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THE TRAIL
Thursday, April 2, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page A-45
"TFF'
-.
I Early symptom of virus was rush for the woods ‘,
bad news.
How about the good news first?
I’m_very excited to be sharing direc-
tions to a brand new waterfall. ,
The bad news? You can’t go there
until after the virus says “goodbye—
)5
I'llS .
I ’ve got some good news and some.
Be patient, as
this is a real beauty,
one of the most
photogenic and
rewarding falls to
explore. It’s a bit
tricky to get to the
bottom, however,
, . as it’s tucked in a
’ mini—canyon that
By MARK is steep, mossy and
WOYTOWICH slippery in the final
‘ . approach. V
We used a rope.
It was a cinch, ha-ha.
As you can see by the photo, this
yet-to-be-named waterfall is kid-safe,
with adult supervision.
SPEAKING OF SUPERVISION
Now we need to cover the bad news
of my story. As fast as you can say,
“Stay safe, Stay Home,” all four major
public lands agencies released closure
announcements last week regarding
their separate domainsof supervision.
First, the Olympic National Park
announced the closure of all its lands,
roads and facilities. '
Earlier the Washington State
Parks had announced partial clo-
sures; at first it was only camping,
day-use and picnic facilities, but soon‘
authorities expanded the social dis-
tance radius to include full closure
1 of all properties, including trails and
beaches. ,
This broader ban was marked by
locked gates at park entrances.
Right after that, the Department of
Natural Resources launched its own
ban to include all lands under their
jurisdiction. Sorry, equestrian, dirt
bike and quad riders.
Finally, coming late last Friday,
the National Forest Service released
its own COVID-19 closure statement:
“All Olympic National Forest
developed recreation sites will be
closed through April 8, 2020; or until
such measures are lifted. Recreation
Closures include trailheads, day use
areas, campsites, cabins and picnic
sites.” '
7
HUMAN-TO-HUMAN CONTACT
I’d like to offer an alternative in-
terpretation of “human~to-human”
contact here. For the sake of this par-
ticular column, let’s think of human
contact as communication between
two human beings.
Despite the giant parental “N0!” of
government closures or, for that mat-
ter, any socially restrictive rules of
engagement, there are human beings
behind such rules and closures. These
human beings sometimes have very
human-behavior-based reasons for
issuing their guidelines.
One such human being is Yewah
Lau, district manager for the Nation-
a1 Forest Service Hood Canal Ranger
District.
My “take” on her, alter an exten-
sive interview during the initial out-
break of COVID-19 in Washington,
is that this park administrator does
not want to rain on the parade of law-‘
abiding, social-distancing, outdoors—
Starved citizens.
However, in the weeks prior to
the park closures (when the Chinese,
European, and for that matter, the
Kirkland-centered outbreaks were
already news, with social distancing
already being recommended) Lau
and her fellow forest officials found
themselves looking on, somewhat
powerless, as huge, swelling waves
of humans, many already in crowded
cars, started showing up at National
Forest trailheads.
Though barely a month ago, this
‘phenomenon already seems like old
times. But in early March there was
a public rush to the outdoors. Locally,
Big Creek Trail had five times the L
normal visitors.
To me,.this only made sense. Faced
with the prospect of self-quarantine,
Americans were suddenly taking in
the great outdoors as never before.
“Very early on I began to feel that
this might be too much of a good
thing,” Lau says.
“‘I thought to myself, are you re-
ally social distancing if you approach
an overflowing parking area, know-'
ing that there are already plenty of
people on that particular trail?”
Forest trailheads aren’t exactly
like the doorway at Fred Meyer, with
an attendant ready to hand you an
alcohol towel.
And if you’re thinking that the Los
Treasure of Toilet Paper is hidden
inside a National Park or Forest pit
latrine — well, that’s the LAST place
'you’re going to find toilet paper.
“From the start we were facing our
own challenges with staff limitations,”
Lau says. “We weren’t equipped or
prioritized to receive disinfectants or
other supplies to sanitize our rest—
rooms and picnic areas.”
Indeed, as you might expect, the
flood of new visitors also brought a
new wave of troubles. Because many
folks were not conscientious and
practiced stewards of the wild, huge
amounts of litter and trash began
overflowing all available containers,
as well as becoming a massive eyesore
along forest roads. ’
Some folks blew out tires because
they weren’t familiar with potholed
roads. Others thought it was a perfect
day to “visit” Mount Ellinor, when, in
reality, deep snow stopped them far
down the forest road from the lower
trailhead.
Or, famously, as a 26-year-old hik-
er proved in a late February incident,
breaking an ankle and then crawling
on all—fours for eight hours until he
got a cell signal on the Duckabush :
Trail —— you can count six rescuers in
the photo of the crew that carried him
by stretcher to the helicopter, where
yet others came into close contact to
save his life.
“We are saddened to temporarily
restrict recreation,” says Olympic
National Forest Public Affairs Officer
Susan Garner, “but the larger picture
is that we must do our part to reduce
the coronavirus curve. We are simply
asking the public to help us prevent
the kinds of accidents and incidents
that would involve bringing rangers
or first responders into close contact
Two young
friends from
Olympia pump
victorious fists
’ -, in the air after
roping into the
7 gorge at a yet-
, to-be-named
waterfall near
Jorsted Creek
Road. Journal
photo by Mark
’ Woy’towich
with others.
“We’d like. volunteer cooperation
under temporary conditions,” Garner *
says, “to help us in not placing further
stress on law enforcement, first aid or
medical personnel.”
ONWARD, FALLS!
Well, I, admit it makes good sense.
Hey, and this is coming from none
see TITAIL, page A-46
ALLYN Case Inlet
DATE HIGH (FEET)
A Ea Wei
. Your local Titles
For the week oprriI 2 through April 9
lOW (FEET) SUN MOON
AM PM
m
: -0.1
12.5 11:01
13.3 11:39
T ' ' .1
12:25 1.3
[OW (FEET)
ii M PM
8:57
10:02 0.1
11:01 -0.1 : "’
L 0.0
4:09
5:09
6:07 14.0
7:0’4T144
8:02 14.6
SHELTON |OakIand Bay
DATE HIGH (EEET)
AM PM
3:10 11.0
' 4 4:12 133 T 2:28 11.1
13.8 3:42]11.7
14.3 4:47 12.5
6:01 14.8 5:47 13.3
6:32 15.1 T 14.0
7:04 15.3 7:42 | 14.4
7:30 15.3 14.6
UNION l Hood Canal
DATE HIGH (FEET)
AM are '
SUN MOON
IOW (FEET)
AM PM
Tide tables have been transcribed and
may contain errors. Nol intended for
navigational use.
Tidal Information Courtesy US Harbomom
L, dim, ,_._~,,N ,_._.._w v- ___r
.Weekly Tide Tables Sponsored'by —~
VERLE'S
Your mam Complete Outdoor Recreation Store SINCE 1948
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