Beacon Rock will be open the weekend of 17th-18th

[Joseph Healy]

Opening Info
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Based on the data from monitoring sessions done Saturday, Sunday, and today, Beacon Rock will open between 7/13 and 7/16, the exact day has yet to be determined.

The chicks were not flying Sunday, but two were today and likely took their first flight yesterday or we witnessed it today. One more likely chick is still not flying yet. The two that are flying are making short, ungainly flights and not so great landings to nearby ledges like the 'Flying Swallow' ledge, top of 'Blownout', and the SE Corner rap ledges.

But, it should be noted that 'fledging' is not an event, but rather a process. Despite the oft [mis]quoted "once they're flying..." quip, Beacon never has and never will open on the chicks' first flight - it opens, and the chicks are considered fledged - once they've achieved sustained flight, can land competently, and so are in a position to be flight/hunting-trained by the parents. That process takes roughly two weeks which has been the consistent opening criteria both since the closures began and in all six years I've been assisting with the monitoring.

Massive Rockfall Cleanup
===================

A bigger issue at hand is that we'll need to do a significant pre-opening cleanup as a result of a massive rockfall that occured during the final significant winter storm in the last week of March. The storm ice-loaded the large 'bonsai' tree that was down about a 100' from the spot on the high SE ridge ramp where the SE Corner and YW meet. The tree sat atop the finish to the 'Lost Variation' and 'Lost Warriors'; it was old, had a very large circumference, and was well-rooted into a significant stretch of the lower SE ridge ramp high above the base of YW.

When it was blown down in the storm it took out about a 30-40 section of the lower SE ridge ramp with it dwarfing the 2006 rockfall (at the base of the SE ridge ramp finish to the Corner / YW). In fact, so much rock came down immediately right of YW it clearcut all the trees from the YW base over to where the trail steps up on the rock under 'Stone Rodeo' and obliterated all trace of the trail through that stretch. And while the tree at the base of YW itself was somehow miraculously spared, a large portion of the rocks forming the rightside of the YW base and the base itself are also gone. It also rained significant rocks OVER the railroad protection fence wires and over and onto the tracks.

Pictures can be seen here:

http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p...ee%20Rockfall/

Today's monitoring session with David Anderson and Carl Hinsley, the new BRSP Head Ranger, was from the wildlife refuge out from the SE Corner and, with David's spotting scope, finally provided a decent view of the rockfall scar. The good news is that the view of the scar with binoculars from out on Route 14 gave the impression of there being several large blocks that to trundle would require closing the railroad tracks, but on closer examination today it turns out to instead be cleanly sheared-off sections of stone. Again, good news, but there are still several fairly huge deposits of loose rocks on ramps hanging directly above the YW base which have to be cleaned up before the opening or trail repair work.

The high cleanup work in and below the rockfall scar will be substantial, but will not require coordinating with the railroad which is a huge relief given Carl hasn't really hadn't had much luck connecting with them before today. Another reason it's great news is that the railroad just told him the Route 14 road work up at the 54 mile marker ended up shutting down the tracks for days longer than originally promised and that didn't go over well with the railroad. So now any work that has the potential to close the tracks requires signed agreement paperwork and four weeks notice - we'd have been screwed if we did need to do a coordinated drop. Whew! Carl is now lining up a copy of the agreement in the evenT we ever do need to use it in the future.

So the plan as coordinated today is to do a survey of the rockfall scar two days prior to the final opening date in order to assess the scope of work and possibly set temporary work anchors (this possibility is also the reason Opdycke and I made the call to leave that pin up on the SE ridge notch which was removed, but happily sent back [thanks]). The day before the open we'll do the cleanup and rap / clean all of YW. The trail repair work will be done on opening day. We'll also probably take a shot at cleaning up Grassy Ledges while we're doing the pre-open work session so hopefully there will be less early season rockfall at the SE Corner base than last year.

So that's the story and I'll post up here again when a final date has been set.

Notes:
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* The trail is still closed, and the BRSP has asked that folks wait until the opening and not go down to see the rockfall prior to that.

* We'll do our best to thoroughly cleanup after this event, but this will be a very good year to wear a helmet on 'Young Warriors', 'Boardwalk', and 'Rythmn Method' at least until a few post-cleanup summer storms sweep through and maybe just a good idea period.