The Elevator Shaft is a historical trail that is a short direct route up to Multnomah Basin, Cougar Rock, and Nesika Lodge. This cache is for experienced outdoor adventurers. Practice your route finding skills, and scramble 1000+ feet up a mossy boulder field!
Start at Multnomah Falls and take the Larch Mountain Trail up to the second switchback, then head east on Gorge Trail 400. In a half mile, you will come out of the trees and look up a huge boulder field. This is the Elevator Shaft. There is a trail. It starts at the very eastern edge of the boulder field, see the coordinates and picture. If you cannot find the start of the trail, just do something else for today. The trail switchbacks up over 1000 feet. Sometimes it is obvious, sometimes you will have to look for clues. There are places where you will have to navigate around blowdown and poison oak. A very important keystone species lives on this slope- the pika. You will hear them peeping, an almost electronic whistling sound, but you will not likely see them.
The cache is (an ammo can) at the top left center of the elevator, under a flat rock shelf- visible as you approach rom below. Check out the spoiler picture. If you want to continue up and make a loop, you are going to have to climb some more, oh 400 feet or so, and navigate on steep unmarked trails through the burn zone, and up to the flat plateau of Multnomah Basin, which is a mosaic of burned and mature forest. After reaching the basin, you can then make your way east to Cougar Rock and Nesika Lodge, or head west, back over to the Larch Mountain Trail, which will take you back to the parking lot at Multnomah Falls. Some warnings: *Don't do this in wet weather! I was up here on a dry sunny day and the rocks were still slippery on the upper shaded portion of the slope. *Bring a topo map (see link to related web page, or attached picture)