Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Discussions and Trip Reports for off-trail adventures and rediscovering lost trails
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Eric Peterson
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by Eric Peterson » May 20th, 2012, 12:15 pm

Ahh, yeah, after looking again and thinking more on it I realized I was wrong, it's just that
some of those switch backs aren't really there once you get passed the scree field and up
to the Mitchel Pt. RD and the newly tree planted area.

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rick6003
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by rick6003 » May 20th, 2012, 8:02 pm

Pablo,

Who's afraid of a bear? I keep looking for one to wrassle but they run away!!

I looked at this in Google earth,very cool but I want to drop over to the next ridge west eventually and finish going up to Warren Lake trail on it. What do you think of the possibility of getting over to it and finishing it.

I agree completely about your not ascending Starvation anymore. I will be looking forward to following your steps once again.

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Guy
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by Guy » May 21st, 2012, 5:23 am

Another great job Paul, wont you be running out of ridge lines soon? You can't have many left to explore on the Oregon side between Troutdale & Hood River :)
hiking log & photos.
Ad monte summa aut mors

pablo
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by pablo » May 21st, 2012, 6:21 am

Guy wrote:Another great job Paul, wont you be running out of ridge lines soon? You can't have many left to explore on the Oregon side between Troutdale & Hood River :)
Hey Guy,

I hope not, I'm having too much fun, at any rate, I've got a backlog of ridges on the Oregon side crying out to be explored and I just bought a Washington DNR Discover Pass so I'm going to start working the Washington side...

--Paul
The future's uncertain and the end is always near.

joerunner
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by joerunner » May 21st, 2012, 4:04 pm

Thanks for the report Pablo. I've always noticed what appears to be an old trail heading off to the right at about the 2800' level on Starvation ridge that I always assumed to be the other trail shown on ng topo maybe the one you labeled as bogus. Have you noticed this?

mcds
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by mcds » May 22nd, 2012, 12:53 pm

Impressive off trail day.

Regarding the 21" Corona pruning saw, weight is 17.2 oz, no sheath (I'm using a folded piece of scrap matte board); not available locally that I know of; $40 on Amazon. Because of the gullets and coarse teeth, I wouldn't choose to use it on anything 6" or less, so it's an oddball. But it is quite useful for diameters in between a large pruning saw and a vintage crosscut saw.

On the other hand, I can't say enough good things about the Fiskar 18" (24" overall; 16.3 oz w/sheath; 5 or 6 TPI depending; $27 local HomeDepot; $20 online Walmart). This is one sweet saw for the dollar. I think your 16.5 inch Silky is taper-ground, a big advantage, while the Fiskar is not. The Fiskar's teeth are fine enough to nicely pick up where a pair of light weight bypass cutters leave off. Its handle is over-sized, but D-handles much more ergonomic for me than knife-handles because my wrist remains more inline with the stroke. The Fiskar 18 incher comes with superb lightweight tooth-only sheath which is readily threaded onto the blade by starting it at the toe.

Longer blades allow for a longer strokes, which are more ergonomic and which clear more sawdust from the kerf which reduces friction which improves efficiency. The rule of thumb I've heard is that the blade ought to be twice the diameter of cut. I've bucked a 26" log with a 32" crosscut saw, though wasted a fair bit of energy doing so. Also, given a longer blade one can finish the cut more safely by standing farther away from the log by finishing the cut with the toe.

Regarding cedar logs, due to all the fur that spins out into the kerf, it takes a saw with specially wide-set teeth to cut nicely. The Corona 21" made through, but it was a bit brutal most of the way until the kerf finally started opening.

Regarding Starvation, Splintercat deserves accolades for all his work. I put in only 2 days worth of work there: a couple half days just to the west of Cabin Creek, and a day on top of the ridge finalizing what was left 4/2, 4/5 and 4/6. Earlier, the red-caped man had already done the bulk of the work 3/3 3/10, Turtle and crew cleared up on the ridge too 3/18, while chainsawyers cleared the big stuff on the lower loop.

I've gotta ask, with all your trailwork and off-trail hiking, how do you manage avoiding dermatitis from poison oak?

pablo
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by pablo » May 22nd, 2012, 8:01 pm

joerunner wrote:Thanks for the report Pablo. I've always noticed what appears to be an old trail heading off to the right at about the 2800' level on Starvation ridge that I always assumed to be the other trail shown on ng topo maybe the one you labeled as bogus. Have you noticed this?
Hi Joe,

I recall a groove heading off from the main trail in the general direction of the trail in question but when I followed it, I got nothing. There may have been trail at one time but this fragment shows up on no other map I have so I'm skeptical. Next time I'm out there I'm going to follow the USGS trail marking and see what turns up.

--Paul
The future's uncertain and the end is always near.

pablo
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by pablo » May 22nd, 2012, 8:12 pm

mcds wrote:Impressive off trail day.

[Good stuff removed for brevity ...]

I've gotta ask, with all your trailwork and off-trail hiking, how do you manage avoiding dermatitis from poison oak?
mcds,

Thx for the saw info, I will investigate, your knowledge of saws and sawing is incredible. Also thx for giving credit where credit is due on the trail fixings.

Poison oak has never bothered me but maybe I've been lucky and have avoided contact - probably just a matter of time before I get a really bad case.

--Paul
The future's uncertain and the end is always near.

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Eric Peterson
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by Eric Peterson » May 22nd, 2012, 8:31 pm

pablo wrote:
I recall a groove heading off from the main trail in the general direction of the trail in question but when I followed it, I got nothing. There may have been trail at one time but this fragment shows up on no other map I have so I'm skeptical. Next time I'm out there I'm going to follow the USGS trail marking and see what turns up.

--Paul
Hey Pablo, the fragment shows up on my NG Trails Illustrated paper map but that is also shared
with NG Topo software. It does seem to make sense there may have been a trail there as
s short cut to Warren Lake, I'll check it out as well next time I hike up Starv Ridge trail.

mandrake
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Re: Cabin Creek Ridge, May 19, 2012

Post by mandrake » May 28th, 2012, 11:12 pm

Nice work, Paul! I call this route "Defiance Ridge #3" after finding a mysterious sign on a tree up near the top (near where it gets brushy) that says "3". The sign is posted on a big tree near the center of a ridge and has a "3" posted on both sides (one facing up-ridge, one down-ridge). Looked around a bit up there, but it is not clear what (if anything) this signifies or where "1" and "2" are at. I was similarly unable to find any trace of the shown cutoff trail on the map; if it was there once, it's long gone.

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