April 20, 2003, Cayuse Pass/Chinook Pass

we arrived at Cayuse Pass around noon after a hard day at Castle Peak the day before. Road was plowed from the gate, but we chose to ski through the trees up to the first hairpin - where the road continued to be plowed. Met 3 skiing park rangers on their way down from Chinook. They informed us that the road through Chinook was not yet clear, and that the DOT was waiting for some slides on the east side to come down before they would finish clearing it. We continued through the trees, cutting the switchbacks up to Tipsoo Lake. The road at the pass was not yet cleared and we had the area all to ourselves.  We skied up the ridge on the south side of the highway and proceeded to due some runs into the bowl and back down the ridge. Snow was soft and a bit sticky - not yet corn - but the skis turned fine. Reached the car around 4:30 and ended a rather short but productive day. There's definitely enough snow at Chinook to last for many weeks.