Matthew Singer

Sunrise, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.

I made my very first appearance in the state of Oregon over the weekend. I’m impressed and hooked.

Oregon is a very pretty state, and I didn’t even get to see very much of it. My Oregon experience took me to a little known section in the northeastern corner, the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area in the Wallowa Mountains.

I went with two other grad students in the department for an overnight trip to Mirror Lake in the heart of the wilderness area. We left Friday night just as the sun was setting and drove pretty much all of the drive in the dark. Thus we had no idea what we were driving through when the road became extremely twisty dropping in elevation and then rising back up. I knew there was a canyon to cross, but it wasn’t until we returned on Sunday that we could see just what it was. We stopped for a late dinner at Subway in Enterprise and car camped at a site off of Lostine River Road.

From the trailhead at the end of Lostine River Road, the hike was 7.5 miles gaining 2000 feet to the lake at 7600 feet above sea level. We gained 3/4 of the elevation in the first three miles. The next three miles were bliss, a flat trail through an open meadow wandering down a glacial U-shaped valley. It was here that we caught our first glimpse of our destination. Eagle Cap, the 9575 ft. summit, looms in the distance, but our lake lies right at its base. It is a magnificent sight.

The hike to Mirror Lake is one of the most popular in the Wallowas. The trail is well defined from heavy use and campsites were quickly taken, but there are tons of camping options so finding a place to sleep wasn’t too difficult.

We relaxed, explored the lake, and watched the sunset before making dinner and retiring to our tents for the night. Because the area is so far removed from any major cities and towns, the sky was dark and full of stars. I attempted to capture the sky before heading off to bed.

I woke up the next morning just as the light was gathering, bundled up and headed to the lakeside with my camera. I set up to catch the morning alpenglow as the pink light illuminated the summit of Eagle Cap. It was glorious.

We returned the way we came, nixing the loop over the ridge to the next lake and down the neighboring valley back to the car. I hope to return to make it to the summit of Ealge Cap and explore more of this heaven on earth.

Looking West on Grandmother Mountain, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.

This weekend, Erin and I set out for our first hike together in Idaho and we made our first summit together on Grandmother Mountain. The hike to Grandmother Mountain begins high up in the St. Joe National Forest 12 miles out of Clarkia. The entire hike is above 5500 feet, which was a neat considering all of our hiking in the East (so far) was under 5500 feet.*

Grandmother Mountain is an easy two-mile one-way along a high sub-alpine ridge with forest mixed with meadow. The summit stands at 6369 feet above sea level and offers a spectacular view over the St. Joe river valley, though the approach to the summit offers spectacular views in all other directions. Add another two miles to get to Grandfather Mountain at 6306 feet. We intended to get to Grandfather Mountain, but got a late start and were slowed down by a sweet surprise along the way. Nevertheless, whether you do the 8-mile or the 4-mile hike, this is a really awesome place to spend a day.

Fall comes early in the high elevations of the northwest. The huckleberry and many other bushes are already displaying their bright colors. But, to our great surprise, the huckleberry bushes still had a plethora of ripe berries to forage upon. The berries up there are small, but pack a punch. Erin likes them better than our blueberries on the Appalachian ridges. On the way back, we stopped in the saddle to enjoy the sunshine and collect about a cup of berries to take home and bake with.

* I’ve hiked above 6000 in New Hampshire and Tennessee/North Carolina, but not with Erin. While Mount Rogers tops out around 5700 ft, we’ve never actually gone to the summit. White Top summit and Thomas Knob/Wilburn Ridge are around 5500ft.

View from Potato Hill, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.

I’ve now been in Idaho for almost three weeks and I’m starting to get settled into my new home. Later I will post about the property and the abundant wildlife that make our place so special.

But today, I write about a local hiking opportunity just over a mile down the road in the town of Deary. I have a theory that all cities and towns have an overlook, a spot from which you can stand and look down upon the population center. Sometimes these overlooks are only a few feet above the town itself. Sometimes they are man-made structures. But in mountainous and hilly regions, the overlook is most certainly a natural feature seen from the town itself. Of course there are many exceptions to this rule, but I find in most of the places I’ve been that the rule stands strong. In some cases, you can simply drive up to the overlook. In others, you can hike. And in rare circumstances, you have to bushwhack or even tresspass on private property to get there.

Deary is no exception to the rule. Just behind the town to the north stands a hill a thousand feet above with a break in the trees and some cliffs on the summit. When I first drove through Deary in February, I wondered if the land was public property and if there was a way to the top. I now revel in the fact that the answer to both questions is “yes.”

The trail up Potato Hill is designated a restricted use road available for all modes of transportation except automobile. So I was expecting to pass a few people on ATV’s or even horseback, but during my hike today, I passed only one person, and he was hiking with his dog just like I was.

It’s two miles and about 1200 vertical feet from the town center in Deary. About half way up, the road ends at a communication tower and the trail becomes, well, more trail-like. In fact, there was hardly any signs of recent ATV use, so I suppose most people hike to the summit if many people go up there at all. The trail winds through an mix of open forest and grassy meadow and has a great prospect for wildlife sightings. As you increase in elevation, the slope becomes steeper and the forest becomes denser, when suddenly the forest breaks altogether and a series of cliffs open up a view over the Palouse. The hike is pretty mellow until the last jaunt to the summit where the trail turns straight up and becomes populated with loose rock.

Nevertheless, the view from the summit is exquisite. The town of Deary, population 500-something, lies just below to the South. Beyond is the mix of forest and field of the eastern Palouse. To the West, you gaze upon Moscow Mountain and watch as the Palouse suddenly ends with a series of canyons off in the distance. Below, but out of sight, is the Clearwater River and the city of Lewiston. To the east, mountains rise and get bigger with each layer.

This is a short hike, easily achieved in less than half a day, but nice to have so close to home. And yes, there are bigger mountains with taller views, those will be explored in due time. But this looks to be my go-to hike when I’m too busy to go farther afield.

Dolly Sods Meadow, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.

In the fall, I visited West Virginia’s Dolly Sods with my parents. The foliage on the blueberry bushes was amazing, but the trees had not yet turned. I was planning to return a week later to backpack through the wilderness area during its peak foliage, but my car broke down and I was unable to make the journey. So I decided I’d make a spring visit instead.

So, a week and a half ago, I did just that. I got together with Charlie (uvagolfer), another hiker and photographer I met on Flickr, and we did a one-night backpacking trip into the heart of the Dolly Sods Wilderness. We planned a route to cover all imaginable terrain, the northern high country along Blackbird Knob, the scenic views of Rocky Point, and the waterfalls and river terrain of the bottom of Red Creek.

Our initial plan was to hike in from Red Creek Campground along the Blackbird Knob trail, turn down the Red Creek Trail and camp behind the rocks at Rocky Point, then head up Big Stonecoal Creek and return the whole length of the Blackbird Knob Trail. But we had to change our plan when we found no suitable camping at Rocky Point. In fact, when we got to Rocky Point, we couldn’t find the cliffs initially. The trail comes out on a talus slope offering a small view over Stonecoal gorge, but nothing spectacular. On our way out, we found an unofficial side trail blazed with cairns and decided to follow it. Sure enough, it led to the top of an amazing rock outcropping showing off views up and down Red Creek Canyon. We had the evening light to shoot, but had to return to the trail before it got too dark.

When we reached the intersection of the Rocky Point and Big Stonecoal Run trails and had to make a decision: head upstream a little bit where the terrain flattens out and there might be a campsite at the stream crossing, or head down a steep 1.2 mile trail to Red Creek where we knew there was a campsite. We chose to go up, and it’s a good thing we did. Almost immediately after the intersection, we found the big waterfall on Big Stonecoal Run and had some time to shoot some long exposures in the dark light. We found an awesome campsite among the spruce forest next to the stream.

The next morning, we had to decide wither to continue on our planned route, or head down to Red Creek and circle back up the Red Creek Trail. It was a gray and cloudy day, and there were supposed to be more waterfalls below us. Had it been sunny, the scenic views and meadows would have been a better option, but we chose to go down and were not disappointed. We hit two more nice cascades on Big Stonecoal Run before hitting Red Creek. There were two gorgeous waterfalls on some side tributaries on the Red Creek Trail, and two more small, but wide drops on Red Creek itself. So, what should have taken us a few hours to hike ended up taking all day. We returned to the car just as the evening light was fading away.

There are some really awesome campsites in the Dolly Sods, some big enough to be called campgrounds. The first we came to was an island on Red Creek along the Blackbird Knob Trail. The island was mostly flat and grassy with a small patch of hemlock and spruce. Surrounded by water, it would have been a very serene place to stay. The second was at the confluence of Left Fork and Red Creek. Here, and area was cleared and grassy with room for lots of tents. In fact, a big group was using it that night. That site was probably once a homestead or a mining camp as there was once a railroad bed leading to it. The third big site was at the confluence of Big Stonecoal Run and Red Creek, another grassy area with 4 fire pits and lots of space to pitch tents. Of course there were some smaller, more private sites along the trails as well.

The Dolly Sods is possibly one of the most beautiful spot in the mid-atlantic, easily topping anything Virginia has, except maybe Mount Rogers. But the terrain and scenery at the Dolly Sods wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for its land use history. Regardless, the protection of this land as a wilderness area makes it a great reason to visit West Virginia. There are some other spots in the Monongahela that I hope to get to before I leave, but time is limited.

Hazeltop, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.

This past weekend, my mom came to Luray to visit me. We spent Saturday in town at the annual Festival of Spring. Main Street is shut down to traffic and the stores and other vendors set up shop on the street. We spent a good deal of time at the wine tasting area, where there ten or so local wineries set up with their products to taste. I tried everything. There were your traditional wines, Chardonet, Merlot, Shiraz, etc. And there were some new ones, wines made from fruits other than grapes, one made with hot peppers, and even a wine made with chocolate.

The other highlight of the day was the dog frisbee competition. Sandy entered Bizzy, who just couldn’t compete with the seasoned veterans. They did win 2nd in the free-style event. I didn’t even bother to enter Shadow. She was uninterested in the discs, but she was happy to watch all the other dogs.

Sunday, we went for a hike in the national park. I chose a nice 7-mile loop over Hazeltop, then down to Rapidan Camp and back to Skyline Drive. It was a bit cold out, but the weather was perfect. Spring had just hit the upper elevations, and many trees still had yet to produce their leaves. There were lots of Large-flowered Trillium and Wood Anemone along the Appalachian Trail. On the Laurel Prong Trail, we ran into a patch of Pink Lady’s Slippers, and later we found the elusive Showy Orchid.

Rapidan Camp was Herbert Hoover’s version of Camp David, a Presidential retreat to get away from the hustle and bustle of Washington, D.C. The camp is located at the confluence of the Laurel Prong and Mill Prong where they form the Rapidan River. All that remains are the Brown House (president’s house), the Prime Minister’s Cabin for distinguished guests, and the Creel Cabin, currently used to occupy park service staff. There are exhibits set up in the other two buildings, but neither were open at the time. We did sit on the back porch of the Brown House to eat lunch and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of the camp. We returned back to Skyline Drive by way of the Mill Prong Trail, stopping at Big Rock Falls for a photography break.

Big Falls on Overall Run, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.

It’s great to have my camera back. Two weeks ago, I bent a pin in the card slot which rendered the camera useless. After speaking with Canon support, I packed up the body and shipped it off to the nearest repair facility. It left FedEx that Monday and arrived at Canon on Wednesday. I authorized the repair and it was fixed on Thursday and shipped back on Friday. I received my camera on Friday. While I’m not happy to shell out the expense of fixing my equipment, I am very pleased at the speed and helpfulness of Canon’s support and repair.

In the weekend I didn’t have my camera, I hiked up Old Rag in Shenandoah National Park, which has the best views around. I brought my old EOS 3 and a roll of Kodak E100GX with me. Two weeks later, I still haven’t gotten the roll developed. Of course, it doesn’t help that I forgot to bring it to Maryland with me this weekend.

Monday and Tuesday we were on an overnight canoe trip with the most gorgeous weather. I left my camera behind until I get a good dry box to port my gear in. But Tuesday evening, I headed into the park to find the big falls on Overall Run. The 93 foot waterfall is the highest in Shenandoah National Park, but it also tends to run nearly dry in the summer. A few weeks ago, the falls would have been raging, but the peak Spring greenery made this week the perfect time to look for the falls.

I found it easy enough. After 3 miles of down-hill, the trail opens up atop a cliff with a great view of the valley and a great view of the Big Falls. There are a few other notable cascades before the big plunge and I’m sure there are some more after. At the bottom of the mountain, Overall Run has a nice water slide and swimming hole, easily accessible by the Thompson Hollow Trail.

I’m glad I have my camera back and I’ll surely be careful not to damage it again. There are so many places left in the area that I wish to visit, and my time is dwindling before I leave Virginia for Idaho.

View on Duncan Knob, originally uploaded by Matthew Singer.

I got up early this morning to hike before the heat of the day. I would have liked to have gotten up earlier to be at the summit for that early light, but I enjoyed what I got.

I arrived at my trailhead by 8:00 and reached the summit of Duncan Knob a little after 10 and I had the trail and the rocks to myself. I basked in the sunshine and enjoyed the view for almost an hour before heading back. When I got back on the Gap Creek Trail, I heard voices. I had to do a double take, but sure enough, there were people heading up. I guess I got there and left at the right time. Two pair of people passed me, and my perception of solitude was shattered. Oh well, they were headed up and I was headed down, I could still have the rest of the hike to myself, right?

For the most part, that was true. But as I drew nearer to the parking area, I passed a lone backpacker and then a group of 3 women and another family of 3. But by that time, I was minutes from the car. I guess I wasn’t the only one who thought Easter was a good day to take a hike.