Upper Major Creek

[drm]

While visiting the Scenic Area / Forest Service office in Hood River a few weeks ago to get a new annual Forest Pass, I was scanning the large-scale USGS topos they have for the local areas on display. I noted that the upper part of Major Creek, to the north of the more popular areas near Catherine Creek, has a deep gorge (like 1500 feet deep), is completely owned by the forest service, and has no marked trails.

On a driving survey it seems that most of the public lands is surrounded by ranches and access to the public lands is quite limited. But at one point I did see this next to a dirt road:

Bingo! Forest Service land. I returned here yesterday to look for a route down into the canyon, hoping for an old trail, but expecting cross-country.

I parked at the beginning of the road - too rough for my car - and walked about a half mile till brush made it impassable. But a trail cut right a short distance to an old trashed-out camp on the rim. From there a rough trail headed steeply down, but soon disappeared. Here is what some of the terrain was like:

Sometimes it was more forested, sometimes it was more steep. At a clearing I had this view of the drainage. This is looking mostly east, so that south-facing open ridge is what separates the east and west forks of Major Creek. The thick forest on the right of the photo is on the other side of the canyon I'm descending.

It really is just a side canyon to the west fork. By and by I heard the water and made it to the bottom:

A nice creek and good shelter from yesterday's heat. I did run into one section of trail coming down, but as always, it didn't last long.

An interesting side note. Near the top on the way back, I saw this:

Given the slope, and assuming it isn't a joke, it must be a pet?

I made one right turn going down. If I had gone left, I would have ended up in the main stem of the west fork. More explorations to come here.

[raven]

Did you get to the base of the canyon -- to one of the main forks of Major Creek? I believe you indicated that you had reached a side creek toe West Fork. A topo map indicates that the canyon becomes quite steep -- safety gear needed. Did a route down seem feasible up close?

[drm]

At one point I was on the ridge separating the west fork from the tributary to it that I chose. Looking down and left towards the west fork, it looked feasible, but I certainly couldn't see all the way down. It's always possible that I would have been cliffed.

[airdrum]

An interesting area, thanks for bringing it to light drm. Seems like some nasty brush conditions you dealt with near the stream, certainly slow going for any survey. Did you see a lot of poison oak in the area, or was it relatively free going?

I'm sure some of our history and ancient map holders around here could dig up evidence of what those short trail sections were!

[Sore Feet]

Sweet, I didn't think there was any publicly accessible way to get to that canyon. I've been super curious about the marked falls on the West Fork for a long time. Looks like it might be a big one. Also looks like the type of area where poison oak and ticks flourish.

[drm]

Fortunately, and amazingly, I didn't get a single tick, nor any poison oak rash. While the terrain was fairly steep at times, it was never near "climbing" steep and the brush was reasonable. Nothing like the terrain some of you folks take to find waterfalls in the rainforest. I didn't have to do any serious bush-whacking.

The one trail I found going down that was in fairly good condition at the point I found it, I considered trying it going up further, but if it goes very far up, it probably just leads to a ranch, and who knows how far it would be from my car. In fact, if that trail had continued down in the direction it was going when I lost it, it would have been close the the point where my tributary joined the west fork. But when it disappeared I could hear, and almost see, the tributary straight down the hill.