[pct-l] Timberline Lodge to Cascade Locks

Sun Aug 27 23:32:34 CDT 2006

Sorry about the interstate highway confusion.  I am so old and have  
lived around here so long that I can recall when the highway was  
called I-90 and have never grown accustomed to the change.  Sometimes  
my typing fingers seem to have a mind of their own.  Thanks for  
correcting the record.  I think this would be an easy place to yogi a  
ride to Cascade Locks if you are not a purist and I guess a really  
obsessive sort would not deign to set foot upon the Eagle Creek  
alternate route in the first place.  I wanted to be able to tell the  
folks at work that I'd walked from Timberline Lodge to Cascade Locks  
without any caveats or reservations, so I walked there.  Such is the  
pathetic state of my own vanity.  I could have easily told my wife  
and daughter to meet me at the Eagle Creek trailhead.  Due to the  
lack of a west-bound (Portland) on ramp at Eagle Creek, they would  
also have been required to pass by the venerable Charburger.  By the  
way, I doubt the Charburger is the finest eatery in Cascade Locks,  
but it has the advantage being the first one you come to and has a  
magnificent view of the Columbia River that I think would be  
impossible to duplicate due to strict federal regulations restricting  
development in the gorge.  My sophisticated 16-year-old daughter does  
not like the Charburger's food and sniffed that this would be a good  
location for a "nice" restaurant.

Wayne Kraft

On Aug 27, 2006, at 8:38 PM, Bob Bankhead wrote:

> Minor correction: It's I-84, not 94.
>
> Better idea than the walk: there's no west-bound on-ramp to the  
> interstate at Eagle Creek. ALL traffic leaving Eagle Creek MUST go  
> east on I-84 towards Cascade Locks;  That's the first place they  
> can turn around and head back west towards Portland. Getting a ride  
> should be a snap. Drops you about 100 yards from the Charburger.
>
> Wandering Bob
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Wayne Kraft
> To: PCT-L MailingList
> Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 8:25 PM
> Subject: [pct-l] Timberline Lodge to Cascade Locks
>
> Just returned from a three day backpack of this section, using the
> Eagle Creek Trail alternate route.  Camped with Listo (journal:
> http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=4132  website:
> http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=4132) Thursday night
> at Salvation Springs  Had a good discussion with him while packing up
> in the morning and enjoyed looking over his highly organized pack and
> nano-gear.   I started at Timberline Lodge at 1:30 pm on Wednesday
> and met my wife and daughter for Charburgers in Cascade Locks at 3:15
> pm today (Saturday).  Listo started at Timberline almost exactly a 24
> hours later, caught me at Salvation Springs about nightfall the same
> day and upon parting mentioned his intent to be at Cascade Locks
> before the PO closed that day.  Appears he was going about twice as
> fast as me and doing it with ease.
>
> A brace of trail notes:
>
> The USNF has hung up signs just after the Sandy River crossing (easy
> this year in the early morning:  crossed with dry feet across two
> logs) which encourage PCT hikers to take the Bald Peak Trail rather
> than the actual PCT route as the PCT route across the Big Muddy is
> impossible to maintain.  Having crossed it with considerable
> difficulty in 2003 and assuming that things have probably gotten
> worse since, I think this is probably a good idea, but it is a bit
> confusing.  The Bald Mountain Trail crosses the Big Muddy downstream
> from the PCT on a nice bridge (with a separate stock ford at another
> location) and rejoins the PCT, oddly enough, at the Bald Mountain
> Summit (a three way trail junction that also requires one to pay
> attention  - you can easily be fooled into taking the southbound
> rather than northbound trail).
>
> I had intended to go all the way to Cascade Locks on the PCT, but was
> sucked into the Eagle Creek vortex.  Sitting on the shore of Wahtum
> Lake I contemplated the 13 miles of PCT from there to Cascade Locks
> with only one campsite and little or no reliable water sources,
> thinking about carrying all that water and camping at a rather
> nondescript and inconveniently located campsite and comparing that to
> the Eagle Creek trail with 6 or 8 good campsites and myriad flowing
> streams, I lightened my load (of water) and headed for Eagle Creek.
> I can't think of any good reason not to, unless you are a horse.
>
> There appears to be some guide book and hiker confusion about what to
> do upon reaching the northern terminus of the Eagle Creek Trail. The
> trail ends at one, but not the only parking lot in the area.  To
> access Cascade Locks, the Eagle Creek Trail alternate route hiker
> must simply continue north along the access route to this parking lot
> 1/2 mile to another larger parking lot to the right of the access
> road.  There is a large restroom facility on the south side of this
> parking lot if you wish to freshen up before entering the metropolis
> of Cascade Locks.  Adjacent to the rest room facility is a travel
> trailer occupied by Fran and Wayne (no relation), the volunteer park
> hosts.  If you are confused about any little thing, ask them and they
> will help you,  but don't break into any of the cars parked there or
> they will bring the law down on you.  Anyway, to get to Cascade
> Locks, ignore the parking lot and focus your attention due north on a
> paved road leading straight toward busy I-94.  Head that direction
> past the fish hatchery and you will soon see one bicycle, then
> another painted on the roadway.  Follow the bikes as this "trail"
> turns east around the north side of the fish hatchery.  You will soon
> see a sign announcing that you are on Gorge Trail 400 and are 2.4
> miles from Cascade Locks.  Gorge Trail 400 actual runs 35 miles and
> extends both east and west from the Eagle Creek Trail access road.
> By this time you've already noted and wisely passed by the GT400 west
> bound which traverses a suspension bridge back by the parking lot.
> This section of GT400 is not really a trail.  It is an abandoned
> section of the famous Historic Columbia River HIghway, which you can
> read about (http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/hli/currents/columbia/
> intro.htm) and discover the origin of the expression "What in Sam
> Hill?!" This section of GT 400 begins right next to the interstate,
> but then curves a bit to the south and winds 2.4 miles from the fish
> hatchery over hill and dale then jogs north through a tunnel under
> the interstate, parallels the interstate on the north side and
> eventually spills out into the parking lot of the Charburger
> Restaurant and Best Western Inn. All told, it is just about 3 miles
> from the trailhead to the Charburger.
>
> So there you have it.
>
> Wayne Kraft
>
>
>
>
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