Carbon River Road 1/28/07 & 3/10/07
After two months of watching and listening to the reports out of Mt Rainier, Michael & I decided to walk up the Carbon River Road to survey the damage ourselves. The damage begins 1 1/2 miles beyond the park entrance, wiping out the road to the point where rangers built trails around the damage. In January we had just reached the damaged section of road. I hopped up on the side of the road to snap a picture and hopped back to the road. However, my toe caught the lip of the road and I went down, hard. Rolling on the ice-cold road, my hopes of hiking this summer started to fade. What if I had really screwed up my knee? It took us two hours to find our way back to the car, hobbling along using Michael as a crutch. How could I have done this - on a road? I could have taken the pain if i wasn't so humiliated by my clumsiness. Luckily, no permanently serious damage happened to my knee. I'm not too sure I can say that about the Carbon River Road.
After several weeks of recuperation, Michael & I hit the road again. We passed the spot where I had fallen and just beyond that the stunning remnants of nature at her wildest. Rocks, trees, mud strewn about where the road we had just driven on a few months meandered through the trees. Now the road was itself a creek bed, water streaming through the rocks and around culverts that had once allowed the water under the road. They were now useless, some filled with mud, others yards from where they originally laid.
Sections of the road are still in good working condition, but others were ripped apart, showing the same signs of the storms that hit Mt Rainier in November. Trees, rocks, & mud lay across the road or a stream ran down the middle. By the time we reached Ipsut Creek Campground, we had crawled over logs, around root balls ripped from the ground, boulder hopped up the creek, slid through mud and marveled at the destructive force of nature. But we also knew that nature will be able to rebuild herself. How humanity can rebuild access to her beauty is another question. The road will not be open this year. The superintendent has promised Carbon River Road will re-open.
At this point, Michael & I are planning other hikes for the summer beyond Mt Rainier. Our quest to finish the Wonderland Trail will need to be put on hold - the park is not issuing back country permits for the wonderland this year. But there is hope; both the WTA & SCA will be coordinating volunteers to help rebuild the mountain and the other areas hit by the November storm. I plan on volunteering along with hundreds of other from around the world who have already promised their time and money.
After two months of watching and listening to the reports out of Mt Rainier, Michael & I decided to walk up the Carbon River Road to survey the damage ourselves. The damage begins 1 1/2 miles beyond the park entrance, wiping out the road to the point where rangers built trails around the damage. In January we had just reached the damaged section of road. I hopped up on the side of the road to snap a picture and hopped back to the road. However, my toe caught the lip of the road and I went down, hard. Rolling on the ice-cold road, my hopes of hiking this summer started to fade. What if I had really screwed up my knee? It took us two hours to find our way back to the car, hobbling along using Michael as a crutch. How could I have done this - on a road? I could have taken the pain if i wasn't so humiliated by my clumsiness. Luckily, no permanently serious damage happened to my knee. I'm not too sure I can say that about the Carbon River Road.
After several weeks of recuperation, Michael & I hit the road again. We passed the spot where I had fallen and just beyond that the stunning remnants of nature at her wildest. Rocks, trees, mud strewn about where the road we had just driven on a few months meandered through the trees. Now the road was itself a creek bed, water streaming through the rocks and around culverts that had once allowed the water under the road. They were now useless, some filled with mud, others yards from where they originally laid.
Sections of the road are still in good working condition, but others were ripped apart, showing the same signs of the storms that hit Mt Rainier in November. Trees, rocks, & mud lay across the road or a stream ran down the middle. By the time we reached Ipsut Creek Campground, we had crawled over logs, around root balls ripped from the ground, boulder hopped up the creek, slid through mud and marveled at the destructive force of nature. But we also knew that nature will be able to rebuild herself. How humanity can rebuild access to her beauty is another question. The road will not be open this year. The superintendent has promised Carbon River Road will re-open.
At this point, Michael & I are planning other hikes for the summer beyond Mt Rainier. Our quest to finish the Wonderland Trail will need to be put on hold - the park is not issuing back country permits for the wonderland this year. But there is hope; both the WTA & SCA will be coordinating volunteers to help rebuild the mountain and the other areas hit by the November storm. I plan on volunteering along with hundreds of other from around the world who have already promised their time and money.
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