The river is captured in Chester Morse Reservoir, providing a source of drinking water for much of the Seattle area.
Eagles float on updrafts.
But Mount Washington isn't sporting its usual big, white cap this year, and that's a problem. The sketchy patches of snow in the lower elevations are one of the surest signs that Seattle and the suburbs that buy water from Seattle face a potential shortage this summer and fall. Out of sight and where the Cascades climb to 5,000 feet, the snowpack is deeper. That's some solace, but the snowpack still is only 66 percent of normal. As it melts this summer, it may not be enough to fill the reservoir.