Wahtum Lake on the left, then Mt Hood; Indian Mountain is in the center; on the right is some of the fire burned areas of the upper Eagle Creek Canyon with Tanner Peak.

Native Beginnings – reaching out to Tomlike and Chinidere

Tomlike and Chinidere are two peaks on the agenda for today’s hike -. Tomlike was the son of Wasco Chief Chinidere in times long before now. Chinidere lies at the end of a small, steep spur trail going off the Pacific Crest Trail – PCT – while Tomlike is at the end of a long bootpath through some brush, atop some cliffs and up over scree boulders. This is probably the fifth time I have been up here wandering on these mountains and the day was superb.

We started out on the Anthill Trail from the Whatum Lake trailhead.

Visiting the Son

We made our way to an intersection with the Herman Creek Trail. This trail drops down off the crest of the Gorge to Cascade Locks on the Columbia River 10 miles away. A sometimes faint boot path goes off the main trail just before the big drop. It is about a mile jaunt to the north to the top of Tomlike through lots of rocks and small wind shaped trees on the way. We made it to the base of Tomlike where a long boulder field lies and turned around there. Cuillin, the Little Man, decided he had had enough of the boulder hopping.

I visited the peak a couple times in the past with Toffee leading the way. She was in her prime two or three years old. Cuillin was twelve, so a little slower, reflecting his hiking partner.

The peak has some interesting unique views being offset from the ridge making up southern crest of the Columbia River Gorge.

Powwow with Father Chinidere

With Cuillin convinced Tomlike’s rocks were not his thing, we decided to concentrate on Chinidere.

Back to the Herman Creek Trail, we turned in the opposite direction now – west – to its junction with the PCT. Good trails lead up here, a few downed trees requiring corgi lifts on the way. The avalanche lilies were out in force, a sure sign that the snows had just melted. A sign the mosquitos were probably out in force and they were.  At the PCT, we turned right for the short walk to the Chinindere way trail.  Walking on a short steep trail, we gained the top with its magnificent views. The peak was the former site of a fire lookout in the 1930’s. I could just make out the summit of Three Corner Rock, the site of another former fire lookout, ten to twelve miles away, where Cuillin and I had hiked a month before.

On the left is Tanner Peak and the burned areas of the Eagle Creek canyon; straight ahead is the Benson Plateau – Mt Rainier looks like a cloud above it; the top of Tomlike is the stony peak underneath Mt Adams; Mt Defiance is the last peak on the right.

2017 Fire Damage

You get a great view over the Eagle Creek canyon with its extensive fire damage from 2017. The fire crept up to the edge of the Benson Plateau to the north. Luckily, most of the plateau was spared. Winds blew to the west during the fire, sparing the Indian Creek and Herman Creek canyons further east, as well.

We met a pair of trail runners on top of Chinidere who ran up Herman Creek – 13 miles and a little over 4,000 feet vertical!  Oh, to be young!. They were returning on the Pacific Crest Trail to Cascade Locks. Along their way, they had also summited Tomlike where we had seen them on the peak.

The Return?

I must have been inspired by their day out. Returning to the car on the spur trail and further looping around Whatum Lake on the PCT,

I dropped my car keys somewhere along the way. Not exactly knowing – my feeling was they were atop Chinindere, where they were. But not being completely sure, I got to retrace our whole route once again. I liked the hike so much, I did it twice, turning a leisurely seven-mile hike into fourteen. Luckily, my hiking partner and the Little Man were patient with my senior moment. And luckily, while I was out enjoying my second “hike”, another good hiking soul returned my keys to my partner at the car.

A 360 view from atop Chinidere Peak. Click and drag with your mouse for the full 360 effect.

2019 June 18