Forum Index > Trip Reports > Lime Ridge High Route - Sept. 22-25, 2009
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Kim Brown
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Kim Brown
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PostThu Oct 01, 2009 11:31 am 
Tom - When's the last time I called you a facetious bastard? Well, it's been too long. clown.gif

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
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Tom
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PostThu Oct 01, 2009 11:32 am 
Hey, my GF is from Texas. I'm familiar with those those Wolf Brand Chili commercials. clown.gif

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Randy
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PostThu Oct 01, 2009 12:38 pm 
Kim Brown wrote:
Shut up, Randy, we're busy. clown.gif
Careful or you'll hit 12,000 posts again by Sunday! wink.gif

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DIYSteve
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DIYSteve
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PostThu Oct 01, 2009 1:56 pm 
Randy wrote:
Is there a cool TR in here somewhere?
Damn, that's funny lol.gif lol.gif

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Tom
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PostThu Oct 01, 2009 2:33 pm 
With all the peakbagging DHM has been doing I think Randy is upset at being suckerd into clicking on a lakebagging TR. embarassedlaugh.gif

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Rich Baldwin
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PostThu Oct 01, 2009 10:34 pm 
Mike and Tom, my hat is off to you.

Was you ever bit by a dead bee?
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George Winters
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PostFri Oct 02, 2009 8:57 am 
Tom wrote:
To be fair to the Darrington Ranger Station, I simply reported the vehicle and plate and left my phone number. If they were extremely busy I can understand why they didn't call back. When we returned there were several more cars where we parked so I wouldn't necessarily assume the official vehicle was the party of 2 that signed in to Miner's Ridge. But I am curious if use of a permit requires they are on official business or not.
The people that work the visitor desk at Darrington also answer the phones, monitor the district radio, and do a variety of other public assistance duties such as accounting and sales to vendors, managing the mail, and serving as the first line of assistance for the district staff. The phone message line does get reviewed, but it also gets quite filled up with questions about many topics, so not every message is going to get a call back, but they do try to make sure each message gets the response it needs. Until one actually tries to be that front desk person, it is hard to realize how busy it can be, and the incredible array of questions they will get, both over the counter, and by phone. The cell phone age has added new wrinkles to the challenge, as people now can call in with such questions as, "I am at XYZ, please tell me how to get to ABC?" In regards to the vehicle reported, it was a contractor who had a permit. Please realize that there could also be other construction, maintenance, and survey contractors out there, contractors doing fish surveys, other plant and animal surveys, and possibly search and rescue volunteers. The people working may not be aware of every issue or frustration that other visitors have, but they are trying to do a good job at their particular venture. If you have a particular idea or question or suggestion on issues such as road closures and access, please try to find a way to communicate to the appropriate people, and please try to resist the temptation to vent on people such as the front desk phone person or the field worker who probably has no real influence on the question you have. Thanks.

When you are "miles from nowhere" you must have finally arrived at somewhere.
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Naffer
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Naffer
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PostFri Oct 02, 2009 9:38 am 
Wow
Backpacker Joe and I have always wanted to do Lime ridge for years. Now even more!!!!!! Great TR guys.

"Fight for your opinions, but do not believe that they contain the whole truth, or the only truth." -Charles A. Dana (1819 - 1897)
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Tom
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PostFri Oct 02, 2009 10:41 am 
George, thanks for chiming in. One suggestion I'd have is that vehicles authorized to drive the road display a more obvious permit. Maybe we missed the permit in the dark but the only thing we saw was a trail park pass hanging in the windshield (almost as if they put it up in jest, but more likely by habit). Also, we didn't note anyone else signing in to the Suiattle register besides the party who indicated they were heading to Miner's Ridge "for fun". Why not sign in to the trail register, or was the contractor working on the Downey Trail?

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Kim Brown
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PostFri Oct 02, 2009 1:33 pm 
Yah that’s a good point Tom. Personally, if it were me, and I had an authorized vehicle back there, I’d make damn sure it was crystal-clear that I was authorized. I’d hate to come back to my rig and find the tires flattened by jealous road-bikers or footers. I rode to Monte Cristo in a vehicle a few times, and got the stink eye from people walking that road, and it's a lot shorter walk than the Suiattle road. Nobody likes getting the stink-eye.

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
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cascadetraverser
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PostFri Oct 02, 2009 1:51 pm 
In the mid 90`s I started up the Gamma Peak trail and traversed over to the PCT/Mica lake and then followed Lime Ridge down the Pipeline and across the bridge to the trailhead. At that time, Lime ridge had been getting so much traffic that a fire ban for that area only had been instituted. Sounds like the downtime and inaccessability may have helped heal some scars. My memory was it was a great trip unhindered by all the trail problems and river fording you guys report. This whole set of emails underscores the difficulty and delays with opening up one of our premiere trailheads in the North Cascades. One can only hope we will be able to hike in there someday. I would sure like to take my 9 year old boy as a teen ager on the Ptarmigan traverse or to Miners ridge w/o navigating the 12 mile road and lousy trails.

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DIYSteve
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DIYSteve
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PostFri Oct 02, 2009 1:55 pm 
If and when the road opens, the PT will be a damn trade route for the following two or three years. An enterprising guy might set up a lemonade stand on the flank of the LeConte Glacier. biggrin.gif

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Tom
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Tom
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PostFri Oct 02, 2009 2:19 pm 
That's for sure. Actually, it would be great if there was a way to find out who might be contracting up there and pay them a fee to drop bikes at Downey. hockeygrin.gif

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George Winters
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PostFri Oct 02, 2009 2:36 pm 
Hi Tom, The permit you saw was probably an "administrative" permit because the contractor was working on a number of trails that require a Northwest Forest Pass. He was also given a permit specific to driving the closed road. In the Suiattle area he was working on the two Sulpher trails (Kim is going to make fun of me because I do not know how to spell and the trail signs are sometimes wrong too) Huckleberry and Downey. Signing in at registration boxes is entirely voluntary. Law enforcement has been patrolling the Suiattle Road and did give the contractor a warning. But my main point is that displaying passes, wherever, should be done in a way to satisfy law enforcement. It is fine to make note of and report unusual behavior at trail areas, but no one should have to worry about hikers vandalizing vehicles as some kind of misplaced vigilante statement. In this case the contractor was working hard to remove brush and windfall and probably feeling good about making the trail better for hikers. What a shame it would be if after hard multiple days working in rain and cold, he or she returns to find damage that makes no sense and ruins what slim profit might be made. By the way, bidding for and working on maintenance contracts is a great way to make a start into the realm of making money doing work on trails and much better than second guessing about how it should be done.

When you are "miles from nowhere" you must have finally arrived at somewhere.
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Tom
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PostFri Oct 02, 2009 3:16 pm 
We stopped by the Darrington Ranger Station on the way in and the lady we talked to had mentioned the contractor working on the Tenas Creek Road was tired of people vandalizing their equimpment. Doing something similar was the last thing on our mind and the comment about letting air out of tires was more a joke than any serious consideration. Sometimes a little dark humor helps the psyche when you're hunched over on a bike riding back 12 miles in the dark with a dim headlamp and a strained neck from needing to keep your head up. Good to hear law enforcement has been patrolling the road. I appreciate that contractors are getting in to do work on the trails, but I question the benefit it provides if the average joe won't be heading in there for who knows how many years. I'd rather see the road get fixed as the top priority. How's the EA coming along?

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Forum Index > Trip Reports > Lime Ridge High Route - Sept. 22-25, 2009
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