Eagle Creek 1-1-2021
Posted: January 2nd, 2021, 12:14 pm
As has been widely reported, Eagle Creek is open again. Same for Wachlella, Elowah, and Larch Mountain to the Wahkeena Junction. The official announcement is at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/crgnsa/n ... EPRD872161.
I went up to just past Punchbowl Falls on Friday the 1st, and I put a whole blog post up with a photo gallery on my blog:
https://paulgerald.com/portland-hikes/c ... e-1-1-2021
Two main points I wanted to hit quickly:
1, I suspect a lot of people will go up there and say, "It's not as bad as I expected it to be." It rarely is, in the age of Smoky the Bear ("all fire is bad!") and tragedy-seeking media coverage. I think about 60% of the trail to Punchbowl looks untouched. Another 20-30% is classic mixed burn and live trees with black trunks. Another 10-20% burned pretty good, but still has live trees in it and regrowth well under way. It wasn't destroyed! A thick blanket of leaves in many areas attests to a solid tree population.
2, The main thing I wanted to see was the big slide at Punchbowl, and I've got some photos here. That iconic view of Punchbowl through the notch, that you had to wade out to get? It may be years before you get anything like that again, and you'll probably have to wade the main channel and then climb the slide to get it. An interesting prospect which someone younger and more agile than I am can attempt at lower water.
First view of the Punchbowl slide at the bottom of the side trail:
Closeup:
View of it from above. These big boulders will be there for centuries, ever shifting as the creek moves out the smaller stuff,
Just to be clear, Punchbowl and the view from the trail were not affected at all by the slide, and honestly only a little by the fire.
I went up to just past Punchbowl Falls on Friday the 1st, and I put a whole blog post up with a photo gallery on my blog:
https://paulgerald.com/portland-hikes/c ... e-1-1-2021
Two main points I wanted to hit quickly:
1, I suspect a lot of people will go up there and say, "It's not as bad as I expected it to be." It rarely is, in the age of Smoky the Bear ("all fire is bad!") and tragedy-seeking media coverage. I think about 60% of the trail to Punchbowl looks untouched. Another 20-30% is classic mixed burn and live trees with black trunks. Another 10-20% burned pretty good, but still has live trees in it and regrowth well under way. It wasn't destroyed! A thick blanket of leaves in many areas attests to a solid tree population.
2, The main thing I wanted to see was the big slide at Punchbowl, and I've got some photos here. That iconic view of Punchbowl through the notch, that you had to wade out to get? It may be years before you get anything like that again, and you'll probably have to wade the main channel and then climb the slide to get it. An interesting prospect which someone younger and more agile than I am can attempt at lower water.
First view of the Punchbowl slide at the bottom of the side trail:
Closeup:
View of it from above. These big boulders will be there for centuries, ever shifting as the creek moves out the smaller stuff,
Just to be clear, Punchbowl and the view from the trail were not affected at all by the slide, and honestly only a little by the fire.