Blow down on Timberline Trail to McNeil Pt (8/8/21)

[wnshall]

Went up to McNeil Pt yesterday from the Top Spur TH. As expected, McNeil Pt on a Sunday in Aug was a zoo, but it was the only day both my wife and I were free for a hike.

I've seen lots of discussion of the blow down on the TT from Yocum Ridge to the Muddy Fork crossing, which has closed that section of trail, as well as ample blow down on portions of the PCT from Top Spur north towards Wahtum Lake. But I haven't seen any trip reports for McNeil this spring/summer, and haven't noticed that any Timberline Trail TRs mention all the blow down on the TT along the ridge from Bald Mtn. There's about a mile section from the cut-off trail on the east side of Bald Mtn to the first viewpoint along the ridge that is pretty much steady blow down.

Given the volume of traffic up there, use trails have formed around much of the worst of it so the path is pretty clear.

I was up there late last fall after last year's Labor day wind event and was pleasantly surprised then to see that almost all of the blow down from that event had been cleared out already. So this stuff is from the past winter/spring, not left over from last fall - possibly the huge ice event we had last February? I did notice that much of the blow down was smaller trees and also lots of tops of trees -- maybe that indicates ice damage?

I was somewhat surprised that a busy part of the TT hadn't been cleared out yet this year, but I suppose resources are stretched pretty thin this year, with all the blow down on so many trails from the last year. I also wonder if the normal cutting crews are also being called to do work recovering from the big fires last year, as well as staffing this years fire crews?

I cleared a couple of places, but most of it was too big to tackle with my small handsaw.

Mt Hood danced in and out of the clouds all day, and it was pleasantly cool.

[adamschneider]

Did you mean 8/8/21?

[wnshall]

Did you mean 8/8/21?

Wait, it's August already? Yes, I meant 8/8. I've edited the Subject line.

[Baloo]

If you contact the forest service they are pretty good at responding

[wnshall]

If you contact the forest service they are pretty good at responding

Are they though? I don't mean this in a snarky way -- I don't understand exactly how trail maintenance gets done. A lot of it seems to be by various volunteer organizations (TKO, PCTA) and I presume the Forest Service does some too, especially the yearly clear out of blow down. I've always wondered how this is done: seasonal contract workers? full-time FS staff? If anyone knows, I'd love to hear how it's done.

As I said in my post, I can well imagine that this year there's a lot of competition for workers with the skillset to clear trail, what with all the cleanup from past fires and the existing fires this season. Plus, seems like the last year was a huge year for blowdown. And on top of that, the FS is constantly strapped for money. So, I'm not surprised that trails are still not cleared (although I am surprised that a very heavily traveled trail like the TT up to McNeil is).

BTW, there are signs at the Top Spur sign in board warning about the blowdown along the TT -- so the FS knows about it.

[kdechant]

I was up there today (8/16). Conditions are as you report. Here's a little more detail:

Timberline Trail, headed toward McNeil Point from the 4-way PCT intersection near Bald Mountain:

From the 4-way to the cutoff trail, it's been cleared, and is passable. There are dozens of huge logs which have been crosscut. That looks like it was a lot of work.

East of the cutoff trail is the area of smaller blowdown as reported above. It continues for the first 1-1.5 miles east of the cutoff trail. The blowdown ends near the viewpoint about 2 mi from the 4-way intersection. The trail is in good condition from the viewpoint to the intersection with the McNeil Point trail.

The cutoff trail itself also has a small amount of blowdown, but is passable.

Timberline Trail, headed toward Muddy Fork (from the 4-way intersection): The Bald Mountain meadow and viewpoint are open and have no issues, at least as far as the cutoff trail. Past the Muddy Fork crossing is where the impassable blowdown is. According to signs at the 4-way intersection, TT loop hikers are being rerouted onto the PCT between there and the Ramona Falls area.

Also, there were 25 cars at Top Spur on a Monday. Yikes.

[erbombla]

I was also there on Saturday, August 14. My friends and I completed the Timberline that weekend. I can corroborate most of the trail has been cleared west of the cutoff trail. The blowdown east of the cutoff is really gnarly, especially considering the elevation change. That area has been significantly impacted. The Forest Service needs to update the changes on their website. For some reason I can't explain, there are signs for the detour near Mount Hood Meadows -- nowhere near the actual area. The detour should be more clearly marked as I found notes posted by hikers on some junctions. Below are photos of the trail.

West of cutoff/Timberline Trail

East of cutoff/Timberline Trail

[wnshall]

I was up there today (8/16). Conditions are as you report. Here's a little more detail:

Timberline Trail, headed toward McNeil Point from the 4-way PCT intersection near Bald Mountain:

From the 4-way to the cutoff trail, it's been cleared, and is passable. There are dozens of huge logs which have been crosscut. That looks like it was a lot of work.

Well that's welcome news, since on 8/8 when I was there it hadn't been cleared, so that's recent work. As you say, it's a lot of work, and the effort needed to clear the rest of the ridge is going to be considerable.