Last Nov. we had record rains at first and then record snows in the mountains...which translates to more rain down here. The trend has continued, not as bad, but storms have not allowed us to dry out completely. I know, everyone thinks it rains all the time in Washington St. but this winter is way above the norm. The point I'm getting to is that our beloved hiking trails in the Carbon River area are now inaccessible. Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park recieved 18 inches of rain in 36 hours. This devastated all accesses to the park. The Carbon River washed out much of the 5 mi. road to the Ipsut Campground, where a couple of our favorite trails for winter originate. The campground itself was damaged heavily, also. These photos were taken the first week in Dec. My daughter and I threw the mt. bikes into her truck and went to check out the damage. Here is just a taste of what we saw. Part of the river is still flowing thru where there used to be road. We thought the flood damage in January of this same year was bad....this was even worse!! To see more photos of the damage in the entire Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park check out nps.gov and look for Mt. Rainier flood damage of 2006. You will be amazed!!! :(
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