No. Cascades Hwy closed

2013-0812-mudslide

Looks like the North Cascades Highway will be closed for a few more days. The highway was closed Saturday morning because of two mudslides, but according to Jeff Adamson of WSDOT, "By mid-day on Sunday, instead of two slides, we were dealing with 8 of them."

He said, "The largest (at the time was a quarter mile long and 25 feet deep- could be bigger, now."

The slides happened a few miles west of Rainy Pass. There were a couple vehicles trapped between the slides, but no one got hurt and both parties got out safely, according to Adamson

"It's going to take days, if not longer to reopen,"Adamson said, adding "We know that we're going to have to have help in the form of private contractors with the larger equipment and the people it's going to take to get this job done."

Until the hillsides stabilize and WSDOT environmental, geotechnical and maintenance experts can put together a clean up plan, Adamson says, "Don't plan on using the North Cascades to get between the Skagit and Methow Valleys."