Deep snow in the Cascade Mountains this winter and spring delayed the opening of the Northern Tier Bicycle Route through Washington until earlier today.
The bicycle route follows State Route 20, also known as the North Cascades Highway, over the breath-taking Washington (el. 5,477 feet) and Rainy (4,875 feet) passes in North Cascades National Park.
The highway is normally closed due to snow in late November until the spring. This year, state highway snow-removal crews arrived to find the snow 75 feet deep in places, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Late snows
An April snowstorm and avalanche danger delayed the start of snow removal that took 6 weeks, about twice as long as normal. This year marked the second latest opening of the road; the latest was June 14, 1974, two years after the road was opened.
As recently as Monday, highway crews still had to remove 10 to 30 feet of snow that had slid down to the pavement in the Liberty Bell area. The entire closure area is 37 miles long.
The scenic bicycle touring route is part of Adventure Cycling Association's Northern Tier and Washington Parks bicycle routes.
The closure forces bicyclists to either bide their time or use the more heavily trafficked and less desirable Highway 2 over Stevens Pass or I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass.
Finding route updates
Adventure Cycling has an online forum where staff and bike travelers can update local conditions on the 35,000 miles of bicycle routes that the non-profit has mapped.
Check the Temporary ACA Route Closures discussions for route updates. Scrolling through these, you'll find that late snowfalls, flooding, and even tornadoes affect bicyclists on tours.
A note for the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route notes that Smithville, Mississippi, was hit hard by the April 27 tornado swarm, and services are non-existent as the local gas station is the only building left standing.
Another example is the landslide in the Big Sur area on the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route. That road closure also required rerouting of the Tour of California earlier this month.
A recent Adventure Cycling blog post by cartographer Jennifer Milyko recommends checking with state transportation departments if you plan to cross any high mountain passes or flooding rivers. All the websites can be found at the Federal Highway Administration.
Also, you can simply flag down any bicyclist heading your way. They can always tell you about detours up ahead.
Photos: Top — Washington State Department of Transportation photo of snowblower running along near Liberty Bell; link to all snow removal photos from 2011.
Below — What bicyclists see when they head up the pass in the summer.
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