Green Mountain, CCC Road: Lower Section — Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023

Headed up the Bessemer Rd after some of our group parked at the Oxbow pullout and a few cars in front of the blue gate (not blocking). At junction with CCC trail, turned left (southward) to pass over the relatively new bridge and continue on the lower CCC trail with sun filtering through the trees on this cold morning. All the puddles frozen solid, but creek and water drainages all flowing. In another ~3 miles, turned right (northward) onto the Green Mountain trail. The first ~0.25 mi of this is a built trail that meanders through the forest before joining the former logging road that continues up Green Mountain. Here the track is wide (width of a road) and shrubbery free. The tread is a forest duff cushion over the broken rock roadbed which was easy to walk on. There are mammoth-size tree stumps in the forest here. What an amazing forest it must have been. It's total of ~2.2 miles to Absolute Last Promontory where we stopped for lunch where there are lots of boulders for sitting to view the valley of Granite Lakes in front, with Russian Butte and snowy Preacher Mountain and The Pulpit to the left, and Mailbox Peak to the right (see video here). On the way up, we blasted past Far Enough Promontory but made a brief photo stop there on the way back down (it's easy to miss).

The preceding 5+ days of no rain meant low flow for the water courses we crossed on foot. But we were thankful for the bridges -- 2 on the Lower CCC and 1 on the Green Mtn trail over Brawling Creek (see video here) -- where the water flow was still robust and not inviting to cross without the bridge. (Thanks, DNR 🙏👍)  12 mi roundtrip, ~2000' elevation gain.

By the way, the Sitka Spruce trail is not a legal trail. Don't use it to get to Green Mountain. It's a user-made trail that passes through sensitive areas. If you have questions, below is copy of the inquiry I made (11/21/2023 DNR response, copied from an email to me when I enquired about Sitka Spruce trail):
I received your question about the Sitka Spruce trail, and I would be happy to clarify the situation there.

The trail was never an official trail created by the DNR. It is a user-build, non-designated trail that is not sanctioned by the DNR. As such, it is not marked or maintained and there is also no parking area associated with it.

After discussion with multiple stakeholder groups in the North Bend area, the DNR has decided to decommission the trail. The specific concerns cited by the groups include:

•Damage to shallow root systems of the trees by compaction of the soil. Had the trail been constructed according to established guidelines, they trail would have avoided the sensitive root systems.
•The trail also travels through sensitive wetland and riparian environments
•Disturbance of wildlife in an intermittently used area
•The clay-rich environment of the area degrades easily, and without proper construction and maintenance, the impacts to the landscape are greater.

The DNR conducted what is called a State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) assessment of the area for decommissioning in 2021. The SEPA is a publicly available document, and I have attached the final determination write up to this email. This SEPA includes not just the Sitka spruce trail, but other areas as well. The section relevant to the Sitka spruce trail is at the top of the second page, and called out on the map on the third page. Several of the comments refer to this trail as well.
(Link to SEPA document → https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/separ/Main/SEPA/Record.aspx?SEPANumber=202103700)

Please let me know if I can clarify further.
Stacey Fuchs (she/her)
Natural Areas Manager (Acting)
North Bend office
253-736-4830
Stacey.fuchs@dnr.wa.gov
Work days Mon-Tues (part time until further notice)