Columbia Land Trust

1351 Officers' Row, Vancouver, Washington 98661
360.696.0131 voice, 360.696.1847 fax

A step-by-step process: Building a gorge trail on Washington rim Wednesday, June 2, 1999 By Terry Richard of The Oregonian staff WASHOUGAL, Wash. -- Dan Huntington led the way to the edge of Cape Horn, a 1,200-foot-high promontory that commands a stunning view of the Columbia River Gorge 25 miles east of Vancouver. An ardent advocate for a gorge trail on the Washington side, Huntington poked through the last bit of underbrush and stood on a cliff 400 feet above the highway below. The gorge's famous wind greeted him with its full fury, nearly knocking him back into the brush. "We like to say the wind is strong enough to blow the hair off a dog's back," said Huntington, a local realtor and a gorge resident from the nearby community of Prindle. Glenn Lamb, who joined Huntington on the exploratory hike, said the future trail will have at least one attraction, in addition to its outstanding view. "This will be a trail where you can advertise no bugs," said Lamb, a Vancouver, Wash., resident and executive director of Vancouver's Columbia Land Trust. Slowly but surely, private citizens are working with the federal Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area to acquire enough land to build a trail atop Washington's rim of the gorge. The future Cape Horn segment of a proposed 45-mile Washougal-to-Stevenson Trail received a major boost recently when the Columbia Land Trust reached an agreement to purchase 12 acres that stretch for a half-mile atop the cape. The land would be owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service, which would build a trail with views across the river to Multnomah Falls. The land trust still needs to raise $90,000 to complete the acquisition. The major share of the purchase price was donated by Broughton and Mary Bishop, whose family owns Pendleton Woolen Mills in Washougal. Lamb declined to reveal the full purchase price. "A trail up here should become one of the most popular in the west end of the gorge," Huntington said. Unfortunately for hikers, the Cape Horn Trail will not be ready in time to celebrate National Trails Day on Saturday. Huntington, however, will lead the first public hike on the trail June 12 as part of the Friends of the Columbia River Gorge's spring wildflower hike series. In addition to the land that should come into public ownership this summer, another private parcel lies along the trail and needs to be acquired. Huntington has received permission from the land owners for the June 12 hike. "I'd love to be able to say the public can hike up there," said Mike Ferris, spokesman for the gorge scenic area. "But in reality, it will take three to five years to get a trail built." Although money is available, land acquisition by the Forest Service can be an excruciating process because of limited staffing, appraisal and title searches and the challenge of agreeing on a price. Even when the last piece of the puzzle is purchased atop Cape Horn, the route of a trail must take into consideration native plants and animals. "We even need to survey for mollusks and slugs," Ferris said. "When you're searching for 33 species (of those creatures alone), it slows the environmental assessment process." To join Huntington's guided hike atop Cape Horn, contact the Friends of the Columbia River Gorge at 241-3762. To make a donation to the Columbia Land Trust, call 360-696-0131. You can reach Terry Richard at 221-8222 or by e-mail at terryrichard@news.oregonian.com.

More News...