The weather has been very nice lately and a lot of the trailheads are melting out.The Mountain Loop Highway and other areas in the Darrington and Granite Falls areas of the MBSNF are still not accessible by normal routes. Some trails such as the Goat Lake trail may require parking at alternate trailhead locations which will require an extended trek in on foot or an approach on a mountain bike. The VEHICLE PROWLERS are also out earlier this seanson. The Lake 22 trailhead had sustained about (6) six break-in's in the past several weeks involving breaking windows,Heather Lake had had(1)one vandalism to a vehicle (tires slashed & windows broken),and Barlow Pass area had had (1)one break-in by breaking a window. With the exception of the Heather Lake occurrence,all have been associated with vehicles that have had belongings such as car stereos which had their removable face-places in them,cases full of audio CD's,purses and wallets with personal ID and negotiable cards in them, GPS, MP3 players, DVD players, cellular phones, hiking gear and clothing,and even a briefcase with tax preparation documents inside of it. Myself and the Forest Service Law Enforcement Officers that work in and Patrol the facilities within the National Forest,have contact with persons who have had the above mentioned items with them in their vehicles...most are out in plain view for everyone to see. This is an open invitation for anyone who might not even normally steal something to do so. These are what we refer to as ""CRIMES OF OPPORTUNITY"". The criminal elements that prowl the forests do not need an opportunity, they are already out there actively looking. Do not give them the opportunity. Please leave any items that are not a necessity at home or throw them into your pack and take them with you. Some people choose to hide them in the trunk of their vehicles, out of sight. The criminal elements have caught on to this and they know that if they break into a given number of vehicles,a percentage of them will produce "loot". Do not be a victim. Clear out your vehicle and leave a note on the dash of the vehicle which states something to the fact of "THERE ARE NO VALUABLES IN THIS VEHICLE"". This tells the criminal elements that you have actually thought about it enough to have cleaned out your vehicle and left the note to let them know that. Chances are they are mush less likely to take the chance of breaking into a vehicle that has been posted as a "CLEAN VEHICLE". Please report any suspicious persons and/or vehicles to the nearest Ranger Station,Public Service Center,or to the Local Police. Call 911 from any local phone,or contact the 911 Center (SNOPAC) from your home outside Snohomish County,or your Cellular Phone at 425-407-3970 or 3971. Cellular service is nor likely while in the National Forest unless you are at an elevated location,but call as soon is convenient. Your call could be the one that leads the police to the person(s) responsible for the break-ins. DO NOT BE PARANOID ABOUT THESE ISSUES,BE AWARE AND EDUCATED ABOUT THEM. Now get out and enjoy the great outdoors! =(:0)) Deputy Rasar

As always this area of the Suiattle offers great opportunities to enjoy Washington’s finest outdoor experiences. I was left with a day to play and decided to re-checkout accessibility to the area. What I found was a tricky crossing of Downey Creek (may need to bring a 12 foot ladder). All trails checked were in very good condition for hiking. The Forest Service website says everything is inaccessible but that probably stretching the truth. There is parking a couple hundred yards before the Downey Creek Bridge. Go enjoy the area and voice concern about the crossing of the Downey Creek (it survived the floods, but not the bulldozer the FS hired to remove the cars stained beyond). Suiattle River: A couple of washouts beyond the Milk Cr trail Jct. Only one is 150 yards and requires some bashing to get around. Beyond there are no major problems. I’m sure that Miners Ridge is beautiful as usual. Milk Creek: After the loss of the major crossing of the Suiattle River, I was happy to see two good logs to make the crossing near the former bridge site safely. The log down stream survived the Winter, but is a bit intimidating to cross due to its small size (I crossed on it in November). Better have good balance and can take the rushing water below, fall-in and you may not survive. Once across, the Milk Cr trail is 60 feet inland. The other log is upstream above Rivord Creek and is safer to cross due to its size, but is harder to get to and to the Milk Cr. trail. I hiked the trail a couple of miles to the stream coming from Twin Lakes. I hear the footlog across Milk Cr is in great shape. The trail has just a couple of logs to work around. This will give access to Vista Ridge and Red Pass areas. Remember the Skyline PCT bridge (upper Suiattle) is out and no safe way to cross. Downey Creek: I actually hiked this trail a couple weeks back and it’s in good shape. As one knows, Downey creek can have some major blowdowns to battle. However this year I found about 5 logs that required a bit of effort to get through, none too difficult (all others easily passed without effort). The log across Bachelor Creek is about ready to go (probably will only last through this season) and will probably be a chavel. There is thick Salmonberry between the 3 to 4.5 milepoints, and it is hard to see the trail in some place. If it’s wet/damp, you will get soaked. For those going to Bench Lake, the old log across Downey Creek @ Bachelor Creek is gone. There is a logjam upstream that will provide a dry crossing. As for the old log across Goat Cr, it’s unknown whether it survived the floods (ran out of time to check it out). The Ptarmigan Traverse folks will need only to worry in upper Bachelor Creek. For those wishing to hike the “true” PCT, it should be comforting to know that there are good logs to cross the Suiattle River at the former Milk Creek bridge site. This would be a good option for those that do not want to do the non-scenic recommended route around Glacier Peak. The usual problem would be the Kennedy Creek crossing (no log). I hope to do a trip from NF Sauk to Suiattle River now that there are good logs across the Suiattle. Some photos at: http://www.mtnmike.com/WTA/Suiattle2/

I would like to add important updated information to the previous report by MtnMike of Nov. 9, 2003. The bridge where the Suiattle River Road, FS Road #26, crosses Downey Creek is no longer passable for hikers. If you plan to hike or ski or snowshoe in this area, you will have to ford Downey Creek. There is no constructed ford at this location, and any crossing will be dependent on water flow, and fluctuations of the natural river condition. It will probably be a wet ford, and sometimes very dificult. My recent discusion with the Forest Service in Darrington suggests that access plans are still being evaluated. I recomend calling Darrington Ranger District, 360-436-1155 for further updates. The forest service may be posting a new photo that shows the present condition, which is quite different from the photo that Mike had shown.

Suiattle River/Downey Creek trails: With the recent floods I was curious to see some of the damage in one of my favor areas, Suiattle River and Downey Creek. The reports indicated the road was washed out at the 14 mile point. My plan was to bike the 9 miles to the end of the road and hike the Suiattle River trail to check out for myself to see if the bridge across the Suiattle on the Milk Cr trail was really gone. I have posted some photos at http://www.mtnmike.com/WTA/Suiattle and I have made reference to the specific photos in the write-up that follows. Yes the road is was out at the 14-mile point (at the Huckleberry Mtn TH), but its now almost repaired (see repair.jpg) but I would guess that it will not open till spring. This is a new place for the wash-out. The banks of river are constantly siding and are very dangerous. It took about 1 hour to bike the road to the end. The road was in good shape until I reached Downey (see downeycr.jpg). Luckily there was a thin slice of the bank remaining, which I was able to get through. They are working to repair this section too. The next little challenge was Sulphur Cr (see sulphurcr.jpg), had to go under one log sitting on the bridge. The logs on the Sulphur Bridge puzzled me how they got there (the water must have been rushing like crazy). Upon reaching the Suiattle River trail at the end of the road, there were two cars in the parking. I certainly would not want to be in their shoes when the floods were occurring (be interested to hear there stories). Maybe the real reason the road is being repaired is to get the cars out before the winter snow damages them. The hike to the Suiattle River Bridge was fine. Yes the bridge is gone. Photo taken last November of the bridge (suiattlebr.jpg) and view (suiattlerv.jpg). Here is the new view of the former bridge site (bridgesite.jpg) and the view looking down the river at the former bridge (suiattlerv_new.jpg). Notice the difference. From what I could see, the river is doubled in width. The amount of debris is incredible (riverview.jpg), log piles everywhere. There is a 30” log across the river up stream about 1/4 mile that may survive the winter (logcrossing.jpg). Down stream 1/10 mile is another log but it probable will not survive the winter. I decided to go down stream looking for the old bridge. The 5 foot steel I-beam bridge I would guess would not be washed too far, and I was right, 1/10 mile down. The bridge steel was bent a bit but still together (see bridge1.jpg, bridge2.jpg, & bridge3.jpg). One warning, the river is pretty dangerous. I stepped in some wet sand and sunk to my knee with one leg. After the bridge tour, I continued hiking up the Suiattle River trail about 1/2 mile. A couple of areas of the trail was gone. One 100+ yards section is gone and the old trail is now in the river (trailgone.jpg). I had some time to hike one of my favor trail’s, Downey Creek. This trail suffered NO damage in the 2.5 miles I hiked it to the major stream. The trail is in great shape with no logs or limbs (thanks to me) on the trail at far as I hiked. Chris will be happy to here that his rock culvert is still working. I had hoped to see the log at the 2.5mi stream blasted out (Forest Service has a contract to do this and replace the Puncheon next year, I hope this still gets done). I stopped to view the bridge over the Suiattle heading to Circle Peak/Rat Trap pass. There is a 70-foot gap at the far end and river is pretty much using this course. From what I could assess, a portable bridge could be installed without too much trouble. Photos at http://www.mtnmike.com/WTA/Suiattle

I started out at noon from the trailhead, and hiked in about three miles in two hours. The trail is in excellent condition. The first stream was a little tricky as the log bridge was slippery and icy. The trail goes through some cool forest, everything covered in moss. There was no snow at all, even up to 2,400 ft. After resting for an hour, I sauntered back in another two hours. This trail has the advantage of starting in what seems like deep wilderness, and getting deeper as you go. FS 26 is a pleasure to drive. I took a spin up towards the Green Mtn trailhead, but stopped about 1 mile from the end due to snow. Other people had driven past where I stopped, but I had no chains, shovel, or anyone to help push, so I took no chances.