State to begin clearing North Cascades Highway next week
MAZAMA — The state Department of Transportation expects to begin clearing the North Cascades Highway next Monday, and hopes to open the highway from Mazama to Newhalem by mid-May.
The highway closes each winter due to avalanche danger. It closed last year on Nov. 13.
Avalanche technicians evaluated the snow on the highway last week and found four feet at the closure gate just west of Mazama, and nine feet at Rainy Pass, with some areas near the top as deep as 15 feet, a news release stated.
Areas below avalanche chutes ranged from 12 feet to 55 feet deep, and one 20-foot deep slide was 1,200 feet wide, the notice said.
Because of the snow depth in avalanche chutes, much of the work this year will be done by caterpillars instead of snow blowers, which will slow the work, Dean Hills, the agency’s Okanogan area supervisor said in the release. The pass usually reopens in mid- to late April. Last year, it reopened May 1.
Hell yeah!
