Location of Hike: Up the South Fork of the Clackamas River and up part of Memaloose Creek
Weather during Hike: Mostly overcast and cool
Hiking Buddies: Don
Start Time: 9:30 AM End Time: 1:00 PM
Hike Distance: 5 miles?
We crossed the South Fork near where it dumps out into the Clackamas-over a logjam which was pretty easy.
We then explored down near the river where there used to be a house of the caretaker. We found an old cable crossing point, some foundation for a small building, and even an old fire hydrant!
From there, we proceeded back up the “road” that parallels the river.
The pipeline is buried under this road and it is visible in a few places. We passed through several tunnels, saw two beautiful falls-the
higher of which has to be over 200′ tall and rivals anything you can find in the gorge. Then at the end of the trip we saw the dam and collector where the pipeline started. Back down the trail and across an old bridge just North of where Memaloose creek joins the South fork and up Memaloose creek.
Saw some more old stuff, including what looked like a settling box.
Continued up the creek, through one last tunnel and then climbed up out of the canyon to an old road and back to the car.
It was one of the best days hiking for me, since it combined two of my passions – hiking and history. It was really cool to see all the old stuff, and the waterfalls were absolutely gorgeous. I’m planning on making a return trip……