mrr Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Alright, I just gotta vent to somebody (and maybe save some of you from the same fate)... A buddy of mine and I made the 2.5 hour drive from B'ham up to Washington Pass this morning to get in a quick trip up the Beckey Route on Liberty Bell. As we get close to the Blue Lake parking lot we notice big orange 'No Parking' signs (the temporary ones they put up in construction areas) and a DOT pick-up truck blocking the entrance to the parking lot.... Hmmm, we wonder to each other, what's up?? We start to turn around to park across the road - figuring they're repaving the parking lot or something equally innocent, when the DOT guy gets out of his truck and comes over to deliver the most stunning news...Liberty Bell, in fact the whole area, is closed until at least 12:30 or 1:00 (it's currently about 7:45) for (get this) avalanche control... Needless to say, we're stunned. He goes on to explain that they've been trying for a few days to get in there and set off some charges -- but there always seems to be people climbing and hiking -- yeah, go figure. We ask politely how we might have known this and saved ourselves the trip -- he says he doesn't really know, but it might have been on the radio in Wenatchee... So, we keep on driving around LB and take a look up the chutes -- not much in the way of snow left up there...oh well. We ended up salvaging the day with a trip up towards Cutthroat...followed by a trip to the brewery in Winthrop. We did here a number of charges go off - but by the time we got back around the hairpin (around 2:00) not a flake of snow had come down (a few rocks though). Here's the kicker - we stopped at the ranger station in Winthrop and went in and asked the ranger how we might find out about these events in the future...and she had NO IDEA what I was talking about. I asked if she was aware that the DOT had closed the Blue Lake trailhead from at least 7:30 - 1:00 -- nope, all news to her. Anyway, I'm not sure what calmed my nerves more - the couple pints of Winthrop Wheat or dumping my day into this note - but thanks for reading and be warned... mrr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_Harmon Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 mrr, That sucks dude. Sounds like a state subsidized 'make work' project to me. We can get them back though. Every time you're in the vacinity of a ranger station, stop in and ask them some really, really stupid questions like, "Do I need to bring a gun on this hike?" or something like, "What's the best way to go number 2 up in the mountains?" It makes them have to do some actual work. They hate that. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Parker Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 I wonder what would have happened if you just forged past them anyway. Were they packing heat (other than explosives) to stop you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Here's what you do: 1) go to this webpage: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/regions/NorthCentral/Maint/Area3/nc2002/default.htm 2) click on "North Central Region" link in the upper left hand corner. 3) click on "Administration" link almost in the center of the page. 4) go to the "Donn Senn" email address and send him an email about your frustration. Maybe others too in that list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayner Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Hell-o! McFly! Anybody Home? Any of you guys ever consider the easy and obvious solution? Have BIG LOU intervene in the situation. Within a matter of moments, you'll be hearing a lot of guberment-issue "yes, sir"'s and "sorry, sir"'s and moments later you'll be whisked to the base of your climb in the back of HIS LOU-NESS'S giant-sized 1970's-era JanSport monster frame pack. Yup, that's what I'd do. - Dwayner...just crackin' open the first Mickey's of the day. [ 06-14-2002, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Dwayner ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl_Skoog Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Here was an example of what happens when they don't guard the trailhead: http://groups.google.com/groups?q=friendly+fire+ski&hl=en&lr=&selm=66086d%24s75%241%40halcyon.com&rnum=1 The folks with that division of the DOT have shown a history of not having much concern for recreational needs. One example of this is even though the road was cleared for more than a week prior to the highway opening to the public this year, they still had only partially plowed parking spots at Blue Lake Trailhead. Yet they had already plowed all the way to the restrooms for the Washington Pass overlook, but gated that spur road indefinitely. Seems like their plowing efforts would have been initially better spent on something that they were going to let the public actually use. There was that spring a couple of years ago where they claimed there to be so much snow that for the first week or so of the highway opening they officially declared no parking between Rainy Pass and Cutthroat Lake trailhead, because they hadn't gotten around to plowing parking pullouts. I think they think their customer is someone that wants to drive over to the other side to go fishing, rather than someone that is going to stop along the roadway to enjoy the snow or climbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cpt.Caveman Posted June 14, 2002 Share Posted June 14, 2002 Here's to the DOT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrosaurus Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Dennis Harmon: We can get them back though. Every time you're in the vacinity of a ranger station, stop in and ask them some really, really stupid questions like, "Do I need to bring a gun on this hike?" or something like, "What's the best way to go number 2 up in the mountains?" It makes them have to do some actual work. They hate that. Dennis Or what to do about nosebleeds while climbing. The really dense ones don't even know when they've been trolled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthumbs Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Dwayner: - Dwayner...just crackin' open the first Mickey's of the day. drunkun'lush mama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alasdair Posted June 17, 2002 Share Posted June 17, 2002 Wayne1112 and I almost got shelled on Polar Circus a couple of years ago when the road crew was doing avi control on a slope next to or above us. We dont really know where the hell they were shooting the charges but they were damn close and we both thought we were going to die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Parker Posted June 17, 2002 Share Posted June 17, 2002 The slopes above PC are bombed fairly regularly as are the slopes above the Bourgeau climbs. However in Canada there are phone numbers you can call to get info. I believe they use helicopters to drop the charges on PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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