Historical Items of interest - Trail Advocates Forum

Old MHNF road designations

Jerry King — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 21:42:37 +0000

I’m a volunteer with CSAR (Clackamas Search & Rescue) and we are involved with a “cold case” from the 1980s.

The 40+ year-old files refer to a road as, “S57G” and it says it is about 4.5 miles southeast of the Ripplebrook RS. Can anyone confirm that old MHNF roads always started with an “S”? That vaguely feels familiar. A map photo would help.

THEN, what does the “G” mean? Could spurs have had letters?

We appreciate any help finding this location.

Thanks,

Jerry

Two articles: Bull of the Woods LO and horse travel

Doug Firman — Mon, 20 May 2024 22:20:02 +0000

Here are a couple of interesting articles from 1980. In the photo of the horse van, it appears that they are at the old BOTW trailhead rather than the one in use today.

Is it Oh Boy! Camp or Oh! Boy Camp?

Doug Firman — Thu, 16 May 2024 23:37:58 +0000

A newspaper article from 1940 describes the naming of Oh Boy! camp on the Collawash River, except that it refers to it as "Oh! Boy." I thought this might be a typo except that the article included a photo of a Forest Service sign also saying "Oh! Boy." I have to wonder if the sign itself might have been in error and the writer of the article simply copied it. To confuse the issue, that same writer had done an article two years earlier about the use of the term "Oh Boy!" Throughout the earlier article he consistently wrote "Oh Boy!"

FS maps (1958 to 67) are no help as they leave out the exclamation point altogether. So does the 1956 Battle Ax quad map.

Aside from that grammar question, there are some interesting photos in that 1940 article. One is the wooden sign at the camp, and another is a photo of a lookout tower at the site. The lookout tower used trees to support a platform, similar to one at Hawk Mountain. The location next to the Collawash River in the bottom of a narrow valley seems like an unlikely place for a fire lookout. I had no idea that there had been anything like that at Oh Boy! (or is it Oh! Boy) camp. Apparently that camp was a significant spot along the original Elk Lake trail back in the old days.

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Fish Creek Airstrip

Rob — Thu, 02 May 2024 22:47:51 +0000

I found these two pictures of the Fish Creek Airstrip from 1956 - sure looks a LOT different than it did the last time I saw it (which was before the fires). Also interesting was that it was built by the Dwyer Lumber Company which had a mill down by Fish Creek (I'm assuming it was probably in the area where the Fish Creek campground is).

Plane Landing on Airstrip

Plane Approaching Airstrip from the Air

This is what it looked like in 2009 when I visited it - I'm sure it looks WAY different now:

Interesting Bull of the Woods Lookout article

Rob — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 03:04:09 +0000

I found this article talking about the BOTW lookout:

https://www.opb.org/article/2021/09/13/losing-an-iconic-wildfire-lookout-tower-hits-home-for-an-oregon-family/

It sounds like there were plans in place to begin its restoration last summer - until the Bull Complex fires changed the plans.

Very, very sad....

Oregon Field Guide - Skyline Trail

Robert Koscik — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 10:14:37 +0000

Hello, I wanted to announce that my daughter Eva and I will be on an upcoming episode of Oregon Field Guide! Please see here for the writeup and the video: Rediscovering Oregon’s lost Skyline Trail - OPB It was filmed last summer and will air sometime this upcoming season. I also have a book coming out later this year that chronicles our search for the Skyline. Please stay tuned for details. This is probably the biggest honor of my life! Lots of hard work to get to this point after a hell of a lot of loss. I would like to thank Donovan most of all. Without his knowledge of the backcountry, and his lessons none of this would be possible. Also a big thank you to Don Presley. You taught me a lot about the wilderness that will always be with me.

Diary of Clackamas Trip - 1912

Rob — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 15:13:28 +0000

I added a link on the historical items page to a scanned document of a diary of a trip around the Clackamas watershed from 1912. It has a few big names in it, and it is interesting to look at the 1916 historical map and try and follow their route around the district. Good reading for a rainy day. If you don't want to go look for it, the document is here.

Oregon Skyline Trail - New Book

Robert Koscik — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 20:04:52 +0000

Hello, it's been a while! I just wanted to announce that I have been working on a book about the 1921 Oregon Skyline Trail in the MHNF. It has been a few years in the making, but it's finally with a editor. About 4 years ago my daughter and I walked the original route of the trail, from Government Camp to Olallie Lake. It took about 2 months, and I documented the whole thing. Most of the trail is still there, triple blazed and mostly abandoned. It was quite an adventure during a very difficult time. Nothing like Nature to make it all clear. For the prologue of the story, please see: https://greencascadia.blogspot.com/2021/07/searching-for-skyline-prologue.html I'm trying to raise funds for the editing and publishing costs. If you are interested you can contribute here: https://gofund.me/de02a970 Thank you especially to Donovan H. who inspired me to look for lost things in the wildest places. Also to Don P. for many great adventures down canyons and up mountains.

1920s field telephone

Doug Firman — Sat, 19 Jun 2021 17:54:42 +0000

Here's a link to photos and a brief narrative about a USFS field telephone from the 1920s. There's no way of knowing if this model was used in the Clackamas but it's an interesting look at the technology of the day.

Santa Cruze Trail Sign

Kirk — Thu, 27 May 2021 17:20:02 +0000

I'm not sure where this sign used to live when it directed travelers to the Hillockburn area. I'd never heard of a Santa Cruze Trail.