By Landon Decker, Trails Manager, Methow Valley Ranger District
This year the gift from the Dianne and Joe Hofbeck Pasayten Wilderness Trails Trust supported the efforts of a crew of six Methow Valley Ranger District employees and one SCA intern for 8 days out on the Hidden Lakes trail with pack support from Forest Service packers Trent Peterson and Kiley Kemmer. Oh, what an 8 days it was! It was hot, it was dry, water sources were low, and challenges were numerous. Beginning with a radio debacle and ending with a storm that pushed us to safer ground, this was probably the most difficult (mentally and physically) and most chaotic of all hitches. On par for August on the trail.
On our first day out it was epically hot and dry. By the time we made it to camp, everyone had been out of water for a couple of miles. We hiked in to Hoot Owl Camp, where we were certain from past reports that the water source was good. However, while it indeed existed, it could barely keep up with the speed at which we were using pump filters to pump it out. We took turns drinking water as the source refilled itself.
That night the smoke rolled in thick and settled in our eyes and noses. The next morning, we rolled on up the trail and began improving tread and throwing rocks unl we reached the wall of logs where the last WTA group left off.
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The 2017 Diamond Creek fire burned heavily through this drainage leaving in its wake an amount of fallen and falling logs that has thwarted all hands-on-deck log-out operations by the Forest Service and several of our partner groups for the last two years. A massive windstorm in the winter of 2021/22 piled an epic number of trees down across the trail!
Our cuttng started approximately 9.5 miles in. Overall, we cut 430 logs in 1.5 miles and didn’t quite make it to Deception Creek before consecutive days of intense storms caused us to make a big push for higher ground and then eventually leave the backcountry for crew safety. Mike the mule in action!
Taking advantage of our early exit backwards, we spent some time heavily correcting approximately 80 feet of tread and corridor issues that were hazardous to those coming through with stock. Overall, we as the Forest Service are eager to be able to completely clear this trail again as we know it is a very popular and well loved spot within the Pasayten. Thanks to the gift from Dianne and Joe Hofbeck, we were able to continue to make a push towards the lakes and keep from falling further behind. Your support is much appreciated! Thank you Hofbecks, we gave it our all!
We thank the Methow Ranger District and the crew for this project to keep a very popular trail open.
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