TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Discussions and Trip Reports for off-trail adventures and rediscovering lost trails
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Splintercat
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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by Splintercat » September 19th, 2008, 2:35 pm

Er, thanks... "el Jefe"... :lol: I see that Steve has included an appropriate disclaimer, given that the trail is closed..! :D

Somebody posted a trip report on the Perdition, as well - might need to go dig around the archive site for that, but part of posting them here is to ensure permission from photo owners to use them in the proposals.

Tom

chukarguy
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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by chukarguy » September 21st, 2008, 9:12 pm

One of my favorite photos came from this hike (Wygant trail), I loved the intense green in April of 2008.
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Navigator 2
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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by Navigator 2 » July 9th, 2009, 8:58 am

Wow! I didn't know all these trails were closed. We've hiked all but Rudolph. I'll have to scrounge around for some pix, but those were pre-digital days, so we have a limited batch of photos. I knew Perdition was closed since about '90 or so. All those pix are on slide (remember those?)

We tried to hike Nesmith Ridge after the major storms of 96, but ran into so much blow-down, that we were soon clueless as to which way to proceed, and it's really steep out there. I would love it if it were reopened. We used to make/maintain trails when I worked for the Forest Service. I'm *&%$# years older now, but I might be good for some brush-clearing, etc.

And I'm casting another vote for Wauneka - never been there, but when we passed it on the Nesmith/Moffett Loop, it was obvious and there was a sign...uhh...20 years ago.
You're bringing back memories. Here's a pic of the pond near the junction - it's that washed-out, bright section behind that young, handsome hiker. There were a bunch of ducks which cleared out just as we got there. I was hiking on a broken toe and by the time I got there, I was too tired to walk another 50 yards to the pond, so I just took a picture, then laid down on the soft bear grass to rest. That was the year we made it from Larch Mt. to Mt. Defiance in 4 days. I've always wanted to go back and make to that pond!
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Navigator 2
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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by Navigator 2 » July 10th, 2009, 10:23 am

1. Well, after checking the prices of slide scanners, it looks like our slides of Perdition are going to have to remain slides for awhile longer.

2. When we hiked up the Elevator Shaft, we were able to connect with the Larch Mt. trail easily. At the top, it connected with the Multnomah Basin trail where we could either go left past Cougar Rock toward the Trails Club Lodge, or go right through an abandoned "neighborhood" where you could still see planted daffodils and the dug-out pits of houses, then connect with the gravel road which crosses the Larch Mt. Trail.

3. I mentioned our experience with the Moffet Creek Trail in my last post.

4. What is this Moffett Creek Trail that begins at the Eagle Creek TH? Is that a typo? The Moffett Creek Trail that I'm aware of begins at the end of the now-abandoned Tanner Creek Road which passes the old Wauna Pt. trail to Dublin Lake (possibly abandoned as well, since the TH is now 2 miles further north).

5. Rudolph is still on my to-do list.

6. We hiked all of Wygant this year. It's still hikable, but so overgrown with poison ivy as to not be worth it. And the crossing where the bridge is out is really hard - steep with loose rocks & mud. But I do have some pix I'll have to post later; gotta go for now.

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Navigator 2
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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by Navigator 2 » July 10th, 2009, 5:33 pm

#6 Here's an ancient collage of some flowers near the summit. It used to be quite pretty up there.
This sign points to the bridge which is out and the VP which you'd need a haz-mat suit to visit.
Can poison ivy be erradicated without poisoning the environment and the workers?
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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by Navigator 2 » July 14th, 2009, 8:45 am

It seems most of the trails we took to get from Sherrard Point to Mt. Defiance are now abandoned, so it would be hard to retrace our route that we took in 1990. We did 15 miles the first day following the Horsetail and Bell Creek Trails (#7 & 8), then the Moffett Creek Trail down to a campsite along Tanner Creek.

No pix, but I remember how hard that section leading up to the Rock of Ages Trail was. Not because it was particularly steep, but the trail crew had, for some reason, cut deep trenches about every 10 minutes or so on the trail. They were too wide to step across, and about 4 feet deep with very steep slopes leading into and out of. I guess they were supposed to be drainage ditches, but I'd say somebody got overly zealous in making those. I got worn out going in and out of those so often. A small, step across ditch would have been better, and a lot less of them. Fortunately, we've never come across a trail like that since, and I hope we never do again. I also hope the new trail crew will save themselves, and future hikers a lot of effort by forgoing those blasted pits, and better still, fill them in.

From the Tanner Creek CG, you could hike to the end of Tanner Creek Road which went past the old TH for Wauna Pt. & Tanner Butte, then up the Billy Goat Trail, then past Dublin Lake, Tanner Butte, Tanner Creek Springs, then the Eagle-Tanner Traverse which was already getting hard to follow when we were there. I imagine they're all worse by now with that road being closed. We spent a lot of time climbing over fallen logs on the Billy Goat Trail. I wonder if any of these are even still there.

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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by DerWanderer » July 26th, 2009, 11:33 pm

I've done two trips to mark the lost "Nesmith Ridge Trail." It's a great route, and although I'm thrilled that someone is interested in resurrecting it, I've come to think of it as a secret retreat from the crowds that you find on most Gorge trails. I think it's a worthy project, though, and a little more traffic would do it no harm.

In addition to the photos I have below, I have a full trip report and other photos that I've posted here: Nesmith Ridge Trail

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Typical tread on the Nesmith Ridge Trail

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Stopping for a lunch/rest break

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Steep section of the trail

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Cliffside view, appx. 2600', not too far from the intersection with the Nesmith Point Trail at 2800' (you can see a section of the Nesmith Point Trail down in the canyon below the cliff)

mcds
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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by mcds » June 2nd, 2014, 9:42 am

bump, from 2008

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Grannyhiker
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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by Grannyhiker » June 2nd, 2014, 11:29 am

Evidently nothing has happened since except for mcds' trail work on Bell Creek this year--did any of these proposals go in?

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rick6003
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Re: TKO looking for some specific "Lost Trails" photos!

Post by rick6003 » June 5th, 2014, 7:41 pm

I am not much on the computer but if you want some photos of a few of your mentioned hikes, I would contact Craig G. Another good place would be Northwest Wilderness and the Portland hiking meetup photo sections.

People take a lot of pictures, I've seen over 200 posted on a single Munra Point South hike.

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