Rattlesnake Ridge Bunker

Every Monday morning the UltimateHighFive and Sean from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) gather near Big Bubba Red Beast at Lake Samammish State Park for a quick debriefing of the week's activities, a shout out of the tools and gear needed, and a little chit-chat of the past weekend's activities.  It was then when the 'survivalist,' Peter Keller, entered the conversation.  Stapled onto message boards across many trailheads and maintenance roads in East King County were pictures of a wanted man; armed, dangerous, and an avid hiker... perhaps with a red and silver mountain bike.  Earlier last week one of the WCC crews were pulled off of a nearby mountain and came back to the shop early to prevent the possibility of encountering a man that is charged with the murder of his wife, daughter, and pets.  King County Sheriffs were on top of their game as they discovered his bunker on Rattlesnake Ridge and sadly Peter Keller with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  You can read more about this dangerously fascinating story at the Seattle PI or this riveting Associated Press article Glimpse of Wash. bunker; Candy, beans, and blood.

The morning conversation started off in jest; something along the lines of, 'hey what if the we get the call to demolish the bunker.' As the day was nearing an end, Luke received a phone call with a message about the bunker... we the UltimateHighFive are going to Keller's bunker to demolish it.

An entourage of trucks arrived at a parking lot on Rattlesnake Ridge along with eager faces to see this 'unbelievably' built bunker.  We started off Tuesday with a meet and greet of people from different agencies.  The group composed of the UltimateHighFive, Washington State DNR and King County DNRP folk.  Donuts, diagrams, and maps dot the hood of Dave's truck as he explains the game plan; hike in, clean out the trash, demolish bunker, and fill in the hole. 

After hiking up and down treacherous terrain with our tools, rain gear, and lunches we arrive at bunker.  It was truly unbelievable.  Situated at an undisclosed site near a creek was the bunker in a carved out hillside.  We were warned of the smells that we'll encounter when standing near or inside the bunker. Chlorine was a distinct sent, but the teargas was the most dominant.  Deep breathes of the air inside the bunker brought on a burning sensation to the nose.  Luckily a creek was nearby to splash our faces with when the heat became too intense.

The aftermath of trying to flush Peter Keller out of his bunker and then the scouring for evidence left a messy cleanup.  Peering into the bunker through the once intact roof we saw pillows, clothes, socks, food, housewares, books; practically a homey place. The roof was lined with layers of tarp that was then covered with lots of soil.  Structurally the place was built to last for a very long time.  Large logs perfectly skinned and halved lengthwise were precisely measured, placed, and held together by large bolts.

After careful inspection and gearing up in a slew of personal protective equipment the team was ready to enter.  Large black garbage bags were quickly fill with items to be hauled out.  We were big on containing and hiking out plastics since it will last a very long time in the environment when buried.  Liquids that were deemed safe to pour were dispersed on the forest floor while oils, detergents, and bathing toiletries were hiked out.  Being in the bunker for a prolonged amount of time was tough as teargas crept into our noses and the burning sensation ensued.  We did have many helpers available to swap with when that occurred.

Heaps of trash bags were filled and left in a staging area to be hike out.  At first the bunker clean up looked overwhelming.  Lots of Keller's belongings were strewn all over the bunker covering the floor. The dampness and lack of lighting was also not favorable.  But, with so many people the task of cleaning up was coming near an end... before lunchtime, that was super fast.  The next task is to demolish the bunker.

Exposed wood that was above ground was cut and thrown into the bunker to fill it in along with the cut floorboards.  The walls of the bunker were cut by chainsaw also for fill.  Little by little and piece by piece the bunker was dismantled and filled.  Slowly losing its resemblance of a bunker and morphing into a pile of ruble. 

A crew swap took place the next day and two curious and new faces hopped aboard Big Bubba Red Beast; bright with smiles Sam and Johanna from WCC Mountains to Sound Greenway.  They will be lending helping hands and strong muscles to hike down trash and fill a void on the hillside.  Fortunately the forest floor is covered with downed trees from wind storms and lots of branch blow down so no living tree was harmed in the filling, stabilizing, and covering process.

What initially seemed like at least a four day job turned out to be less.  It was believed that Peter Keller took eight years to construct the bunker and it is fact that it took two days to demolish and fill it.