Strange Google Earth Anomaly

On the Website:  

• 043.070 ROUTE 2: SEUFERT TO CAPE HORN

Below is a very strange image.  When I first saw it, I thought Google had captured some of the old highway under the water...  

CRH Under River in 6/27/2013 Image?

Google Earth June 27, 2013

CLICK TO ENLARGE!!!!

However, compare the size of the road to the freeway and...  Whoa, maybe not!

This is some strange imaging artifact here.  Could the water be magnifying the old CRH somehow?  Or is it just some weird camera thing, or digital processing error or something?  It does have a yellow center line, though, which the freeway does not have, and 14 seems a bit out of range...

Unfortunately, this does not seem to be some lost "Atlantean" section of the CRH.  It is not in the right place.  

Comparing the two images above, while there may have been land at the site of the anomaly at one point, it was clearly north of the Canal, which means that this is not submerged CRH.

TOP: Columbia River: The Dalles Dam (Under Construction) to Horsethief Butte

I need to relocate the source of this image!

BOTTOM: Long Narrows 6-27-13Google Earth Imagery Date: June 27, 2013

However, looking at the photo with the anomaly, there could be some CRH down in the trench between the westbound and eastbound lanes.  Sure looks like pavement, and in all the previous years, that area has been completely underwater.  Might have been a bit drier out that way in 2013?  Anyone up for some snorkeling?

December 15, 2014: Site Update

Beacon Rock and Old Utility Pole from New TrailHCRH State Trail. September 15, 2013Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

Work continues repairing photo links and reorganizing the site into sub-pages. It is slow going, but I am getting to write a little here and there, explaining a bit better a few things and telling the story of the road a bit better than before. Still mostly photos and quotes, the real story telling will come much later in this process...

Unfortunately, this repair job is a much bigger one than I'd originally guessed. I am already almost a month into this task, and while a lot has been done, there's still a lot of work left to be done.  Unfortunately, before it's done, I'll need to move on from full time work here...  Tomorrow (well, later today, at this point in the evening), I am going to put in one last full day push towards completion.  After that, I'll be trying to finish one or two sections per day until it is done.  Hopefully, it won't take too long, because as I've moved through the site, I've realized how much new content I have to put up, how many gaps need to be filled with material sitting ready and waiting to be posted, and I look forward to adding new material instead of cleaning up and fixing the old stuff.

Over the last year, sometimes it's felt like I haven't done much here, and from time to time I've even considered moving on, but seeing that it is taking a month just to fix the pictures here, coupled with all the time spent out in the field taking the pictures, well...  This repair job has reminded me just how much time I've invested in this project so far.  While there's still a long ways to go, still a lot to be done, seeing what has been completed already has renewed my spirit and has me fired up to see this project through to the end.

Special note for the blog:
Well, with all the repair work being done to the website, I haven't been able to add much content here for quite awhile.  But that should change soon enough, once I start adding new content to the website.  Also, I do need to spend some time cleaning up the tags here, and fixing the same broken photo links that devastated the main site...  The same damage was done here as there.

Unfortunately, cleaning up old posts is not going to be a main priority for a bit.  So, while I hope to fix the photo links on the old posts eventually, for the most part I'd rather just bury them deep under a ton of new posts!  But I'll get to them, eventually.

Wyeth Mystery Road

Eastbound view, from above the HCRH, towards Wyeth and Shellrock as it crossed Wyeth Bench.From the 2009 ODOT CLI Presentation -http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/HCRH/docs/finalpresentation.pdf

February 5, 2020

I created this post to save the old text that I cut from the website. Current information on this segment is can be found at: https://sites.google.com/site/recreatingthehcrh/historic-columbia-river-highway/herman-creek-to-wyeth/multiple-crh-routes/hcrh---river-route/mystery-road-into-wyeth


May 21, 2014

Apparently when they straightened out the CRH in middle of the century, they dropped the new route a little lower along the current I-84 path. This road is marked on the 1957 USGS, running parallel to US 30, and it seems to match well with the route shown on the 1926 USGS map. Also, old traces of the highway along the westbound I-84 lanes end around where this grade begins.

The only thing preventing me from originally declaring this the HCRH route was that it could have been a grade created for rock fall protection during the construction of I-84, but since it predates the freeway and was a road at one time, the only real logical explanation is that it is the HCRH.

Unfortunately, there is no pavement remaining on it, which would have quickly resolved any debate.

The Wind Mountain photos below seem to match up fairly well, but from this distance and no existing landmarks on this side of the river, it is really impossible to tell if Markham's shot was from the existing old road grade or somewhere else near by...

December 12, 2014

But there is still the question on if the old road grade, marked in orange on the Google imagery and visible on the map above, is actually the old CRH or not.

For a while, I thought it was, but I am leaning away from that.

 I think this is a detour grade, maybe, from when they were leveling the grade east into Wyeth. Yes, it was still on the map for a bit, but...

Number one: There is no pavement. Only one "lost fragment", no matter how insignificant, has not had pavement, and there seem to be good reasons for that.

Number two: Markham No. 64 (below). This was shot right above the water. If this was the route, it would be back a bit from the river, at least further than the location of Markham's Wind Mountain shot. Because of this, I think the old highway probably about even with this grade, but tens of yards to the north, and has been excavated away.

This is going back to orange (uncertain) from yellow (certain, not drivable).

Dalton Falls: Searching For a Lost Waterfall

On the website: http://www.recreatingthehistoriccolumbiariverhighway.org/bridal-veil-junction-to-west-multnomah-viaduct/dalton-falls

Quotes from Northwest Waterfall Survey and various threads on Portland Hikers Forum:

Dalton Falls is - as far as we know - the only historically named ephemeral waterfall on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge. We've known about this waterfall's existence for dozens of years, hidden somewhere between Coopey and Mist Falls, but it wasn't until recently that we were clued in on its specific location. However, with further research and scouting it appears the waterfall which we originally thought was Dalton Falls may not actually be the real Dalton Falls. Our initial conclusion was that Dalton Falls occurs along the unmarked drainage one ravine west of Mist Creek, which is actually further east than we suspected it would be. However, given that this waterfall is highly seasonal and rather difficult to see from the Historic Columbia River Highway, it would seem an odd choice to give a name to. More recently Oregon waterfall hunter Zack Forsyth has explored the next perennial stream to the west and found it to harbor a significant waterfall that we now suspect may be the real Dalton Falls as the placement lines up with the maps which marked Dalton Falls as just east of Angels Rest. Until we do some further on-site investigation, this will remain an uncertainty.

...

It isn't known where the name came from, but it dates back to the early 1900's, and was likely named after the same individual whom nearby Dalton Point was named for.

Bryan Swan.  Northwest Waterfall Survey.  http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/nws/falls.php?num=3826

So the whole Dalton / Foxglove / Mesachie debate and numerous scouting runs into the area provided a lot of information, but frankly none of it convinced me that we'd identified with 100% certainty the real waterfall historically known as Dalton Falls. Now, with Google Earth's terrain model updated with LIDAR data throughout the Columbia Gorge, it provides a much easier method for field checking the various drainages without actually having to field check the various drainages. Once again, referring to the photo in the Arnato book:

Map reprinted from Annual Edition Portland Oregonian, January 1, 1915 : Sherman, Marty. Joyce Herbst. Kathy Johnson. Discovering Old Oregon Series: Volume 1 - Columbia River Gorge. 1984. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications. 6.
We see Dalton Falls immediately east of Angel's Rest, and markedly west of Mist Falls. In reality this gives us about 1.25 miles of the gorge to work with, but there's a ton of drainages in there. But then I noticed something else that was totally overlooked before: the cliff that runs along the road which is popular with climbers, right before crossing Mist Creek, is very clearly marked on this drawing. And Dalton Falls is significantly west of there. So with that now in mind, we have about 3/4 of a mile to work with, and can easily rule out the seasonal falls immediately west of Mist Falls as the real Dalton Falls, because that's the same stream which drops over the roadside climbing cliff.

The other thing that set me off tonight is how severely incised into the gorge this map shows Dalton Falls as being. Obviously the map isn't to scale, but does do a decent job of representing the actual structure of the cliffs in the area. So looking at both Foxglove and Mesachie Creeks, and where the waterfalls on those creeks lie - at around 1450' for Foxglove and 1600' for Mesatchie. The cliffs effectively stop above the 1600 foot mark, so one would assume that either of these falls would be depicted as falling from the top of the cliffs on such a meticulously drawn map. This makes me about 99% certain that none of the streams that have yet been explored harbor the actual Dalton Falls.

So the question then is where is it? Well, thanks to the LIDAR data in Google Earth, I think I located it. There's a small gully immediately east of Foxglove Creek - about a quarter mile as the bird flies - which doesn't look significant enough to harbor water, but take a look at the current satellite imagery and you'll notice a very distinct yet small slice of white streaming down the rock there. It's even more obvious when you look at it on Google Earth (lat/long: 45.56961, -122.14814) because you can zoom in further. The LIDAR rendering reveals a very distinct two-step cliff there, the upper about 80 feet and the lower about 200 feet, which seems to very nicely correspond with the hand drawn maps that existed back in the day. The location matches up, the incision within the cliffs looks right, and if the forest in there was logged out in the past it certainly would have been visible from the road. The odds of a spring-fed stream in there are quite good, given how many there are throughout the gorge, so the tiny size of the gully and drainage don't necessarily mean anything.

I don't know if there's any way to be 100% certain of this without finding a historical photograph, but to me this looks like the best bet of any of the proposed theories put forth so far.

Bryan Swan ("Sore Feet").  "Dalton - Foxglove conundrum!" Portland Hikers Forum. March 13, 2013. http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6696

[The Amato book] book is also single-handedly responsible for the identification of Dalton Falls, or at least pointing out the general area where it occurs and that it actually was named.

Bryan Swan ("Sore Feet"). "Upper Bridal Veil Falls" Portland Hikers Forum. December 20, 2010.http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6643&start=10

Here's another 1920s era map that shows Dalton Falls:

Tom Kloster ("Splintercat"). "Upper Bridal Veil Falls" Portland Hikers Forum. December 21, 2010. http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6643&start=10

1914 Oregonian article mentioning "Dalton Falls"

"Peabody". "Dalton - Foxglove conundrum!" Portland Hikers Forum. March 14, 2013. http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6696

...it looks like Dalton was the name for what we are now calling Foxglove. If this is the case it seems a bit of a shame to loose this History what do folks think? Maybe we should return to calling Foxglove Dalton & what we have been calling Dalton New Dalton!

"Guy".  "Dalton - Foxglove conundrum!" Portland Hikers Forum. December 22, 2010.http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6696  

I'm fairly certain today's "foxglove" was Dalton Creek (and falls). Here's my theory on how such a seemingly obscure waterfall made its way onto a map celebrating the then new "historic highway."
At the time the highway was constructed, the region below Angel's Rest had basically been clear-cut. (Look at the trees there today - even the oldest is less than a hundred years old) This would have provided a direct view of the upper canyon where the falls are located.
The trees in the upper canyon are young as well, but for a different reason. The stream springs from dense red and grey clay (its an ashy volcanic layer responsible for many landslides in the Gorge). In the decade prior to the creation of the highway, I'm guessing there was a major slide that cleaned house, scouring the slopes lining the falls. This would have made the falls easily visible.
As they were building the highway, "Dalton Falls" would have been gawked at day in and day out. I'm guessing it was quite scenic. They would have been directly above Dalton Point State Park on the Columbia as well.
Today's "Dalton Falls" has caught on though...(as the falls near Mist Falls), while the original has slowly been overgrown. Nobody but waterfall enthusiasts (and apparently the residents who live on the stream's banks) know about it.
Given that, it might be confusing to switch the name back...but I'm certainly for it if others are. If not, Foxglove still works for me. It certainly is a an interesting piece of history!

Zach Forsyth ("chameleon").  "Dalton - Foxglove conundrum!" Portland Hikers Forum. December 22, 2010. http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6696

I don't think Foxglove was ever named as "Dalton" -- it's just not large enough, and is way above the old highway... and possibly a bit out of sight, as it faces west. You can clearly see it through the trees in my photos, so it's definitely where I located it on the maps -- which is far above the falls shown in the old Gorge sketch map.

I think Dalton is more likely one of the drops that can be seen to the east. It's also not impossible that a change in water table or some other geomorphology has reduced the flow to become seasonal over the past century -- that can happen, and so one of the gullies that Bryan points out could have had a larger/more consistent flow when the Dalton name was applied.

Tom Kloster ("Splintercat").  "Dalton - Foxglove conundrum!" Portland Hikers Forum. March 16, 2013. http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6696

Cascading Waves of Broken Links...

Exploration, photo editing, research, site reorganization, and all that other stuff is on hold for a bit.  It appears that all the photo links are going down across the blog and website!

Spent a good chunk of time this evening working on loading the photos into galleries that I have more control of, preventing this from happening in the future.

Still, it's going to be a while before everything is fixed.  I think I know what the problem is now, and this solution, while labor intensive, should prevent this from happening in the future.

Westport Tunnel

Backfilled West Entrance - Westport Tunnel - Westbound (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

So this is an interesting place that I have never heard about anywhere before, except for the Waymarking.com mention below…  We were planning a trip out to the lower highway, and I was preparing by searching for interesting places we might overlook if we didn’t know they were there when I found the page link below.

This is all I know about this site.

From Waymarking.com:

The Westport tunnel is one of the oldest surviving railroad tunnels in the Pacific Northwest. It was constructed around the 1880s. First used by oxen to move logs from the forest, through this tunnel and to the Columbia River over a skid road south to a logging camp.

In 1907, ox teams were replaced by steam locomotives. The tunnel which was built just large enough for ox teams was significantly widened and deepened to accommodate a locomotive.

In 1915 the railroad tunnel was apparently abandoned and the tracks pulled up.

Highway 30, then a dirt road, was completed through Westport at the time the tunnel and railroad were abandoned. Highway construction obliterated much of the grade north of the tunnel and required that the tunnel be partly backfilled to prevent West Creek from washing away the highway during flood seasons. The part of Highway 30 in front of the tunnel was later bypassed and other than broken pavement of the two lane road, the scene in front of the tunnel looks almost as it did when the tunnel was abandoned in 1915.

In December 2007, a major storm swelled up West Creek, which then overflowed into the tunnel and changed the back and floor of the tunnel.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8NAX_1880s_Westport_Tunnel

Original Columbia River Highway Fragment (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

 

CRH Bridge Long Gone at West Creek (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

 

Westport Tunnel Road - Eastbound from Dead End (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

 

Westport Tunnel Road CRH Fragment - Westbound to Washout (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

 

Old Barn Across West Creek (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

 

Waymark for the Westport Tunnel
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8NAX_1880s_Westport_Tunnel

       

Approach to Westport Tunnel
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Westport Tunnel (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Westport Tunnel - Eastbound (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Westport Tunnel - West Entrance (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Old CRH - Westport Tunnel Road
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

 

Intersection of Old and New Columbia River Highways (2014)
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

CRH Fragment - Westport Tunnel Road
Westport, Oregon. March 15, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

On the wesbite:

• 001 - LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER HIGHWAY

The Start, or the End, of the Road

Before the Ocean
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

The Beginning (2013)
Pacific Ocean from the western terminus of the Columbia River Highway. Seaside, Oregon. March 27, 2013.
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Originally I based my "start" of the Columbia River Highway in Seaside on Clarence Mershon's use of the Lewis and Clark roundabout as the western terminus of the highway.  However, as I've read through the old Oregon State Highway Commission documents, I am starting to feel that this is more of a romantic choice than a technically accurate choice.

I am beginning to believe that the route from Astoria to Seaside was never actually intended to be the "end" of the CRH (Route 2), but rather the beginning of the Coast Highway (Route 3).

However, for a very short period, this section of roadway may have been considered to be a part of the CRH, if not in official designation, at least in spirit...  Regardless of the OHC’s designation, Samuel Lancaster himself, in his 1915 book, seems to indicate that the highway ends in Seaside, so it is really a tough call to make.

Seaside - The End Of The Lewis And Clark Trail
Samuel C. Lancaster. The Columbia: America's Great Highway. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 1915. Reprinted 2004.

Seaside "Turn-Around"
Clarence E. Mershon. The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises. 2006. 1st Edition. (5)

Soon after its founding, the Oregon Highway Commission decided to extend the Columbia River Highway (CRH) westward to Seaside. On November 4, 1913, Clatsop County voters approved a bond issue for $400,000 for highway construction. By April 1914, forty-six miles of roadway, much of it through standing timber, had been surveyed. As planned, Seaside became the western terminus of the CRH. From Seaside, the highway paralleled the ocean beaches for twelve miles, then cut across lowlands another twelve miles into Astoria.

Clarence E. Mershon.  The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises.  2006. 1st Edition.  (7)

 

Turn-around at Seaside, Oregon, ca. 1937
Turn-around at Seaside, a resort town on the North Oregon Coast in Clatsop County. People sit in the sunshine on park benches lining the sidewalk of the turn-around. The Pacific Ocean is in the background.
Photographer: Ralph Gifford
Oregon State Archives, Oregon Department of Transportation, OHDG215
http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm/singleitem/collection/orarc/id/2

Seaside "Turn-Around" (2014)
The western terminus of the Columbia River Highway.
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

Original Western Terminus of the Columbia River Highway
Google Earth, 2012 Image

Originally considered the western terminus of the Columbia River Highway, the "turn-around" at Seaside lost that status when the State Highway Commission proposed a 430-mile highway from Astoria to the California state line. Seaside, given "End-of-the-Trail" recognition by historians because of the salt cairn established there by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was a logical choice as the western terminus of the great highway that followed in the "footsteps of Lewis and Clark" from Umatilla to the Oregon Coast.

Clarence E. Mershon.  The Columbia River Highway: From the Sea to the Wheat Fields of Eastern Oregon. Portland: Guardian Peaks Enterprises.  2006. 1st Edition.  (5)

Seaside Roundabout and Promenade (2014)
Columbia River Highway Terminus. Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

Monument and Highway (2014)
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

Still Looking West (2014)
Lewis and Clark "End of the Trail" Monument. Western Terminus, HCRH.
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

End of the Trail Base (2014)
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

Promenade Dedication Plaque
Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

Start of the Columbia River Highway (2014)
Broadway St. Seaside, Oregon. February 22, 2014.
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

Oregon State Highway Commission - 4th Biennial Report of the Oregon State Highway Commission Covering the Period December 1st, 1918 to November 30th, 1920
http://digital.lib.pdx.edu/oscdl/files/odot/pdx005t0003.pdf

Oregon State Highway Commission - 4th Biennial Report of the Oregon State Highway Commission Covering the Period December 1st, 1918 to November 30th, 1920
http://digital.lib.pdx.edu/oscdl/files/odot/pdx005t0003.pdf

HCRH Bike Tour - Friends of the Columbia Gorge

Ginko Spot - HCRH Bike Tour
Friends of the Columbia Gorge. HCRH State Trail. June 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

The complete gallery: http://www.aflitt.com/p767250211

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.253978304795786.1073741893.130431790483772

HCRH Bike Tour
Friends of the Columbia Gorge. HCRH State Trail. June 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Eagle's Nest - HCRH Bike Tour
Friends of the Columbia Gorge. HCRH State Trail. June 22, 2014
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Instagram Photos on Facebook

Original Caption on Instagram: Dry creek bridge
Correct Caption: Dry Canyon Creek Bridge

With this project, I struggle with how much “me” to put in…  Primarily, I focus on the history and locations of the HCRH and this is where I’d like to keep it for the most part.  Because of this, I’ve avoided talking much about my process, except for the occasional posts on the direction of this project or posts about taking short breaks here and there while I work on other jobs or when I need to focus on my family for awhile.

However, something has been bugging me this morning…  I’ve been having an internal debate about the Instragram posts I’ve been sharing for the last few months. 

These photos are really nothing more than “selfies” without the self.  Quick shots with my phone that I capture, caption, and post from the field when I am out exploring and scouting the old highway.  Because of this, the quality is not what I usually aim for with my photos and the captions are short, vague and sometimes a little off.

One of the things I pride myself on as a writer, historian and journalist is accuracy.  I am human, so I do make mistakes, but I feel that I do a pretty good job with this, overall.  If I am uncertain about something, I try to make that clear.  If something I post is pure speculation, I try to note that as well. 

My project is not the only one out there working on covering this material right now, and what I bring to the table that others do not, beyond a passion for the subject matter, is the sheer number of hours I am putting into this, literally years of my life are going into this project.  Some of it out in the field bushwhacking through ticks, spiders, snakes, and poison oak, some of it pouring through thousands of pages of books, documents, maps, and other sources.

In the end, I really believe that this is what makes my project stand out from any of the others that will be coming along over the next couple years as we head into the Centennial of the highway.

However, when I am posting these quick and dirty phone photos, I am not always in a position to double check my typing, to check my notes, or to write detailed explanations of what I am presenting.  Sometimes the situations are a little uncomfortable, as well.  On the Mitchell Point Wagon Road, I posted from a precarious perch on an unstable rock slide where one bad move would have been disastrous.  Yesterday, when I took and mis-captioned the photo above, the wind was blowing so hard that I was concerned that I might actually be blown into the canyon below if I stood too close (silly, I know, but it was nasty out there), and I wanted to get back to the car as quickly as possible (thanks to Jeanette Kloos for catching and correcting the error!).  Later, when I posted a photo of the remains of the Lewis & Clark Monument in The Dalles, I had a belligerent homeless man yelling at me because he thought I was taking pictures of his friends without their permission while I was writing the caption (hence the typo).

I am not trying to be overdramatic, it’s not like I am posting from a war zone or a natural disaster or 2000 feet up the face of El Capitan…  But some environments are more distracting than others.

Original Caption on Instagram: Remains of the Lewis and Clark mMonument

So here is my debate…  If these Instagram posts have the potential to give people a negative view of my work, of my skills and accuracy, should I continue posting them? 

The con side:  If it is not my best work and if it is not always completely accurate, I fear that I am at risk of giving people the impression that I don’t know what I am doing or have no knowledge of what I am writing about.  That really scares me on a project like this one, where I am investing years of my life into detailed research so my material, first and foremost, can be relied upon to be well documented, cited, and accurate.

So if my Instagram posts open the door for my credibility to be damaged in any way, it really worries me.

The pro side:  People seem to enjoy and respond to these photos, which is nice, and I think it is kind of fun to have this sort of real-time interaction on the Facebook page.  It would be amazing, at some point, for someone to pop on and say, “Hey, I’ve been curious about something, can you go check it out?” while I was actually on site in the field.

Also, it can take up to a year or more for me to actually get the material I shoot edited and posted to the website, so it is a way for me to share some of the sights of these locations and segments now, since it may be quite awhile before the real images off the good cameras ever see the light of day.

I am not sure how I will proceed from here out with this.  I do like posting those pictures, so I may do it just for that reason.  When I am putting this much of my time into something, I feel it is perfectly acceptable to include a few things just because I enjoy it, as long as it doesn’t threaten the project as a whole.

https://www.facebook.com/RecreatingTheHistoricColumbiaRiverHighway

The Dalles Lewis and Clark Monument

A small but interesting piece of history…

Proposed Monument. Lewis and Clark Memorial Association. c. 1930s

Pg 58 in this 1946 State Parks report discusses the monument in the article.

http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/doc/records/state/odot/pdfs/columbia_gorge.pdf

Location of Lewis and Clark Monument

Monument base before construction of picnic structure. Date Unknown.
Request to nominate the Lewis and Clark Monument for inventory designation to the local Historical Register. City of The Dalles - Historic Landmarks Commission
http://www.ci.the-dalles.or.us/sites/default/files/imported/agendas/planning/historical/PDFs/hlcagenda062613.pdf

Lewis and Clark Monument
Google Street View

The Dalles Lewis and Clark Monument was built prior to World War II starting in 1939. During the War, all work was halted and the project never resumed. In the 1960's, the Dalles Lions Club constructed a picnic shelter surrounding the Monument. Over the past decades, the structure has fallen into disrepair and posses a safety risk for users of the new skate park that is located next to the monument. A decision to remove the structure and donate the usable materials to The Dalles Parks and Recreation for future construction of new smaller shelters was approved.

https://www.facebook.com/TheDallesLewisAndClarkMonumentProject/info

Request to nominate the Lewis and Clark Monument for inventory designation to the local Historical Register. 2013. City of The Dalles - Historic Landmarks Commission

http://www.ci.the-dalles.or.us/sites/default/files/imported/agendas/planning/historical/PDFs/hlcagenda062613.pdf

Via Peg Willis ( Building the Columbia River Highway )

Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail Bike Ride, OR - Friends of the Columbia Gorge

Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail Bike Ride, OR - Friends of the Columbia Gorge: "Easy: 13 miles, little elev. gain
MEMBERS ONLY

We’ll bike one the newest section of the Historic Highway State Trail with ODOT Project Manager Kristen Stallman and Friends' Outreach Manager Maegan Jossy from Cascade Locks to the end of the paved trail at J. B. Yeon State Park. On this leisurely ride we’ll stop to learn about the recent highway projects and enjoy views that are now open. Road or mountain bikes are fine on this paved path. Helmets are required."



'via Blog this'

Two or Three Waterfalls on Lindsey Creek?

Originally posted on Rubble

Acoustics can be strange, and the landscape, when seen from different angles, deceptive.  Points reached by different routes can be confusing…  

Lindsey Creek has two waterfalls for sure, Harrison Falls, actually visible from I-84 when the leaves are down in the winter, if you know where to look, and Lindsey Creek Falls. 

But I am not entirely sure that these are the only two.

 
Harrison Falls on Lindsey Creek (2013)
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Oregon. November 1, 2013.
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

The lower waterfall is sometimes called Lower Lindsey Creek Fall, but more and more it’s old name is returning to use, Harrison Falls.

... This waterfall [Lindsey Creek Falls] was called Harrison Falls early in the 20th century. After the original Columbia River Scenic Highway was built, a number of auto camps were built along the new road. The one that operated at Lindsey Creek was known as Harrison's Auto Camp. No trace of it remains.

Doug Gorsline, "ashcreekimages.com" website, 2013 (Via columbiariverimages.com)

... Early postcards have this waterfall captioned as "Harrison Falls", or "Harrison Falls near Harrison Auto Camp, Columbia River Highway". I suspect this is simply a historic unofficial naming. ...Harrison Falls is the Historical name of this waterfall.

Known Alternate Names: Lower Lindsey Creek Falls.

Bryan Swan, "waterfallsnorthwest.com" website, 2013 (Via columbiariverimages.com)

It is easily reached by pulling off the eastbound freeway at the large turnout east of Lindsey Creek, where the old auto camp apparently was located. 

Lindsey Creek Turnout, Looking West (2013)
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Oregon. November 1, 2013.
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

Columbia Gorge Discovery Center Photo Archive
Catalog Num: 1999.13.94P
Condition: Good
Date:
Location: The Dalles, Oregon
Title:
Content: No. 52. Harrison's Auto Camp, Columbia River Highway
Other Notes: description from above on front.no correspondence
Photographer: B.C. Markham, The Dalles, Oregon
Copyright:
http://www.gorgediscovery.org/photoarchive/newDetails.asp?offset=970&ID=2695

Today, nothing remains of the scene pictured above. Decades of flooding have wiped out not only the site of this camp but also the picnic area that was near Lindsey Creek until the 1960s.

Approximate Site Of Harrison Auto Camp and Picnic Area (2013)
HCRH. Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Oregon. November 1, 2013.
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

There is a sort of trail to the falls leading up the east bank of the creek, though it may require getting wet here and there (in November, at least, when I was there last).  Good views can also be found on the slopes above the west bank, at least when the leaves are down.  This is where I shot my photo of these falls from.

This area was also the original trailhead for the Mt. Defiance trail(https://www.flickr.com/photos/21209133@N06/sets/72157627002746570/). 

Harrison Falls (2013)
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Oregon. November 1, 2013.
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

Still, looking at the map above, it seems like Harrison Falls may be marked a little too far upstream.  Standing on the west side of the ravine above, though, under the powerlines, one can hear Harrison Falls towards the freeway, but it sounds like there is another large waterfall upstream from it to the south, best heard from the south edge of the powerline clearing.

Above a waterfall?
Sure sounds like it, but it is tricky and dangerous getting much closer than this. Upstream from Harrison Falls so I think this is a different one.  There is a third further to the south, but I suspect this is the big one on Lindsey Creek, it's quite a drop between the valley on the right and the ravine on the left.
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Oregon. November 1, 2013.

Not quite sure what is down there, and at first I thought it was the waterfall Scott Cook calls Lindsey Creek Falls in his book Pokin’ Round The Gorge, but reading the directions to that waterfall a little more closely, and then tracing them out on Google Earth, this is starting to sound more like the one marked on the map above and one I’ve glimpsed from the Lindsey Creek Road, which is marked in blue on the map below.

Map by Paul Jess.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/21209133@N06/5851360195/in/set-72157627002746570

"Upper" Lindsey Creek Falls from the old Lindsey Creek road grade (2013)
The perspective in the photo above is a bit strange, since it looks like it was taken from the west side of the ravine, but due to the meandering nature of the creek and the high power zoom, this is just an illusion, this was taken from the east side of the ravine.
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Oregon. November 1, 2013.
Copyright © 2014 A. F. Litt , All Rights Reserved

Cook’s directions to the falls start at the same location as Curious Gorge Hike #32: Summit Falls/Historic Highway Loop (pg. 76, 2012 edition), but then following the BPA access road’s east fork towards Lindsey Creek.

Follow the double track to the last tower, cut left around it then swing to the right, under the lines and over the sticks into the forest.  Pick your way on the old roadbed for a minute until you see a rough trail climbing down to the left.  Follow this down then angle upstream and bushwhack over to the creek … and take note of where you are so you can find it on the way back!  Now you begin to splash, bob, weave and hop for 8-9 minutes to the falls.

           Scott Cook.  Pokin’ Round the Gorge.  Hood River, OR: Scott Cook. 2008. 81.

Roughly recreating his directions in Google Earth leads to a map that looks like this, though in November 2013, few traces of the roads Cook describes were visible.  The route below is speculative, so please use caution if attempting to follow it, and it is based on a combination of Cook’s directions and my own experience in the area.

His photo of the falls themselves graces the cover of the book.  There are more inside, but due to the nature of that book, and this site, this is the only one I’m comfortable posting!

So, is there a hidden “Middle” Lindsey Creek Falls?  There could be.  Cook’s directions to the upper falls seems to bypass the area where the sound of a waterfall is coming from.  Also, zooming in a bit on Google Earth, there sure seems to be at least one waterfall down there that looks at least as large as Harrison Falls. 

Click to enlarge…

One of these days I’ll pick my way down into that ravine and find out, unfortunately, the last time I was there I was by myself, it was getting late, and nobody really knew where I was if something went wrong, so I was playing it really safe and taking no risks.  But I think this summer, tramping up and down the creek on a hot summer day may be a fun adventure! 

I’ll post and update if I find anything!

Update – Like 15 minutes later…

I need to remember to hit Google before I hit send…

A good thread (with great pictures) on Lindsey Creek.  Probably not a big “middle” falls in there, just lots of whitewater essentially making the whole stretch one big falls.  But there are more falls upstream from Lindsey Creek Falls.

Lindsey Creek 8 23 2011: http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9227

More on Lindsey Creek Falls:

Lindsey Creek Falls (2008 vs 2014): http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18797