Stahlman Point Trail

After our first stay at Ice Cap Campground, we stopped at the Cherokee gathering in Salem on the way home. After our second stay, a few weeks later, the Chief was safely back in Tahlequah, and we had the whole day available. We agreed that we would enjoy another hike.

Pedro suggested there might be something around the Detroit Lake area, which was directly on our way home. I opened my All Trails app and searched for trails based purely on length, knowing nothing about any trails there, and having never recreated at Detroit Lake.

We found the trailhead easily, but parking not so easily, since the lot is small and that Saturday it was full. Luckily, my Jeep is used to being off the road, so I pulled into the bushes and soon we were on our way.

The sky was cloudy, which kept temperatures pleasantly cool. We hiked through the remnants of an old wildfire. This was a terribly devastating wildfire in 2020 that began as three separate fires started by lightning. They merged into one huge one, that was called the Santiam Fire. It was one of the worst in state history, burning completely through the little towns of Detroit and Idanha that we could see from above.

The trail is short for us: only a little over 2 miles (35540 m) to the overlook. As you can see from the photos, though, it’s uphill the entire way. It was a great workout and we were gasping at the end. Uphill doesn’t bother me as much as downhill because I bend forward and that feels better on my back. Going down though…that would aggravate my knees. But it was in the future, and unavoidable, so we continued on.

We reached the top where there is a small, level space on top of the rock. We found a place to the side of it to sit and eat our lunch. What a view! We had passed around 8 people who were leaving the summit while we climbed, but we had the place to ourselves through our entire lunch. It was an incredible view up there. Peaceful, pleasant, scenic. It was especially delightful because we had no idea there was such a great trail so close to the highway. I love surprises.

By the time we were rested and satiated, people began arriving. Our timing had been perfect, right in between groups of people. One of the arriving people knew a little about the site, and said the concrete foundation blocks we saw were the remnants of an old wildfire lookout post. I wonder if it was here for that 2020 fire, and I wonder if the lookout spotted the fire, and I wonder if they got out safely.

As more hikers arrived, the small rock platform grew crowded, and we were ready to go.

The journey back to the Jeep was quicker, because downhill always is, but for me more painful. We had to stop a couple times to rest my knees. Gosh darn old body!

It had been one of my favourite weekends ever with my man. How fortunate I am to have found a companion who loves doing so many of the same things I love doing.