Oneonta Gorge - 8-20-16

johnspeth · Post by **johnspeth** » August 20th, 2016, 4:31 pm

My boy scout son led a group of younger scouts through Oneonta Gorge. Here's the backup to go up the creek as they were coming back down. They started up at 8am. This picture was taken probably around 11am. It's nuts!

: Oneonta Gorge queue

Koda · Post by **Koda** » August 20th, 2016, 9:08 pm

if that stream was a habitat for anything, it isnt anymore...

greenjello85 · Post by **greenjello85** » August 20th, 2016, 9:30 pm

No thanks.

Hagbard Celine · Post by **Hagbard Celine** » August 21st, 2016, 3:02 pm

Last time I went there was a group of people that were doing the logjam climb onehanded as the other hand had a beer, some of them even wearing flip-flops!

Back at the falls I packed out a dirty diaper someone had stuck into one of the lava tubes and an empty glass forty of Mickey's...they don't even sell those here! It is a magical place and people should be able to experience it...and revere it. Sadly....

Chip Down · Post by **Chip Down** » August 21st, 2016, 5:04 pm

Wow.

I've come to realize that popular areas are popular specifically because they're popular. Like a cool nightclub. People actually go there specifically because they've heard it's crowded.

Because I deliberately seek out oddball hikes, and because I hate heat and bugs and crowds, and because I have a natural tendency to start out super early (sometimes in the dark), I've been blissfully unaware of stuff like this. This pic is quite an eye opener. I really had no idea it was that bad.

Incidentally, last time I was at Ramona Falls, I didn't see another car or another person on the trail or another person at the falls. Yeah, there are still opportunities for solitude out there, if you start at dawn on a stormy winter weekday.

Koda · Post by **Koda** » August 21st, 2016, 5:18 pm

Chip Down wrote:This pic is quite an eye opener. I really had no idea it was that bad.

I've known it was that bad for several years now. Sadly its the reason I have never been, I would love to take in the magical location for myself someday. If I have to I will don a wetsuit and go in winter...

kepPNW · Post by **kepPNW** » August 22nd, 2016, 8:04 am

Hagbard Celine wrote:... popular areas are popular specifically because they're popular. Like a cool nightclub.

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." ~ Yogi Berra

sgyoung · Post by **sgyoung** » August 22nd, 2016, 12:32 pm

Ugh. I first did Oneonta Gorge in May 2012 and there was one other group of perhaps 3 people in the canyon. Then I went back in August of 2014 and it looked like this picture.

While admitting that I'm part of the problem (an out of towner rolling into the Gorge and ruining your hikes) but it seems like certain places have really been discovered and trampled on recently. Has population growth really been this rapid in the area? Are more people just getting outdoors but concentrating themselves in certain areas?

Chazz · Post by **Chazz** » August 22nd, 2016, 2:10 pm

I blame it on all the young folks that moved to Portland to retire. Sigh....

Vinniebody · Post by **Vinniebody** » August 22nd, 2016, 6:08 pm

It is so depressing to see such beautiful nature treated like an amusement park. I personally blame Instagram and people going places they see on there to take the same picture for "likes". The amount of selfie-sticks and pooh-bears at Oneanta Gorge the past couple of years have turned it from one of the most magical little hikes in Oregon into a barely recognizable shizshow of crowds. Side-note, someone is going to have an accident at the log-jam there and I am curious to see how this looks in 10 years...

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Oneonta Gorge - 8-20-16

Oneonta Gorge - 8-20-16

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