1660 Loop - Summit Prairie 12/27/15

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Location: County 62 rd. to Huddleston snow park & Summit Prairie; jct 62 & 16S rd.

Road & Trail Conditions: Hwy. 26 dry pavement.  Co. 62 dry, until forest boundary plowed, packed snow & ice, light gravel on curves.

 started at beginning of 16 S rd, south to 1660, east then north up to summit rock; 1665 rd north and back around to south, cross Co. 62 rd to huddleston sno park, south along 185 to 135 & return to start.

Snow Conditions: deep & snowmobile track choppy at beginning & end; in between: groomed trail (weds.) with 4-6" since & snomobile tracks along uphill 1660 & 1665- almost as good as groomed.

Skis on & temperature: 9:15am 14° (JD 24°) occasional 10-15mph windchill drops to 0 quickly especially along the ridge. keep skiing

Skis off & temperature: 3:15pm 19° (PC 21°; JD 27°)

Distance: 12 miles; 1600' elevation climb

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 9.9, only following the sno cat groomer could have been better

on the 1660 rd toward summit rock looking west  summit prairie in foreground logan valley in background

Comments: was heading toward this on last trip, didn't pan out. today it did.  lovely. a great loop if you have the time & leg condition for the elevation, i stopped frequently to catch my breath.  the view is worth it.  at one point, summit prairie in foreground, crane prairie to left, logan valley in middle distance west, bear valley further.  couldn't get one picture to capture it ( found windchill 0 to be the limit of camera battery)

now that i can do this elevation climb, looking for an opportunity to do dixie butte & strawberry lake (not on the same day)

maybe a dozen snowmobiles out on holiday weekend. mainly around huddleston & toward logan valley.  none up the 1660 rds.

all the snow from last 2 weeks is slowly compressing. a few more inches in the forecast.  a few more  trail groomings this week could produce some fantastic trails. enjoy~

looking from start point; jct 62 & 16 S rds.

click here for a short video clip taken from there

FS 598 Rd. Loop - Summit Prairie/Huddleston 12/25/15

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Location: County 62 rd. to Huddleston snow park & Summit Prairie

Road & Trail Conditions: Hwy. 26 dry pavement, blowing snow.  Co. 62 dry, at forest boundry plowed, packed snow & ice, light gravel on curves.

FS 598 rd at Co. 62 rd looking east; easy to miss with the snowbank from plow.  Rd. # sign buried by snow

FS 598 rd to 625; north for awhile, backtrack south to 1660.  east for awhile, backtrack to 16 S. north up Co. 62, cross west at 598 to 185 north to snowpark and back down 62 rd to 598.  follow that?  it's on the map above. another way to do this is to start at the 62/16 jct., ski uphill & then back down.

Snow Conditions: deep - 6', variations on groomed with 3-6" new snow, ski tracks, snowmobile tracks, break trail. lt. to moderate constant flurries, occasional snow showers, maybe 1" accumulation thru day. alternating partly sunny to snow shower cloudy. occasional wind gust dropped temp. to 0 quickly.

a great base is forming.  some of the first grooming is now buried. snowmobile tracks over that grooming offer great conditions; otherwise, very deep.  as more grooming gets done, options will increase.

FS 625, snowmobile tracks with 8-16" over groomed last week

Skis on & temperature: 9:30am 11°;  JD 22°

Skis off & temperature: 3pm 20°; PC 26°, JD 29°

Distance: 11 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 9.5 slightly sticky & deep snow

coming down the 625 rd.

Comments: the FS 598 rd. is halfway between huddleston snow park & the 62/16 jct.  good place to head east.  followed ski tracks (thank you, glen johnston?), then snowmobile tracks. a loop can be made with several variations depending on trail & leg conditions.  there is an unmarked road for a short distance that connects the FS 185 rd. across Co. 62 to the 598 to make the loop.



today, the best trail was the 1660 starting at the 625 & east; west was choppy & deep.  would have liked to have gone further east on the 1660 & around.

 i love this place

Groomed Trails 12/23/15

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12 23 15 in yellow. Snow is very  DEEP and wind blown up top.

Snow Depth 12/23/15 Noon

Huddleston (Summit Prarie) 5870 ft.  54"
Lake Creek (Logan Valley) 5240ft.    39"
Starr Ridge                          5220 ft    28"

Groomed Trail 12/21/15

from Glen Johnston:

Bill Prophet and Dan Vandehey groomed from Huddleston west and south on FR 101 to FR 1649 and Fr 070 to FR 064 to FR 1648, to FR 058, back to FR 1649 to FR 125 and return on FR 101.  Bill reports very good grooming, snow is very deep.  49" at Blue Mountain Snowtel site.  GJ

16rd South to Crane Prairie 12/20/15

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Location: Summit Prairie, jct of County 62rd with FS16 S

Road & Trail Conditions: 62 rd plowed at 10am; FS16 rd west not plowed.

FS16S groomed yesterday with fresh snow & more falling throughout day.

Snow Conditions: variable from fresh groomed to +4" on top, slightly moist, choppy in places

Skis on & temperature: 10am 18°, partly sunny then cloudy & continual snow

Skis off & temperature: 3pm  28°

Distance: 9 miles, 400' elevation climb in first 2 miles, up & down afterwards

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 9 snow got to be a little sticky & deep.

Vicki Thompson reaching the summit of 16s 5600'

Comments: Vicki Thompson & i had a lovely snowstorm in the mtns. trip.  fresh groomed yesterday made it possible, thank you Dave Hannibal. by the end of the day it was covered by another 4-6".  That area is getting 2-6" everyday.  it would be good to focus on the most recently groomed trails.

Two pairs of snowmobilers were making trails, too.

The area around crane prairie, 14 & 16 rd is one of my favorites.

FS 16 S rd. looking west, Crane Prairie to left

Groomed Trails 12/20/15

from Glen Johnston:

12/20/2015
Gerald Sager took Cat # 2 out today.  Grooming from FS RD16 & 15 junction south on FR 15 and FR1540, east on FR 546 and FR 1560, north on FR 1630, to FR 514 back to the start.  Thanks Gerald