We had a devastating wildfire out here in 2017 that raged through some of THE most popular recreational areas in the Columbia River Gorge. The Eagle Creek Fire burned 50,000 acres about 45 minutes out of Portland, Oregon, closing roads, trails, and waterfall access, halting river commerce, and hammering tourism there. The formerly magnificent hillsides that everyone relished seeing from Interstate 84 are now blanketed in silvery toothpicks instead of lush green forest. The slopes are too steep to even consider timber harvest, so logging was not even an option to ease the burden of this catastrophe. What is the most heartbreaking to me about all this devastation was that the fire was started by a damned kid. It never had to happen.
Apparently a group of teenagers were present when one of them threw a lit firecracker off the edge of the Eagle Creek Trail during a fireworks ban on Labor Day weekend in September. One of them filmed it on his cellphone, which police used to press charges on the 15-year-old who did it. The consequences were significant. The boy had to write 192 letters of apology to people trapped in the wilderness area (that spent the night in the forest unprepared, before hiking 10 miles the other direction to get rescued), as well as to all the agencies and tribes impacted. He was sentenced to 1,920 hours of community service. He was fined $36 million. The judge said a payment plan could be set up, and if he made payments for ten years, the remainder of the fine would be forgiven if the boy completed his community service.
Wildfires make hillsides unsafe and unstable, so all recreation was immediately closed. The Eagle Creek trail did not open up again for two years. This weekend was my first trip back since the fire.
I would have returned sooner, but I wanted buy-in from my Pedro. You see, Eagle Creek is famous for something other than the fire: regular deaths by falling. The trail has a steep drop off into a canyon, and every few years it seems, someone falls to their death, or swimmers make the foolish choice to jump from the cliff into the water. Sadly, there is also one case in which someone pushed another, and several accidental dog deaths.
Pedro wasn’t sure that he wanted to even try it. And I get that.
I was not afraid because I’ve been there lots of times. And yes, a death every few years seems like a lot, but there might be a million hikers there a year (maybe more, it’s very hard to estimate). The estimate from 1919 was 150,000 a year, so it must be exponentially more now. People bring children, elders, all their pets – thousands of them a day. If there were any way to list fatalities as a percentage, it would be extremely low. But still, I did not want to force the issue.
On Thursday, Juneteenth, Pedro was ready to go with me. We thought a weekday would be a good choice, to avoid the incessant crowds on the trail. It may have been a good choice, though as it was, we found around 200 cars parked there, in lots and along the approach road and at the fish hatchery. We backtracked in the car, slowly, and ended up parking along the road, a half mile from the trail head, and we found one of the only available spots to squeeze in beneath the I-84 bridge. So – that’s what it’s like on a weekday morning at 11 am. Maybe more people get the holiday off than we guessed.
The rest of the story is only good. Absolutely perfect weather, and the forest looks amazing seven years after the fire. It was easy to spot the burned trees, but just as easy to see trees that had survived, and trees that were new.
We picked and ate dewberries and wild blackberries and a thimbleberry. We admired wildflowers and butterflies and birds.
On the trail itself, there were lots of people, but I would not call it crowded. The trail is actually 25 miles long and many people head in and camp farther up the trail. Most of us were only hiking 2 miles to Punchbowl Falls.
We saw a Bald Eagle that day (image above), and one butterfly held still so I could get a great shot (image above). But the birds that delighted us the most were the Common Mergansers – a momma and a whole bunch of merglings. I rarely (if ever?) see Common Mergansers, and these were a delight. I believe I counted 13 babies, but it was hard to count them because they were zooming around.
The baby merglings (I just made that up) would put their tiny beaks an inch below the surface of the water, then paddle like heck, propelling themselves forward and sending a spray of water off the bow like a speed boat would do. We watched them for some time before walking to the car.
Thoroughly enjoying our day, Pedro suggested we find a place to eat out in the Gorge before going home. We chose strictly based on something near the water. That led us to a new to us restaurant called Clark & Lewie’s (a play on the famous explorers, Lewis and Clark). The place was across the Columbia River in Stephenson, so we took the Bridge of the Gods (shown in the movie Wild, with Reese Witherspoon).
We each ordered a beer and a burger. When the waitress asked how we wanted it cooked, we both asked for medium-rare. Forever, I will think of New Zealand when I order my burgers now, where you are not allowed to choose how well done you want your burger cooked.
We enjoyed a view of the paddlewheel ship American Pride docked here during one of its Columbia River cruises. We should do that one day. (hm…potential Christmas present brewing in my mind right now….) When we were stuffed to the gills, we rolled ourselves out of the pub and made the drive back home as the atmosphere brought in rain. You can see the wisps of cirrus in the photo above, which is my handy dandy quick weather forecasting tool that alerts me to changing weather. It then rained for three days, which was perfect for the lawn and garden. 🙂
Conscious Engagement 
Great pictures – love the mergansers. I did all of my hiking in the Gorge and at Eagle Creek before the 2017 fire, so I still remember it as lush and green. But it’s good to see that some of the fire restoration funds were used to get the Eagle Creek Trail back in action.
I’m glad you have those memories. I was delighted that when I published this piece, other hikes from Eagle Creek popped up at the bottom of the post. So I clicked through to see how green it used to be. Wow. Such a difference. But the good thing is that if you’re not comparing the two, the current Eagle Creek Trail is pretty amazing. Hopefully no more fires come through and allow the forest to return to its former lushness. Thanks for mentioning that the money that came in was used in part to restore the trail. I had not seen that, but I benefitted from it.
That was wonderful thanks Crystal, thanks for taking me along. So many great sights to see as well as the recovering sadness.
The recovery feels pretty good now, and the sadness is lessening. It’s hard to hold onto anger and frustration for a long time, and seeing how well Mother Nature heals herself is helpful for me to move on.
I feel less sad now when I walk on my place as well, Nature knows what to do
Thanks Crystal, You gave us some wonderful views ro appreciate! Since I developed arthritis in the feet I’d probably be hugging the cable. Years ago I didn’t need or appreciate fixed aids like that. Funny how we change our opinions!
You are so right!! This is the first time I felt really grateful for that cable. In all the hikes there before, I remember thinking how I couldn’t even imagine holding on to it. Why would I need to? And this time, I thought, “Might as well be safe…” heh heh. Yeah, my feet, knees and legs are just not as reliable as they once were.
nice post and you are so right, mother nature is ever powerful!
I think it’s appropriate to stay in awe of nature. ❤ I just love seeing so clearly how things are healing out there. And a huge family of mergansers are happy there! And a bald eagle, and probably cats and bears and coyotes too. 🙂
oh how awesome – and I also stay in awe every time I see a bald eagle, which is not often enough 🙂🙂
I went to Yellowstone in 1995 and whole areas were black and burned out. I said to the tour guide’what a shame’ he replied ‘Don’t worry, it will recover’.
That was a confident Ranger. We all know theoretically that nature will come back eventually, but I am impressed that he was able to just say that to you while looking at the black. Maybe he had fielded the comment so often that he had thought about it more than others though. 1995 would have been a sobering time to see Yellowstone. Were you looking at the remains of the 1988 fire that burned 800,000 acres? My dad fought on that fire, so the memory of it stays with me.
Wise of Pedro. If only all idiot youf who filmed their escapades were all treated as was this fire-raiser
I was impressed too. I think just having to write nearly 200 thank you letters would be a good lesson for any 15 year old. Then having to serve nearly 2,000 hours of community service! Excellent excellent. I do love the approach of putting the young man on a payment plan, then agreeing to forgive the balance if he paid for ten years. That keeps it in his mind for ten years, and teaches him about consequences, and doesn’t ask the unreasonable $36 million, which no family could ever think of paying.
There are so many dummies filming themselves with their phones doing heinous things – recently the two monsters who cut down the Gap Tree for example. I agree that they could all benfit from punishment of this kind.
Beautiful! As you might know, I adore waterfalls. Steep ledges…not so much. ;o)
I do know you love waterfalls! I can relate. I have enjoyed seeing your posts and checking off bucket list waterfalls, which I think is a brilliant idea. If you have not, I recommend the Silver Falls Park in Oregon, which boasts 10 waterfalls along a single trail, that you can walk in a day. And they are phenomenal waterfalls!!
I’m having some health issues that will pretty radically impact my hik8ng this year so I’m thrilled to see people getting out. I haven’t done much hiking in Oregon with the exception of a few beach hikes. This looks like a stunner. I went to Angel’s Rest a few years ago after fire damage and it was quite the eye-opener. Bridge of the Gods is a long time favorite from my days of going to Carson Hot Springs (pre resort) and staying in the old St Martin’s Hotel. Good drama down in the gorge. Thanks for sharing this little slice of heaven.
Bonnie, I am so sorry to hear your hiking this year will be impacted. My hope is that you are undergoing some kind of improvement regime that will make you stronger next year. I will try to make sure you see the posts of any future trails I explore. I have yet to visit a hot springs in the Gorge, and it is definitely on my bucket list. I read that they just re-opened Bonneville Hot Springs resort.