[wiki summary]

since i'm out of work, and the weather's starting to turn, i'm thinking of grabbing some pruners and small saws and heading out to some of our less maintained trails to do a little de-brushing. my knowledge of really bad trails is limited, so i'm looking for suggestions. i'm mostly willing to cut logs and branches, but not so much into the idea of shoveling or repairing any part of the dirt/rock trail itself as other organizations like WTA are much more knowledgeable and capable in that arena. thanks! Marble Pass or Troublesome Creek. Mineral creek to Park lakes. Marten Lake, Middle Fork. Short bad section in an avy chute. Scatter Creek to Grindstone, although when the road opens again this will probably get official attention. Lennox Creek trail, up the North Fork Snoqualmie. That's got lots of brush to lop South Cascade River to South Cascade lake! Mt. Phelps (N. Fork Snoq.) - lots of downed trees to be cleared, trail overgrown Pitcher Mtn. (Carbon Ridge) - At least through the meadow area, if not beyond Mineral City to Poodle Dog Pass

[Quark]

Eric, I thought South Point was closing due to logging activity...? That really is a pretty place, though we only made it to the rocky outcropping just below the lookout due to the approach being under a scary snow slope; plus it was really, really hot temps that day.

[treeswarper]

[Chief Joseph]

[Redwic]

How about the route to... Mineral Butte, and possibly Crested Buttes? Or near that area... Silver Creek Trail to Poodle Dog Pass?

[lopper]

So many to choose from. Hand tools are quiet. It will grow back.

[Foist]

[Foist]

[touron]

It's too bad the FS can't come up with some designated status for abandoned trails and then allow the average hiker to be deputized to do a minimum level of maintainance, for example shearing and lopping. Maybe it would involve an hour or two or proper shearing and lopping technique. The trail would thus be maintained as an historic trail and not as an official hiker trail. You could then add your name to an on-line registry indicating what trail you were attempting to keep in existance. $.01

[Chief Joseph]

Touron that's a fantastic idea, so good in fact that they would never go for it.

[Foist]

They probably won't go for it. It reminds me of this hilarious tail of forest-related government bureaucracy a while back about the Swift Creek trail, which has a sign "TRAIL CLOSED": I had noticed on the PNTA website that the Swift Creek trail was officially part of the route. Given Captain Jack's story, I found this very surprising. I asked the PNTA fellow about it. He said that the PNTA had poured in something like 1600 man hours the past year and 1400 the year before that into fixing up the Swift Creek trail, that he has recently hiked it, and that it is in fine shape. So, I asked, why the "Trail Closed" sign? To explain that, he told me a hilarious story about the Forest Service and red tape. Since the issue is now moot, I feel like there's no harm in posting it. Way back in 1996, Congress decided, at the behest of some interest group, that because the Cascades once had Grizzlies, they should have them now. But even more strange is the method of doing it. Each district -- or region? -- in the Cascades was obligated to set up a certain percentage of their territory to Grizzly Revival Habitat. Simply by this designation, and perhaps publication in major Grizzly periodicals and offering free vacations to grizzlies who would only have to watch a brief presentation, grizzlies would return to the Cascades, and of course specifically to the designated Grizzly Revival Habitat areas. For the region in question, the FS was considering the Swift Creek drainage. My friend said that no grizzly has ever been seen in this valley, and that any migration south from Canada was extremely unlikely, because across the border directly north was an explosive-testing zone. At any rate, for the FS, the problem was there was a trail there. They approached my PNTA friend and asked him, just how many people actually use this trail? Whatever his answer, they decided to do a survey of how many people were using it that summer. To make a show of strength, the folks at the PNTA got on the horn and spread the word: Hike the Swift Creek trail! It's in danger! Show them we love it and use it! The average weekly use was previously about 7 people, but this word-of-mouth jacked it up to about 30!! The effort was a success. Or was it? Turns out there was a misunderstanding. One of the rules of a Grizzly Revival Habitat area is that any trail in the zone cannot have more than 14 people on it per week (apparently, based on grizzly surveys, the precise amount of traffic a grizzly will tolerate before selling his time share and moving back to Canada). Because the Swift Creek trail turned out, based on the FS survey, to be such a hit with the hikers, it had to be CLOSED to make way for the theoretical grizzlies. That's right -- the fact that the trail was popular was a reason to close it. Oh the brutal irony! But the story has a happy ending. In 2003 or 2004, a couple doing the PNT hiked the Swift Creek trail and took a special interest in its revival and care. They volunteered to take complete stewardship of it, and to pour their own money and work (with the cooperation of the PNTA) into making it hikeable. My PNTA friend brought the message to a friend at the FS, and once again insisted that the trail never ever really gets 14 people on it per week. He finally convinced them, in 2004, to sign a land use agreement with him, allowing the PNTA to do work on the trail and use it. But of course, in Forest Service Land, the trail is still closed, open only to the migrating grizzlies. In the world of FS signs, only trails maintained by the FS actually exist.

[lopper]

Amen, Foist. Reality on the ground is what I prefer to deal with. Bureaucrats and their self-important fairy tales will come and go. Neglected and overgrown trail segments can be quietly attended to en route to less-popular destinations. I suspect that there will still be plenty of people willing to keep re-improving the first 3 miles of "trophy trails" for the WTA. Fine.

[DrakeBrimstone]

I'd recomend contacting the WTA. Get a few people here certified crew leaders and you can just pick a spot, and get the WTA to get the permission to do the work.

[Sky Hiker]

If the WTA homepage doesnt have a trail you would like to work on then do what is best for you. Everyone is going to have their opinion. Thanks for volunteering.

[treeswarper]

Grizzly bear story? Welcome to the world of the woods. Where we protect fantasy Spotted Owls that "might" be there but there isn't enough funding to find out so we will assume they exist whereever the map says there might be habitat. Short rant over. How come there can't be an "Adopt a Trail" program? Has anybody ever looked into it? How many hoops to jump through?

[Scrooge]

Foist, that's a grizzly story, humorous horribilis.