what they
really meant to say was the hike was either
or in combination steep, long, different, arduous,
cold, perilous, wet, insane etc. I was
not present at the last meeting but I was
volunteered to lead this hike. So, although
I had nothing to do with the selection of this hike,
nonetheless, it turned out to be quite the Richard
hike, through and through.
The weather called
for rain all day, snow level was down to 3500'
feet or so. Since the trailhead was at 4200'
we figured to get some snow and we did. Snow
was falling at the traihead and it was 32 degrees,
a great day for a hike. So off we go, the
snow was several inches deep and after a 1/4 mile
we stopped to gawk at a frosty Cowhorn Arch.
From the arch, the trail climbed steeply for the
next 1/2 mile or so to a wooded saddle right
before the burn area.
The burn area would
qualify this as a Richard hike on a great day.
The trail disappears and the way is brushy with
blackberry brambles. The only means of
navigation of the non-GPS variety are a series of
markers that Lori Depew of the Forest Service
tacked on the trees for us; she deserves a special
shout-out from the Friends.
Once we worked our
way up a steep hill out of the burn area, the
trail resumed up to Cowhorn Point. We were
sort of in the clouds at this point and the snow
was getting deeper but still hikeable. From
the point, the trail dove down to a series of
meadows, the trail was faint and we took a couple
of forays up and down to locate the next marker on
a tree.
We arrived at Cow
Camp with a rickety corral around a spring and
headed past a meadow to a rocky bench. We
crossed one more meadow and then climbed a snowy
slope on Cougar Butte. The going was steep
again at this point. From there it was an
easy stroll up to the summit where we actually saw
blue skies. We ate lunch there, ever hopeful
of seeing views through the dissipating clouds.
But wait, the clouds
quit dissipating and then came in cold, dark, and
grey. And cold. With a breeze.
And cold, too. Lunch was eaten hurriedly and
packs were quickly repacked and shouldered.
It was cold. I had taken off my gloves to
eat my sandwich and within minutes my fingertips
ached with the cold. It took about 20
minutes for them to warm up again. So cold,
so very cold.
We hurried back the
way we came and on the way back, the snow
continued to fall. However, once off the
butte, it was warmer and there was noticeably less
snow than there was in the morning. Between
Cowhorn Point and the Cowhorn Arch, the snow gave
way to slushy sleet and then to actual rain.
And it was a balmy 52 degrees at the trailhead.
This hike will be a
legend in club annals, definitely on the
unique side and most definitely a Richard hike.
We stopped for hot
chocolate on the way back but the cold was still
in my bones when we arrived home. I built a
fire in the living room and Dollie got mad because
we don't even have a fireplace.
The rest of the
pictures are at:
