Has anyone been up in the Salmon la Sac area lately? I am wondering what road conditions are like for both FS 46 and the Salmon la Sac road (FS ?) heading toward Cooper River. I called the Cle Elum Ranger district but they didn't have any current information and couldn't say for sure if the roads were gated or not. Thanks, ~z
I went up there on Monday. I stopped at the bridge going across cle Elum river since there was 3 inches of snow across it and I didn’t want to get stuck halfway up the road to Pete lake in my older murano. Didn’t try up towards Mount Daniel but that’s probably a definite no go now after the recent snow. There was 2 lifted trucks that made their way across the bridge no problem though so if you have 4WD and high clearance. You should be good.
I would think it's starting to stick for real up there now, but if you go up def give us the first hand report.
I was up there Sunday afternoon and there was a skin of ice starting to form on the south side of the lake. Another local recently mentioned Pete Lake was freezing over.
Ma Nature is buttoning 'er up now... can't wait to ski and/or fat bike up to Cooper.
I stopped at the bridge going across cle Elum river since there was 3 inches of snow across it
Well now and the gal at the District Office seemed to indicate that there wasn't any snow at that elevation yet. This is very useful information. Thanks! And 'Thanks' to DJ for even more first hand knowledge.
Yes, if I go I will report on the road in this thread. ~z
I went up there on Monday. I stopped at the bridge going across cle Elum river since there was 3 inches of snow across it
Thanks, Noheaperture. I think I saw at least four bridges today up there. I drove across the small one in the Salmon la Sac Campground area and on to the trailhead for Cooper River. That road was compact snow and ice, fairly drive-able. I hiked to Cooper Lake and crossed what I believe was FS 4616. I could see a bridge there as well. The roads in this area (further north and inland) had more snow, but it had lots of travel from vehicles and I think I heard snowmobiles in the distance.
I walked along the lake all the way to the boat landing and then a mile more to the Pete Lake trailhead. A couple of trail runners were heading to Pete Lake. I asked them about driving conditions on the roads and they said it was drive-able, but definitely icy in places.
DigitalJanitor wrote:
I was up there Sunday afternoon and there was a skin of ice starting to form on the south side of the lake. Another local recently mentioned Pete Lake was freezing over.
So DJ, as of today the entire lake looked frozen on the surface--at least thinly. There were spots of open water near the north end. I had walked down to look at the lake and spooked a fairly large flock of ducks. Oops! They had been enjoying hanging out in the midday sun. ~z
Thanks for the update! It got down to 3° at the house last night so I'm thinking that ice just got even thicker. Now we just need more snow so I can ski up there....
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