I had heard that there had been recent maintenance on the Baty Butte trail, so today’s hike was to check out and enjoy the work. This is one of my favorite trails – it is very unique with some good views of both the Clackamas and Molalla drainages. It is a great late season trail to hike.

We headed out at the usual time. We decided to drive up the Molalla side since there is still road work being done on the 7010 road. They said it was supposed to remain open but with “delays”, so rather than having to potentially deal with that, we headed up the Molalla side to Lost Creek Meadows and started from there. We got to the trailhead a little after 10:30 and suited up and headed up the trail. As we were driving in, we started driving into the clouds – we were hoping they would burn off as it was supposed to be a nice day.

We headed up and soon got to the junction which heads south. This portion of the trail had a lot of damage from the Sandstone fire suppression activities last year but it has been nicely restored. A short ways up the trail it opens onto the dozer line that was cut up the bluff for a bit. We followed that and soon were back on real trail again which has been cleared of all logs and brushed really well. This was most appreciated since the last several times I’ve been on this trail the number of logs and the thickness of the brush really made travel difficult. It was clear sailing today!

As we headed south, you get to a few spots where you get a view back north. There was still fog hanging over Thunder Mountain in the morning:

As we were walking along I could not help but admire the beautiful fall colors on the trail after the recent maintenance:

We continued down the trail, really appreciating the recent maintenance which made hiking this trail so much easier than it has ever been. I don’t know when the last time it had maintenance but it has been quite some time.

We continued down the trail and soon got to what I think is the high point of the trail. This is a rather open area that used to have a helispot (you can still see the remnants of the yellow triangle). At one spot in here, when I was here in 2009, there was a double headed arrow showing the trail went both ways::

In 16 years, it seemed like those rocks got a bit disturbed – you couldn’t really tell it they were arrows anymore. I tried to fix it – this is what it looked like after I re-arranged some of the rocks:

We exited this open area and came to a downed log which we were able to move off the trail – it seems like somewhere before the high spot the maintenance stopped, but the trail was still in pretty good shape. After moving the log we continued down the trail and soon got to a new viewpoint. The fog was beginning to clear – at least to the north – this was looking north from the trail:

Looking south it was still pretty foggy unfortunately – Mt Jefferson, etc was still in the clouds:

We continued our way south and from the high point we started a long trip down to what I’ve called the “green area”. It is a spot where the trail is rather rough and steep and it is covered in thimbleberry, alder and vine maple. It has always been a tough area to get thru. We were pleasantly surprised to see some really nice work done in here – it was easy going today:

After the “green area” the trail heads thru some rockslides and is relatively level for a bit and then enters an old cut area. It is kind of weird in here. It seems like it was cut more than a thinning effort, but it wasn’t a clearcut as there are still trees in there. We’ve tried to find out info on when it was cut but haven’t found it yet.

It was in here we decided to stop for lunch. It was sunny and the sun felt really good. This was our view at lunch:

After lunch we continued thru the cut – I forgot to mention this area of the trail also had recent maintenance. It looks like the northern part of the trail and the southern part of the trail both got significant recent maintenance but the middle section did not. The middle section was not too bad, though.

We continued thru the cut and soon were back into the woods. It wasn’t long before the trail pops out at the powerline crossing. We stopped here and soaked up the views. By this time, the fog had lifted and we were able to see all the peaks to the south:

After looking around a bit, we decided we should head back. It was already about 2:00 and the days are getting a lot shorter. As we were heading out, I noticed these fresh tracks on the “road” going up from the powerlines:

While looking around near where the trail takes off from the powerlines, Kirk noticed a grounding wire from the towers. We think this “road” was just put in so they could dig a trench for the ground wire. It was almost certainly for lightning protection.

After looking at that grounding wire a bit, we headed back north – back the way we came. When we got a bit farther north, we got a really good look at Mt Jefferson and Olallie Butte (Olallie was a bit obscured at the powerlines):

And a great view of something (Mt Washington?) and the 3 Sisters:

We continued north and when we got to the high spot we were able to get a good view of Mt Hood:

And here is what PeakFinder says are the peaks looking to the north:

After enjoying the view for a bit we continued north. At one point, we decided to head out to a rock outcropping to explore it a bit. It was a little sketchy, but not too bad. Here is Kirk exploring and enjoying the view:

After exploring that rock outcropping a bit, we continued our way back north.

At some point on the way south, the trail is right below the ridge. Up on the ridge, eagle eye Kirk noticed this rock, which he immediately christened mini table rock (it does look a lot like a mini table rock) – On the way back, I had to take a picture of it:

After mini table rock, the rest of the trip back was pretty uneventful. We made it back to the truck about 4:30. We packed up and headed home. Since we had come down the Molalla side, we decided to stop at the Clarkes Eatery (cafe) on the way home for some dinner. I’d never eaten there before and it was a pretty nice way to end the day.

What a fantastic day on a fantastic trail with fantastic friends. I kept thinking to myself all day long – “how cool is this?” and “wow”. I’ve told people there is no such thing as a bad day of hiking, but some days are just “better”. Today was one of those days.