Oregon Hikers

About a mile above Triple Falls, maybe 1/4-mile below the second footbridge, the Oneonta Trail has fallen into the creek. Right now, only rushing water is where the trail was. No risk-free ways around it. Will be a highly unpleasant surprise for folks returning from Rock of Ages or coming down off Franklin Ridge!

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  N45.56879° W122.06288°

There are also numerous fallen logs and root balls, below Triple Falls, that will make that a more "challenging" hike for many.

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YIKES! Thanks for the update

Wow! Thanks for taking the time to post that. The reports are rolling in and PCTA already has done one logout, has two more work parties planned, and it looks like the work will continue to roll in! We will triage the work as it comes in. Edan

trailupdater wrote:Wow! Thanks for taking the time to post that. The reports are rolling in and PCTA already has done one logout, has two more work parties planned, and it looks like the work will continue to roll in! We will triage the work as it comes in.

We ran into a PCTA scout later that day, over on Nesmith. Definitely a mess out there. Luckily, most of the worst seems to be at lower elevations.

Good luck with this one, though! Hard to imagine it could be fixed during the winter. Will probably require some sort of retaining structure. Not sure the topography there is amenable to an up and over re-route.

I am not physically able to help with trail reconstruction but I cherish the gorge hikes. How can I support the effort?

I went up to check out the washout two weeks ago. I measured 2.85 miles from the Horsetail Falls trailhead, and the footbridge was visible just upstream from the washout.

Went back again yesterday and the path of the trail (five or six feet below the trail level, in the creek) was flagged! My companions and I ended up crossing -- it was a fairly simple rockhop at the creek level, but getting down and back up again took a while -- and there plenty of footprints in the snow on the other side, so it seems that others have been doing it, too. But the soil/roots/rocks at the washout were very unstable, so I wouldn't count on this being feasible, and I wouldn't have tried it if I'd been alone. A ladder on either side would sure help.

PCTA crew scheduled to start removing windfalls near top of Triple Falls last week in January (weather permitting).

Saturday, January 30. Two PCTA crosscut saw crews removed all logs below Triple Falls except the two with large rootwads attached. When those two uprooted, a 30' section of tread was destroyed. USFS will need to determine if trail is to be restored at original location or rerouted before any work is done with these. There is a temporary reroute below the rootwads. Lots of training accomplished on this project with experienced sawyers assisting apprentice sawyers in building their skillset. Photos courtesy of Terry Hill.

Nice work! Thanks...

Good job on getting those out. Root wads are never easy and hopefully a way can be made to get the trail open as people coming down from Franklin Ridge loop over from Multnomah Falls can get through easily. All the trails in the Gorge are getting used all year round.