Since September 2022, when a lightning storm ignited the Brush Creek Fire in the North Cascades, our trail community has faced a temporary but serious setback.
Access to a crucial part of the PNT has remained closed by the National Park Service since the fall of 2022. Although out-and-back trips into the heart of the Stephen Mather Wilderness have been possible, continuous travel across the wilderness has not.
While we are all eager to see the PNT reopen, the wildfire damage has been extensive and the season for trail work lasts only a few months in this region. To make the most of the time between the spring melt and the first snows of autumn, PNTA crews have joined forces with National Park Service crews to double our progress for the last two seasons.
During our first year of burned area response and recovery work in 2023, PNTA crews helped to reestablish the route and have eliminated standing dead hazard trees, precarious boulders, tall piles of jack-strawed trees, and severely damaged tread. In some places, the wildfire turned the forest floor to ash leaving deep holes beneath the ground.
In our 2024 season, PNT-6 has focused on the area between Hannegan and Whatcom Pass. In July, they began making a daily commute across the Chilliwack River with the goal of rebuilding the missing tread from the ground up.
“The tread of the Brush Creek Trail was badly damaged by wildfire,” said crew leader Spencer Yaude. “The soil was burned to ash and many sections of the tread have collapsed or have been washed out. Large holes left by the fire have to be filled with rock. In some areas the tread must also be stabilized and supported by building retaining walls. The work is almost all rock work.”
In hilly and sloping terrain, the fire has had a destabilized effect on the trail and surrounding landscape. In these areas, PNTA crews have built retaining walls to help protect the trail from washouts during spring run-off events. These simple rock structures can go a long way to support the trail while native plants reflourish and stabilize disturbed areas.
In some areas, the 2022 Brush Creek Fire burned hot enough to destroy parts of the forest floor, including tree roots and the soil itself. Without the help of organic material to keep it bound together, the tread of the PNT has sunken, washed away, or left hidden hazards that can cause twisted ankles, or worse. For equestrians, a lower leg injury can be very serious for both rider and their mount.
PNT-6 has taken responsibility for eliminating these hazards by performing a complete tear-down of the fire-damaged subsurface and rebuilding the tread layer by layer using only hand tools carried into remote wilderness worksites.
We know that restoring trails in disturbed areas takes real dedication, and we are so pleased with the steady progress our partners with the National Park Service and our North Cascades Trail Crew have made toward reopening the Brush Creek Trail. Thank you so much for your service, Spencer Yaude, Isabel Rifenberg, Peter Simmeth, Emma Gleckman and Raylee Phillips. Special thanks to volunteer Joe Orchard with the Backcountry Horsemen of Washington for packing mid-hitch supplies to our crew’s basecamp this July.
In seasons to come, hikers and equestrians alike will once again enjoy extended trips on the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail through some of the most remote and majestic parts of the North Cascades.