Last night on the news, our local TV weather guy stood at Stevens Pass in the dark, a wet snow sticking to his hat. He gave the usual advice – carry chains, snacks and water, blankets or sleeping bags – if you’re crossing the passes because if you get stuck, you may be cold and hungry.
Last weekend we stood at Chinook Pass. It’s 5430 feet – slightly over 1600 meters – in the surprisingly warm air. It took us a few hours to get up there because we stopped to breathe deep of the forest air, to look down the river half shadowed by the east slopes of the Cascades, to admire the tall pines and the giant anthills at their feet. “The anthills are big like that because there’s a heavy winter coming,” said my alpine born and raised mate.
In a turnout at the pass a couple of good-looking and study young men pulled a lot of gear out of the back of a hatchback. They strapped on gaiters and hoisted ice axes, striding off in that heel-toe walk you get from wearing heavy boots. The air smelled like snow and pine needles. The lake below us had a crescent of ice along one edge. A big white pickup towing an empty horse trailer rolled past and I crunched my shoes in the first snow I’ve seen in more than a year. The air was startlingly clear, the valley in sharp relief, Mount Rainier a perfect dome of white. The road to Sunrise was closed for the season so we continued down the west side of the Cascades into Enumclaw where we stopped at a breakfast all day place for eggs and hashed browns.
This morning, the WSDOT says the pass is still open, but I wonder for how much longer.
Photo by J. Taken with the mighty Lumix. And hello, Photo Friday!
So gorgeous! It reminds me of home (Colorado).
Brrrr. I took one look at this photo and went in search of a sweater!
What a spectacular photo, and view.
it’s goregous, ironically, i live at 5600 feet, but in costa rica, so we have no snow, but it’s been really cold lately.
Photo Frida: Rock Climbing in Costa Rica
This photo is simply stunningly beautiful. It took my breath away.
It’s a beauty, isn’t it? I like to pretend that I’m the photographer around here, but the truth is that my sidekick has a fine eye and a steady hand with the camera. And to my annoyance, most of the photos picked by the editor for our Hawaii guidebook? His. Ouch, my ego.
(Okay, I wasn’t really annoyed. He came along exactly for that reason. He’s half the Eye in Nerd’s Eye View.)
Love this shot. The perfect case for owning a Lumix
That photo is so gorgeous it doesn’t even seem real. Guess you’ll have to take me there and prove it (yes, this is me inviting myself to Seattle)!
Those little trees are Bob Ross “happy trees!” Seriously, too perfect . . .
@pLrS: You’re welcome. No, really. Just let us know ahead of time so we can be sure there’s room on the couch.
I’m breathing in that mountain air
When I first looked at that picture I thought it was a scanned in postcard. That is absolutely amazing!
Reminds me of Alaska.
I wish we had such beautifully remote places around here. I’m usually looking at a puddle in the gutter with a fire hydrant rising up behind it…not much of a scenic view
Well, we’ve got this weather in Chicago, if only we had this scenery! That photo is stunning.
Oh wow, that’s beautiful. Boy do I miss real mountains. We had our first snow on Saturday with the promise of more to come.
It’s beautiful!