You mean they are patroling clear up to Shale Lake now and require special permits even there?! You know, from a runners standpoint, this is nuts since a trail runner makes no impact at all. Time to grab the muskets and take the country back!
Ha ha. Yeah, when Dennis Poulin, Tom Snuffin (Cornvallis), Cory Crebbin (cjwhat) and I did Jefferson last year, we had two rangers check our permits at Pamelia Lake and then the next day again at Shale Lake.
You need to contact the Detroit Ranger Station and get a special permit to go in at Pamelia Lake. I think you mention a bit about this on your page but the area is restricted by quota and rangers do patrol Pamelia Lake and the area around Shale Lake to make sure you have the required permit. You can only request it one month or less in advance and the camp spots go quickly during Summer. This is in addition to the NW Forest Pass. Yes, these are a hassle but this is a high impact area and the lakes are worth keeping as pristine as possible.
Milk Creek Crossing via Woodpecker Ridge Trailhead
It would be worth mentioning something about the crossing at milk creek. Your directions say follow the woodpecker ridge trial (1 3/4 miles) and turn right on the PCT then follow your map. Your map, however, doesn't show the first 2 1/2 miles of the PCT which included a tricky crossing at milk creek. I got lost here and spent about 2 hours trying to find the PCT once I hit milk creek.
As the PCT makes it's way down to milk creek it disappears in the washed out creek basin. From this point it looks like there could be three trails; one going up the creek, one going down the creek, and one going up the creek on the other side of the basin. None of these are the correct trail. The PCT on the other side is pretty much directly across the creek (perpendicular) and continues in that direction, but you can't see it from the other side and there are no cairns or markers of any kind.
I'm not going to go through all the things I tried that didn't work, but I finally found the trail by heading down the creek about a tenth of a mile and scrambling up the bank after I found a place to cross. From that point I had to do some serious bushwacking back up the creek through a couple hundred feet of dense shrubs before I finally found the trial. From there I headed east and found a couple bivy sites and the turn off to pamelia lake within the first quarter mile.
I got lost because I didn't print a topo of this crossing, figuring the directions and the other map to be sufficient. Lesson learned.
I'm sorry you had problems finding the trail across Milk Creek. That's really brushy and steep in there so I can imagine it was a pain! Last November's storms were pretty bad for washing out trails and changing streambeds. I've uploaded the rest of the map from the trailhead so the alignment can be seen. Thanks for the comments - I appreciate your input. Don
Don Nelsen - Feb 8, 2005 9:51 pm - Hasn't voted
Untitled CommentYou mean they are patroling clear up to Shale Lake now and require special permits even there?! You know, from a runners standpoint, this is nuts since a trail runner makes no impact at all. Time to grab the muskets and take the country back!
dn
Brian Jenkins - Feb 9, 2005 12:43 pm - Voted 10/10
Untitled CommentHa ha. Yeah, when Dennis Poulin, Tom Snuffin (Cornvallis), Cory Crebbin (cjwhat) and I did Jefferson last year, we had two rangers check our permits at Pamelia Lake and then the next day again at Shale Lake.
Brian Jenkins - Feb 8, 2005 9:34 pm - Voted 10/10
Untitled CommentYou need to contact the Detroit Ranger Station and get a special permit to go in at Pamelia Lake. I think you mention a bit about this on your page but the area is restricted by quota and rangers do patrol Pamelia Lake and the area around Shale Lake to make sure you have the required permit. You can only request it one month or less in advance and the camp spots go quickly during Summer. This is in addition to the NW Forest Pass. Yes, these are a hassle but this is a high impact area and the lakes are worth keeping as pristine as possible.
awilsondc - Jun 24, 2007 9:47 pm - Voted 10/10
Milk Creek Crossing via Woodpecker Ridge TrailheadIt would be worth mentioning something about the crossing at milk creek. Your directions say follow the woodpecker ridge trial (1 3/4 miles) and turn right on the PCT then follow your map. Your map, however, doesn't show the first 2 1/2 miles of the PCT which included a tricky crossing at milk creek. I got lost here and spent about 2 hours trying to find the PCT once I hit milk creek.
As the PCT makes it's way down to milk creek it disappears in the washed out creek basin. From this point it looks like there could be three trails; one going up the creek, one going down the creek, and one going up the creek on the other side of the basin. None of these are the correct trail. The PCT on the other side is pretty much directly across the creek (perpendicular) and continues in that direction, but you can't see it from the other side and there are no cairns or markers of any kind.
I'm not going to go through all the things I tried that didn't work, but I finally found the trail by heading down the creek about a tenth of a mile and scrambling up the bank after I found a place to cross. From that point I had to do some serious bushwacking back up the creek through a couple hundred feet of dense shrubs before I finally found the trial. From there I headed east and found a couple bivy sites and the turn off to pamelia lake within the first quarter mile.
I got lost because I didn't print a topo of this crossing, figuring the directions and the other map to be sufficient. Lesson learned.
Don Nelsen - Jun 24, 2007 11:37 pm - Hasn't voted
Thanks for the info!I'm sorry you had problems finding the trail across Milk Creek. That's really brushy and steep in there so I can imagine it was a pain! Last November's storms were pretty bad for washing out trails and changing streambeds. I've uploaded the rest of the map from the trailhead so the alignment can be seen. Thanks for the comments - I appreciate your input. Don