[pct-l] Re: pct-l Digest, Vol 22, Issue 47

[waynekraft at verizon.net (Wayne Kraft)]

Wandering Bob said:


"The Eagle-Benson trail #434, encountered 1/2 mile north of Blue Grouse 
Camp,
runs from the Eagle Creek Trail 440 up to the PCT on the Benson Plateau. It
is very steep, and if it's at all wet, it could be really nasty. I quote
Shaffer's  OR/WA PCT Guidebook, page 186:

'Eagle-Benson Trail 434, which climbs steeply up to the PCT. This narrow
footpath is not recommended by the authors , who believe it is too narrow to
be safely climbed or descended with a heavy pack. In places it is quite easy
for you to slip on loose gravel and then fall over a hundred foot cliff.'"

Now, this just the sort of annoying or dangerous situation that would cause 
me to abort the trip. Assuming that going back wasn't just as dangerous or 
annoying as going forward.  And assuming I survived long enough to 
appreciate that annoying or dangerous qualities encountered.  In that case, 
I usually just sit down and sob quietly and wait for a responsible adult.

I haven't actually walked this trail. Have you been on it, Bob? Or has 
anyone else?  I ask because the Guide also says that ECT is scary and 
dangerous and I don't think it is at all.  I have an old guide which 
describes the Ruckle Ridge use trail in much the same way as the above 
passage now describes the Eagle-Benson cutoff. It is my impression from 
other's accounts of it that Ruckle Ridge is pretty hairy.

I am not available next weekend according to my wife, so my ECT hike will 
probably not happen until March.

Wayne Kraft