Eliot Branch crossing conditions in July 2021?

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huckleberries
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Eliot Branch crossing conditions in July 2021?

Post by huckleberries » July 5th, 2021, 1:06 pm

Has anyone ventured from Cloud Cap across Eliot Branch (and generally counter-clockwise on Timberline Trail from there) recently? If so, what was the Eliot Branch crossing like this year?

Thank you!
Last edited by huckleberries on July 9th, 2021, 6:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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huckleberries
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Re: Eliot Branch crossing conditions?

Post by huckleberries » July 9th, 2021, 5:19 am

Answering my own question on Eliot branch:

Certainly challenging. I don't know if the stream crossing or the ascent up the wall of loose rock and dirt was more dangerous.
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drm
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Re: Eliot Branch crossing conditions?

Post by drm » July 9th, 2021, 6:17 am

Thanks for posting the answer that none of us knew, and that result is not unusual for that location - the approach is steep and loose there.

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retired jerry
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Re: Eliot Branch crossing conditions?

Post by retired jerry » July 9th, 2021, 6:30 am

I assume you're talking about the new, lower crossing

It's better than the old, upper crossing(s) but still difficult

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Chip Down
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Re: Eliot Branch crossing conditions?

Post by Chip Down » July 9th, 2021, 10:52 am

retired jerry wrote:
July 9th, 2021, 6:30 am
I assume you're talking about the new, lower crossing

It's better than the old, upper crossing(s) but still difficult
Amazing the money/work that went into that horrible viewless trail that's no easier or safer than what we had before.

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Re: Eliot Branch crossing conditions?

Post by huckleberries » July 9th, 2021, 4:06 pm

Here's more detail...

The stream I thought was a raging torrent in most places. The speed of the water was definitely intimidating, not to mention the frothy roiling current.
eliot-branch.jpg
I looked from various vantage points and did not see a big downed log that could handle two people walking across it at a time, mentioned in some trip reports from last year.

The stream was knee deep at the best crossing I found in the morning, then that same crossing mid-thigh late afternoon. However I used a different and perhaps better spot in the afternoon that was below a very large boulder where two logs were stuck in an "L" shape mid-stream, one of whose end lay on the north shore and the other was more upstream/downstream in orientation.

In the morning I didn't see anyone else so I did the best I could ascending out of the streambottom. This was a hair-raising operation where every other rock I touched was loose and half of those set off little or sometimes not-so-little rock avalanches. At least if you did slide you landed on the "shore" and not in the water. Somehow I managed to get to the top of that bench and then clamber up to the rim.

Coming back, I stopped and rested on the rim for 15 minutes. At about 4:30 I watched a guy cross at the two branches and then hang out near the rim. I headed down on a use path but that was more hair-raising than going up because I could see clearly a stretch where one loose rock or one slip and you slide directly down into the raging torrent. Along that stretch I thought through my every move, tested every rock. It took me maybe half an hour to get down, and I almost lost both my hiking poles at one point into the stream.

I took another 15 minutes to rest and prepare for crossing. One issue was I had developed a pre-cramp tightness in my left thigh. I did some stretching to try to mitigate that, but it certainly added another worry to the whole operation. I lost a patch of skin on my palm on the descent, and it was so intense of a descent that I didn't notice it until sitting by the stream. I decided not to put on my streamcrossing running shoes and just stay in my boots, for added traction on the streambottom. That actually worked very well, other than having to slog the remaining mile in wet boots.

I wanted to thank the guy who took the two log approach, as he asked me from his perch a few times if I was OK. Thanks guy! It was well worth it to stop and watch what people were doing to get across, a luxury I didn't have in the morning when there was no one for hours.

In the following picture I took after getting to the south side, you can see three guys making their way down that use path. It looked like they weren't having any trouble at all. However I was already quite high up in the switchbacks when I took the photo; I might as well have been in an jet over Iraq, you know everything looks calm and peaceful from high altitude.
eliot-north-approach.jpg
My opinion: this crossing has a lot of risks right now.

(Sidenote: years ago I used the old crossing with the big rope so I do have some experience with the stream).
Last edited by huckleberries on July 9th, 2021, 6:57 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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Re: Eliot Branch crossing conditions?

Post by Chip Down » July 9th, 2021, 4:40 pm

Huck,

Your pic and narrative are hair-raising...which is saying a lot, considering how little hair I have. Hard to imagine that's what the USFS calls an improved safer crossing.

I've done that in the dark, as have others who have posted reports. The nice thing about a night crossing is you can only see what's in your headlamp, so it's a lot less terrifying. :lol:

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Re: Eliot Branch crossing conditions?

Post by huckleberries » July 9th, 2021, 5:38 pm

I'm sure to the others who were crossing late afternoon, it looked like I had never crossed a stream before. But my very deliberate behavior was a direct result of the traumatic experience in the morning.

Here's my GPS showing how much I wandered around at the Eliot crossing (both coming and going) yesterday July 8th. Purple is Adam Schneider's Timberline GPX file. You can almost see the two crossings I made and the first unsuccessful attempt in between the two. Clearly the GPS was not tracking totally accurately (see left lower corner) AND the basemap has some issue given the stream location appears to be off; but the morning's successful crossing was by waypoint 009 (an accidental pressing of a button there) and the afternoon one by the crossed logs was upstream, closer to the purple.
gps-screen.jpg
I discovered there is a rope tied to a tree along the rim of the north side, almost where the trees stop on the uphill end. Since there's a six foot drop down from the rim at that point, I considered using it, but decided to use a jumping off point that two people with a white dog in booties told me about 100 feet downhill from there. That ended up not needing a rope and put me onto the "use" path that took a diagonal down to the area with the two crossed logs.

I wanted to also report what the rest of the trail was like to Coe Branch. There were some downed trees, but the sections where you are going through the Dollar Fire burns was lighter in that regard. Overall I counted 38 downed trees, although that includes a few on the old Timberline route right before the descent into the Eliot Branch canyon, where I stopped to shoot a panorama and accidentally left my double bubble level on a log. Fortunately it was still there when I got back. The trail is quite dusty already and when I got home, I couldn't believe how much dust settled on my eyeglasses.

There were some tall snowbanks away from creek crossings, but nothing you couldn't navigate around. There were also creek/gullies with broad snowbanks, but they didn't seem too challenging.

I intended to get to Elk Cove and return to Cloud Cap but didn't make it. The main reason was when I got to Coe Branch, another raging torrent but with fewer places where the stream widens, reducing the depth; and fewer places where the slope calms down, reducing the water speed. Some folks I talked to earlier mentioned they found a crossing above where the trail hits the creek. As it was past lunchtime, the stream had no doubt gotten deeper than early in the morning. I steadily made my way up the creekside, going about 1,000 feet up the Coe Canyon and not seeing as "good" of a crossing as I had found at Eliot (in hindsight, either coming or going). It was brutal cross-country and I should have given up searching upstream much earlier. 75% of the rocks were loose and walking upstream/uphill on a field of unstable rocks wore me out. It really only made sense that as the ground gets steeper, the torrents of glacial cold water are going to be moving that much quicker. Also I was not in as good shape as last August when I did 16 miles and 4000 feet of elevation gain on the Timberline (viewtopic.php?f=8&t=29556&p=217735&hili ... ur#p217735).

It was quite disappointing to give up on my goal for the day. Which made the slog going back up all the switchbacks south of Coe Branch in the blazing sun a bit tougher. However a definite factor in making that turnaround decision was the knowledge that the Eliot Branch was not getting any easier as the sun melted more snow off the mountain, and I had already expended a lot of my energy up to that point. I had turned off my phone to conserve battery in case I got stuck and needed every last electron. Fortunately I had brought extra food and there was plenty of water to be had at almost every stream crossing. And almost as good, there were few bloodsucking insects along the way. They started to congregate as I was filtering water at Compass Creek but only a few.

All in all, I ended up going 12 miles total and ~3000 feet of elevation gain (verified with step counter watch). Given the trail distance to Elk Cove is 5.3 or 5.5 miles and I didn't even get that far, I spent a significant amount of time, energy and distance on detours. But it was a beautiful day with three distant stratovolcanos to enjoy and I did shoot five panoramas, filling in some of the gap in my ring of scenes around the mountain. And I had some pleasant conversations with the few people I met who were headed to Cloud Cap. I believe every single person I met was backpacking so they only had to do the Eliot crossing once per day (and other stream crossings of course).

I will be posting my experience as a trip report along with the five new virtual reality 360 panoramas once I get some time to stitch them together.

I can't imagine doing that crossing at night. Wow!

I am sort of intrigued by what the USFS's million dollar bridge plan looked like.
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retired jerry
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Re: Eliot Branch crossing conditions in July 2021?

Post by retired jerry » July 9th, 2021, 7:30 pm

Stream crossings are easier in september

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Chip Down
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Re: Eliot Branch crossing conditions in July 2021?

Post by Chip Down » July 9th, 2021, 8:18 pm

Huckleberries, a tip: Coe Creek is much easier to cross up at the terminus of Coe Glacier. See pic below.
You're welcome. :geek:
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