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KarlK
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KarlK
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PostTue Jul 16, 2013 3:22 pm 
Hulksmash wrote:
However as some point materials and equipment will need to be packed in.
Aha Hulkster, The Scurlock Plan involves airlifting supplies to the lookout, which is perfectly legal given that Meebee pass isn't in a wilderness area. Perhaps some materials will be carried in as well, and if so, sign me up as well.

Karl J Kaiyala
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John Scurlock
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PostTue Jul 16, 2013 7:07 pm 
To answer the question about sweat equity, it's entirely sweat equity -- we are all donating our time, our incidental costs, our beer. Every dollar donated goes to fund the direct cost of the project, there is no overhead. This is a very low-budget project by the way, with only about $2500 in costs, including transport and materials. Because the lookout is indeed not in a wilderness, and with the benevolent cooperation of the USFS, we intend to fly in the reconstruction materials. That is the cost that most of the incredibly kind and generous donations will cover. We'll have a team on the ground to do the work when the materials arrive. It's been a labor, and I seriously mean labor, of love and obsession. Tomorrow will be my sixth trip up that trail. I've seen it go from choked with blow-down to open. For me, it's gonna be a long one day trip up and back to the lookout as we do our pre-restoration condition assessment. I'm not ready to play the age card yet, but if I can do it in a day, so can you. After all, it's only seventeen miles...! I encourage you to make the trip up the trail some day. It's a unique adventure in the North Cascades. Treat the trail with respect, but stomp a bit of brush and break an overhanging branch here and there. Forgive us for our flagging... that will be gone soon. It will be a bit more challenging then.. but that's part of the East Creek experience, I assure you. and I do hope, when you travel up there, you'll gain an appreciation of what we've been up against...

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John Scurlock
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PostThu Jul 18, 2013 4:45 pm 
Greetings Everyone, We got our assessment team up to the Mebee Pass lookout yesterday, and here's a summary of what we determined. It's a seventeen mile round trip up the East Creek Trail to the lookout. We hiked up to the lookout under cloudy skies and rainshowers, but with promise of clearing. We found the lookout, as Mike Liu (district ranger at the Methow Valley RD of the USFS) mentioned, in remarkably good condition. We found the building conformed to the plans closely, although the use of cedar t&g for the lower walls was a bit of a surprise. We think that the chimney roof flashing has had a direct effect in causing the rot we found at the base of the "A" side stud and bracing to the left of the door. This is likely allowing water to leak down on that part of the wall. Replacing the roof will indeed be a critical factor in this work, though not the only critical factor, of which there are three or four. The roof cap is serviceable and the sub roof is in good condition. We need to replace four pieces of the ridge flashing. The foundation at the B-C corner and under the C side has failed. This is possibly the most critical problem of the structure. We are devising a plan to fix this using the log rounds found inside the lookout, along with a scissors jack we'd plan to take up to the site in order to lift the corner. There are other problems as well which we hope to address, including replacement of the A-B corner post which is broken, replacement of the lower cedar wall boards (weathered to about half or less of their original thickness), squaring up the building, installing a new door once the building is square, and of course replacement of the front stud and bracing that is rotten. There are a few other smaller items as well. Right now, the chimney replacement seems most vexing. We don't believe there was ever a stove in the lookout. The chimney flashing has caused damage to the building. One short term option would be to replace the chimney roof flashing with a proper chimney jack/roof flashing, with a cap installed so that the decision to install an actual chimney can be deferred, without compromising the roof and building. We did not find the old chimney. It's our feeling that it likely blew away years ago and may lie in the valley to the east somewhere. We continue to feel that a chimney provides a troublesome breach in the roof, and it's replacement is perhaps the most difficult technical problem in the project. The building must be squared up before a new door can be installed. This is not an insurmountable problem. We will also work to install a new door sill and B side window sill. with a new door, it would be advisable to construct and install temporary shutters made of plywood on hinges to protect the door.These would probably best be held shut by rotating wood blocks, hook/eye latches, or some other mechanism. We spent about 2.5 hours on site, on a warm sunny afternoon, and took time to take a group portrait. Left to right, Dave Adams, Doug McKeever, Dave Tucker, John Scurlock, RJ Van Liere. It was a great outing, we believe we've identified the primary issues needing attention, we will be preparing a full report for the USFS soon. Be advised that the trail still has considerable blowdown in mile seven, significantly more than I initially reported.. We will be working on that in the coming few weeks.

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KarlK
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PostThu Jul 18, 2013 5:06 pm 
This enterprise makes me happy (or at least a good deal less grumpy) and I'll definitely donate at least 50$ to the effort, as well as a good deal of muscle if desired. Perhaps this project will be a catalyst for long-needed work on several other fine trails in the area: 1) The long abandoned Boulder Creek trail (which links the Chancellor-Canyon creek trail to the East Creek trail and is in pretty good shape); 2) The Canyon Creek trail N of the Cedar crossing; 3) The Center Mountain trail from Chancellor to Sky Pilot pass (tons of deadfall). I regard a Canyon Creek / Center Mountain upgrade to be of importance because this route represents a potentially vital escape route from a big patch of the Pasayten (e.g., in the event of fires that block either the PCT S of Holman Pass or block existing egress from parts of the Jackita Ridge / Devils Loop trail).

Karl J Kaiyala
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John Scurlock
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PostThu Jul 18, 2013 6:02 pm 
We'd appreciate any and all donations! The trail clearing work is hard and dangerous at times. It's difficult to get enough folks together who have the time and skills to do these things. We've been really fortunate to have talented, motivated, and resourceful folks in our group. The prospect of clearing some of these more remote and longer trails is daunting to say the least. We've passed by that Boulder trail junction many times now but due to our commitment at Mebee, have not ventured up it very far at all. I'm sure that if we can afford it, we'll fly in at least part of our restoration crew. I think it's a necessary step in order to get the work done in a timely manner without having people be exhausted when they get up there. We may be able to fly in all the materials but if unable to complete the entire agenda, return on foot to work on the little stuff. Roof, foundation, door, fix siding and rot... that is our focus. We don't really need help right now hauling things in but I could easily see a need for assistance either helping on the ground with the restoration if you could hike in, or help bringing out some of the tools (nothing too big or heavy, by the way). I will say this, the Mebee lookout sits on a really beautiful spot...

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KarlK
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PostThu Jul 18, 2013 6:36 pm 
John Scurlock wrote:
The trail clearing work is hard and dangerous at times.
That's an understatement that I suspect relatively few readers truly grock. In my long distant youth, I did a stint as a choker-setter and chaser in virgin timber on the Olympic Peninsula. Had a number of very sobering close calls, including one particularly memorable near-miss involving a giant cedar log. Trail clearing work involving big or even relatively modest deadfall and the ever-loaded-for-evil chainsaw is logging by a different name, and I suspect that the physics can be even more complex and unpredictable than in regular logging. The forest service recognizes the dangers of trail work, and hence their hostility towards unsanctioned do-it-yourself efforts and consequent preference for trained crews such as those of the WTA. Bless you WTA (but I wish you would eschew the blue helmets). I was curious how you guys managed to get the official go-ahead for your project, but I suspect it's because your crew encompasses the requisite background and expertise.

Karl J Kaiyala
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Magellan
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PostThu Jul 18, 2013 7:03 pm 
Thanks for the update John. up.gif How does a fella get on the email list so he knows when these here work party weekends are coming?

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KarlK
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PostThu Jul 18, 2013 9:16 pm 
OK, I just donated $50 to the cause; who's next? Magellan, you seem like a generous soul. I imagine Hulk's got a Jackson or two to spare. Same for Iron Mike.

Karl J Kaiyala
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John Scurlock
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PostThu Jul 18, 2013 10:44 pm 
Thanks for the donation, Karl, we really appreciate it. I'll send you an email later. For anyone who wants on the mailing list just send an email to mebeepasslookout@gmail.com and I will add you to the Friends of Mebee Pass Lookout group. We have two people, Don & Nat, going up this weekend to work on the seventh mile. We may have another effort in early August but we aren't sure yet. It depends on what gets done this weekend. We have not set the dates for the restoration work itself. I think in general we are where we are because we involved the FS early and often. We went to them with a solid proposal, I met with them both in Wenatchee and Winthrop, I assured them that we wanted to work to their standards and we were committed to historical restoration standards, and the trail clearing was intended only to give us access to the lookout, not to bring the trail up to spec. Well it just so happens that deadfall is the major problem on that trail, so ironically by resolving only that issue, it results in opening the trail. They have emphatically said they cannot maintain a bridge there so our work to get across Granite Creek has walked a fine line between getting us across and creating the "attractive nuisance". Lastly, it really helped that the Mebee lookout had been on their radar for some time - they have a number of employees over there who were interested in it and really wanted something good to happen with it, and I think our group just dropped out of the sky for them. and when you have groups like the FFLA and also Ray Kresek on your side, you have a degree of cred. I'd been involved with both previously, through winter photography of fire lookouts, so I had a strong connection to them already. you know, I worked for the FS long ago and my wife had a 27 year career with them at the Mt Baker district. Plus I have friends all over NCNP... so I'm fairly connected to the federal way of doing things, for better or worse.... all of which has helped greatly. At the end of all this, I really hope East Creek and Mebee becomes a feather in their cap, that would be my hope.

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KarlK
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PostThu Jul 18, 2013 11:23 pm 
John Scurlock wrote:
They have emphatically said they cannot maintain a bridge there so our work to get across Granite Creek has walked a fine line between getting us across and creating the "attractive nuisance".
I understand, yet can't resist the temptation to note that the entire Cascade Range is richly endowed with "attractive nuisances" which compared to that modestly upgraded stringer across Granite Creek are the real deal. That said, the reluctance of the FS to rebuild and maintain a bridge over Granite Creek is .... let me choose my adjective respectfully ...regrettable. Perhaps, with time, the FS will .... well let's see. Your narrative comports with my sense of how good thing like this happen: credibility, relationships and follow-through matter hugely. Would the Don and Nat mentioned above happen to be of the D & N G instantiation of the D & G population?

Karl J Kaiyala
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John Scurlock
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PostFri Jul 19, 2013 6:31 am 
Yes same Don & Nat, long history of dedication to all things North Cascadian & mountaineering. The issue with the FS and the bridge revolves purely around funding. And that isn't their fault. They would like to have these trails open. Mike Liu, the district ranger, has committed himself to hiking every trail on that district -- a most laudable objective considering what he's up against, East Creek being exhibit A since he did it before we'd cleared it. For East Creek, having a worthy objective at the top, the lookout, will hopefully elevate its worth to the hiking public, and return it to a position of priority as far as trail maintenance is concerned. Once we finish punching through to the switchbacks in the eighth mile, it would not be too hard to run up there once in a while with a small chainsaw or at the very least a good quality pruning saw.

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cascadetraverser
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PostFri Jul 19, 2013 12:39 pm 
John, I didn`t realize you spent any time on the ground!! I guess I was wrong. Thanks for your involvement in this!

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John Scurlock
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PostFri Jul 19, 2013 1:17 pm 
yes I've spent a little time on the ground in the North Cascades. Started out in 1973 at age 19, hiking the PCT from the Columbia River to Manning, most of it solo. (That trip ended with a hitchhike/bus ride to Salem, then a road trip back to Michigan in a giant oldsmobile battlewagon with the seventeen year old son of family friends and his dog Dude. There's nothing quite like being an unsupervised teenage driver in a no speed limit Montana...) I'm by no means the worlds greatest hiker or climber but I've been fortunate to visit many obscure corners of the range on foot over the years. Having seen a lot of mountains around western North America over the last forty years, for some reason I still gravitate back to the NCs...

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cascadetraverser
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PostFri Jul 19, 2013 1:25 pm 
I was just teasing! Seeing all your great plane photos, I am not sure I would ever set foot on a trail again myself....

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Earthbound
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PostThu Sep 18, 2014 9:15 am 
John, Thanks so much for all the work you did on this lookout. Is there a water source close by to the lookout?

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