Indian Canyon

Friday, April 22, 2022

Today was the first day of a three-day camping trip and we did this nice little hike in the afternoon.

This was a repeat of a camping trip we did last year in 2021, but this year we went one week earlier, and also my sister Deb joined us. The skies were pretty ominous during our drive, with lots of passing rain and hailstorms:

Rainstorms ahead

We grabbed our same campsite along the John Day River. Deb had arrived an hour before us; Greg and I pulled up just after a downpour that had turned our little dirt access road into a slick track of mud:

Muddy tires

We left Deb’s car at the campsite and piled into my Outback to head over to the nearby Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We headed up Indian Canyon on an unofficial user trail. We had blue skies and sunshine at the beginning:

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

The rock formations above us were pretty cool:

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

At 0.3 miles we crossed a dry streambed where a footbridge had washed out at some point. We were surprised there had been a footbridge here since the trail is unofficial:

Indian Canyon

This is where the footbridge was. I’m standing where one end rested, and you can see the footing where the other side rested. Must have been quite a torrent of water to upend that thing:

Indian Canyon

We continued up the canyon:

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Deb spotted a nest in the cliff face:

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Greg thought this rock looked like a finger so I made him demonstrate:

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

The trail became fainter, which wasn’t a big deal in this wide-open country. These trails showed up on the Outdoors layer of our Gaia apps so we knew when we reached the junction with the Hancock Pictograph Trail, even though we didn’t initially see it. After a bit of cross-country we picked up the faint path heading uphill:

Hancock Pictograph Trail

Hancock Pictograph Trail

Hancock Pictograph Trail

Hancock Pictograph Trail

The trail topped out on a rise and we could see ominous-looking rain to the west. We had zero signal out here and no way to check the radar to see if it was headed our way. So we just continued on:

Hancock Pictograph Trail

This is a type of Castilleja, also known as paintbrush:

Hancock Pictograph Trail

Deb and Greg often got out their plant apps to identify flowers we saw:

Hancock Pictograph Trail

Hancock Pictograph Trail

Hancock Pictograph Trail

Hancock Pictograph Trail

1.5 miles from the trailhead we reached a junction with the Geo Loop Trail, which was a wide freeway of a trail compared to the faint path we had been following. Going left would have taken us to Hancock Field Station. We turned right:

Geo Loop Trail

Geo Loop Trail

Geo Loop Trail

Deb spotted this trailside spot where an owl had clearly hung out at one point. There was poop, owl pellets, and bones on a rock beneath a tree:

Geo Loop Trail

Geo Loop Trail

Geo Loop Trail

After 0.3 miles on the Geo Loop Trail, we turned right onto the Indian Canyon Loop Trail:

Indian Canyon Loop Trail

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

That rain squall didn’t hit us, but we could see more rain in the distance so we knew we still had a chance of getting wet:

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Deb spotted a mountain bluebird:

Mountain Bluebird

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

The Indian Canyon Loop Trail swung back around to head south. By now the skies were gray and overcast:

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

We passed this deep trench carved by some flash flood, no doubt. It was bone dry now:

Indian Canyon

Indian Canyon

We never did get rained on! And as we neared the trailhead the clouds broke up and the sun came back out:

Indian Canyon

This was a really pleasant afternoon outing! We didn’t see anyone the whole time. Gaia stats: 4.3 miles, 610 feet elevation gain.

These are all the birds Deb saw or heard on our hike: California quail (calling), ring-necked pheasant (calling), chukar, red-tailed hawks, American kestrel, common ravens, ruby-crowned kinglets, European starling, mountain bluebird, American robin, white-crowned sparrows, western meadowlarks all along trail, group of finches

We saw a wild turkey not far from our campsite as we came back, but didn’t get a photo. I did get a photo of the osprey hanging out near our site:

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

And a kestrel:

Kestrel

Blue skies!

Blue sky

This is what Deb observed at our campsite Canada geese, mallards, turkey vulture, osprey, downy woodpecker, western kingbird, European starlings, white-crowned sparrows, western meadowlarks, red-winged blackbirds, male pheasant, kestrels, flicker, and robin.