Larch Mountain: Field Survey #1

While the clearing of the ancient forests of the world is arguably among the greatest tragedies of the 19th Century, those who labored in isolated logging camps in the great dark forests of the Pacific Northwest were likely unaware of the long term consequences of their actions as they faced the daily challenges of a job that, according to the 2019 US Bureau of Labor Statistics Report, still ranks number one on the list of most dangerous occupations in the U.S.

On May 15, 2020, I devised a "Field Survey" with the intention of locating and mapping the remnants of 18th and 19th century logging operations on Larch Mountain, an extinct shield volcano marking the western edge of the Cascade Range near the town of Corbett, approximately 25 miles east of Portland, Oregon.

In order to complete the survey, I built a custom topographic map of the area using ArcGis, and downloaded it to the Avenza Maps app on my phone so that I could follow my progress and mark locations in real time on the map, even though I was out of cell service range for most of the trek.

Being careful to double check my progress using a printed map, an accurate compass and set of pace counting beads, I set out to follow a creek up the mountain to the end of an abandoned logging road that I followed to Upper Larch Mtn Road. From there, I traversed along the road until I came to the famous horseshoe bend at the eastern flank of the mountain, and dove back into the brush and traversed to the west as I gradually descended the northern flank of Larch Mtn back toward my truck.

Once home, I uploaded the Avenza map with all the data I'd collected in the field into ArcGIS to complete the final map, and added it here with the photographic documentation of each site.

It was a great day, and I was encouraged to see my complex GIS Field Survey performing as expected.

I hope to complete additional surveys in the future.