FS 333 to 4920 Loop - Starr Ridge 1/3/16

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Location: Hwy 395, Canyon City to Starr Ridge Snow Park

Road & Trail Conditions: 395 patchy ice, worse in morning

FS 333 rd looking west from windfall creek meadow

start at FS 333 rd from sno park west to 350 then 352 north to 4920 to starr ridge campground, cross 395 to pick up 987 back to sno park

Snow Conditions: 2+' - no grooming, packed snowmobile tracks with 1+" powder

Skis on & temperature: noon 28° gusty winds on ridges, hardly any in gulleys

Skis off & temperature: 3:30 pm 34° (44° JD)

Distance: 8+ miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 9

Jan Mead skiing the 333 rd west

Comments: beautiful snow, great temp. skied with Jan Mead, met Peggy Murphy, Glen Johnston & Aria on the 4920.  A little elevation going up the 352.  good views of the burn area north of the 4920.  a longer loop could be made going further west on 333 & up the 4920. could also go west on the 4920 back around to the 333 to return to sno park. other loop variations would be dependent on which roads have been traveled.

Groomed Trails 1/2/16 - Parish Cabin

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01/02/2016:  Gerald took the cat from the 15/16 junction at Parish Cabin south on FR 15 to 1540, south and east to 1540/1630 junction (south of Frazier LookOut), east to 1643 then north and west back to Parish.  Thanks Gerald

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.

Groomed Trails - Summit Prairie 12/30/15

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from Glen Johnston:

Todays grooming is in black.
Awesome snow with a low of 8 and high of 22. Good day and good trails to be had.
Dave

Peggy and I skied out the RR grade from Summit Prairie toward Logan V. today, half inch new over Mondays grooming.  Great skiing!  Swix Blue for glide wax and Swix Blue Xtra for grip wax, perfect!   GJ 

      

Groomed Trails Summit Prairie & Logan Valley 12/29/15

from Glen Johnston ~

Dan Vandehey took the Huddleston Groomer out today.  FR 101 southwest to FR 1649 south to FR 16, then back on 1649 west to FR 058 and FR 064 to FR 1648 west to Lake Cr. Camp and FR 16 return to Huddleston via snowtel site.  Thanks Dan

Groomed Trails 12/28/15 - Summit Prairie & Logan Valley

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from Glen Johnston

> Groomed from Huddleston today.  Orange path, the gap in the line was when the phone fell off the dash and quit tracking for a couple of miles.  Will work on that:-) GJ
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Logging Operations: Co. Rd. 65 / FS 6510 Rds & FS 49 / 4920 Rds. - Starr Ridge 12/28/15

4920 rd - Starr Ridge
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FW 6510 rd  a few miles east of 395 on Co. 65
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Below are two messages forwarded from the USFS re: logging operations on roads used by skiers.




The 4920 rd. is a popular & close ski trail that begins at Starr Ridge campground on Hwy 395. From the message, am not sure if the entire 4920 rd will be plowed, or just the section starting at the 49.  If it is, an alternative would be to go 1/4 south on 395 to the Starr Ridge Sno Park (requires a parking permit) and start on the FS 333 rd.






 From: Courtney, Ryan -FS
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2015 7:25 AM
To: FS-pdl r6 malheur all employees
Subject: Road Side Fire Salvage - Fawn Springs Area

Road side salvage logging operations have begun in the Fawn Springs area. Currently hand fallers are working along the 6510 road off county road 65. Snow plowing activities are occurring along the 6510 road and several of the spur roads off the 6510. There is no log haul or machinery working at this time.

I will keep people posted as things progress.

and:

From: Freeman, Lisa S -FS
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2015 7:13 AM
To: FS-pdl r6 malheur all employees
Subject: Venus SBA timber sale logging operations

Venus SBA, T2 purchaser, has begun logging operations on the 4920 and 49 roads. The 4920 will be plowed to the 49 road junction. The 49 road will be plowed to the 4900218 junction.

The haul route is the 49 road to the 4920 to county road 41023-63C to the Izee Highway.