Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6th

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
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Sean Thomas
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Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6th

Post by Sean Thomas » October 30th, 2014, 6:52 pm

Looks like its the last weekend to drive up to Larch for a while:


https://multco.us/roads/news/upper-larc ... november-6

mcds
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Re: Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6

Post by mcds » October 30th, 2014, 7:02 pm

Thanks for the heads up, because a fun alternative requires a bike, biking steadily uphill from the snow gate for 1.5 miles to forest road 315 at the hairpin, locking it up, ... and coasting home at the end of the day.

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Sean Thomas
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Re: Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6

Post by Sean Thomas » October 30th, 2014, 7:11 pm

hey that is a good idea, ive always just sagged out that stretch to the 315 but a bike would be a nice change! :)

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RobinB
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Re: Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6

Post by RobinB » October 30th, 2014, 9:15 pm

Thanks for the heads up! I've never driven to the top, but I suddenly have the urge. Might be a good weekend for some quick mountain cloud views.

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adamschneider
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Re: Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6

Post by adamschneider » October 30th, 2014, 9:32 pm

mcds wrote:Thanks for the heads up, because a fun alternative requires a bike, biking steadily uphill from the snow gate for 1.5 miles to forest road 315 at the hairpin, locking it up, ... and coasting home at the end of the day.
Does that mean the gate is at the intersection with Road 20? If so, here's the elevation situation:

Image

About 450 feet in 1.5 miles. On a bike, that's a workout!

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obera
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Re: Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6

Post by obera » October 31st, 2014, 2:24 pm

YAY! I love the solitude of Larch Mountain that comes when the gate closes and the snow falls.
oh-beer-ah

mcds
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Re: Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6

Post by mcds » October 31st, 2014, 2:53 pm

Adam - that is about right, just a steady climb with full opportunity to switchback up the road to make it less steep by making it longer (by 57% for semicircles). I did it once with a 50lb-ish trailwork pack. It burnt out my thighs for the rest of the day, so on subsequent trips I hopped off before the burn started and walked the bike up the rest of the 1.5 miles. Lots of road cyclists like it.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=la ... +road+bike

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Guy
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Re: Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6

Post by Guy » October 31st, 2014, 6:28 pm

More than 10 years ago now I woke up one morning & decided I needed to cycle to the top of Larch mountain from Crown Point. I've always cycled to work but those rides have never been more than about 3 miles each way & that was the only cycle riding I did.

With no preparation I drove to Crown Point & hoped on the bike thinking it was a 10 mile ride to the top, well those 10 miles were actually 15!
I didn't get off the bike until I reached the top but when I did I nearly fell over :) ..

Had a hell of time getting my leg back over the cross bar for the ride back down but once back on the bike it was a lot of fun!!

In my much younger & more care free days of the 1980's myself & two friends free wheeled backwards in a Ford Pinto weaving between spring snow drifts that were still on the road from the Summit to the gate. Not an advisable activity that I'd recommend repeating ;)
hiking log & photos.
Ad monte summa aut mors

klossner
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Re: Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6

Post by klossner » November 4th, 2014, 2:03 pm

On October 3, I hit the trail before sunrise (at the last hairpin turn on Larch Mountain Road) and spent a day hiking the area (*cough* geocaching *cough*). At 9:30am I had Sherrard Point all to myself in bright early sunlight ... until a fellow walked up the stairs to the point, carrying his road bike. He had cycled there from Woodlawn in three hours. I was humbled.

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Re: Upper Larch Mountain Road closure(seasonal) coming Nov 6

Post by Lurch » November 10th, 2014, 8:09 am

Can anyone verify that the gate is actually closed now? I may be taking advantage of that this weekend...

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