Forum Index > Public Lands Stewardship > Sultan Basin to be closed to public
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Hulksmash
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Hulksmash
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PostMon Jul 23, 2012 12:41 pm 
Bummer. Have to admit it would be nice to drive that road. But I'm not going to drive a road that is un-gated possibly due to vandals.

"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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Andy Carr
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PostThu Jul 04, 2013 9:19 pm 
The DNR has now "closed" the Boulder Lake trail, citing carpenter ant damage to the stringers on the Boulder Creek bridge (incorrectly signed "Elk Creek" on the DNR notice). They warn that it's "just a matter of time" before someone steps through and takes the plunge..... BUT there is a usable logjam just upstream from the bridge. I crossed here and continued up. The first brushy section (1.0 to 1.7m from road) is overgrowing fast with salmonberry, bracken, devil's club etc. - very slow going. I reached my time limit and turned around after ascending the first timbered switchbacks after the brushy section - maybe 2 miles from road? So no info on trail conditions above 2000'.

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Dave Workman
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PostSun Jul 07, 2013 8:08 am 
Maybe some of you can gather and have a group hug with a tree. Like it or not, this is something of a natural progression, call it a new evolutionary step in the "Ah, wilderness" movement where more land is gradually placed beyond the ability of the public to access it. IIRC there's a mix of public-private land. A guy in Alaska summed it up great to me about 30 years ago when he observed that government likes to lock up land so the people can't see what they're NOT doing with it.

"The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted." - D.H. Lawrence

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MadCapLaughs
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PostSun Jul 07, 2013 11:20 am 
Dave Workman wrote:
Maybe some of you can gather and have a group hug with a tree.
Maybe you can take your bigoted stereotyping and petty insults and crawl back under your rock. It says a lot about the depth of your thinking that you believe that simplistic drivel from a "guy in Alaska."

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treeswarper
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treeswarper
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PostSun Jul 07, 2013 12:10 pm 
Dave Workman wrote:
Maybe some of you can gather and have a group hug with a tree. Like it or not, this is something of a natural progression, call it a new evolutionary step in the "Ah, wilderness" movement where more land is gradually placed beyond the ability of the public to access it. IIRC there's a mix of public-private land. A guy in Alaska summed it up great to me about 30 years ago when he observed that government likes to lock up land so the people can't see what they're NOT doing with it.
Also called: Restoration. Unfortunately, the future does not bode well for access.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
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Schroder
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PostSun Jul 07, 2013 10:02 pm 
This has nothing to do with creating wilderness. The Snohomish County PUD and City of Everett Utilities would prefer to keep the public out of their reservoir but it was a condition of the contract to provide continued recreational use in allowing them to build the dam. This happened during the period when Tacoma was in the process of closing the Green River Valley and isolating Lester. The people of Snohomish County didn't want that happening up here. Unfortunately, the Utilities have picked away at access over time to the point where we barely have any left.

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tod701
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PostMon Jul 08, 2013 8:29 am 
Schroder wrote:
This has nothing to do with creating wilderness. The Snohomish County PUD and City of Everett Utilities would prefer to keep the public out of their reservoir but it was a condition of the contract to provide continued recreational use in allowing them to build the dam. This happened during the period when Tacoma was in the process of closing the Green River Valley and isolating Lester. The people of Snohomish County didn't want that happening up here. Unfortunately, the Utilities have picked away at access over time to the point where we barely have any left.
To facilitate the continued access that is legally required, the PUD could have opposed the DNR closure of the P5000 road, but they chose not to and unfortunately there was little public pressure to keep public access to the north side of the reservoir.

Tod
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Schroder
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PostMon Jul 08, 2013 9:12 am 
tod701 wrote:
To facilitate the continued access that is legally required, the PUD could have opposed the DNR closure of the P5000 road, but they chose not to and unfortunately there was little public pressure to keep public access to the north side of the reservoir.
Yes, and it goes beyond that. The north side road was heavily accessed from Road 6126, the Pilchuck mainline, which was closed due to pressure by the City of Snohomish in order to keep people out of their watershed.

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Grey Heckel
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PostWed Jul 10, 2013 10:42 am 
Came into this late, but want to make a comment on fishery in Spada lake -- the lake is virtually useless for fish rearing, except for some highly predatory species that can make use of the zillions of bullheads that have taken over ANY production the lake is capable of; and it would cost millions to eradicate the lake with piscicides, which you and I don't want to be drinking, after their use ANYWHERE in the wilderness (National Park Service ignores this concern, of course, with their fish eradication program), - however it is possible, maybe even probable, that these POISONS will reach your water supply, even in wells - few know there is an underground river beneath the city of Tacoma that is larger than the Puyallup R., which crosses perpendicular beneath it, that has its origin in the OLYMPIC MTNS, (TESTED). All that water originates from the snowmelt and rain from our mountains.

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tod701
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PostWed Jul 10, 2013 12:20 pm 
Grey Heckel wrote:
few know there is an underground river beneath the city of Tacoma that is larger than the Puyallup R., which crosses perpendicular beneath it, that has its origin in the OLYMPIC MTNS, (TESTED). All that water originates from the snowmelt and rain from our mountains.
Fascinating. Any clues to where to learn more?

Tod
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SingleShot
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PostWed Jul 10, 2013 8:27 pm 
The PUD generates power and the City of Everett wants the water. The water is picked up downriver and pumped to Lake Chaplain where the city has a filtration plant that "cleans" the product for consumption. Everett never used the water directly from Spada and after the filtration system was completed they should have supported public recreation. Lake Chaplain was closed to the public right after 12-7-41 to keep the watershed safe from sabotage. According to the old fishing reports it had some very large CT. In the 70's, the Forest Service did a study that showed Spada had more fecal matter from animals than humans. It was one of the reasons the area was left open to recreation. Wilderness values change. In 1976, when congress enabled the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, you could land float planes on those big lakes up the Foss system. Five years later there was enough pressure put on the USFS the aircraft were banned. The float plane group was ready for Wild Sky and that is why the legislation specifically states the aircraft can land on Isabel. In my letters to congress I asked that fish stocking be specifically added as well. It wasn't. None of the lakes in parts of the Morningstar NRCA have been stocked since 2008. The lakes in the latest addition to the unit have been added to the no stock list by the WDFW.

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RichP
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PostSat Apr 02, 2022 7:37 am 
I just read through this thread for the first time and found it very interesting and informative. I've done a couple of hikes in the area as of late and am curious how this has all played out? My first time in Sultan Basin and looking forward to more visits. Some pretty nice areas to explore though I understand access is not what it used to be.

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Nancyann
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PostSun Apr 03, 2022 7:18 pm 
Not sure what the plan is this year, but it has been open for quite a few years now all the way up to the Greider Lakes trailhead. Lots to explore up there and not very many people except on weekends. smile.gif

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RichP
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PostSun Apr 03, 2022 7:26 pm 
Hi Nancyann, I saw that the road going to Greider Lakes is gated at Olney Pass. Not sure if this is due to it being early in the season but the sign said 7 miles to the TH.

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Nancyann
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PostSun Apr 03, 2022 8:37 pm 
It usually opens around mid-April depending on the snowpack.

RichP
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