Hiker Headlines: North Cascades Closures, National Role Models, Local Trip Reports, Vote for the Cutest Animal

It's April 2. The North Cascades National Park complex is closing to park visitors and all national forests in Washington and Oregon have closures now. We've added two new Hiking Guide entries for your close to home adventures and continue to offer our best advice for hiking in the time of coronavirus. Outdoor companies are stepping up to help by making masks. And it's time to vote for the cutest animal in the Northwest. Here's a bit of news you might have missed with everything else going on this week. 

The North Cascades National Park complex is closed to visitors, along with many other public lands. Photo by Dan Clements. 

More closures: As of Friday, North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area will be closed to all park visitors until further notice. Highway 20, which runs through the park, will be closed from near Newhalem on the west to Early Winters Campground (milepost 177) on the east. It’s the latest of many closures across the state. All national forests in Washington and Oregon have also announced closures at all developed recreation sites.

As situations change, we are adding to our list of closures and updating our Hiking Guide.

For trip reporters: If you miss writing trip reports after your outdoor time, we have two new Hiking Guide entries — My Backyard and My Neighborhood. While we need to stay close to home, we’d love to hear about your trips. Some of our most regular trip reporters, Bob & Barb, have already offered a charming report, complete with birds and bunnies.

Advice for hard times: WTA and some of our partners, including the Pacific Crest Trail Association, are shaping advice for the nation as more states begin to grapple with stay at home orders and the prospect of limiting outdoor time to their neighborhoods. Let's show 'em how it's done, Washington hikers.

Helping out: Outdoor Research is converting its Seattle factory to allow it to produce surgical masks and N95 masks to help protect health care workers from coronavirus. The company expects to be able to produce 200,000 masks a day by June. Rainy Pass Repairs, also in Seattle, have also started focusing on making masks as well. They’re part of a number of outdoor companies who are switching up their operations to support front-line workers.

Championship of joy: The final round of voting in our contest for the Northwest’s cutest animal is now open. Head over to our Facebook page or our Instagram stories to cast your vote for the perfect pika or fabulous fox. And if you’d like a bit more joy, might we suggest writing a few haikus? It’s National Poetry month and we’d love to see what you can come up with. 

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