The Great winter of 2008..

My parents tried to hike to the PCT where it meets the Mt. Thielsen trail. This is what they found. Last summer this was the most beautiful, silent old growth forest. In January 2008, the Cascades in Oregon and Washington recieved tens of feet of snow in a few days, then came the winds. This is the result. The trail was cleared up to a mile south of the PCT, then impassable. The Thielsen Creek Trail, which we were going to take, looks the same way. So we came back to LaPine with my parents. We've called the ranger districts for The Sisters, Mt Jefferson and Mt Hood. Sisters and Jefferson are still closed due to snow, but Mt. Hood has been cleared of blowdowns, and the snow is manageable, so on Sunday we're going to Cascade Locks to start hiking south. Hopefully we'll be able to get through past Warm Springs. If not.. What a bitch of a year to hike... half the trail is snowed under, half is on fire!