PORT ANGELES — A trio of mudslides blocked the Olympic Discovery Trail in two locations and a residential road near Lake Sutherland during this week’s wet weather.
A wet winter paired with a lot of recent rainfall has resulted in multiple mudslides in Clallam County, which is normal for this time of year, said Ross Tyler, Clallam County engineer.
“The ground is saturated, and we got a big dump [of rain],” Tyler said.
Lake Sutherland’s South Shore Road was temporarily closed at about noon Thursday at a location three-quarters of a mile from U.S. Highway 101 when trees and mud slid across the road, completely covering it, he said.
Crews cleared and reopened part of the road, allowing for one lane of traffic into the neighborhood on the south side of Lake Sutherland, which Tyler said has no other access.
Tyler said he expects county road crews to have the road cleared by the end of today.
Trail blocked
The Olympic Discovery Trail was blocked in two locations by Thursday.
A mudslide on the trail west of Port Angeles between Kacee Way and the Elwha Bridge was blocked by a fresh mudslide Thursday afternoon, Tyler said.
The slide was reported at about 2:30 p.m. and was near the site of an earlier slide in a problem area, he said.
Tyler said the road department had just learned of the slide, and no estimate for clearing the slide was immediately available.
The city of Port Angeles will not be able to immediately remove a second slide blocking a portion of the trail between mile markers 2.5 and 3.5 east of Port Angeles City Pier, said Corey Delikat, director of parks and recreation for Port Angeles.
“It’s pretty unstable,” Delikat said of the bluffs around the slide of trees and mud blocking 30 to 40 feet of the trail.
Delikat said the slide happened at some point Sunday.
Additional heavy rains forecast through the weekend make it dangerous for crews to work in that area, and the slide is likely to be cleared next week after the rains let up, he said.
The trail is officially closed, he said, but there are people who use the path anyway and find a way around the slide area.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
