Oregon Hikers

I started backpacking in the Gifford Pinchot in 1945. The trails were in horrible condition. The had been no trail maintenance since before the war. Also, they were pretty bad trails to begin with.. The CCC had a different idea of what a trail should look like than today's hiker. Many less switchbacks and much steeper grades. Trail improvement was very slow in coming until the timber revenue started flowing in. When Ronald Ragen was president it seemed like every hike I took was on a new trail. Those are the trails we have today and maintenance does not seem to be high on the list of forest service priorities. Looks like hikers are just going to have to tough it out

This gets tiresome, and will be my last post on it. I have made no claims about fantastic levels of maintenance. I have made no claims about maintenance trends going back decades. I have lived in the area for 15 years. I have simply said that the GPNF has an active trail team that clears logs on trails every year. The maintenance that does happen on GPNF trails includes a lot of work by the national forest that is paid for somehow out of national forest funds. WTA is of course out there a lot too, but a hired trail worker gets far more work done in a day than most volunteers would get done in many days. This year the trail team is short-staffed and so maintenance is lagging, also because of late snow.

You can make whatever comparisons about maintenance quality and fees, but there are a lot of other factors. Of course the huge one is the cost of fighting fires. But despite all the new fees, the total Forest service budget, aside from fighting fires, and staffing is way down from where it was decades ago. I was once told that the GP has about 20% of the people based in Trout Lake that it had in the late 1900s. Getting rid of fees isn't going to get us where we were decades ago.

Paid, experienced, seasonal trail crews come into the CRGNSA, Gifford Pinchot, Mt. Hood, and all other national forests in about April and work into September/October. Budgets have been cut and trail destruction, mainly by weather and wildfires and their aftermath (rampant vegetation, constant slides, etc.) has increased. The seasonals will work in any weather, all day. I have worked with some. Due to budget cuts, their numbers are much reduced.

Volunteer groups (e.g. TKO, WTA) fill in some of the void, but these groups are dependent upon both experienced and inexperienced volunteers and all that implies. Both TKO and WTA work with multiple agencies, not just the Forest Service. In many more remote areas of Oregon, there are no volunteer groups to help out.

Each ranger district has a trails ranger, maybe more than one. They are punted into desk work a lot of time (projects have to be proposed, written up, etc.). Once fire season begins, trail rangers are often deputized to fight fires, sometimes all summer in one place or another, even out of district - and so it goes.

Most arguments seem to ignore the fact that the Forest Service wasn't created for recreation, and that is still just a small part of their multiple and often conflicting mandates (they're in the Department of Agriculture, for heaven's sake). In 1903, Teddy Roosevelt stated, in his proposal for the creation of the Forest Service, that the purpose was: " . . . not to preserve forests because they are beautiful . . . not because they are refuges for the wild creatures of the wilderness . . .; but the primary object of our forest policy, as the land policy of the United States, is the making of prosperous homes."

The fallout from Congressional cuts is an increase in fees. One supposes that is what Congress expected/intended. Quiz your legislators, vote accordingly.

Ramona Falls trailhead - more than 100 cars parked - outhouse a good idea

Top Spur trailhead - not so many people so maybe an outhouse isn't needed there.

Interesting. Ramona Falls without a bridge is now more popular than Top Spur where you would have to park a mile away from the actual trailhead in past years due to the number of vehicles. Then again, there have been quite a few lingering snow reports and perhaps it's too early for a visit to Top Spur this year.

Ramona Falls has a huge parking area with rows of cars

Top Spur has a few spaces sideways, then just along the road. No where near as much capacity. Nothing is near the trailhead so people hike from the trailhead, not as much need for an outhouse.

BigBear wrote: ↑

August 1st, 2022, 9:38 am

Then again, there have been quite a few lingering snow reports and perhaps it's too early for a visit to Top Spur this year.

I hiked from Top Spur TH on July 9th. The flowers were in bloom and the parking was spilling down the road.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/giff ... width=full

Final proposal for new Gifford fees with some changes since last year. I haven't perused it all yet. I see they removed S Coldwater from the proposed fee areas but will keep NWFP requirements at Coldwater Lake and Hummocks - the latter will presumably require them to pay thousands of dollars to first build a bathroom there in order to "justify" the permit fee. Presumably the new lookout rentals they're proposing will still be at boutique Airbnb rates.

If you submit additional comments, they will be presented to the Resource Advisory Council (RAC) meeting on 3/9/23. They can be sent to GPNF's Gala Miller (in the link above).