Christmas Ski - Summit Prairie - FR 16 12/25/17

fr 16 & 1651 jct looking west; tire tracks with 1-2" powder

Location: Co. 62 rd from prairie city south to FR 16 jct.

Road & Trail Conditions: packed snow & ice. not plowed to summit.  4-8"

Snow Conditions: 1-3" base; 4-12" fresh powder on top

Skis on & temperature: 11am 26 degrees

Skis off & temperature: 2pm 32 degrees; occasional wind dropped 15 degrees

Distance: 7 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10

Comments:

beautiful day, blue skies, sunny. lots of fresh powder.

started out down 16 S., got too deep breaking trail 8-12". backtracked & headed west on 16.

no grooming, a few tire tracks. two snomos passed me heading west as i was returning east on 16.  looks like they started at huddleston, came down 153, a ways down 16 S & then back to 16 west to logan valley.  there are some older & newer tracks to follow.

outside the tracks, it is 8-12" of breaking trail.

kona in the deep stuff

 i don't mind skiing in tracks.

16 west is flat for about 3 miles (jct 1651) then 3 miles of rolling hills into logan valley, returning to flat.

 

Winter Solstice - 1st Ski of Season - Starr Ridge FR 4920 12/21/17

Location: Hwy 395 at Starr Ridge Summit, FR 4920 to Vance Creek Fr 3920

Road & Trail Conditions: going out at 10am 395 from canyon city to co. 65 was treacherous. lost control once on a straightway doing a giant slalom s curve across both lanes.  was ready to turn back when the road improved.  de-icer applied before return trip.  much better.

snow over cattle guard is thin.

Snow Conditions: 1-2 inches packed base, 1-2" fresh powder

Skis on & temperature:10:45a 22  degrees

Skis off & temperature: 12:45p 28 degrees

Distance: +/- 6 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10+

Comments:

almost didn't go today. 5" on starr ridge snotel seems thin.  turned out to be excellent.

not deep enough for snomos.  tire tracks packed a base.  fresh powder on top.  no need to break trail. has to be best conditions  ever for first ski of the season.

all the roads around starr ridge should be similar:  333 & all connecting up to 4920

huddleston snotel shows 8".  am guessing those roads 101 etc, and summit prairie should be good as well.

should stay that way for the weekend with forecast, cold, maybe a little more snow on top.

took a buddy on the trip, kona toy-cueno.  didn't have the right size ski boot, so she trotted along.

Starr Ridge Sno Park - FR 333 12/8/16

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Location: Hwy 395 to Starr Ridge Snow Park

Road & Trail Conditions: 395 plowed & packed sno, FR 333 12", packed tire tracks, +1" fresh powder.

Snow Conditions: recent 4" added to thruout the day

Skis on & temperature: 3:30pm 18 °

Skis off & temperature: 5:30pm 20°

Distance: 5+miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10+

Comments: late start after extensive scouting trip up fields creek rd, murerers creek, izee, bear valley

south fork rd

 

 

snowed all day from flurries to moderate with strong winds.  love it.

FR 333 is easy access, basically flat except first 1/4 mile slight hill.  from this road there are several smaller roads angling north up to the 4920. 

at windfall creek there is also a closed rd. marked ski trail (blue diamonds) as a short loop.

sno conditions were fab as the truck tires packed the recent 12" & the fresh powder was.....

                                                       smooth..............

it is getting dark early as winter solstice draws near. carry a headlamp

FR 924 to Big Creek Trailhead/Snowshoe Campground 11/28/16

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Location: FR 16 to 924



Road & Trail Conditions: 395 slush, County 65 packed slush, FR 15 plowed packed snow & ice, FR 16 plowed from 15 to senaca, not plowed 15 to summit prairie.

Snow Conditions: fresh powder overnite, 5" at FR 16, 12" at snowshoe campground.  ran into fairly intense snowstorm coming down Co. 62; turned to rain at prairie city limits.

Skis on & temperature: 10am  30°  (JD 36° )

Skis off & temperature: 2:30pm 31°

Distance: 11 miles, 800' elevation

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 9.5 (-.5 for mostly cloudy & occasional 20mph sideways blowing crusty sno)

Comments: basically flat from 16 to 1648, very gentle rise up to snowshoe campground. drove up and skied down & up tire tracks.

1648 & 021(to left)  jct

cattleguards not covered:



 




 

fa la la la la................

Antelope Valley - FR 757/1601 - 1/25/16

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Location: A few miles east of Seneca, via FR 16 or Hwy 395

Road & Trail Conditions:  395 clear; FR 16 plowed, patchy packed snow/ice. Trails recently groomed with 1" powder since.

Snow Conditions: 1' crusty base with 1-2" powder on top

Skis on & temperature: 9:30am 16°, morning low clouds, breaking up in aftn. (JD 27° )

Skis off & temperature: 1:30pm 37° (JD 44° )

Distance: 9 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10

beginning of groomed 757

Comments: Explored this area at the suggestion of Dave Hannibal who groomed it last week.  initially tried to acces via FR 1601, trucks were loading logs at 16 jct.  on a hunch explored from 395 & found 757, also groomed. rd from 395 is unmarked, 2.4 miles south from Seneca, only road heading east, looks like this (subaru probably won't be parked there):

took purple line on above map.  another option would be green. log removal will continue for awhile, also on the 757.

labeled this flat & beginner for the area in the valley.  small slope getting in & out, the 757 access much shorter.

depending on grooming, snowmobile tracks & conditions, several loop variations are possible.  loved skiing around the valley. not highly traveled. lovely views toward strawberry mtns.

 

 

here is a panoramic video of antelope valley

here is a video of xc skiing along antelope valley

FR 1640 to High Lake - Logan Valley West 1/21/16 Part 2

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Location: West end of Logan Valley, approach from 395, Co 65- FR 15 to 16 rd, or Prairie City Co. 62 to FR16.

Road & Trail Conditions: Co. 65 has solid ice from wickiup campground to FR 15.  15 has plowed with 6-8" new snow since.  Deep truck tire ruts, worse approaching 16 rd. driveable
1640 groomed this am.

Snow Conditions: 3+' packed, groomed a few hours earlier.  doesn't get any better than this.

Skis on & temperature:  1:30pm 38° partly sunny

Skis off & temperature: 4:30pm 32° (JD 42° )

Distance: 7 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10

Comments: after skiing the FR 16 S. rd in the morning, heading home along the 16 rd. to scout trails. hasn't been much grooming here, both cats have been focused on starr ridge & bear valley-seneca. cruising by the 1640, saw it had just been groomed this morning.  thanks dave.

this is the first time i've been on just groomed trail.  wow.  so smooth. tracking the grooming reports & getting on them soon is so worth it. thank you to all the volunteer groomers who make this possible: Dave Hannibal, Glen Johnston, Dan Vandehey Bill Prophet, Gordon & Ron

Video while skiing on this groomed trail

this section of 1640 (3+ miles) is a perfect flat, beginner run, especially freshly groomed.  further past the sign (below) it gets quite steep up to high lake.

skiing along bear creek is lovely.

Merit Meadow Loop - FS Rd 16 Logan Valley 12/3/15

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Location: West end Logan Valley: FS Rds 1630 S, 493 W&S, 516 E, 1560 N 1630 N

Road & Trail Conditions: FS 15 rd not plowed, 4-6" ruts over packed snow/ice, Subaru AWD just made it, not for much longer; at 10am. FS 16 rd not plowed; by 2pm was plowed to packed sno/ice.

No groomed trails yet. FS 1630 rd new 4x4 truck tracks since last snow (thank you) = packed powder; 493, 516, 1560: 2-4" powder over older tire tracks = requires a little breaking trail.

new tire tracks 1560 S on left; older tracks & break trail 516 on right

Snow Conditions: 8-10" almost powder over packed base

Skis on & temperature: 10:30am  30° overcast broke into mostly sunny at noon; forecast 32 mph winds didn't materialize until evening (42° @ JD)

Skis off & temperature: 2pm 42° (54° @ JD)

Distance: 8 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10

Comments: there aren't many loop options because of terrain & road layout.  this is an easy one; a little elevation gain at the 516 & a fun descent to the 1560. rest is flat.  a very easy, flat route would be the 1630 S as far as you like and then turn back.

1630 rd north & Strawberry Mtn.

Railroad Grade - Summit Prairie to Logan Valley 11/30/15

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Location: County rd62 Prairie City to Summit Prairie.  turn right at FS 16rd for 100'. go straight west 100' when 16 jogs left into small plowed parking area. there is no visible road # sign at the east end of 097, possibly because the first several hundred feet are private property.

fs 133 goes north & uphill; 097 is the tracks going left

Road & Trail Conditions: 62 road plowed & gravel; patchy snow/ice until Trout Farm campground, then solid.  FS 16rd is plowed Summit Prairie to Seneca, packed snow/ice, no gravel, 20-25mph. FS 15rd - Parish Cabin to Canyon Meadows (Wickiup Campground) not plowed - 4x4 trucks kept open, not for long; County Rd65 to 395 plowed, patchy snow/ice.

Snow Conditions: 2-3" new powder over 2-3' base, no groomed trails, a few snowmobile tracks leaving Huddleston snopark; some roads have 4x4 pickup tracks - packed powder, easy to ski on

Skis on & temperature: 11:30am  24° (prairie city 18°)

Skis off & temperature: 3pm 35° (john day 27°)

Distance: 9 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 9

Comments: beautiful day, great snow got a little soft & sticky as temp. rose.  hardly any elevation gain = FLAT. another few inches of dry snow this week could produce lovely conditions.

 

truck tire tracks stopped and broke trail for the last ?mile. breaking trail is good conditioning and generates appreciation for the snocat trail groomer that does over 40 miles in a day.