January 12, 2003, Kendall Knob
1/12/03
WA Snoqualmie Pass
2897
2
Surprised by the reports of 10" of new falling at low temps at The Pass we switched destinations to Kendall Knob Sunday morning. At the Gold Creek SnoPark the new snow was as promised and we made the road walk into the Kendall Peak Lakes drainage and then directly up through timber to the Crest Trail and turned left to the Knob. Either the trees in this clearcut are growing very quickly or we have a thin snowpack this year, much of the Knob was
I was up at Margaret, just down the road on the 12th, and though I'm sure the trees are growing, the bigger issue is just the thin snowpack. About 30 more inches of snow (70+ showing on the telemetry or as base at the ski area) will make a HUGE difference on the clearcut slopes with all the tight little trees - they'll stop being obstacles and turn into gates. Once we get close to 100 inches most will just go away :D
I agree, the thin snowpack is the big issue this year in the Kendall area, there was only 3' of base in the big trees at the ridgetop near the second knob. However the tree growth issue isn't going to go away like a light snow year will. Fifteen years ago the first mile of the road was in open clearcut, now the trees are 25-30' tall. We snowcamped there once and had a plain view of all the ski areas, I am completely unable to recognize where we camped now.
I'm glad to see the forest come back so fast, it will mask the freeway noise and make the area a more pleasant place, but a lot of formerly popular ski runs are going to disappear in a thicket of close-packed firs.
I'm glad to see the forest come back so fast, it will mask the freeway noise and make the area a more pleasant place, but a lot of formerly popular ski runs are going to disappear in a thicket of close-packed firs.
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