Strawberry Lake 1/1/16

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Location: Co. rd. 60 from Prairie City

Road & Trail Conditions: Hwy 26 clear; Co Rd. 60 packed ice to ranches, then deep snowmobile ruts. be careful.

Snow Conditions: increasing snow depth with elevation 2 - 4+'

Skis on & temperature: 10:30am  19° (JD 11°)

Skis off & temperature: 4:45 pm 15° (PC 10°; JD 17°)

on the fs 6001 rd breaking trail over deer/elk tracks

Distance: 10+ miles; 1600+' elevation climb

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 9.9; would have liked to get up another mile to the falls

from the fs 6001 rd looking toward slide lake

Comments: Could only drive in 7 miles from PC, left 4 miles to ski to campground; 1 mile up to strawberry lake. 2 miles on road on snomobile tracks, remainder break trail, 2 - 4' deep.  used backcountry skis; happy for them.  skied a few hundred yards up trail then switched to snow shoes.  was hip deep in snow changing over. glad for snow shoes. skied all the way down. a few narrow spots with deep drifts, very steep if you slip.

breaking trail on the 375 trail up to strawberry lake

the trail is a little tough to follow unless you are familiar with it.  drifts make it look very different. if you have hiked this in summer, it is an amazingly different experience.

strawberry lake looking south

from campground up wind picked up to a fairly regular 10-20mph dropping windchill below zero.  after 5 mins. without gloves, took 20 mins of skiing to get hands warm.  keep moving.

mtn ridge overlooking strawberry lake

4.5 hrs. up; 1.5 hrs. down.  Great fun on the downhill through powder. snomobile ruts were a little tricky.

if you can get out on this one before the next snow fall; you can follow my tracks to the lake, break trail further.