January 31, 2004, Hurricane Ridge

Wonderful snow, was snowing when I left.  Not much damage from wind, just lots of fresh, easy-turning fluff.  John, the guy who lives at the lodge and does snow surveys said that 27 inches of new came down between Friday morning and Saturday morning.   John, myself and a guy named Al from Port Angeles had a grand time tracking up the north-facing slope at the end of the road (the hill 1/4 mile before "Steep and Icy").  The slope below the lodge was in fine condition, too.  I was afraid there might be a lack of coverage because of the rain earlier in the week, but there was PLENTY of snow.

The rangers came out to our hill at 2pm to tell us they were closing the road and shooing everyone home  :o(   I could see why as I drove away from the parking lot -- quite poor visibility for the first few miles.

It's always hard to know if the rangers will open the road in the morning, but I had a hunch they would today because it was not snowing and the clouds were broken.  I think it's generally true, however, that if it's snowing much in the morning, the road is likely to stay closed.