The Newsletter of the Alpine Lakes Protection Society (ALPS) 2005 Issue No. 2 On the Death of the Cashmere Mountain DUSEL Proposal By Bill Beyers NSF. This would In 2001, the UW have required that Physics Department it become a line proposed building a item in the fed- Deep Underground eral budget. NSF Science and Engi- funds thousands of neering Laboratory, proposals each year, called DUSEL by and one project the National Science taking this much Foundation (NSF). money would have This project was led a low chance of by Dr. Wick Hax- surviving politically ton, a UW Physics unless the science Professor with a long was really com- interest in research pelling. Congress in such locations. illiams would also have W Initially, he was the to act on this as a atalie

head of a group N line item, an action supporting this type Icicle River. that would have a of lab at the Homestake Mine in low priority, given competition South Dakota. When problems at inside the Wilderness boundary, for “big science” projects with a that site put it out of contention, and ALPS also had concerns about smaller “big ticket” cost. other sites were proposed, and environmental impacts of the early in 2005 Haxton’s group sub- project. mitted a new proposal to develop This summer NSF dropped the Also in this issue: the laboratory under Mt. Cash- UW proposal from the sites be- Opportunities to Serve...... 2 mere in Chelan County. The lab ing considered for DUSEL. NSF ALPS Reaches Compromise noted the relatively high cost of the would have had its entry near the with Forest Service over Lowe head of the Icicle Creek Road out Cashmere Mountain site and envi- Creek Road Decision...... 3 of Leavenworth. Its cost would ronmental considerations as their have been much higher than primary bases for eliminating the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Pav- ing EIS Expected Soon...... 3 other projects proposed to NSF UW proposal, while simultaneous- due to the cost of drilling tunnels ly acknowledging that the scientific Forest Service Closing Many into Mt. Cashmere. Other options qualifications of the UW team were Plum Creek Roads...... 4 that were proposed would have outstanding. Hang Gliders and Sightseers used existing tunnels. If NSF had recommended that on Rampart Ridge?...... 5 Haxton and others lobbied the UW proposal be considered for The PCT Less Travelled...... 6 people in Chelan County to sup- funding, there would have been port this proposal, but some resi- significant hurdles. Its cost would Fish & Wildlife Service Grant dents in the county were strongly have triggered careful consider- to Pick Up Swamp Lake Prop- opposed to the project. ALPS ation by the NSF National Science erties...... 7 opposed it primarily because the Board, as it would have been nearly Ballot...... Insert project would have been located 10% of the entire annual budget of ALPINE  Opportunities to Serve: ALPS Seeks Board Candidates and Volunteers for ORV Committee

The Board carries out the ongoing business of ALPS. We currently have opportunities to fill Board positions. Board responsibilities including attending Trustee meet- ings that take place five or six times per year. In addition, Trustees may take on various tasks associated with the management of the na- tional forests within the ALPS area of interest. Such activities include involvement in forest plan develop- ment, comments on Forest Service management actions (timber sales, road system maintenance, recre- ation developments, Wilderness studies, etc.). We are also heavily involved in actions associated with private land acquisition. In addition to the above, the Board is exploring the idea of forming a standing Off-Road-Ve- hicle (ORV) Committee to focus on ORV issues within the Alpine Lakes Region. We foresee that such a committee would perform a number of tasks including working with the Forest Service to imple- ment the new national regulations dealing with ORV use and working on ORV issues in general, as well as carrying out periodic trips into the eyers

B field. ill B Studying geography and more near the Ingalls Lake trail. If anyone is interested in either a Board position or working on the proposed ORV committee, please he Board of Trustees of the ALPS members who would like to contact Don Parks at 425-883-0646, Alpine Lakes Protection Society become more active in the orga- T [email protected]. is continuously on the lookout for nization by serving on the Board.

If anyone is interested in either a Board position or working on the proposed ORV committee, please contact Don Parks at 425-883-0646.

 ALPINE ALPS Reaches Compromise Solution with Forest Service over Lowe Creek Road Decision

By Rick McGuire ALPS trustees, along with members of the North Cascade Conservation Council, met recently with the Forest Service and agreed on a plan for gating the Lowe Creek road. The old road follows the south side of the South Fork Skykomish River downstream from the Money Creek campground, between Skykomish and Index. The Forest Service plans to rebuild the road to provide access to private lands owned by Longview Fibre Company. ALPS and others initiated an appeal of the rebuilding because uire G c M of the adverse effects of re-intro- ick ducing vehicles to the road, much R of which has been undrivable for A fish that found its way home again — to Lowe Creek. years. ALPS also didn’t like the idea of scarce public money be- most of the concerns, and allows an attractive lowland winter walk ing spent for the benefit of the ALPS to focus on other efforts. A or bike ride, with the possibility Longview Fibre Company when gated Lowe Creek road will make of watching spawning salmon in the Forest Service cannot maintain lower Lowe Creek. the roads it already has. Faced with the prospect of a pos- sibly long, expensive, and uncertain legal battle, ALPS decided to accept a compromise whereby its legal Middle Fork Snoqualmie appeal was withdrawn in exchange Paving EIS Expected Soon for the Forest Service placing a permanent gate to keep vehicles ALPS trustees recently accompa- use of the Middle Fork road, with off most of the road, including nied representatives of the Federal extreme levels of dust in summer, segments currently open. Keeping Highways Administration on a tour and the all-year problem of gravel vehicles other than Longview’s of the proposed paving project for from the current road entering the trucks off the road will help insure the Middle Fork river, may make this an exception. the safety of the Coho salmon road between North Bend and the A new campground will soon be spawning grounds adjacent to the Taylor River. ALPS is guardedly opened in the vicinity of Taylor road. Spur roads off the main road optimistic that it might be pos- River, and it is hoped that a number will also be blocked and culverts sible to pave this stretch of road of new trails may be constructed in enlarged. Lowe Creek will get a bridge instead of the ford that had without cutting a huge swath up the Middle Fork valley, the closest been proposed initially. the valley. Although the paving mountain valley to Seattle. If done Although ALPS would have of currently unpaved roads is not correctly, a paving project here preferred no rebuilding of the something which ALPS generally could be a net gain. ALPS will be road, settling for the gate addresses supports, the heavy recreational closely monitoring the process. ALPINE  Forest Service Closing Many Old Plum Creek Roads

The district agreed to incorporate back to their natural condition • Showing the status of all roads many of ALPS’ suggestions, but (obliterated). in aerial photos of each section, emphasized the need to get started The roads are on lands the For- which were part of the EA. Many with on-the-ground work prior to the est Service has acquired from Plum roads in the photos were not part of the study, which gave the impres- end of the fiscal year on September Creek Timber Company since 1999 through the I-90 Land Exchange, sion that they were to be left open. 30. ALPS said it would be satisfied money from the Land & Water ALPS later learned from district with a subsequent Forest Service Conservation Fund, and from personnel that some had already letter listing the planned changes. groups like The Cascade Conserva- been closed by the Forest Service, tion Partnership. However, the dis- and even Plum Creek, primarily for safety reasons. Others will be hat would you do with miles trict is currently limiting the road left open, at least for now, but some of old logging roads that just EA to only 35 square-mile sections W may be closed after further study. happened to come along with for- in the Upper Yakima and Cle Elum estlands you’ve recently acquired? River watersheds, leaving the • Giving a more thorough remaining sections for a time when explanation of the criteria used to If you were the Cle Elum more money becomes available. select which sections were to be Ranger District, you’d close them. analyzed and which roads were to That’s just what the district has Within those 35 sections, the be left open, converted or obliter- been doing, and intends to con- district proposed to obliterate 41.2 ated. tinue doing according to an August miles out of the 49. 5 miles studied, 2005 Environmental Assessment and convert another 1.5 miles to ALPS also urged that the district with the ironic title of Plum Creek winter trails. The remaining 6.8 cut back on some of the roads Acquired Road Restoration. Actu- miles, most of which provide ac- being retained, such as terminat- ally, the roads involved would be cess to private inholdings and to ing them at a power line rather “restored” in various ways: to ac- power lines, would be maintained than letting them continue on. In commodate continued motorized for high-clearance vehicles. The another case, the district intended travel, converted to trails, or taken winter trails are on either side of to close all roads to the trailhead Stampede Pass Road 54, just down- for Silver Creek, Easton Ridge and stream from the Keechelus Mt. Baldy, except for a recent high- Lake Dam. clearance Plum Creek road coming ALPS applauded the dis- off the Kachess Lake Road 4818. trict’s actions and supported it That road should be maintained in an August 28 letter to District for passenger cars. Ranger Rodney Smoldon. In a follow-up conversation, the However, the letter criticized district agreed to incorporate many some aspects of the EA’s of ALPS’ suggestions, but empha- content and presentation. We sized the need to get started with wrote that it was quite confus- on-the-ground work prior to the ing and suggested ways to end of the fiscal year on September make it more understandable. 30. ALPS said it would be satisfied They included: with a subsequent Forest Service • Identifying all lands that letter listing the planned changes. have been acquired and will be We will keep our members in- analyzed when funding allows. formed of this progress and plans eyers

B The lands in this particular for the rest of the road “restora- ill

B study would have their own tions”. Foggy forest. identification.  ALPINE Hang Gliders and Sightseers on Rampart Ridge?

By Jim Chapman largely abandoned and the others • Closing all other roads accessing s you approach Hyak on east- have very little maintenance. FS Rampart Ridge and Mt Margaret Abound I-90, Rampart Ridge is Road 141, which switchbacks up from Rocky Run Creek. They straight ahead, staring you right in Rampart Ridge from Rocky Run, is would be put to bed and then the face. If you’re lucky, you might steep, narrow and exposed. Parts re-vegetated with help from even see bird-like objects soaring could fall away. Only the efforts of various conservation groups. FS above the ridge in late summer the gliders keep it open and they Road #136, which switchbacks and early autumn. may eventually be fighting a losing up to Mt. Margaret to the east But they are not birds; they are battle. of Rocky Run, would be pulled hang gliders and paragliders using The launch sites have great back a half-mile back from the the ridge-crest’s steep slope to lift potential for more than just the switchback to an old landing. off, catch the air currents and soar gliders. They offer fantastic view- This would become a trailhead over Lake Keechelus before gradu- points overlooking Lake Keeche- for Lake Lillian and Twin Lakes. ally dropping down and gently lus, the upper valley, • Building a new trail from Rocky landing along its shoreline. For and as far as Mt. Rainier. Therefore Run to Lake Lillian Trail #1332. those not in the know, hang gliders ALPS and six other groups have It would replace the existing are supported beneath lightweight outlined a plan to not only keep straight-up-the-hill fisherman's wings while paragliders use special the launch sites for the gliding trail. groups, but to open it up to the parachute canopies. The paraglid- • Applying to the state Inter- general public. At the same time, ers can take off at a lower speed agency Committee for Outdoor it would put practically all the and soar further. Recreation (IAC) for funding. Both groups have been using non-access roads to bed and build Besides ALPS, the other col- the southwest nose of Rampart a new trail up to Lake Lillian from laborators are Cloudbase Country Ridge as a launch site for several Rocky Run. The plan’s elements Club, The Mountaineers, NW years. Each has its own lift-off site, include: Paragliding Club, Sierra Club, US with the paragliders launching • Developing and execut- Hang Gliding Association, and about 100 yards up the crest from ing a site plan that would Trails Association. We the hang gliders. The two sites are accommodate, yet separate, the will present this plan to Cle Elum about a half-mile southwest of the gliders and the general public. District Ranger Rodney Smoldon boundary. • Upgrading FS Road #141 to in the near future. While the upper site was always Level 3 so that passenger cars national forest, Plum Creek Timber could use it. originally owned the lower site. It was purchased and added to the national forest system in 2000, thanks to the efforts of the Moun- tains to Sound Greenway. The gliders reach their launch If this is the sites by a series of roads Plum backcountry, Creek and the Forest Service built why is there to log Rampart Ridge and the pie? Rocky Run Creek valley just to the east. Now the logging is finished,

and all the land on the ridge and ay D in the valley is national forest. rt A Some of the roads have been ALPINE  The Less Travelled

ter and a campsite near Green Pass. It being August and there being no lakes through a forty-plus-mile stretch, you can imagine that water remained a primary concern until near the end of the trip. A miserable night was spent at a trashy hunter’s camp under Blowout Mountain, but the next morning we had excel- lent views from the top and mostly gentle downhill for most of the day. One of the nice things about this trip heading northbound is that the topography is kind, with the trail ending lower than it begins and never pushing uphill for long. ay

D It would also be fair to say we rt A had the place to ourselves. On a Twilight Lake, source of the Cedar River. typical day we saw a single pair of By Art Day on the trip. The trail was busy for guys racing along the trail as part This past August I joined friends a few miles from Chinook Pass of a season-long border-to-border Ed and Larry on a lonely traverse on to Sheep Lake. Then everyone trek. They walked in some other of the Pacific Crest Trail, otherwise else seemed to drop out, and it was dimension of hiking entirely, barely known as the PCT. Er – lonely? just the three of us. Cruising over sensing the trail as they cruised How can that be? Wilder is some a ridgeline we came to a meadow through this zone of obligation. places than others, the trail is above Basin Lake and set up our On the fifth day we reached certainly one of the most popular first camp some ways below the the Stampede Pass weather sta- around, and attracts thousands of trail. As daylight faded we walked tion, which features lots of curious hikers and horsemen each year. down to the lake. This was nice, but weather gear, a house and garage, The answer to that riddle is to look we were really more taken by the and, most important to us, easy to what may be the least-loved part sight and sound of bull elk bugling water - from a spigot. Soon we of the PCT in Washington, the part challenges to one another while ap- saw our first lake in days, tiny and running from Chinook Pass up to parently headed our way. Soon we unlovely Lizard Lake. Many more Snoqualmie. That’s about 70 miles were watching as a herd of twenty dry miles eventually brought us to on foot and takes in many clearcuts or more took the PCT southbound, an old road-end camp, picked only and roads, but also some spectacu- noticing us but going about their because we were long past tired lar views, quiet old growth forests, business with just a pause. Now and there was a little water nearby. “good” stretches of wilderness in that was fun. To its credit, the road appeared the Norse Peak area, lots and lots of The next couple of days took us long-abandoned, and had grown flowers, and about ten miles of trail through the fine Norse Peak area, the best crop of wild strawberries I within the official boundary of the past Crystal Mountain, into Gov- had ever seen. Bear tracks showed Alpine Lakes Area. Larry had done ernment Meadows (with historic we were not the only ones to make the trip before and vouched for its Naches Pass), and then on to the the discovery. worthiness. If you hike this trail beginning of logging country. Our A few miles of walking the next you will probably see more animals guidebook and maps were not day brought us through some fine than people. current enough to include all of the old hemlock and silver fir just north The southern part of our hike roads, which led to confusion and of Stirrup Creek. In and out of included some of the best hiking borderline desperation to find wa- shadow again, depending on the

 ALPINE vagaries of checkerboard clearcuts, had to stop frequently to “blow.” quickly noted the lake is cool and we soon reached Yakima Pass. Without trees to drop needle duff deep enough for a small but hard- The pass was part of an important the trail had gone to hot, powdery working fish population. Later we Indian route across the moun- mineral dust. And flies. Really, if watched the same two or three fish tains; we saw no traces, but it was you are looking for a place to be patrol the shallows under our camp interesting to imagine the place as mad about forest mismanagement for hours. it might have been. Also there is you couldn’t find a better spot. As The final day began in rain that pretty little Twilight Lake, whose we came up to an overlook of this persisted to the end, heavily at outlet tips westward to become the mass destruction I spotted three times. The hiking was fine though; source of the Cedar River water- large gray stumps, sitting like sad we were soon climbing to a shoul- shed. Nearby signs explain that old chiefs who will fight no more. der of Tinkham Peak and travers- watershed managers are taking out Almost suddenly, things got ing under Silver Peak, past Mount excess “reprod,” dense plantings good again when near the top of Catherine, Olallie Meadows, and from maybe 15 – 20 years ago, to that climb we came into green for- Lodge Lake, and eventually up and allow for better regrowth. est as welcome as water. Another over Dodge Ridge to the ski area. The next few section-line cross- half-mile and we were at Mirror I’ll want to come back to re-visit ings offered little relief in the way Lake. This was our destination for this part of the trail and several of shade. In fact it was damn hot, a final night’s camp and pretty others as short trips. I may wait a with my pack thermometer show- much the Promised Land. Guarded while before doing the pass-to-pass ing nearly 90 degrees. Worse, we by Tinkham Peak rising from the thing again, but there is something were into a stretch of real uphill southwest shore, it has a few small to be said for knowing something with the sun at our backs and but comfortable campsites, and we of the whole as well as the parts. Fish & Wildlife Service Grant to Pick Up Swamp Lake Properties

he Washington State Depart- by two major roads. FS Road 49 will leave the remaining 122 acres, Tment of Natural Resources comes in from the Stampede Pass almost all in the northeast quarter, (DNR) and the Trust for Public interchange to the west, and then available for development. Land (TPL) recently announced intersects FS Road 4826 (from the Swamp Lake had long been the receipt of a $2,950,745 Habitat Cabin Creek interchange) in the targeted by The Cascades Conser- Conservation Program grant from parcel’s northeast quarter before vation Partnership, which worked the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service continuing on to the Box Canyon with TPL to either find money to that will enable DNR to purchase Campground at Lake Kachess. The buy it outright, or to find conserva- 297 acres at Swamp Lake. TPL has new acquisitions will be north of tion-minded buyers who would been holding much of the land Road 49 and east of Road 4826. keep logging to a minimum. De- pending the grant approval and The parcel used to be owned by velopment rights to 224 acres were has an option on the remaining members of the Monahan family, purchased with Forest Legacy land. which had already subdivided funds in 2004. The Swamp Lake parcel is its northeast portion and were At the same time, The Nature located a half-mile north of I-90’s marketing it as Amabilis North. The Conservancy and the Washington Cabin Creek interchange. It is a federal government purchased the Department of Fish & Wildlife key part of the wildlife corridor, 221 acres between the two roads announced a $2,397,060 Habitat and provides excellent cross-coun- in 2002 to mitigate impacts from Conservation Program grant for try skiing. the Bureau of Reclamation’s repair WDFW to purchase 7,093 acres Its legal description is T21N, work at Lake Keechelus Dam. along the Tieton River, another R12E, Sec. 13 and it’s crossed Completing the conservation ac- Partnership goal. quisition of the additional 297 acres ALPINE  alps Non-Profit Org. alpine lakes protection society U.S. Postage PO Box 27646 PAID Seattle WA 98165 Seattle, WA Permit #1053

ALPS Officers & Trustees: 2001-2004 2002-2005 2003-2006 President: Don Parks Mike Pierson Art Day Bill Beyers Vice President: John Villa Dick vanHaagen Hal Lindstrom Jim Chapman Membership: Natalie Williams Mike Town Thom Peters Kevin Geraghty Treasurer: Frank Swart Natalie Williams Liz Tanke Charlie Raymond

The newsletter of the Alpine Lakes Protection Society (ALPS). ALPS is dedicated to protection of the Alpine Lakes area in Washington’s Cascades. Editor: Art Day Layout: Pat Hutson For membership information, contact Natalie Williams 5627 47th Ave. SW eyers

B Seattle, WA 98136 ill B [email protected] Shooting real film from Kendall Peak.  PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER ALPINE