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MtnBadger
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 1:52 pm 
The Forest Service had taken into consideration the fact that at times during the season (late fall and early spring) that before snow covers the entire road, that it would make since to place an additional, new metal gate higher up on the mountain so that when there was no snow on the lower portion of the road,that those wishing to get up to Mount Pilchuck would not be required to walk six miles from the Heather Lake gate when the road was bare and absent snow at the lower elevations. They placed a new FS gate just below mile post 5 in a wide spoy in the road where there was plenty of room to park. Just a few few days before the new year, someone (obviously in a 4X4) cut the FS lock off the gate and then proceeded to vandalize it by ramming it with the bumper on their truck, leaving rubber marks high up on the gate and bending it and leaving a nice bow in it where it could no longer be locked. As a result of the vandalism, the FS has closed the Upper Pilchuck Gate, piled boulders up in front of it to insure nobody can get through it until after the snow melts out to it in the spring. They have also closed,locked,and placed a pile of boulders in front of The Heather Lake Gate as well to insure the enforcement of the December 31st to April 2nd closure order that has been in place on the 42 Road for years. As of New Years day there was compact snow and ice at the Upper Pilchuck Gate, and none below it, but now we all have to walk six miles to the trailhead instead of two. I would like to give a big thank you to whoever rammed the gate and made it so much more inconvenient to get to the trailhead! How about a little respect to the Forest Service who TRIES to keep the road open.

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Bryan K
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Bryan K
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 2:04 pm 
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Hulksmash
Cleaning up.



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Hulksmash
Cleaning up.
PostFri Jan 06, 2012 2:20 pm 
rant.gif

"Bears couldn't care less about us....we smell bad and don't taste too good. Bugs on the other hand see us as vending machines." - WetDog Albuterol! it's the 11th essential
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onemoremile
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onemoremile
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 2:26 pm 
Grrrrr... Wish they would hide cameras at gates like that. Some real tools out there.

“Arbolist? Look up the word. I don’t know, maybe I made it up. Anyway, it’s an arbo-tree-ist, somebody who knows about trees.” G.W. Bush
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Opus
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Opus
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 3:14 pm 
Morons always ruin it for the rest of us. I was really looking forward to some more winter trips up there. down.gif down.gif When I was up there last month and parked at the new gate there were a lot of people grousing about that new gate. I don't think they even considered that the road would otherwise be closed way down at Heather Lake.

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Shred
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 3:40 pm 
Boo!!!!

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kylebingham
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 3:54 pm 
frown.gif Awesome.

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Jim Dockery
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Jim Dockery
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 4:22 pm 
!@$%^&!! rant.gif I can only hope that the gate did some damage to their truck.

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the Zachster
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 4:30 pm 
mad.gif rant.gif down.gif down.gif rant.gif mad.gif Selfish, stupid jerk(s). Thanks for nothin'. (Mtn Badger, thanks for the heads up...we were thinking about heading up there this weekend... frown.gif )

"May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am"
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Malachai Constant
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 5:18 pm 
The Apes shall inherit the Earth - Tennessee Williams

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Magellan
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Magellan
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 9:57 pm 
f### jackasses.

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trestle
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trestle
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PostFri Jan 06, 2012 10:20 pm 
Was this a new gate? If so it would seem very, very ripe for fresh vandalism so why not put up a trail cam to keep an eye on it for awhile? Surely they could have borrowed one from Fish & Wildlife.... Sounds like the Forest Service in the area is very pro-active though and I mean that sincerely and as a compliment.

"Life favors the prepared." - Edna Mode
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GeoHiker
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PostSat Jan 07, 2012 2:56 am 
The freaking #$%^ mad.gif mad.gif When I spoke to LE last month he said they had planned on keeping the lower gate open as conditions allowed. In a normal year that would be most of the winter. The main reason why the upper gate was put in. Last year the lower gate was vandalized till they dug up the road and dumped some rocks. Those gates aren't cheap, $1,000s of dollars, so a serious Federal crime. They should have left the lower gate open and put up a couple Trail Cams, heck I'd do it myself. Love to catch the bastards that messed up the gate. Thank you very much A-HOLES. rant.gif rant.gif rant.gif

You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye......Eagles
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PeaksAndValleys
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PostSat Jan 07, 2012 8:43 am 
I used to have a ski rack on my mountain bike for situations like this. (Plastic pipe hose clamped onto a rear rack.) But slogging up a road like this sure makes one hate the bastards. Hate to think how much the vandals cost us in tax money, funds that could have paid for much better things.

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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostSat Jan 07, 2012 9:45 am 
Where is the lower gate in relation to the Heather parking lot please?

"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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