Slide and trees at Fairy Falls

[trailupdater]

I just got a report that there is a slide and downed trees above Fairy Falls. I cannot vouch for the validity or extent of the damage, but I'm posting it here as a heads up to would-be hikers who might hike Wahkeena soon. If anyone sees it before I get to it, please post pics! Thanks, Edan

[mandrake]

I was just up there yesterday and, yes, there has been a good sized slide above Faerie Falls. It could definitely use some trail work, but it's currently passable -- there were hikers everywhere up there -- albeit muddy. No pics unfortunately.

[Excursionista]

I was there Sunday and didn't stop to take photos; I was trying to escape the hordes.

As Mandrake said, there was some damage trail, but the trail is passable.

Every year, this trail seems to have more issues. The section of trail just before the bridge by Wahkeena Falls has washed out recently, and the switchbacks below Fairy Falls are always a bit sketchy - they're steep and often slick, water runs down them, they always seem muddy, there's one big tree growing out sideways from the hill... Whenever I come through I think about how few options there are to make a permanent improvement to the trail there.

Remember the hordes I mentioned? I'm not so worried about this section of trail for the folks on this site, but the hordes are the ill-equipped casual hikers who made it up the trail that far in jeans, cotton, flip-flops, carrying lapdogs and 12oz bottles of water. It's their trail too, but that stretch gets pretty dicey. It's the worst stretch of most popular trail I can think of, in terms of what would happen if there was a slip, fall, etc.

[arieshiker]

I just did the hike yesterday and here's an image of that area - looks uglier than it actually is, but it's still a mess. I went around and down at Multnomah Lodge and just posted my trail report. The way had some minor blockage but all navigable.

[rcPDX]

Right now (10 March 2012) a PCTA crew is doing the Wahkeena loop to clear logs and they will size up this problem.
Roberta