The Pratt is Tough Going

We went into the Pratt filming this last Saturday. Definitely tough going. Lots of brush grown up, especially in the area where the trail leaves the river and connects with the railroad grade (area between "Halfway House" and "Big Trees" sign). Might want to consider long pants if going up the Pratt. After the Big Trees sign, it's clear going.

If you cross the river you are going to find some really rough brush to get to the trail. The trail is hard to find that goes to the river. We did not go on the section between Gateway Bridge and the Pratt but suspect that last mile (old logging road) is probably pretty brushy as well.

Whole thing kind of speaks well for fall and winter Pratt expeditions.

Middle Fork Trail is Accessible

The road is in great shape to the Middle Fork trail.  Graded and smooth, it hasn't looked this good in a long time.

The Middle Fork trail is a great hike right now.  There are a few stream slide outs that you have to get through but nothing unreasonable.  I did the stretch from the Gateway bridge to Dingford Crossing and it was great.  Get out and enjoy!

BTW:  The worst stream wash out is the first one you come to.  The pink flags are a little sparse, so work your way across the sand and rock and remember the trail out is about the same level as the trail in.

Summer is Film Season

For project Sand Shed, now is the time to start filming. We may have a shorter window than we thought with some rumors that the MF road will be closed in mid September for more repairs through December.

Expect more news on filming and film dates in July and August.

The Road is now Open to the Campground

The Middle Fork Road is now open to the Campground. There is no easy way to cross the Taylor river yet (the bridge is really out) even on foot but the Middle Fork trailhead and the gateway bridge are all accessible.

We've started filming for Sand Shed

Yesterday we shot about 35 minutes of film for the documentary. This is our first real film. It took all day. Morning was up in the Middle Fork getting some solid "B-roll" footage while we spent the afternoon shooting the truck going to the Valley.

The most exciting thing though is Jan Hollenbeck, of the Forest Service, found ten tapes of loggers who worked for the North Bend Timber Company in the 1920's and 1930's being interviewed in 1989. I was able to digitize half of them on Friday and they are great. I have to get back to get the other half. Thanks, Jan, these are outstanding!!

Road is Open to 7.5

Middle Fork road is open to MP 7.5 (about 1/2 mile past the Bessemer mountain road with the blue gate). The road is in great shape and there are tons of people in the MF.

The new gate is at the boundary of the National Forest. Rumor has it the Forest Service is going to open to the road to the campground by Memorial Day.

The next step is to fix the bridge over the Taylor River. It's in pretty bad shape. This link on the Forest Service website shows the problem (this is the North bank of the river:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/local-resources/images/MFSnoqRoadDamage.jpg

Same rumor says the USFS is going to go in to do the repairs in August.

Middle Fork Road is Open

Just got word (second hand) that the Middle Fork Road is open to about Mile 7.5. This is about a half mile past the Bessemer Road with the blue gate.