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Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 10th, 2021, 8:20 am
by MtnHiker
A bit of clearing to help the Cairn Basin Shelter survive another year...

Re: Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 10th, 2021, 9:21 am
by retired jerry
thanks!

amazing how it survives over time

Re: Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 11th, 2021, 1:01 pm
by Titogoeshiking3
Thankyou!!!
I'm kinda worried about the Mcneil point shelter....the upper part of the entrance is breaking apart.

Re: Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 11th, 2021, 1:17 pm
by retired jerry
yeah, there have been crude attempts to stabilize it. It will probably collapse sometime soon.

Once, I went up there. It was sleeting, foggy, and night approaching. I walked right by it and couldn't see it, but could tell I was up on the ridge, so I turned around and found it. Stayed the night inside. Not quite survival, but it was nice for it to be there.

I've stayed in the Cairn Basin shelter in bad weather too.

Re: Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 12th, 2021, 10:30 am
by BigBear
I remember when the Paradise Park shelter was destroyed by a treefall circa 1992-94. Ironically, USFS had posted signs asking campers to pitch their tents in that very grove of trees instead of the open meadows.

The Elk Cove shelter was the first to be destroyed - an avalanche in the 50s-60s (it's mentioned in the Don & Roberta Lowe book). Then the Lamberson Butte shelter was struck by lightening in the 70s or 80s.

There was a larger shelter in the Goat Rocks not far from the pass on Old Snowy's north shelter. It had been erected after a woman had died of exposure, and the shelter itself collapsed from a heavy snowpack. It's really amazing that the fire lookouts atop Adams and Hood lasted as long as they did when these other structures give into the elements.

Also recall the rather sturdy Boy Scout shelter at Cedar Swamp on Herman Creek. It survived the fall of a cedar. USFS burned it down in the late-90s. I was rather pissed off at them when I was hiking in the rain and was looking forward to a sheltered lunchbreak only to find a sign warning equestrians of the nails amongst the ashes. It's not the only one that was burned down, but it was one I had been fortunate enough to have seen before it was no longer.

Re: Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 12th, 2021, 12:19 pm
by retired jerry
I tried to find the site of that shelter in Goat Rocks Old Snowy. It's on my GPS. I could find no sign of it on the ground, looking around.

Re: Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 12th, 2021, 1:34 pm
by Titogoeshiking3
Was the Lamberson butte shelter the same as the Gnarl ridge shelter?

Re: Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 12th, 2021, 2:38 pm
by retired jerry
I think that's the same - Lamberson is on Gnarl Ridge - one shelter that's currently a pile of rocks

Re: Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 12th, 2021, 3:37 pm
by BigBear
Yes, Lamberson Butte is the high point on Gnarl Ridge which sits behind you when you take in that incredible view when the path breaks around the butte.

Back in 1992, the Goat Rocks shelter's walls still provided a good wind break. I've been up there eight times, but I do not recall there being much left of the shelter walls to perceive it to be anything different from the other rocks.

The Maidu Lake shelter north of Mt. Thielsen was pictured on my PCT map when I backpacked this section back in 1994, but the actual spot was merely dirt when I walked around the lake the evening we were camped there. Around the same time we were pleased to see a shelter in the Mink Lake Basin (Three Sisters), I believe it was at Cliff Lake - I don't know of its current status. On Hood, all that remains of the Blossom RS is a few pieces of wall and foundation but the Elk Meadows shelter was still there when I hiked it last. There are the only shelters in the 1964 and 1984 Oregon wilderness areas that I recall, other than fire lookouts like Devils Peak (Salmon-Huckleberry).

Re: Cairn Basin Shelter

Posted: December 12th, 2021, 7:00 pm
by BurnsideBob
When traveling the 600 trail CCW from Timberline Lodge, the Lamberson Butte shelter was to hiker's left just before the trail gained the ridge crest past Lamberson Butte. N 45.36119 W 121.64913 Not much left at the time of this photo, Sept. 2014. Judging by the lack of vegetation on the little bench where the shelter was located, snow stayed late around this shelter.
IMG_9808.JPG
Lamberson Butte Shelter



Even less remained of the Paradise Park shelter, seen here in Oct. 2014. When travelling the 600 trail clockwise from Timberline Lodge, the shelter was on hiker's right just past the ford of Lost Creek. N 45.35196 W 121.74697.
IMG_9986.JPG
Paradise Park Shelter

GPS coordinates are approximate, being derived from high resolution satellite photos viewed within a mapping program, not from field measurement.

I think even the mice and voles have moved out!

Burnside