Wyeth Trail to North Lake

To Reach (From Portland):

Take I-84 eastbound, 49 miles to exit 51 (Wyeth), and turn into Wyeth Campground.

The Trail:

Located in the Hatfield Wilderness, just west of Mt. Defiance, this trail is steep and long, rising 3800 feet in 5.7 miles to North Lake, surrounded by forest, and quite isolated.  After the strenouous hike up, a dip will probably sound nice!  The trail offers wildflower meadows in summer, and wonderful viewpoints.

From the parking area, hike up Gorton Creek to the junction with the Tanner Creek Trail.  Turn left, and continue across Harphan Creek.  After 2.5 miles of steep climbing, you'll come across a viewpoint of the Columbia River, before dropping 100 feet into North Lake.

After your stay at the lake, you can stay right at all the junctions to continue past the Green Point Mountain viewpoint to complete the 14.7 mile loop.

Our Take:

When we hiked this trail, the snow level was about 1500 feet.  It was steep the whole way, but the snow was so deep, that it made it even more difficult.  The trail was difficult to follow, as there had been fresh snowfall overnight, and we ended up getting lost.  We went up with the Ptarmigans Outdoor Club, during our Mountaineering Training Course, but we just couldn't stay on the trail.  We'd pick it up and lose it again as we wandered through the forest.  Because of this, the trail description here is very vague, as we're not really sure what the trail is really like.

Before we ever found the lake, we gave up and turned around.  We were frustrated, and people weren't sure they wanted to continue barreling into the snow-covered woods.  We headed back out the way we came, and thought to ourselves, "come back later in the year next time!".

The day was cloudy and snowing, so we weren't sure what views there might be, and because everything was covered with snow, we weren't really sure what there might be to see here, either.

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