Widby Loop 4
Route 2
"This Photo was taken of a car and travel trailer traveling down around one of the Widby Loops headed east on the Lower Columbia Highway 30. Three years later the loops were taken out and a new highway was built from the intersection of Wauna, Oregon ,westward to the top of the Clatsop Crest (2 1/2 miles) where the Bradley State Park is located .
"In 1914, J.L. Widby was resident engineer of the OSHD during the construction of these loops, and an assistant, Earl Withycombe, prepared a sign reading 'Widby Loops,' which was nailed to a tree nearby."
Bradley Park - Wauna Section, September 3, 1952; Columbia River Highway; Oregon State Highway Department - Construction Division
Posted by Larry Humphrey to Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway on February 7, 2021https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3897875773596110&set=gm.903104887146367&idorvanity=483015922488601 Accessed: November 13, 2022
Kirk J. Poole, February 9, 2021:
This is most likely Loop 4. No other loop goes downhill and bends this way to the right...I don't say Loop 2 because the grade at the loop is flat.
Stephen Kemper, February 9, 2021:
...seeing the guard rail answers some questions I had. This photo shows how there was both cable and wooden rail. In early postcard pictures, there was 2 rails and no cable visible. At some point, they lost one of the rails and got a cable. There's no wooden rails attached anywhere now. When I saw the first post in the top loop, I noticed the nails that used to hold the wooden rail and thought it was strange there was only one rail and a cable. I didn't know what the guard rail looked like when they bypassed it, but this picture shows that.
Ken Lantz, February 9, 2021:
Still some guard rail on the upper loop.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/483015922488601/posts/673885570068301 Accessed: November 13, 2022
Photo by HarwoodPosted by Kevin Walsh to Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway, September 25, 2019https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10217892086525386&set=gm.542119259911600&idorvanity=483015922488601
A. F. Litt, November 5, 2022
There is quite a bit of debate on the location of the Harwood photo above, but I feel fairly confident that this is looking eastbound from Loop 4. The wiggle Kirk mentions may have been straightened out at one point. I'll know more when I finally get down to Loop 4. Kind of kicking myself for not scrambling down when we were at Loop 2, but it was late in the day.
Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway
Kevin Walsh, September 26, 2019:
Kirk, I bought these at postcard shows in the 80s and 90s. I have a whole box of CRH images, but I pulled out just these loopy sections for now (ignoring the Rowena Loops), knowing that you’re tackling Widby soon.
Ken Hellweg, January 9, 2020:
Kirk, I think that’s our rock wall at the bottom of loop 4. See it?
Kirk J. Poole, January 9, 2020:
I see it! It could be in there...yes! ...after the final loop (#4). The wall was a pleasant surprise! But, remember how tight Loop 4 is. The smallest of all the loops. That's why I'm laying back a little on this. I can't see a wall in the early photo. Loop 4 doesn't have that wiggle in the road as it egresses away to the east from the loop. If this were Loop 4, it's way too wide of a loop that is as small as a switch-back would be.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10217892086525386&set=gm.542119259911600&idorvanity=483015922488601 Accessed: November 5, 2020
Photo by Ken Hellweg, 2019https://www.facebook.com/groups/483015922488601/posts/542119259911600
Past and Present Views Along the Columbia River Highway
Kirk J. Poole, September 7, 2020:
I need to walk Loop 4 still to the end of the road further down the hill. I also need a good measurement on that large masonry wall just to the east of Loop 4.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/483015922488601/posts/780790479377809 Accessed: November 4, 2022
Photo by Ken Hellweg, 2019https://www.facebook.com/groups/483015922488601/posts/542119259911600