This is written to pass along some important information affecting your trip to Sauk Mountain. First of all, the road is closed for maintenance, including removing the large boulder near the trailhead. There is no information as to how long it will be closed.
My main purpose, however, is to point out the out-of-control short-cutting on the trail itself that some folks seem determined to do. Please DO NOT shortcut, and if you see someone doing it, tell them politely to STOP. Because of it, the trail is eroding badly in places and footing is becoming less and less secure. It's a long fall down this steep slope!
This high-use trail needs serious maintenance, perhaps re-doing. I spoke with WTA today about the problem and they recommended calling Mount Baker National Forest office in Sedro-Woolley: 360-856-5700. They are the supervising agency for the Sauk Mountain trail, and WTA may be interested in sub-contracting the repair. But the Forest Service needs to hear from you...
WTA encourages all hikers who care about this beautiful trail to make their opinion known. I called. So should you.
Comments
I noticed the trail erosion when I hiked this trail a few years ago- I've been up here a couple of times and absolutely love hiking this. I did noticed, however that during the snow thawing stages on the trail, a lot of the snow fields are on the switchbacks and I'm assuming a lot of the cutting of the trail happens when people feel the need to avoid the snow fields on the ends of the switchbacks and ultimately destroying the trail in the process.
And then you have your event hikers/social media hikers and weekenders who simply do not care- they leave dog poop bags behind, trash and cut trails just because they can. It's sad to see trails fall victim to this sort of abuse and then the countless hours of volunteer work to bring it all back to life.
Anyway. Thanks for pointing this out in a trip report- maybe it will help bring awareness and thanks for making the appropriate calls.
Posted by:
Seattle_Wayne on Jul 26, 2022 05:42 PM
Thanks for paying attention to this post!
Posted by:
Trailbagger on Jul 26, 2022 07:01 PM
How far from the trailhead is the road closed? Thanks for your update on conditions.
Posted by:
thebrink on Jul 26, 2022 06:41 PM
The closed sign is right at hwy 20, so I would assume there
Posted by:
Trailbagger on Jul 26, 2022 07:03 PM
Thanks for the report. Cutting switchbacks might seem faily harmless, but if anyone wants an example of how it eventually destroys a trail, they should hike here, then become very angry. Then they should hike a trail like Glacier Basin (the Monte Cristo one, not the one at Mt. Rainier) where they'll wish to God the original trail builders had included a switchback or two...!
Posted by:
Don Gerald on Jul 26, 2022 07:51 PM
The road should only be closed for a day or two. They are blasting the large boulders out of the road and it should be a quick process. The Forest Service is aware of the switchback cutting, but that will not be a quick repair.
Posted by:
BabyTree on Jul 27, 2022 11:28 AM
SydneyLight: So it sounds like they are only working on the boulder(s), not doing any grading?
Posted by:
Trailbagger on Jul 27, 2022 11:34 AM
just the boulders to my knowledge
Posted by:
BabyTree on Jul 27, 2022 11:51 AM
Thank you for the nudge to contact the national forest folks, and for including the number so it's easy for me to do it too!
Ashley
(WTA board member)
Posted by:
WonderSmash on Jul 27, 2022 05:53 PM
Road is now open to the trailhead!
Posted by:
BabyTree on Jul 28, 2022 08:56 AM