[pct-l] Rains and Wind in WA

[goforth at cio.net (Joanne Lennox)]

What hasn't been mentioned is that the area that I am in( Upper Skagit
valley adjacent to North Cascades Park, WA) had not only record flooding
but a significant wind event just prior to the crest of the flooding.
Because the soil was so heavily saturated when the wind event happened,
there was a lot of blowdown.

Second, It is bad enough that some of the major bridges are down on the PCT
now, but the damage does not stop there.  For instance, I know that both
the Suiattle and Whitechuck roads are also damaged, I do not know about
some of the other major access roads  but they probably also have damage -
Bridges out and washouts.  This means that accesss for trail crews will
also be limited;  Many trail crews in this area with  equipment and food
brought in by stock.  Some of these washouts mean that access is not even
possible for foot traffic. When the Whitechuck trail washed out last year,
after repairs were made, it was still impassable to stock.  I can only
imagine what it is like now.

Wow, am I glad that I got through Washington and Oregon this year and did
not wait for next year!!

And I am so glad that we got rain, even as much as we did, because when I
finallly got home in mid October, I was shocked to see how dry it was here.
We were lucky not to have had some bad fires as well.  I have never seen
dusty trails in Washington like I saw this year.

And I have been watching the News with a detailed map in hand.  Being
concerned not only about the PCT but the homes of those in Ramona and near
Warner Springs, and in Big Bear, Hesperia, etc that gave me so much support
on the trail.  I find it really frustrating that the news is so rarely
specific about the actual locations of the fire, and almost never use a
map.  

I wonder about deep creek - It sounds like the fire may have burned acrross
that area near Crab Flats or the big Bridge just at  Hooks Creek and Cedar
Glen . Is the bridge still intact?

Also I am very concerned about the area just south of Warner Springs.  does
anybody know if the fire is North of Julian?

Joanne