OUTDOOR TRAVEL -- Winter still has a grip on the region's high country.  Thick snowpacks are still waiting for spring-like conditions, as I mentioned in Friday's post on the region's avalanche advisory.

Access to the mountains for the start of the summer camping and hiking season is the other factor recreationists must consider.    Read on for exerpts from a Cascades Mountains-Mt. St. Helens report by Tom Paulu at the Longview Daily News.

More than 11 feet of snow remains at mid elevations in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and a lot more will have to melt before trails and roads are clear.

Recent heavy precipitation combined with chilly temperatures has brought steady snowfall to the Cascades.

The snow depth in the lower Columbia River basin is 28 percent above normal for this time of year, according to Melissa Webb of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.

At White Pass, almost 9 feet of snow covers the ground. There’s more than 14 feet of white stuff at the top of the White Pass Ski Area’s lifts.

The state has run out of money to plow the 83 Road to Mount St. Helens and access is limited.

Snow doesn’t accumulate as deeply near Spirit Lake Memorial Highway because there isn’t as much vegetation to prevent melting.

At Spirit Lake, there’s 15 inches of snow, about three times the average for this time of year.

The Forest Service still plans to open the Johnston Ridge Observatory at the upper end of Spirit Lake Memorial Highway in time for the “It’s a Blast” events on May 14. “Sometimes we do have to go up and break through some drifts to provide access,” Sandusky said.

It may be July before Road 99 is open all the way to Windy Ridge, Sandusky said.