The rhododendrons are blooming and Clackamas white irises (Iris tenuis), endemic to just a few counties in Oregon, are crowding the trail (In this area, they will be blooming from mid-June into July). Traverse in an area that has been selectively logged and then reach original old growth again. These are quiet carpeted woods of old growth. Head a few yards up the road to the left and find the trail heading down on the east side of the stream. Gradually descend to the edge of a clearcut, where the trail veers left and down to a huckleberry-shrouded stream and then the recently decommissioned Forest Road 4614. The White Iris Trail drops below the spring on an obvious tread and then traverses to the right. There is an Old Baldy Trail #502 sign at this junction. Reach a saddle and then drop down to the Old Baldy-White Iris Trail Junction, which is above a spring. Then make a traverse to the left and drop past an arrow stuck in a tree. Keep up, sometimes steeply, with Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness boundary signs to your right. Rhododendron, bear-grass, and huckleberries proliferate in this clearing. Reach a viewpoint at an old helispot and see cliffs across the way on the slopes of Githens Mountain. Head up, paralleling the road, in old growth silver fir, noble fir, and western hemlock ridge forest with a carpet of oxalis. Avalanche lilies and violets are in bloom in early summer. Walk past the boulders to the trail, and go left. There is an arrangement of boulders at the trailhead intended to prevent ATV incursions. To compensate for this, there's a ridge crest viewpoint you can access on your return that offers vistas to Mount Hood and beyond. While completing this loop, make the short diversion to the site of the Old Baldy Lookout, which once offered commanding views over the Eagle Creek drainage however, the decommissioning of the structure in the 1960s has allowed the trees to grow up. The Bissell Trail has seen increased dirt bike use of late, which means it may be easier to find but also may disturb your sensibilities about those who flout wilderness restrictions. In early summer, the White Iris Trail can be awash in blooming Clackamas white irises, a species with only a limited distribution in Oregon's Old Cascades. Both the White Iris and the Bissell Trail can be difficult to locate in places, however, so only experienced trail finders should attempt this loop. The two trails can be connected using the maintained Old Baldy Trail #502 and the paved but little-used Forest Road 4615, which tunnels through towering old growth. This hike takes advantage of a couple of abandoned yet still navigable trails in the upper South Fork Eagle Creek drainage.
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