Forum Index > Trail Talk > Middle Fork Road closure update
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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 10:13 am 
Good points Randy. I never thought of that. Years ago I spoke with a very old man who told me when he was a kid they used to hike into the Middlefork lakes BEFORE there was a Middlefork road! They had to hike from North Bend. I cant imagine that one.

"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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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Mar 03, 2020 10:38 am 
Any word on the condition of the North Fork road?

"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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nordique
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PostFri Mar 06, 2020 12:30 pm 
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Sallie4jo
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PostMon Mar 09, 2020 12:58 pm 
Just a question..many years ago i was going out the middle fork..was just about at the river crossing and a man was waving me down..i had passed him ..then backed up being a bit skiddish by myself and no one else was out that way (in the 80's) i think. The man, "swamp daddy momma" his call name on a 2 way lived there and needed a car jump to go into n. Bend. He was actually quite fun and I always wondered what happened to him. Anyone else met him at sometime or know him? Pretty sure he was a vn vet. The gate to the property is still there, but no indication of anyone out there.

I choose to live in a landscape of hope. Terry Tempest Williams
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tlake
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tlake
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PostMon Mar 09, 2020 5:37 pm 
If you are talking about the gated road on the right just past the new Granite Lakes trailhead a just before the cement bridge then all the original residents of the area have moved on.

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Sallie4jo
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PostMon Mar 09, 2020 7:17 pm 
Yes..thats the place. Just wondering whatever happened.to the guy..i was under the impression he was the only person living bCk there when i met him. Did DNR buy the property?

I choose to live in a landscape of hope. Terry Tempest Williams
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tlake
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PostMon Mar 09, 2020 9:02 pm 
The DNR bought all but 3 maybe 4 of the parcels. There where several cabins back in there, one was by the river. I don't know which one was his. The cabin by the river was being eaten by the river in late 80's. I know a man who help one of cabin owner come up with an sale price when the DNR was buying. My friend will be back in the area in April. Maybe he knows something.

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Randito
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Randito
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PostMon Mar 09, 2020 9:21 pm 
One may poke around using the King County Parcel viewer to figure out who owns a parcel. https://gismaps.kingcounty.gov/parcelviewer2//?pin=1123099029 Looks like the land around the concrete bridge is all owned by either King County Parks or the DNR.

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tlake
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PostMon Mar 09, 2020 9:29 pm 
Two parcels are owned by the Mcaw family and another has had a new owner in the last year or two.

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Brushwork
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Brushwork
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PostMon Mar 09, 2020 11:51 pm 
I have wanted to explore that road, but it looked like some of it was private property, hense didn’t. Thanks for the update!

When I grow up I wanna play.
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tlake
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tlake
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PostTue Mar 10, 2020 8:09 am 
King County not DNR actually bought most behind the gate. Sorry for the mistake..

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puzzlr
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostWed Mar 11, 2020 12:47 pm 
This is thread drift from the road closure, but fun to hear the bits and pieces. There are two roads beyond the gate at the Big River Bridge. The lower one is SE 116th St and the much longer upper one was used to log second growth in the 1980s and is called Gifford Creek road by the DNR. The King County parcels are managed as a Natural Area. The county has a road easement on SE 116th, but the management plan says "Do not encourage public access to areas beyond locked gate." The Meth Lab was at the big clearing on the upper road. It was cleaned up under the King County Brownfields program, no longer in operation.
Quote:
This 22-acre property, located in rural King County along the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River, is the site of a former methamphetamine lab and illegal auto body chop shop. In 1996, the site was subject to a regional narcotics team bust and a Washington State Department of Ecology emergency cleanup; however, considerable debris remained, along with the threat of environmental contamination. King County wished to purchase the site for open space preservation but needed the site to be clean prior to purchase. Between 2000 and 2002, the county used a conservation easement to assess and clean up the site prior to acquisition, removing 190 tons of debris, 55 cubic yards of contaminated soil and 400 gallons of hazardous waste. Contaminants on the site included petroleum and solvents. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assessment grant funds were provided via the Brownfields Program to conduct environmental sampling and the cleanup was conducted by King County. King County Waterways 2000 Program funds were used to purchase the site and the cost of the cleanup was deducted from the purchase price. The site is now a part of a 150-acre wildlife habitat that is being preserved through public ownership.
Meth Lab site today
Meth Lab site today
I've heard some stories about the man that used to live at the site and was paid to guard it. He was known as "Rice Paddy Daddy" based on his history as a Vietnam vet. Someone said he was "stuck in Vietnam in his head. He always wore fatigues". The following photos are from King County based on my request for more information about the Meth Lab cleanup.
Junk at Rice Paddy Daddy's place
Junk at Rice Paddy Daddy's place
Rice Patty Daddy's bathtub
Rice Patty Daddy's bathtub
Rice Paddy Daddy's house
Rice Paddy Daddy's house

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Sallie4jo
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Sallie4jo
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PostWed Mar 11, 2020 1:06 pm 
Wow...fun to learn all this..and that was the guys name..he was nice when i talked with him way back when..so now the question is..was he arrested ..ah..so much hardship without help 4 ptsd.

I choose to live in a landscape of hope. Terry Tempest Williams
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RichP
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RichP
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PostWed Mar 11, 2020 1:24 pm 
Really interesting, puzzlr. Thanks for digging that up.

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Brushwork
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Brushwork
Food truck
PostWed Mar 11, 2020 7:13 pm 
That’s interesting. Glad it got cleaned up!

When I grow up I wanna play.
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