The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1921-10-06
LOST LAKE
ROAD COMPLETE
GOAL OF A DECADE Is ATTAINED
Goal Now Closed to Traffic Because of
Soft Fills to be Surfaced
Next Year

ry Service Thursday completed grading
the Lost Lake Highway, and a goal
toward which Hood River Valley citi-
Zens have earnestly striven for the last
decade was attained.
No ceremony marked the ending of
the work which has been in progress
for the last two years. When the last
huge charge of I. N. L. was exploded
removing the last barrier of boulder
and giant fir stump, members of the
20-man forestry crew paused on the
lakes edge and gave an huzza that
echoed and reechoed through the for
est. Then they cleared away the de-
bris, and the new road was open, and
one of the gems of the Oregon Nation
al Forest was made accessible to mo-
tourists of the Hood River valley or
their visitors from Portland over the
Columbia River Highway. The for
estry crew broke camp Saturday. clos
ing the new dirt grade with barri-
cade of felled trees as sthey left the
district. Stanley G. Walters, chief
| forester of the district, states that the
road was closed to prevent motor
traffic over the soft fills during the
rainy season. 1t is planned that the
new grade of approximately five miles
shall be surfaced with crushed rock
next summer. Road builders this year
unearthed a quarry of decomposed
granite, which, it is declared, will
make an excellent surfacing. The cost
of grading the stretch, which pene-
trates a district of magnificent frs and
cedars, was about Sl8, 600.
Some l6 years ago. at the instance
of d. |. Stone, whose Bonny Brae
farm lies between the lake branch and
west fork of Hood river near their con-
| fluence, the Commercial Club raised a
sum of money for opening a wagon
road to the lake. A. ID. Moe, secre.
tary at that time, had charge of dis
bursting the funds. Mr.. Stone was
made foreman of construction. But
the original road was little more than
trail, and in a few seasons it had
overgrown in places with underbrush,
and in others the torrents of winter
feled trees blocked 1t. When automo-
biles, instead of the early day horse
drawn mountain hack, became the
mode of travel for outing parties. Lost
Lake again was lost. 1t slipped back
into the wilderness of virign forests
until the Hood River County Game
Protective Association became active
in promoting plans for a reconstructed
county highway to connect with the
road just completed by the forestry
service. The late ID. Mcdonald, pres
ident of the Commercial Club at the
time the wagon road was opened. was
president of the game association when
the plans were given prominence. He
persevered in behalf of the road. His
successor, J. II. Fredricy, now the as
sociation's president, attacked the
problem with renewed enthusiasm.
Through efforts of the game associa.
tion more than So. 600 was raised for
the county link of the road by private
subscription. County appropriations in
the past three years have reached more
than SIS, 600. The eounty's part of the
highway, with. Commissioner j. o..
Hannum in active charge, was cut
completely through to the forest boun.
Diary last year. Additional grading
and tidying up was accomplished this
summer.
In the early season the county road
to the Lost Lake district was appeal
ing, but as fall came on the heavy
traffic of automobiles, loaded with fish
ermen and blackberry and huckleberry
harvesters, soon cut the soft earth full
of chuckholes and worked the fine ash
soil into deep dust. BY the first of
September the Lost Lake Highway
was, in the words of motorists who
negotiated it, abominable. Even a
fiivver truck, utilized by the Dead
Point trout hatchery in distributing
| fry on headwater tributaries, could
not Withstand the dust filled ruts, and
after trip to the west fork had to be
towed to the city for extensive repairs.
Despite these obstacles, a remark
ably large number have visited the
Lost Lake district this summer. Mr..
Walters estimates that 5000 automO-
biles. carrying an average of FIVE pass
engers, have visited the fOrested dis
trict. Huckleberries and blackberries
by the thousands of gallons have been
harvested from the vines that grow
luxuriantly in hundred-acre patches.
The county's best trout fishing is
afforded in the west fork and lake
branch. The lake. itself, under Ger
tain conditions is an anglers paradise.
The inlet stream and its tributaries
nave en- ClOHGu 70 ll5uillks ut DAabI
Fish and Game Commission has eX-
pended substantial sum in clearing
out debris, and trout, it is said, will
propagate rapidly there under natural
conditions.
The Forestry Service for a full 10
years has had its eye on Lost Lake.
T. II. Sherrard. supervisor of the Ore
gon National Forest, and fellow Off
cials. following a tour Of exploration,
declared in 1914 that the lake district
offered possibilities for one Of the
states most popular Fairgrounds. The
cooperation Of the Forestry Service
with local officials dated from that
moment. At that time a large portion
Of the shore line timber was owned by
the Oregon Lumber Co. These tracts.
however, were exchanged for timber
in other sections Of the national forest,
large block Of which was purchased
from the government by the lumber
company and on which logging opera
tioms are now in progress.
The Forestry Service had plotted the
lakeside wooded area into small tracts,
which are being offered 10 the public
for permanent summer camps at a
nominal rental. Some Of the choicest
locations will be reserved as a play
grOnnd for the general public. Ulti-