Trout Creek Mountains, Oregon

Occidental

Occidental

Trail Master
Joined
Oct 8, 2015
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410
Location
Clearwater Watershed, Idaho
It's been a while since I provided a trip report here as I've mainly been making river and fishing trips and haven't been doing as much truck camping.

We made a trip to the Trout Creek Mountains in southeast Oregon last weekend. It's the first time I've been able to make it there, but it won't be the last.

The trip report is now up on my blog which can be found here:
http://www.occidentalist.org/wandering-the-trout-creek-mountains-2018/

Enjoy!
 
Beautiful indeed.

I’m beginning to realize how much of Oregon I have missed over the years by dwelling for so long in various cube farms in the Portland metro region.

Thanks for the trip report.

Paul
 
Enjoyed that! May have to go southeast instead of southwest the next time I have a milkshake at Fields :giggle: and do some exploring up there!

Smoke
 
We”ve crossed the Trout Creek Mountains once as we passed through on a trip. Your very nice trip report has renewed a desire to return. Thanks for letting us come along! :)
 
Being an Oregonian and one who is picking up my new Ocelot next Tuesday, I will definitely put the Trout Creek Mountains on my short list. Enjoyed your report and the nice set of photos. I remember reading about a very sizable fire in those mountains about five years ago.
 
What a beautiful location and photographs. In my opinion, every trip is better when there's a wild hot spring thrown in.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks everyone for giving the report a read and for the kind comments.

bj40 - we definitely found signs of recent wildfire. The aspen stands are quickly recovering, it may have even rejuvenated them. The mountain mahogany that burned will be a little slower to recover. The higher you get the more healthy the grasses are, as cheatgrass drops out (not entirely) but the cheat is thriving in lower areas that burned. I thought while we were there that it may have been the Long Draw fire (Oregon's largest in recent times) but upon arriving home and consulting that fire map I found out I was wrong. There have been a lot of large fires in that country in the past decade or two, so the names start to escape me.
 
Thanks for the update on the Oregon Canyon/Trout Creek Mtns. I really enjoy reading about your travels. Both areas are high on my list but have been a bit reluctant to visit since the big fires of 2012. Part of the allure for me has always been the scattered thickets of Mountain Mahogany. Here is a shot from a 2011 visit. Got my fingers crossed that this one did not burn too badly.
 

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CraggyMan, that is a great shot. The mahogany is really nice, and one of the trees I really enjoy in the drier climes. We camped above Mud Springs and were in a patch that didn't burn and I was wondering how old some of those larger ones were. They are really impressive. I have a couple 3 year olds in my backyard I'm bringing along.

I checked the fire history map and found that it was the Holloway fire that burned that area in 2012, if anyone is wondering.
 
That does it, I have to go back!

We did travel down Trout Creek but I guess I must have been thinking about the long drive home as I did not take any photos, although when I make it back I want to spend time there as a top priority. The creek is really thick with riparian vegetation, I have no idea how anyone could fish the section we saw, but I look forward to figuring it out.
 
Fish-who needs fish or a creek or brush, hey, bring a friend and have a milkshake and a burger at Fields, followed by a hot spring soak on the way in and repeat process on the way out :p . I've seen that area from afar several times and "I gotta put in on my list to make the time to actually go there this time ", but a stop at Fields just makes that prospect all the more alluring-yep can't think of a better way to spend a week or so :love: !

Smoke
 
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