Pass Before Slush

Oct 30, 2006 by Naomi.

Mountain passes are very scenic and I look forward to driving through them. When temperatures drop below freezing a drive over any pass is an adventure I am not fond of. I remember a trip over Donner pass at eight thousand feet altitude on I-80 some years ago when snow was falling and advice was to wait in Sacramento or put on chains. No such warning was forthcoming years later when driving north into Oregon on US-395 which is usually dry and bare. A pass around three thousand feet high with the only scenery being wild horses penned for sale or extinction. Well on that particular night nearby Crane mountain got ornery and delivered a biting snowstorm that met us head on with driving snow so thick as to obscure the white highway marks.

That place in the road is about the same altitude as Snoqualmie, the pass I was headed for when I left a birthday visit in Everett, Washington, this morning. With an hour of driving through a downpour of Seattle sunshine and road mist I almost wished I had put off my 10 of the clock departure. Traffic was steady with trucks throwing up sudden torrents of water as they splashed through running puddles on I-405, a bypass that is usually easy to traverse on Sunday morning. Not fun today but at best everyone remained in their respective lanes so we all came through safely. Although the rain did not let up, traffic thinned out as I turned eastward on to I-90. The clouds thinned out by the time I reached North Bend - 20 miles from Snoqualmie summit - so at least visibility improved.

Temperature at the summit was 32 F and the precipitation became white flakes. On the downhill side snowflakes came at me with a vengeance. The trees high above the road were laden with snow suggesting that colder temperatures were descending. However heavily the snow fell, the roadway was wet, obviously warm yet, which I guess was not the case a few hours later because after I reached home at 1400 hours I heard the snowfall caused accidents and closed I-90 for several hours.

That was an unhappy trip for the hundreds of travelers that were delayed of which I could have been one. I have been in that situation and may be again. However that will not deter me from enjoying mountain scenery on the passes as long as I can drive.

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