Unhappy Trails

My ruined backpacking trip was the reality to fit the models. And if we lose the trails that lead us to the lonely high country, we'll lose something important about our place, and maybe about our character, as well.

Of course, climate change isn't entirely out of our hands. People cause it, and, at least in theory, people can stop it, too. Perhaps trail users will develop a voice, like the ski industry coalition Sustainable Slopes, to battle for limits on greenhouse gas emissions. At the least, maybe we'll reconsider the carbon-spewing behemoths we pilot down a hundred miles of highway just to navigate a half-mile of washboard.

Peter Zierlein

Details

Trail Reports

The best source for up-to-date trail reports is Washington Trails Association's Web site: www.wta.org.

For mountain climbing and scrambling reports, mostly written by males who take themselves far too seriously, try Cascade Climbers: www.cascadeclimbers.com/.

National Parks and Forests

•North Cascades NP

•Mount Rainier NP

•Olympic NP

•Mount Baker–Snoqualmie NF (west slopes of northern and central Cascades)

•Wenatchee NF (east slopes of central Cascades)

•Olympic NF (Olympic Peninsula)

•Gifford Pinchot NF (southern Cascades)

•Okanogan NF (east slopes of northern Cascades)

The Weather

The best mountain weather forecasts come from the National Weather Service at www.wrh.noaa.gov.

Enjoying our state's extensive trail network is a wonderful privilege, but it doesn't come free. Dedicated volunteers contribute many hours of work restoring and maintaining trails around the state. Both the Mountaineers (www.mountaineers.org) and Washington Trails Association organize trail work parties, and they're actually quite fun.

Eric de Place

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Even if the recent floods were "natural," they're still worrisome, because they're precisely what the climate scientists are forecasting. If government agencies and volunteer groups like Washington Trails Association will be scrambling for several years to fix last winter's trail damage, what will happen if such severe flooding becomes more frequent?

In an era of constricted budgets, when even routine trail maintenance is routinely deferred, hikers may be left planning trips around the landscaped habitrail at the downtown REI. But at least it may be warm out.

info@seattleweekly.com

Eric de Place is a researcher at Northwest Environment Watch, a Seattle-based research and communications center. He is also a hiker and mountain climber. You can contact him at eric@northwestwatch.org.