Читать книгу One Night Wilderness: Portland. Quick and Convenient Backcountry Getaways within Three Hours of the City онлайн

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Getting There

Leave Interstate 5 north of Vancouver at Exit 68 and travel 31 miles east on U.S. Highway 12 to a junction at the town of Morton. Turn left on State Highway 7 and drive 17 miles to a junction with Highway 706. Turn right (east), proceed 11.1 miles to an unsigned junction near Milepost 11, and then turn left on gravel Forest Road 59. After climbing for 4.3 miles, turn sharply right on Road 5920 and slowly drive 1.6 miles on this rough and rocky road to the road-end trailhead.

Hiking It

The Lake Christine Trail starts in an ancient clear-cut now populated with 40-foot-tall Douglas firs and Pacific silver firs growing above a tangled mix of thimbleberry bushes, Sitka alders, fireweed, pearly everlastings, and various other shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses. The rocky path climbs very steeply for 0.1 mile, and then becomes more moderate when it enters uncut forest. In one switchback the intermittently steep path ascends through forest, and then across a hillside choked with elderberries, bluebells, salmonberries, cow parsnips, devils clubs, stinging nettles, and various other moisture-loving flowers and shrubs. At the top of the ascent, 0.8 mile from the trailhead, you arrive at the forested bowl holding tiny and rather shallow Lake Christine. Backed by a rugged but unnamed ridge to the east, this pretty little lake has nice views and features plenty of heather and other colorful wildflowers around its shore.