Alder Springs – hike to a Central Oregon oasis

First bit of Oregon hiking advice: buy the 2007 edition of William Sullivan's "100 Hikes in the Central Oregon Cascades." We had the first edition. The $16.95 I forked over last Sunday for the third edition at the Paulina Springs Book Company was money well spent.

Because it has a dozen new hikes and other fresh features. Which gets me to my second bit of advice: turn to page 82 and follow the directions to the start of the Alder Springs trail.

If you don't yet have the book, here's Sullivan's instructions.

To find the trailhead from downtown Sisters, take Highway 20 east to the far edge of town and fork left towards Redmond on Highway 126 for 4.6 miles. Then turn left on Goodrich Road for 8.1 paved miles. Along the way the road zigzags and changes name, but keep going. When you reach a marker for milestone 7, turn left on gravel road 6360 and pass through a green gate. Follow this one-lane track 4.1 miles, turn right at an "Alder Springs" pointer, and take a rough gravel road 0.8 mile to a parking turnaround at road's end.

Here's the view from the parking area. That's our dog, Serena, not a skulking coyote.

The beginning of the 3.6 mile round trip to Alder Springs (it's 6.2 miles to the Deschutes and back, which we journeyed) tells you you're in the high desert.

Before too long there's a glimpse of Whychus Creek. Used to be called Squaw Creek until political correctness got the name changed in 2005.

Descending toward the creek I thought I could see an Indian on the skyline. Or maybe it was a flashback from all the Westerns I watched in my boyhood.

Alder Springs truly is an oasis. Temperature was just in the high 70s the day we hiked the trail. If it was 90, you'd really consider it an oasis.

Our dog surely did. Here she is in Whychus Creek.

There's a board that tells about the springs, which bubble up 40 miles from snowmelt.

I loved the contrast between the rocky desert look and the green oasis'y look.

If you wade across the shallow water, you can continue on downcreek 1.6 miles until it runs into the Deschutes River. This is on the way, looking back toward Alder Springs.

The trail is lush in places, even in late August.

More rock/green contrasts.

The end of the trail is a great Deschutes watching/resting spot.

A dog/human photo op.

Water was a bit too cold to jump in completely. But I baptized myself, wearing my newly purchased (in Sisters) "Desert Mystic" t-shirt, appropriately enough.

I caught a tender moment between Laurel and Serena.

And a posed photo. Where, Praise Dog!, Serena's ears are actually (and rarely) standing up. She looks like more than the 50% German Shepherd that she is.

I carted along my GPS receiver. Total trip: 6.16 miles. Moving time: 2 hrs 32 min. Moving average: 2.4 mph. Stopped time: 1 hr 00 min. Total ascent: 1112 feet (felt like more, when we were in the sun). Maximum elevation: 2615 feet.

We stopped a lot for various reasons.

A sign-in sheet at the trailhead had frequent mentions of "saw rattlesnake," "saw big rattlesnake," and such. Whenever Serena seemed overly interested in a pile of rocks quite a ways from the trail we paused and whistled for her. Wasn't interested in carrying a 70 pound dog with a snakebite back to the car.

I also stopped to take lots of photos. But one of the biggest contributions to our stopped time (aside from the Deschutes River resting) was Laurel's frequent scanning of mountainsides for cougars. She's absolutely determined to see one, though it's unlikely that we ever will.

And I'm not even sure that this was cougar country. Regardless, it was beautiful Central Oregon country.

The road to the trail head is passable with any sort of car. It's bumpy, but not at all outrageous. So try the Alder Creek hike if you're in the area. You'll like it.

Comments

[T. Bob]

I hope Laurel gets to see a cougar one day (from a distance). Unfortuntely, many cougar sightings occur only when they are already on your back with their jaws clamped on your skull. Fortunately, in groups of two or more (dogs count) this risk is reduced. By yourself in cougar country, be prepared and alert. We're meat.

I lived in the Ashland-Medford vicinity for thirteen or so years. I regularly saw cougar tracks on our explorations, but never the critters that made them, although I suspect they saw us. We saw bear on various occasions which was exciting for everyone involved. All went ballistic in different ways. People, horses, dogs, bear were scattered everywhere, but I'm still here to tell about it.

I used to race horses in endurance rides of 50-100 miles which gave me the opportunity to see a lot of beautiful country in Oregon and No. Calif. I especially loved the Bend area because the footing was good for fast riding in addition to the great scenery. An outdoorsman's paradise.