A week ago I read that Abbott road was now open in the "middle".
Although it is still closed at the bottom (224), It is now open from 4614/4613. They have removed the barrier that was at the bottom of 4613 where it crosses the North Fork of the Clackamas. Abbott is now open to the east and west at the junction. I suspect that they have opened this section primarily as an access to the La Dee flats OHV area...
I went east, up 4610 as far as a little past the Huxley Lake / Lookout Springs upper trailhead. I noticed that they have brushed the sides of the road in many places. It was especially notable in the mile long uphill section to the west of the trailhead. In summer 2020 it was a real paint scraper, I remember breaking my mirror off on this section. I had hoped that the road had been worked on, but the road in this section is still pretty rutted. It was not as bad as I remember, but after a trip this summer to the Frazier Turnaround my standards have changed a bit.
Starting at the Trailhead I started noting decks of logs next to the road. They looked old, as if they were from last fall's work.
I had hoped to get up to upper Old Baldy Trailhead / Twin Springs GG, but I had started late, and the snow was starting to appear on the roadsides at about 3800 ft. elevation. I am curious about the trail down the hill from Twin Springs... Maybe before the snow sets in...
Ted
I was wondering if they had opened it up to the east. Quite honestly there was no reason it had to be closed there, as there was no fire damage that direction. I had wanted to head over to the east junction off 58 during my last trip, but since the days are short I ran out of time.
It is good to know you can get to some of the other trails now, although that won't last too long.
Those log decks were from the clearing they did last fall - 4610 was intended to be a secondary fire break if needed, so they did a lot of brushing and clearing of the corridor. I don't know why they haven't moved out the log decks though - if they sit there too much longer they are going to be worthless.
Thanks for posting this.
4610 is now open from Hwy 224 according to MHNF Facebook page.
Thanks for the good news, Doug!
I went up the hill Christmas Eve Afternoon to see the conditions. Going up the hill from 224 a lot has been removed. I remembered it as being a deeply wooded area, but now the first mile or so have been cut back pretty severely (clearcut?). Once up the hill (where it began to flatten and head Eastward) there were places where I could see the fire had swept through by the burn marks on the lower parts of the trees. I went up a mile or so past the first "Staging Area" up to where I had been to from the topside a few weeks ago. By that time there was maybe 4 inches of snow on the sides of the road, so I called it a day.
If it warms up a little I know know I can now much more easily get to some "winter camps", not my favorites, but they will suffice for now... Thanks for the update!
Ted
