[Sore Feet]

A friend of mine and I headed up the Middle Fork Road this afternoon in attempt to scout a pair of waterfalls for possible use in an extreme kayaking video, only to be thwarted by gargantuan potholes. These potholes were not on the Taylor to Dingford stretch, they were between Granite Creek and the Pratt. We're talking 6-8" deep (or deeper in a few cases) here, across the entire width of the road....bad enough that we actually had to bag it and turn around (take into consideration that my friend has a van with 10-12" of clearance). There were a few places where it appears someone started to do some grading, but it definitely wasn't enough. If anyone is planning a trip up the Middle Fork, you may want to check with the NB ranger station to see if the road has been graded yet, the road is definitely NOT friendly to 2wd cars yet.

[Odonata]

situation, normal

[Alan Bauer]

No, situation not typical and normal. Last week I went out the Middle Fork Road to take my 4 yr old son and our dog hiking up the Middle Fork Trail. I've driven this road >20 times over the last 5-8 years. Sure the road is always 'this typical bad' once you hit the boundary between the county and FS. Not now...remember what the road is like in those last 2-3 miles to the Middle Fork Trailhead normally? That is what the darn road is like from the moment you hit gravel at Valley camp! It was absurd to call it a road...those washboard but smooth areas in the first miles to the bridge crossing...to the CCC road trailheads...were like the last mile to Taylor River. Now those last 2-3 miles of road are indeed virtually impossible to drive without giving your dog a broken skull on a window if she isn't tied down...some holes were 14" deep, 5 feet long, and 8-9 feet wide. It will require some serious grading just to the FS boundary to get it back to shape. Sure made for a lonely hike however! No one made it out there---the other 4 cars I saw on the way out were stopped back well before the CCC road eastern trailhead and the people were simply walking the mid fork road! But...my normal 45 minute drive from home to Taylor River/Middle Fork trailhead area took me 1:25 hrs last Tuesday. Glad my kid had a good sense of humor about the whiplash he got, and glad my dog didn't

[MCaver]

Driving through those monster potholes is fun. I've seen some big ones on the Midfork Road, but the biggest was a few weekends ago in Swakane Canyon. It was so big I almost turned back, but decided to give it a shot anyway. Even driving with one side up on the lip of the hole, I was afraid I'd stall the engine. Made it through fine and really plowed through it on the way back for fun. It was a blast.

[Sore Feet]

This is most definitely not normal. I've been up the MF road before, doing 35-40 in some parts (when the road has been properly graded). I'm thinking it hasn't been graded since last spring / early summer. I don't understand why it's taking them so long to pave the main bit. If they've got the money to do it, then do it and worry about the stretch from Taylor to the Dutch Miller TH later. *harumph*

[catwoman]

whoa! doesn't sound normal to me, either.

[Alan Bauer]

MCaver---hey, I know which Swakane Canyon pothole you are speaking of! East side potholes are fun---I don't like these darn "tricked tomake you think they are smooth gravel" types of FS roads that suddenly have holes the size of Rhode Island in them. The holes in many of the wonderful slow-driving eastern Washington are actually more like "monster dips" in which your vehicle will almost tip before it instead has it's wheels ripped off! You'd like the drive up to Black Canyon's trailhead area, MCaver, if you liked the trip up Swakane....

[Larry]

[MCaver]

The largest potholes I've seen were actually dry. There's a Forest Service road (I don't remember the number) that runs east of SR-123 just south of the MRNP south entrance. It's paved at the beginning, but in the pavement are potholes I could literally drive down into. I actually parked in one and got out to take a look. I'm glad I saw them in time!

[Sore Feet]

That wouldn't be the Carlton Creek road would it?