Hardy Ridge via Kueffler Road: 11/17/13

[beag]

I miss ye guys. For years Russ Jolley had a sturdy plank to help crossing the creek. He would pull it out in the fall and tie it off on the bank. When Russ was unable to hike I used to go up there in the fall and tie off the plank. I had some health problems for a while so the plank floated away. It may not be too far downstream and of course it might be out on the ocean. Would not hurt do have a look downstream a little ways and retrieve it.

Mandrake, Russ used to hike up to Phlox point through the trees but because the trees have grown we use a different approach to get to the point. Also the rest of the RJ trail west is in good shape. Every Spring I go through and remove winter downfalls and do some lopping. It does not cross Woodward Creek where Russ used to cross plus he continued the trail to St Cloud. We cross the Powerline road near Archer because the Washougal Stevenson trail will line up better there. It would be good if more people used the trail.

[Ryan Ojerio]

Phlox Point looks like it is becoming the next Cape Horn and Coyote Wall - like those areas, more and more people are visiting the area it is going to force the agencies to act by either building an official trail or taking some other action to manage the area.

What do hikers think they should do? They (state parks) can't just ignore it, especially since the balds along Hardy Ridge are likely to have populations of rare plants.

[Guy]

Phlox Point looks like it is becoming the next Cape Horn and Coyote Wall - like those areas, more and more people are visiting the area it is going to force the agencies to act by either building an official trail or taking some other action to manage the area.

What to hikers think they should do? They (state parks) can't just ignore it, especially since the balds along Hardy Ridge are likely to have populations of rare plants.

Not to be combative Ryan but I think that the last thing we need is the State & Feds spending more millions of dollars they don't have on another "show trail" like Cape Horn.

There has been a trail up to Phlox Point for decades just because more people are hiking it now that does not mean that the trail is getting wider or more plant / animal life is being damaged / hurt.

I would also like to see some evidence that rare plants & endangered animals really are affected by hikers in a particular area before changes are made. Not just anecdotal logic like "If Salamanders live in boulder fields then people walking on boulder fields must endanger Salamanders". Too often it seems to me that these are excuses used as a means to an end.

If they must do something then leave the trail the way it is but put signs up reminding people to stay on the trail & not walk on plants etc. A Beacon Rock Park Ranger could also walk the trail on busy days educating hikers on the area (Though I have never seen a Ranger at that park more than half a mile from where they can get to in a pickup). It would also take a ranger off parking duty so that probably wont happen

Now if the state / feds did want to do something useful how about a better bridge for us over Woodward Creek



Just my 2 cents.

[kepPNW]

Phlox Point looks like it is becoming the next Cape Horn and Coyote Wall

You gotta be kidding?

I've never seen another individual up there, anytime I've been. Ever. Three or four TRs a year just doesn't seem like anything to base such a extravagant claim upon. This will never be a "show trail" regardless, because 95% of it is trudge.

I fully support everything else Guy offered, as well. Wow. There are certainly far better ways to spend the money!

[Guy]

I've never seen another individual up there, anytime I've been. Ever.

Same here, I've never had to share the Phlox Point Summit with anyone else on any of my previous visits. The majority of hikers are not interested in hiking much further than the viewpoints near the East - West Ridge Trails Junction.

[Eric Peterson]

Hey Ryan, you going to the Meet/Deet?

[acorn woodpecker]

I've never seen another individual up there, anytime I've been. Ever.

Same here, I've never had to share the Phlox Point Summit with anyone else on any of my previous visits. The majority of hikers are not interested in hiking much further than the viewpoints near the East - West Ridge Trails Junction.

I third this. Even though it is anecdotal, on the first really warm clear day in spring 2012 on a Saturday, we enjoyed Phlox Point to ourselves and we were up there at least an hour! Phlox Point must be the least visited destination in Beacon Rock State Park. If any trail needs more care due to the amount of traffic it gets the "more difficult" trail up to Hamilton Mt is the one. There are many shortcuts in the switchbacks, many which are deep. Additionally, there are numerous side trails and litter throughout the trail. Last Saturday I made around $2.00 in bottle deposits cleaning up that trail! Plus, there were a good 20-30 people on that trail on a rainy Saturday. If we're going to talk about test piece trails, let's talk about Hamilton Mountain first.

[Ryan Ojerio]

You gotta be kidding?

Nope, not kidding. I'm just asking the same question of this crowd that Park staff have posed to me since I started working for WTA in 2008. Its just that nowadays I'm running into more and more hikers who love Phlox Point. I used to think that it could just stay a primitive route. But the trail up the ridge is now so obvious I've had calls from people confused about where to go. (there's now a sign there pointing out the sanctioned route).

I predict that in 10-20 years from now there will be quite a few people up there on nice sunny days. It makes sense to me to start thinking about that possibility and planning for how to deal with it. At one time in the not to distance past, Angel's Rest was a place you could find solitude. Is there a way to design a primitive route to Phlox Point that would be difficult enough to deter the masses and also satisfy the biologists?

The Forest Service could have saved a lot of taxpayer money had they been proactive at planning for recreation at Coyote Wall and Cape Horn. Instead they had to work through a long, expensive, contentious planning process, and then spend a lot of resources fixing flawed trails. But that's Monday morning quarterbacking - I think we need to look ahead, but not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Hamilton Mt. needs to be fixed badly. In my opinion some of the switchbacks must be abandoned entirely. It would be incredibly expensive to try to restore them and maintain them. I'll be looking at options with park staff in 2014 to start the permitting and fundraising in 2015. Given the sad state of the Park's budget this isn't going to be a quick fix - unless someone knows a millionaire wanting to drop some money on it.

At the moment Parks staff are working on getting a bridge to cross Woodard Creek near the Moorage. By this spring it will be in place allowing people to access Beacon Rock from the lower day use area without walking on Hwy 14 (risking their lives as they do now). That project has been about 10 years in the making.

[Ryan Ojerio]

Hey Ryan, you going to the Meet/Deet?

I hope to be there again if I'm in town that weekend, its a great event.

[Eric Peterson]

Not trying to 'necromancer' this topic but... is it still viable to park 3 miles up Kueffler Rd. thus
avoiding the silly DP?

And I bet Woodward Creek might still be a bit of a task to cross yet as well?

Thanks in advance!