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I woke up the next day to a few logistical problems:
One - I had three conflicting sources of info on what the bus schedule was, and if it was even running
Two - Official info was that the road I needed back to town was suddenly closed due to construction, which would turn my hike from a very do-able 7 miles, to a 'I can probably survive' 14 miles. Either way, there would be about 600 feet of elevation change.
Despite all the uncertainty, I headed out anyway. This was literally my fourth attempt at knocking out this leg of the through hike and a fourth failure would be insane. Also, the weather was great and the air was clear and perfect. Smoke hasn't hit yet, but projections are this is going to be a bad year. So I was like fukkit, it's the gorge, I probably can't get into trouble I can't get out of. I need to get while the gettin's good.
Spoilers: The day went pretty smoothly outside of some stress about whether I was doing a very do-able hike or setting myself up for hell.
Finally, the damn trail! The full trail through the gorge should be completed next year, right now I am doing the existing bits in chunks. I have also hiked out to some un-restored highway ruins in the past and need to see if they are still there when I get a chance.
The original highway was not only further inland than the current one, but it also tunneled through the rock in a few sections:
Finally out at the Mosier Twin Tunnels! This took so long! Finally being there was amazing, but I hit this early in the day and wasn't sure how things would pan out from there. But hey, at least I was there and not stranded in the middle of nowhere at a connecting bus stop.
The current highway below:
When it's fully complete it will be a way to hike or bike the length of the gorge. It's a massive infrastructure project to make the gorge more accessible, but the trail doesn't go to where the current cities and towns are and there's no shuttle buses. It's a bit of a paradox. When I do the next chunk I'll need to start in Mosier again, but head the other way. Mosier isn't even a regular bus stop. The only places to stay in Mosier are extremely expensive rentals meant for groups of 12 people. Trying to do this accessible trail to support car-free travel in the gorge is a bit of a nightmare without a car.
This tree, note the roots, it's just clinging to the rock. Just hanging out, trying to thrive in an insane situation:
Lunch spot:
The road back to town was open! And a bit spicy, very curvy and not much of a shoulder:
After I got back, had showered and everything, I went out to Fermentation's beer patio:
One - I had three conflicting sources of info on what the bus schedule was, and if it was even running
Two - Official info was that the road I needed back to town was suddenly closed due to construction, which would turn my hike from a very do-able 7 miles, to a 'I can probably survive' 14 miles. Either way, there would be about 600 feet of elevation change.
Despite all the uncertainty, I headed out anyway. This was literally my fourth attempt at knocking out this leg of the through hike and a fourth failure would be insane. Also, the weather was great and the air was clear and perfect. Smoke hasn't hit yet, but projections are this is going to be a bad year. So I was like fukkit, it's the gorge, I probably can't get into trouble I can't get out of. I need to get while the gettin's good.
Spoilers: The day went pretty smoothly outside of some stress about whether I was doing a very do-able hike or setting myself up for hell.
Finally, the damn trail! The full trail through the gorge should be completed next year, right now I am doing the existing bits in chunks. I have also hiked out to some un-restored highway ruins in the past and need to see if they are still there when I get a chance.
The original highway was not only further inland than the current one, but it also tunneled through the rock in a few sections:
Finally out at the Mosier Twin Tunnels! This took so long! Finally being there was amazing, but I hit this early in the day and wasn't sure how things would pan out from there. But hey, at least I was there and not stranded in the middle of nowhere at a connecting bus stop.
The current highway below:
When it's fully complete it will be a way to hike or bike the length of the gorge. It's a massive infrastructure project to make the gorge more accessible, but the trail doesn't go to where the current cities and towns are and there's no shuttle buses. It's a bit of a paradox. When I do the next chunk I'll need to start in Mosier again, but head the other way. Mosier isn't even a regular bus stop. The only places to stay in Mosier are extremely expensive rentals meant for groups of 12 people. Trying to do this accessible trail to support car-free travel in the gorge is a bit of a nightmare without a car.
This tree, note the roots, it's just clinging to the rock. Just hanging out, trying to thrive in an insane situation:
Lunch spot:
The road back to town was open! And a bit spicy, very curvy and not much of a shoulder:
After I got back, had showered and everything, I went out to Fermentation's beer patio:
no subject
Date: 2025-06-04 09:04 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2025-06-05 01:52 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2025-06-08 04:12 am (UTC)From:That is an unfortunate paradox... how inaccessible the newly-improved accessible trail options are. :/
I love the tunnel pictures, the wildflowers, the tenacious tree, the road...
no subject
Date: 2025-06-08 06:01 pm (UTC)From:This was a pre-pandemic goal for me that I've picked back up because having something to work on is good even if it's dumb. But man, I picked a really dumb goal.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-09 05:23 am (UTC)From:71 miles of trail that you can't stop to camp along feels... interesting.
I'm glad that it is something to work on and something to make progress at doing... and there's a lot of obviously beautiful areas to visit while doing it. Unfortunately it also sounds like it comes with some sort of bizarre frustrations.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-11 08:56 pm (UTC)From:The trail will help a lot with close-in areas and there were a ton of people out on e-bikes on the section I was on, so it's not a complete cluster, but also it's like we are a bit tiny bits away from leveling up.
no subject
Date: 2025-06-12 04:17 am (UTC)From:I forget what a big thing e-bikes are, now! I'm glad it's getting use - it would be way worse for this elaborate system to be in place with no one using it. But agreed, it sounds like there are ways it could fairly easily be improved, especially when it comes to the stated goals of being accessible.