![]() ![]() Cross a meadow, and then hike along an open slope: here the trail follows an old road bed that serviced the Thornburg Mine. Descend along a huckleberry-lined trail and pass a boggy spring and grassy seeps. Pass more miners’ rock piles in an area where the slope was blasted away by water cannons. Now travel high above the river where the only tall trees that have survived all the burns are western larches. Enter a wood of lodgepole pine with a lovely ponderosa pine parkland on the slopes above. Pass above a wide grassy flat which exhibits the detritus of a mining operation. Younger ponderosas, lodgepoles, and larches have restablished themselves. Continuing on the trail, you’ll cross more open slopes that were burned a few decades ago. Otherwise, at Trout Creek, you have two choices: either to wobble across the broken footbridge or to slosh across at the horse ford downstream (It is current policy not to replace these bridges, so when this bridge goes, the ford will be the only option). If you’re out for a shorter hike, this is where you’ll turn around. Sullivan spent two days here during a snowstorm, but the two-room cabin is now a little worse for wear although there are still bed springs, a wood stove, and a two-door cabinet. Sullivan’s account of his trek across Oregon, Listening for Coyote. Eight yards from the main trail, another spur goes left to the Home Mines Cabin, immortalized as the “ Bigfoot Hilton” in William L. Before the broken footbridge, a trail leads off to the left. Make a level traverse, and wind down to reach Trout Creek. Across the river, you’ll see young larch trees dominating a forest recovering from a wild fire. On the main trail, cross a sweet-smelling snow brush slope. A jar above the door holds the claim papers, and Guy’s tools are still leaning against the log cabin’s wall. The claim here was worked for 30 years by Guy Hafer, who passed away in 2007. Soon, a spur leads down to the left to arrive at the Blue Heaven Cabin. Pass the sign for the Blue Heaven Claim #2, validated in 1981. The trail then undulates high above the river among tall western larches. A little farther on, there’s a collapsed cabin with a shake roof. Rusty bunk bed frames remain in the main room. Below the trail, you’ll see your first cabin with its attendant outhouse and shed. Aspen trees shimmer on a talus slope above. Cross several boggy seeps, noting the white orchids, and enter a more mature woodland of Douglas-fir, Engelmann spruce, ponderosa pine, and some very large larch trees. Heliotrope, geranium, cinquefoil, and mertensia bloom along the path. Pass the wilderness boundary sign, and hike along a grouseberry-lined trail in shady lodgepole woods. Pass miners’ rock piles and then go right across the big log that constitutes the Trail Creek Footbridge. Hike down through a lodgepole pine-shaded meadow that blooms with cow parsnip, penstemon, and lupine. It's a 5 1/4 mile round-trip hike to the Bigfoot Hilton if you want to do a shorter hike.Īt the trailhead, an information board illustrates some of the salient features of placer mining. Some sections of these trails are not regularly maintained, so you will probably have to contend with some downed trees. This hike will take you down past several of these workings, but to make this a loop, you’ll have to ford at knee-depth the North Fork John Day (Bring water shoes and two trekking poles for balance) and hike up the Crane Creek Trail, which becomes indistinct in the long lush meadow near the source of the creek (Also, there are ticks in the meadows). Miners used powerful water cannons to blast away whole hillsides, and the larger rocks were piled in small ridges so the finer material could be sluiced to sort out the heavy metals, primarily gold. Some of the old miner’s cabins remain, and rock pile tailings, as well as water trenches, are obvious in many locations. When the area became wilderness in 1984, the existing 200 claims were grandfathered in, and the last operation, the Blue Heaven Claim, was worked until 2004. Production tailed off by the 1920s, but the Great Depression saw a number of small claims filed up and down the river. The North Fork John Day River was a hot bed of mining activity from small operations in the 1860s to larger, more industrial concerns beginning in the late nineteenth century. 6 Guidebooks that cover this destination. ![]()
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