Multnomah - Wahkeena 3/20 conditions

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squidvicious
Posts: 525
Joined: May 11th, 2015, 8:41 pm
Location: Troutdale

Multnomah - Wahkeena 3/20 conditions

Post by squidvicious » March 20th, 2017, 1:52 pm

I was really curious to see the conditions on the Larch section, so this seemed like a good choice for a nice first day of spring walk.

It was very nearly the walk that wasn't. Started up the Multnomah side because I knew I'd be much more comfortable going up the snow there than down. Hit the spot where those TX kids had to be pulled out the other day. It is waaaay down at the bottom of the trail, lower than I'd realized. What's left there now is a chest-high wall of snow across the trail. There's really no going around it. There is one foothold in the face of it, but it's downslope with no footing to stand beneath it, so you wind up with your leg braced out to your side as you try to jump and scrabble up onto the top of a wall that's just a bit higher than you'd really like it to be for that to go well.

After getting a feel for it a few times I concluded that my chances of making it were just so-so, and failure could be unpleasant, so was ready to turn back. A few other people had come up and turned straight around while I was doing that, but one guy--younger and springier than myself--decided he was going to go for it. He did make it, and with him to give me a hand up I was able to follow w/o difficulty. So if you decide to do this, and you don't want to wait for it to melt out more, go with someone else so you can help each other over. (And if you happen to be on here, thanks, Random Hiker Guy!)

That was the only problem area. The switchbacks are reappearing, but you'll still be going straight uphill over snow for at least part of them. There are well-worn steps up.

The entire Wahkeena section is effectively snow-free now. You'd pretty much have to be allergic to the stuff to be bothered by the very few times you'll need to set foot on it. For the most part you won't even see any.

On the return trail to Multnomah Falls, the big tree that was down across the trail has been cleared. That was a pleasant surprise.

Thanks to the road closure and the snow-wall barrier I didn't see much in the way of other people, either. It really was a nice spring walk.

squidvicious
Posts: 525
Joined: May 11th, 2015, 8:41 pm
Location: Troutdale

Re: Multnomah - Wahkeena 3/20 conditions

Post by squidvicious » March 28th, 2017, 4:28 pm

Chest-high wall of snow is now about a knee-high step up.

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BigBear
Posts: 1836
Joined: October 1st, 2009, 11:54 am

Re: Multnomah - Wahkeena 3/20 conditions

Post by BigBear » March 29th, 2017, 8:47 am

Sounds like it's melting faster this year than the corn snow of '98. From that year, I have a slide of the group standing on the highway with a snowbank that's above our heads on April 10th.

That was the year that large round pellets fell in the Gorge and rolled to the bottom of the hills and filled the canyons and froze ontop of the historic highway, closing it for several months. When Eagle Creek thawed from above, the water flowed over the massive ice block and took out the bank from the trailhead back to the Wauna VP Tr bridge (think of ripping a piece of paper lengthwise), eliminating all of the parking along the access road to the Eagle Creek TH.

This will be the year remembered for eliminating the Metlako Falls Viewpoint and ????

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