Weekly adventures of the intrepid cross country skiers!
In reverse time order...
May 11, 2003 -- "Crazy Like a Fox" -- Five of us made the trip to Paradise. I split off with 2 others to ski down into the valley below the ranger station while Jenny and Michiko went down to the Barn Flats. Before long the 2 groups met, then each continued on their merry way. The snow was falling and by the time we reached the valley floor we heard thunder rumbling. We took shelter under a group of trees and waited out the storm. Twenty minutes later we resumed our trip. Later that day I saw a furry body run across the trail ahead, and when we reached the spot we could see the tracks. They looked like dog tracks but I was sure it was either a coyote or a fox. We continued up the trail and saw more tracks. I kept my camera ready but never saw another sign of the animal. Upon arriving back at the ranger station I saw a fox hanging around outside. The rangers said it had become habituated to people and hung around outside occasionally. Took a few pictures of the willing animal model...
Feb/ Mar, 2003 -- "Cabin Creek Redux" -- Went to Cabin Creek multiple times with various folks, but didn't have time to write down the details. The last time was towards the end of March and the snow was definitely getting thin! But they groom the trails well, so it was still fun.
Jan. 19, 2003 -- "Mt. Hood, or It Might as Well be Spring!" -- My two skiing buddies had a change of plans at the last minute, so it was just me this day. I was in Portland for the weekend anyway, so I headed up to Mt. Hood on Sunday before the drive home to Seattle. The day was sunny and warm (54 degrees!), the view of the mountains (Hood, St. Helenes and Adams all visible from Portland) was marvelous and my cell phone worked fine all day long (though I only used it for a watch.) That's the good news -- the rest of the day sucked rocks. I had heard there was 36 inches up at Hood Meadows, which sounded fine though there had been no new snow for a few days. The first spot I tried to ski was at the Glacier View Loop. As I pulled into the snow park I could see only 2 other vehicles, and the ground was visible in between the trees. There was some snow, however, so I elected to head down the road to Glacier Loop first. The snow was only about 8 inches deep and was crusty and hard. I skied down the road, running into a couple with their dog and later 3 hikers but no skiers. There was a really nice view of the glaciers on Mt. Hood, though. (Darn -- shoulda brought a camera!) The elevation dropped slightly and snow conditions got even more iffy. I came to a narrow path between some trees that had no snow. Getting off my skis, I headed through the gap, only to be looking over a cliff at the highway and no more snow. Weird -- I was right on the edge of the snowline! Turning around, I headed back to the snow park and this time tried skiing through the trees on the Crosstown Trail. The snow was spiced with "tree droppings" and marked by the footsteps of people and dogs, and it was hard and thin. In a few spots I had to avoid bare patches of ground. I got as far as the lake, but had to turn around. On the way back I passed a couple with dogs who gave my skis a curious stare, as if to say, "What are you doing, nutcase?" My final try -- I drove a couple miles and 300 feet higher to the Mazama Snow Park in hopes of finding better conditions. I walked down the icy, rocky slope to the trails below and started off down the Hemlock Trail. The snow was a bit softer -- what there was of it. It had been plowed a few days previously, but there was an alarming number of tree or bush fragments sticking up out of the trail as well as bare ground in spots. I skied down a hill, dodging sticks and holes and came to the end of skiable terrain pretty quickly. Turning around, I tried a milder, flatter trail. The snow was still thick enough here, though it was still quite hard and tramped down by snowshoes. There was a short piece of trail with ski tracks that I followed, just enough to get a "kick and glide" thing going for the first time of the day. I turned around and frustratedly made my way up to the car. I saw a couple of people coming be with skis from a different direction and asked how they'd made out. They'd been down to Trillium Lake and said the conditions were not bad down there. Oh well, next time!
Jan. 12, 2003 -- "Kendall Knob" -- Me, Carl and Shannon headed up to Snoqualmie Pass. It was the first time to put on the snow chains (which I absolutely hate to have to do) and as we parked in the Gold Creek Snow Park it was still snowing! We started up the trail that had a foot of new snow on it. There had been a few snowshoers before us so there was a narrow trench down the middle of the trail. I tried cutting some new ski trails to the side of this but it was slow going and I got to sweating heavily. Eventually I gave up and caught up with the other two, occasionally branching out to create new tracks. We ascended the hill in a wall of snow -- we couldn't see the highway below or even much beyond the trail as we headed ever upward. We got to a trail branch-off near the top and decided to stop for lunch. I sat directly under a tree, which began dropping small snow bombs at me towards the end of the meal. By this time the visibility was improving and we could see the downhill slopes across the highway from us, as well as the stuffed parking lots. It was a red-letter day for downhill and cross country skiers alike. Continuing on our way we made it to the saddle where the trail trench branched off. I forged on ahead, making my own trail up to a small overlook and got a decent view of the valley below. Rejoining my compatriots at the junction, I led them down the lefthand branch to another overlook. We had thought about cutting down through the meadows, but that dig through the snow convinced me that this was not a good day for that. So we reversed direction and began the quick trip down. Conditions were not too bad, though a bit bumpy due to the snowshoers. A mere 40 minutes and we were down the mountain. A couple of times I had to use my newly learned pole-braking technique, which has saved my butt several times on steep stretches. Then we headed down for a nice hot chocolate and pastry in North Bend. Ahhh!
Jan. 11, 2003 -- "Skating Trollhaugen" -- It was 10:25am at the Park & Ride and the new skiers I thought were coming apparently weren't. Since I'd come up to Preston already, I decided to go it alone this day, not something I usually do. There had not been any new snow in awhile, so I headed up to Trollhaugen to try out the new skate skis I had bought for a song at the Gear Grab. First I stopped at the ranger station, and heard that Trollhaugen was "not groomed for skating". (This was wrong -- there actually is a skate lane all through the place.) I pushed on anyway -- I arrived and was stunned to see a whole row of skier's cars. (This is odd because Trollhaugen is normally not heavily attended.) To make things even more bizarre the snowmobile side of the lot was only 1/3 full -- it's normally bursting with trailers and the little metal beasties. Wonderingly I walked up the road to the trailhead and got the skis on. Starting out slowly, I tried the cross step for skate skiing and noticed immediately how nicely these skis were gliding. I ran into one couple at the entrance, but then didn't see anyone for a long time. The trails had been groomed a week before, and there had not been a lot of traffic on them since so it was not a bad surface. I experimented with the skate steps, which I am stilll working on. It was a trifle rough in spots, which didn't work well with the skate skis but I adjusted. I skated clockwise around the main loop, then took a left and found myself over near where I'd seen the bobcat last year. There were no tracks visible this time -- hardly surprising due to the crustiness of the snow. I skied around the loop next to the creek/ power lines and discovered a new loop off to the left. I followed it and soon reconnected with the trail and headed back to the 4-way junction. Taking a left, I headed down under the big power lines and discovered an ungroomed trail through the woods to the left. "Hmm, wonder where that goes?" I thought to myself and despite the skate skis decided to check it out. The trail meandered a bit through the trees and came out on the loop I had just been on. So I skied on, determined to map out the area and figure out what was NOT on the trail map they gave me at the ranger station. Over by the road up to the lodge I saw a small group of kids trying various forms of sledding. Skiing on, I soon passed a few other cross country skiers and skied the small loops back to the entrance. Heading back to the car, I sat and ate before cruising down to FarFar's and civilization.
Jan. 5, 2003 -- "Mt. Katherine Loop -- Watch Out for that Trench!" -- Me, Martin and Mr. X (name changed by request) headed up to the Summit Nordic Center at Snoqualmie. The snow conditions had been nice the previous weekend, but there'd been lots of warm weather since then and we weren't too hopeful. Mr. X came up by himself since he had to be back earlier. We arrived in the lot and discovered the first hurdle -- Mr. X had somehow forgotten his new boots! So he had to rent a pair. The ticket lady told us that the Loop was doable, but that there was about 200 yards where we would have to "take off our skis and walk." We thought about it and decided to go for it anyway. But it was not going to be easy that day. Just getting to the chairlift was tricky -- the snow was crusty and did not grip well. We finally got on and started up the mountain. When we got off I had a tumble -- the exit ramp was super-slick. I got up and joined the others in front of the large map. Unfortunately the main trail had a few plastic poles across the entrance. It appeared to be the only route through, so I reluctantly followed the others down. It was scary -- downhill on tractor tracks! After 1/4 mile of the bumpy stuff we connected with a groomed trail and breathed sighs of relief. We skied a bit further and came to a junction. At this point I noticed Mr. X had a nasty cut on his arm, and was wrapping it with gauze. We went further still and came to Grand Junction, where Martin and I decided to stop for lunch. Mr. X had to get back, though, and he took off. Martin and I continued on around the loop later on and found the way was not too difficult. In fact there was a bit of powder now and then. There was one short section of trail through the trees that was somewhat slanted, but we dug in with our edges and got through with no trouble. We came around a bend heading uphill and found a 2-foot trench in the snow where a creek was undercutting most the trail. There were a couple poles on the other side blocking off the left side of the trail and there was a narrow bridge crossing on the right. Just as I was approaching the bridge a skier came sailing downhill and cracked up next to the trench, landing on her stomach. She was OK, but from that point on I warned other skiers "trench ahead." We reached Windy Pass (an apt name for that day) and started on the downhill leg. Wow, what a rush! There was a smattering of fresh powder and the descent was a nice cruise all the way down.
Dec. 21, 2002 -- "Smith Brook Road" -- Me and Martin headed up to Steven's Pass to open the very late-starting ski season. Upon arrival we could see signs of several snowmobiles -- not a welcome sight. About 10 of the behemoths passed us on our way to the trailhead, and we were considering going elsewhere. But we eventually stayed on course and it was not a bad decision. We only saw a group coming down once, and the snowmobile track wasn't bad to follow on the way up. We took our time and got up to just before the big avalanche hill before we turned back. A nice slow glide on the way down... we ran into a few other skiers and chatted as we played Pole Position on the descent.
LAST YEAR (Winter 2001 - 2002) -- We went almost every weekend. For chronicles of our adventures, check this page.