Below the Snowline: Huckleberry Creek/Greenwater - 5.19.07
Winter on the West Slopes of the Cascades usually lasts well into Summer, with many places not being snow free until late June or even early July. With the recent summer-like weather in Western Washington, I had a desire to go see how high the actual snowline was at this time of year. So I set off for another day of exploring. This time, the rest of my family decided to stay home and do other things. Only the dog was anxious to go, as always.
From my home, I headed east on Highway 410 towards Mt. Rainier. I knew Chinook Pass wasn’t open. I was hoping that Highway 410 may be open to the White River Ranger Station in Mt. Rainier National Park. As soon as I arrived at Crystal Mountain Boulevard, I saw that Highway 410 was closed to vehicle traffic even though there was no snow present. There were several bicyclists riding past the gate despite the steady downpour of rain. I’m sure the Washington State DOT is working hard to get Chinook Pass open by Memorial Day.
The next road I wanted to check out the conditions on was Corral Pass Road (FS 7174) which is just west of the Silver Springs Campground. Within one mile from the highway, there was a gate closing the road. Off to the next destination.
I had better luck on the next road system I explored. A little further west on Highway 410, I headed up FS 73 (just west of the Dalles Campground). After crossing the White River, FS 73 started out following the valley floor. A short distance later, I followed FS 7315 toward Suntop Mountain (an old lookout site). The road steadily climbs out of the valley on a well maintained gravel road. At about 3.5 miles up FS 7315 (4068 foot elevation) the road was snowed in. I took a quick break, turned around and headed back down the hill to FS 73.
Once I got back to FS 73, I continued up the road. FS 73 gradually climbs, following Huckleberry Creek up the valley. Once FS 73 crosses Huckleberry Creek, the road begins to climb more steeply, passing several rock falls and downed trees (nicely cut up) along the way. There are some great views along the way. At about 8 miles from the highway, the road was snowed in (4170 foot elevation). There were several vehicles parked where I had to turn around. I’m sure they were having a fun time hiking in the snow. From the best I could determine, I wasn’t too far from where FS 73 crosses Eleanor Creek. At this point, I was probably only about a mile (in a straight line) from the actual boundry of Mt. Rainier National Park. From this point, I headed back to Highway 410.
The next area I wanted to check out was FS 74 which follows the West Fork of the White River to just outside the Mt. Rainier park boundary. Less than a mile from Highway 410, there was a gate closing FS 74. I’ll have to visit this area later in the year (if the damage from 2006 floods weren’t too bad).
Time for exploring was running short, so I decided my last area would be FS 70 just out of Greenwater, Washington. This area is very popular for four wheel drive and motorcyclists enthusiasts because of the the area’s ORV trails including the Naches Trail. When snow free, a person can follow FS 70 to where it crosses the Cascade crest (its actually FS 7080) and drops into the Little Naches River drainage and FS 19.
FS 70 begins as a nice paved forest service road, initally following the Greenwater River. At about four miles from Highway 410, the road switchbacks up and then back down the hill to where it meets back up with the river. At about 10 miles from the highway, FS 70 turns to a well maintained gravel road and begins to climb. There are some great views of the local peaks and valleys below along this section of FS 70. At about 14 miles from the highway was as far as I was going because of snow. I met up with a few people with their 4×4s at this point getting one of their rigs unstuck. 
A small world it was because I ended up knowing Brandon who was driving the buggy (I later found out from his friend Jim that this wheeling trip was actually Brandons’s bachelor party - congrats and good luck Brandon). This was also a great opportunity for me to get some practice taking pictures of vehicles so I fired away a few shots.
After chatting and a few more photos on the way back down to the highway, it was time to head back home. Another fun day exploring in my Land Cruiser.
Happy Trails.
You can view more photos from this adventure by visiting Huckleberry Creek/Greenwater Area Photos.
Tags: 4wd, 4x4, adventure, campground, cascade mountains, cascades, chinook pass, corral pass, crystal mountain, dalles, eleanor creek, fj80, four wheel drive, greenwater, greenwater river, huckeberry creek, land cruiser, landcruiser, little naches river, lookout, mt rainier, naches, naches trail, national park, orv, park, silver springs, snow, suntop mountain, toyota, trail, washington, white river