Garland Hot Springs, Wild Sky Country

[Klapton]

I started to post recently in the Introduction thread, but at the time I stopped short, unsure whether to post my life's story of just say hi. Well, something recently inspired me to post at least a little of my life's story / dream here...

I left my home in Washington state almost 20 years ago for the Army. I was stationed in the 298th Army Band in Berlin, Germany (yes, I was there when the Wall came down!) where I met and married a girl from Pennsylvania. When I got off active duty, we attended Penn State, and I went to the 307th Army Reserve Band in Norristown, PA. I have since divorced, and am with another lady from PA, and we own a home here now. I'm roughly a year or so from being able to retire from the Army Reserve, and we plan to move home to WA. (I've been horribly homesick for REAL mountains and cool summers all these years!)

So, about two years ago, I discovered Google Earth, a nifty program that allows you to basically zoom in and out of the planet looking at satellite images. Ever since then, I've been looking for and dreaming that perfect place to spend the rest of my days. My searching always seemed to lead me to the Skykomish river valley, where I spent much of my summers as a kid hiking and camping. I found out about the "Wild Sky Wilderness" legislation that is about to pass that will protect many of the places I hiked for future generations.

And I found a spot on Google Earth called "Garland Hot Springs". (Yes, I'm finally getting to the point of the thread, hehe). I did a little web searching, and found this thread on NWHikers.net Forums: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1357 . I posted in that thread about how much I miss WA etc. but never expected much more to come of it. Until the OWNER of the property recently posted that the property is for sale, and is soliciting ideas about what to do with the property.

Having recently discovered this website, I definitely plan to take the course, and hope to build my own log home when I move back home to WA. I was searching the web for property in the Index/Skykomish area, and found out how to view tax parcels on the county website and see info on properties etc. And it led me back to looking at Garland Hot Springs. So I went back to those NWHikers forums, and found out that the owner has been posting about the property. I posted a crazy idea there, and that's what I'd like you folks' input about.

Like many folks, I'm reading about how "easy" it is to build these homes, how it CAN be done affordably, etc. I read about how folks in the Association help each other out with their builds etc. And it all sounds amazing and wonderful.

But am I crazy to think I could pull off my idea about restoring Garland Hot Springs to its former glory? Of providing a nice place for hikers and adventurers heading to "Wild Sky" country?

What I proposed over there in the NWHikers forum was basically this:

In return for the owner selling me the property at a very reasonable price (i.e. I can't afford 40 acres!) I would dedicate part of the property to free, public use. I would provide a parking area, picnic pavilion, and a butt & pass built bunkhouse that would be open to the public, free of charge. (Maybe have some means of accepting donations).

Then I would like to build my home, and either some rental cabins or actually build something like the original resort with a bed and breakfast. There's a very nice gallery of pictures, some of the lodge back in the 50s, and others of the cabins more recently here: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/download.php?id=2031

Questions:

1) Would any members of the Association be excited enough about a project like this to help out? I'm especially thinking about the parts designated for free, public use. It sure would be neat if this was a community effort. (What a great article it would make for this website! hehe)

2) If this isn't something I could manage to pull off (I'm not a wealthy man), would anyone else be interested in something like what I've suggested? This dream of mine has so captured me now, that I don't even care if it's me who does it. I would just LOVE to see this property restored and become the "Gateway to Wild Sky" for hikers and campers.

3) Am I just a crazy dreamer, who has bitten off WAY more than I can chew? Or is it possible in our jaded culture for a bunch of dreamers to work together to provide something nice for the public and for future generations?

[ponyboy]

I would love to find a piece of property with a hot springs on it. But I'm sure it would cost $$$.
Like one of the people said in that other forum, I would be worried about lawsuits. :-(

[Klapton]

http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/download.php?id=3083p34309

There's an image of the spring itself. Not much to write home about, I'm afraid, hehe. The thing that intrigues me most about the spot is that it is about as far as you can drive into the about-to-be-official "Wild Sky Wilderness Area". It's the ideal place to serve as a "base camp" for hikers. That's why I'd love to build a public parking area and picnic pavilion there (as well as my own home and possibly a bed and breakfast / cabin rental buisness.)

The other thing that would drive up the cost is that it is 100% off grid.

[rreidnauer]

As nostalgic as I am, and how much I love to see things of days gone by, brought back to their former glory, I'd still have to weigh the balances of reality. The fact is, people from that era, where places like this were once popular, are inevitably becoming fewer each day. The reality is, if restored, would it be popular enough to support your plan? Your intentions are noble and you're idea of converting from a place where people go for the mineral springs, to a place for hikers to utilize as a base camp seems sound, since hiking is quite popular. Other issues to concern yourself with might be that of financial impacts. You say you're not all too wealthy, so what if you found yourself with a lodge full of asbestoses wrapped steam pipes and lead painted walls. Surely that alone could be devastating to a person's finances. A far as lawsuits and liabilities, yes, they exist, but you can probably insured for such, and the type of crowd you'd be drawing (hikers) tend to be more of a close knit, friendly type of people. Hopefully, you could get a decent following to make something happen there, with people like that. Personally, it looks like a chunk too big to bite, but I'm not you, as it might be right up your alley.

A lot of things can add up quick. Many will say to follow your heart, but I'd add to check your wallet along the way. Use careful discretion, and always sleep on big decisions like this, for a few days.

[Klapton]

The Lodge was flooded, then burned back in the 60s. The "new lodge" would actually be a brand new log home we would build, and we would run it as a bed and breakfast. So, no asbestos etc. Even if I only built a modest home for me and my family, and not a business, the core of my idea is that the owner would cut me a deal on the price of the land, and in exchange, I would provide something nice for the general hiking public.

[2 cents]

Klapton,

The Washington Wilderness Coalition might be a good group to contact....

http://www.wawild.org/campaigns/wild_sky.htm


2 cents

[Klapton]

I was just researching at how the National Registry of Historic Places works. It's pretty cool. It doesn't tie the hands of property owners, but still opens the possiblity of getting grants and/or tax credits for preservation / improvements.

Take a look at this post for more info...

http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=295384#295384

I wonder if a spectacular log home version of the old lodge would count as "(e) A reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented in a dignified manner as part of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the same association has survived"

[2 cents]

You could have something there....
I wonder if they would let you build using the butt & pass method that the LHBA uses, if that was not the method used to build the previous lodge. I know that when you deal with large government organizations, they can come up with a lot of rules that may not necessarily make sense.
My doctor was telling me about his cousin who restored an old lodge in Wyoming, and got tax breaks by getting it on the national register of historic places. He did have to do some battling between various bureaucracies about the methods that could be used to restore the lodge.... for example, they were not allowed to use a power washer to resurface the logs, but were allowed to use dremels. I'm not sure what the "logic" was there, but I'm guessing they considered a dremel closer to a hand tool than a power washer? Anyway, they hired several people from a nearby Indian reservation to come out and resurface the entire lodge using dremel tools. It was quite a large building, too, from my understanding.
I guess you may have to prepare yourself to jump through some silly hoops, but with perseverence you can reach your goal. Where there's a will, there's a way.

2 cents