2017-08-17 - Chimney Peak Trail Musings
=======================================

Last weekend i hiked from McQuade Creek and camped a night at Donaca
Lake.  The trail challenged me, especially when it rained the next
morning.

Years ago forest service road 1142 was impassable, as i vaguely
recalled.  Last weekend i found the road clear all the way to the
trailhead.  The trail itself is in poor repair and badly overgrown,
but i found a surprisingly clear section about 5 or 6 miles in.  The
blog post below shows a photo of the formerly blocked road.  Also, i
believe its author is responsible for the surprisingly clear section
of the trail.  If i had all the time in the world, then i would also
like to pack a pair of loppers out to do volunteer clearing on the
McQuade Creek/Chimney Peak trail.

Rocks fall from the sky, the party dies
<gopher://tilde.pink/I/~bencollver/log/
2017-08-17-chimney-peak-trail-musings/
road-1142-formerly-blocked-scaled.jpg>

Below is an amusing photo from the nearby Swamp Creek trailhead,
captioned "not feeling the love."

Not feeling the love
<gopher://tilde.pink/I/~bencollver/log/
2017-08-17-chimney-peak-trail-musings/not-feeling-the-love.jpg>

Van Marmot post
<http://vanmarmot.org/2017/07/19/
that-long-last-mile-middle-santiam-wilderness-19-jul-2017/>

Note that there is a large landslide just west of Fitt Creek.  There
the trail is easily lost and it is advisable to hike during daylight,
good weather, and with a walking stick.

Also of interest is McNabb Falls, described briefly in the post below.

"If you have 2-3 extra hours you can even hike down stream to the
waterfall, but it's a pretty tough hike and I wouldn't really
recommend it unless you have a whole day to do it.  There is no
official trail down, just follow the creek bed down stream and you
will eventually reach the falls. The falls are called McNabb falls
and I would guess they are 100+ feet high.  I've only been there once
about 25 years ago and they looked pretty cool from the top but also
a bit dangerous."

An old-timer at the trailhead told me that the Chimney Peak lookout
is historically significant because it was an early Oregon fire
lookout dating back to the 1800's. He said the cast-iron supports
still stick out of the rocks.

The following web page mentions this lookout being added to patrol
service in 1931.  So far i have not been able to find any record that
the lookout existed in the 1800's.

Old lookout photo
<gopher://tilde.pink/I/~bencollver/log/
2017-08-17-chimney-peak-trail-musings/2325759_orig.jpg>

Chimney peak lookout page
<http://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/chimney-peak.html>

tags: bencollver,outdoor,photo

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