I hiked about 13 miles in Stevens Canyon this morning. Yes, the road is still closed at Box Canyon, but it scheduled to open by Aug. 1.

Including today's hikes (and the hiking Sunrise package that runs Sunday) I've hiked 69 miles in the park this summer. The goal is 110 miles in honor of the park's 110th anniversary.

Here's a pic I snapped from Bench Lake.

Just saw that Crystal has 20 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours. I highly recommend hitting the slopes today. I skied at White Pass yesterday as part of the Hope on the Slopes fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and the snow was ridiculous.

Here's a shot of a buddy of mine in waste deep powder:

The line of the day came from dad after a friend of ours, Connor, after he woke up Sunday morning and couldn't find his skis and polls. Connor, a Puyallup junior high student, left them sitting in the snow Saturday night.

CONNOR: "My skis are gone."
MY DAD: "They're probably under a foot of snow."
CONNOR: "Are you sure?"
MY DAD: "Well, it might be more like 14 inches."

For the record, Connor found his skis after about 10-15 minutes of digging ... and it was closer to 20 inches.

I got a chance to hit the trails recently at Whistler Olympic Park. Read much more about the 2010 Winter Olympics Nordic site in Thursday's Adventure section.

Our photo editor, Jeremy Harrison, is compiling daily slide shows from the Tour of France (Yes, Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis are both in the race). The tour wraps up Sunday.

Levi Leipheimer of Montana won the last two tours and is teaming with Armstrong on Team Astana this year.

Check out the pics here:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/static/photo/sportsgallery/sports.html

I got some guff from readers last fall when I picked Cypress Mountain as having the best views of any ski area in the Northwest. I skied at Cypress recently while covering the Freestyle World Cup. I took these photos from the top of the hill. I rest my case.

I finally got to ride the new Peak2Peak gondola that links Whistler and Blackomb mountains today. Taking the suggestion of a couple of local guys, I waited for one of the silver gondolas. Unlike the larger red gondolas, the silver ones have glass bottoms.

Here's a look at the trees through the floor of the gondola.

I spent Friday and Saturday eagle watching on and along the Skagit River. I was in the Concrete-Rockport-Marblemount stretch and was able to catch the first day of the Upper Skagit Bald Eagle Festival.

If you want to check out the eagles, you better hurry as the number of birds in the area are starting to decline.

If you can't make it up there this year, I thought I would post these photos.

If you want to plan for next season, the majority of the eagles are in the area in December.

A seemingly shy bald eagle takes off from the rocky bank of the Skagit River just upstream from Rockport.

An immature bald eagle, left, and mature eagle take off from a riverside tree downstream from Rockport on the Skagit River.

Damage assessment continues on the road to Paradise as Mount Rainier National Park after park officials yesterday discovered a large washout.

About a 100-foot section of roadway, on Glacier Hill above the large bridge over the Nisqually River, slid downhill because of severe runoff from heavy rains. More than 8 inches of rain fell at Paradise during the recent storm.

Mount Rainier National Park A Mount Rainier National Park employee surveys the storm damage at Glacier Hill on the Nisqually Road below Paradise.

Engineers are expected to visit the site to determine how much damage has been done and how park staff can proceed with repairs.

The road beyond Longmire remains closed indefinitely.

The road to Longmire received minor damage during the recent storm, but remains opens to the National Park Inn, the museum and other buildings in the complex.

Mount Rainier National Park

This is a photo I took -- while stopped -- as my family and I left Mount Rainier National Park on Tuesday. This was taken on the road from Longmire to the Nisqually entrance.

Jeffrey P. Mayor
The snow in the foreground is on the hood of our SUV and came from the 11 inches that fell Monday and Tuesday morning.

If you are thinking of heading to the mountain this weekend, call ahead or check the park's Web site. Based on Webcam views this morning, getting to Paradise could be a bit dicey. In the last 24 hours, nearly a foot of snow has fallen at Paradise.

A few minutes ago I called the park and the advisory said the road to Paradise would be closed all day. Visitors should watch for crews removing snow and trees on the stretch from the entrance to Longmire.

School might be canceled in the Puyallup School District but plenty of kids are heading to school anyway - Carson Elementary on South Hill to be specific.

Why?

Because the back side of the staff parking lot offers a sweet sledding hill with a nice safe runoff into an open field. About 150 people were on the hill this afternoon, but the action has been going on there since the snow started falling earlier this week.

Here are some pictures from last night and this afternoon:

Shannon Hammel of Puyallup straps on her snowboard and prepares to take a run on the hill behind Carson Elementary. (Photo: Craig Hill)

Taylor Hammel, a fourth-grader at the school, rips down the hill at about 8 p.m. Thursday. (Photo: Craig Hill)

Inspired by the Hammels, I took my skis up for a couple of runs this afternoon. I think I notched about 40 vertical feet today. (Photo: Kristen Hill)

Alex Hill (my kid) takes the more traditional route down a hill near the school, but not on school grounds.

(Photo: Kristen Hill)

Kids have been playing on the hills at Carson Elementary since snow started falling earlier this week. Yes, the dorky guy on skis is me. (Photo: Kristen Hill)

I just got back from Crystal Mountain. The ski area opened this morning.

The upper mountain was closed because the ski area had just 25 inches of snow Friday but resort spokeswoman Tiana Enger says they might be able to open Green Valley and Rainier Express on Sunday.

I found Highway 410 to be a little sketchy, but no too bad. Although I talked to one boarder who described it as scary.

Here are a few pics from the slopes.

Skiers and boarders line up waiting for the Chinook Express to open signaling the start of the ski season.

Some skiers and a snowboarders take their first run of the season.

A snowboarder on Queens Run already at mid-season form.

Not any time soon if resort webcams are any indication.

Here's a look at our local ski areas this morning. There's no snow in the forecast this week.

CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN:

ALPENTAL:

SUMMIT WEST:

STEVENS PASS:

WHITE PASS:

Mt. Baker and Mission Ridge have some snow (It's mostly man made at Mission) but neither resort has announced an opening day.