Cherry Orchard

Feb 07, 2009

by Sunrise Creek — last modified Mar 18, 2009 03:50 PM

Type of Outing: Day hike

Read More in our Hiking Guide: Hike: Lyle Cherry Orchard; Region: South Cascades -- Columbia Gorge; Agency: Friends of the Gorge Land Trust; Avg Rating: 3.00
Why You Should Go Now: Wildflowers blooming

Cherry Orchard Trail landscape of open oak and pine woodlands. Photo by Susan Saul

We started the day with breakfast at the Lyle Lions Club Community Center. The Lions Club has served breakfast on the first Saturday of every month for over 20 years as its major fundraiser. It's a deal: $5 for made-to-order omelet, all you can eat pancakes, juice and coffee. Just east of Lyle, the Cherry Orchard Trail is located on property owned by the Russell Family. Nancy Russell (founder of Friends of the Columbia Gorge) and her husband Bruce purchased this property to protect it from development. They developed a trail to the old homestead and cherry orchard and invite hikers to enjoy the scenic views and wildflowers. The unsigned trailhead is located just east of Lyle, Washington, on the inside of the curve on SR 14 after the tunnel. A Washington Department of Natural Resources crew, under direction of the Chinook Trail Association, rebuilt the first mile of trail last fall. Aubrey Russell, who now manages the property on behalf of his family, intends to do more trail work as funds are raised. This hike was our first experience of the newly built trail, which reduces the grade and provides more switchbacks while climbing about 1,000 ft in the first mile. We broke away from the trail and hiked cross-country on the ridge above Lyle and then turned east through oak woodlands. The ticks were active! Several people found multiple ticks on their clothes. We dodged poison oak as best we could, finally climbing to views of Mount Hood and Mount Adams. Part of the hike was on a primitive dirt road where we saw tracks of deer, raccoon, bobcat and bear in the mud. (On a prior hike here, we saw cougar tracks in the mud!) We hiked east and descended to the cherry orchard for lunch, with views of deer on the hillside across the canyon and bald eagles flying overhead. Bev produced a cake from her backpack so we could celebrate Ken's 65th birthday. We basked in the sun and anticipated spring. A few early grass widows and Columbia desert parsley brightened the oak woodlands. Grand vistas up and down the Columbia River spread below our feet. On our return hike, we looped through the woods and eventually back to the trail. We estimated the hike at 6-7 miles and 1,200 feet elevation gain.