blue lake trailhead or rainy pass parking info?

from trip reports, it kinda sounds like both areas had just a wide spot in the road for a handfull of cars to park this past weekend.....does anyone know if the wsdot has been back up there this week to plow out the rest of the blue lake th?

just trying to figure out where I could car camp up around there this weekend.

thanks.

Rainy pass had wide enough shoulder plowed last weekend that parking there would not be a problem even if they don't plow the spur roads or lots in next few days. Blue Lake TH appeared like it was a pain in the ass though, with the shoulder not really plowed wide enough but people parking there anyways. Meanwhile, DOT completely plowed out the completely worthless for most skiing PCT-south TH at Bridge Creek. Your tax dollars at work.

For car camping I would give a big thumbs up for the Klipchuck campground, which is open at least unofficially (not gated, but water wasn't on last weekend). It's only about 10 miles over the top of the pass, located at 3000' elevation and out of the wind a bit. It's melted out, and most importantly it's a decent distance away from Hwy20 noise, with Early Winters Creek also providing some white noise masking. Pretty avalanche lilies too!

thanks!

Hey Pete, I second the Klipchuck campground, especially if you were to ski Silverstar the next day. It's nice and has that eastern washington feeling, although the drive up to the passes the next morning can seem a bit long. If you are skiing at the passes, check out the overlook plow-out. It's approx. 1 mile east of the Blue lk. T.H. and is large enough to get far enough off the road for noise (snowbanks block the noise), plus it's not busy with skier traffic, and it has a nice view in different directions. I stayed in a transient skier camp there last week and had the pleasure of meeting Ludwig and Steve. Heres was one of the views...

Gotta love those 5-star parking lots we have around here!

When pulling in late and leaving early (when beauty of the camp etc is not such a big deal, but being a little off the road is nice) I've tended to camp (with a certain thinks-he-knows-it-all) at Lone Fir camground, which we've been able to use whether open or not (sometimes tenting on snow). Klipchuck is also nice (with a cool little trail along the creek if memory serves, though that's not what you'll be there for...).