Today was a beautiful late winter day; sunny with white, fluffy clouds floating in and out of the valleys.

Most of the snow at this elevation has melted and it’s starting to look a lot like spring.

I rode on roads and trails that are rarely used and lead to the most remote parts of the county.

I have seen bears a couple times riding out here and I know there are cougars so you have to keep an eye on the woods on the sides of the trails and roads. I did not see any bear tracks in the soft, wet dirt so they might still be hibernating.

This past week has seen some uneven weather. A sad mix of rain and wet snow has made snowboarding a hit and miss situation. One day there is 4-8″ of fresh pow, the next day it is raining.

They’ve hit 100″ at Mt. Hood Meadows, but it really doesn’t look like any major winter-type snowstorms are going to happen; the freeze level has been really high; no chance for the epic spring we had last year when there was one powder day after another in March.
El Nino has a firm grip on the weather this year.

Well, the beautiful, late winter bluebird days have come to an end. The nice weather is great; but everyone pretty much wants more snow; looks like we are going to get it. This photo of Mt. Hood was taken on the drive up to Mt. Hood Meadows; two hours later, the peak was covered with clouds and it was snowing.

Looking for a foot of snow here in the next few days. Snow on the mountain; rain in The Gorge; good for everybody.

The persistent El Nino is still causing springlike weather in the Cascade mountains.

Mild temperatures, clear blue skies and spring snow conditions make for more great groomed run carving.

No lift lines meant plenty of high speed carving.

Back up again tomorrow for one more day of sunny groomers, then it looks like a late winter storm will bring more much needed snow to the mountains.

The strong El Nino conditions have brought much warmer than normal temperatures here in the Pac NW. El Nino hasn’t stopped the rain this area is well known for; until today. The weeks of rain finally came to an end and the sun actually came out. It may only stay that way for a few days; but it’s enough to get the first mountain bike ride of 2010 in the books.

Plenty of downed trees that give the trails a different look than last year. You don’t take the downhills quite as fast for the first few rides.

It’s good to be back on the trails again; even if they are a little soggy.

We have the unique opportunity now to go snowboarding and ride mountain bikes in the same day. We’ll start doing that tomorrow.

Another beautiful sunny day at Meadows.

Always great to be on the first chair.

All lifts were open, great groomers off all the chairs and no lift lines today. Sweet!

No new snow today; but the sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky above the mid level clouds that kept the Columbia Gorge gloomy and gray.

A ride on the Cascade lift out of the Mt. Hood Meadows parking lot took you out of the clouds and into the sun.

The clouds covered the entire Cascade mountain range to about 4500′.

The sun was out but the temperature was cool; keeping the groomed runs firm and fast.

Back up again tomorrow. Hoping for more snow towards the end of the week; not only for us here in the Columbia Gorge; but for the Olympic Winter Games venues in British Columbia, just a little north of here. They could really use the snow.

Well; there was already one day of snowboarding this week at Mt. Hood Meadows that was pretty darn good; but today was better. Could be the best day of the year so far.

Yesterday the Cascade chair that goes to the top of the hill was closed; so that ment today all the upper runs had 4-6″ of fresh; fairly light powder. Tough decision at the end of the first chair up to the summit; one epic run down Heather Canyon; or a half dozen pow runs down from Cascade. Since I ran Heather a couple times yesterday; I chose the bulk pow runs off Cascade.

I was able to lay down fresh tracks next to each other for about an hour until other people started following me into the Secret Stash zone.

It was mostly sunny; the clouds staying mostly below in the valleys. Once in a while a cloud would blow over the top of Mt. Hood and whiteout everything. Still; sweet lines if you could see where you were going or not; feel the way through the powder.

Today was one of the best days of the year at Mt. Hood Meadows so far.

4-6″ of new snow, bluebird skies and no lift lines. This was the day every skier and snowboarder dreams of. The legs went out before the untracked pow was used up.

It was all good today.

Finally the locals get a chance to rip it up without the mob. That was today.

Today; there was a glimpse of the sun just before sunrise. The sun would soon quickly rise over the horizon and into a thick bank of clouds.

In the Mt. Hood Meadows main lot at 9:00 AM; a few snowflakes began to fall from the clouds that were beginning to settle over the top of Mt. Hood.

By noon; the top of the mountain was a complete whiteout; impossible to see or maintain your bearings or balance. The clouds moved down the mountain until they reached the half-full main lot as a steady snow continued to fall.