Mount Pisgah Rocks! (with video of an Oregon Alligator Lizard crawling up my leg!)

Last Friday was the first nice day after a week of rain and thunderstorms. @dillemma had the day off so we took a family hike along the east flank of Mount Pisgah. Mount Pisgah is the closest hike to our house, but we live on the northwest side of the mountain and the nearest trailhead is a straight slog up an exposed west-facing flank to the bald summit.

Mount Pisgah Summit on a previous expedition- Thing One was 28 days old in this picture (baby's first summit!)

There is a cast bronze sculpture on the summit that has a relief map of Mount Pisgah and the surrounding area - I instantly understood the entire area much better the first time I stood on top and looked around, placing all hills and ridges and streams and rivers on the bronze relief map in front of me.

Driving 15 minutes out the Jasper Road alongside the Middle Fork of the Willamette River gets you to the east trailhead, where several paths wind up through mixed oak savanna and stands of various coniferous trees. In the spring the east flanks of Mount Pisgah are solid blue with camas flowers, but they are also absolutely covered with ticks. We mostly avoid the east side in the spring. This time of year the ticks aren't bad, and we had a hike in mind that would be perfect for Thing One's first time walking alongside us instead of in the carrier backpack (which is now Thing Two's domain).

Thing One, Fearless Leader - setting off down the trail just past the trailhead

Our favorite trail on the east flank doesn't go up the mountain at all, it works its way around the southeast side of the mountain at about the same elevation as the trailhead and eventually meets up with the west trailhead nearer to our house. The first mile and a half of that trail is amazing, going through several beautiful oak savana meadows broken up by small ridges with Dr. Seuss trees. Trees just absolutely covered in lichen, long beards and goatees dangling down from every limb.

My parents holding Thing One in front of a Dr. Seuss tree on a previous expedition

Several small streams cross the trail, mostly dry now after the long summer, and these streams wash out quartz crystals and geodes from the basalt outcroppings near the summit. Some of the quartz crystallization is really unusual; it forms pyramidical shapes that resemble teeth. The first time I found one I actually was convinced it was some kind of strange tooth until I found a larger piece with several of them fused together in a radial geode formation.

Tell me you wouldn't think this was some kind of crazy shark tooth?

I have found some decent clear quartz points and geodes along this trail:

We decided to take our family portrait this time in the second grove of Dr. Seuss trees and we staged an action shot, throwing a frisbee for Yeti the Dog while the camera took timer pics. I am going to upload the full res version of this photo - it is large but it is worth it. Right click and "view image" to see this full res - managed to perfectly capture the frisbee above us and Yeti below us. This is the umpteenth time we have attempted to get Yeti and frisbee in the frame for a family portrait and the first time we succeeded! Thing Two is passed out in the frame backpack carrier, but Thing One is looking at the camera and that is also an exceedingly rare occurrence.

Going down the slope that is behind us in the picture above brings you to the largest of the streams which cross the path. We took a break in the shade here and let Thing One and Yeti play in the puddles. What looks like a trail stretching up the mountain behind them is the dry streambed. Following that dry streambed upslope is where I have had the best luck rock hunting in the past. I found a few nice specimens on this hike but I gave them to a five year old girl - another family happened upon us while we were taking a break and their two girls (3 and 5) played with Yeti and Thing One until a frisbee mishap made the older girl cry. I took the opportunity to give her the crystals I had found and it immediately brought a smile to her face. She really liked them.

Thing One got his shoes soaking wet here and we were not foresightful enough to pack a back up pair. Note for next time.

Thing One and Yeti playing in puddles in the dry streambed

This section of trail meets up with the Middle Fork of the Willamette River about a mile and a half from the parking lot - this was our destination spot, although the trail continues past this point. There is a nice picnic spot where some basalt shelves stick out above the river. Large geodes sparkle across the basalt in high concentrations here.

Holding hands before descending down onto the basalt shelves above the river

Family portrait on the basalt outcropping

Nice clear chunk of quartz

On the walk back to the car we came upon a couple of Oregon Alligator Lizards sunning on the path. Thing One chased off the first one we spotted when I was showing him where it was. The second one we found was a big fat lazy lizard who sluggishly moved a few feet off into the grass and chilled out while we were looking at it.

That is an engorged tick you can see behind the ear pit - it is very common to see ticks attached behind the ear of an alligator lizard

Alligator lizards have beautiful scales

I took a video clip and got it to climb right up my leg with a little gentle persuasion! I felt bad after forcing that much energy expenditure out of an obviously sluggish lizard so I let it slip away into the grass after this clip.

Thing One was a trooper considering he had walked over a mile in soaking wet shoes by that point, but he was pooped and I hiked out the rest of the way with 50 pounds of Things draped all over me :)

Mount Pisgah Rocks!

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Cheers - Carl