Some fellow PNWJeep.com members and I met this morning in Montesano, WA and headed up the Wynoochee River Valley. We consisted of 2 XJs and 1 ZJ 5.9. You may see red Xs if using IE...Firefox users should have no trouble. Either way, I've included links straight to the pictures.
The town of Montesano, the county seat for this coastal area, is at about 75 feet above sea level and the dam, 32 miles north, up the valley, is about 800 feet. Hard to believe, this close to the coast (about 30 miles to the ocean), we would end up in 18" of snow or more. As we climbed up and around the lake and continued higher, the snow went exponentially deeper. As we climbed up toward the falls, we finally were stopped by a tree across the road and were forced to turn around. It was about 3+ feet deep at 1100 feet.
Here's the dam that makes the south end of Lake Wynoochee. It's a municipal water supply and further downstream is a small hydropower project that supplies about 2100 homes in Tacoma, about 60 miles eastward.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/wyndam.jpg
The view up the lake from the south end. It's a little cold and bleak. But surprisingly, the bathrooms were open, heated and clean. They knew we were coming.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/southlake.jpg
Here's Alan down at the water's edge. The water in the spring would be considerably higher. We'll want to roll through here this summer. If it looks good now, it should be great in good weather.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/alan.jpg
Here's a shot of the day use area. Not a lot of picnic action.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/dayuse.jpg
Here's the north end of the lake just before the gate that prevents you from going deeper into the Olympic National Forest. It will reopen here in the spring. We were told of an alternate route to the same falls but got held back by a tree over the road.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/northlake.jpg
Chad on the drive up the road. We were on top of the snow. If you stepped out of the rig you were up to your hips in snow.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/chad.jpg
The only carnage was my GPS mount.....I guess a trip to Cabela's is in store for me.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/carnage.jpg
We covered about 70 miles or so today just scouting around. Most of it was on graded FS roads but they were all snow covered beyond about 400' in elevation. We were breaking through new snow in many areas and it provided a bit of challenge.
We stopped and saw the location of the old logging camp called Grisdale which began in 1946 and was one of the last to remain open. It's gated off but we hope to trek back in there this summer. There is also what appears to be an abandoned railroad that generally parallels the road.
This is an interesting area with the ability to travel overland, off pavement, from Hwy 101 near Shelton and Hood Canal toward the coast without really being on a paved road. There are plenty of places to see and things to do....we just need to explore it some more. Making this part of a "round the top" peninsula trip this summer is definitely on our agenda.
The town of Montesano, the county seat for this coastal area, is at about 75 feet above sea level and the dam, 32 miles north, up the valley, is about 800 feet. Hard to believe, this close to the coast (about 30 miles to the ocean), we would end up in 18" of snow or more. As we climbed up and around the lake and continued higher, the snow went exponentially deeper. As we climbed up toward the falls, we finally were stopped by a tree across the road and were forced to turn around. It was about 3+ feet deep at 1100 feet.
Here's the dam that makes the south end of Lake Wynoochee. It's a municipal water supply and further downstream is a small hydropower project that supplies about 2100 homes in Tacoma, about 60 miles eastward.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/wyndam.jpg
The view up the lake from the south end. It's a little cold and bleak. But surprisingly, the bathrooms were open, heated and clean. They knew we were coming.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/southlake.jpg
Here's Alan down at the water's edge. The water in the spring would be considerably higher. We'll want to roll through here this summer. If it looks good now, it should be great in good weather.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/alan.jpg
Here's a shot of the day use area. Not a lot of picnic action.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/dayuse.jpg
Here's the north end of the lake just before the gate that prevents you from going deeper into the Olympic National Forest. It will reopen here in the spring. We were told of an alternate route to the same falls but got held back by a tree over the road.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/northlake.jpg
Chad on the drive up the road. We were on top of the snow. If you stepped out of the rig you were up to your hips in snow.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/chad.jpg
The only carnage was my GPS mount.....I guess a trip to Cabela's is in store for me.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdherrick/carnage.jpg
We covered about 70 miles or so today just scouting around. Most of it was on graded FS roads but they were all snow covered beyond about 400' in elevation. We were breaking through new snow in many areas and it provided a bit of challenge.
We stopped and saw the location of the old logging camp called Grisdale which began in 1946 and was one of the last to remain open. It's gated off but we hope to trek back in there this summer. There is also what appears to be an abandoned railroad that generally parallels the road.
This is an interesting area with the ability to travel overland, off pavement, from Hwy 101 near Shelton and Hood Canal toward the coast without really being on a paved road. There are plenty of places to see and things to do....we just need to explore it some more. Making this part of a "round the top" peninsula trip this summer is definitely on our agenda.
