mattisnotfrench's Opal Creek post, continued....

[anna in boots]

Matt,

Here is a slide show of the MiPL (Meet in Portland) group hike I led to the Phantom Bridge and Opal Creek last fall. Also, a link to my Valley of the Giants hike one week earlier. Sorry about the quality of the photos--something about their system doesn't translate photos well online.

Opal Creek:
http://www.meetin.org/city/MEETinPORTLA ... wsID=15340

VOG:
http://www.meetin.org/city/MEETinPORTLA ... wsID=14817

Enjoy!

anna in boots

[mattisnotfrench]

Just a note: this is still on for sometime in September. More details to come. The idea is to hike in to Cedar Flats, camp out, bag the falls the next day and hopefully hike out that night if possible. It isn't a very difficult bushwhack but it will be a LONG one, fyi. I'm hoping for cloudy weather due to what the sun does to photos in that canyon. For an example, about 2 miles upstream of Cedar Flats:

[fetch]

Are you aware the bridge between Opal Pool and Cedar Flats is currently reported as "closed"? http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette/gene ... wboard.php ASSuming you even consider this an obstacle/concern, of course. Maybe for you, it's not.

While I'm sure it'll likely be repaired and reopened by Sept, thought you might want to know if you didn't already. I'm actually thinking of doing this trail to - Franklin Grove? - in the near future...if I do, I'll report back what I encounter.

[mattisnotfrench]

Are you aware the bridge between Opal Pool and Cedar Flats is currently reported as "closed"? http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette/gene ... wboard.php ASSuming you even consider this an obstacle/concern, of course. Maybe for you, it's not.

While I'm sure it'll likely be repaired and reopened by Sept, thought you might want to know if you didn't already. I'm actually thinking of doing this trail to - Franklin Grove? - in the near future...if I do, I'll report back what I encounter.

I had heard it was out and I'm surprised they haven't replaced it yet. From all indications, it isn't exactly out, it was just damaged. If we're doing this in September though, crossing the creek won't be an obstacle.

If you are hiking on to Franklin Grove, I have some advice! Following the trail past Beachie Creek isn't difficult; however, you'll come to a huge open area, where there are several massive trees blown down. At this point, backtrack a bit and then angle off to the left. The trail will reappear at some point and become far more defined. This huge area with huge trees is Franklin Grove; however, if you continue about a half mile above the grove, climbing over a rise and then dropping down, you'll reach an overlook of an unnamed 80-foot falls. This is truly where the trail dead-ends.

Good luck!

[Billc]

The upstream guardrail is broken off of the bridge. It was crossed when I was there, though not by us, not everyone in our party wanted to so we turned around. It is now a flat log with one handrail.
Bill

[fetch]

Thank you both for the tips/advice!