FR 101 - Skyline Trailhead 2/8/17

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Location: Co 62rd to summit: 101 to skyline trailhead, off trail loop up to 151 to 101 to 159 to snopark & back up to 101

Road & Trail Conditions: Co 62 clear to forest, then plowed, packed sno-ice with rain on top - pretty slick

Snow Conditions: soggy & becoming increasingly so

Skis on & temperature: 12:30pm  34° snow (JD 42° rain )

Skis off & temperature: 3:30pm  36° mist (JD 42° rain)

Distance: 6 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 8 for first half - warm & sticky sno; 10 for second half = fun

more gratitude to the grant county road crew.  in addition to plows, sanders, graders there is also this:

front end pulls sno in & throws it up & off to side.  62 is much wider than a few weeks ago.

Comments: took a chance for one more ski before warm, rain front hits elevation tonite.  someone, with dog, laid great tracks from huddleston to skyline trailhead (thank you!). past that sno was too deep & sticky to continue on 101.

set off trail north from trailhead to scout out loops from higher up on skyline trail back to the 101.

great fun getting lost & found several times. the 150 rds north of trailhead haven't been used in awhile; there are 3-5yr. saplings in the the middle of the rd.  wouldn't have known they were rds without gps & usfs topo quadrangles loaded.  found a few slopes to practice downhill.

the short downhill from 101 - 159 to snopark is gd downhill practice & not too tuff to climb back up.

you can skip that section by parking at summit & starting on 101 west:

62rd at summit, cross over this to 101 west

break trail on 101 west to 159 jct.

the first 200 yards  are rarely groomed or tracked.  after that there is usually some base to go on.

the 934 on the east side is also a great way to get to elevation. haven't seen any tracks on that this year.

starting at the summit is useful as the season wanes & starting & going higher gets better sno conditions.

moderate snofall quit about 2.  by time returned to rig, mist began & rain followed.

Grooming Report - Starr Ridge East & West 2/7/17

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Cat #2:  Travis and Glen took Cat 2 from Bear Valley Work Center north then east on FR 2195, then north on FR 21to the summit then about 1/2 mile west on FR 2470 to remove a log, backtracked south on FR 21, then east on FR 4955, stopped grooming 1/2 mile north of CR 63C to walk the cat thru a stretch of active logging.  Blue line on the map.  Then headed to the Starr Snowpark on FR 333, Green line on map.  Resumed grooming from US 395 east on FR 3925 to within one mile of FR 15, stopped grooming for another active logging area.  Orange line on map.  Have fun all:-)  GJ

Starr Ridge off trail Pt. 2 - 2/6/17

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Location: Hwy 395 to starr ridge snopark - FR333,456,4920 - off trail - 353, 333

Road & Trail Conditions: 395 clear; 3' shrinking base

Snow Conditions: variable: warm, mush, icy - didn't stick to skis with maxiglide pre-trip

Skis on & temperature: 1:30pm 36°  (JD 42°  )

Skis off & temperature: 5:30pm  33°  (JD 38°  )

Distance: 10 miles; 1000' +/-; lots of up & down off trail

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 7

Comments: not a great day to go off trail. lowest score of season.

 groomed trails were ok; only ski tracks & firm. became slight icy toward end with cooler temp & wind change.

off trail was primarily very icy surface, occasional powder, and at lower elev. breaking thru 8". not very smooth.  good day to learn how to go up & down very icy slopes. bailed halfway down & returned on 353. try again another day with more powder.  would like to make an attempt at dixie butte & want some practice & conditioning.

warm weather system over weekend had two impacts: warm temps. condensed & moistened surface; high winds brought down a lot of small debris. nothing serious - dodging pine cones.

good day to learn about changing snow conditions from beginning to end & with difference in elevation between 333 & 4920.

huddleston could have better conditions.

forecast has an additional few inches over the next day+.

Grooming Report - Bear Valley/Murderers Creek 2/3/17

Report just in from Bill Prophet: FR 2180 to FR 21 (Murderers Cr), north to Billy Fields Campground (Fields Creek), turnaround groomed FR 21 to Izee Hwy at Gander Ranch.  Snow turned bad in afternoon Raining, 39 degrees F :-(

Grooming Report - Huddleston to Logan Valley 2/3/17

Cat 1 ran from Huddleston on the 101 to the 064 and1648 to High Lakes and back on the 1640 to the 16 and back to parking on the 135.

The snow has set up very well and on trail or off it is in excellent condition with few tracks up high. Near whiteout conditions up high today but should be great when the storm passs.

Blue line on map is todays grooming. 

Cheers

Dave

 

 

Starr Ridge Off Trail Day - 1/2/17

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Location: Hwy 395 to starr ridge snopark;  FR333-456- 4920- various off trail -082- 462 to sno park

Road & Trail Conditions:  in a.m. 395 sketchy all the way even with gravel & slow - fishtailed on turns; better in p.m.-still patchy.

Snow Conditions: solid 3' base with powder; groomed trails excellent condition; off trail solid base, 1-2' powder drop

Skis on & temperature:  11am 22°  (JD 26° )

Skis off & temperature:  3pm 26°  (JD 30° )

Distance: 8 miles, 1600' elevation

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10

Comments: went for a day of backcountry skis & off trail.  sno base is solid with powder making great practice conditions.

off trail, deep sno tracks

all of the starr ridge groomed trails of the last 2 weeks look fab: 333, 4920, 453, 353, 196, 3925 etc etc. saw no snomo tracks & lots of ski tracks. if conditions hold well thru weekend, there are multiple short medium & longer loops that can be combined from these trails.

fr 4920

end of last season became enthralled with venturing off trail, especially around strawberry mtn - high lake & onion creek & from the east side 101-125 to 1649 jct & off. today was a practice & conditioning run for later, higher elevations, like dixie.  went well.  started on baby bunny slopes & finished with descent down from 4920 along the powerlines.  wide, deep, steep, few obstacles.

long skinny touring skis don's fare well in the deep, off trail powder.  they sink & tips nosedive, boots can't hold turns.  backcountry skis are wider, metal edge, bigger tip angle - combine to float on top of sno easier.  boots are also heavier & more stout. basically halfway between nordic touring & alpine downhill.

while an advantage in the deep, off trail, bc gear is slower & more effort on groomed.  getting uphill is more work - thus the saying - you earn your (downhill) turns.

finished the day with several runs down the sledding hill; good practice in various conditions on downslope. getting better downhill control, especially with backcountry skis.

sledding hill at starr ridge summit

Grooming Report - Starr Ridge & West 2/1/17

> Feb. 1, 2017:  Kobe Essex groomed with Cat #2 from Starr Snowpark, completed the Windfall Loop with FR 353, groomed FR 4955 to FR 21, from the map it looks like a portion of the east end of 2470 (Burma Road) and FR 2195 to Bear Valley Work Center.  Sorry can't give more detail the only information I have is the orange line on the map.  GJ
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