Moving day is close for Enchanted Valley Chalet

Three of a team of six movers hiked into the Olympic National Park Wednesday to begin the final preparation for moving the historic Enchanted Valley Chalet, which has been imperiled by the erosion of the East Fork of the Quinault River.

“Three of us are hiking in,” said Jeff Monroe of Monroe House Moving Inc., the company contracted by the park to move the chalet, which is on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. Three crew members from Seattle will arrive Friday.

Park officials were worried about debris falling into the river after last winter’s storms helped send the river slicing under the foundation. Park workers removed and preserved the windows. Three options were considered: Preserve other parts of it and let the river take its course, dismantle it completely and save the parts and construct it elsewhere, or move it temporarily.

Preservationists, nature lovers, packers and hikers urged that the building be moved temporarily. Monroe approached park officials last spring with a plan.

The park went through an emergency environmental assessment and opted to move it temporarily at a cost of $124,000, while the park and stakeholders work out a more permanent solution.

The move

It is fitting Monroe, who is from Sequim, will hike in from Quinault. Residents from the Quinault Valley helped build the chalet in 1930.

First, four rails and eight skid shoes will be deployed and the two-storey structure will be lifted onto rails, Monroe said. Soap will be used as a lubricant. He hopes to move the structure 10 feet away from the river the first day.

Sunday, “we start pushing 30 feet at a time” until the chalet is 100 feet from the river, he said.

Sol Duc Packers, led by Larry and Sherry Baysinger, began packing in supplies aboard horses and mules on Saturday, Aug. 30. Helicopter flights are scheduled for this Thursday and Friday as more supplies are hiked, packed and flown in to the remote area, which is 13 miles into the wilderness.

A camp with food and water has already been set up, Monroe said.

“We are trying not to forget anything,” he added. There is no cell phone service available at the Chalet.

The move should be accomplished early next week. “The weather window is absolutely perfect,” he said.

“Yeah, I am excited,” Monroe said. “I hope it all works.”