[pct-l] Glacier Peak detour for SOBOers

[griffin at u.washington.edu (Tom Griffin)]

There are two fords on the Glacier Peak detour that can be troublesome, the
Napeequa and Chiwawa rivers. However, a newspaper report printed today in
Seattle says that snow and river levels continue to remain at near-record
lows:


Mixed news on water supply

Seattle enters the driest months of the year with its two reservoirs full,
so far allowing it to avoid slapping mandatory conservation measures on
homeowners and businesses.

Still, the snowpack is unusually low, and that means the amount of melting
snow that will replenish the reservoirs through the warm, dry summer months
will be far below normal. ...

State climatologist Philip Mote, who recently flew over the city's Tolt and
Cedar River watersheds, said there was no snow in the Cascades below 6,000
feet. Mote said a warm winter and early melt has left Puget Sound citizens
with the lowest end-of-May snowpack since 1981.

"It's the worst snowpack in a long time," said Mote, who will be lecturing
to the public at Seattle City Hall on Tuesday night on drought and climate.
"We are in a drought situation. The (Seattle) reservoirs have about four
months of water stored, but once that (summer) clock starts running, things
could change. We're not out of the woods yet."

An estimated 3.32 inches of rain fell in May in the Seattle area -- twice
the normal amount, Mote said. April rainfall was a full inch higher than
normal -- 3.68 inches.

Ted Buehner, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said while the
recent rain helped fill reservoirs, it didn't solve the long-term need for
snow -- the region's summer insurance for water supplies.

"I hear people say, 'Well, it's been raining since March,' " Buehner said.
"Our snowpack is our money in the bank, and the snowpack is gone."

Even at higher elevations, the snow is disappearing. At Paradise on Mount
Rainier, a gauge measuring so-called water equivalent -- what a plug of snow
would yield in melted water -- showed 7 inches yesterday versus the 53
inches of water equivalent typical for this time of year.

(c) 2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Just for the record, Paradise at Mount Rainier is at 6,400 feet.

Regarding what route is better, you may hear from some early SOBOers on this
list about the fords on the Glacier Peak detour. If you are in doubt, then
the road walk might be the best.

This does bring up an interesting point for those of us hiking north of
Stevens Pass in late summer (like me). Could we take the actual PCT route
and ford the Suiattle River?

Tom Griffin
Seattle
PCT Pages: http://staff.washington.edu/griffin/pct.html

> 
> Hi Everyone, 
> 
> I am wondering about the bypass route for Glacier Peak, especially
> come later this month.     The written description mentions places
> where early season fording is not possible.  I remember reading NOBO
> acounts from last year that this is not a fun or safe detour.  Form
> others journals it looks like that some have done a road walk in the
> past.   Should this be of concern? I apologize if this is a repeat
> question.
> 
> Thanks!
>