Multnomah/Franklin Ridge/Oneonta/Horsetail Falls Loop (3-15)

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nautachris
Posts: 56
Joined: June 7th, 2013, 6:34 am
Location: Bend, OR

Multnomah/Franklin Ridge/Oneonta/Horsetail Falls Loop (3-15)

Post by nautachris » March 17th, 2014, 7:12 am

Howdy!

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After too much internal debate about where to hike, I headed to the Gorge to do the Gorge/Larch Mountain/Franklin Ridge/Oneonta/Horsetail Falls loop counter-clockwise on Saturday (the runner up idea was Table Rock Wilderness near Molalla). I figure this may be one of the last times I do this in awhile considering the impending move to Bend at the end of May. I ran into U Turn up at the top of Franklin Ridge, so her report http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/vie ... =8&t=18366 covers pretty much the same loop but in the opposite direction. This isn't exactly exploring any new territory for this board, so I'll try to keep it shorter than usual. The entire photo album is up at https://plus.google.com/photos/10692290 ... banner=pwa

I arrived at the small pull-out between Oneonta Gorge and Multnomah Falls around 10:15, and there was only one other car.
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Gorge Trail heading east from the Old Columbia River Highway

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a bit of a slide covering the Gorge Trail just west of Larch Mountain Tr.

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Sign showing that Larch Mountain Tr. was closed at the bridge over Multnomah Falls. Not to sound snotty, but I was not exactly dismayed by the lack of crowds slowly trudging upwards in packs like usual!

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obligatory Multnomah shot

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probably not the best place to use as a swimming hole...

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Multnomah Creek

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falls

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lovely forest

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a rather flood-prone section of Larch Mountain Tr...hence the high-water bypass

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typical shot of lower Franklin Ridge Tr.

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one of a few small viewpoints - though long-distance vistas were not exactly the goal of this

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approaching the junction with Oneonta Tr.

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heading down into the Oneonta valley

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fuzzy rocks

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Oneonta Cr.

Approaching Triple Falls, the crowd factor increased exponentially (after seeing a total of 5 groups of people for the first 10 miles) and the frustration level rose proportionally, so I don't have any of the typical pics from that area. What is the proper "can I please pass you" etiquette anyway?!

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descending toward Oneonta Cr. again after turning right toward Horsetail Falls

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view down the gorge just before Upper Horsetail Falls

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obligatory blurry pic of Upper Horsetail.

Overall, the magic Gee Pee Ess machine said it was 14.45 miles and ~3,100 ft. total ascent, however some of the signals were extremely distorted at the lower end of Oneonta Tr. Needless to say it was worthy of a stop at Growl Movement http://www.growlmovement.com/ in south Salem to fill up with some Mazama Sour Sunrise. Despite the expected crowds at the end, I can't think of a better way to spend 4.5 hours on a warm Saturday in March!

Thanks,

Chris Saylor
Lebanon, OR

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UTurn
Posts: 332
Joined: May 26th, 2013, 7:22 pm

Re: Multnomah/Franklin Ridge/Oneonta/Horsetail Falls Loop (3

Post by UTurn » March 17th, 2014, 6:49 pm

Great report and love the pic from the top of Multnomah. You must have done some serious leaning!

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