Hiking the Elwha Valley Washout
Sep. 10th, 2021 07:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOlympic Peninsula Travelog #15
Elwha Valley - Sun, 5 Sep 2021. 10:45am.
When we drove to the trailhead for our hike to Madison Falls this morning (previous blog) we saw signs of trouble. Like literally signs of trouble. "Road closed", "Bridge out ahead", and stuff like that.
A flood washed out part of the road that enters the Elwha Valley. Yes, this is the same Elwha Valley we hiked part of the trail to from 5,500' above yesterday. And which a ranger up at Hurricane Ridge told us we should be sure to visit from down below. Well, with the road gated beyond Madison Creek Falls we figured we'd walk it a little bit instead.
The walk was a pleasant one. The scenery was beautiful, with the river right beside us much of the time. And with the area blocked to cars it was quiet. We shared the road with a scattering of other hikes and a few bicyclists.
In less than a mile we arrived at the site of the washout. Yup, that bridge is totally gone!
Seeing how... weathered... the area around the washout is made us wonder how long ago it happened. We did a bit of searching online. It turns out this area has flooded twice in the past several years. It flooded in 2015, wiping out the road. The Park Service fixed it, then it flooded again in 2017 and wiped out the road again. The Park Service had plans to implement a new design by 2021 but it seems that may have been interrupted by Covid work stoppage.
Why two recent floods, BTW? For decades this valley was protected by a pair of small dams upstream. In the 1990s Congress passed an act to remove those dams and "return the area to its natural state". In 2011 the dams were fully removed. Now the area's natural state is... NO ROAD. 🙄
Up next: Marymere Falls. (The day is by no means over!)
Elwha Valley - Sun, 5 Sep 2021. 10:45am.
When we drove to the trailhead for our hike to Madison Falls this morning (previous blog) we saw signs of trouble. Like literally signs of trouble. "Road closed", "Bridge out ahead", and stuff like that.
A flood washed out part of the road that enters the Elwha Valley. Yes, this is the same Elwha Valley we hiked part of the trail to from 5,500' above yesterday. And which a ranger up at Hurricane Ridge told us we should be sure to visit from down below. Well, with the road gated beyond Madison Creek Falls we figured we'd walk it a little bit instead.
The walk was a pleasant one. The scenery was beautiful, with the river right beside us much of the time. And with the area blocked to cars it was quiet. We shared the road with a scattering of other hikes and a few bicyclists.
In less than a mile we arrived at the site of the washout. Yup, that bridge is totally gone!
Seeing how... weathered... the area around the washout is made us wonder how long ago it happened. We did a bit of searching online. It turns out this area has flooded twice in the past several years. It flooded in 2015, wiping out the road. The Park Service fixed it, then it flooded again in 2017 and wiped out the road again. The Park Service had plans to implement a new design by 2021 but it seems that may have been interrupted by Covid work stoppage.
Why two recent floods, BTW? For decades this valley was protected by a pair of small dams upstream. In the 1990s Congress passed an act to remove those dams and "return the area to its natural state". In 2011 the dams were fully removed. Now the area's natural state is... NO ROAD. 🙄
Up next: Marymere Falls. (The day is by no means over!)
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Date: 2021-09-10 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-09-10 06:51 pm (UTC)