So I made it a goal to complete all of the scrambles in Barbara Bond's book 75 Scrambles in Oregon. I'm not very far yet, but I definitely have a promising start, having done South Sister, Munra Point, and Mt. St. Helens (not in the book) in the past year, as well as a failed ascent of Middle Sister (but an amazing hike nonetheless on the Obsidian Trail route).
I'm posting to describe my utter frustration and stupidity when attempting the Rock of Ages Loop Hike last week. Long story short: I think I now understand that I utterly mistook the hike instructions in that I thought the first pass at the Falls on the Horsetail Falls trail was actually the "upper falls," which is an idiotic mistake since it it is obviously nearer the bottom of the falls (more like 25–50% up the falls...i.e., the place where you can walk behind the waterfall). So I thought the often described "Trail-Not-Maintained" trail was only a few dozen feet after the Trail 438-400 junction, before I reached the place where you go behind the falls...Thus I headed up and to the left (east) on what looked like it was possibly a "trail" there, and ended up trying to skirt the cliffs upon which the Rock of Ages arch stands by heading east/left along the bases of those cliffs. I thought, as I struggled up very steep semi-cliffs of loose rock and dead trees, that I was approaching something, and saw a bottleneck between cliffs with a tree perched atop (see photo), where I thought I could sneak through to what was described in the reports as a spine, taking me to the Rock of Ages, etc. etc.
I finally got to this tree, and found it was impossible to scale the cliff there (which was slanted up and back against me, which I couldn't see from below it), and I was defeated. I ended up stumbling, tripping, scraping, and bruising myself back down, crushing my shin, disturbing wayyy too many rocks and plants while doing it (a huge shame and an embarrassment), and somehow also loosing a $350 pair of prescription sunglasses in the process. I didn't have the heart to continue back along the Horsetail Falls trail, which, I think, if i had stayed on it and made it near the top of the Falls, I could have found the infamous "Trail-Not-Maintained" trail (which I've read is now lacking the sign?), would have taken me on the correct loop. I did find a littered/lost folded map near the tree bottleneck cliff thing, at least telling me that I was not the only dum-dum who tried to go that way.
SO FRUSTRATING!!! I'm relatively new to hiking in Oregon, and I've only had relatively easy and good experiences so far. So I made a login here and signed in to confess my sin of wildly disturbing about 10 million loose rocks in the gorge on my errant hike, and mourn the loss of my sunglasses.
If anyone reading this has actually done this full loop hike, and you can confirm to me that in order to find the correct "Trail-Not-Maintained" trail one needs to go quite a ways up trail #438 to find it, far past the trail #400-438 junction (how far?), that would help, because I want to try this again...
Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
- StarryNight
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- Joined: May 14th, 2016, 2:13 pm
- adamschneider
- Posts: 3716
- Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
- Location: SE Portland
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Re: Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
The trail ("Trail Not Maintained") to the Arch is encountered right after you come around a corner and see Ponytail Falls (Upper Horsetail Falls) in front of you. If you never see Ponytail Falls, you haven't come far enough; if you pass behind the waterfall, you've gone too far.
http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide ... l_Junction
http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide ... l_Junction
Re: Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
What a great TR!
I'm not kidding, it really is great to read failure reports, and I've posted some myself.
I think I know the trail you went up. Perpendicular to the main trail, and in a few feet you hit the cliff and have to turn sharply to the left, following the base of cliffs? Yeah, that doesn't really go anywhere.
The thing about the start of ROA is that it's not really evident from the main trail, as it kinda curves up steeply around a tree in such a way that it's not an obvious trail. But yeah, as posted above, just watch for a very faint trail when you can see the upper (ponytail?) falls. The trail has become so braided that you almost can't really follow a trail, you kind of have to constantly try to decide which route seems to make the most sense.
Sorry to hear about your Rx loss.
And welcome to Oregon Hikers!
I'm not kidding, it really is great to read failure reports, and I've posted some myself.
I think I know the trail you went up. Perpendicular to the main trail, and in a few feet you hit the cliff and have to turn sharply to the left, following the base of cliffs? Yeah, that doesn't really go anywhere.
The thing about the start of ROA is that it's not really evident from the main trail, as it kinda curves up steeply around a tree in such a way that it's not an obvious trail. But yeah, as posted above, just watch for a very faint trail when you can see the upper (ponytail?) falls. The trail has become so braided that you almost can't really follow a trail, you kind of have to constantly try to decide which route seems to make the most sense.
Sorry to hear about your Rx loss.
And welcome to Oregon Hikers!
- StarryNight
- Posts: 21
- Joined: May 14th, 2016, 2:13 pm
Re: Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
Ok, Adam and Chip, many thanks for these replies!!
So, according to Adam, I think, I actually was in the ballpark for where this "trail" started...I just never quite found it. Indeed, instead I ended up skirting the base of the cliffs.
But then my question is this: regardless of where the "actual trail" begins...what is the route generally? Does it switchback up to the right/west of the Rock of Ages arch, or the left/south, or straight at it? I ask because let's say I just cannot ever actually find this hidden trail—how could I reach the correct area or reconnect with it later on? (Indeed, I fear I never will, because there were maybe 3–5 different paths off trail #438 of equal formality as trails, all of which seemed to go nowhere at all...)
So, according to Adam, I think, I actually was in the ballpark for where this "trail" started...I just never quite found it. Indeed, instead I ended up skirting the base of the cliffs.
But then my question is this: regardless of where the "actual trail" begins...what is the route generally? Does it switchback up to the right/west of the Rock of Ages arch, or the left/south, or straight at it? I ask because let's say I just cannot ever actually find this hidden trail—how could I reach the correct area or reconnect with it later on? (Indeed, I fear I never will, because there were maybe 3–5 different paths off trail #438 of equal formality as trails, all of which seemed to go nowhere at all...)
Re: Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
SN, you're making it too difficult. Follow the link Adam posted, and look for the pic captioned "The start of the Rock of Ages Trail ". It's a pretty distinctive tree. You can't miss it, especially if you take a pic with you (printed, on your phone, whatever). Up from that tree (off the main trail) there's a trail to the left that goes nowhere, but other than that, all variations will take you to ROA, or perhaps to Devil's Backbone. If you end up at Devil's Backbone, that's no tragedy, as most ROA hikers want to go there anyway. Go have fun, and report back!
- StarryNight
- Posts: 21
- Joined: May 14th, 2016, 2:13 pm
Re: Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
Awesome. I see that distinctive tree/root system there; it seems totally obvious, but I had no idea to look for it. I will report back!! Hopefully this summer
Re: Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
Great (and brave!) first post. Like others have said: I really appreciate "failure" posts. A lot of the time, there just seems to be more there than with posts that recount easy, "successful" hikes.
Also, that Bond book's great.
Also, that Bond book's great.
Re: Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
One thing to be aware of is that I very painstakingly mapped all(?) of the Gorge trails onto OpenStreetMap recently using a service that averages large numbers of GPS tracks. They should be the most accurate Gorge maps out there. The ROA trail isn't well travelled but I was able to gather about 5 GPS tracks to draw it. With the bad GPS accuracy in the Gorge, you won't find the TH with a GPS, but you should be able to find a way to the "trail" eventually.
- Michael
Re: Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
this post has taken me back to when I first tried to find ROA - with no success. So frustrating!
Now that you know where to look at what to look for, you'll be able to find it! And, I hope you file a follow-up trip report when you do.
Now that you know where to look at what to look for, you'll be able to find it! And, I hope you file a follow-up trip report when you do.
oh-beer-ah
Re: Total fail by me on the Rock of Ages Loop hike...
I think that I made the exact same mistake when I first started hiking out here. Your description of the trail and everything sounds spot on to what I did, except that I thought that the Arch WAS the "Rock of Ages". I was like "YAY!!! I did it!!!" and people on the site were like "No, that's just a rock arch. The Rock of Ages trail is Waaaay past that."
I also slid and tumbled down and grabbed on to my very first Devil's Club on the way.
Anybody who expects to do something perfectly their first time out is delusional. The great thing about hiking in Oregon is that even your "Fails" are usually pretty cool experiences.
I also slid and tumbled down and grabbed on to my very first Devil's Club on the way.
Anybody who expects to do something perfectly their first time out is delusional. The great thing about hiking in Oregon is that even your "Fails" are usually pretty cool experiences.