Season's first snow in North Cascades and Olympics

By GREG JOHNSTON  
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER 

Fall colors are blazing and hikers are active, but rangers are urging all those in the mountains to be prepared after the season's first significant snowfall.

 Several inches fell late last week in the North Cascades and the Olympics.

 "There's been quite a bit of snow fairly high up," said John Robinson, recreation specialist at the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest's Skykomish Ranger Station. "We had a group up to Evergreen Mountain this last weekend and they had 7 inches."

 Evergreen, several miles north of Skykomish and the site of an aged fire lookout that is being restored, tops out at 5,587 feet.

 Safety experts advise anyone in the backcountry this time of year to carry rain gear, warm clothing of synthetic fabrics or wool, and extra food and water -- and to be prepared to pitch a tent and wait out a storm.