Sometimes it seems as if half the hiking population in Western Washington has taken to the hills.
Generally, trails are rapidly opening, including Mount Townsend in the Hood Canal District with its blooming wildflowers, and Perry Creek Trail at Stevens Pass, which features three easy creek crossings and a waterfall in spring-runoff glory.
But access to many trails, and some of the trails as well, are closed, mostly because of floods and construction. Here are a few of the road and trail conditions.
Suiattle River Road: The road, northeast of Darrington with access to Glacier Peak Wilderness, is washed out at milepost 12.6; Canyon Lake road access is closed; Green Mountain Trail is inaccessible.
Mountain Loop: (Access from Darrington or Granite Falls). Ashford Lakes still has snow; Forest Service Road 49, once with access to Curry Gap, is washed out at milepost 6.3; Bald Mountain Trail starts at Ashland Lakes trailhead because of road blockage; Barlow Point is open; Boardman Lake Trail is mostly snow-free but snow lingers at the lake.
Glacier Creek Road, a bit farther north, is closed to Thompson Creek Bridge, killing access to the Heliotrope Ridge Trail (one of my favorites) and the Mount Baker Vista Viewpoint.
Going down: Once I thought hang-gliding was adventurous, but Tyler Bradt has given new meaning to the adventure concept.
Usually he does it by himself. Not that’s he’s the loner type; it’s just that no one wants to go with him. Perhaps it’s his penchant for paddling down waterfalls that’s not very inviting.
In April, after weeks of preparation and countless visualizations, Bradt changed the sport forever by riding on spring floods over the 186-foot-high (the state parks department says 198 feet) Palouse Falls in Eastern Washington. He broke his own world record.
It took him about 4 seconds to reach the bottom of the falls but longer than that for him to come out from under the pounding water with only a broken paddle.
Work in Paradise: Repairs are under way on the flood-damaged road to Paradise at Glacier Hill, milepost 12.3, and Stevens Canyon Road east of Backbone Ridge Viewpoint, milepost 14.1.
Expect delays and temporary closures as well as limited parking at Paradise because of construction. A free visitor shuttle from Ashford, Longmire and Paradise will run Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 6.
For updated information, go to www.nps.gov/mora.
Opening today: The Ice Caves bridge should be open today. The bridge over the Stillaguamish River was washed out in 2006 floods. It was the access to the Big Four trail to the ice caves, one of most popular trails in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
It was scheduled to be open today. The barrier-free trail is 25 miles east of Granite Falls on the Mountain Loop Highway.
Yes, free: During the weekends of July 18 and 19 and Aug. 15 and 16, visitors to Olympic National Park will get in free and can take advantage of area retail deals.
Delays: Plans to develop Nisqually-Mashel State Park, at the confluence of the Nisqually and Mashell rivers along Highway 7, have been delayed by budget cuts.
Serious debris: During the Washington Coast Cleanup, 1,230 volunteers removed more than 30 tons of debris that littered the shore from Neah Bay to Long Beach.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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