PCT at Herman Creek

[payslee]

[Don Nelsen]

Payslee,

Good find! The old Skyline Trail dropped down into the Herman Creek drainage just south of the Benson Plateau and Jamito and I were in there a couple of times about five years ago to see if we could find traces of it. The old trail climbed up from Herman Creek at Casey Creek and continued north on the present alignment. The section from the creek to the main trail is still there and in good shape as of last year.

Anyway, I don't know for sure but it may be that once the Skyline Trail became the PCT that was the route at least for awhile. I first hiked the current PCT along the east side of the Benson in the late 70's so whatever happened was before that.

Here is a pic of a section of the old trail. This is upstream on the west bank of the west fork of Herman Creek a half mile or so south of Casey Creek:


Here is a map that shows that original alignment:


Your find has me interested in going back up there and seeing if I can find some more old pct markers.

thanks!

Don

[OUTDOOR VIEWFINDER]

The PCT never shared the current route of Herman Creek Trail from the confluence of where the old OST ran. However, it did once go from where the current PCT coming off of Benson Plateau intersects with the feeder trail from Herman Creek Trail and then it ended at the Columbia River Work Center (at the entrance to Herman Creek Campground.) This was rerouted sometime in the late 70's/early 80's when the current PCT route toward Dry Creek Falls, etc. was made official. The PCT emblem on the tree the Paylsee spotted is one of a few left along the old route. Regarding Don's mention of the old-OST route, I wonder how people crossed Herman Creek in the confluence area. Based on where the trail comes up to Casey Creek Camp from the confluence, that is not an easy ford, especially for a former commonly-used trail! Maybe a bridge was once in place?

[Don Nelsen]

The PCT never shared the current route of Herman Creek Trail from the confluence of where the old OST ran. However, it did once go from where the current PCT coming off of Benson Plateau intersects with the feeder trail from Herman Creek Trail and then it ended at the Columbia River Work Center (at the entrance to Herman Creek Campground.) This was rerouted sometime in the late 70's/early 80's when the current PCT route toward Dry Creek Falls, etc. was made official. The PCT emblem on the tree the Paylsee spotted is one of a few left along the old route. Regarding Don's mention of the old-OST route, I wonder how people crossed Herman Creek in the confluence area. Based on where the trail comes up to Casey Creek Camp from the confluence, that is not an easy ford, especially for a former commonly-used trail! Maybe a bridge was once in place?

Jason,

Thanks for the info - that clears up an old mystery - (and will save me some effort trying to find old PCT emblems.) I know the old route from the work center so I'll just check out that section.

I've wondered about how the old OST trail crossed the creek, too. I've explored the area extensively and cannot find any evidence of a bridge, though in half a century or more most traces could easily have disintegrated or been washed away. I've also tried to find where the old trail dropped off the ridge south of the Benson Plateau to no avail. Have you been up there and looked, or do you know where it was/is?

Don

[OUTDOOR VIEWFINDER]

The PCT never shared the current route of Herman Creek Trail from the confluence of where the old OST ran. However, it did once go from where the current PCT coming off of Benson Plateau intersects with the feeder trail from Herman Creek Trail and then it ended at the Columbia River Work Center (at the entrance to Herman Creek Campground.) This was rerouted sometime in the late 70's/early 80's when the current PCT route toward Dry Creek Falls, etc. was made official. The PCT emblem on the tree the Paylsee spotted is one of a few left along the old route. Regarding Don's mention of the old-OST route, I wonder how people crossed Herman Creek in the confluence area. Based on where the trail comes up to Casey Creek Camp from the confluence, that is not an easy ford, especially for a former commonly-used trail! Maybe a bridge was once in place?

Jason,

Thanks for the info - that clears up an old mystery - (and will save me some effort trying to find old PCT emblems.) I know the old route from the work center so I'll just check out that section.

I've wondered about how the old OST trail crossed the creek, too. I've explored the area extensively and cannot find any evidence of a bridge, though in half a century or more most traces could easily have disintegrated or been washed away. I've also tried to find where the old trail dropped off the ridge south of the Benson Plateau to no avail. Have you been up there and looked, or do you know where it was/is?

Don

Hi Don,

Glad I could help with the PCT info; I've spent a lot of time learning about old sections of that trail and the CCT. I hiked the PCT in 2005 (northbound) and I'm the event director of PCT DAYS, so you could say I'm a bit of a PCT fan. Regarding where the old OST crosses Herman, yeah, I haven't found a bridge nor do I think there was one. For a span that wide there would be something left, (rock piles, footings, etc.) I've considered fording the confluence, but never had a real reason to (and I've only been there during spring melt season, which makes the water quite high and fast.) Maybe next summer we can rally a gang to check out the area?

[Don Nelsen]

Jason,

Yes, let's put a hike together and do some more exploring. The crossing is not really so bad even in winter and I've even crossed a couple of times when there was a skiff of snow on the ground. (Done it via the wet feet method, too!) All we need is a couple of dry days to dry out the foliage so as not to be too miserable. We could get lucky with a tree fallen in the right spot, too. Upstream there are a couple of those that Jamie and I used four or five years ago.

Thanks,

Don

[Eric Peterson]

Just from looking at DN's old MHNF map, it looks like the OST crossing is well before the confluence of
Herman Creek forks. Of course those USFS issued recreation maps leave a little bit to be desired for accuracy.

I do like how they depict the OST more or less next to Herman Creeks west fork too.

I need to look in my late 60's CCT WA/OR guide book maps section right now to see what they show for
this area!

[Don Nelsen]

Just from looking at DN's old MHNF map, it looks like the OST crossing is well before the confluence of
Herman Creek forks. Of course those USFS issued recreation maps leave a little bit to be desired for accuracy.

I do like how they depict the OST more or less next to Herman Creeks west fork too.

I need to look in my late 60's CCT WA/OR guide book maps section right now to see what they show for
this area!

Eric,

Jamie and I wondered about that, too, and explored the east bank immediately upstream from Casey Creek and found what we thought "might" have been a trail grade. Hard to tell with so much time passed. How about a trail hunt!!!

dn

[OUTDOOR VIEWFINDER]

Just from looking at DN's old MHNF map, it looks like the OST crossing is well before the confluence of
Herman Creek forks. Of course those USFS issued recreation maps leave a little bit to be desired for accuracy.

I do like how they depict the OST more or less next to Herman Creeks west fork too.

I need to look in my late 60's CCT WA/OR guide book maps section right now to see what they show for
this area!

Eric,

Jamie and I wondered about that, too, and explored the east bank immediately upstream from Casey Creek and found what we thought "might" have been a trail grade. Hard to tell with so much time passed. How about a trail hunt!!!

dn

Hi Don and Eric,

Please email here for further communication: [email protected]. Let's keep in touch regarding an outing / trail hunt. It would be great to tie it in with an overnight camp / hike and I know a few others that might be into it. Or we can just do a one-day outing. The focus would be to pinpoint the crossing of the old-CCT. In the meantime, sourcing old maps would be best. I have some old CCT guides I'll dig through as well. One thing to note is the fact that the trail that comes down from Nick Eaton Ridge (and crosses Herman Creek Trail through camp) continues in a line that leads to the confluence. I wonder if this trail was part of something that tied into the CCT or even a pre-existing trail? From what I know about the area, the trails on Nick Eaton and Herman Creek Trail are old Wasco Tribe hunting routes/trails. Many of their trails forded creeks/rivers, so it's possible there is some connection there. Either way, we should be able to find exactly where the CCT crossed.....I'm pretty good with terrain maps, but even as one looks at contours on a map 40+ years old, they can't rely on the data due to erosion, landslides, etc. It's great we have a jump on this based on Don's previous visits though.

-J

[Eric Peterson]

Sounds like fun Don!

This is as good a scan as I could get from my '67 MHNF map, they have the old 407 trail really hugging
the west fork pretty tightly!