newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

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Chip Down
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newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by Chip Down » October 17th, 2016, 8:10 pm

Over the summer, I watched this take shape, and wondered what it would look like when complete. On a soggy day with no plans for serious hiking or a pre-dawn start, I finally had a good chance to check it out. From hole-in-the-wall falls I went east towards Starvation, until I reached that section where it's little more than a shoulder of I84. No reason to continue, although I was slightly curious to see what they did at Cabin Creek Falls. So I turned back west, past the old road that goes up to the old Defiance trail (around the old notched-log staircase) and continued west along another stretch that's right along I84, ending at a creek (unmarked, presumably Lindsey Creek).

With the heavy rain we had on Friday and Saturday, I wondered if there might be a bit of flow at Warren Falls, but nope, no more than a trickle (no more than you'd see dripping down any cliff).
Attachments
1.jpg
Spur trail to HITWF.
2.jpg
3.jpg
Beginning of trail to Defiance back there at the bridge.
4.jpg
Random placement.
5.jpg
When construction was just starting, I wondered if they were going to build an elaborate bridge over this little creek. Yep, sure enough.
6.jpg
7.jpg
A lower-cost way to cross a creek. Not suitable for all users though.
8.jpg
There's no attraction at this site. No view, no waterfall. So...why is this here?

Limey
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Re: newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by Limey » October 18th, 2016, 8:23 am

I have avoided this area since they started work. I was wondering if you went far enough to see if they destroyed the bake ovens or if they left them alone. I would rather know before going there than getting the socked in the gut feeling by discovering in person that a piece of history is gone.

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Chip Down
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Re: newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by Chip Down » October 18th, 2016, 5:08 pm

Aha!
I've never seen them, not sure where they are. But I have looked on a couple trips, starting after construction commenced, so if they were easy to spot then I have to report they're gone.

I hate this HCRH restoration. It destroys real history and replaces it with Disneyesque nonsense, at exorbitant cost. It nearly makes me cry to see an authentic remnant of history demolished so that a contractor can replace it with something pretty. On the positive side, at least it appears they're trying to be historically accurate in their reconstructions. A minor consolation though, especially considering that it makes it just that much more phony. Another positive spin on it: I do like seeing filled tunnels reopened. I'm dismayed at the thought that previous generations were so short sighted that they would fill in a tunnel once the roadway was replaced with a better modern highway.

Webfoot
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Re: newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by Webfoot » October 18th, 2016, 7:41 pm

Chip Down wrote: I hate this HCRH restoration. It destroys real history and replaces it with Disneyesque nonsense, at exorbitant cost. It nearly makes me cry to see an authentic remnant of history demolished so that a contractor can replace it with something pretty.
I have come to a somewhat different perspective. Almost from the beginning they began "improving" the Columbia River Highway by straightening, bypassing, widening, tunneling, and ultimately chopping it to bits with the construction of Interstate 80N. If instead the management had had the foresight to recognize value of the original they might have preserved it in parallel to a new highway. Had that been done the original would still have required service and repair; it would not (should not) have been left to ruin. I see the current project as an effort to recreate this parallel route to the extent possible. In this way the repair is no more phony than the restoration of buildings of antiquity in Europe. I think most would agree that it would be a tragedy to allow such buildings to fall to rubble rather than repairing and stabilizing as required to preserve them.

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Chip Down
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Re: newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by Chip Down » October 18th, 2016, 8:26 pm

Agree w/ Webfoot that it shouldn't have been left to rot (although there is a certain charm to that). Forgot to mention something about my last pic: I wonder if that was sited there because they were able to determine there was something like that originally (i.e. maybe it's a reconstruction). Oh, and maybe the elaborate bridge as well. If that's the case, I'd like to see a discreet plaque identifying/explaining these anomalies.
Last edited by Chip Down on October 19th, 2016, 4:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

Webfoot
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Re: newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by Webfoot » October 18th, 2016, 9:16 pm

Is that bridge over Warren Creek? If so it is indeed a replacement for an original.

http://www.recreatingthehistoriccolumbi ... eek-bridge
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p473751336-2.jpg (17.54 KiB) Viewed 3816 times

Limey
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Re: newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by Limey » October 19th, 2016, 8:29 am

Thanks CD. I guess I'll just have to prepare myself for the worst and go take a look, unless Splintercat can chime in with a definitive answer.

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BigBear
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Re: newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by BigBear » October 20th, 2016, 11:39 am

I wonder how much the old foundations of Sonny (lumber mill/ghost town) were compromised by the construction. I remember when the mudslides in Feb 1996 buried the foundation of the old inn above the Mitchell Point TH.

Webfoot
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Re: newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by Webfoot » November 12th, 2016, 1:05 am

Limey wrote:I have avoided this area since they started work. I was wondering if you went far enough to see if they destroyed the bake ovens or if they left them alone. I would rather know before going there than getting the socked in the gut feeling by discovering in person that a piece of history is gone.
I think we're OK: http://www.oregonhikers.org/forum/viewt ... 30&t=24805 Or was there more than one?

Limey
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Re: newest section of HCRH at HITW Falls

Post by Limey » November 12th, 2016, 9:12 am

Thanks so much Webfoot. That's a big relief, I hate to see historic artifacts destroyed, especially for a modern version of what once was.

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