| North Cascades |
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Effects of October
2003 Heavy Rains and Flooding
on the North Cascades National Park
Service Complex
 Pyramid Creek at State Route 20 |
On October 16 and 17 and again on October 20 and 21, heavy rains fell on a large portion of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Many streams and the Skagit and Stehekin Rivers flooded. Large quantities of water coming down the park's steep watercourses deposited rocks and trees across roads and trails, filled and eroded around culverts, and removed sections of road. The larger creeks and the rivers fed by these streams rose and damaged or removed road and trail bridges along with sections of roads. State Route 20 (the North Cascades Highway), which traverses Ross Lake National Recreation Area, sustained damage at a number of locations. Pyramid Creek, which meets the highway about 1 mile east of the turn-off for the community of Diablo, removed a 150 foot length of highway, eroding a deep trench and damaging another long length of road surface (see photographs). This and other damage along the highway resulted in the Washington State Department of Transportation closing the road for the season on October 17, the earliest since the highway was completed in 1972. Early the following week, flooding of the Stehekin River in North Cascades National Park and adjacent Lake Chelan National Recreation Area caused severe damage to roads and homes in the lower Stehekin Valley, where 100 year-round residents live, and to the upper Stehekin Valley road, which provides access to trailheads in the national park.
The report titled North Cascades National Park Service Complex Storm/Flood Damage, October 2003 (see link below) is the preliminary description of the damage to roads, trails, and other facilities prepared by the park's Maintenance Division and includes a preliminary estimate of the costs of repair. The total for road repairs is about $1.7 million, and for trails and other facilities, $1.0 million. At this writing (November 5, 2003) the availability of funding to make these repairs and the length of time needed has not been determined. As more information becomes available, it will be posted here. We emphasize that the estimates of damage and costs presented in this report are preliminary.
 Containment of Woody Debris in Lake Chelan by Chelan P.U.D. |
The Stehekin section of the report describes flood effects in the Stehekin Valley of Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and adjacent North Cascades National Park. The report gives locations in terms of mileposts or "MP". High Bridge is the dividing point between the recreation area and the national park along the Stehekin Valley Road, which sustained extensive damage. The mileposts (indicated by numbers following "MP") on the Stehekin Valley Road begin with 0 at Stehekin Landing on Lake Chelan. High Bridge is at Milepost 11.2. At that point the road had been maintained as a rougher and narrower route which continued to Glory at Milepost 20.1. A Stehekin River flood in 1995 destroyed portions of the road between there and Cottonwood at Milepost 22.8, which was the end of the drivable portion of the road until then. There was also damage to the other principal road in Stehekin, the Company Creek Road, which is linked to the Stehekin Valley Road by Harlequin Bridge. Mileposts on the Company Creek Road indicate distance from this bridge.
 Cascade River Road, Boston Creek (at far left) |
At this writing State Route 20 is closed at the eastern edge of Newhalem while clean-up and repair takes place in the gorge between there and Diablo. A contractor of the Washington State Department of Transportation is working to repair State Route 20 at Pyramid Creek (milepost 126.8) to permit administrative travel past that point. We do not know at this time whether it will be possible for general traffic to pass this point after this initial repair. On the average, snow further east on the highway causes closure of the road at milepost 134 (the Ross Dam Trailhead) from mid-November to mid-April.
The West Side section of the report describes damage to the Cascade River Road at Boston, Morningstar, and Midas Creeks. This road leaves State Route 20 at Marblemount, which is milepost 0 for the Cascade River Road, and enters North Cascades National Park as an unpaved road at milepost 18.1. Boston Creek is at milepost 21.8, and the road ends at milepost 23.1. At this time (November 5, 2003), the Cascade River Road is closed at the park boundary and will probably remain closed at that point until spring 2004.
For information about how road and trail conditions may affect specific hiking plans, check the roads and trails condition report at www.nps.gov/noca/cond.htm or call the park at 360/856-5700 extension 515.
REPORT: North Cascades National Park Service Complex Storm/Flood Damage, October 2003
http://www.nps.gov/noca/storm03/index.htmLast Updated: 06-Nov-2003