[pct-l] RE- Article About Stehekin Valley Road

[Dick Bingham]

Greetings everyone

Regarding ===>
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:52:36 -0700
From: "Postholer" <public at postholer.com>
Subject: [pct-l]  Article About Stehekin Valley Road
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Message-ID: <045801c7cee4$974ba190$1f802e3f at Snoopy>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
      reply-type=original

> it would seem that routing the road further away from the river would
> have less impact than right next to the river, where erosion and flooding
> can collapse it

It seems the recently non-existent road is probably in the best interest of
the forest and those willing to walk into it.

> The fire was in a heavily timbered area on a dangerously steep hillside;
> with no road, access for firefighters and equipment was limited.

Fear tactic, right? We're talking about Stehekin? Accessable by foot, ferry
or float plane only? Isn't equipment limited anyway? In the terrain you
speak of, 100 trucks and a 8-lane highway wouldn't matter. Helo's or
air-lifted hand crews would be the only option. Unless, of course you
*really* want to build some roads.

Obviously, your post is a poorly veiled attempt to support the poor,
victimized carpet-bagger. In the land of 'we want roads but not telephones',
an independent person would find another way to generate income. This is
America, after all.

Good luck with your (potentially lost) cause.  "
===============================================
I don't know who this "postholer" person is or or anything about
his/her bony-fidoes, but as a full-time resident of Stehekin I can
address some of the issues mentioned in the posting referenced above.

Historically, the _original_ road to Cottonwood Camp - in the region
between the trail-head at/near "Car Wash Falls" and Bridge Creek - was
via what is known locally as the "Old Wagon Road" (OWR.) This section
of the OWR has been shown on maps for some years now as the "PCT".  If
my understanding of local history is correct, the road along the
Stehekin River from Bridge Creek, thru High Bridge and down close to
Stehekin Valley Ranch was constructed sometime around the "CCC-era".

At that time it was decided hunters and fishermen would benefit by
having access to fishing and campgrounds along the river, so the road
was built . Those folks who made this decision were not familiar with
and paid no attention to the knowledge the original prospectors had that dealt
with where roads should be built! The old-timers apparently were aware
that roads built anywhere near rivers required constant maintenance!
The original road was built high above the river and required very
little work to keep it passable after the winter snows melted. The
original roadbed is virtually intact today after being constructed in the
late 1800's - that is a real testament to knowledge of one's
environment!

My past experience with PCT hikers was, when given the choice, they
almost always took the open and scenic route along the river as
opposed to the forested corridor thru the woods on the OWR.Today, I think it
would be nice to have the PCT re-routed as a maintainable trail along
the Stehekin River and move the road back to its original location on
the OWR.

Years before being destroyed, the river-road was surveyed and referenced
as a non-wilderness region inside the Stephen Mather Wilderness area.
All that would be required to exchange the present destroyed road with
the "OWR" inside the wilderness, is a small congressional modification
to existing regulations. Such an act would not result in any loss of
wilderness land - in fact it would actually increase the amount of
wilderness land because the OWR route is shorter!


"Postholer" said ===>  "Fear tactic, right? We're talking about
Stehekin? Accessable by foot, ferry or float plane only? Isn't
equipment limited anyway? In the terrain you speak of, 100 trucks and
a 8-lane highway wouldn't matter. Helo's or
air-lifted hand crews would be the only option. Unless, of course you
*really* want to build some roads ..."

No, all we hope for is a simple replacement of the damaged road. One
built and located in the spirit of the original road.

Today, virtually all hiking along the washed-out road-bed is limited
to those with boulder-hopping and some mountain-climbing skills. Iif
you choose to keep your feet dry and do not want to deal with the
possibility of being swept-away during high water, you will use the
OWR.  I returned home along this route - the tread is terrible and
fallen trees abound - after making an inspection of the firefighting
effort now in progress at the so-called "Tolo Mtn" forest-fire. The
fire is burning across the Stehekin River as viewed from the road in
the region between Bridge Creek bridge and half-way to the Park Creek
bridge. The tremendous expense of having to fly all supplies - tools,
tons of hoses, sprinklers, Mark-3 water pumps, fuel, food (hauling out
waste) and people would be be a fraction of the present costs if the
road was open for travel.

"Postholer" said ===> " Obviously, your post is a poorly veiled
attempt to support the poor, victimized carpet-bagger. In the land of
'we want roads but not telephones',
an independent person would find another way to generate income. This is
America, after all. .."

The "carpet-bagger" statement above should be examined. The National
Park Service, manager of the LCNRA in which Stehekin is located, is
the carpetbagger - johnny-come-lately's if you will. The NPS has only
been here since ~1970 (NCNP established 1968 and it took them a while
to get here!)  A large part of the community is 3rd and 4th generation
and they were here long before the NPS arrived. Other folks who
pre-date the NPS worked for the USFS or as school teachers or had
businesses supporting the tourist industry.

The local community has always been one that served tourists who
travelled great distances to stay at local lodges (Moore Point and the
Fields Hotel in Stehekin) in days past. The wagon road to Cottonwood
Camp served these people well (read some of the books that describe
these times.)

Virtually all of my neighbors have lived here for many years _before_
the NCNP was created. They could have made more $$$ living elsewhere
but choose, instead, to live in Stehekin - the quality of life is much
better here. Stehekin did have phone service in the past but it was
torn-out a few years after the Chelan County PUD established electric
power service in the valley (1950's). This was a one-wire Forest
Service party-line that connected Stehekin to Chelan (lots of
interesting stories about this phone system!) Once the powerline was
installed there was too much 60-cycle hum in the phone and service was
discontinued and never really missed.

Today, commercial phones have returned to Stehekin at the request of
several folks who petitioned the WUTC for service. As I understand it,
the phone company, Weavetel, has two - maybe three - paying customers.
Weavtel will receive ~$250,000 annually for providing this service
thanks to the monthly $0.25 added to your phone bill for support of
under-served communities! Over the years virtually the entire
community has purchased satellite-based systems for communication and
choose not to have commercial telephone service (we don't need our
rugs cleaned if you know what I mean!)

Has "Postholer" watched the movie produced by the Sierra Club titled
"Wilderness Alps of Stehekin" ? In this film David Brower _praised_
the road for the access it provided to the majestic back-country close
by.

Several years ago I was sitting in the shade on a picnic table at
Cottonwood Camp while waiting for some friends to arrive from Seattle
over Cascade Pass. An older gentleman hiked in with a little girl -
maybe 5-years old - and she was truly happy and proud of herself. She
was jumping up-and-down shouting "I did it - I did it - I walked all
the way". Her parents walked in several minutes later and they were
all pleased with their hike. Today that little girl would not be able
to make this trip because the walking distance has been increased from
nine miles to about twenty miles due to trailhead access limitations.

At that time the road was intact and the NPS ran a shuttle-bus to/from
Cottonwood camp. I had the opportunity to ride this bus dozens of
times and it always made me feel good to watch/listen-to visiting
"Senior-Citizens" as they experienced the wilderness beauty the trip
provided. Families with young children, too, enjoyed this trip. Who
knows how many of these young children are, today, hikers and working
to ensure all wilderness remains healthy and protected as a result of
being exposed to it by a short hike based out of Cottonwood camp?

Finally, I hope many of you readers will support efforts to restore
the historic road to Cottonwood Camp (I think something that was
constructed  in the late 1800's is historic.) The magnificent
backcountry accessed from Cottonwood Camp, even if it is only a short hike
along the flat bottom country close to the road, is a sight that
older/infirm folks should have returned to them. If you would like to
help restore
the road to Cottonwood Camp, please contact me for additional information.

Best regards to everyone,

-- 
Dick Bingham - W7WKR  CN98pi
Stehekin, WA
Located in "The Alps of America"