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Road Closures Due To...


TotemLake

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Right Wing Wacko listed this info in another thread:

Date: October 10, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jim McDonald, Maintenance Superintendent, (360) 676-2100 (Bellingham)

Dustin Terpening, Public Information Officer, (360) 757-5997 (Burlington)

 

Mount Baker Highway closes for the winter at noon

 

BELLINGHAM -- State Route 542, Mount Baker Highway, will close at noon today for the winter season at the Terminal Lake parking lot, above the Mount Baker Ski Lodge. As a result, Austin Pass, Heather Meadows Visitor Center, and Artist Point will not be accessible by vehicle. The highway, open to traffic only a few months each summer, opened on July 15, 2003.

 

 

A temporary closure started Wednesday, October 8, after the first significant snowfall of the season. The Washington State Department of Transportation and U.S. Forest Service determined that it is now necessary to close the road for the winter season.

 

 

"The road temperature is thirty-one degrees, we already have five-plus inches of snow, and it is continuing to snow," said Bill Joyce, WSDOT maintenance lead technician. "Snow is expected to fall throughout the day. It's time to close the road for the winter to keep drivers safe."

 

 

The Glacier Public Service Center, located further west on SR 542, will begin winter operation hours starting Sunday, October 19. During winter months, the Glacier Public Service Center is open only on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

 

 

Visitors seeking Forest Service information should contact the Mt. Baker Ranger District office at 810 State Route 20 in Sedro-Woolley, WA (phone: 360-856-5700). For current road closure information, call the Bellingham Maintenance Facility, (360) 676-2100.

 

 

For updated information on the above and other Department of Transportation traffic revisions in the Puget Sound area, call the Commuter Information Line at DOT-HIWY (206-368-4499). The Commuter Information Line may also be reached toll free in Washington at 1-800-695-ROAD (7623). TTY users can call 1-800-833-6388 and ask for (206) 515-3683.

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Oh, and......"the city of Enumclaw has declared a state of emergency and is urging all residents to stay inside and not to travel on area roads unless absolutely necessary. They're also advising anyone else not to come into town, as all three main roads in and out of town are blocked by downed trees."

 

Cin

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Oh, and......"the city of Enumclaw has declared a state of emergency and is urging all residents to stay inside and not to travel on area roads unless absolutely necessary. They're also advising anyone else not to come into town, as all three main roads in and out of town are blocked by downed trees."

 

Cin

Holy smoke! Quite a storm down there. We lost power at work for a little while, but it came back on.

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This is a bit off topic, in a way, but reading this thread gives me a lot of respect for all you folks in the mountains! Out here in the flatlands, we do occasionally have roads closed for snow, but usually only a day or two. Major roads, that is. When we get a good blizzard like last week, the 10 and 15 foot drifts will close a side road for a couple of weeks. We got 8" last night, and that's a lot for us, but no wind, no drifts. Still puts a damper on caching, but nothing like what you have to put up with all winter!

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A little OT but still relevant to the more avid hiker...

 

King 5 - Forest Service warns hikers about Pacific Crest Trail

 

There is a 39 mile section in Washington that is now rated for highly skilled hikers due to washouts causing a section of the route to be rerouted along steep, rocky and eroded trails northwest of Lake Wenatchee.

requires login...can you paste the article? Thanks.

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It wasn't much really

 

Posted without permission:

 

Forest Service warns hikers about Pacific Crest Trail

 

06:36 PM PST on Wednesday, March 10, 2004

 

Associated Press

 

LAKE WENATCHEE, Wash. – Hikers traveling the Pacific Crest Trail between Mexico and Canada may find the toughest going in central Washington this summer.

 

A flood-ravaged, 39-mile section of the route will be rerouted along steep, rocky and eroded trails northwest of Lake Wenatchee.

 

The U.S. Forest Service is recommending that only highly skilled hikers use the detour, which may be impassible if rivers are running too high.

 

The route along five trails and a dirt Forest Service road in the Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee Ranger Districts is considered too difficult for horses.

 

About 300 people a year hike the entire 2,650-mile-long trail, most of them starting at the Mexican border in the spring and ending at the Canadian border in the fall. Thousands more hike sections of the trail each year.

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Mountain Loop Highway

 

OPEN to Barlow Pass on Verlot side.

 

Road washout 150’x30’wide x 8’ deep at MP 35.6, passable debris on road at MP 41 and active slide before Road 49. Another road washout near Elliot Creek.

 

Mt. Loop Hwy damaged by flooding and is one lane in several spots with STOP signs posted. Proceed with extreme caution. Mt. Loop inaccessible at 18.6 miles from Darrington with washouts on both sides of Road 4080.

 

The bad news...... Estimated date for repair.... sometime in 2005

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A little OT but still relevant to the more avid hiker...

 

King 5 - Forest Service warns hikers about Pacific Crest Trail

 

There is a 39 mile section in Washington that is now rated for highly skilled hikers due to washouts causing a section of the route to be rerouted along steep, rocky and eroded trails northwest of Lake Wenatchee.

More info on this particular subject and it affects several trails.

 

Per a KING5 article:

 

Many of Washington's favorite trails and forest groves will be closed this summer in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

 

There are several roads, bridges and trails that were washed out on the west side of the Cascades near Darrington and Hamilton.

 

KING

Many forest roads and trails were washed out during last October's flood.

What took nature a few days to destroy will take years to repair.

 

The White Chuck River bridge was swept away in the October 2003 floods.

 

"One of the reasons we work here is we enjoy seeing what nature throws at you every year. And nature threw us a big one on Oct. 20," said Gary Paull, U.S. Forest Service.

 

There was record-setting flooding that left hundreds of people homelss as the flood waters rose to the rooftops.

 

The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie Forest was hammered.

 

"It's going to affect everybody. People out of state come up here to use these roads," said Robert Nickerson from Darrington.

 

Gone are many of the popular hiking trails near Darrington. More than 40 backcountry roads are gone and more than 30 miles of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.

 

The 3-mile walk along the Sauk River is wiped out.

 

"If they're coming to the Darrington district, they'll be disappointed because most of the roads leading to the trailheads are closed," said Wayne Hamilton, U.S. Forest Service.

 

The White Chuck Road leads to some of the most popular hiking trails in the forest – Kennedy Hot Springs and Glacier Peak.

 

But all of them are off-limits this summer and the Pacific Crest Trail has been rerouted to the east side of Glacier Peak.

 

Overall damage exceeds $10 million and the lost recreational opportunities are priceless.

 

"To put everything back is impossible to predict. We're going to have to work on this piecemeal as the dollars come to us," said Ron DeHart, U.S. Forest Service.

 

While some road repair funding has already been approved, it is not clear if the federal government will pay to fix the trails.

 

Resources

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests

Many campgrounds are still open.

 

To find out what is affected, log on to the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie Natioinal Forests Web site. There are some images of some of the trails that are damaged on this web site as well as a detour map of the trails and backroads.

Edited by TotemLake
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yeah that's a huge bummer!!!!1 I had been plannign on hitting those trails. Never had. dadgum!

 

Well, I did the round lake lost lake ridge trail that willl go to lake Brne. I was FTF for a virutal up there that had been put out the year before. 14 miles RT and 5000 ft elevation gain...but that also included an optional side trip...600 foot drop to Round lake.

 

Goat Lake is one of mh longtime favorites...Elliot Creek road. I don'tknow if that's closed or not.

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Yes we have three caches up in that area. We saw a similar article in the Seattle PI this morning.

 

The Old Sauk Trail mentioned in the article is where our Old Soul Trail cache is pleaced. Fortunately, there was a finder of this cache already this year. He mentioned that the trail was washed out in one area but you could walk around the damage.

 

I know that the road from Granite Falls to Barlow pass is open now. Barlow Pass is where you park to go to Monte Christo. The road IS closed for a section between Barlow Pass and Darrington. I don't know how much of this section is effected.

 

The other two caches we have (North Fork Falls and Beaver Lake Trail) may or may not be effected. I'm thinking it may be time to drive up and check them out. Maybe the terrain rating on these caches will be increased to five stars :D .

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Mudslides close N. Cascades Highway

 

09:08 PM PDT on Monday, August 16, 2004

 

KING5.com

 

 

NEWHALEM, Wash. - State Highway 20 - the North Cascades Highway - has been closed by mudslides at the site of one of the state's wildfires.

 

Officials said three slides occurred about 6 p.m. west of Rainy Pass at mileposts 150, 153 and 156.

 

Cindy Reichelt, a spokeswoman for the Mebee fire in the area, says the slides occurred shortly after a rain-hail-and-lightning storm moved through the area.

 

No injuries have been reported, but dozens of tourists and firefighters reportedly are trapped between the slides.

 

The exact extent of the slides isn't immediately known, and it's not known how long it might take to clear them.

 

In addition, nine new forest fires are burning near Winthrop.

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