July 18, Tatoosh snow situation update

Took a short day hike with the family from Reflection Lake to the ridge.  Incredible snow year...while we were not skiing, it is skiable to the road!  We went up west of the Castle to what I think is the Castle Pinnacle saddle.    Runnels, etc., but there were fairly fresh tracks in the upper basin that looked pretty good.  Unbelievable.  Upper Reflection lake is still 90% ice covered but it is thin.  Lot of visitors at Paradise with no place to hike. www.flickr.com/photos/koelle/

We had been car camping at Iron Creek near Randle.  Nice old growth.  Road 25 to Cougar is blocked due to snow at the intersection with road 99 to Windy Ridge, which is also gated at the intersection.  We walked 4 miles up road 99 and hit snow at ~3700 feet, saw a coyote but did not quite make it to the blowdown zone.  Good rain at Iron Creek Fri and Sat nights.

that's great news for the pinnacle glacier!

Tracks are mine from Sunday. The north side skiing from the 'Castle Saddle' was not too bad. Cups and runnels, but soft enough. The skiing on the south side of Pinnacle, accessed from the saddle between Castle and Pinnacle, was really nice. The sun cups were minimal compared to the north side and the runnels were almost far enough apart that I could turn between them... almost. Best part, no one else there. Or that it didn't start raining until I was half way back down to Stevens Canyon Road.

Cheers