Obsidian Trail
Stats
Fitness Level: Difficult
Experience Level: Moderate
Distance 12+ Miles
Elevation: 1,800 Feet
Open: Mid-July Through October
Good for: Day Hiking, Backpacking, Horseback Riding (from a different trailhead)
Usage: Well Traveled
Accessibility: Honda Civic (short road to trail head is gravel)
Permits: NW Forest Parking Pass, Day or Night Use Permit Required
Quick Take
This is an almost magical journey, capped off with dreamy meadows, dramatic rock formations, and surreal amounts of glass like obsidian (you wont believe how aptly named the trail is). However, reaching this beauty comes with some hurdles: limited access permits are required for day hiking and overnight use, additionally, while the terrain is not too difficult at any one point, 12 miles of distance and 1,800 feet of elevation gain do have a way of waring down less conditioned adventures. That said, if you are up for the effort, and have a permit, you are in for a real treat!
Trip Report
I have been a member of the Lane County Sheriff's Search and Rescue team for almost a decade. I’ll tell you more about that challenging, but amazing experience later on, for now that detail is only important because my first exposure to Obsidian Trail was on a recent search and rescue mission, to investigate a lost backpack (you read that right). Another search and rescue team had discovered it the day before, and feared that the owner had met an unfortunate fate. Our job was to find the pack and search the area for signs of trouble.
Trail head map, note the limited access area.
Ben, Joel, and Angie, before the trail got too tough.
After a lovely drive up highway 126, a required stop at Harbicks General Store (cough, I mean Blue Sky Market of Rainbow), and a hair-raisingly twisty jaunt up highway 242, we made it to the trailhead. This brings me to my first piece of advice for Obsidian Trail: Know your conditioning level, and the conditioning of your teammates. Seriously, one of the most dangerous things you can do in the wilderness is overextend yourself. On this trip we had four adults and four teenagers, out of that group maybe three of us were in shape for this hike. This was discovered rather quickly, as we began our journey at a snail’s pace. It was only 11am, and I was already concerned about getting my team back before nightfall.
With that backstory out of the way, lets get to the trail report. The first thing you will notice on this hike is that the first 3 miles of Obsidian Trail are borderline boring. Yes, all nature is beautiful, and I love any time that I get to spend in the woods, but if I had turned around 2 miles into this hike there would have been absolutely nothing to write home about.
Our first climb up the lava flow.
The picture really doesn't do this cliff justice.
Exiting the lava flow into a pretty meadow.
Things got interesting when we hit the lava flow. In the distance the sheer face of Obsidian cliff poked out of the misty atmosphere, I suddenly understood why the signage at the trailhead prohibited hang-gliding. We stopped for lunch on the otherworldly lava flow, and had some discussion about the fatigue that was already setting in among some of our team members. Still, it was decided that we would carry on anyway.
Eventually the lava flow gave way to a lovely meadow, with a nearly dry creek, and a small tent city. Obsidian Trail offers ample flat spots for backpackers to make camp, though unfortunately there really aren’t many dramatic focal points to camp next to. Just pick a spot and enjoy the scenery.
For those attempting Obsidian Trail, this bit is critical to your enjoyment of the trip, your sanity, and possibly your health: at the fork in the trail, go right (south). I will explain why this is important later. Immediately after the tent city we started to gain elevation. As the clock ticked away, and our progress remained slow, I suggested that we split into a fast team and a slow team. Team one would speed ahead to find the backpack and accomplish the mission, while team two moved along at their own pace. We’d rendezvous at the backpack, and do our best to make it back to the trucks before nightfall. Splitting up in the woods is usually a big no no for safety reasons, but was reluctantly acceptable in this case because both teams had two way radios, and extensive experience in the woods.
Mid July wild flowers.
Dreamy landscapes and Obsidian Creek.
Obsidian Falls.
Shortly after splitting up, we entered a fairytale world. Gorgeous meadows, snaky mountain brooks, and colorful wildflowers were everywhere. I suspect if it weren’t for the cloud cover we also would have been greeted with spectacular views of the near by Middle Sister. It was around this time that we started to run into Obsidian. Little bits at first, mostly mixed in with other rocks, but soon we were walking on fields of the stuff. At the top of our climb, we encountered Obsidian Falls. Nothing spectacular by Oregon standards, but still a rather nice treat after all of that elevation gain.
Seeing these these riders through the mist made me question what year it was.
I loved the salt and pepper look of this obsidian patch.
After the falls, the trail flattens out, and the Obsidian fields become more common. Anyone who has ever played the video game Skyrim will find themselves right at home in this subalpine world. At one point, we noticed a large buck across a field. This only added to the dreaminess of the situation, as wildlife that large is rarely visible on Oregon hikes. Soon after we spotted a group of horses through the mist, drinking from a shallow pond. It turns out their riders were a part of a neighboring county’s search and rescue team. Many Sheriff's departments still have posses, both for ceremonial (think parade) purposes, and for Search and Rescue missions deep in wilderness areas.
Shortly after passing the horses our GPS units indicated that we were only a few hundred meters away from the backpack. We headed east off trail, and immediately found ourselves on a rolling field of shale, pouring off of a slowly collapsing cliff face. While this terrain proved incredibly difficult to walk on (due to the ground being covered in sharp, slippery, unstable, rocks) it was also fascinating at the same time. I've seen shale before, but not like this. These dinner plate sized rocks can almost be thrown like frisbees, and shatter with an incredibly satisfying crash.
After negotiating the rock field we were almost stunned to find our objective, the backpack, right where it was supposed to be. The fact that no one had come to claim it, or even steal it, since the last search team had been up here was rather disconcerting. Worse yet, the pack still contained mold free food, a pair of bifocals... and a car key. With the presence of the pack confirmed, we set out to search the surrounding area for signs of a missing or injured day hiker. Unfortunately the area was well trafficked, just off of the Pacific Crest Trail. Other hikers had made camp in the area, meaning any footprints or other clues were all but useless to us.
With daylight running out, and no sign of our mystery day hiker, we decided it was time to start our 6 mile journey back to the trucks. Several of our team members were beginning to suffer from exhaustion, and it was only going to get worse with half the trip to go. Our route back took us down what has been infamously labeled by Lane County Search and Rescue as "Cardiac Ridge". This stretch of trail marks nearly 500 feet of elevation change in half a mile, and the path is nearly straight with no switchbacks. This is why you should always go counterclockwise on the the loop portion of Obsidian Trail. From this point on the rest of the trip was a grind as bodies started to fail. We almost lost another team member to exhaustion, forcing me to hike the last 4 miles with my pack on my back, and his on my chest. Thankfully we made it back to the parking lot before nightfall, and with every team member moving under their own power.
Three miles to the trailhead, and I wasn't too happy about the whole double pack thing...
It's hard to beat steak and potatoes after a long hike. And yes, it tasted better with my pocket knife.