Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
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aiwetir
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Re: Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

Post by aiwetir » February 11th, 2016, 9:00 pm

adamschneider wrote:Yes. The maps in the OFG program clearly show that it's upstream of the confluence of the North Fork Breitenbush River and the South Fork North Fork Breitenbush River (seriously), right underneath the big capital letters on the topo map that say "MOUNT JEFFERSON WILDERNESS."
And the red lines on the map are forest management boundaries, not wilderness boundaries.
- Michael

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forester
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Re: Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

Post by forester » February 13th, 2016, 9:06 am

There are Panoramio pictures posted from less than 1 mile away. No way anyone involved at any point in the planning and production of this could have possibly thought this slot canyon wasn't known about or even explored. My wife is not the map wizard in the family and she pulled it up on her phone in a couple minutes from what was seen on OFG. Take those map shots away and it's probably a lot more difficult to pin down. The map shots were ridiculously unnecessary if they were trying to keep it a "secret". Except they're not...

Seemed like some of the "reppelling" was unnecessary from what was visible on the TV. I get that people like their toys, but I don't understand easily climbing to a spot then rappel back down. I thought the scenery was great and it is a cool location, but there was a tinge of sensationalizing, almost coming across as a not-ironic-enough mockumentary. I don't want to out-and-out bash it, but there was some sneering going on from the couch.

If this gets a 30-minute special episode, so should Tim and Melinda. I would imagine they get to more difficult places than everyone on that trip combined.

Also...3 days to go 3.5 miles? Did they have to fight dragons? We must have misunderstood that part.

I've seen some pretty amazing, rarely seen places while off-trailing and have yet to adrena-yell. Maybe it's a personality thing, but I'm usually too in awe of a place to yell like that. Sorta like a little mutual respect wink between Mother Nature and I.

The scale of the location is big, but overall, I think there are quite a few places like this around the state that aren't seeing heavy travel. I know of a few in the North Umpqua Forest that have a similar feel to what was on the episode. Hyperbole Canyon is a beautiful area that looks like fun to explore but what I saw didn't really live up to the hype. That said, if it weren't 4.5 hours away, I'd definitely take a swing at it (at least parts of it).

I don't have any strong feelings one way or another with regard to the permits and party sizes and drones and all that, but I will say that I've done a very small bit of business with OFG (Stacy Coonfield and Steve Amen). They were very kind and generous and I've always had a soft spot for them due to that.

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Koda
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Re: Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

Post by Koda » February 13th, 2016, 11:24 am

forester wrote:The map shots were ridiculously unnecessary if they were trying to keep it a "secret". Except they're not...
ouch, my level of respect for OPB just went down a big notch. Its one thing to report about a new discovery in such a difficult location that keeps most folks away but its another to pretty much pave the way with a highly detailed guide map.

There was some slight interest in rappelling this canyon this summer in my group of friends just to see it for ourselves but I imagine soon enough all of us can just wait for the trip reports and detailed photos to arrive in the local forums.... I think I'll pass. I can only imagine soon enough there will be a well established user path and a boom in the canyoneering industry to visit the new Valhalla playground. Oregon Wild did a better job hiding the Devils Staircase route for many years (until they took Terry Richards along...). During that time the Staircase remained an elusive destination achieved by only the most dedicated explorers who properly invested the time. OPB does one trip and publishes a map...
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Re: Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

Post by Aimless » February 13th, 2016, 12:39 pm

outdoorproject.org doesn't look much different to me from any other website that promotes tourism and caters to the tourist mentality, except the photos aren't of the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, or Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head, but instead show us places where one can Go Have an Outdoor Adventure. They are still just pushing a fantasy.

For me, the whole idea that one can "plan an outdoor adventure" is silly. You plan a hike, a trip or an excursion. Adventure may or may not happen as a result. And the idea that planning a trip outdoors is becoming an "increasingly chaotic and time-consuming chore" seems very deeply stupid to me.

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Re: Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

Post by kepPNW » February 13th, 2016, 12:55 pm

Aimless wrote:the idea that planning a trip outdoors is becoming an "increasingly chaotic and time-consuming chore" seems very deeply stupid to me.
Indeed. Had to have been written by someone who's never known life without Google.
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adamschneider
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Re: Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

Post by adamschneider » February 13th, 2016, 2:02 pm

kepPNW wrote:
Aimless wrote:the idea that planning a trip outdoors is becoming an "increasingly chaotic and time-consuming chore" seems very deeply stupid to me.
Indeed. Had to have been written by someone who's never known life without Google.
...or by someone who's never even heard of Google; it seems to me that planning outdoor adventures on your own is much easier these days thanks to the Web.

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kepPNW
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Re: Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

Post by kepPNW » February 13th, 2016, 2:41 pm

adamschneider wrote:
kepPNW wrote:
Aimless wrote:the idea that planning a trip outdoors is becoming an "increasingly chaotic and time-consuming chore" seems very deeply stupid to me.
Indeed. Had to have been written by someone who's never known life without Google.
...or by someone who's never even heard of Google; it seems to me that planning outdoor adventures on your own is much easier these days thanks to the Web.
I just meant that they're apparently on information overload, a "problem" we never had before the web. :)
Karl
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Re: Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

Post by mattisnotfrench » February 13th, 2016, 2:56 pm

Aimless wrote:outdoorproject.org doesn't look much different to me from any other website that promotes tourism and caters to the tourist mentality, except the photos aren't of the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, or Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head, but instead show us places where one can Go Have an Outdoor Adventure. They are still just pushing a fantasy.

For me, the whole idea that one can "plan an outdoor adventure" is silly. You plan a hike, a trip or an excursion. Adventure may or may not happen as a result. And the idea that planning a trip outdoors is becoming an "increasingly chaotic and time-consuming chore" seems very deeply stupid to me.
Their whole model is content aggregation. It doesn't matter how they get there. They keep posting lists from people without necessarily even doing the research required to tell people where to go. It drives me crazy.

It's never been easier to figure out where to go.
Author of Extraordinary Oregon!, PDX Hiking 365, 101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region, and Off the Beaten Trail. Website: www.offthebeatentrailpdx.com

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forester
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Re: Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

Post by forester » February 13th, 2016, 4:31 pm

The comment sections are always interesting.

What we feel should remain terra incognita is most often controversial. To me, revealing details of the Devil's Staircase is less of a no-no because it was being used by conservationist groups to grow politically while curious hikers were almost being dared to head in there. This while safe routes were being withheld. People were getting lost, hurt, etc. That has been discussed at-length on these forums prior and is a totally different animal than this place.

Valhalla/Hyperbole Canyon isn't being threatened with any impending doom. The revealing of any details of its location is totally unnecessary to tell the story. "In Central Oregon lies a hidden gem. Blahblahblah..." Something like that and you can still have an interesting tale while maintaining total mystery as to the location. You don't even need to mention "Mt. Jefferson Wilderness". I do this quite a bit on my hiking blog with places that people probably shouldn't be going to in increased numbers.

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