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.
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.
Posted by: T. Bob | August 25, 2007 at 11:10 AM
We recently hiked this trail and headed up a deer trail along Whycus were the main trail crosses the creek. Our dog chased a cougar that was in the brush no more than 20 feet from my wife. we had two eight year olds with us and the big cat ran from the dog and doubled back through the brush to run in front of me, my father in law and the two boys. It was a spooky walk up and out of the canyon after that. October 2009
Posted by: Brian Carlson | October 30, 2009 at 02:14 PM
Don't turn left on Goodrich Road, turn left on Holmes Road. Kind of important mistake there. I wonder how many people got lost and died.
Posted by: Ranger Rick | July 01, 2011 at 02:55 PM
Ranger Rick, I don't think anyone has died on Goodrich Road, or even gotten lost on Goodrich Road. Goodrich is the road before Holmes. Both Goodrich and Holmes will get you to the trailhead.
As noted in this post, Sullivan's book has directions via Goodrich Road. So does this Medford Mail Tribune piece about Alder Springs.
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100610/LIFE/6100305/-1/OREGONOUTDOORS01
This person used Holmes Road:
http://mawillson.com/aldersprings.aspx
No big deal. Maybe your comment was a joke. But I don't think it's appropriate to joke about people dying. Find another way to express your humor, if that's what you were trying to do.
Posted by: Blogger Brian | July 02, 2011 at 10:15 AM
July 18; does anyone have recent experience crossing Whychus Creek to get to Alder Springs (is the Creek high, require a rope to cross, etc??) Also, what ranger station might I contact to get current conditions of the creek. Thanks
Posted by: Don Robertson | July 19, 2011 at 10:40 PM
"Cougar Springs"??
My wife and I hiked down to Alder Springs for the first time a few days ago, Aug. 15, 2011 -- a beautiful hike all the way, from the sagebrush/juniper ridgeline down the canyon and to the Creek.
We saw several prints on a mud bank just downstream from the near side of the ford that were quite clear, big, and no claw-marks -- just the paw prints. Had to be a cat of some kind...
Posted by: Randy Chakerian | August 19, 2011 at 01:02 PM
Does anyone know when they close the gate to the Alder Spgs. trailhead for the Winter?
Posted by: dan | October 21, 2011 at 10:45 AM