Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Trip recommendations, current conditions, and other trail related Q&A
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-Q-
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Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by -Q- » July 8th, 2019, 12:55 pm

Hi all,

Does anyone have any conditions update for the Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005) on the south side of Mt Jefferson??
Is there a good trail bench to follow, or has it been overtaken by the brush after the fire like the Jefferson Lake Trail is??
Spoke to the Ranger Station today but they are unsure.

Thanks!!

-Justin-

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kelkev
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Re: Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by kelkev » July 8th, 2019, 4:47 pm

A friend of mine from Sisters who is a retired National Park Service Ranger has been working on de-brushing this trail, from what I've deduced from his Facebook posts, the trail is pretty overgrown with Snowbrush but they have been working on pruning it back. I don't think they've gone very far, but I'll reach out to him and see if I can get some more detailed info.

Man, that east side of the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness could use some serious trail TLC. It's a damn shame that the USFS has allowed the bulk of the trails to fall into total disrepair.

Kevin
"Going to the mountains is going home."
— John Muir

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kelkev
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Re: Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by kelkev » July 8th, 2019, 5:04 pm

Some pics of the "trail" as of today, and some of the work being done to prune back the Snowbrush. Lots of work to be done but it's moving forward.
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"Going to the mountains is going home."
— John Muir

justpeachy
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Re: Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by justpeachy » July 8th, 2019, 7:36 pm

"Trail abandoned and does not exist"?

Glad some volunteers are working to prove that sign wrong. My Mt. Jefferson Adventure Map shows all 5.4 miles of that trail as being unmaintained.

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-Q-
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Re: Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by -Q- » July 10th, 2019, 12:13 pm

YIKES :o
So happy I asked, thanks so much Kevin.
I thought the trail would be rough, but it looks to be fairly impassable after the work done by the volunteers.

Not surprised to see the "trail abandoned and does not exist" sign posted in that one picture.
Helps explain why the Ranger Station had NO IDEA that this trail even existed.
No record in their trail register of the trail name, nor trail number.
Looks like the USFS has definitely abandoned this trail for sure.
Shame on them!!

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Charley
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Re: Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by Charley » July 10th, 2019, 2:18 pm

The Forest Service are letting these trail resources disappear due to neglect, while simultaneously making it harder and harder to visit other, more popular trails in the same region. They help to create a problem (crowding into some areas by abandoning trails and roads) and then penalize hikers for visiting the places that remain. Go to the the Mt Jefferson Wilderness now, while you still can.

I know it's not malicious, but it sure is frustrating.
Believe it or not, I barely ever ride a mountain bike.

yuda
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Re: Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by yuda » July 10th, 2019, 8:25 pm

Don’t blame the forest service. Blame the politicians who don’t fund the forest service sufficiently.

johnspeth
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Re: Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by johnspeth » July 11th, 2019, 6:14 am

yuda wrote:
July 10th, 2019, 8:25 pm
Don’t blame the forest service. Blame the politicians who don’t fund the forest service sufficiently.
Blame the politicians that we vote into office. The origins of the blame lies with us, the voters.

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BigBear
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Re: Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by BigBear » July 11th, 2019, 11:29 am

Ha, ha. Good try on bring the blame back to the people. Sounds like something a politician might say.

People don't elect federal congresspersons or presidents...PACs do. It's all about the money. Four years ago about 2 dozen Republicans lined up to seek the presidency but by the time it got to the Oregon primary, only one candidate had enough money to get their name on the ballot. Even the deep pockets of the Bush family could't get Jeb past the first few primaries.

So here we are 4 years later with two dozen Demos running for the presidency. How many do you think will have enough PAC money stuffed in their pockets to get their name on the Oregon primary ballot.

I wouldn't say that we elect these people when our choice is one and only one person int he primary. It's not that different than Russia where you have a choice of one and only one person...the only difference is that in the general election its between (1) the guy that says s/he will represent you and (2) the guy from the other party who you know won't represent you.

Give me the whole two dozen choices and I'll agree that we had some input in the process.

johnspeth
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Re: Rockpile Lake Trail (#4005)- conditions??

Post by johnspeth » September 21st, 2021, 9:05 am

Does anybody have a recent report about this trail (#4005 from the Bear Valley TH to Rockpile Lake)?

When I was there a few years ago, the brush was cut back nicely the whole distance. With no tree cover from the burn, I would expect the brush to be a recurring nightmare every summer. It's a long drive to risk being turned back due to an unpublicized abandoned trail.

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