Wakheena conditions and predictions

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arlohike
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Wakheena conditions and predictions

Post by arlohike » January 29th, 2017, 7:12 pm

I went up the Wakheena Falls trail today and was surprised to find the initial, paved switchback section virtually unchanged since my last visit before Christmas: flows of snow coming down over the trail and drowning the hairpins, but with lots of boot prints carved into the snow to provide a decent walking surface (I felt secure with microspikes and poles).

After the paved section, in the narrow canyon up to Fairy Falls, the snow was much deeper than last month; the fallen tree after the first footbridge, which normally crosses the trail about 8' in the air, is now a hands-and-knees passage. But other than a few slippery sections, this was mostly still enjoyable up to Wakheena Spring at about 1500 feet.

From there, I anticipated a nice long hike up around the Bridal Veil Plateau, but it was not meant to be. I first tried the Angel's Rest Trail West toward Foxglove, then the Devil's Rest Trail South up the hill, then the Wakheena Trail East toward Multonomah, and had to turn around all three times because of sections of hard, slippery snow lying on the trail at a 45 degree angle with only a hint of boot tracks to step into. I tried walking across some of it, but I turned back each time I reached a section that I couldn't see the end of. Probably someone with more skill and different equipment could have passed over this, but it didn't feel safe to me.

This is my favorite area to hike from, but after being thwarted today, I'm wondering what would be my cue that it's worth another trip there. Would a couple weeks of rain and above-freezing temperatures remove those obstacles, or is it just going to be various degrees of slippery until summer? Can anyone bring past experience to bear on this?

By the way, there were lots of fallen sticks and branches that had been pushed off of the historic highway, but the road was clear. The trailhead parking lot is still half covered in snow, so parking capacity is reduced.
IMG_1339.jpg
This snow wasn't deep here, but it was icy on top and too hard to kick toeholds into.
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I wouldn't have guessed how deep the snow was here without the familiar overhead tree as a reference.
IMG_1336.JPG
The top surface of the snow was hard enough to support my weight. Apparently not for whoever made these foot-deep footprints.
Last edited by arlohike on January 30th, 2017, 8:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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squidvicious
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Re: Wakheena conditions and predictions

Post by squidvicious » January 29th, 2017, 9:59 pm

Thanks for the info on today's conditions--this is exactly what I was wondering about. I though a weekend's worth of people on it might have made more difference, but it doesn't really sound like it.

I went out to have a look on I think Wednesday and got turned back towards the end of the first switchback after the bridge. I'd already gotten past some downed trees and branches by then, but at that point there was just a big brushy mess with no way through. I could see some steps where people had gone up and around, but that was melted out over some really wet, loose, steep soil. It didn't look like a good idea for either me or the hillside. It sounds as if that at least has been cleared through now?


ed: By the way, I drove the historic highway from Bridal Veil to Ainsworth, and while you're right that it was all clear, it wasn't without hazards. Big chunks of ice/packed snow are coming down the hillside onto the highway. I didn't actually see any falling (thankfully!), but there was plenty of evidence in the road, including the one I wound up running over. I seriously thought I'd left half the undercarriage of my car on the road for as much noise as that made. Fortunately no permanent damage appears to have been done.

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arlohike
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Re: Wakheena conditions and predictions

Post by arlohike » January 30th, 2017, 8:34 am

There are some newly downed trees and brush to get around, but I didn't encounter any serious obstacles in that department.

I didn't see anyone above the first Wakheena/Vista junction and just one or two sets of boot prints past the points where I stopped, so not much weekend traffic in those areas. I talked to a few parties who were trying to do the Wakheena/Multnomah loop but turned around before I did. Also, the reduced parking capacity probably reduces the number of people on the trail.

Good to know about falling snow/ice on the road.
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squidvicious
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Re: Wakheena conditions and predictions

Post by squidvicious » January 30th, 2017, 2:18 pm

I did a quick loop around Latourell today, which is almost completely melted out, then decided I'd go take a look at Wahkeena after all. Really glad I did--it was MUCH better than what I remember from last week. I only intended to get a quick look at the condition of the switchbacks, but was enjoying it enough to continue up to Fairy Falls. I ran into a guy who was planning to continue to Multnomah. I repeated what you'd found, but he seemed determined, and at least as far as I went the snow was pretty soft (sometimes distressingly so), so I expect there's a decent track broken through there by now.

That said, it's still definitely not "tourist friendly." Yet I ran into not one but two groups on the switchbacks blithely trudging along in nothing but sneakers who stopped me to ask, "Where does this trail go?" Um, to a nice visit with your friendly neighborhood search and rescue team?

Oh, and at Latourell there was a group of young women removing clothing and sliding precariously along a sheet of ice at the base of the falls to, I guess, feel the spray? I didn't stop to ask.

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arlohike
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Re: Wakheena conditions and predictions

Post by arlohike » February 19th, 2017, 2:04 pm

Today I started from the Angel's Rest trailhead and hiked up Palmer Mill Road, then took the shortcut just after the car barrier up to Smith Road, tromped around past the bullet car for a while, then looped north and east on Smith Road back to Palmer Mill a couple miles further up. I was worried about parking, but when I arrived at about 8:15 the parking area was completely melted out and there were only a few cars there. I didn't see a trace of snow until about 2000' on Smith Road, and then it was mostly small patches, but as I got closer to Devil's Rest it became more substantial. Then coming back down on Palmer Mill Road, it was deeper and more widespread, but it stopped abruptly at 1900'.

Lots of fallen trees have been cleared on Palmer Mill up to about 1600' and there was a lot laying across the road above that, but no real obstacles. Smith Road had one section of fallen branches that I had to detour around, but otherwise it was in a similar state as I've seen it in the last couple years (i.e., overgrown in some areas and a little hard to follow).

I got back to the trailhead at 12:15 and the parking lot and highway shoulder were full as usual. I drove over to the Wakheena trailhead just to see what the parking lot was like. There's still considerable snow over there, but a work crew was just finishing digging it out, so parking capacity was back to normal. I didn't stop to check out the trail, but judging from the big snow flows still coming down the hillside along the road, I would guess that trail hasn't cleared up much.
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