Nature Conservancy seeks support for McCall Point reroute

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Ryan Ojerio
Posts: 519
Joined: September 21st, 2008, 6:31 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Nature Conservancy seeks support for McCall Point reroute

Post by Ryan Ojerio » April 23rd, 2014, 8:56 am

Hello Hikers,

I'm passing on some info and a request for support from Barbara Robinson who was instrumental in protecting McCall Point. Please consider lending your voice to her cause. Her email and letter below make a good case for the project and provides an email addess where you can comment to the County.

- Thanks, Ryan


Dear Friends – The Nature Conservancy is planning a reroute of the McCall Point Trail. It is a major reroute, with much of the upper part of the trail going a totally different route. Krista Thie and Darryl Hoyt, professional trail builders whom many of you know, planned the route. Leslie Nelson of TNC says it is flagged, and I know I would like to try to follow it, though it is not brushed out at all yet. This is a very needed redo of the trail, and Wasco County is considering the permit for it right now and accepting public comments until April 25. If any of you have been on the old trail and can comment on the need for improvement, that would be great! Below are the comments I sent, and the planning department’s email address [email protected]. Thanks! Barbara

From: Barbara Robinson
Sent: Monday, April 21, 2014 10:50 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Comments: McCall Pt. Trail repair and reroute

April 21, 2014
Dear Planning Director:

I am very much in favor of this trail repair and reroute, and give it my whole-hearted support. In 1985 I raised the money for McCall Point, and helped build the trail with one other person, Ray Davis of the Mazamas. “Building the Trail” meant simply stringing together existing deer trails and pruning brush and poison oak to make a passable route. I am no professional trail builder. Some steps were added in steep places, and the trail was fine until the floods of ‘96 and ‘97, when running water gullied parts of the trail badly.

Since then there have been attempts to put in water bars and do other fixes, but fundamentally the trail is too steep in many places and not ideally laid out. It is now very popular and receives a great deal of use every year, but I personally avoid walking it now because walking the gullied parts hurt my rather fragile knees, and I would like a better, less steep trail to walk on.

The new reroute has been planned by professional trail builders, Krista Thie and Darryl Hoyt. Crista is also a botanist and very sensitive to any damage to natural resources, and I’m sure they will minimize that. Crista and Darryl, incidentally, volunteered for a day back in ‘85 or early ‘86 to help with the present trail. They know this trail and the botany very well. Though the existing trail has worked, more or less, for many years, it is too steep in many places to maintain properly, and the best long-term solution is to reroute the trail in a more sensible, less steep way.

This trail is an asset to the area, and is used both by local people and people coming to the Gorge for recreation and sight-seeing. It has incredible spring wildflowers all the way up, and McCall Point give a spectacular view of the river and both mountains. It is to everyone’s advantage to make this a better, more usable, and more easily maintained trail. I live in Rowena (5905 Hwy 30 W) and own a lot in Rowena Dell, so I am also commenting as a neighbor of the trail. Thank you for considering my comments.

Most Sincerely,
Barbara Robinson
Washington Trails Association
Southwest Washington Regional Manager
[email protected]
(360) 722-2657

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Craig Romano
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Joined: July 11th, 2011, 11:27 am
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Re: Nature Conservancy seeks support for McCall Point rerout

Post by Craig Romano » April 25th, 2014, 8:37 pm

Thanks for the heads up Ryan. Yes Daryl and Christa do amazing work-they're good people too! I look forward to the new trail.

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