It appeared, in early March, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest would have a short winter, early spring, and long snow-free summer.
Winter recreation parking lots on Mount St. Helens, upper Wind River and Mount Adams were running out of snow. At mid-elevations, like June Lake, 3,440 feet on the south side of Mount St. Helens, the snow depth was just 43 inches in on March 8.
But winter persisted — with a vengeance.
One month later at June Lake, there were 113 inches, meaning an almost 6-foot additional accumulation peaking in early April.
“The snow’s wreaked havoc the way it’s going up and down,’’ said Chris Strebig of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest headquarters in Vancouver. “We’re got $627,000 from the Recovery Act to do trail work, but that’s been slowed some by the weather.’’
While the longer days and warmer temperatures of spring slowly are getting the upper hand, it’s going to be a typical Memorial Day weekend in terms of access to the 1.3 million acres of Gifford Pinchot backcountry.
And typical means limited.
The valleys of the North Fork Lewis, Wind and Little White Salmon rivers will be accessible. Trails and camps above 3,500 feet elevation remain under snow.
Here’s the status of roads, trails and campgrounds in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest this Memorial Day weekend, according to the U.S. Forest Service:
Campgrounds — Beaver, Panther Creek, Paradise Creek and Government Mineral Springs are open in the Wind River area. Oklahoma and Moss Creek along the Little White Salmon River are open.
Farther east, Trout Lake Creek and Mount Adams Horse Camp are open. Atkisson Sno-Park also is accessible and used for camping.
Sunset Falls along the East Fork of the Lewis River is open, as is Lower Falls on the upper North Fork of the Lewis.
At the north end of the forest, Adams Fork, Blue Lake Creek, Big Creek, Iron Creek, La Wis Wis, North Fork and Tower Rock are open.
Roads — On the south side of Mount St. Helens, Merrill Lake road No. 81 is open from the west to Red Rock Pass and from the east almost to Red Rock Pass. A four-wheel-drive truck got stuck on Saturday trying to bust through the remaining snow patch.
Road No. 8303 is open to Ape Cave. Road No. 8123 is open to Blue Lake trailhead. Road No. 83 is open to Lava Canyon.
In the Wind River area, roads Nos. 30 and 51 are open through to the North Fork of the Lewis River. Bare Mountain No. 54 is closed by snow at about 3,500 feet elevation. Road No. 6808 is open to Grassy Knoll trailhead from the west. Panther Creek No. 65 is open to the junction with Carson-Guler No. 60 at Four Corners.
Near Mount Adams, Willard No. 66 is open to Carson-Guler No. 60, road No. 24 is open to the Ice Caves turnoff, Cispus No. 23 is open to the junction with No. 8031, and Mount Adams No. 80 is open 1.5 miles beyond Wicky Creek Shelter.
Also near Trout Lake, road No. 88 is open a mile beyond Flattop Sno-Park, road No. 8810 is open to Trout Lake campground and road No. 82 is open to within a half-mile of Smith Butte Sno-Park.
Lewis River-Randle road No. 25 over Elk Pass is gated closed at road No. 93. Lewis River road No. 90 is open to the junction with road No. 88.
Trails — Dog Mountain trail No. 147 in the Columbia River Gorge east of Home Valley is normally the best Memorial Day hike in Southwest Washington, with a great bloom of balsamroot at the top.
This spring, though, the flower bloom is a bit late due to the cold weather, and mid-June might be a better time.
In the Wind River area, Falls Creek Falls No. 152A is a good bet. The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail No. 2000 is open through the valley. Trapper Creek Wilderness trails such as Observation No. 132, Big Hollow No. 158 and Trapper Creek No. 192 are open at their lower ends, but have plenty of snow at upper elevations. Dry Creek No. 194 is open.
Grassy Knoll No. 146 has snow above 3,500 feet elevation. Whistle Punk No. 59, Bunker Hill No. 145 and Siouxon No. 130 are open.
Lewis River trail No. 31 is a good spring choice. A bridge between Lower Falls and Middle Falls has collapsed partially, but is usable by hikers and bike riders.
North of Mount St. Helens, Hummocks trail No. 229 and Lakes trail No. 211 along Coldwater Lake are open.
