Oregon Hikers

Just a heads up that there is significant tree fall on the final stages of the Paradise trail before it meets with the Zigzag Mt trail. In fact I'd say it's the worst blow down I've come across.







It a actually got worse after these photos so we left the trail (to our right going down hill) then went cross country until we hit the old trail alignment (the one that's actually on the USGS map). This was overgrown with blueberries but free of blowdown so we followed it until it met up with the new trail alignment again.



One hell of a storm must have blown down the Zigzag canyon last winter, in some places along the ridge line and below it looks like 50% of the trees are down!

Go around it on the left (north). There's an old trail at places, or fairly open stretches that are easier

You should see it now! OK, still a mess but 2 hot shot USFS teams and back country horse people spent a week up there and cleared 3/8 of a mile. As the PCTA caretaker for that section says, "It may be a multi generational project" but there have been big strides made this summer.

As part of my Chinook Trail hike I need to go from the PCT to Camp Kiwanas to attend the ALDHA-West Gathering there, and my current plan is to come down on the Hidden Lake trail instead of the Paradise Park trail. It sounds like despite recent work on the Paradise trail, I should probably stick to my Hidden Lake plan. Anyone out there have any thoughts on this?

Thanks

Sean

It's fine. There are some logs to scramble over, but it's more fun than annoying. Nothing at all like the horror of 2017.

I was just up there today and I was very impressed by the amount of brute force WORK the saw crews must have put in to do that much trail clearing. In places there were logs stacked up nearly to head height that got sawn off in tiers! Just sharpening the saws must have been a full time job. Great work was done up there, even if they couldn't complete the whole trail in one season. Congratulations and much appreciation to the trail workers.

Aimless wrote: ↑

October 19th, 2018, 5:47 pm

I was just up there today and I was very impressed by the amount of brute force WORK the saw crews must have put in to do that much trail clearing. In places there were logs stacked up nearly to head height that got sawn off in tiers! Just sharpening the saws must have been a full time job. Great work was done up there, even if they couldn't complete the whole trail in one season. Congratulations and much appreciation to the trail workers.

Don't you just have to wonder if they got to the site and said "screw this, damn hikers can just go around"
I've seen sites where it would be much easier to re-route the trail than to clear the blowdown, so one has to wonder why they insist on maintaining the original trail alignment, especially in a place like the PCT/Paradise loop, where the terrain is gentle and the forest is sparse, and there's barely even a need for a trail. But still, kudos to the workers who persisted, their effort is appreciated.

I've been walking around some of the worst blowdown there. Yeah, many places for a trail, and it's been rerouted before, you can find trail that hasn't been used for years but is still noticeable. Seems easier than sawing those huge trees. Although with a chainsaw it doesn't take long.

Has anybody done this trail yet this year? I’m considering paradise park via this trail because the prospect of walking up through the different stages of forest on the mountain appeals to me. But if the blowdowns are really bad, it may not be worth the effort.

The remaining blowdown that was not cleared last summer has not been worked on yet this summer.