[pct-l] James Creek Shelter

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Gerald,

The Oregon Skyline Trail (OST) long predated the 1964 Federal Wilderness
Act and the 1968 official designation of the PCT.  My 1961 copy of a USFS,
Region-6, map of the “Oregon Skyline Trail” displays the old diamond-shaped
logo and its “Pacific Crest Trail System” marking.

This map shows the OST routing to be past the James Creek Shelter as well
as past a shelter at the long-gone USFS Horse Lake Guard Station about 4
miles south of James Creek, and the past the defunct Sunshine Shelter on
the OST about 6 miles north of James Creek.  In subsequent years the
now-official PCT continued to pass the old Horse Creek and Sunshine Shelter
sites but the trail was re-routed about a mile to the east of the James
Creek Shelter.

Since ‘64 it has been a requirement to deconstruct and obliterate any
man-made structures – excepting some footbridges -- within Federal
Wilderness Areas, but that work has been done on a priority basis.  Structures
directly on the PCT have mostly been deconstructed, e.g. Horse Creek and
Sunshine, but deconstruction of structures that are not now on the trail
have been “delayed”.

In the Dept. of Agriculture – including its constituent the USFS -- there
are always more projects than there is money to pay for them, so there must
be priorities:  Unfortunately, in recent years the demand for SNAP, i.e.
food stamps -- a Dept. of Agriculture program -- has increased greatly.

While deconstruction of the James Creek Shelter structure is probably on
the priority list somewhere, I expect it’s bumping along somewhere near the
bottom.

Enjoy the shelter while it’s there,

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/


On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 8:59 AM, Ned Tibbits <ned at mountaineducation.org>wrote:

> I remember it well and still have a Kodachrome 25 slide of it, too! Though
> back in July of '74 it was still under 3 to 4 feet of snow...
>
>
>
> Ned Tibbits, Director
> Mountain Education
> www.mountaineducation.org
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gerald King
> Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2012 10:37 PM
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: [pct-l] James Creek Shelter
>
> It's been many years since I've been to James Creek shelter in the Three
> Sisters Wilderness (Oregon). This is a wonderful 3 sided adirondack located
> on the old Oregon Skyline Trail, just a mile off the PCT. Can anyone tell
> me
> what condition it's in? I'm always surprised how few people have ever heard
> of this gem!
> Thanks, Jerry
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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