Stung by Quark's pithy critique of my take on the Big Four situation .........
Quote:
Finally, as in dealing with any situation, it's probably a good idea to temper the emotions and leave the tar, feathers, and pitchforks at home, at least until the situation is completely understood and rational conversations with appropriate people take place.
The FS have cracker-jack crews, and we've all seen the results of their work. Big 4 may look ugly to us in the photos, but might not be so bad to the FS crews. At any rate, the FS won't have their trailcrew ford the Stilly to work on the trail. It'll wait til the bridge is replaced.
......... I decided I would have to go back and prove how bad things really were.
Actually, I decided that Quark was probably right (no surprises) and that I should go back and do a less emotional assessment of the damage. This time, I invited Ice Girl and Todd along to help out. Ice Girl probably knows the Ice Caves Trail as well as anyone, and she earns her volunteer's trailhead pass by reporting trail conditions to the Forest Service.
We had the place to ourselves when we started, and pretty much kept it that way all day.
Big Four avalanche cone topknot, 06-26-08. Telephoto from the B4 picnic area
Stillaguamish crossing
There was still some snow on the trail before the (washed out) bridge, but not as much, and a week of melting made the trail a little easier to follow beyond the bridge. This time, paying attention to where I was, it became obvious that damage to the lower part of the trail was minimal, perhaps a dozen blowdowns between the parking area and the area of major damage.
Trivial debris1
Trivial debris2
That changed, quite abruptly. Most of the last quarter mile of trail is covered with blowdowns ........ or whatever the term is for trees felled by an avalanche, because we decided that the devastation could have been the work of one immense avalanche.
Anyone not obsessed with broken trees should probably skip over the next set of pictures. It's intended more as a "clinical" report than it is as a forum entertainment.
1.The end of the beginning
2.In it.. ...... Oops. ....... I think I missed a shot. There should have been one at the first barrier.
3.In it.
4.Easier to go around?
5.Yep, easier.
6.Photographer's eye view
7.On the trail
8.High road
It's quite remarkable how one obstacle leads to another without any real let up, at all.
9.Back to the bridge
10.Looking back
11. A trace of the old trail
12.A trace of the new trail
13.Sigh
14.Aren't we almost out of it qq
15.Going around, one more time
16.And down to the trail
From here on, we're more on the trail than otherwise. It looked like the main thrust of the avalanche must have been right down that creek and over the bridge. At that point the forest was "mowed down" for another 50 or 75 yards. The section where we were, now, appeared to have received just peripheral damage.
19.On the trail 2
17.Todd as photographer
18.It's just "debris"
20.Todd as photographer 2 ........ and a little more "debris"
21.Just snow, now
22.Almost
Work done. With my recent experience, Ice Girl's knowledge, and Todd's strength as a scout, it really went pretty smoothly ....... considering. And that left us time to eat lunch, play in the snow, and photograph waterfalls for a couple hours before starting back.
B4 avalanche cone 06-26-08
Putting on their crampons
Ice, water, and rock
Water wall.
Falling water
Detail
Parting shots.
One last waterfall
Beaver pond
Prescient message
Resting place
Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
Devastation is right. I want to see an aerial shot of the avalanche path and its devastation. Great job giving a eye opening report It is mesmerizing to see what avalanches can do. Before the mountain gods one must be humbled
I'll see what I can do. I should be able to get something approximating an aerial from the top of the snow cones.
"Aerial" from about halfway up one of the snow cones.
However, I doubt if the results will be quite what you have in mind. Instead of making a swath down a mountainside, avalanches here have to travel across a broad plain before reaching the edge of the forest. The track will be further obscured, this year, by the debris from a huge landslide which occurred later in the season and cut across the avalanche path almost at right angles.
Landslide
Landslide2
It may be that most of the "evidence" will be the new damage to the forest ........ but it will be fun to see what we can find out.
Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
...devastation...severe damage...it's all in the eyes of the beholder. It's hard not to get emotional when you see a place you love trashed like that. But it's a remarkable example of the power of nature. And it's good to know that it can be restored as well. When? We'll have to wait and see.
Thanks for the picture tour...it helps to understand.
"May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am"
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"May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am"
Special delivery for Ice Girl and Todd. Thanks again.
Once you get it going, try it on full screen.
Here's a short clip, taken as usual because I forgot to switch back from video mode to AUTO.
By the way, if your audio's on, you should hear a snipet of your conversation, too.
Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
I have to admit. I had to look up "pithy." It's one of those words that sounds so bad, but it isn't.
Cool pics of the landslide area.
Do you know when the new bridge is scheduled for installation?
"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate."
Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
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"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate."
Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
Water sliding down the Big Four cliff.
I might have done more, since there was another waterfall coming down the cliff on my right, but I was starting to get an attack of vertigo. I was kneeling on a point of ice at the top of one of the snow cones ........
Snow cones and B4 cliff
Sliding water
........ panning down the face of the cliff, following the moving water as it slid into the moat.
Moats on the left1
Moats on the left2
By the time I finished that one, I decided to back away from the edge, instead of doing a video of the other.
Moats on the right1
Moats on the right2
Having the sun sitting right at the top of the cliff didn't help.
Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
Anyone not obsessed with broken trees should probably skip over the next set of pictures. It's intended more as a "clinical" report than it is as a forum entertainment.
I thought it was entertaining!
I'm confused....so you crossed the stilly? How? Isn't it running fast and fierce right now?
If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.
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If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.
Referring to the avalanche that I believe caused the damage, Puzzlr said
Quote:
Someone needs to go up Dickerman and get a shot across the valley at the avalanche path. That should show pretty clearly how big it is.
Peltoms had a somewhat similar idea, only he suggested an aerial photograph. ....... Puzzlr, you may have missed my reply, since it applys to your idea, too.
Scrooge wrote:
I'll see what I can do. I should be able to get something approximating an aerial from the top of the snow cones.
"Aerial" from about halfway up one of the snow cones.
However, I doubt if the results will be quite what you have in mind. Instead of making a swath down a mountainside, avalanches here have to travel across a broad plain before reaching the edge of the forest. The track will be further obscured, this year, by the debris from a huge landslide which occurred later in the season and cut across the avalanche path almost at right angles.
Landslide
Landslide2
It may be that most of the "evidence" will be the new damage to the forest ........ but it will be fun to see what we can find out.
Puzzlr, the problem is that the damaged area is so far away from the base of the cliff that it's hard resolve it against a distant background of earlier "blowdowns" and remaining forest. In this case, I believe the damage was caused by a combination of moving snow and explosive, avalanche generated wind. Combine that with the other factors listed above, and I don't expect there to be much of a "track".
Looking at it from Dickerman, I don't think you will be able to tell this year's damage from the accumulation of damage from prior years. Our "evidence" of what's new will have to be the extent of the missing trail.
......................................
Flower Sniffer asked
Quote:
I'm confused....so you crossed the stilly? How? Isn't it running fast and fierce right now?
Ice Girl and Todd, crossing the Stillaguamish in my raft.
That's how. I started using it to cross last year, and will continue this year till the new bridge is in place.
Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you....... Go and find it. Go!
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It is mesmerizing to see what avalanches can do. Before the mountain gods one must be humbled 
Do you know when the new bridge is scheduled for installation?
I started using it to cross last year, and will continue this year till the new bridge is in place.