Help TKO reopen the iconic Ruckel Creek Trail, PHMG Crew #8!

We've only got 3 folks signed up for next Tuesday so far so I'm hoping some PHMG's can shake loose your schedules and the volunteers at TKO a hand in reopening this iconic trail!

We are now almost 3 miles from the trailhead and it's a four mile trail so we have a chance of reopening this iconic trail this year ... if it weren't for the fact that as we bring back to life more and more trail it's a longer and longer hike to get to the worksite!

We've been continuing our Tuesday crews up Ruckell Creek and progress has been steady. A couple weeks ago, Kathrin, Oliver, and I scouted all the way to the tall unburnt trees on Benson Plateau, our ultimate goal. It was weird after the hot exposed burnt area to enter a cool damp un-burnt forest with a high canopy. So we now know exactly what is ahead of us.

Currently we are working on a tricky set of switchbacks about a mile after the start of the high meadows. This tricky area is a bunch of short steep switchbacks in the middle of an unstable rock slide. There are huge trees down and some poison oak that we've now mostly cleared. Once we finish this tough section we are home free to the top. There are lots of trees down further on because it hasn't been touched since the 2017 burn. But cutting trees is fun and the underlying tread should be better than the lower sections. And we didn't encounter any PO higher up!

IMPORTANT! You must sign up at the Trailkeepers of Oregon website to participate. Click here to register with TKO.

Parking. We will be parking at the parking lot near the fish hatchery just past the highway exit.

Trailwork Tuesdays. If you can't make the next trail crew, NO WORRIES! TKO plans on running trail parties to restore Ruckell every Tuesday through May, plus many others. Checkout the all of TKO's upcoming work parties by clicking here.