Oregon Hikers

I got a relatively late start on Saturday 3-11 at 11:00 am and hit the trail on a beautiful sunny day. Punchbowl was roaring along with every other water source on the trail. Most of the trail was snow free other than piles to the side of the trail up until just past Tunnel Falls. Someone made a nice little snowman, complete with a fir needle for a nose A short way past Moss Fortress Bridge, a hiking party asked if I had seen EMS on the trail yet. They had used their Garmin to call EMS when their hiking partner had a seizure on the trail (reportedly no history of seizures!). I had not seen EMS and they were in a safe stable position to wait for EMS so I wished them luck and kept hiking. This encounter was the final bit of convincing I needed to get myself a Garmin or Zoleo. You never know what might happen out there.

I enjoyed the wet moss, rocks, and a cool snag covered in mushrooms just off the trail. The sign indicating Tunnel Falls is aged but readable. Tunnel Falls itself is beautiful as always. Twister Falls was lookin' good but this is where the snow and ice started to get a bit sketchy at times. There were chunks of ice stuck to the canyon wall that were melty enough that I could easily pull some of them off. I kept this in mind whenever I was passing any large chunks, aware that they could fall off and take me out. Around 7 mile falls the trail became basically covered in snow. I kept pushing on to see if there was a snow-free camp site at 7.5 mile camp. There was not. I backtracked to what I think is called Wy'East camp. There are some "Restoration in progress" signs that I made sure to avoid. I hope it's still kosher to camp there at the established spots. There were a few downed trees but still several good spots. Pretty sure I saw a few mosquitos around camp which reminded me the nice weather comes at a cost and that cost is bugs.

The next morning I packed up camp just before the rain started, had a nice rainy Sunday hike back to the car at Eagle Creek trailhead. Drove across the Bridge of the Gods, spent the morning and early afternoon in Stevenson. Had a beer or two at Walking Man Brewing, then parked at the North Bonneville Trailhead and hiked out to rainy rainy rainy Gillette Lake for a wet wet wet night. Hiked the easy 2-3 miles out on a dark, wet, rainy Monday morning to finish off the trip.

Excellent report. It's really thawing out there. I wouldn't have expected to get so far up without some difficulty.

Nice report, thanks for posting. It's good to get some intel on snow levels, even though they are rapidly moving up during this nice little warm spell we're in.

It's mid-March, we're probably due for a new snow level thread

some clever person created a thread for snow level 2022 and beyond

viewtopic.php?f=7&p=225467#p225467

There are some "Restoration in progress" signs that I made sure to avoid. I hope it's still kosher to camp there at the established spots.

They have deconstructed a number of sites, including the main old Wy'east camp, where you say the restoration sign. But if past High Bridge and there is an established site, should be okay. I saw a sign at the trailhead saying that there are seven established sites on the Eagle Creek Trail, a far cry from what there used to be. I think three of them are above the Tanner junction. I used to have a favored site a little above 7.5 mile, just before the slippery creek with the smooth rock. It is not deconstructed, it is just gone. Could find no sign of it last year.

But I saw no signs indicating what is established. I guess if it is past the bridges and it is flat and cleared, it counts as established.