Goldmyer Hot Springs Conditions Jan 13th, 2009

January 13, 2009 update Jan 13, '09 9:50 AM
by Beth for everyone

The beginning (at least) of the Middle Fork Road was hit hard in last week's flood. King County has the road closed at the fork in the paved road because of a number of slides in the last section of paved road. They have a guard posted at the fork. They allow residents thru, and also (maybe) visitors if you're willing to assume the risk. The upper paved road is completely impassable.

But...... it doesn't really matter if you can get past the guard, because the county road beyond the end of pavement also has numerous damaged areas including landslides and road bed drop-offs along (at least) the first 2-1/2 mile of road. At this 2-1/2 mile point there is a roadbed drop-off that is impassable by vehicle as there is only about 4 ft. of road bed width left and the drop-off shoots straight down to one of the 90* turns in the river. This point is about 17 miles before Goldmyer. As of Sunday 1/11 there was still about 10" of snow at that elevation, making use of bicycle from that point impractical for now. We have no guess as to damage assessment beyond that point.

Considering the volume of road damage in Western Washington, it would be assumed that there will be numerous other roads that will take higher priority for repair dollars and crews first. We'll have to wait and see.