Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

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Guy
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Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by Guy » November 24th, 2014, 9:14 pm

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Opening pic

Chiyoko & I spend some time poking around the Pioneer Bridle Trail last Sunday, from where it crosses Highway 26 next to the Kiwanas Camp Road Junction up to the old Horse Bridge & the Zigzag Falls TH. We also checked out the short Laurel Hill Chute trail on the other side of highway 26 which we hadn't hiked before.

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The trail is in good shape though there are quite a few recent blow downs, Nothing that would impede a hiker but not fun if you are a mountain biker!

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Just past the old mine at milepost 2.5 there is a side trail that heads over to Highway 26. We crossed the highway the walked up the road about 100 yards to the TH for the Laurel Hill Chute trail. The stone stairway from the road up to the old Mt. Hood Highway is quite lovely!

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The trail continues on up to an old Oregon Trail marker & then on to its end where the new highway 26 cuts through the hill.

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From here we got some views of the new snow up on Tom Dick & Harry Mt.

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Rather than head back down to 26 on the same trail we took the old highway back down.

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On the last switchback of the road you can hear Camp Creek's Yocum Falls, if you keep your eye open you can find a small user trail that heads on down to the base of the falls.

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After scrambling back up from the falls we headed back to the other side of 26 & on up the trail to the Old Horse Bridge.

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Here we took the old Highway road again down to the Zigzag Falls TH & then up that trail to Zigzag Falls.

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It was noticeably colder in the little canyon leading up to the Falls & more of last weeks snow was still hanging around.

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Back at the Zigzag Falls TH at about 1:00pm the rain was just beginning & so we decided on a quick march back down the road past the Kiwanas camp rather than returning to the Bridle Trail.

All told 8.75 miles & about 1500' of EG.

A good wet weather hike & a new waterfall ticked off our list!

A few more pics here & a map below.

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hiking log & photos.
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Splintercat
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Re: Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by Splintercat » November 24th, 2014, 10:47 pm

Nice report, Guy! That's a fascinating little area - lots of history hidden in there. I've never followed the trail east from the junction at the top of the Chute -- always figured it stubbed out on the old highway well before the spot where the new highway cuts through (and the portion east of the junction near the top of the chute is also not on the USFS trail database). I hesitate to mention this, but that is also one of the "haunted" areas on Mount Hood (actually, one of several spots in the vicinity of the Barlow Road). So, glad you made it back intact... ;)
The stone stairway from the road up to the old Mt. Hood Highway is quite lovely!
I know - I love that feature! Surprisingly, it seems to date only to the 1950s and not from the CCC era of the 1930s.
It was noticeably colder in the little canyon leading up to the Falls & more of last weeks snow was still hanging around.
Sort of a fascinating trivia tidbit: a few years ago, I snowshoed to the falls after a deep snowfall that closed the Kiwanis Road. It was bitter cold out (about 12 degrees F), but when I got to the falls and set up my tripod, I noticed I was overheating in all my layers -- checked my thermometer, and it was a "balmy" 30 degrees in front of the falls! Took a couple layers off, and found that if I simply walked 15 or 20 feet down the trail, the temp dropped immediately, so the falling water creates a surprising micro-climate in there that hovers near the water temps. Kinda cool... and I did bundle up before heading back to the car that day.... :)

Thanks for posting!

Tom :)

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Re: Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by kepPNW » November 25th, 2014, 6:28 am

What a fun loop! Loved the flocked shots of TD&H. I really need to go pokin' around up there, too. Thanks for the report! :)
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CraigG
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Re: Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by CraigG » November 25th, 2014, 9:31 am

This is really neat! I have to try this also. Thanks for sharing!

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Re: Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by BrianEdwards » November 25th, 2014, 6:08 pm

Great outing Guy. Besides the waterfalls, the historic architecture and other oldies in that neck of the woods makes for an interesting day out. Thanks for sharing
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Guy
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Re: Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by Guy » November 25th, 2014, 6:37 pm

Thanks Folks,

Yes there is a lot more to see in that area too, here are a couple of other reports on the area: Ours from November 2013 & make sure you read the reference guide on the history for this hike before you go in Bobacat's Report of November 2013

As you will see from the above reports there is a lot more to see in this area & the hike can be extended up to Enid Lake & Government Camp.

Tom, I know you like to keep track of things going on along the Old Mt. Hood Highway so here is a curious Photo.

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Along this section of the Old Highway on the Yocum Falls side of 26 they have cut down the trees on both sides of the old highway. Seamed a bit odd as it's not as if they are going to be opening it up again!

Also sitting in plain site on the side of the old road is this FS Water Quality Sensor. Obviously they are not worried about too many people walking here as the wires & solar Panel are just sitting the the middle of the road!

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tednottodd
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Re: Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by tednottodd » November 25th, 2014, 9:31 pm

I haven't been there since my daughter's 4th grade class went there as part of the "Oregon Trail" curriculum. Wonderful area full of surprises. Thanks for the detailed report.

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Re: Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by miah66 » November 26th, 2014, 2:28 pm

Guy wrote: Image
What fabulous photos! Esp. love that first one of the forest w/ the mist and sunrays. It looks so primeval. I never knew some of these trails were as long as they are from your map. Thanks for including that. I'll have to get out there and see some of this stuff.
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Re: Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by Splintercat » November 26th, 2014, 5:27 pm

Guy, thanks for the deep background -- this is indeed, odd:
Along this section of the Old Highway on the Yocum Falls side of 26 they have cut down the trees on both sides of the old highway. Seamed a bit odd as it's not as if they are going to be opening it up again!
Last summer Alex Brown and I walked the section of abandoned highway east of the modern highway cut with the Zigzag District Ranger, and his take on the section that had been "decommissioned" was that it had been bundled (for some reason) with several logging spurs that were collectively put on a decommissioning schedule. They had a lot of blowback from cyclists who were using that section of road, and subsequently graded a trail along the shoulder of the ripped-up section for bikes. They are well aware of the potential to reuse the old road, and that concept is part of a grant the USFS received to look at alternative TH options for Mirror Lake (including one option that includes a pedestrian bridge over the highway from a new parking area accessed by the east leg of the abandoned highway).

So, it could be that these trees were cut for some USFS purpose... or, it could be that they've been cut by historic highway advocates hoping to prevent pavement damage from young trees growing at the edges. Hard to say.

Nice photos of Yocum Falls -- a hidden and somewhat hammered gem (lots of highway debris finds its way down Camp Creek). Trivia tidbit: that's the last off-trail waterfall I visited alone, a few years ago. Took a nice, long fall from a slope downstream from the falls that could have been serious -- and at that moment, realized that my cell phone was useless down there, as was yelling, a whistle... anything short of a marine flare wouldn't be heard over the din of the highway and stream! So, I promised my better half that I'd stick to trails when hiking solo from that point forward... and I've pretty much kept to that... ;)

Tom :-)

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Re: Yocum & Zigzag Falls - 2014/11/23

Post by Rustygoat » December 2nd, 2014, 4:59 pm

Neat post Guy! That user trail that goes down to the falls was an official trail at one time. Next time you are up there look on the other side of the old highway across from that trail. There was a parking lot over there that was graveled. I'm pretty sure it was built for Yocum Falls. Pretty neat overlooked area...thanks for sharing the pictures and report. :)
Tim

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