Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Trip recommendations, current conditions, and other trail related Q&A
BendB
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by BendB » May 1st, 2016, 6:16 pm

Yeah, that small choss tower wouldn't be worth the trip, which means it's in a different location. Further up the slope is Gothic Rock. From it's summit I could see some blocks down the ridge that would be better candidates (based on reference photos I have).

I would love to solve this mystery.
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VanMarmot
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by VanMarmot » May 3rd, 2016, 8:37 am

In Dodge's 1968 Climbing Guide..., the location is given as:

From the bridge at Camp Sherman drive 15.3 mi N on Metolius River Road and park at the unimproved campground on the left. Cross to the E side of the road and find a trail through the woods 1/4 mi to the tower.

This puts it just E of the road at Code Creek and on the ridge below Pt 3235. Close to 44.64580, -121.6112. Google Earth shows a small outcrop (as noted above) very near this location.

In Dodge's 1975 A Climbing Guide..., the location has moved a bit:

From the store at Camp Sherman drive 14.5 mi N on Metolius River Road and park at the unimproved camp ground on the left. Cross to the E side of the road and find a trail through the woods 1/2 mi to the tower.

So now 0.8 mi further S and 0.25 mi further E, or near 44.63508, -121.59277. Except for Castle Rock itself further upcanyon, Google Earth doesn't show any obvious outcrops near this location.
Last edited by VanMarmot on May 3rd, 2016, 9:37 am, edited 4 times in total.

BendB
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by BendB » May 3rd, 2016, 8:49 am

In Rock 'n' Road: An Atlas of North American Climbing Areas it's listed just like Dodge's (1968) version:

"From Camp Sherman (approximately 30 mi. northwest of Bend), go north 15 3/10 mi on Metolius River Rd. Campground on left. Shepard Tower is 1/4 is 1/4 mi. east in woods"

It's listed as "Shepard Fork of Metolius River", one star - in this book.

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VanMarmot
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by VanMarmot » May 3rd, 2016, 9:39 am

BendB wrote:In Rock 'n' Road: An Atlas of North American Climbing Areas it's listed just like Dodge's (1968) version:

"From Camp Sherman (approximately 30 mi. northwest of Bend), go north 15 3/10 mi on Metolius River Rd. Campground on left. Shepard Tower is 1/4 is 1/4 mi. east in woods"

It's listed as "Shepard Fork of Metolius River", one star - in this book.
I guess this is another cautionary tale about uncritically regurgitating 50 year old directions. It seems someone is climbing something they're calling Shepherd Tower; it's just not where the old guide says it is. My feeling is that if you're going to take credit for yet another guidebook, you should actually yourself visit all the places/climbs you plan to describe.

As an aside, what about climbs on Castle Rock?

BendB
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by BendB » May 3rd, 2016, 9:44 am

True.

A few more resources besides the books all point to the same general area. Where there's smoke?

I'm wondering if contacting the local ranger station would provide any leads.

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mattisnotfrench
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by mattisnotfrench » May 3rd, 2016, 9:51 am

BendB wrote:True.

A few more resources besides the books all point to the same general area. Where there's smoke?

I'm wondering if contacting the local ranger station would provide any leads.
Don't bother contacting the Sisters Ranger Station about this. They don't even know what's going on with some of their trails.
Author of Extraordinary Oregon!, PDX Hiking 365, 101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region, and Off the Beaten Trail. Website: www.offthebeatentrailpdx.com

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sprengers4jc
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by sprengers4jc » May 3rd, 2016, 11:23 am

Hate to suggest it, as I hate drones, but if someone had one, locating it from a couple hundred feet in the air might be a good option. Or, flailing about aimlessly in the forest looking for a ghost column could be fun, too ;)
'We travel not to escape life but for life to not escape us.'
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VanMarmot
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by VanMarmot » May 3rd, 2016, 3:39 pm

I used this "mystery" as yet another excuse to get more familiar with lidar imagery. In doing so, I found that the entire E side of the Metolius N of Lower Bridge has been so mapped (DOGAMI Lidar). This technique is exceptionally good at cutting through tree cover. The outcrop described in Dodge 1968 (at 44.645827, -121-611278) is clearly evident in this lidar image as that little "dot" near the end of the ridge:

Image

But those who have ground-checked this location didn't find a tower that looked like the one shown in the sketch from the NW climbing guide or in the photos BendB posted above (where did those photos come from?). So I scrolled up and down the lidar image of the E side of the Metolius, looking for a tower with 80 to 120 feet of climbing face - something you would think would pop right out of the lidar image. No luck. Some otherwise tree-obscured outcrops do show up on lidar but nothing like what's in the sketch or the photos. Since there was no reason for the Staender's to "hide" the location of this climb in 1961 (or for Dodge to "hide" it in 1968), I have to wonder what's going on here? Did we just get two different climbs mixed up or this some modern hiding (but the climb doesn't seem unique enough for that). I'll be interested to learn if this mystery ever gets solved...

kpiarulli
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by kpiarulli » November 5th, 2017, 1:50 am

I can confirm the tower is in fact located where it should be, as shown by the small bump on the topographic image. Here's a video trip report from a recent visit: https://youtu.be/rhP4IPt9P-k

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retired jerry
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Re: Shepherd Tower of the Metolius

Post by retired jerry » November 5th, 2017, 5:48 am

Surprising there's a nice rock face to climb on

Where was your route up from the river? Must have been 6 miles in where there's a picnic table :)

Was there any trail or just cross country? Didn't look like a lot of heavy brush.

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