Wow!  The 1990's, yeah they definately should have known better!  So they must have just installed them, they fell apart, and then the trail shut down.  What a great idea!

File that under the mindset that paved the Wahkeena trail in 2006, at great expense. From what I understand, the USFS likes to have dramatic "glam" projects to show their D.C. overseers to prove that trail money is being spent well up here in the hinterlands.

I'm a little sentimental about straying far from the original alignment with this trail - it has enormous history, so on that level, I'm sympathetic to the USFS engineering the trail through deteriorating terrain along the original route. But mostly, I'd love to see it open again. It's a classic hike that I miss terribly!

-Tom

A little history:

There are actually two sets of concrete stairs in there. There was a narrow set of concrete stairs built many years ago upon which the wooden stairs rested when they were constructed (sometime in the '70's if I remember correctly.) The wooden set was built of heavily creosoted timbers and would probably have lasted fifty years if it weren't for the fire in Oct. of 1991. That creosote must have fueled a spectacular flare-up when the forest fire got to them!

Anyway, the re-build started in 1995 and was nearly complete when a major rainstorm began the destruction process in late Nov. of '95. Even worse rainstorms in Feb. of '96 made it worse and it's been abandoned ever since. The fire was a very hot one and it burned out the vegetation holding a lot of soil and rocks in place and the area has been a mess ever since. Here's a copy of an Oregonian report about the fire from Oct. 12th, 1991:

Here are a couple of photos I took on Oct. 19th, 1991.

Here is a view looking at the first teir and only remaining section of the wooden stairs. You can see the huge amount of rock and earth that slid down and covered much of the remains as the fire burned out the trees, brush and even roots holding them in place on the steep slope.

Here's a close-up:

This view is looking downwards along the alignment of the third teir of the stairs:

Here's a blow-up that shows a few steps of the original concrete stairs the wooden stairs rested on:

 

- Don

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"If I had known I was going to live this long I'd have taken better care of myself" - anon

There is actually some interest in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area on re-working the west end of the Predition.  The only real problem is that it will take a lot of paperwork and neither Edan Lira (Trails) or Aaron Pedersen (Multnomah Falls) have the time to do this.  To get the ball going contact Stan Hinatsu   shinatsu@fs.fed.us  who is the Recreational Manager for the NSA.   He needs to keep hearing that opening this 3 mile loop would be great for the visitor that only has so much time and wants a good short hike in the Gorge.  This would make a great National Trails Day project. 

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Ron

Zack is correct that the trail should be re-aligned.  When I was a kid there was an actual wooden ladder there in the slot, then came the wooden stairs and then the decision by Washington, DC to do concrete stairs at a cost of $200,000.  They first wanted to put a concrete truck on the Historic Highway and pump the concrete to the location.  As you can guess, they had no idea that was not possible.  The trails crew at the time had other ideas but did as they were directed.   Keep on plugging and maybe the new TAO (Trails Association of Oregon) will be able to take this on.

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Ron

Ron, thanks for Stan Hinatsu's contact information. Let's flood him with e-mail!

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Greg Lief
LiefPhotos.com
OregonWildflowers.org

After sending an email to Mr. Hinatsu, a thought crossed my mind.  What if we get signed petition going?  Just a thought.