Forum Index > Trail Talk > Mailbox natural oddity
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
cascadeclimber
Member
Member


Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1427 | TRs | Pics
cascadeclimber
Member
PostSun Feb 18, 2018 7:17 pm 
There is a spot in the boulders that, even during cold, snowy periods, just never seems to have snow on it. Today the freezing level was at about 1000 feet and the ground was frozen hard 1500+ feet below the top but, as usual, in that one spot there was no snow and the rocks were damp. It does get wind and the area around it was windblown, but had snow in nooks and crannies. This spot...none. Melted. I'm going with secret alien observation post, like the "Duck Blind" in the Star Trek TNG episode "Who Watches the Watchers?" wink.gif

If not now, when?

Now I Fly
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Awkray-ven
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Feb 2018
Posts: 7 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
Awkray-ven
Member
PostSun Feb 18, 2018 7:40 pm 
Maybe there's some geothermal stuff keeping that spot warm? Sounds like somewhere I'd like to set up camp.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Just_Some_Hiker
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Jan 2013
Posts: 691 | TRs | Pics
Location: Snoqualmie, WA
Just_Some_Hiker
Member
PostSun Feb 18, 2018 8:08 pm 
I was up there today and didn't notice it. I did notice you hauling ass on your way up to the summit, though. I'll be consciously looking out for this duck blind now.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
BdCast
Member
Member


Joined: 13 May 2011
Posts: 238 | TRs | Pics
Location: Washington
BdCast
Member
PostSun Feb 18, 2018 8:15 pm 
I should head up there with my thermal camera and investigate smile.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Awkray-ven
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Feb 2018
Posts: 7 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
Awkray-ven
Member
PostSun Feb 18, 2018 8:35 pm 
Let's dig a hole, maybe we can make our own hotspring.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Kim Brown
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2009
Posts: 6900 | TRs | Pics
Kim Brown
Member
PostSun Feb 18, 2018 9:23 pm 
I bet it's WTA's hidden office bunker, where they keep all their volunteers who come out at night and over-build all the trails around there.

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert

joker  RumiDude
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Just_Some_Hiker
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Jan 2013
Posts: 691 | TRs | Pics
Location: Snoqualmie, WA
Just_Some_Hiker
Member
PostSun Feb 18, 2018 9:53 pm 
Kim Brown wrote:
I bet it's WTA's hidden office bunker, where they keep all their volunteers who come out at night and over-build all the trails around there.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Pyrites
Member
Member


Joined: 16 Sep 2014
Posts: 1879 | TRs | Pics
Location: South Sound
Pyrites
Member
PostSun Feb 18, 2018 9:55 pm 
We only come out at night. We subsist entirely on spilled Goldfish crackers.

Keep Calm and Carry On? Heck No. Stay Excited and Get Outside!
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
cascadeclimber
Member
Member


Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 1427 | TRs | Pics
cascadeclimber
Member
PostMon Feb 19, 2018 9:55 am 
Just_Some_Hiker wrote:
I was up there today and didn't notice it. I did notice you hauling ass on your way up to the summit, though. I'll be consciously looking out for this duck blind now.
Sorry I keep not recognizing you. If you use the new switchbacks through the boulders you wouldn't see the spot: It's closer to the old route through them.

If not now, when?
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
NorthBen
Member
Member


Joined: 29 Feb 2012
Posts: 55 | TRs | Pics
NorthBen
Member
PostMon Mar 05, 2018 11:01 am 
Here's my guess: some talus slopes exhibit a 'chimney effect' where warm/cold air flows through the talus. In the winter, you'd see warm air rising out of the slope in one area (like your snow-free spot) and cold air being drawn in elsewhere. In the summer, this process reverses. I just read a good article about the pika population in the Columbia Gorge and it hinged on this topic. https://gorgescienceshare.wordpress.com/. Here's a diagram from that article

joker, Now I Fly
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Brushbuffalo
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
Brushbuffalo
Member
PostMon Mar 05, 2018 3:27 pm 
NorthBen wrote:
some talus slopes exhibit a 'chimney effect' where warm/cold air flows through the talus
That is fascinating and seems to make sense!

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Jake Robinson
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Aug 2016
Posts: 521 | TRs | Pics
Jake Robinson
Member
PostWed Mar 28, 2018 10:07 pm 
I noticed this today. Deep snow in the boulder field with a bootpack/trench, and then...bare and wet rocks for a few feet. Pretty strange.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
kbatku
Questionable hiker



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 3330 | TRs | Pics
Location: Yaquima
kbatku
Questionable hiker
PostWed Mar 28, 2018 10:24 pm 
There is a hole in the rocks on the eastern hill in the Selah Gap (between Yakima & Selah) that breathes warm, humid, dank smelling air - it's a pretty stiff breeze coming out. In the winter it steams, most of the time you would never notice it. My theory here is that there is an aquifer deep down somewhere that emerges into a cave, and the air trapped in the water is released and finds its way out through a crack and eventually to the surface through this one tiny hole. That's just the idle speculation talking, and it probably has nothing to do with this - but what the hell. hockeygrin.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
BigBrunyon
Member
Member


Joined: 19 Mar 2015
Posts: 1450 | TRs | Pics
Location: the fitness gyms!!
BigBrunyon
Member
PostWed Mar 28, 2018 10:58 pm 
I'm thinking it's a bear den! Body heat from up to 3-4 large bears heating it up! Maybe even grizz since its north of 90!!!

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
MesiJezi
Member
Member


Joined: 17 May 2016
Posts: 90 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
MesiJezi
Member
PostSun Apr 01, 2018 9:01 am 
BigBrunyon wrote:
I'm thinking it's a bear den!
This does seem to be the most favorable/logical explanation. lol.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trail Talk > Mailbox natural oddity
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum