Middle Fork Snoqualmie

[tanstaafl]

From yesterday's PI:

 

Off Limits: Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road closing this week

By GREG JOHNSTON

P-I REPORTER

 

A gate was scheduled to swing shut this week on the controversial Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road, permanently closing the last 7.6 miles of one of the roughest, nastiest forest routes in Washington -- and eliminating easy access to spectacular highlands of the Alpine Lake Wilderness.

 

The U.S. Forest Service decided to gate and close the 25-mile gravel road at Dingford Creek, about 17.4 miles in, as part of a long public process to develop a plan for the picturesque valley of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River outside North Bend.

 

It's a popular area for kayakers, hikers, climbers, anglers and campers, but for decades it also has been known as a party and "kegger" spot and remains one of the worst areas in the state for trailhead theft and vandalism.

 

The upper end of the road has also been troublesome for the Forest Service, since it is a slide-prone, four-wheel-drive track that gets blown out virtually every winter.

 

The final 7.6 miles of the road was scheduled to be gated Wednesday and then managed as a trail open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, but closed to motorized vehicles.

 

The road closure remains controversial among hikers, climbers and "peak-baggers."

 

Environmental groups and many hikers support the closure as a way to increase the wilderness quality of the upper Middle Fork valley. They also point out it will save the Forest Service thousands of dollars each year in maintenance.

 

But others argue it will turn premier off-trail scrambles to such places as Big Snow Mountain and its several lakes into overnight trips. They contend it will reduce access to the high country for those with limited mobility and eliminate sublime backcountry spots such as Dutch Miller and La Bohn gaps as potential day hikes.

 

They also argue that the road itself will be a low-quality hike, being a road and with limited views. However, the upper valley also can be reached via the recently completed Middle Fork Trail, a pretty forest path on the south side of the cascading river.

 

"I'm going to have some misgivings about the loss of easy access to some fantastic high country," said Bill Sobieralski, longtime trails coordinator for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest's North Bend District. "But on the other hand, it puts places like Dutch Miller Gap in the heart of the Alpine Lakes. It will be something like 15 miles now to get to Dutch Miller Gap, so it will be a different sort of hiking experience. It will be a remote area."

 

The Forest Service plan also includes several other elements -- all accomplished last year -- including a new campground, completion of the 14-mile Middle Fork Trail on the south bank of the river and the closure of all side-roads and spurs off the Middle Fork Road.

 

Sobieralski said the parking area just before the gate will now be known as the Dutch Miller Gap trailhead. Previously it was called the Dingford Creek trailhead, the beginning of a trail along the creek to Myrtle and Hester lakes in the wilderness and also one of two access points now for the 14-mile Middle Fork Trail, reached by footbridges across the river.

 

However, a few owners of mining claims and other landowners up the valley, as well as the non-profit group that operates Goldmyer Hot Springs, will be allowed to maintain it minimally as a road and will be given keys to the gate to continue accessing their properties by motorized vehicle.

 

Sobieralski noted that a significant amount of work was completed this spring on the Dutch Miller Gap Trail, since Forest Service crews will not be allowed to drive the road. A new footbridge has also been built across the river to the trail for the hot springs, which will now be about a five-mile hike.

 

He added that members of the general public will not be given keys to the gate, not even general members of the group that operates the hot springs, Northwest Wilderness Programs (goldmyer.org). Gobieralski cautioned hikers that parts of the Middle Fork Trail upstream of the road closure suffered consider storm damage last winter, including large slides and many downed trees across the trail, none of which has yet been fixed. Trail crews from EarthCorps will work on the trail this summer.

 

Meantime, the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is seeking public input on the future of some 220 other recreation sites, including campgrounds, trailheads, lookouts, visitor centers and picnic areas. The "Recreation Site Facility Master Plan" is designed to identify sites important to the public so the agency can better allocate its limited funding.

 

Three workshops will be conducted, all 6 to 8 p.m.: July 9 at the REI flagship store in Seattle (222 Yale Ave. N.); July 10 at the Mount Baker Ranger Station in Sedro-Woolley (810 state Route 20) and July 11 at the Algona-Pacific Library (255 Ellingson Road).

 

For more information, see www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/rsfmp.

 

 

[catbirdseat]

Most of the damage to the Middlefork Trail cited above occurred close to Goldmyer Hot Springs. It is now pretty difficult to find ones way to the Goldmyer property unless someone has flagged a route since November.

 

Get ready for a rant by Fairweather...

Edited June 28, 2007 by catbirdseat

[ken4ord]

Get out, I can't imagine no matter how much damage is done to the Middlefork Trail that can't be that much more difficult to find one's way to Goldmyer. I can't wait to go back there and take Simone to first hot spring, when I am back in Seattle.

 

The only thing that bums me is access in the winter to climbing back in that area, oh well. No biggie while I am here in Rwanda. The extra mileage will just make you stronger. I also worry about leaving the car at Dingford Creek, cause the road to there is usually in decent condition so it makes it easier for thieving bastards, where as the old parking lot for Goldmyer was quite a ways up and usually quite rough.