Valhalla: Amazing Geological Wonder Discovered in Oregon

[mattisnotfrench]

Just imagine what's over there!

The Seven Cities of Cibola??

As best I can tell having seen photos from somebody inconsiderate enough and crazy enough to backpack around Mount Jefferson, most of it burned horribly in the various fires over the past 15 years and the rest of it is dark, deep, roaring canyons. Lots of waterfalls and lots of rock. I'd love to see it someday, but only if the Warm Springs decide to open their lands up to hikers. Otherwise it's their land and I will respect their wishes to keep it closed to non-Tribal members. We all should.

When everything is discovered and mapped to the centimeter, will we be any richer? We need 'terra incognita' on which to project our dreams, fears, fantasies, and hopes.

I am really excited to view the Oregon Field Guide episode. But I am hoping the episode is vague enough to leave some mystery.

Happy Off Trails!!

I agree completely. There are vast swaths of the Mount Jefferson Wilderness that are sans trail, and they should stay terra incognita to the world. Exploring off trail in these parts is a wonderful experience because of how mysterious and wonderful some of these places are. But they shouldn't all be documented and recommended to everyone, for logistical and environmental reasons.

My new book explores pretty much every trail in the wilderness but makes absolutely no recommendation to places off-trail. As far as I'm concerned, if there is a trail there it should be explored and written about; if there isn't a trail, then hopefully people can figure that stuff out for themselves.

I'm not too worried about Valhalla getting trashed considering how hard it will be for anyone to access. I am a bit worried that people will try without understanding what it would actually take to get there (or rather, to get out of there once they get in). I too am hoping the episode is vague enough to leave some mystery.

[kepPNW]

I'm not too worried about Valhalla getting trashed considering how hard it will be for anyone to access. I am a bit worried that people will try without understanding what it would actually take to get there (or rather, to get out of there once they get in).

Reasonable concern. We ran into two ladies in the upper section of Ape Cave last weekend who, as one of them put it, had probably "bitten off more than they could chew." I sure hope they made it out alright, and I suspect they did (haven't heard any reports to the contrary). Ya just gotta know when to turn around, as well as when going further will rule out that option. That's not "common sense" for most folks, and probably only learned the (very) hard way. I don't think you can help people avoid coming to terms with that on their own.

[Waffle Stomper]

The full episode.
http://www.opb.org/television/programs/ ... odes/2709/

[Chazz]

That was an amazing episode! One of the best OFG's I've ever seen.

I'd love to see and experience being in that location but it far beyond my level of outdoor skills and I will treat it as such.

[Aimless]

The episode does spill the beans about the location of the slot canyon with fairly exact specificity. The extreme difficulty and danger involved in entering the canyon is made obvious, too. This will dissuade 99.6% of the viewers from even thinking about going there. Unfortunately there are dozens if not hundreds of so-called "extreme" young adrenaline junkies who will see that episode and think "rappelling down waterfalls? radical!" and want to try their hand at it.

[adamschneider]

The episode does spill the beans about the location of the slot canyon with fairly exact specificity.

No kidding... at 00:43, there's a map.

[Bosterson]

Unfortunately there are dozens if not hundreds of so-called "extreme" young adrenaline junkies who will see that episode and think "rappelling down waterfalls? radical!" and want to try their hand at it.

Hand-wringing aside, there are plenty of other, more easily accessed waterfalls for people to attempt to kill themselves on. This doesn't seem like that big of a concern.

Frankly, I was more put out by the main SAR/rigging guy constantly mispronouncing the word "rappel."

[kepPNW]

That was an amazing episode! One of the best OFG's I've ever seen.

The hype didn't begin to live up to the story! Just outstanding.

Frankly, I was more put out by the main SAR/rigging guy constantly mispronouncing the word "rappel."

So you were a bit repelled by that, too, huh?

[Chazz]

Does SAR ever get to say "Screw that guy... I'm not going in there"? That place should be labeled as such. I have the utmost respect for SAR personnel and I don't believe they should be expected to take such risks to bail out people that knew the place was extremely dangerous and still decided to take on the risk.

It would probably end up being a "Darwin Trap" in that cell or even GPS signalling would never make it out of that canyon.

[aiwetir]

I'm slightly disappointed. The upcreek bushwhack is only 3 miles+ and coming in from the top is less than a mile on not very steep terrain.

I thought the guy rappelling down the waterfall was both dangerous and extraneous especially since he was the only safety expert on the expedition. There were people in the bottom of the canyon filming it so that wasn't the only route.

I am glad to know that if I go, it's no more remote than lots of places I've been and that I probably won't rappel down from the top as there was that one watefall that they didn't get a good anchor on.

I'm also glad that they spilled enough beans for me to find it in about 45 seconds on my tiny phone, but I think most flip floppers will have trouble. I'm also sure the exact location data is already all over the place