Mount Rose — Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008

Olympic Peninsula > Hood Canal

I had heard about the closure on FR 24 to Staircase so I went to check what it meant for hiking Mt. Rose. The road is closed because of unstable hillsides caused by the '96 Bear Creek burn. The yellow gate is 1.5 miles past the Big Creek camp and just past the entrance to the Lake Cushman cabin community. There's a wide gravel strip to park in on the right. Mapping this was a great excuse for trying out my new, way-to-expensive GPS. Haha! It worked great so here are some stats. The road walk will add 2.8 miles rt and 120 ft gain out and 230 back. This part appears to be in good shape. I didn't see any signs of slides or loose rock. Recent rain made the hillside creeks dramatic waterfalls. One was 30 feet high and gushing a solid white torrent into the roadside ditch. A huge culvert carried the creek under road. Then it gushed furiously down the hill and into Lake Cushman. Aside from the water it was eerily quiet. Just me and the deer. At the trailhead entrance is a huge yellow warning sign about braving the slide zones further along FR 24 "rocks and trees can fall at anytime..". The slide zones are large and awe-inspiring in summer so use your head if you're thinking of Staircase trails. The Mount Rose trailhead and it's log bridges are in good shape. But the sanican is gone for the season. Since I was alone I didn't continue up the trail. This summer I saw the burn had cleared the upper part of the west (left) leg to the summit. It might be wise to stay off that now that rain has started to saturate the open hill side. Have a safe winter!