1/21/07 -- Cabin Creek (coming soon)
We decided to go up to ski at Trollhaugen (officially called the Erling Stordahl Trails) since there was a race at Cabin Creek and a request was made for groomed conditions. So up we drove through the clouds and sunbreaks. When Stuart's car arrived at Crystal Springs Snow Park, there wasn't any more room to park in the main section of the lot, so following the ranger's advice we parked in the far southwest corner of the lot. This turned out to be where the dog sled area is. You could hear a few dogs barking, and see some hitched to trucks that had doggie cages in them. Before long, a team of dogs pulling a sled came cruising into the parking lot. We started skiing from the corner of the lot, but Doris & Stuart weren't too crazy about my idea of skiing around a pond to get to Trollhaugen, so we ended up skiing down the dog sled trail. We saw multiple dog sleds go by, and one woman had her Husky dog pulling her on skis! The trail was well groomed, but there was a downside to following dogs.... you had to be careful to avoid "trail debris". This way eventually got us to the John Wayne Pioneer Trail (alias the Iron Horse), which was the opposite direction than Trollhaugen. So, following a musher's directions, we skied south on the main trail then turned left and followed the Stampede Pass road for about 1/2 mile, occasionally running into snowmobiles. This soon brought us to the backside of the groomed area, and we gladly quit the road for cleaner area and a more quiet environment. We skied around the Forest Loop, which this year was set up differently than in years past. Sometimes I think the snow groomers get bored... We had a nice little lunch break before tackling the roller coaster trail. Then a short ski to the main entrance, down the road to the car and we were done.
Dog sleds are a common sight on this trail.
12/9/06 -- Iron Horse Trail -- With Me, Vince and Dellanie
What a beautiful day to start out the ski season! There was lots of sun and the snow conditions were really nice. We skied down towards the end of the lake, then reversed after a quick bite and came back.
Sorry, no photos for this trip!
