Day 30 – Rain and wind along the edge

September 14 – Blue Mountains TrailNE Oregon

The weather advances

I woke up to a gray sky and the wind had picked up. When I broke camp, I had to make sure nothing flew over the edge of the canyon. If so, it would disappear forever.

Today’s hike would be a mix of road and trail. I wanted to get some good mileage in because I was meeting Mike and Donna tomorrow to resupply at Hells Canyon Overlook and I didn’t want to be late!

It wasn’t hot today and the wind whipped every chair I passed by, making it extremely cold. I was passed by a couple of trucks on the road, but otherwise it was very quiet.

Views of the canyon in partial rain.

Western edge

A new trail sign!

Of course, the weather took a turn for the worse as I reached the day portion of the trail: a continuation of the Western Rim National Recreation Trail. The trail was in fairly decent condition. It was easy to follow, so at least I didn’t have to worry about finding the route. In some places it was overgrown with brush and on some open slopes it momentarily disappeared. I was thinking how much I would like to hike this trail when the weather is nice.

Very disturbing and also convincing! I often couldn’t see more than 100 meters in front of me.

Today’s challenge was the wind and lateral rain. I was discouraged that I couldn’t use my umbrella because of the wind and the vegetation hanging over the trail. It was raining a little, then it looked like it was going to clear up, and then it was raining even harder. And since the trail was at least moderately overgrown throughout this portion, it was difficult to stay dry. I was getting cold. I even broke my gloves for the first time.

The clouds came and went. Every minute was different.

The trail was eerie, as the ridge it followed seemed to act like a cloud. There would be dense clouds on one side and no clouds on the other. Once I returned to an old path, the clouds cleared. And they also threw themselves into the canyons.

PO Saddle

I passed a bowhunter on foot named Trevor and we talked about the views of the canyon and springs. He recommended Himmelwright Spring and he was right to do so. He gets a top two rating in the Western Rim from me, along with Dorrance.

I had been thinking about camping at PO Saddle, but the wind whipping around the saddle made it untenable. Just after passing there, I noticed there was a spur road on the map, so I headed towards it hoping to find a campsite that would get some good morning sun. I found an old closed road that worked well, giving me a nice view to the east. And more importantly, it would give the sun a good view of me in the morning. Plus, it wasn’t windy at all.

As the weather cleared, the clouds rose and fell as well.

Elevation Tracker

Day 30: 5,793′

Total: 95,969′

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