Meet the new NC Park Supe at REI on 6/14!

YOU'RE  INVITED!

Explore Your
North Cascades National Park
(it's closer than you think!)
and meet the new Park Superintendent

When:  Friday June 14, 4:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Where: REI flagship store, 222 Yale Avenue N, Seattle
Hosted by:  North Cascades Conservation Council (NCCC)

• Chat with Karen Taylor-Goodrich, new Superintendent of the North Cascades National Park Complex.
• Meet outdoor enthusiasts, catch up with NCCC members, board members, and volunteers, as you meet other Park staff.
• Update your summer outdoor recreation plans as you learn more about hiking, backcountry camping and trails, mountaineering, wildlife (wolves! bears! wolverines!) and other natural and cultural resources from Park staff.

 A North Cascades National Park information program will be presented at 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00 PM, with plenty of time in between for complimentary food and beverages, meeting National Park staff and NCCC board members.

Left: Karen Taylor-Goodrich, NPS photo
Above: Mt. Logan from North Fork Bridge Creek, Philip Fenner photo (c)2012

Snow report May 11, 2013 N Fork Cascade River

I have visited the N Fork Cascade River each of the past three weekends for overnight campouts to enjoy avalanche viewing and to assess the snowpack.  I have been viewing avalanches for the past 25 years or so in this area, and this Spring shaped up to provide for plenty of action (see previous blog entry about this being one of the cooler Springs with temps only hitting 70 F in the past three weeks).

Only problem is, there were hardly any avalanches this year (at least that I saw/experienced)!  Depending on snowpack and temperatures, avalanche viewing takes place any time from late March through June.  This year the freezing level only overtopped the high peaks of the North Cascades in the last three weeks, so I figured my timing was good.  Indeed, the past week has seen consistently and unseasonably warm weather, with temps in the 80sF much of the time.

Don't get me wrong--there have been avalanches, and some big ones, but in each of the three 30 hour sessions I was there, the frequency of all events (my scale goes:  small, moderate, respectable, big, and THE BIG ONE) was about 17% of what I usually experience.  The waterfalls were really roaring--the big meltdown is on, and the rivers are up up up.  The Skagit looked as high as I've even seen it--all from snowmelt.

I suspect the warm weather resulted in the snowpack essentially melting/evaporating in-situ--it has basically melted faster than it could avalanche!  I am shocked at how fast the low-elevation snowpack has disappeared.  I camped seven days ago on more than one-half meter of snow covering slide alder.  Now, the slide alder is completely snow-free and leafing out--check this out--my tent was here on two feet of snow and I was skiing this section of road just last week!

The road is snow free to above Boston Basin TH, and even at the parking lot at the end of the road, the signs have all melted out and there is pavement visible.  I did see one event come off Cascade Peak last week that nearly reached the road--very nice, and a reminder to maintain situational awareness.
Oh, the bear was out last week on the other side of the valley, but other than a couple of deer on the drive this time, no animals save for one coyote in the distance, a mouse or rat trying to come in the tent, and of course plenty of birds (thrush, woodpecker, grouse).
Saw about 10 people last week, and only four this weekend, though there were about 10 vehicles at the road end/gate.  It is amazing how many more people have been getting to the backcountry over the past seven years or so--due to the profusion of high tech, light-weight ski gear and the popularity of adventure activities.



Here's a pic of camp with the Sill Glacier beyond.  The Sill, like many glaciers of the North Cascades, is avalanche fed.

If you look closely, you'll see a bit of cornice gone from the left side of the below image--I saw it avalanche, but it didn't even reach the lower valley.  This is how avalanche fed glaciers survive moderate elevations at this latitude--or how they don't survive....

Note I've now visited three National Parks in 2013, including three visits to North Cascades National Park.  Now it is time to travel to higher elevations and do some climbing and exploring on behalf of conservation efforts for USFS Wilderness (Cascades Wild) and National Park (American Alps).

Snow report, April 27, 2013--N. Fork Cascade River

It's been too long since I've done a snow report, so here it is.  Based on  my ski experience this winter, and especially my last trip to the S. Fork Stillaguamish valley on March 22, I thought this was a great snow year because the Big Four picnic area was still under about a meter of snow.  At that time, I shared my thoughts with Mauri Pelto, who was quick to point out the SnoTel data from Lyman Lake was rather average, with a snow water equivalent of about 55 inches.
I decided to travel farther afield this time, to see how the snowpack looks in the N. Fork Cascade River and to enjoy some avalanches.
I was disappointed to find that the snowpack less than average, with only patchy snow and mostly bare road all the way to Midas Creek.  Only just below the Boston Basin trailhead does the snow get consistently over a half-meter.  It is evident that the S. Fork Stilly received way more snow at low elevations than did the Cascade River system.  This is something of a mystery, considering the peaks that surround the Cascade are basically 2,000 to 3,000 feet higher than those above the Stilly.  I attribute it to the orientation of the valley, and its proximity to the ocean--the Stilly resides in the Puget Sound convergence zone, with no other mountains to intercept the moisture.  The Cascade is "downstream" from the Stilly and thus doesn't receive as much moisture.

As you can see, the upper reaches of the North Cascades appear to have a healthy snowpack, but in reality it is appearing to be an average year, despite a cool Spring (The National Weather Service noted that the streak of days in Seattle below 70 F ended this past week at 197 days--the longest streak is 228 days from Sept 29th to May 13th, 2000).

Still, the skiing was just great, with the warm temps softening the snow perfectly such that I was whooshing along until well after sunset.  I should note that I was alone up there--the ski tracks you see were made by me.  A party of three was up on Eldorado, and a party of four skiers was in Boston Basin, but I had the valley to myself.  Oh darn!

Only a handful of respectable avalanches, certainly no big ones despite three days of 70 degree weather and snow level above 9,000 feet.  The weather turned, but not until I was drivinig home--yay!  Needless to say, I'll be back up next weekend if the weather is good...

Bus service between Lucerne on Lake Chelan and Holden Village will operate weekends only, beginning May 1st

As the Holden Mine remediation work begins in earnest this summer, transportation that in past years ran all week up Railroad Creek road from Lake Chelan to Holden Village will only be available on weekends. This would effect your plans if you intended to go in to the Glacier Peak Wilderness from the east, up Railroad Creek to Hart or Lyman Lakes, and from there to Spider Gap or Cloudy Pass, or beyond to Image Lake during this the final summer with a shortened Suiattle River Road. Also you will not be able to stay as a guest at Holden Village this summer or next, since all guests are volunteer workers during that time and the rest of the rooms are occupied by remediation workers. There's a nice campsite just west of the Village that remains open, however.

For background on the Holden Mine remediation, see the current issue of NCCC's journal The Wild Cascades, at http://www.northcascades.org/magazine.html. NCCC has been following the environmental issues behind this project for some time, and you can find stories on the remediation in these back issues: Winter 2012, Summer/Fall 2011, Spring 2010, and Spring 2009.

Lake Chelan bus access restricted beginning May 1 between Lucerne, Holden

By Terry Richard, The Oregonian

http://blog.oregonlive.com/terryrichard/2013/02/lake_chelan_bus_access_restric.html
on February 01, 2013 at 3:00 PM, updated February 28, 2013 at 7:41 AM

 

Hikers need to plan ahead this summer if they plan to use the bus shuttle between Lucerne and Holden on Lake Chelan in Washington.
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest says the bus will operate weekends only, beginning May 1.
The bus transportation, operated by the Lutheran community in Holden Village between Lucerne (on Lake Chelan) and Holden, will only operate on Saturdays and Sundays in coordination with the Lady of the Lake boat schedule.
The reduction in the number of bus trips between Lucerne and Holden is a result of increased Holden Mine remediation activities starting this spring.

Holden Mine is an inactive mine located on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest about 50 miles north of the city of Chelan and 12 miles west of Lake Chelan along Railroad Creek.
The Railroad Creek valley offers access to the Glacier Peak Wilderness from the Lake Chelan area and therefore these recent changes affect access to the wilderness area. Remediation (or clean-up) of the Holden Mine is a combined effort of the U.S. Forest Service, Intalco Corporation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington Department of Ecology and Holden Village.
It is the largest remediation project on Forest Service lands in the United States. This spring will mark the first of several heavy construction seasons as part of the implementation phase of the Holden Mine clean-up project.

The popular Glacier Peak Wilderness trail systems, Hart Lake/Lyman Lake Trail No. 1256 and the Pacific Crest Trail No. 2000 will remain open and accessible for through-hikers throughout the implementation phase of the project. A re-route has been constructed for hikers to use between the Holden Village bus drop-off area and the Hart Lake/Lyman Lake Trailhead around the clean-up operations.

Additionally, Holden Village will not be accepting guest reservations between May 1 and Nov. 27 due to the heavy construction in and around the village anticipated this field season.
Hikers will not be able to stay overnight at Holden Village.
The Forest Service campground, located less than a mile west of Holden Village at the entrance to the Glacier Peak Wilderness area, will remain open throughout the remediation activities.
Hikers that had planned to stay at Holden Village as part of a trip into Glacier Peak Wilderness Area can consider camping at the Forest Service campground in order to comply with the Saturday/Sunday bus schedule. Camping is not permitted on the leased grounds around Holden or on Holden Village private property. Holden operates under a special use permit with the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

As a public safety measure during remediation activities, several temporary trail closures have occurred in the Railroad Creek Valley over the last few years. As a result, it is not possible to hike between Lucerne and Holden Village during remediation activities. Hikers must utilize the Holden Village bus transportation on Saturdays and Sundays to access the Hart Lake/Lyman Lake Trailhead and Lucerne.

The following trails and surrounding areas near Holden Village are closed until the implementation phase of the project is complete.

- Lower Railroad Creek Trail No. 1240 is closed from Wilson Creek to the mine tailings located between the 8 and 9 mile points. This means it is not possible to hike to or from Holden Village on this trail while this closure is in effect.
- Goat Trail No. 1245.1 is closed
- Tailings Bypass Trail No. 1240.3 is closed
- Copper Falls Trail No. 1246.1 is closed from Goat Trail intersection for one mile south
- Copper Creek Trail No. 1240.21 is closed
- Miners Interpretive Trail No. 1245 is closed
- Monkey Bear Falls No. 1256 is closed

For information or assistance in planning a trip to the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area via Holden, please contact the Chelan Ranger District at 509-682-4900 for the latest updates on trail closures, re-routes and/or transportation to wilderness trailheads.

For more information about the Holden Mine Remediation Project visit the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/okawen/.

For information about the Holden Village operations and transportation visit the Holden Village website at www.holdenvillage.org.
-- Terry Richard Follow @trichardpdx

©  OregonLive.com. All rights reserved.

The Wild Cascades magazine, Winter 2012, now online!

Enjoy the new issue of The Wild Cascades on our newly re-designed web page for our journal, at:

http://www.northcascades.org/magazine.html

Contents:

-NCCC board member Thom Schroeder

-New FS appeal process proposed

-Proposed motocross project on the Mountain Loop Highway

-Hopes for a new Alpine Lakes bill

-New NOCA Superintendent, Karen Taylor-Goodrich

-Suiattle River Road EA decision

-Farewell to Chip Jenkins

-Chip Jenkins looks back

-Mine remediations

-Corvid’s eye

-Reiter update

-Sustainable national forest roads

- Yakima Plan blunders on

- North Cascades Glacier Climate Project field report 2012

- Cascade rambles: A day in the clay

PALMER "Chip" Jenkins--An apology from the Editorial Committee

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the North Cascades Conservation Council, and specifically the Editorial Committee, I'd like to offer our most sincere apology to Chip Jenkins for getting his name wrong in the recently released edition of The Wild Cascades (Winter, 2013).  We strive to get the facts straight in all we do, and this is one we feel especially bad about, considering what a great person and leader Chip is.

Snow Report March 1, 2013

I normally avoid skiing when it rains, but in this case, I wanted to assess the snowpack after the big Pineapple Express (atmospheric river) rolled through Thursday-Friday. Besides, the NWS issued special avalanche warnings, so that sealed it for me! Warm temps and sub-tropical moisture were still in evidence as I made my way out to Big 4--a delightful ski despite the moderate rain falling. The ski conditions were actually great--a nice fast track that provided perfect kick-and-glide throughout the day.

With the snow level at about 6,000 feet, I was concerned that the warm rain would significantly erode the snowpack, and percolate down to strata that would cause "premature" removal down to climax levels. To my surprise, another couple of feet of snow has fallen in the past 10 days, so instead of a smaller snowpack, it was actually much deeper than last week, even down in the valley. This new snow effectively absorbed all of the rain, and also presented a nice stratification layer that protected the base snowpack, with expected avalanches sweeping off only the top
layer(s) of snow.
That's not to say there were no big avalanches. On the contrary, Big 4 had four major events in the three hours I was there. Even from more than a mile away, the sound was impressive, the roar filling the valley. I took the trail to Big 4 to film some of the action, but as I reached the edge of the forest, it became very clear that this was too close, and I was in the danger zone. Fresh avalanche debris was only about 50 meters distant! There is now more than 1.5 meters of snow on the ground at the picnic area at Big 4 (1,800' elevation). Check out these pics:

The tip of my ski pole is on the surface of the picnic table, and is 1.4 meters long.

This is from the edge of the woods. All my little hairs were on end--my senses demanding I leave NOW. The waterfalls were glorious.

It was great to see the Stilly at flood. It was really blazing, but was not up in the woods. The rip-rap bank armoring that supports the hiking bridge was not being hammered too bad. It was spooky crossing the bridges, as the snowpack was at the top level of the railings, meaning any slip, misstep or cave-in of the snow would be a bad thing.

The snowpack is doing great. Happy fish, happy farmers, and happy glaciers. A couple of weeks until the Equinox. Sure hope we pile on many more layers before the season turns and the melt-down starts. Oh, can't wait to get out to Cascade River and watch the BIG avalanches...