Oregon Hikers

https://www.oregonlive.com/travel/2021/ ... -fire.html
(OregonLive has gone kinda paywall, so you may need to disable your ad blocker or turn off javascript to read)

Also lower bit of Larch Mtn down to Multnomah Falls plaza, and Wahclella Falls. I went up Multnomah this morning. Had the place totally to myself.

I definitely expected Eagle Creek to hold out until after the winter rains and freeze cycles, and I halfway expected them to say, Well, it's just going to get icy soon anyway, might as well keep Multnomah closed for general safety.

Now I just need a day that's a little but not a lot rainy, that will be enough to keep the masses away from Eagle Creek but be enough for me to get out in relative comfort and safety... And no rock slides.

Hooray, Franklin Ridge is finally open. I miss that one.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/crgnsa/a ... ?aid=63436

I drove by Eagle Creek yesterday early morning and thought maybe they had opened up a Costco with all the cars that were there. Exit 41 (Eagle Creek exit) is closed while they clear a slide so the only legitimate way to get there is the Bonneville/Tooth Rock parking area which adds some trail 400 walking. By the time I drove back geniuses were parking along the freeway to some how get in.

Press release with "closure reduction" map of what is and isn't reopened around Eagle Creek
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/crgnsa/n ... EPRD872161

I can't get the pdf map from there to load, but on the map pic on their tweet for some reason they have chosen to distinguish the open and closed trails with barely discernible red v brown coloring, so good luck figuring that out.


ed: yeah, I think they just screwed up the links in that press release. These work, and are readable
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 872160.pdf (eagle creek area)
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO ... 872159.pdf (full gorge)

Thanks for posting the new map! So Road 777 is open now?!?

I love how the segment of the Ruckel Creek #405 that crosses the flat top of the Benson is "closed" even though the other trails that encircle it are open. Also that the Eagle-Benson appears "open" even though it presumably no longer exists.

I think it's batshit crazy that Eagle Creek has been reopened during a pandemic, in winter... Are we taking bets as to how soon a portion of it collapses or landslides from rain on denuded hillsides? Hopefully they will reopen something useful like Tanner next, rather than something instagrammable but unstable like Oneonta...

I updated OpenStreetMap with the latest re-openings.

I hiked the entire plateau this past summer. That closed section (that wasn’t marked closed) was the best trail. The worst were the two on the north and south edge of the plateau...GPS pretty much required to stay near the “trail”. The PCT was in pretty good shape all the way through, burnt most up just before Wahtum. I guess Ruckel is “closed” all the way through as it has the same name and this may be complex to describe which part is closed.

Mike

adamschneider wrote: ↑

January 1st, 2021, 7:18 pm

I updated OpenStreetMap with the latest re-openings.

Went to go do this myself before seeing this thread, only to find that someone had beaten me to it!

Anyways, I feel like Eagle Creek (and Oneonta) probably required and will require the most work of all trails. I'm hopeful now that Eagle Creek is open, some of the others will proceed at a more rapid pace.

Tanner Butte trail would be nice

I bet it's in sad shape, that's where the fire was worst

Right, Ruckel Creek was only closed below Hunters Camp / Benson Way. There was a sign there saying so for going lower. It was open across the plateau and I think the map is probably just a mistake, especially since the top of the plateau did not burn.

Tanner Butte trail along the ridge should not be too bad despite the fire. It was an old road. Not sure about the switchbacks up the northern end of the ridge. I mostly wonder about Dublin Lake. Is it completely burned or was being slightly down and east of the ridge enough to protect it. There are many places where the burn just doesn't go down the east side of a ridge. There are probably airplane photos that answer that question.

I think the mid-winter timing is because it just won't get as crowded now. The typical Eagle Creek crowds include a lot of casual hikers who just don't hike in the winter. Imagine if they opened it in April and then we had a sunny weekend.

drm wrote: ↑

January 2nd, 2021, 9:07 am

I think the mid-winter timing is because it just won't get as crowded now. The typical Eagle Creek crowds include a lot of casual hikers who just don't hike in the winter. Imagine if they opened it in April and then we had a sunny weekend.

Bear in mind that it was always supposed to be open now. Without covid happening Eagle Creek was set to reopen last spring, and nobody would have been crying for them to shut it back down once the rain started falling. Like Multnomah Falls, it was its status as an extremely high use area that kept it shut down, and now that crowds are finally falling off, it's back to enter-at-your-own-risk.

I assume high-use is why the Punchbowl Falls section is still closed. I do wish they'd done a better job publicizing that fact, since I think there's a certain percentage of people who wouldn't bother if they can't go there.