Hikers face hazards from lingering, early summer snow

This year's staggering mountain snowpack, lingering well into summer, is creating not just inconvenience and disappointment — but also danger, for hikers and backpackers, park and forest officials say.

The caution comes as a long holiday weekend and anticipated good weather are certain to have many state residents heading for outdoor recreation.

Crews at Mount Rainier National Park are bracing for an increase in search-and-rescue calls that often accompany a late snowpack, as hikers lose their way along sections of trail covered by snow or downed trees.

Many higher-elevation trails are covered by snow, including virtually every trail from Mount Rainier's Paradise area, at 5,400 feet. Other trails, starting at lower elevations, may entice hikers by being snow-free at the trailhead, only to disappear under a cover of snow after gaining elevation.

Throughout the mountains, a particular danger is posed by "snow bridges," where snow that typically might have melted by now covers a stream running underneath, making it "invisible," said Gary Paull, wilderness and trails coordinator for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

"You could easily drop 10 to 15 feet into an icy torrent," Paull said.

Hikers are advised to have good "route-finding skills" and to check updated trail conditions before starting out. They also should carry maps, compass and/or good GPS equipment, and know how to use it. Cellphones can be invaluable in an emergency, but hikers should not expect cellphone coverage in remote mountain areas.

In some parts of the Cascades, the remaining snowpack is as high or higher than it typically is at its yearly maximum — usually recorded about the end of April, Paull said.

For example, Lyman Lake, at 5,900 feet in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, this week had a current "snow water content" of 58 inches — just short of the average yearly peak and four times the typical measurement for this time of year. That water content translates into about 8 feet of snow on the ground.

In general, Paull said, hikers still can expect to run into snow when they reach an elevation of 4,000 feet on south-facing slopes and 3,000 feet on north-facing slopes.

"The snow will melt more readily on a south-facing slope, but then you turn around a little corner and the trail is gone. ... And when you get to the snow, it gets deep really quickly," Paull said.

In many areas, park and forest trail crews have not been able to reach sections of trail that typically would be cleared of snow and debris by now. Many high-elevation trails are likely to have some patches of snow through the entire summer.

Even in challenging conditions, Paull said, the Forest Service rarely closes a reachable trail, opting instead to put out the appropriate advisories and to rely on hikers themselves to take necessary precautions and preparations.

A 62-year-old Seattle woman suffered a serious head injury Sunday when she slipped in a snowy area above the Denny Creek trailhead near Snoqualmie Pass. She was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.

Park officials at Mount Rainier say they expect that by Friday morning they will open Sunrise, at 6,400 feet the highest point on the mountain reachable by vehicle. Park staffers had targeted the opening for July 8 but moved the date up at the urging of business owners along the route to the mountain's second-most-visited site (behind Paradise).

Travelers to Sunrise are advised that services there will be minimal and that trails in the area are snow-covered.

On the east side of the Cascades, trail conditions vary. "We're about a month behind where we'd normally be" in terms of snowmelt, said Roland Giller, spokesman for Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Hikers are urged to use extra caution, particularly around streams swollen by melted snow.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com