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Exploring the American Wilderness and Other Adventures

Creative chaos, new places, wild beauty, and spontaneous adventures

McKenzie River National Recreation Trail, Chapter Two

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Wild Wanderer August 3, 2023

Four days, 12 women and children, 14 miles of rafting, 27 miles of hiking, loaded with laughter and some tears. Memories were made. 

Trailkat and I scouted out this trail last year. I wrote about that here. It was really fun, and really really icy, and really really really cold.

Like last year, I scheduled a shuttle with Horse Creek Lodge & Outfitters to drop us off at the trailhead around 3 pm. We left our cars at the lodge and loaded into the gigantic van with our packs to be on the trail for the next two days. The trail is a thru-hike trail, beginning above Clear Lake in the Willamette National Forest and ending 25 miles later near the McKenzie Ranger Station. You can read about the history of the region here.

Conserve Water Drink Wine

We hiked 5-7.5 miles the first day, depending upon the person and what side quests they followed. I  did all the side quests to view waterfalls and clocked 7.5 miles before we landed at Ice Cap Campground. When we were last in cell service areas, many available campsites were listed on recreation.gov as FF (first come, first served). By the time we got there, they were full. The camp host was unfriendly and unhelpful, so we talked with other campers until we found some guys happy to share their site with us. And their whisky. Ice Cap is a really nice campground with huge sites, a lot of tree shade, (pit) toilets, and potable water. 

Clear Lake
Clear Lake
The Beatles, obviously
Sahalie Falls
Sahalie Falls
Sahalie Falls
Koosah Falls
Koosah Falls
Ice Cap Campground

The next day we visited Blue Pool, which was packed with people. Blue Pool has its own trailhead so that day hikers can make an easy trip out of it. I would guess that most of the people I passed were not even hikers or outdoor-oriented in any way. This day was a little hard on My Therapist. She was carrying the gear for herself, her tiny human, and the (2.5-year-old) tiny human. Women on trail are warriors.

Blue Pool from above
The climb down to Blue Pool
One of my favorite spots on trail
This is my favorite thing along the trail. This gigantic cedar that had fallen has a huge root structure. It is taller than me. People place rocks in the roots as they pass by. It is nice to think about how many people have contributed to this.

The original plan had the group hike 10 miles on this day and landing at Deer Creek/Bigelow Hot Springs. Due to My Therapist understandably reaching her limits on carrying a ton of gear and a wiggly toddler up and down dusty hills in the summer heat, it was decided that only part of the group would go ahead to camp and soak at the hot springs. The rest would abbreviate their day and camp before that point. I waited for the caboose crew as late as I could before continuing down the trail. Because I was pushing my luck with sunset, I actually ran over to McKenzie Highway and walked three miles to Deer Creek along the road.

McKenzie River Highway

My favorite camp was at Bigelow. It is across the river from the hot springs, with just a short walk across a bridge to get to the little pools. Bigalow is undeveloped, with piles of rocks made to be a barrier around the warm water. The campsite is unmarked and well-hidden. I was feeling awful by the time I got there, so I set up my tent and went straight to bed. Sleep was easy for once, with the sound of the river drowning out any possibility of hearing other people, listening to my thoughts, or feeling my feelings. 

The hike between Deer Creek/Bigalow Hot Springs and Belknap Hot Springs was a fast 5 miles. I walked it alone. The other girls in the group were all equally social and talkative, and it seemed like my quietness was throwing off their vibe – when I was not near them, you could hear constant chatter and frequent laughter, but when I was with them, they were very quiet. It happens. I’m okay with being alone so they can better vibe with one another and their environment. 

I arrived at our final destination first. Belknap Hot Springs Resort. Horse Creek Lodge & Outfitters had delivered the cars to the resort, as promised, so I took My Therapist’s car and drove down to Deer Creek/Bigalow to intercept the caboose crew of the group. They were so surprised to see me and happy to be shuttled the last five miles. Once I had them, we got settled into our campsites. Belknap has a really nice campground. It is across the river from the resort, spacious, with nice trails and a beautiful little Secret Garden. The hot springs pool was perfect for sore muscles and tired brains. 

Belknap and the river
I forgot to ask what this is, but it was a cool spot.
Secret Garden

The last day on the river was spent with Horse Creek river guides rafting down the river. After being picked up from the resort and outfitted for the ice-cold river water, we put in at Frissel Boat Launch and rafted 14 beautiful miles. I love rafting. The last time I did, it was two years ago, on the Payette River, near Boise, Idaho. I met a bunch of strangers with all the gear, and it was the best time. We covered ourselves and the rafts with glow-in-the-dark paints and light sticks, put in after dark, and met a thunderstorm on the river. The storm provided us with incredible rapids, and it was hard work. It is one of my favorite memories. Rafting the McKenzie River was nothing like it. The McKenzie doesn’t have much for rapids, so it was more like floating. Some of the river people hang beer from trees that hang over the river for rafters to grab and that just seems like the best. The guides did a great job of facilitating a rapids-like experience, but they really could have just floated us down the entire way. I am still glad I did it, despite the lack of “awe,” and I would encourage anyone else to do it after they finish the thru-hike.

Our guide and the bridge that connects Belknap to our campground.
Covered bridge along the rafting route
The last few miles of the rafting route took us through the remnants of the Holiday Farm Wildfire that devastated the region a few years ago.

Nearly everyone left that day, leaving MR, CB, and LL with me for another night of soaking in the hot springs and camping at Belknap. We relaxed for a bit and then went to drive the West Cascade National Scenic Byway to see Cougar Reservoir and Terwilliger Hot Springs. Of course, it was beautiful. Cougar Reservoir resulted from the US Army Corps of Engineers building the Cougar Dam in the 1960s. Now, it is a place of recreation for boating, fishing, and camping. Terwilliger Hot Springs is also known as Cougar Hot Springs. I thought it was going to be an undeveloped hot spring, but when we got there, it was obviously partially developed. There is a station at the trailhead for forest service workers to collect fees and manage the use of the pools, but no one was there when we arrived.

Cougar Reservoir
View of the dammed side
Hot Springs
Hot springs
Hot Springs
Hot springs
Ranger Karen sounds like a really great time.
Ranger Karen sounds like a really great time.
Shelter sign

The trail to the hot springs is .5 miles through the forest. The hot springs are a series of pools that are set on the mountainside in a tier. The top pool, where the spring was feeding, was the hottest (think very red skin after you are in that water), and then the pools got a little cooler for each tier below. Although there are rules against dogs and drinking at the hot springs, of course, there were both. Everyone there was fun and friendly. At some point, every pool had women with no clothes on being photographed by the person they hiked in with. I did learn when writing this post that there have been many deaths there. We stayed until the sun started getting low in hopes of catching a brilliant sunset near the dam. We did not get that at the dam, but we did get it on the drive.

Sunset

I am peopled-out. No spoons remain after this trip. This was not the wilderness refresher that usually restores my mind. This was stressful. 

Gear:

One Response

  1. Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Bend, Oregon - One Trail After Another says:
    August 5, 2023 at 9:24 pm

    […] with MR, LL, and CB, after spending the weekend on the McKenzie River and at Belknap Hot Springs (here). MR is rehabbing a busted knee, so we had to divert our original plans of hiking Smith Rock State […]

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