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lopper off-route
Joined: 22 Jan 2002 Posts: 845 | TRs | Pics
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lopper
off-route
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Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:23 pm
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As a hike/snowshoe trail, the Bessemer road seems like a good route to try to keep usable.
Here are four more 1986 views from there, plus a cross-valley photo showing the upper road zigzags as viewed from the S.
86PrattPreachrFrmBessemer 86OlysFrmBessemer 86MFKfrmBessemer 86ChikThomFrmBessemer
road track
Bessemer from Lookout Point
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JimK Member
Joined: 07 Feb 2002 Posts: 5606 | TRs | Pics Location: Ballard |
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JimK
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Tue Feb 18, 2020 6:00 pm
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I too hope a route can be repaired/built to the summit. It is a really good trip for significant elevation gain without Mailbox like crowds. The views are much better than expected. I took this somewhat shaky video clip last May.
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Hutch Member
Joined: 18 Jun 2009 Posts: 638 | TRs | Pics
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Hutch
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Thu Feb 20, 2020 3:28 pm
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Also hope it can be salvaged, as I'm a sucker for long, gradual logging road walks where you can trudge out some mileage without seeing many others. Bessemer was always a favorite for that.
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Brucester Member
Joined: 02 Jun 2013 Posts: 1102 | TRs | Pics Location: Greenwood |
lopper wrote: | 86DozerBsmr |
Cool dozer!
Is that another one of Dirty Harry's?
How much abandoned equipment remains in the Midfork?
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nordique Member
Joined: 04 May 2008 Posts: 1086 | TRs | Pics
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nordique
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Sun Mar 01, 2020 10:00 pm
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I took my crutch up that road today, since the rest of my hiking friends wanted to check it out. What an impressive collection of bad signs: big long cracks in the road, some parts of the road sluffed off down the hill, a lot of wet clay everywhere. No amount of money, to my mind, is going to save that road nor repair it. It makes me worry about the future of hiking up the Middle Fork. My photos from today:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmLHYvSY
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
They never should have paved it!
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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Brushwork Food truck
Joined: 18 Aug 2018 Posts: 508 | TRs | Pics Location: Washington |
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Brushwork
Food truck
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Mon Mar 02, 2020 7:28 pm
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Bessemer rd isn’t paved.
When I grow up I wanna play.
When I grow up I wanna play.
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Malachai Constant Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2002 Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
Have to kinda agree with Joe this used to happen every couple years or so but could be cleaned up to its usual pothole hell by some equipment. Now that it is paved repairs will take a lot longer and be far more costly.
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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ThursdayHiker Member
Joined: 09 Dec 2014 Posts: 60 | TRs | Pics
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Drone video of Bessemer mudslide that I took with Monty. Monty showing off his fearless sense of balance.
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ThursdayHiker Member
Joined: 09 Dec 2014 Posts: 60 | TRs | Pics
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Drone video of the Mid Fork Road mudslide.
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
Those are some nice perspectives. Thanks. I bet the Midfork is closed for years.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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Brucester Member
Joined: 02 Jun 2013 Posts: 1102 | TRs | Pics Location: Greenwood |
A quick visit to REI to pick up a NW and Discovery Pass and I mentioned something like "the Middle Fork will be closed all year?" He said "no, possible work being start sometime in April." He is a man of few words so I left it at that....
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
Anything is possible. I cant remember the exact year, but sometime in the late 80's there was a slide between Dingford creek and Goldmyer that closed the road. I was a big slide. There was a Volkswagen buss trapped on the other side. They ultimately detoured the road up the left hand side around the slide, but it took years to complete.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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rossb Member
Joined: 23 Sep 2002 Posts: 1679 | TRs | Pics
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rossb
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Tue Mar 03, 2020 8:47 am
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Malachai Constant wrote: | Now that it is paved repairs will take a lot longer and be far more costly. |
Not necessarily. There is no reason why the damaged section has to be paved. They could put gravel down on those spots if they wanted. The Mountain Loop Highly has sections that are paved and unpaved. Come to think of it, so does the Middle Fork.
The main problem is, this was just a huge event. The same type of event that wiped out the Suiattle Road for years, and destroyed the White Chuck Road permanently (both of which are gravel).
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Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9512 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
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Randito
Snarky Member
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Tue Mar 03, 2020 9:59 am
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It will be interesting to see how repairs develop now that King County is maintaining the road instead of the USFS. My perception is that under the USFS annual road maintenance budgets are very thin and cover only very basic repairs, such as clearing a few downed trees and occasionally grading the road to reduce potholes. When something big happened, the district ranger would need to apply for special funding and that would take at least a year to be approved.
King County has a much bigger road budget, but their priorities are keeping roads open for citizens to reach residences and businesses. So as long as the road crews are busy fixing roads like Ames Lake road which also was damaged by a mudflow it's not going to get to the top of the list. I also think King County doesn't want to repair a non-critical road with a decent chance of having another mudflow in the next few months. I'll bet there will be a lot more squawking from North Bend businesses to repair the road by May when hiking season starts heating up.
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