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MCaver Founder
Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Posts: 5124 | TRs | Pics
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MCaver
Founder
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:31 am
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I talked to a guy at the road closure on FS-74 (West Fork White River) this weekend who was about to hike down to photograph the washout. He said initial estimates are that it will take 2-3 years to restore access. That road closure cuts off access to a large section of the forest north of MRNP and the north and east sides of the Clearwater Wilderness, including Clear West Peak and Frog Mountain trails.
Floods suck.
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Flora Enjoying the Sun!
Joined: 25 Mar 2007 Posts: 1035 | TRs | Pics Location: Land of many waters |
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Flora
Enjoying the Sun!
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:08 am
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FS Road 74 was closed last summer due to a fire in the West Fork White River area and has never really been open since. The flood damage was probably enhanced by the fire (fewer trees and groundcover) as well as the forest practices in the area... I remember seeing smoke over there when climbing Norse Peak...
Flora
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MCaver Founder
Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Posts: 5124 | TRs | Pics
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MCaver
Founder
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:37 am
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Apparently it washed out at the "big bend" where it crosses the river near the park boundary. According to the guy I talked to, road and bridge were both completely gone. Other than an eternally shut gate on SR-410, that is the only access point to the entire network of roads on the west side of the river.
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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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Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:12 am
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There are several washed out stretches well before the concrete bridge that crosses the WFK. This one is about 3-4 miles beyond the gate.
reduce_speed
The concrete bridge near the Park boundary is actually intact. Both approaches (gravel berms) are totally gone, however.
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
Looks like a good reason to do some shoulder driving!
"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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Magellan Brutally Handsome
Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics Location: Inexorable descent |
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:16 am
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Thanks for posting as this was a possible destination for the kids next trip.
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MCaver Founder
Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Posts: 5124 | TRs | Pics
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MCaver
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:32 am
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lopper wrote: | There are several washed out stretches well before the concrete bridge that crosses the WFK. |
There are only 2 public access ways into that drainage that I saw on the map -- the FS-74 juntion with SR-410 and dropping down from the FS-73 network of roads near the "big bend". The latter is what I tried to do this weekend and encountered the "road closed" sign and ran into that guy (I believe his name was Chris). I had no idea it was closed.
So apparently the main gate has been closed for a while, but I got the impression from Chris that the closure I ran into was pretty new. I could be wrong, though.
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MCaver Founder
Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Posts: 5124 | TRs | Pics
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MCaver
Founder
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:44 am
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Flora wrote: | FS Road 74 was closed last summer due to a fire in the West Fork White River area and has never really been open since. |
Any idea what specific area burned? Was it Clearwater Wilderness?
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MCaver Founder
Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Posts: 5124 | TRs | Pics
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MCaver
Founder
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:46 am
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MCaver wrote: | Other than an eternally shut gate on SR-410 |
Just FYI, I wasn't referring to the FS-74 juntion to SR-410, but the one directly across the highway from FS-70. It leads to a network of roads that run along the west bank of the WFK White River and ultimately connect to FS-74 way upstream, potentially bypassing the washouts. I've never seen this gate open, however, probably because of it's proximity to the Seattle municipal watershed.
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sarbar Living The Dream
Joined: 28 Jan 2002 Posts: 8055 | TRs | Pics Location: Freeland, Wa |
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sarbar
Living The Dream
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:45 am
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MCaver wrote: | Flora wrote: | FS Road 74 was closed last summer due to a fire in the West Fork White River area and has never really been open since. |
Any idea what specific area burned? Was it Clearwater Wilderness? |
Maybe in reference to the Coplay fire near Carbon??? That was late last summer, I was up in Seattle Park when it started.
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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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Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:45 pm
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You can drive to within a half mile or so of the unusable FS74 bridge over the WFK, but you need to go up and over Haller Pass (road 75) to get there.
Just before you reach river level after the long descent, the road (75)has been blocked with 6 large concrete barriers. (just before the merge with Road 74)
Happy biking.
As for the fire, my guess is that it was the "Carbon Copy" fire, on the north side of the Carbon River across from the MRNP entry station.
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sarbar Living The Dream
Joined: 28 Jan 2002 Posts: 8055 | TRs | Pics Location: Freeland, Wa |
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sarbar
Living The Dream
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:51 pm
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Duh..Carbon Copy. Thanks
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MCaver Founder
Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Posts: 5124 | TRs | Pics
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MCaver
Founder
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:55 pm
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lopper wrote: | You can drive to within a half mile or so of the unusable FS74 bridge over the WFK, but you need to go up and over Haller Pass (road 75) to get there. Just before you reach river level after the long descent, the road (75)has been blocked with 6 large concrete barriers. (just before the merge with Road 74) |
That's the closure that I hit on Saturday, but I came from the FS-73 (Huckleberry Creek) area. All three road systems connect north of the Lonesome Lakea area. I drove out via Haller Pass to check it out, since I had never been there.
I also tried to drive the spur road that runs upstream on the east side of the WFK before the upstream blockage, but it was gated. The guy at the closure said it had washed out as well.
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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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Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:05 pm
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I think that spur you speak of is 7550, and it goes all the way to within a quarter mile of the park boundary. We've bike/hiked it this season to check out the storm carnage on a favorite trail that connects with the Northern Loop Trail.
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MCaver Founder
Joined: 14 Dec 2001 Posts: 5124 | TRs | Pics
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MCaver
Founder
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Mon Jul 30, 2007 1:21 pm
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Yea, that sounds right. All these washouts and closures have me thinking I need to get my bicycle in working shape again.
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