Outdoor recreationists can begin 2009 certain it will be filled with topics worthy of discussion. Access, leadership and new recreational opportunities top our list of the most noteworthy items we feel will be the topic of chats around the campfire, aboard the fishing boat or at a favorite watering hole.
CARBON RIVER ROAD
Ever since floodwaters ruined the Carbon River Road in November 2006, Mount Rainier National Park has been trying to figure out how to fix the popular corridor in the northeast corner of the park.
In 2009, the park should pick a preferred option for fixing the road, superintendent Dave Uberuaga said.
Uberuaga said the park could be ready for public comment on the decision by February or March.
For years, the five-mile road gave drivers easy access to Ipsut Creek Campground and the 3.5-mile trail to Carbon Glacier. However, the road closure has turned the seven-mile day hike into a 17-mile trip, outside the one-day range of many hikers.
The park is considering three options for the road:
• Leave it closed.
• Rebuild four miles of the road to the Chenuis Falls trailhead. The park has determined that the last mile of the road is unsalvageable.
• Rebuild the road as far Chenuis Falls, but only allow the road to be used by park shuttle buses.
In the past two years, biking the ruined road has become a popular way to reach Ipsut Creek campground. (Bikes are not permitted on trails.) Uberuaga said regardless of what option is picked for the road, bike racks will be put at the campground to meet growing demand.
SEARCH FOR NEW DFW DIRECTOR
The search to replace Jeff Koenings as the director of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife will begin once the Legislature adjourns this spring. No matter when the decision is made, the search process will be watched closely by sporting, commercial and tribal interests.
Koenings resigned Dec. 11 under pressure from members of the Fish and Wildlife Commission. His ouster, after 10 years on the job, had been on the agenda of many recreational sporting groups, whose members felt Koenings too often favored commercial interests.
The new director is going to have to deal with a department facing a budget cut. In her budget, Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed a 20 percent cut for the agency, including a 10 percent work force reduction. The new director will have to mend bridges with recreational fishing and hunting groups who felt their concerns are not being heard, let alone addressed, while relationships with tribal co-managers and commercial fishermen must be maintained. The new director also will have to convince legislators that the jobs created by the state’s fishing, hunting and wildlife opportunities are as valuable as any other in the state.
WHITE PASS EXPANSION
For the first time since 1984, White Pass Ski Area’s expansion plans will be more than just talk.
“Visitors this year will notice the work we are doing,” said resort spokeswoman Kathleen Goyette. “After all these years it’s real.”
Thanks to a Sept. 9 ruling, the ski area is now clear to start its planned 767-acre expansion. The buzz should be considerable this year because skiers will be able to see the areas cut for lift lines and future ski runs.
While the work is sure to get skiers and boarders excited, they’ll have to wait to try the new terrain. The first lift is expected to open for the 2010-11 season.
Expansion plans call for 13 new runs, 1,000 new parking spots, two new chairlifts and a mid-mountain lodge. The upgrades are designed to relieve some pressure from the Great White Lift, the primary lift for most of the ski area’s runs.
MTTA SOUTH ACCESS
For the first time in three years, the south country of the Mount Tahoma Trails Association will be accessible for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
Flooding in November 2006 caused a swollen Catt Creek to destroy a bridge to the trail system south of Ashford.
The Department of Natural Resources replaced the bridge this summer, said Bob Myrick of the MTTA.
While the northern trail system was open the last two winters, the MTTA’s most popular trails are in the south. The MTTA has four huts available for rent, and all but one are in the south.
Snow Bowl Hut burned to the ground earlier this year, and the MTTA is working to rebuild it.
STATE PARK UPGRADES, FEES FREEZE
Visitors to Washington’s state parks will get plenty of good news in 2009.
First, the camping fee increase scheduled to take effect today has been postponed. “The $1 fee increase was put on hold until we know more about the state budget and economy,” said parks spokeswoman Linda Burnett.
Several state parks will be getting face-lifts in 2009. A new artificial reef will be built at Saltwater State Park, Burnett said. The reef is a popular with divers.
Burnett said the most extensive upgrade in the park service this year will be at the little-known Bottle Beach State Park near Westport. The day-use site will get a new parking lot, a boardwalk and a wildlife viewing platform this year.
HIKING AT MOUNT RAINIER
Hikers at Mount Rainier National Park will have to deal with a couple major trouble spots, but overall the park should be in good shape. That’s the forecast from Carl Fabiani, trails foreman.
Park staff are dealing with two major projects following the November 2006 flood. Work started late last summer on the reconstruction of the Glacier Basin Trail near the White River Campground. Fabiani said 1,000 feet of trail was rebuilt and 1,000 feet started. “But there’s still another 4,000 feet of ground that hasn’t been touched yet,” he said.
The other big project will be a reroute of the Wonderland Trail near the Carbon Glacier. Fabiani said crews will be moving 1,500 feet of trail to higher ground.
Flooding this November also did some damage, mostly on the Wonderland Trail in Stevens Canyon and along the Carbon River Road corridor.
“We had (Stevens Canyon) all put back together last summer. But our flooding this fall did some additional damage in the lower canyon. We’re not sure to what extent, but it’s not nearly to the extent it was in 2006,” said Fabiani.
Watching the snow falling outside his park office, said Fabiani. “It would be nice if we get a little earlier spring next year. Last year, it was late May before we really got going with our work. Typically it’s April when we get going.”
STEVENS PASS MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK
If all goes as planned at Stevens Pass in 2009, professional mountain bikers could be racing down the ski area’s slopes by September, said resort spokesman Chris Rudolph.
Stevens Pass officials expect the Forest Service to give them the OK to build a summer mountain bike resort in May. They hope to start work in June and finish the first phase in time to have professionals demo the park in September.
Rudolph said the mountain bike park could be open by summer 2010.
This summer resort would have five trails ranging from beginner to expert serviced by the Hogsback Lift. Rudolph said there will be as much as three miles of trails.
Stevens Pass has hired Gravity Logic of Whistler, B.C., to design the trail system. That firm built Whistler Mountain Bike Park .
If the mountain bike park does well, Rudolph said, expansion off of the Skyline Lift could soon follow.
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