Mount Rainier National Park officially closed
Limited access allowed only on weekends
ASHFORD -- On the south side of Mount Rainier, Rampart Ridge curves high above National Park Inn. Most winters, the valley is filled with the roar of snowplows, the droning of cars and the coming and goings of guests and day visitors.
This winter, the park is closed. The road is empty. So are the chairs at the inn.
The only sound on Rampart Ridge is from the snow settling on the forest floor.
"It's as pristine as it gets," said Mike Gauthier, the park's head climbing ranger. "I went to Camp Muir a month ago, and I felt very much like I was on a remote mountain -- like I was in Alaska. It was just me and one my friends.
"That is not the normal Rainier feeling."
November delivered the most damaging storm in the national park's 108-year history. During one hellacious 36-hour span, 18 inches of rain fell -- taking out roads, bridges and campgrounds. The current damage estimate is $36 million, and that's only a starting point. The staff is waiting for the snow to melt to find out what else will need to be repaired or replaced.
"Every part of the park" has suffered, said spokeswoman Lee Taylor. "Virtually every road has been damaged."
The current plan is to reopen the road to Paradise in eight weeks if construction crews can keep to their schedule. The road has two sections washed out, and earlier this week was still getting pounded: undercut by the Nisqually River and flooded by Kautz Creek.
Without the services of the main road, visitation to the park was down a whopping 96 percent. In December 2005, there were 23,000 visitors. Last month, only 958 showed up. People who want to play in the snow are encouraged to go to nearby national forests.
This spring, crews will move on to other roads at Rainier with the goal of having everything passable by August, Taylor said.
In the meantime, the park is officially shut down, with limited access allowed on weekends. Those with reservations at the National Park Inn at Longmire are being taken in by a shuttle van along a curvy, single-lane dirt road.
Climbers and campers are asked to check in with the Park Service headquarters in Ashford before entering.
"The nature of the park has changed, and I'm not sure when we are going to get the park we had back," said Jonathan Guzzo of the Washington Trails Association, who surveyed the damage. "When you look at the surface area that has been removed, it is mind-boggling."
Most of the footbridges spanning dozens of stream crossings along the 93-mile-long Wonderland Trail are gone, leaving the world-famous path around Rainier impassible for most hikers, said Steve Klump, the park's wilderness district ranger.
The hangover will continue into summer and most likely next year: The park is considering not accepting reservations for hikers wishing to do the entire trail this summer because of the trail's difficulty.
Continue reading this article from the Seattle P-I:
Mount Rainier National Park officially closed
