[pct-l] Re: National Geographic Photo shoot

[payslee at yahoo.com (payslee)]

As the other Portlanders have already said, count on finding snow on
top of the Gorge, especially on the Oregon side where the trails up are
on North facing slopes. Certainly the Benson Plateau, which I think is
the spot you mean, (reachable by the PCT, Ruckle Creek or Herman Creek
trails) still has snow, and unless folks have been snowshoing up there
recently the trail may not be that easy to find.

On the Washington side the trail stays low for the first five miles or
so. Once you pass the worst of the clearcuts you get some nice views of
the Columbia Gorge. If you go high enough on Table mountain you get
some great views of the Gorge and mountains, but as of last weekend,
there was a *LOT* of snow on top of it.

If your location doesn't absolutely have to be *on* the PCT, there are
some much more easily accessible sites with great views of the area.
The top of Larch Mountain (7 miles and 4,000 feet up the long way from
Multnomah falls) also has a road going to the top. They don't plow it
all the way in winter, but it's a really easy ski or snowshoe up. The
Herman Creek trail, Tanner Butte Trail and Wygant Mountain trails all
have great views on top, but again, expect some snow unless this
glorious warm weather continues.

There are a ton of trails out of the Gorge, particularly on the Oregon
side but also in Washington. Your best resource guide for these is a
book by William Sullivan called "100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon" He's
got the low-down on all the trails, with pictures and best times of
year to go. The Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area also has a website
here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/columbia/forest/

They publish a great map, and have a lot of trail information on their
site.

I have pictures from most of these places, but they're on my computer
at home. I hope this information helps. Let us know when this issue
comes out!

-payslee

----- Original Message ----- 
Subject: National Geographic Adventure magazine



Hello, 

As you may know, our writer Jim Gorman is working on a large cover 
story about thru-trails in the US for our June/July double issue. 

We are hoping to set up a photo shoot for our cover somewhere on the 
Pacific Crest Trail in the next 10 days or so. We have pinned down one 
location that sounds very promising AND where we don't have to deal
with 
snow on the ground: it is the Columbia Gorge in Oregon. We want an 
alpine looking Douglas fir/spruce type of landscape. We are told
there's a 
trail out of the
gorge up onto the grassy plateau above where you can line up the cones 
of Adams and Rainier... 

I'm calling on your expertise/feedback with the following questions: 
- has any of you been on that section of the PCt, and if yes, is there 
indeed nos now on the ground, and is the vegetation green and somewhat 
lush? (this shoot is for a June?/uly cover and we need to achieve a 
summer look in our photo!) 
- would any of you be able to provide information as to where exactly 
the trail that goes out of the gorge is located? 
- has any of you shot pictures in this specific location? 

Many many thanx for any information you can help with. 
Sincerely, 
SM

____________________________________________________
Sabine Meyer
Photo Editor 
National Geographic Adventure
104 west 40th street, 18th floor
NYC, NY 10018
212 790 9049
212 790 9040 (fax)
917 848 3436 (cel) 


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