Avalanche

Snoqualmie Pass

Andy HarringtonSnoqualmie Pass
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Quick report

It's not ideal conditions for winter recreation at Snoqualmie Pass. It feels like the shoulder seasons with patchy snow and plenty of running water. Trails are muddy, and many have rivers running through them. Rubber boots were required in most spots where I walked today. 

Since this was our first day with visibility in over a week, I was mainly taking pictures of the mountains, trying to get a good sense of what happened to our snowpack and how access is. Long story short, the snowpack has been decimated, and access is difficult. Still, if you want to make the effort, there are areas holding snow coverage on the higher peaks and deeper in the valleys of the Pass proper.  Everything from North Bend to Denny Mountain is down to the ground, including Granite and McClellan Butte. Silver and Tinkham had snow on their tops; otherwise, everything was snow-free down to Crystal Springs Sno-park.

The service road is closed between Silver Fir and Hyak. On the Gold Creek road, water was spilling over the roadway in at least two places, but it was shallow. In other locations, evidence of more recent flooding was evident. 

Didn't actually get on snow, so no instability assessments were made.

Weather

Beautiful sunny day at Snoqualmie Pass with great visibility and bright blue skies. A few areas of low-land fog on the approach up the west side.

Snowpack

The snowpack was not directly observed, but looking around the mountains, the only locations with consistent snow coverage are above roughly 5000-5500 feet at the Pass proper. Even then, it's a bit inconsistent. The deeper into the valleys or the higher the peak, the more coverage exists. At middle elevations, the snowpack peters out quickly to being non-existant at lower elevations.

Not a snowflake is visible via the approach from the east or west. 

Avalanche

Spotted signs of a recent wet avalanche cycle on the higher peaks via binoculars. All avalanche activity was old and likely occurred during our rainy week.