[pct-l] Rains washout PCT bridges in Washington State

[griffin at u.washington.edu (Tom Griffin)]

Just to add to the Southern California problems for the PCT, here's a report
from a Seattle newspaper stating that many bridges and trail sections are
washed out on the PCT in central and northern Washington. Looks like the
Class of 2004 is going to have to detour some sections.

Tom Griffin
Seattle, WA
PCT Pages: http://staff.washington.edu/griffin/pct.html
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SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

Last week's rains did untold damage

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

By GREG JOHNSTON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Federal forest and park managers only now are discovering the devastation
dealt to Western Washington recreation areas by last week's rainstorm. Major
trail bridges were knocked out, popular Kennedy Hot Springs was buried and
sections of several trails and campgrounds, including the famed Pacific
Crest Trail, were washed away.

That's in addition to several roads to important recreation areas that were
discovered washed out or buried immediately after the deluge.

"I've told some people around here, it's not biblical in proportion, but
it's not too far below it," said Gary Paull, wilderness and trails
coordinator at the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest headquarters in
Montlake Terrace. "It's demoralizing, humbling. I don't know where to start.
There is an awful lot of stuff missing."

The major impact will occur next summer, when thousands of hikers will have
to detour around areas of damage. Major bridges are not likely to be rebuilt
or relocated until late next year at the earliest, and the most heavily
damaged roads will prevent access to some trailheads.

For example, several thousand "through-hikers" travel the entire 2,000-mile
length of the Pacific Crest Trail, from Mexico to Canada, every year. With
several major bridges across unfordable streams now gone in the Glacier Peak
region of the trail, hikers taking that route will need to make lengthy
detours.

"If you want to hike that trail, you're going to have to go around Glacier
Peak to the east," Paull said.

Federal forest managers are still surveying for damage, and cost estimates
have not been tallied, but repairs are expected to total at least several
million dollars.

Heavily damaged were trails, bridges and other facilities along the
Whitechuck and Suiattle rivers, in the Baker Lake area of the Mount
Baker-Snoqualmie Forest, the Ross Lake area of North Cascades National Park,
the west side of Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest, and the
Nisqually and Carbon River drainages in Mount Rainier National Park.

Because most seasonal trail crews and backcountry rangers had been dismissed
for the season, a lot of trail damage probably will not be discovered until
next year. But U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service officials are
developing preliminary repair figures for the damage that is known.

"We'll need large quantities of cash," said Paull. "We're working on some
kind of estimate, but at an average of about $50,000 for a major (trail)
bridge -- you can do the math."

Several major bridges were lost, including some that vanished without a
trace. They include:

*    The Skyline Bridge across the Suiattle River on the Pacific Crest
National Scenic Trail (PCT). The bridge had been rebuilt and extended in
1999.

*    A bridge across lower Milk Creek, built with 5-foot I-beams.

*    Bridges along the PCT at Vista Creek, upper Whitechuck River, upper
Milk Creek, Sitkum Creek and Switchback Creek.

*    Several bridges crossing creeks along the Baker Lake Trail.

*    A bridge across the Middle Fork Nooksack River on the trail to Elbow
Lake.

*    Bridges across popular Thunder Creek and Little Beaver Creek in North
Cascades National Park.

*    A bridge near Christine Falls on the trail to Van Trump Park in Mount
Rainier National Park.


Kennedy Hot Springs, for decades a popular soaking spot for hikers along the
Whitechuck River, was covered by a thick layer of debris, as was a nearby
historic cabin built in the early part of the last century that in recent
years served as rangers' quarters.

"They're completely buried," said Paull, who surveyed the damage by air on
Sunday. "A major debris torrent came down the Whitechuck and Kennedy Creek.
Same as on the Suiattle. Where the PCT crossed the Skyline Bridge, there
used to be a slope the trail climbed. Now it's a cliff."

The Colonial Creek Campground in North Cascades National Park was heavily
damaged when its namesake rerouted itself through the campground. The
Sunshine Point Campground near the Nisqually entrance to Rainier National
Park was closed after the Nisqually River washed out part of a dike and 120
feet of road.

Rainier National Park officials say hikers should expect foot-log bridges at
lower elevations to be gone; several on the Wonderland Trail between Cougar
Rock and Narada Falls are known to be out. Paull said many foot logs --
maybe dozens -- are gone in the Suiattle/Whitechuck and Mount Baker areas.

Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said crews were so busy
dealing with damaged and closed roads that no one has had time to survey
damage to trails and bridges in the backcountry there.

"We really haven't heard at this point," she said. "We just don't have that
many staff members. We know there are lots of downed trees in campground and
picnic areas. We imagine there probably will be some trail damage."

The loss of several key roads will have a larger immediate effect.

On the Peninsula, for example, the Hoh River Road is closed to vehicular
traffic at the Olympic National Park boundary because of a washout caused by
the rampaging Hoh River. Until the road is repaired, that puts the popular
Hoh Rainforest off limits to all except those willing to bicycle or walk the
5.5 miles to the Hoh Visitor Center.

The popular Sol Duc Road in the park is also closed due to damage in four
places. The North Shore Road at Quinault Lake is closed, but repairs are
under way. The nearby North Fork Road also is closed. The Queets Road is
closed at Matheny Creek Bridge, which -- unless it is fixed before winter --
will prevent steelhead fishermen from reaching popular drifts upstream.

Also on the Peninsula, a washout on the Undie Road No. 2932 inside Olympic
National Forest prevents access to the Bogachiel River Trail.

In Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, the Mountain Loop Highway is
closed at Barlow Pass on the south and at Bedal Campground on the north. The
Suiattle Road No. 26 is washed out near Buck Creek, about 9.5 miles short of
its end, blocking access to three major trailheads in the Glacier Peak
Wilderness. The Whitechuck Road No. 23 is washed out one mile in from the
Mountain Loop Highway.

Two major concrete forest-road bridges -- one on the Suiattle River, the
other on the Whitechuck -- were damaged, the former cracked clean in the
middle, the latter washed out on one end.

? 2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer