Been looking at Elevator Shaft with longing for a number of years and finally decided to give it a go this morning! I needed to be back in SE Portland by 3:30 and figured this was a great morning option as long as I didn't wind up being one of those many tales of "lost on faint trails". Got to Multnomah Falls around 8am and was treated to some shots of the falls without the nearly requisite throngs!
Across the newly opened Benson Bridge and up a switchback or two, we found our way to the Gorge Trail 400. Headed East for about a half mile and could tell immediately that we had arrived at our destination.
I knew to look for some protruding chain link fence, but am confident to report that this eithe rno longer exists or is buried under some deep moss because no such landmark was to be found. Looking up, however, it seemed to be a straight forward (or straight up as it were) proposition! So I picked a rock and started climbing... This first slope was about 300' of elevation and was mostly covered with a thick carpet of moss. I had read that this trail is nearly always slippery, but was happy to discover that after a few warm and sunny days, things were easy going except for the occasional loose rocks.
After this first 300' gain, we entered a brief break of trees and scrub...which was about 85% poison oak by my count...it was EVERYWHERE. This would be the only time that I came across a noticeable amount for the duration of the day however! Soon the scramble pops back out of the trees and we were facing another scree/talus slope of about 700' elevation. Immediately noticeable was the fact that the faint switchbacks that may have even been imagined on the lower half were now defined and vastly easier to traverse. In fact, this entire climb was so much easier than I ever expected it to be!
We had now gone up about 1000ft of incline in about a half mile, but honestly it didn't feel like it...maybe it was the knowledge that the steepest climbing was still ahead. At the top of the scree slope, we popped into the shade of the trees and began another 700’ climb…this one on a loose earth trail of about ¼ mile…and eventually came to the ridge of the Multnomah Basin. The colors up here were amazing! The sun turned everything a hundred shades of vibrant green and purple, white and gold flowers were in full bloom everywhere we turned. Whatever fears we still harbored of becoming turned around or wandering down random faint spur trails disappeared immediately when we found every footpath clear as day and heading in cardinal directions for easy navigating. We hung a left and headed for the Coyote Rock viewpoint and the Nesika Lodge.
After a brief stop at Coyote Rock we wandered on until the trail began to descend and I knew we must be nearing the eastern edge of the basin. Sure enough, just moments later we saw buildings ahead and had arrived at the Trails Club’s amazing lodge. Just up the dual track road leading out the far side of the lodge is a spur trail to their breathtaking memorial viewpoint…the best place for a snack on the whole hike.
Continued in next post...
