[TimJJohnson]

Just wondering what the scoop is at the THs at say McClellan Buttes and up at S-Pass area. Are cars getting ticketed or towed?

[Cyclopath]

Tinkham Road is closed at both exits.

[Randito]

My take on the USFS closure order in the region is that any developed site that under normal circumstances would require a Northwest Forest Pass in order to park is now closed and vehicles parked at such sites are subject to citation. In other areas such as along the Mt Si road, cars have been towed -- from areas with "No parking anytime" signs lining the road. These areas have long be the subject of over crowding and residents are already fed up with crowds and quick to call towing companies who are happy to oblige.

[Jeff]

I went to the McClellan Butte area the first weekend of the stay at home order. Tinkham road was blocked with a sign across the road a few hundred years from the trailhead. If you are creative you can find a place to park, but it could be a gamble. My car was fine when I got back. A ranger rolled by as I was leaving and he didn't look impressed. I was also parked next to a couple that were clearly living in their vehicle.

[puzzlr]

Recently a half dozen vehicles parked south of I-90 at exit 47 all got this notice on their windshields.

USFS Covid19 Notice

IMO, this strikes the right tone - informative and encouraging actions to reach the goal. Per the regulations the vehicles were parked legally. There was no threat of a ticket, which I appreciated.

[dixon]

Is anyone else thinking about 'breaking ranks' this weekend and heading out into the backcountry? I'm hearing construction is back, Boeing is back and in my neighborhood it looks like many people are out there as normal. Would it be better to wait it out another few weeks until its official?

[Secret Agent Man]

[Randito]

FWIW: Today, I observed a road closure barrier on the frontage road leading to the Granite Mtn trailhead -- blocking off access to the USFS parking lot. There were also road closure barriers at various places around the summit ski areas. There was some sort of security patrol vehicle and personal at the entrance to Summit East / the Hyak residential area. This weekend, I think anywhere within an hour or two of Puget Sound City along I-90 is going to be crowded enough to make social distancing challenging. I suspect that enforcement efforts will be focused on highly popular locations. I follow some #VanLife forums (I full timed in a mini RV for 8 months last year) -- #VanLife people are experiencing considerable harassment and vandalism from rural locals -- who don't what COVID-19 infected city folks spreading the infection into the countryside. If you are going to go -- go somewhere obscure, with limited parking and keep a low profile.

[Cyclopath]

[Randito]

[Cyclopath]

For the record I'm not planning to head to exit 47, just paying attention to what's going on. And wasn't sure there was legit parking there. There is at 42 and every spot is taken, which is a bad omen when you're trying to avoid people.

[Stephen B]

[dixon]

Thanks for the recommendations Randito, Secret Agent Man and good points on the difficulty of finding a lonely forest road this time of year. I will likely end up staying home and doing something local, I do have a hill with a whopping ~200 ft of gain! It will be interesting to see what happens when the restrictions for outdoor recreation are lifted since hiking was already seeing a huge boom in popularity these past few years especially along I-90, mountain loop, Rainier so couple that with closed malls, movie theaters etc. and it seems like there will be even more demand and pressure on areas ~2hours from Seattle as folks look to get outside. Inslee even stated in his address last week that packed trailheads were not a good idea but realistically without some mitigation techniques prior to a vaccine/therapeutics looks like more experienced folks will have to go to great lengths to avoid the masses until then. I heard up in BC they're proposing a permit system even for regular hiking trailheads for this summer but I cant see that working here. Gosh, can you just imagine the Snow/Rachel Lake trailheads and trail in a few weeks? Perhaps it will be one of those snaking slow moving lines you see at Disney World ... hope I am wrong!

[Secret Agent Man]

[Randito]