Snowshoe Trail - Bear Valley 12/11/16

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Location: Hwy 395 south to Co. 63 west 12+ miles

Road & Trail Conditions: 395 plowed with icy patches, Co 63 plowed & packed; FR 4920 from starr ridge campground has several ski tracks & sno looks good

Snow Conditions: 12" powder starting to form base, continued sno thruout day,

Skis on & temperature:  9:30am 29°

Skis off & temperature: 12:30pm  29°

Distance: 6 miles

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

Comments: allen taylor & i ventured out to the first run on his favorite trail in bear valley.

alternating blue skies:

and moderate sno. there is one hill in the first mile, 100 yds, a little steep, with todays deeper sno required some herring bone technique.

not too long, good conditioning, the remainder of trail basically flat to slight downhill:

we finished the loop going from fr31 to 63 & back to 014 as last section is not well marked & requires stream crossings.  will map this out in detail later.

there is also a side road, 650 at the highest point that leads out to a lovely lookout east toward south fork john day. passed on this today, too cloudy.

can access this trail from Co. 63 & fr 014 jct (easier to see fr 594 up to flagtail mtn. on other side of road) or down fr 31. easier to climb the elevation from 014.

there are some lovely aspen & pine stands along the creeks on the east side:

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

Crane Prairie - FR 14 12/5/16

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Location: South of Summit Prairie: FR 16 to 14 jct, then south to 185 jct

Road & Trail Conditions: hwy 26 packed sno-ice until a few miles east of JD, then clear. Co. 62 clear to reynolds creek rd. packed sno-ice, plowing started as i went up, ends at summit prairie.  FR 16 west not plowed. wouldn't take anything less than 4wd up the FR 16 from summit prairie to 14 jct.

a few snowmobiles have ventured out from huddleston

Snow Conditions: new 5" powder over another 5" base forming

Skis on & temperature: 11:15am 12° (JD 18° )

Skis off & temperature: 2:15pm 22°  (JD 33°)

Distance: 7.5 miles, slight up & down, basically flat

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10

FR 16 continues to left, 14 due south

Comments: good cold temp conditioning run. drove, then skied in tracks. hey, it's grant county.   sno is a little deep at this elevation to break trail.  a base is forming and may be able to break trail later.

 lovely with sun out, clouds turned it quite cold.  an occasional, short breeze dropped 10° quickly.

FR 14 continues left; 185 to right

 




learning how to drive the tacoma in the deep stuff.  haven't got stuck - new standard for a good trip

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................

Ski Thanksgiving - First Ski of Season

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Location: Logan Valley FR 16 to 924 to 1648 to 021 to 039 Meadow Fork Trailhead

Road & Trail Conditions: FR 15 & 16 generally clear, lesser roads 1-5"

Snow Conditions: first accumulation of season, not quite powder

Skis on & temperature: 9am 26°

Skis off & temperature: noon 33°

Distance: 3 miles hiking, 2 miles skiing

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 8, good conditioning day

Comments: couldn't resist the first significant snow at elevation. barely enough snow to ski, if you drive to elevation ~6000'.  traded the subaru this summer for this:

can now get to & back from many more places, like today. wouldn't do this without 4wd. first trip out with new rig. did not get stuck! yipee

hiked a few miles up meadow fork trail, probably too steep to ski.

skied down & up the 039:

scouted big creek trail, looks more promising with another inch or 2.

scouted 1648/1649 up to 125: 6800'

plenty of snow on these roads & 101 back to county 62/ huddleston. until grooming begins, tire tracks work.

Why Ski Grant County? 3/17/16

strawberry mtn. dawn

Groomed Trails - Logan Valley 3/15/16

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from glen johnston:

> Todays Grooming in Pink :-)