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

[dajada at gmail.com (David)]

Karen & I hiked it last spring and I thought she would kill me!  We
hiked up eagle creek, took the eagle-benson trail, which was
exceedingly steep, not maintained and littered with blowdowns.  We
spent the night in a rain and wind storm on the plateau and down
ruckel ridge the next day.

The benefit of that trip though was that it made anything we
encountered on the JMT no problem!

David D.
dajada@gmail.com


On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 18:43:24 -0800, Wayne Kraft <waynekraft@verizon.net> wrote:
> 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
> 
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