I know Donovan prefers not to have links to other forums, but there's a trip report that I suspect anyone on this site would be interested in on "another hiking site" in the Off Trail/Lost Trail category. It's a top-to-bottom traverse of Pup Creek revealing no less than SIX significant waterfalls located upstream from the known falls along the Clackamas Trail. They range from 12 feet to nearly 100 feet, and are very interesting in scale and form -- fun to see!
The report also includes a look at a couple of the smaller streams in the Fish Creek drainage, albeit with less spectacular discoveries. Definitely worth a look if you're a waterfall fancier!
-Tom
The reservation is with links to .com sites. Relief from commercial solicitations, active or dormant, etc.. But if users want .com links, let us know, and we can discuss it.
As for trekking those ravines, I would highly discourage anyone from doing so.
Philosophically, I find the extreme quest thing disquieting. Must man go everywhere?
Donovan
Well, it's definitely not a commercial site, so here's the link:
http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4372
I differ a bit on the philosophy of exploring. After all, it's the best way to get "eyes on the woods" by people who care enough about them not to dump their household trash, broken appliances, old furniture... or just shoot up trees for the heck of it. So, the more the merrier is how I feel about off-trail explorers. Besides, they're also the most likely to use the lesser-used trails, so to that extent, help keep the system monitored.
I admit that I'm less of a fan of the extreme sports movement, ala canyoneering and extreme kayaking, but only because they often leave equipment behind. But that's still a small impact compared to what a good number of the forest "users" out there leave behind.
Tom
That particular canyon wall, in my experience, is just not safe to scramble. Much of it is barely stable scree barely stuck together with moss. Much rock and litter is easily loosened. A lot of the sides are such that a man will leave a two foot disturbance at each step. One man, two man, twenty men?
The other thing is that no I or E device will work in the ravines. A slip or a fall? Rescues to that side of the river are very difficult. I was involved in one that took 12 hours, and that was for someone who stepped off the trail. A person wedged under a snag up some ravine would be very hard to find.
It is easy to underestimate the woods.
Donovan
Especially when little explored areas are posted in detail on a popular forum. It does take away some of the magic. Soon everybody and their brother are conquering nature.
Some places are better left unpublished.