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| fs 371rd west of starr ridge snow park |
Monday, December 14, 2015
Starr Ridge 12/14/15
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| windfall creek meadow 333rd west from starr ridge snow park |
Location: Hwy 395 south from John Day & Canyon City
Road & Trail Conditions: 395 in the morning was plowed with packed snow/ice, gravel on top the whole way - 35mph. On return in aftn., patchy snow/ice in shade, rest wet pavement. likely to frreze & thaw like this through the week. cattle gaurds mostly covered.
Snow Conditions: 12-16" new powder; no trail groming; ski and tire tracks with new snow
Skis on & temperature: 10am 26° (JD 34°)
Skis off & temperature: 2pm 36° (JD 36°)
Distance: FS4920rd 2+ miles; FS 333rd 4+
Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 9.5 would liked to have gone further
Comments: started at starr ridge campground, FS 4920rd west, Jan Mead skied this yesterday, her tracks mostly filled in, snowmobile tracks for a few hundred yards. switched to backcountry skis, wider, shorter, more scale area, less sinking into 16" powder. break trail on way up, nice downhill return. at 093 rd. got too steep & deep.
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| starr ridge cg 4920 rd west click on map for larger version |
drove 1/4 mile south on 395 to snow park (requires snopark parking permit). took FS 333rd west, 353 north, 370 & 371 north. starts downhill to windfall creek, nice little meadow. turned north & followed tire tracks until they stopped. too deep to continue.
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| starr ridge snow park 333rd west click on map for larger version |
this was a day of following ski & tire tracks & turning around when they stopped. as the warm freeze cycle continues this week, snow should compress some. add a little fresh on top & it could be
premium for awhile.
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| on the 371 rd |
Sunday, December 6, 2015
FS 16 rd. South 12/5/15
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click on maps for larger versions (this route is split between 2 quadrangles. looking at some software to 'stitch' them together).
Location: Summit Prairie & South: County 62 rd from Prairie City or FS 16 rd. through Logan Valley.  |
| fs 16 south at summit prairie |
Road & Trail Conditions: FS 15 & 16 rds. improving with warmer temps., dry pavement to packed sno & ice. no trail grooming yet. no snomobile tracks in the 16 rd south area, some tracks at 097. cattleguards partially covered.
FS 16 rd. South has fresh tire tracks with packed snow.
Snow Conditions: 2-6" moist
Skis on & temperature: 1pm 35°
Skis off & temperature: 2:30pm 41°
Distance: 6 miles
Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10
Comments: it's amazing what a little distance east & elevation can do for snow conditions (see next post). the sno was great. 16 south has a 2 mile gradual slope, 400' to summit (1 hr.). lovely descent on way back (10 mins.). skied to junction with FS 14 rd south. fresh tire tracks cont'd on 16, older tracks with 1-2" sno on 14. 14 goes down into crane prairie, one of my favorite places. from the summit roads go east with options to loop back to summit prairie (600, 615, 1660 ). at the 16/14 intersection, 16 heads east above crane prairie with multiple loop options (600, 657 ). 14 heads south (660, 154).
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| fs 16 rd south at summit looking north, 2 miles fun descent |
FS 1643 Rd. 12/5/15
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| click on map for larger version |
Location: FS 16 rd. west end of Logan Valley
Road & Trail Conditions: FS 15 & 16 rds. improving with warmer temps., dry pavement to packed sno & ice. no trail grooming yet. snomobile tracks on 1630, 1640, 1648, 1649. cattleguards not covered
FS 1643 south started with fresh tire tracks, packed - only for 1/2 mile. remainder was older tire tracks with 1-2" damp snow
Snow Conditions: started packed, damp; ended very sticky
Skis on & temperature: 9:30am 35° overcast to partly sunny (JD: 47° & overcast)
Skis off & temperature: noon 42° mostly sunny
Distance: 6 miles
Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): started as a 9 ended as a 3
Comments: decent fairly flat ski for 2 miles, then became too sticky & turned around when south exposure increased (orange dotted line above). snowshoe stepping with 1-2" snow stuck to skis. great workout, poor skiing.
was planning to do a loop (purple dotted line above), maybe a little ambitious. will try another time.
went looking for better conditions further east & higher elevation at summit prairie. see previous post.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Trail Grooming Example
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| 1/8/15 groom - click on map for larger version |
a larger pdf version of this map is downloaded here.
County 62 rd: FS 101 west to 125 west to 1649 west to 702 east to 101 north & east to County rd 62.
some maps could also have several within a week or two depending on conditions:
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| 1/1 and 1/8/15 groom - click on map for larger version
a larger pdf version of this map is downloaded here.
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Thursday, December 3, 2015
Merit Meadow Loop - FS Rd 16 Logan Valley 12/3/15
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| click on picture for larger version |
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.
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| 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.
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| 1630 rd north & Strawberry Mtn. |
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