The 511 appears on several Mount Hood National Forest maps, slowly fading away until its total disappearance in the 80's or 90s. Here's the history of the trail based on the maps I have:
From the 1938 map, a trail down from the end of Indian Ridge (from the Everest book above he was on the crew that built the road there) crosses the RR then goes up to Corral Springs (AKA Lookout Springs?). The South Fork trail had been completed by this time but not in time, I guess, to make it to the cartographer. Note that if the layout of the Corral Springs is correct, the current Corral Springs Trail is a relocation.
In the 1946 map, the trail is complete. As drawn, it passes west of Lower Rock Lakes and hugs the South Fork. Crude map making or the original route?
In the 1963 map, the trail passes to the east of Lower Rock Lake and connects to the Corral Springs Trail.
Between the 1963 and the 1966 map occurs what I call the 'Great Purge'. A very large reduction in the trail inventory but here the 511 is spared - did this mean the 511 was still in use? I found this encouraging.
Here, in 1972, the trail only makes it to about where the canyon walls of the SF steepen.
In 1979 the unmarked 511 is just an isolated piece of trail starting someplace and ending someplace connecting to nothing.
Well, that's the background story, here's the report.
To avoid the unpleasantness known as the Frazier Mtn road I started this hike from the Shellrock Lake TH in the early morning sun and clear blue skies. This was likely a mistake as starting from this TH added about 3 miles to the total and I could have used the extra time by the end of the day.
Shellrock Lake pictures, very pretty, very still except for a couple of ducks making tiny ripples as they paddled their way around the lake.
I made it to the Frazier Turnaround TH around 9:00AM and started the adventure. I did not bother with the Serene Lakes trail nor a shortcut on the trail segment to Lower Rock Lake I just followed the later MHNF maps and went down the gentle slope to the east of Rock Lakes. An easy bushwhack, level, huckleberries, few rhodies. It was just east of Lower Rock Lakes where I picked up blaze and a fairly clear trail. The 511 lives? I went along following blaze until the trail became so obvious I stopped looking and just went with the flow of the route.
Typical blaze on both sides of the tree abounded. The picture on the left shows the blaze corking over and in a few years will be gone.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2430/391 ... f7df82.jpg
Here is a segment of trail, goes up the middle through the open corridor in the center of the photo.
After a half mile or so, I lost the trail, never to be seen again for the remainder of my travel down the canyon.
I did run across patches and remnants of old growth trees. These would have be substantial trees in Alton Everest's day.
Once into the canyon the logic of the route was apparent, there is a sloping bench above the river that apart from a couple of choke points I was able to avoid much of the steepness of the slopes above and below me. Although I saw no blaze or trail, it surely ran close to the 511 route. I was cliffed out only a couple of times and they were easy to route around.
The following is pretty typical of the side hill bushwhack, lots of downed logs to step over, some quite large, salal, huckleberries, and vine maple (and here, the vine maple was more of an aid than an obstacle as vine maple makes the best leafy belay). No rhodies! I could count the rhodies I saw on the fingers of one hand.
I'd hoped to find the waterfall that is supposed to be on the South Fork, but I did not see it, I was in sight of the river most of the time but it is likely I passed above it to avoid some steep cliffs. I did run into a nice sliding falls from an unmarked tributary.
As I neared the confluence of the SFR and RR a rocky slope unsuitable for trees allowed me to get a look up the SF where I'd been and across the river to where I'd go to pick up the 517 Grouse Point Trail.
Looking down in the direction of the Roaring River, the near ridge left of center is my route to the 517 and home.
Around 3:30PM I crossed the South Fork at the same location the last time I was in this area, on a nice natural log bridge. There is enough water that crossing unaided without getting wet feet is not possible.
By 4:00PM I was out of the South Fork and up the hill to locate the 517. The 517 is blazed but faint and walking past it was a distinct possibility. Here's the look right at the spot I landed on the 517, apart from the blaze the trail looks like the forest floor in some places.
The hike out of canyon on the 517 was brutal, I thought I had enough water, 32 oz of sports drink and 16 oz of water plus lots of energy bars and whatnot. But the 517 is a 'no prisoners' route out of the canyon and continues to climb all the way to the point where it drops to Cache Meadow. I ran out of water and started feeling the effects of dehydration - just about what happened the last time I did this route (see the trip report mentioned at the start). Fortunately I ran into a couple of backpackers on their way to Serene Lake who generously gave me a few ounces of water which was enough to get me most of the way back. In retrospect, given my water situation, I should have take the Serene Lake route back to Frazier and the upper Shellrock Lake TH. I would have had plenty of water sources along the way. As it was I did a fruitless and exhausting trip down to Cache Meadow for water and once there declined even though I had filtration. Cache Meadow was pretty in twilight and I would have liked to have lingered but it was clear I'd finish this one under headlamp.
I managed to make it back to Frazier in near darkness and put on the headlamp for the trip back to the Shellrock TH. I arrived at the trail head around 10:00PM under bright stars and the Milky Way, about 14 hours on the trail - beat up but satisfied that I'd found a part of the 511 and sampled the route that must have been. A trail could be put through there, but where would it go? Link up with the 517? And where is the waterfall? A great lost trail adventure...
Around 19 miles, 4500+.
