Spring Thaw Conditions at Scenic

An idiot tried to drive off the BPA road and onto the second foot bypass trail sometime soon after the gate was broken open this week.The Flicker photos set is posted hereI went up to Scenic Hot Springs today and found the gate still wide open. I did not see any of the locks nor the tang the locks were attached to. There was one car parked there and evidence of tire tracks of a narrower width

Scenic Area Graphic for Volunteers

Remember, unless you are invited or already have the express permission of the owner, Scenic Hot Springs is on Private Property. Permits and negotiations are difficult enough without dealing with troublemakers at the springs.This graphic should give the volunteers in the upcoming clean-up event enough information to orient themselves and find alternate parking arrangements if necessary.Rick

Cleanup at Austin and Bagby Hot Springs May 20th

Note: NWForests.org has been a staunch supporter of Mike's efforts at Scenic as Mike has supported efforts to get Austin Hot Springs available to the public once again. If you find yourself in the Portland area . . . or just need an excuse to go down there, this is a worthy project. Bagby is a fine hot spring, and a chance to visit Austin does not comes often. RickFrom Ron at NwForests.org .

Clean Up Party on May 27th, 2006

There has been a lot of activity in dealing with the State and County departments during the winter and spring months. Among the things we've accomplished are a tentative understanding with the Health Department, an onsite evaluation for 'critical slopes' and 'wetland area' that went smoothly and a legal securing of the historic water rights to the hot springs. The concept for a re-born Scenic

Snow Conditions at Scenic

There is still a lot of snow up at Scenic but this warm weather is melting it rapidly. I took a lot of photo's for Mike (109 to be exact) so I won't post them all here but you can peruse them at Flickr.The springs are still running hot (Lobster at 111F and Bear Den at 100F). The pool was in terrible condition with a lot of dirt and green algae growth. I ran into seven young men soaking in the

Time for an update and a few observations

Pretty as the snow is, this is some treacherous stuff to walk through. I went up this past Sunday . . . not to soak . . . there were enough people up there already. I was on an inspection walk about to see how the BPA road was faring and also to get an idea of the snow conditions still remaining up at Scenic despite it being April already. The ice berm is still firmly in place across the

Trip Report 2.27.06

I visited the springs this last Monday the 27th. The day started out partly cloudy with a little drizzle, and ended with increasing rain. The snow is pretty deep in places and required considerable effort to get to the top. I think going up it took us a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes. There were many times that we stepped into "soft" snow and sank to our thigh, which was an eerie feeling. We