A
_AJ_
Well-known member
These guys really deserve a thanks for there efforts. Anyone who rides Baker shoould really appreciate what they are doing and realize how big of an effort it really is. These guys are walking the walk.
Heres a front page story from the Skagit Valley Herald This Morning.
I will try and get some pictures up as I can.
AJ
http://www.goskagit.com/index.php/news/article/snowmobilers_will_plough_to_mt_baker_trailhead/
Snowmobilers will plow to Mt. Baker trailhead
Local snowmobilers have refused to sit idle while the road and parking area they use to access two popular trails go unplowed.
Washington State Parks has run out of money for keeping its Sno-Parks clear, and snowmobilers have already gone one weekend without access to these parks. They serve as both parking areas and trailheads for snowmobilers.
All six Sno-Parks in the Mount Baker Ranger District — four of which are in or are accessed through Skagit County — have been cut off by the snow.
“It’s fouled us up a little bit, but I think we’re going to get the problem taken care of before it causes a big issue,” said Mike Couch of Lyman, president of the Northwest Glacier Cruisers Snowmobile Club.
Couch said club members put their heads together at their monthly meeting in Burlington last week and came up with a solution. Members will offer their heavy equipment — an excavator and a road grader — and volunteer their time to clear the one mile of U.S. Forest Service road that leads to the most popular Sno-Park in the area, on the south side of Mount Baker.
“We’ve got a real good, tight-knit group. Everybody helps everybody. If we don’t help ourselves, nobody is going to come do it for us,” Couch said.
Road clearing was to begin this morning, Couch said. He figured it would take the rest of the week to clear the gravel forest road from Baker Lake Road to the Mount Baker National Recreation Area Sno-Park. The parking area provides access to 19 miles of Forest Service roads that double in the winter as snowmobile trails.
The Mount Baker Sno-Park is used by 12,000 to 15,000 snowmobilers a year, Couch said.
State Parks spokeswoman Colleen Maguire said she wasn’t aware of the local club’s plan. She said the state has a small amount of money available for fuel, which the club could request.
This is the first year the state has run out of snow-removal funds for the Sno-Park program, which began in 1975, Maguire said.
Before this winter, as usual, State Parks set aside additional snow-removal funds in case one part of the state got more snow than usual, Maguire said. As it turned out, above-average snowfall covered most of the state this season.
“This year, all areas have gone above and beyond. We’ve never had a year where we’ve set aside enough money for the entire state to go above and beyond,” Maguire said.
Money from Sno-Park pass fees, snowmobile registration and part of the state fuel tax goes to the state snowmobile program. Season passes for the Sno-Parks cost $30 and are required through April 30.
Sno-Park passes also come with the annual snowmobile registration fee. That fee hasn’t increased since 2002, Maguire said. Meanwhile, costs to keep the roads and parking areas clear have risen. Fuel costs have tripled and repair costs have also increased, Maguire said.
Maguire said she also expects a separate funding source, for trail grooming, to run out this year. She said those funds will dry up at different times in different parts of the state.
The snowmobiling community recognizes that this year is different. Couch said an older snowmobiler he knows told him this has been one of the two snowiest winters in the past 20 years.
That can only bode well for this season, assuming the Northwest Glacier Cruisers club can keep access to the trails open. Couch remembers 1999, the year Mount Baker set a snowfall record. He made seven or eight runs that year in the month of July, and he doesn’t see any reason why he can’t be on his snowmobile again this July.
“I don’t think we’re out of the woods. I think there’s more snow to come,” he said.
• Ralph Schwartz can be reached at 360-416-2138 or rschwartz@skagitvalleyherald.com.
Heres a front page story from the Skagit Valley Herald This Morning.
I will try and get some pictures up as I can.
AJ
http://www.goskagit.com/index.php/news/article/snowmobilers_will_plough_to_mt_baker_trailhead/
Snowmobilers will plow to Mt. Baker trailhead
Local snowmobilers have refused to sit idle while the road and parking area they use to access two popular trails go unplowed.
Washington State Parks has run out of money for keeping its Sno-Parks clear, and snowmobilers have already gone one weekend without access to these parks. They serve as both parking areas and trailheads for snowmobilers.
All six Sno-Parks in the Mount Baker Ranger District — four of which are in or are accessed through Skagit County — have been cut off by the snow.
“It’s fouled us up a little bit, but I think we’re going to get the problem taken care of before it causes a big issue,” said Mike Couch of Lyman, president of the Northwest Glacier Cruisers Snowmobile Club.
Couch said club members put their heads together at their monthly meeting in Burlington last week and came up with a solution. Members will offer their heavy equipment — an excavator and a road grader — and volunteer their time to clear the one mile of U.S. Forest Service road that leads to the most popular Sno-Park in the area, on the south side of Mount Baker.
“We’ve got a real good, tight-knit group. Everybody helps everybody. If we don’t help ourselves, nobody is going to come do it for us,” Couch said.
Road clearing was to begin this morning, Couch said. He figured it would take the rest of the week to clear the gravel forest road from Baker Lake Road to the Mount Baker National Recreation Area Sno-Park. The parking area provides access to 19 miles of Forest Service roads that double in the winter as snowmobile trails.
The Mount Baker Sno-Park is used by 12,000 to 15,000 snowmobilers a year, Couch said.
State Parks spokeswoman Colleen Maguire said she wasn’t aware of the local club’s plan. She said the state has a small amount of money available for fuel, which the club could request.
This is the first year the state has run out of snow-removal funds for the Sno-Park program, which began in 1975, Maguire said.
Before this winter, as usual, State Parks set aside additional snow-removal funds in case one part of the state got more snow than usual, Maguire said. As it turned out, above-average snowfall covered most of the state this season.
“This year, all areas have gone above and beyond. We’ve never had a year where we’ve set aside enough money for the entire state to go above and beyond,” Maguire said.
Money from Sno-Park pass fees, snowmobile registration and part of the state fuel tax goes to the state snowmobile program. Season passes for the Sno-Parks cost $30 and are required through April 30.
Sno-Park passes also come with the annual snowmobile registration fee. That fee hasn’t increased since 2002, Maguire said. Meanwhile, costs to keep the roads and parking areas clear have risen. Fuel costs have tripled and repair costs have also increased, Maguire said.
Maguire said she also expects a separate funding source, for trail grooming, to run out this year. She said those funds will dry up at different times in different parts of the state.
The snowmobiling community recognizes that this year is different. Couch said an older snowmobiler he knows told him this has been one of the two snowiest winters in the past 20 years.
That can only bode well for this season, assuming the Northwest Glacier Cruisers club can keep access to the trails open. Couch remembers 1999, the year Mount Baker set a snowfall record. He made seven or eight runs that year in the month of July, and he doesn’t see any reason why he can’t be on his snowmobile again this July.
“I don’t think we’re out of the woods. I think there’s more snow to come,” he said.
• Ralph Schwartz can be reached at 360-416-2138 or rschwartz@skagitvalleyherald.com.
