Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - August 28th
Day 127: Wednesday 28th August Muddy Fork – Wahtum Lake
Unfortunately it was a warm night and Muddy Fork was still running well. Muddy
Fork is a series of tributaries flowing through unstable glacial moraine and carrying ice-
cold water from the glaciers on the north face of Mount Hood. I had the unpleasant task
of fording three strands of the river. The final one was shown on the map, and described
in the guidebook as being in the forest. However flooding, probably in the New Year of
1997 had made the area look more like a battlefield. Fallen trees were piled up high on
top of each other and it took me 30 minutes to cross the few hundred yards of the river.
The trail now left Mount Hood and headed through the forest towards the Columbia
River. I saw a Sharp-Shinned Hawk (similar to the European Sparrowhawk), hunting in
the forest. I soon reached an area where the trail skirted the Bull Run Watershed.
Every few hundred yards along the path were bright yellow signs reading:
“NO TRESSPASSING. The area behind this sign is closed to the public by the Secretary
of Agriculture for the purpose of protecting the City of Portland water supply. HUNTING,
FISHING AND ALL PUBLIC USE PROHIBITED. Violators are subject to arrest and
prosecution under Federal laws. Maximum penalty $5,000 and 6 months in jail.”
You can start to understand the access problems to wilderness there can be in the
USA when you realise this was publicly owned land administered by the USFS. In the
USA trespass is a criminal offence!
I picked up water at Salvation Spring where Carla was having lunch. She had got off
the trail at Ollalie and was now walking south from the Columbia River to Ollalie.
The trail was quiet again now that the day-hikers and tourists around Mount Hood
had been left behind. From Salvation Spring the trail went over the saddle between
Devil’s Pulpit and Preacher’s Peak! There were now occasional glimpses through the
trees to Mount Adams and the 14,000ft Mount Rainier in Washington.
I stopped for dinner at Indian Spring where I met “Nomad”, another thru-hiker who
had started at the kick-off party. He dropped down the Indian Spring Trail, which is a
short cut down to Eagle Creek, dropping 2,000ft in two miles. I was tempted by this path,
but I thought there was too much risk of straining aging knees on such a descent. I
pushed on to camp just above Wahtum Lake, as it was getting dark. I was surprised to
see the torch of a hiker, who I later found out was “Ranger”, go past a couple of hours
later. He had got a chipped tooth and was doing a 40-mile day so that he could get it
treated by a dentist, before the Country closed down for the Labour Day Weekend.
Day 127: 20.0 miles 9.16 hours Camp: Wahtum Lake
Unfortunately it was a warm night and Muddy Fork was still running well. Muddy
Fork is a series of tributaries flowing through unstable glacial moraine and carrying ice-
cold water from the glaciers on the north face of Mount Hood. I had the unpleasant task
of fording three strands of the river. The final one was shown on the map, and described
in the guidebook as being in the forest. However flooding, probably in the New Year of
1997 had made the area look more like a battlefield. Fallen trees were piled up high on
top of each other and it took me 30 minutes to cross the few hundred yards of the river.
The trail now left Mount Hood and headed through the forest towards the Columbia
River. I saw a Sharp-Shinned Hawk (similar to the European Sparrowhawk), hunting in
the forest. I soon reached an area where the trail skirted the Bull Run Watershed.
Every few hundred yards along the path were bright yellow signs reading:
“NO TRESSPASSING. The area behind this sign is closed to the public by the Secretary
of Agriculture for the purpose of protecting the City of Portland water supply. HUNTING,
FISHING AND ALL PUBLIC USE PROHIBITED. Violators are subject to arrest and
prosecution under Federal laws. Maximum penalty $5,000 and 6 months in jail.”
You can start to understand the access problems to wilderness there can be in the
USA when you realise this was publicly owned land administered by the USFS. In the
USA trespass is a criminal offence!
I picked up water at Salvation Spring where Carla was having lunch. She had got off
the trail at Ollalie and was now walking south from the Columbia River to Ollalie.
The trail was quiet again now that the day-hikers and tourists around Mount Hood
had been left behind. From Salvation Spring the trail went over the saddle between
Devil’s Pulpit and Preacher’s Peak! There were now occasional glimpses through the
trees to Mount Adams and the 14,000ft Mount Rainier in Washington.
I stopped for dinner at Indian Spring where I met “Nomad”, another thru-hiker who
had started at the kick-off party. He dropped down the Indian Spring Trail, which is a
short cut down to Eagle Creek, dropping 2,000ft in two miles. I was tempted by this path,
but I thought there was too much risk of straining aging knees on such a descent. I
pushed on to camp just above Wahtum Lake, as it was getting dark. I was surprised to
see the torch of a hiker, who I later found out was “Ranger”, go past a couple of hours
later. He had got a chipped tooth and was doing a 40-mile day so that he could get it
treated by a dentist, before the Country closed down for the Labour Day Weekend.
Day 127: 20.0 miles 9.16 hours Camp: Wahtum Lake
Mount Hood
Nomad
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