Knowing my August was going to be busy, because I was selling one property and moving to another, and feeling bummed about having to cancel two camping trips with other people, I wanted to get in a quick getaway before things got crazy.
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| Strawberry Mountain. |
The Strawberry Mountains had been on my radar for awhile and so I set off on July 31st for the John Day Oregon area. First I took a detour over to the East Fork Canyon Creek Trailhead which is also an undeveloped horse camp, with a rickety manger and a couple hitching posts, but no other amenities. This trail apparently does not get much use. It is rated "most difficult" but not at the section where I was, which was just following the creek with no major elevation gain. I had planned to ride to a certain spot and turn around, but did not manage to get more than about 4.5 miles in, before having to give up. The brush was very thick and a machete would have come in handy. I rode up another side trail for a little while, and then headed back.
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| East Fork Canyon Creek Trailhead. |
I then drove back to John Day and continued east to Prairie City and up into the mountains to
Slide Horse Camp.
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| Driving towards the Strawberry Mountains. |
Slide is a small camp, just a half circle off the main road, with three camping spots.
Numbers 1 and 3 have plenty of room for bigger rigs, but they are back in spots. The corrals are in good shape, there is a bathroom, and stock water from Strawberry Creek, which although close by, is not that easy to drag water from, so unless you need a bicep workout... bring your own! There is no manure bin, no potable water, and it is $8.00 per night.
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| Spot number 1 at Slide Horse Camp. |
Riding nice and early the next morning, I had a plan to do a specific large loop. I did indeed do a large loop, but it was slightly different than originally intended. I followed the Slide Connector Trail out of camp assuming it would connect me to the trail going to Strawberry Lake. The main road you drive in on, continues past Slide Camp to the Strawberry Lake Trailhead which is where I wanted to go, but instead of riding on the road, I took the trail.....which took me the LONG way up a huge mountain with drop off cliffs and a lot of elevation gain. That is when I realized that I had to readjust my plan for the day. Do not do this trail if you do not like heights and/or very narrow trails where you could fall to your death. After dropping half way back down again in elevation, I did eventually make my way to Strawberry Lake.
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| Strawberry Lake. |
I then rode over to Strawberry Falls and Little Strawberry Lake.
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| Strawberry Falls. |
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| Little Strawberry Lake. |
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| Little Strawberry Lake. |
Continuing on, I rode towards Strawberry Mountain, and found myself amongst some spectacular scenery.
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| Strawberry Lake from above. |
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| Rabbit Ears in the background. |
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| Strawberry Mountain. |
There is a trail junction at Strawberry Mountain where you can continue to High Lake which was the original loop I had wanted to do, or instead, ride along the side of Strawberry Mountain on the Onion Creek Trail which then drops way back down and comes out near camp. You can also summit the mountain on a short .04 mile steep trail, but I figured Rina (my horse) had done enough climbing for one day.
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| Onion Creek Trail that goes along the side of Strawberry Mountain. |
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| Onion Creek Trail that goes along the side of Strawberry Mountain. |
The Onion Creek Trail does not have any major cliffy parts but there are some steep areas, and since I was going downhill, I dismounted for a few of the worst parts. This is mountain goat country but although I saw signs of them, I did not actually spot any. Some backpackers I ran into later who were from Bend had mentioned seeing some goats on another trail.
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| Looking down on Prairie City. |
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| Onion Creek Trail. |
The last few miles of this trail are through an old burn, and although I had had no trouble with fallen logs on any trail thus far, I started to get a little worried through here, and sure enough I came across the first huge wide log blocking the trail. I managed to get Rina to jump it, but then I came to a second one which was too big. How I got her around that one I will never know, through thick manzanita and millions of downed trees, but we made it. I was pretty motivated, since it was now raining with thunder and lightning, and I had been in the saddle all day. I had no more trouble from that point on, other than the pea sized hail that started up when I finally hit the road that goes back to camp, arriving at 6:15 pm, making it a nine hour ride.
That night a raging storm hit. At 5am I was awakened by a huge cracking crashing noise. I rocket launched myself out of my tent, quickly realizing my horse was fine. It was a tree that had broken in half and fallen over which reminded me of the whole "if a tree falls in the forest, does anybody hear" thing. Yes, is the answer. Since I was up anyway, I got my stuff packed, and then tacked up my horse and rode up the road this time, the much easier way to the Strawberry Trailhead. You could drive to it as well, although there is a sign that says "narrow road not suitable for trailers". However when you arrive, there is a separate large parking area specifically for trailers, with a hitching post. Go figure.
My goal for the day was to see Slide Lake. On the way there were some more narrow trails, and then a lovely vista with a waterfall in the distance.
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| On the way to Slide Lake. |
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| On the way to Slide Lake. |
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| On the way to Slide Lake, a waterfall in the distance. |
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| Slide Lake. |
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| Relaxing at Slide Lake. |
I hung out at the lake for awhile and then headed back to camp. With more time, and adding an extra six miles I could have kept going to High Lake from there, but I still had to drive home.
The drive home is always so much longer than the drive there!
GPS COORDINATES TO EAST FORK CANYON CREEK TH
GPS COORDINATES TO SLIDE
