Three Corner Rock from Snag Creek

[bobcat]

I haven’t been able to get out of the city for over a month given that I am heavily involved in hospice care for a member of my family. I got dispensation to head into nature on Sunday, however, and chose a very conventional hike, given the limited time I had, on a section of the Pacific Crest Trail I had never done before (about 9 1/2 miles r- t). This runs between Snag Creek and Three Corner Rock and lies entirely within Washington DNR’s Yacolt Burn State Forest.

I began where the PCT crosses Road CG 2070 and then makes a slippery ford of Snag Creek (It looks like a new bridge will be installed here in the coming year). I passed the junction with the much abused and abandoned Snag Creek Trail - I reported on this a couple of years ago. The PCT winds through a surprising parcel of low elevation old growth, mostly Douglas-firs that survived the 1902 Burn, before reaching the imposing footbridge over Rock Creek. The latter cuts down to a layer of beautiful greenish-blue tuff in this vicinity. From here, the trail crosses two roads, passing through a couple of Douglas-fir plantations, before beginning to rise more steeply.

There’s a great viewpoint east to Mt. Adams and then, in a zone of bear-grass and silver and noble fir, the PCT meets the Three Corner Rock Trail. You pass a short spur to a rusting horse trough fed by a pipe from a spring (all frozen on the day I was there) before heading up a rough track to the exposed and treeless (except for a sprinkling of baby nobles) ridge at Three Corner Rock.

I made the scramble up onto the lookout site atop Three Corner Rock’s pyramidal pile and almost got blasted off by the whistling east wind, which also managed to deepfreeze some of my tender extremities. I quickly crawled over the top and dropped down the west side to take shelter and get expansive views of the Washington volcanoes and the Stebbins Creek/Washougal River valleys. Looking north, one sees past a comm. tower to Mt. Hood. The lookout itself was dismantled in 1982 and all that remains are the foundation and vestiges of the path to the top.

[sprengers4jc]

Nice TR on an area we have been wanting to visit, bobcat. Putting this one on the list for 2014. Any idea on the elevation gain, and were there any exposed areas to worry about?

[Waffle Stomper]

Lovely trip report. Glad you could take time to find some respite in nature. Don't forget to take time for yourself.

[ghosting]

Nice.

I haven't done anything in that area.

How is the road to the trailhead?

Does anyone have directions to the trailhead?

Thanks,

- Jason

[bobcat]

@sprenger4jc: No real exposure to speak of - depends how you clamber about Three Corner Rock, I guess. I get about 2,440' total EG in and out from where the PCT crosses CG 2070. And it's actually about 11 1/2 miles, not 9 1/2 r-t. Lorain, in Afoot & Afield, begins the hike from near Rock Creek Pass and then it's only about 4 1/2 miles r-t but with most of the EG and you miss the old growth and the major creeks. That being said the PCT has an official detour to avoid the big creeks because the bridge is out at Snag Creek and it's a treacherous, slithery crossing but doable at low water (I did it as a quadriped, slipping and sliding). The detour is a road hike from where the PCT crosses CG 2000 and then up 2070, about 1 1/2 miles.

@ghosting: This will get in the Field Guide at some point. Here are my directions to the Snag Creek Trailhead:

Drive I-84 east to Exit 44 for Cascade Locks and Stevenson. After 0.4 miles, bear right for the Bridge of the Gods ($1 toll) and Stevenson. Driving over the bridge for 0.7 miles, turn right on Highway 14E for Stevenson and Kennewick. Drive 1.5 miles and make a left onto Rock Creek Drive for the Fairgrounds, Skamania Lodge, and the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center. Go 0.4 miles, passing the entrance to Skamania Lodge, and turn left onto Foster Creek Road. In 0.8 miles, make a left onto Red Bluff Road. In 0.3 miles, come to a fork and bear right. The road becomes graveled CG 2000. In another 0.4 miles, keep right at a junction. In 1.8 miles, keep left at a fork. In 3.3 miles, the road crosses Rock Creek on a bridge with a view of Step Creek Falls. After driving 1.5 miles from the bridge, keep left at the junction with CG 2060 and cross a bridge. In another 0.9 miles, turn right on CG 2070 and head up this road for 0.4 miles to where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses it. Park on the side here (Also, there's a big pullout about 100 yards farther up the road on the left).

If you want a shorter hike, continue up CG 2000 to where the PCT crosses it at a 1988 plantation. If you want a very short hike, follow Lorain's directions.

Edit: Roads are graveled with a few potholes - good for any car. CG 2070 has a tree down at this time but you can drive around it.

[ghosting]

Thanks man!

Much appreciated!

[awildman]

Welcome back, Mr. B! This looks like a happy medium between the drive-up route and VanMarmot's TCR mega loop. I'm putting it on the list for spring.