Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Use this forum to report and discuss trails in need of maintenance. This will help organizations like TKO and agencies like the Forest Service get the most recent on-the-ground trail conditions.
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Water
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Re: Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Post by Water » August 4th, 2016, 7:56 am

still need to be stickied to the top? hehe.. a dead thread that doesn't have much useful information, just parked at the top. resurrect it when the details come out.
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texasbb
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Re: Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Post by texasbb » September 4th, 2016, 8:54 pm

Water wrote:hehe.. a dead thread that doesn't have much useful information, just parked at the top. ...
Pretty much describes all stickied threads. :|

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Splintercat
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Re: Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Post by Splintercat » November 16th, 2016, 7:50 am

Ye of little faith! :lol: Federal processes take awhile, so thus the cobwebs on this thread... HOWEVER, I also received an e-mail update on the project a few days ago, just hadn't posted it here yet.

The short version: the Forest Service (and actually, this is being led by the Federal Highway Administration in partnership with the USFS) has posted their "proposed action", which in lay terms is basically what they're going to do, barring something seismic on the legal or environmental front. You can find the link at the bottom of the project page:

Mirror Lake Project

This is a direct link to a PDF that covers the required environmental findings for the decision -- try to ignore the fact that the consultant report has a lake other than Mirror Lake on the cover... ;)

Mirror Lake Report PDF

As covered here already, the plan moves the trailhead to Ski Bowl West and closes the existing trailhead (including removing the footbridge). For those who have been up there lately, the new freeway-style Jersey median makes using the old trailhead a lot more difficult, anyway, so this was sort of a foregone conclusion (sadly).

I have heard anything from the USFS since attending an open house last December, but TKO did send him comments for a much bolder plan, including a loop trail from TDH back down to the trailhead -- something TKO was interested in helping build, along with the new connector trail. Crickets. But that's not too surprising -- this project was less driven by a desire to make the Mirror Lake/TDH hike better than the need for ODOT to speed more skiers down Highway 26 on winter weekends. Sad, but true.

One win in the project: the first leg of the proposed new trail will be universally accessible, providing access to a new bridge over Camp Creek for those with mobility limitations or using mobility devices. That's important, as there are far too few trail options for this slice of our population. Another win is for Camp Creek. This is because the old trailhead in its current design has a significant impact on the creek, with highway runoff and sanding material pouring directly into the creek. The plan calls for closing and restoring the existing trailhead -- and if that includes directing highway runoff away from the creek, that would be a significant win for a stream that is home to endangered salmon and steelhead.

So, there you have it -- and I'll leave this sticky for awhile longer, until we have more specific construction details for the project.

Tom :-)

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retired jerry
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Re: Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Post by retired jerry » November 16th, 2016, 8:06 am

That'll be a lot better. That trail head was impossible to make safe. At a curve. Busy highway.

There's already good access into ski bowl. In the summer when there's a lot of people hiking, the ski bowl lot isn't very busy. Easy to make that short section of trail.

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Water
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Re: Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Post by Water » November 16th, 2016, 12:51 pm

Faith wasn't an issue. The news and information is great, thank you for providing.

But how it justifies to have a mostly devoid thread on top of all other conversations for nearly a year vs just ressurecting it when new information came available befuddles me. But hey I'm no website expert, just someone who comes here occasionally and found it irksome to wade through nothingness at the start to find what people are actually talking about..
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Splintercat
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Re: Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Post by Splintercat » November 16th, 2016, 4:36 pm

As you know, we're all volunteer here -- and always looking for forum moderators to help us keep track of just that sort of thing, Water. Let me know if you're interested!

Tom :)

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kepPNW
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Re: Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Post by kepPNW » November 16th, 2016, 6:17 pm

Splintercat wrote:As you know, we're all volunteer here -- and always looking for forum moderators to help us keep track of just that sort of thing, Water. Let me know if you're interested!
Heheheh...
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

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Water
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Re: Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Post by Water » November 17th, 2016, 12:25 pm

i would help a little--thought i gave some feedback early on. Apologies for my perhaps seemingly abrasiveness--can delete all my comments out on this thread since they're not germane to the discussion-not intention to be rude. I check this site maybe 3 times a week, sometimes less sometimes more. The general discussion is what i check first and most often. I rarely click the stickied items and instead scroll past them, but because a number of items are stickied i have to scan past a handful of items before I get to whatever the actual most recent active discussion is. Over time it kinda gets/got old. It is possible there is a better way for me to use the site but that's generally been my habit, I know there is the all unread posts but that's somewhat different. I could help moderate but I'm not sure if my usage level of the site would make me a good moderator, if you think otherwise pm me. That said I do have a lot of appreciation for how this site has helped me in the past.

Matt
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Splintercat
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Re: Mirror Lake Trailhead Relocation Project

Post by Splintercat » November 17th, 2016, 8:00 pm

Thanks, Matt - look for a PM from me!

Tom :-)

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