Timberline Trail: Eliot crossing, 2017 update (new trail!)

[adamschneider]

They need a bridge.

This is what they have over Rocky Creek on the south side of Mt. Baker:



Total cost would be less than $1000.

[Word Nerd]

They need a bridge. I think they had planned to do that at one time or another.

I agree! There is this strange pride that the Mt. Hood Forest Service has in not doing things that would actually make things much safer. I wonder how much they will spend rescuing or recovering people who cross in a dangerous situation and do not fare so well. I know not everyone agrees, but it wouldn't take too much to make these crossings much safer, and that would open up the option of the trail to many more people.

[mjirving]

They used to put a seasonal bridge over the Sandy going to Ramona Falls until that
guy died in the flash flood crossing it and the family sued them. Now they don't do the bridge anymore (to my knowledge) as it apparently implies some sort of a safety guarantee. Most of the crossings end up having random seasonal log crossings
anyway...which are free of course.

Mike

[Word Nerd]

They used to put a seasonal bridge over the Sandy going to Ramona Falls until that
guy died in the flash flood crossing it and the family sued them. Now they don't do the bridge anymore (to my knowledge) as it apparently implies some sort of a safety guarantee. Most of the crossings end up having random seasonal log crossings
anyway...which are free of course.

Mike

Yes, I have crossed the tree logs across the Sandy to get to Ramona, and I have crossed the Sandy on the Timberline Trail - it was easier on the Timberline. I think it should be implied that any time you go in a wilderness area, you take on some risk. That flash flood could not have been predicted in that moment by the people on the bridge any more than by the forest service.

I do think it is interesting to see how each area handles it. The Wonderland Trail has bridges on all the water crossings. Of course, a national park is much better funded.

[mjirving]

Yeah, not only to fund the bridges, but also to monitor them in case they go awry or need maintenance to make sure they remain "reasonably" safe.