We planned on doing the Grizzly Bear, Wenaha River Trail, and Slick Ear loop in 3 days but had to change plans due to trail conditions and returned after a day early.

The Grizzly Bear trail was true to the fall 2023 report’s description of playing peekaboo. The first 3 miles to the Oregon border were delightful and relatively easy to navigate. The next 4.5 miles got dicey with the trail frequently being blocked by downed trees and overgrown, thus commencing bushwhacking and log crawling that often got us off route. The bottom switchback by the river was the worst - we frequently had no idea where the trail was and just had to hold a heading.

We persevered to the river hoping that the Wenaha River trail and Slick Ear were more navigable and we could finish the loop. We set up camp on the Wenaha and the next morning began following the River Trail towards Slick Ear. Within 1/2 mile, we found ourselves again in the bushes with some bees very unhappy that we stepped on their nest and no trail to be seen. When we did find a trail, it was washed out due to a rock slide. It was then that we turned around and headed back home on Grizzly Bear.

It feels to us that nature has reclaimed this amazing section of land. If you are inclined to try it out, I highly recommend a gps or gps app, satellite communicating device, long pants, hiking poles, and nothing hanging off your pack as you frequently are climbing over and under logs. Also, if you’re planning on doing Grizzly Bear round trip, remember that there is about 8 miles of hiking and 3000’ feet elevation between the car and the nearest water source (the Wenaha). 2 liters for each of us was not enough for our return trip. 

Starting from Twin Buttes Trailhead- which has a bathroom and ample parking. the Grizzly Bear trail is mostly clear and open with a few cairns when it is harder to follow. Then the trail starts gradually downhill and at about 4.5 miles in becomes hard to follow in the burned area between down trees and brush. After about 1.5 miles of peekaboo with the trail I lost it completely and just followed my instincts, until I could see where the tread started to switchback down the side of the hill below. Just because the trail is easy to determine where it is because it is cut into the hill, that doesn’t make it easy going. There is grass and bushes growing up in the middle of the tread, with several logs to crawl over as well. This gets more challenging the closer you get to the creek and the last switchback is the worst. The bottom of the canyon is slow going until the trail eventually pops out onto the Wenaha River Trail. This trail is at least more travelled although still brushy in places and a few logs to crawl over. Lots of bear scat. Several nice camping spots along the river, especially closer to the Slick Ear Trail. Follow the river for 4 miles.

Ford Slick Ear Creek and the junction for the Slick Ear trail is soon afterwards. This trail crosses the creek 5 times on the ascent, you will get wet. Brushy at the bottom but easy to follow. There is a large blowdown between the 2^nd and 3^rd crossing or else this trail would be doable for stock. When the trail breaks out of the brush there are great views as it runs along the spine of the ridge. Nearer to the top, the trail splits…left goes to the Slick Ear Trailhead, but right goes right back to the Twin Buttes Trailhead so you can complete the loop. This is different than what the trail description says, but you no longer have to walk the road.

A pretty nice trip except for the lower half of Grizzly Bear. A 19.1 mile loop per my GPS.

Road to Twin Buttes TH blocked by snow at the Jct with Skyline rd. Skyline was also blocked by snow just south of the Twin Buttes rd. Maybe another week to get out there with the heat rolling in.

Hiked Grizzly Bear Ridge down to the Wenaha River trail and back over three days to camp and fish the river. (Did not hike Slick Ear, but the system won't let just enter the Grizzly Bear trail as an out and back). Departed Twin Buttes trailhead and proceeded down the ridge line through woods and open meadows. Elk, coyote, mule deer, grouse, and stellar jays along the way. The upper portion of the trail has seen recent foot and stock traffic and many deadfalls have been cleared, though there are a few areas of shoulder high overgrowth the trail is easy to follow. This area was heavily burned in the 2015 Grizzly Complex fire and there is lots of standing dead timber which could occasionally be heard coming down. (Choose your campsite wisely!)Once switchbacks down to the river begin, little to no trail maintenance has been done. Many deadfalls to navigate over, under, or around on steep hillsides and head high overgrowth as the trail parallels Rock Creek. Without maintenance soon, this portion of the trail won't exist much longer. At the bottom of the trail, intersect with the Wenaha River trail and head either up or downriver. Upriver will take you to Slick Ear and beyond, downstream heads you off towards Troy. I went downstream and camped about another .4 miles from the intersection, where as other trip reports have noted, some previous campers haven't done a good job of leave no trace. Lots of standing dead timber along the river bottom and the Wenaha River trail in that direction is a frustrating exercise in dealing with deadfalls. Saw or heard no other people on the trail, but heard plenty of elk bugling at all hours of the day. Salmon are currently spawning in the Wenaha River, which should be left alone to do their thing, but the fishing for trout was excellent. Camped two nights and came back out on the same trail.

Dirt Grub and I decided a relaxing weekend along the Wenaha River in the Blue Mountains was needed to avoid the hordes of humans and post-holing that much of the Cascades has on offer. Our choice of trails reduced the relaxation somewhat but made for a memorable weekend. We started from the Slick Ear TH. The road from Dayton past the Bluewood Ski area is clear of snow and pot-holed but not terrible. The lower portion of Slick Ear near the Wenaha River has a number of creek crossings where we ultimately gave up and just hiked in wet shoes. With tenacity they could all probably be crossed with dry feet, but why on a hot day? The trail is somewhat overgrown near the Wenaha Jct but not hard to navigate.

At the Wenaha River we went upstream past Wenaha forks and camped along the S. Fork near the junction with the Elk Flat Trail. Crossing Beaver Creek, the N. Fork Wenaha, and the S. Fork Wenaha were all mandatory fords. The N. fork Wenaha was flowing deep and swift and I had to pseudo-carry our mutt across. The only bridge we encountered during the weekend, a stout horse bridge across the North Fork Wenaha, crosses a channel that the river no longer uses and was dry underneath. Womp, womp...

We took the unsigned (but flagged) Dexter Ridge trail at the Slick Ear/Wenaha River Trail Jct to make a loop on the return trip. This trail has seen little maintenance in recent decades. It is shown on the most recent USGS and USFS maps as trail 3101 as well as the Umatilla National Forest overview map but is not listed as a hiking or backpacking trail on the Umatilla National Forest website. The tread is present but difficult to follow in many places being lost wherever it has been obscured by blow-down. Thankfully, route-finding is made easy by the fact that the trail follows the spine of Dexter Ridge for most of the way and is flagged along it's entire length to keep you on route. As I noted to Dirt Grub, "if you start heading down into a pleasent draw, you're off-track". ;) We found a 2' wide creek after struggling through brush to where the marker for Dexter Spring is on the map as well as an established campsite nearby.

After topping out in a meadow at 5500', Dexter Ridge Trail heads downhill into a burned stand where we reached a junction at the 5400' contour line in a white part of the USFS-2016 map. We took a right on a well worn trail that is not shown on the USFS-2016 map that took us back to the road about a mile closer to the Slick Ear TH than the trail shown on the map. The actual Dexter Ridge TH looked well traveled but unsigned when we passed it on the way back to Dayton for pizza and beers. Overall, the views from Dexter Ridge were excellent and the solitude very worthwhile but, as with many trails in the Blues, competance with a map and some routefinding skills are usefull.

<3 the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness!!