Historic Hood River
Ice Destruction
2-27-2019
Notes
Continuing with my own photos which I am contributing to our museum archive:
In January 2012 an ice storm did serious damage to parts of Hood River County. At certain elevations the mix of ice and wind was ideal to snap tops off a large percentage of trees, and uproot others. At these elevations virtually every tree was damaged. This example is on Post Canyon Road, just a few hundred yards from the end of the pavement.
In the aftermath of the storm the county embarked on a major salvage logging effort in county forests, and local mountain bikers mobilized to rebuild the trail network that had been devastated. It will be many years before the forest is fully recovered, but the trail network is more robust than it was before the storm.
L.E.
I remember driving through the Gorge after this event. It appeared there was a line on Wind Mtn, and all the trees from that line up were snapped off.
nels
Amazing shot Arthur. I remember the storm but had no idea how serious the damage was in the forest. Those are some big trees.
Arthur
I can only imagine what it sounded like in this forest as these trees came down. Many 12-24" diameter trees came down intact, ending at a giant root ball. I found one mature fir tree that had split lengthwise right down the middle for more than 20 feet.
I wonder if there were a few big gusts that did all this damage, or if the trees each succumbed individually as the weight of the ice became too much.
nels
Talking with an old state surveyor, his greatest fear was being caught in a forest when the wind came up.
Arlen Sheldrake
the wife’s father related that dealing with tree fall was NOT his favorite task as a Tillamook logger…..will never forget his cutting up a double-trunk fir in our Portland back yard as he dropped the trees from the stump and the stump SLAMMING back into the ground…..