Quick report
I went out to check on the current state of access after a warm and dry January. Unfortunately, on-snow access is quite limited across the East South right now. The lower elevations in the eastern parts of the zone are largely melted out below 4000ft. The roads that access Darland Mountain from Ahtanum Meadows are looking real grim for early February and consist of a mix of dirt and ice. According to the state forest, this is the case for the first 3-4 miles of the road. The Tieton area has more snow, thankfully. You can still launch on snow from the Cold Creek Sno-Park and Round Mountain area. It's certainly not deep with depths ranging from 1-1.5 at these trailheads, but at least you can start your ride on snow.
Weather
- Air Temp
- 40s
- Cloud Cover
- overcast
- Wind Loading
- none
- Recent Snowfall
- 0
- Snow Avail For Transport
- none
Just about all east south access points sat below the inversion fog. This fog broke at around 4000 ft, just east of White Pass.
Snowpack
I didn't find much snow below 4000 ft. Above this, the snowpack is wet, patchy, and aspect-dependent. Right now, the snowpack is beaten up, and there's really not enough snow to present much for avalanche concerns at these lower elevations.