Hunt for the Headwaters, Metolius River, Or

When our friends, Ric and Jan, visited us a few weeks ago, we drove to Camp Sherman, a community near the Metolius River in the Deschutes NF near Sisters, OR. Camp Sherman was first settled in the 1880s, growing into a small community over time.
Today it is a popular vacationing area for many in the northwest high desert. It now includes lots of private housing, camping sites, a few restaurants, a post office, and a small country general store with a selection of gourmet supplies! The area has a few hundred permanent residents but the population grows to several thousand in the summer. Click here for more information on this historical area. 

We also saw the Metolius River and signs for a hike to the headwaters of the river.  This sounded interesting, to see the birthplace of an extensive river. So we went back to the general store to start our journey.  Just across the parking lot from the store is an overlook of the river with benches for picnicking or just viewing the river.   Whether the owners intended it or not, this cabin at the river is probably one of the most photographed in the area.  

We had information that the trail along the river was about 2 miles each way.  But we could drive part of the way before beginning the trail. However, we were told to hike along the river until we came to a fence which we would have to go around to continue to the headwaters.  So we began the hike with the purpose to finding the headwaters and observing the many wildflowers growing along the trail.  

If you are bored reading about this hike, here is a summary of the wildflowers. 

We only could guess at the names of most of the beautiful flowers.  The river views were fantastic.  I was concerned about a walk in the woods because Leslie has taken me into the woods in West Virginia and Georgia.  Usually after just a few minutes in the dense, muggy woods, I begin hearing banjos (reference to the movie Deliverance).  This time the walk was very pleasant.  The woods were open, the sky was blue, and the air crisp with the sound of the flowing river.  No banjo music.  

We were intrigued by the small "islands of grass and flowers" as seen in the photo above.  We kept to the trail and enjoyed the hike.  Then we came to the fence which extended into the water several feet. The only choice was to follow the fence away from the river in order to try to find the other side of the private property.  

We eventually found the other end of the property and followed the fence on that side for awhile.  Using my telephoto lens I could see a major highway intersection up ahead but we had no way of knowing whether that would lead to the headwaters of the river.  So we gave up at that point and made our way back to the general store.  We found a way to get to the headwaters on the highway but first we took a side trip to the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery. 

The fish hatchery was interesting but not many people to give out information.  

We had another view of the Metolius River crossing the bridge into the hatchery.  Really blue water.  

So we headed back to search for the headwaters.  We made it to the parking lot and were ready to see the prize.  Not so fast.... another walk about 1/4 mile would lead us to the prize. 

The private land that we hiked around surrounded both side of the pathway.  The walk was interesting because the area was inhabited (infested?) with Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels. Almost every stump or log had a ground squirrel on alert.  The pictures below are all different ground squirrels just taken on this short walk.  

We finally made it to the headwaters of the Metolius River.  This is the point where spring water comes out of the side of the mountain.   

It seemed a little anti-climatic.  Until we turned around and were treated to one of the most beautiful views of the whole trip. 

The view of the river with Mt Jefferson in the background was fantastic!