[pct-l] Washington re-route(s)

[Sean 'Miner' Nordeen]

Several hikers went through the Lemah burn area after what little was left of the fire was left to smolder until winter.
Considering the condition of the trail then, the impression was few see how the trail will be "officially" open come this summer unless there is a lot of effort put in to reconstruct the trail through there.  It's possible it could be done by the time most thru-hikers make it, but I have my doubts.

The effected area is actually only a few miles, but it was in really bad shape in late September with no vegetation left to hold what little was left of the trail.  After the winter snow runoff, I suspect the trail will be completely missing through large parts of the area.  There is likely to be several blow downs since there was a lot of root damage to the trees.  So while it may have been "passible" this past fall for those who violated the closure, it's going to be in far worse shape come spring.

So I would hold on to those reroutes for the Lemah fire until we see how things look in August and September of 2010.

-Miner


>I noticed Gadget's PCT-L posting from 8/29/09
>(http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/2009-August/029579.html)
>about the alternate route he describes. Were hikers taking this route
>in 2009 because of the Lemah fire or is this an alternate route hikers
>may want to consider in the future? Did this section of the PCT open
>back up after the fire? I noticed the last PCTA update about the area
>is from 9/1/09 when the trail was closed because of fire.



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