The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-09-04
WEST FORK
REGION APPEALS
LOCAL MEN FISH ON THE STREAM
All Who Visit District Return EnthuSiaS-
tic Supporters Of the Proposed Road
Across Forest Reservoir

Across Forest Reservoir
The lure of the scenery and the ex-
cellent fishing in the region of Lost
Lake and on the West Fork of Hood
river has taken local citizens and vis-
| itors from the neighboring cities into
/ the wilds of the mountain forests there
since the Hood River valley has been
inhabited. Indeed. the country was
penetrated at an early date by hunters
and trappers. In the early part of the
/ nineteenth century members of the
Hudson Bay Co. took toll of the fur
| bearing animals and killed the numer-
Gus deer and bear. Trails with blazes
on spruce, hemlocks, frs and pine may
be seen threading the dense forests
| there today. One of these mountain
and forest highways, where the woods
man is as much at home as the city
man on the streets of his accustomed
baiiwick, was cut more than a quarter
of century ago by James Langille,
pioneer homesteader of the Mount
| Hood district. While scarce, game still
abounds in this mountain district west
of Mount Hood, and deer and bear are
| killed there each year by the valleys
experienced hunters. However, at
this season of the year, the deer seem
far more plentiful among the brakes
of the Columbia further to the west.
| Colonies of beaver may still be found
on the headwaters of the West Fork
and its tributary streams. On Elk
/ xnh
creek flows into the stream, a large
number of beaver have taken up their
residence and are telling trees, some
of them a foot and a half in diameter,
peeling the bark from them for their
winter food. An occasional otter may
be seen in the streams, and deer trails
may be seen by the scores.
No fisherman, hunter or mere sight
seer ever returns from this district
that he does not become an ardent
booster for the highway that has been
proposed to follow the route of trail
that has been cut by the United States
Forestry service. And no boosters
have become more enthusiastic than
the members of party composed of
Judge A. j. Derby, V. Winchell, Fred
r. Newly and Joe ID. Thomson, who
penetrated further into the district last
week than any other fishermen of the
year
These local men left Hood River
Sunday morning. August q. motoring
to the home of Raymond Markley in
the big Royal tourist car of l.. E.
Foust. There they were met by Mr..
Markedly, who transported their camp
outfit for distance of IL miles to
point on the banks of Elk creek about
a half mile from its confluence with
the West Fork proper. The last half
of this journey, with the exception of
the last half mile, where trail was
made through the virgin forest down to
the water level, was over the trail cut
by the government two summers ago.
From the junction of the trail made by
the campers and the government trail,
passage several feet wide, with boul-
ders removed, logs cut away and un-
derbrush slashed, the distance to
Welch's, a resort on the headwaters of
the Sandy, can be covered in less than
three hours of walking, and the way in
no place traverses a grade of more
than five per cent Every one who has
ever traversed this trail, the members
of last weeks party included, grows
indignant when it is realized that but
for the action of the Portland water
board in securing an injunction and
prohibiting the work. the government
would have appropriated the sum of
$3.50, 600 toward completing the work of
making wagon road through the
beautiful district. Members of the re-
cent fishing party planned on trip to
Welch's. However, on account of the
excellent fishing, they were unable to
leave the pools. On last Thursday Mr..
Newly, Mr.. Winchell and Mr.. Thomi-
son walked from their camp to the
camp maintained by the government on
Jones creek and there leaving the main
trail passed through the gap in the
range dividing the West Fork water
shed from the Lost Lake country. They
walked to the top of Huckleberry
Mountain and thence down to the north
end of the lake, where near the inlet
of that body of water the government
maintain rangers camp. From
Huckleberry Mountain, where the bush
of this luscious fruit grows luxuriantly
and where the berries are thicker than
snowhakes in a blizzard or grouse in
hunters paradise during the closed
season, an ideal view may be had Of
Mount Hood. The old hoary peak,
which seemed last week to be bearer
than any member of the party had ever
seen it, assumes an altogether different
picture from the west side. One is able
to see the huge crags that stick up like
monster warts from the southwest side
of the slope-big brown warts they
were last week, when the covering of
white was all gone and when the ice of
the glaciers appeared deep blue, with
here and there an amethystine tint de-
noting the gashes Of the crevases. And
the ice crags of the seracs scintillated
in the bold rays of the evening sun
shine.
At the outlet of the lake near the
northeastern end of it triangular boun-
daries are the evidences of veritable
tent city, where Hood River people are
continually going and coming during
the summer months. The fishing party
met A. /. Mason and Frank 2. Friday
at this point, and were forced to use
no small amount of diplomacy in ward
| ing off lecture on proper methods of
road construction. They had walked to
the lake, or else, if they had not been
too tired from a humping, the assem-
bled people would have feasted on the
erudition garnered from their expert
ences. C. A. Bell, who returned from
the lake aboard bouncing wagon, de-
clares that hereafter he will take the
trip on horseback, and that he thinks
the animal will be "Shank's Mare"
The return from the lake by Mr..
Newly, Mr.. Winchell and MIR. Thomi-
son was made over Butcher Knife
mountain. or rather through the gap
south of it. This mountain received its
peculiar appellation several years ago,
when "pete" Odell and Jake Lenz dis
covered a rusted butcher knife on its
summit. 1t is supposed that the knife
had been lost by some hunter.
From the top of the range the outing
party was able to see the peak of
Mount jefferson south of Mount Hood.
The waters of Lost Lake rippled in the