Salmon, Idaho Cross-Country Ski Trip Reports
Winter 2006 – 2007
Author: Cliff
Keene Latest revision: 10/11/07. Search for
* (asterisk) to find several trip reports since my update on 04/06/07 and **
for minor changes later.
Click on the following links for previous year trip reports: This year 2007-2008 or 2006-2007 or
2005-2006
or 2004-2005
or 2003-2004
Trips.
When you read these reports,
it may help to learn more about our trails using the following Williams Cr.
Ski Trails Sites:
Trail
Descriptions Trailhead
Locations Trail Map Trail Segment table
Or the following Lost Trail Chief
Joseph un-groomed trail segment table.
Click on one of the following to jump to that section. Hit the Back button to return here.
A. MARCH - APRIL 2007 TRIPS (To see late March & April trips click on February and scroll upward)
B. FEBRUARY, 2007 TRIPS (To see late February trips click on January and scroll upward)
C. JANUARY, 2007 TRIPS (To see late January trips click on December and scroll upward)
D. DECEMBER, 2006 TRIPS (To see late December trips, click on November and scroll upward)
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03/01/07 |
41 Thu. Pvt. Ski: Cliff and Tim drove to Lost Trail and skied Chair 4. They’d received over 15” of powder since closing last Sunday and the skiing was excellent. Later we met Wayne and skied the rest of the day with him. We also skied part of a run, and ate lunch with Jane & “T”. |
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03/03/07 |
42 Sat. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Bob, Anita, Renee, Roger, Tim, and Jay skied north of William’s Cr. Summit to the North Moccasin Trail. We were planning to ski this trail but cancelled our plans because snowmobiles had been on it and we felt it would be unsafe to ski it without powder snow to slow us down. We’d left a “just in case vehicle” at the Big Fir Trailhead, so we proceeded to ski down the William’s Cr. Trail. We ate lunch in the trees just before reaching the “Big Meadow” where the Buckhorn Trail crosses. We then skied down to the Big Fir TH. The snow was excellent for the most part. We did not a little crust on one exposed face toward the bottom. After driving to pick up the shuttle vehicles at the bottom of the North Moccasin Trial we “re-shuttled” and Marlene, Bob, and Anita called it a day, and the rest of us skied the Meadow Trail all the way down to Cougar Point. Again the snow was excellent. We were able to make several turns in the logged area just above Cougar Point. After skiing we all assembled at Bob and Nancy’s for beverages, snacks and soup. I measured 32” of snow at the Meadow TH, down an inch from Feb. 28. |
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03/04/07 |
43 Sun. Grp. Ski: With the forecast of warm weather we knew that we should schedule another trip before we lost the good snow. Cliff, Renee, Tawna, Cavin, and Jay drove to William’s Cr. Summit and skied the short version of the unmarked Powder House Gulch Trail. Bob & Nancy, Roger and Marlene skied the Meadow Trail down to Cougar Point. We all agreed that we were a couple of hours too late to get good snow. The sun had warmed things up and the snow was getting crusty. Those of us that had heaver, wider skis still rated conditions as very good for the most part. We all gathered at Jay’s for beverages and snacks . |
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03/11/07 |
44 Sun. Grp. Ski: Let me know if I forgot someone. I think Cliff, Tim, Tanya, Bob & Nancy, and Judy drove to Chief Joseph where we met Janice and Barb from the Bitterroot side. We skied south on the Anderson Mountain road to the high point before reaching the Richardson Ridge Trail There’s and old road that turns off on the right that, according to the topo map, follows a ridge for a couple of miles. We skied out a ways on this road but it dropped steeply and we didn’t’ want to have to ski back up in these crusty snow conditions; so we turned back and skied out to the Richardson Ridge Trail. We skied up the trail about 0.3 miles, a little past the south portion of the Ander-Rich trail, and ate lunch. The snow seemed very crusty. Tim and Tanya elected to ski down the Richardson Ridge Trail. The rest of us, at my suggestion, turned back and skied back to the T’H on the Ander-Rich Trail. The snow seemed to have softened. I (Cliff) drove down to the Richardson Ridge TH and found that Tim and Tanya had found very good snow conditions and had been waiting for over 20 minutes. Apparently the snow had softened considerable just during the time that we were eating. I guess I missed out on some turns, oh well it’s a good learning experience. |
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03/17/07 |
45 Sat. Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Marlene had driven to Boise for a meeting. On Saturday we joined Anita and Tony and drove up to Donnelly and skied at the new Tamarack resort. We especially enjoyed the view from the top. We had an excellent view of Council Mountain to the west – Marlene’s old “stomping grounds”. The snow was fairly good corn snow just starting to get slushy. The trails were quite interesting will lots of variation in direction and slope. After skiing we drove back south a ways on Hwy 55 to the Gold Fork Road and drove up it to the Gold Fork Hot Springs. We soaked in the several hot pools until we were fairly “well done”. We then drove back most of the way to Hwy 55 and drove to Tony’s family ranch. It was a little like camping because they were out of propane for heat and we thought that we didn’t have water. It was fun melting snow water for dish washing but not as fun walking in the mud to the outhouse. Later we discovered that we could get the water running and we found that the wood stove kept us quite warm. |
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03/18/07 |
46 Sun. Pvt. Ski: After following the instructions we were able to drain the water system and leave things as we found them. We then drove to McCall and cross country skied at the new (to us) Nordic Ski Park on the right just before the summit going toward the “Little Ski Hill”. We left the required $6 for parking and cross country skied about 4 miles on the well groomed trails. It would have been nice to have had skate skis. After skiing we visited cousin Dorothy and then drove back to Boise. |
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03/21/07 |
47 Wed. Pvt. Ski: Cliff and Neil drove past William’s Cr Summit to the Lower Shoshoni TH. We skied the old road that makes up the end of Lower Shoshoni Trail. We skied past the switchback where the trail enters from the left and we turn right and skied down parallel to and across the creek. We climbed up the road past where another road bears right toward the Mukluk trail. We continued a few hundred feet and took another road to the left. It was one that we’d skied on Feb. 27. At the end of this road we skied at a (mostly) gentle grade about 1/3 mile to the ridge that comes down from the top of the Lower Shoshoni Meadow. We were hoping that this route might not have too many trees and could thus be developed as an alternate route from the upper Shoshoni Meadow. This was not the case. The trees were quite thick and it would require a lot of work to make a trail. We did however ski up the ridge almost to the top of the Lower Shoshoni Meadow. We ate lunch and then skied down. I should say that Neil skied down and I floundered down. I had my very skinny “fish scale” skis and couldn’t make any turns. The snow was quite poor – sometimes “rotten” where we’d suddenly sink all the way to the ground. This was especially bad where the tree wells had melted out. We then skied out on the lower Shoshoni Trail. There was one spot were the snow had melted completely for several feet on a south facing slope. I think skiing is over for this trail. However the old roads will still be ok for awhile due to their north exposure. |
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03/25/07 |
48 Sun. Grp. Ski: Cliff, Renee, Tanya, and Jay considered skiing the Mukluk trail but found that the warm temperatures resulted in “rotten” snow (see above). Thus we skied the same roads that Cliff and Neil had skied on Wed. We found a good loop route that would connect a couple of the roads together and thus make a more interesting trail. I’ll try and get up there before the snow melts to tie some flags to mark this potential trail. Tanya stopped at William’s Cr. Summit and skied on the Ridge Road. The rest of us called it a day. I measured 21” of snow at the Meadow TH. |
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03/29/07 |
49 Thu. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Neil and Tim drove to Lost Trail Pass and shuttled a rig down 2.4 miles to the start of the West Camp Cr. Road. We then skied out to and down the Side Street Trail which is on the west side of the Huckleberry Chair # 3. The ski area wasn’t running, but because the area hadn’t yet closed for the season it was not overrun with snowmobiles as in past years when we’ve done this trip. There’d been about 18” of new snow (mostly on Tues.) and it was still soft – so soft the we were only able to turn on the steepest pitches. I used my touring skis. These runs are a little boring with my heavy telemark skis, but a challenge with the narrow touring skis and lighter boots. It took me almost an hour to ski out on the West Camp Cr. road due to my wax picking up snow. Any place where the snow was exposed to the sun, the snow stuck to our skis like glue. I did finally get most of my wax scrapped off but it was a problem to some extent for the wax-less skis as well. We made another run down “Main Street” but instead of skiing out the W. Camp Cr. Rd., we skied up the Gunsmoke Trail. With the slow snow conditions (It had taken me almost an hour to ski out) this option was a little faster. However for me, at least with normal, non-glue, conditions I’d be faster, skiing the road. After skiing we checked out conditions at the Chief Joseph TH. |
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03/31/07 |
50 Sat. Pvt. Ski: Cliff and Tim drove to Lost Trail. We skied the Chair 4 area. All the “new” powder was well frozen and the newer 2’ that they’d received the night before was already crusted over. It was completely un-skiable for most folks. The groomed trails were very icy. However gradually as folks skied the trails and as it warmed up, the packed runs improved. We decided to take an early lunch and found that after lunch conditions were excellent. We even tried the “powder” and found that it had become quite skiable. One needed to be gentle with their turning. Too aggressive and sharp a turn would often result in a fall, but if you kept your turns gentle it was fantastic, especially for telemark turns. I'd rate the morning some of the worst conditions I’ve skied and the afternoon some of the best conditions. After the lifts closed
we drove up to Chief Joseph and skied out the Cabin and back. I wanted to
talk with the cabin host to find out what the skiing was like. |
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April, 2007 TRIPS |
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*04/01/07 |
51 Sun. Grp. Ski: Tim and Cliff drove to the Meadow TH and skied up the Buckhorn Trail and down the William’s Cr. trail to the Upper Aspen Loop. The Buckhorn trail was good once we’d made a track, but we had some of the “sun-glue” conditions we’d found last Thurs. We put on more maxi glide and ate lunch at the big meadow. I’d rate the Buckhorn Trail as good, but the William’s Cr. Trail is done for the year. We found numerous bare spots and lots of exposed rocks. I expect that the Wapiti loop and the upper Meadow Trails, the Ridge Road, and the Buckhorn Trails are all that I’d now recommend. Note however that the new snow (probably about 6” last Tuesday and 2” last night) resulted in a 3” net increase this week with 24” at the Meadow TH. |
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*04/18/07 |
52 Wed. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Chuck (and ?) Skied the Meadow Trail and Wapiti Loop. Gliding was fair. |
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**04/21/07 |
53 Sat. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Jay and Tim & Nancy skied up and back on the Buckhorn Trail. The snow is going fast and it’s obvious that our skis will suffer if we try and ski much more this season. Cliff (I) was trying out a demo pair of Atomic Rainier Touring skis. I liked them and had decided to buy them and in the last 0.1 mile I got up a little speed and took a short cut and ZIP I skied across a rock. Oh well, the gash isn’t too bad – I don’t even think I need to “P-Tex” it. |
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Ski Year 2006/2007 Wrap-Up Counting trips to Lost Trail and not counting five times when we walked on the trails to do some trail work, I’ve skied 53 times this winter. Last year was only 44. The first scheduled trip was November 26. My first trip was November 28, 2006 and the last trip was Apr 21, 2006. Last year started earlier and ended later but we still managed to ski more this year. The snow wasn’t as good down low this year, but we did manage to get in a few good trips to the Big Fir and Cougar Point Trailheads. We continued to ski the Buckhorn Trail a lot this year (See last years wrap up) The extension to the Upper Aspen Loop that allows us to ski up to or down from the Meadow Trailhead is now skiable. If we get approval, I’ll mark it with diamonds. I need to do a little more scouting but will soon be able to have a series of trails between the Lower Shoshoni and Mukluk Trailheads. There are several old “horse log era” logging roads that can be skied right now. I’ve found a loop that will make a couple of these trails more interesting. I now need to mark a more gentle route to connect with the Mukluk Trail. We currently have two connector trails that are fairly steep. They are fun for advanced skiers when the snow conditions are good, but when the snow is bad as it was on March 25th , we’ll want a more gentle route. See the 2007/2008 Blog for details on the work done during the summer of 2007. |
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02/01/07 |
26 Thu. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Tim and Neil drove to the Lower Shoshoni Trailhead (TH) after eating lunch and leaving a vehicle at the Lower Mukluk TH. We scouted out a route between these two trailheads. I missed a turnoff at one point and we lost a little time searching for the trail. I need to tie some flagging to mark this better. With good snow conditions this is suitable for intermediate skiers. There’s one spot where the road drops quite steeply (similar to a steep green diamond downhill ski run) although there is room enough to make diagonal runs. In addition to locating the route our other objective was to determine if the snow was ok for a “Mukluk Ski” this coming Saturday. The Mukluk area is amazing. Only once have I found the snow to be bad here. Most of the area faces north and seems to stay colder than it does to the east of William’s Cr. Summit. Anyway the snow was great. Fairly well consolidated but still soft enough on top for good control. In fact we would have preferred to have a little more speed on the steep sections. It appeared that here and at the upper elevations they received an inch or two and it snowed another inch as we were skiing. Thus I think the crusty areas that had been exposed to the sun have improved from crappy to poor to fair. All areas that aren’t exposed to afternoon sun should be excellent. I forgot to measure the snow, depth but I’d guess it was about 20” at the Mukluk TH. Thus Saturday’s trip is still on! |
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02/03/07 |
27 Sat. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Dave, Judy, Jay, Tim, Renee, and Tanya skied south on the Ridge Road from William’s Cr. Summit. It’s about a 0.6 mile (20 Minute +) ski up to the Deep Cr. Ridge TH. After another 0.7 miles (38 minutes for me) west up the trail and fireline, we reached the Upper Shoshoni TH. Rather than turning right on the Upper Shoshoni Trail we turned left continuing on the Deep Cr. Ridge Trail. At this point the trail leaves the fireline bypassing a very steep section of the fireline. However the trail itself is very steep and several of us put on skins for this section. After skiing south the trail switches back uphill to the west several times and heads northwesterly across the fireline. It’s about ¼ mile up this steep section (It took me about 20 minutes). The trail still climbs after crossing the fireline to a high point in another 0.1 mile. From this point the route is mostly downhill but it always requires the leaders to break trail, so it’s not easy for them. In another 0.1 mile the trail again follows the left side of the fireline downhill to the west and in another 0.3 miles the trail/fireline bears left and soon the trail crosses the fireline to the right side and soon leaves the fireline through some trees to a large open area. Total miles to this point are about 2.1 miles (about 1 hour 25 minutes ski time for me). The open area allows us to make a few nice tele turns, although I mess it up by falling at the bottom turn and almost wiping out Jay. From here the trail heads slightly downhill following an indistinct ridge, north westerly through Lodgepole pines. After about 0.8 miles (about 25 minutes) we reach a set of double blue diamonds. This is not otherwise signed, but it marks the end of the current clearing on the Deep Cr. Ridge Trail. We may clear this trail further but probably only for summertime mountain bike use. [It should be noted that the above mileages for the Deep Cr. Ridge Trail are about ¼ mile low]. At this point we are on the Mukluk Trail which heads downhill on a moderate (< 15% ) grade to the north switching back about 4 times, 0.5 miles to an old road. It took me about 7 minutes to descend this section. We need to put arrows on the blue diamonds to better mark the switchbacks. The trail follows a road that drops slightly to the east for about 0.3 miles (3 minutes) where it “T’s” into another road. The trail turns left (north) down this road very steeply (A few stretches are > 25%) for about 0.7 miles (12 min.) where it flattens out and another road joins from the right. This road is a proposed connecter trail from the lower Shoshoni TH. The trail drops slightly and crosses Moccasin Cr. and climbs slightly and out to the Mukluk TH in about 0.2 miles (5 min.). Overall the GPS said about 4.5 miles and it should have been about 4.8 miles and it took me about 2 hours and 15 minutes skiing time. At this point Wayne joined us. He’d just skied the above mentioned connector trail. Marlene agreed to shuttle and the rest of us rode up to the Shoshoni TH and skied my proposed ShoMuk connector trail. All agreed that it was a good route (See my 02/01/07 report.). It took me about 35 minutes to ski the 0.5 mile long “ShoMuk” connector. We then decided to ski again tomorrow. |
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02/04/07 |
28 Sat. Grp. Ski: Cliff, Judy, Paul, Renee, Tim, Bob, and Jay drove to William’s Cr summit and left a shuttle vehicle at the Mukluk TH. I was afraid that the warm temperature might ruin the snow and wanted to get in a trip down the Shoshoni Trail before that happened. I knew that there would probably be a crust on part of our route so I elected to wear my “heavy” telemark skis and plastic boots. We skied south on the Ridge Road and I was really dragging. I had to stop several times to catch my breath. My wax was alternately too grippy and then too slippy. After skiing up the fireline to the start of the Shoshoni Trail, I scraped off part of my wax and had no more problems, and skied north on the Upper Shoshoni Trail to the “Meadows”. We ate lunch at the top of the upper meadow. The snow in the upper meadow was great and with my wide telemark skis I had no problem further down where the snow started to get crusty. The snow in the lower part of the lower meadow was very crusty. This will be our last time on this slope until we get more snow and it cools down. We skied out the Lower Shoshoni Trail, but instead of skiing up to the Lower Shoshoni TH, we continued down an old road on the proposed ShoMuk connector. After our skiing yesterday the steep section was getting a little tough. It was obvious that I need to locate an alternate, gentler route, down the steep stretch. |
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02/05/07 |
29 Mon. Pvt. Ski: I (Cliff) drove to the Mukluk TH and skied out to the ShoMuk connector and tried to locate an old “horse log” trail that Marlene and I’d found the summer before last. I skied around the slope and skied up some firewood cutter roads, but couldn’t find it. It was probably over 45 degrees. I had blue and a touch of red wax and my skis were working well in the previous ski track, but in the fresh snow, they loaded up and were more like snowshoes. That was ok on the steep hill side but frustrating on the flats. I only covered 0.8 miles in about 2 hours time. On the way home I measured the following snow depths: Mukluk TH: 20”, Meadow TH: 23”, Big Fir TH: 17”, and Cougar Point TH: 16”. It was obvious that skiing in the untracked steeper slopes would not be much fun with the 3 days of well above freezing temperatures. Previously skied gentler trails will probably be ok – somewhat icy in the morning and wet in the afternoon. |
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02/08/07 |
Thu. Pvt. Ski: Marlene went with the ladies hiking group and they snow-shoed beside some of the Chief Joseph ski trails and then went for a swim at the Lost Trail Hot Springs. |
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02/10/07 |
30 Sat. Pvt. Ski: Judy, Vince, and Cliff went to ride & ski at the Lost Trail Ski Area. There was about 5” of new snow on a fairly hard base. In some cases along the upper ridge by Chair 4 the wind had blown off quite a bit of the snow. In other areas the wind had deposited more snow. Overall the skiing was very good. We made a run down drifter and Far Out and then skied mostly on Chair 4 until my legs gave out. We finished the day with some shorter runs using Chairs 3 & 5. |
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02/11/07 |
31 Sat. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Judy & Paul, Renee, Bob, and Jay drove to the Meadow TH and skied the right fork of the Meadow Trail, and around the Wapiti Loop and down to the “big clearcut” where we ate lunch at the rail fence. This makes a good place to sit. Judy, Bob, and Jay continued down the Meadow Trail to the junction with the trail to Cougar Point. At that point they took the “William’s Cr. Road Cutoff Trail” to the Lower Aspen Loop TH. Cliff, Marlene, Paul and Renee skied back up to the vehicles to leave “Blackie”, Renee’s dog. Cliff and Renee then skied back down and followed the same route the others had taken. Marlene and Paul drove the two vehicles down the Lower Aspen Loop TH. The previously skied tracks had a few inches of new snow in them. The route below the Big Clearcut hadn’t been skied for several weeks and there were almost now tracks visible. There was a little crust on the steeper sections. I measured 23” of snow at the Meadow TH. |
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02/13/07 |
32 Tue. Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Jim drove to the Chief Joseph Pass Ski Trails. I wanted to see if the new powder might allow some turn down the Joseph Cr. Trail. I used my big telemark skis in hopes of getting better floatation. It was a nice ski but the Joseph Cr. Trail isn’t steep enough to get up enough speed for good turning. We skied around the loop at the bottom and back up to the Whoopie Trail which we took to Sentinel Meadows, and then took the Timber Trail to “Windy Corner” and up to the start of the Scooter Trail. Someone had skied it last weekend. There was about 8”+ of new light snow on top of the hard packed base. CLICK HERE for a more complete description. We then skied back on the Timber Trail to the parking lot. Overall we skied about 5.1 miles for about 2:40 Hrs. |
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02/16/07 |
33 Fri Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Nancy drove to the Lower Shoshoni TH and skied a ways on the proposed “ShoMuk” Trail (the connector between the Shoshoni and Mukluk Trailheads. We looked for an old road that takes off this trail going east, but we couldn’t find it (See next report). There’s a steep pitch on the current location of this trail and there are currently two parallel steep road sections. Previously I couldn’t find one of the roads. We located the 1st of two roads down the hill and tied some flags there and also by the second road down hill. It’s good to have two routes down, because after a few people ski one of the routes it gets a little tricky without soft snow to control your speed. Eventually I’ll mark a more gentle route down (or up) at a 12% - 15% grade. |
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02/18/07 |
34 Sun. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Judy & Paul, Renee, Jay, Sarah & Rich, Nancy, and Tim & Nancy drove to Chief Joseph Pass where we met Janice and Sally from the Bitterroot side. After shuttling vehicles to the Cabinet Cr. / Shoofly TH, we skied on the Timber Trail to Windy Corner and up to the start of the Scooter Trail. My GPS listed it as about 1.5 miles to the start of the Scooter Trail. We skied out to and down part way through a large clearcut. A ways beyond the clearcut at the low point of the trail we found some shelter under some spruce trees and had our lunch. We celebrated Judy and Nancy’s birthdays with cupcakes with candles. We reached the Shoofly Trail after skiing 3.0 miles on the Scooter Trail (according to my GPS). This agrees exactly with the 3.0 miles (4.8 Km) shown on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF Ski Trail list. At the junction with the Shoofly Trail one can go north downhill to Hogan’s Cabin or south downhill to the Trailhead. Actually there are two choices in each direction. The easiest route to Hogan’s goes left here. Continuing east on the ridge in about 0.1 mile one reaches the most difficult route to the right (south) to the TH. Continuing a little further is the most difficult route to Hogan’s to the left and the easier route to the TH to the right. Marlene, Nancy and Nancy headed back to the TH via the most difficult route to the right. (The same route the rest of us eventually took.) My GPS showed this to be about 1.8 miles. So they skied at least 6.3 miles. The rest of us took the easier route to Hogan’s Cabin and back and then followed the same (more difficult) route as the first group to the Shoofly TH. Per my GPS we it would have been an extra 3.4 miles down and back from Hogan’s. So we probably skied at least 9.7 miles. My approximate skiing time was 4:10. Note that my GPS showed 3.5 miles for the Shoofly Trail which is what the maps show. The above mentioned BH-DL Trail list shows the trail to be (7.2 Km) 4.5 miles, but I think this is incorrect. The maps show the trail to be 3.5 miles via the most difficult routes. I think that taking the easiest routes both ways would not result in much more than 3.6 miles and taking the most difficult routes both way would not result in much less than 3.5 miles. |
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02/19/07 |
35 Mon. Grp. Ski: Cliff, Bob & Nancy, Renee, and Jay drove to the Meadow TH after leaving a vehicle at the Big Fir TH, and skied up the Buckhorn trail to the William’s Cr. Trail at the “Big Meadow”. We skied east in the meadow to a sheltered spot and ate lunch. The snow was great in the meadow but we could tell that it was going to be crusty further down and it was. Nancy skied back to the Meadow TH via the Upper Aspen Loop and Meadow Trail. The rest of us skied down to the Big Fir TH. The snow on the steep slopes was highly variable with a few good pockets and quite a bit of very poor crusty snow. The rocks are still showing as discussed in my ski reports. However, I think the new snow expected later this week will improve things. |
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02/20/07 |
36 Tue. Pvt. Ski: Cliff. Jim and Neil drove to the Lower Shoshoni TH after leaving a vehicle at the Mukluk TH. We skied the proposed ShoMuk trail and found the “road to the east” discussed previously. This may provide an alternative to the Shoshoni Meadows route. We then skied down the steeper route discussed above for 02/16/07. The snow was deep enough that we didn’t get up too much speed. In fact I would have like to have been able to go faster so that I could have made some turns. |
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02/22/07 |
Thu. Pvt. Ski: Marlene went with the ladies hiking group and they snow-shoed a ways up Freeman Cr. |
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02/24/07 |
37 Sat. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Judy, Wayne & Tanya went to ride & ski at the Lost Trail Ski Area. We skied chair 4 most of the day. The ski area has officially opened the area north of the Sacagawea run for “experts”. We skied this area most of the day. My (Cliffs) legs burned out toward the end; so Judy and I went to Chairs 3 and 5 to get more rest on the lifts in proportion to the time skiing. We skied down Bear Claw Ridge to the right (north) side of Chair 3 to get up enough speed to ski out on Main Street a ways past the turnout for side street. Here we found a connector trail to Side Street with some powder that the powder hounds had missed. |
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02/25/07 |
38 Sat. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Judy & Paul, Bob & Nancy, and Neil drove up to Chief Joseph Pass from Salmon. We were joined by Janice and Sally from the Bitterroot side. We took two rigs 3 miles down to the Richardson Ridge Trailhead (TH) which was well plowed. We then skied south on the Anderson Mtn. Road for 1.5 miles to the Richardson Ridge Trail; and then skied another mile and ate lunch at the point where the trail finally starts to get steep. It’s another 1.5 miles down to the lower trailhead for a total of about 4 miles. With the recent snow and cool temperatures, the snow was excellent. Maybe a little slow for some that wanted to make more turns. After we got back to CJ all but Janice & Sally skied down the Banshee Trail to the “Forks” and around to the bottom of the “Lower Loop” where we left the groomed trail system and skied down Joseph Cr. to the point where it crosses Hwy 43. We hadn’t skied this route in many years and noted that someone had put up more blue diamond markers. I’ll add this trail to my Lost Trail - Chief Joseph Pass Un-Groomed XC Ski Trails by Trail Segment web page. I’ll probably call it the “Lower Un-Groomed Joseph Cr. Trail”. If you plan to ski this in the future be sure and wait until the snow depth gets to be at least 4’ deep because there are several necessary creek crossings using snow bridges. |
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02/27/07 |
39 Tue. Pvt. Ski: Cliff. Jim and Neil drove to the William’s Cr. Summit TH after leaving a vehicle at the Mukluk TH. We ski south up the Ridge Road to the Deep Cr. Ridge Trail and then west up that trail following a fireline to the Upper Shoshoni Trail. We then skied out to the “Meadow” where we ate lunch. Instead of skiing down the meadow to the northeast, as we usually do, we skied down a ridge to the north. I’d seen meadows on this ridge and had hoped that it might be a good ski route. The problem was that most of the two larger meadows was flat, but followed by VERY steep pitches. After the meadow, the trees were very thick. Neil used his GPS to locate the east end of the road we’d skied last Tuesday (02/20/07) and he hit it almost exactly on the money. I have given up this route, but will still look for some other possible tie-ins to this old road. Once we hit the old road we followed our tracks from last week to the Mukluk TH. |
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02/28/07 |
40 Wed. Pvt. Ski: Cliff and Tim left Tim’s rig at Cougar Point and drove to the Meadow TH. We then walked across the road and skied down the proposed Upper Aspen Loop Extension to the U.A. Loop TH, where we crossed the road and skied down the Meadow Trail to the junction to Cougar Point. Nobody had skied this section since we last skied it on 01/16/07. There are a couple of spots where it’s easy to miss the trail and I did miss it once. Luckily Tim remembered that the trail made an unmarked sharp right turn. We need more diamonds on this trail. When we got to the timber cutting area we found that the snow had firmed up and that we could almost plane on top. We were able to make quite a few turns. Until it gets warm (predicted next week) this trail will be excellent for advanced skiers. |
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01/01/07 |
13 Mon. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Judy & Paul, Chuck & Pat, Jane & T, Anita & Tawna, Dave, Bob, Lou, and Cheryl drove up the William’s Cr. Road to the William’s Cr. Summit TH. We then skied two miles north on the Ridge Road to the “Tele Hill” where we climbed up and made a few turns. This is also the junction with the old stock driveway which is now the William’s Cr. ski trail to the right (east) and the North Moccasin Trail to the left (west). The “Leesburg East Timber Sale Road” also takes off here forking to the left while the main road bends sharply to the right. We then skied another 0.7 miles to the A-Frame where we ate lunch. After lunch we skied another 0.2 miles to the Perreau TS Road. At this point Chuck & Pat and Cheryl skied back to William’s Cr. Summit. The rest of us skied a mile or so down to the point where the Perreau Meadows Trail crosses the road. We turned right (southwest) and skied about 1.3 miles to the William’s Cr. Trail. Last year we found that the Perreau Meadows Trail is very hard to find due to a lack of blue diamonds. This year was easier because we remembered some of the trouble spots – but we still have several problem areas. We need to have a work day next summer to improve this trail. We then skied down the William’s Cr. Trail to the Upper Aspen Loop and out to the road where we found the rest of the group with our vehicles. While we were skiing the above route, Cal & Marsha skied the Upper Meadow Trails and the Wapiti Loop. |
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01/01/07 |
13a Mon. Grp. Potluck: Renee & Wes hosted a potluck supper for the following folks: Cliff & Marlene, Judy & Paul, Chuck & Pat, Jane & T, Anita & Tawna, Bob & Nancy, Cal & Marsha, Tanya & Wayne, Luke & Dorrie, and Lou. It was a great way to welcome in the new year. |
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01/02/07 |
14 Tue. Grp. Ski: Cliff, Renee and Judy drove the William’s Cr. Road 16.7 miles to the point where the Deep Cr. Road bears left and the road to the Beartrack Mine at Leesburg bears right. Currently this road is being plowed by mine personnel. We drove another 0.8 miles where we parked just past where the Moccasin Cr. Road turns left. Usually by this time of year this road is closed by snow, but this year it’s still being driven. We then skied about 0.1 mile north on the mine road to a rail fence and followed the south and east side of this fence to a point just before it crossed a small creek and we turned right (uphill) on the “Right Fork” (going down) of the Lower North Moccasin Trail. This trail needs more blue diamonds. I put on skins and broke trail up the steeper sections. The snow hadn’t consolidated as much as I’d expected so it took us over an hour to go about a half mile up to the end of the meadow. We ate lunch at an old collapsed log cabin. (This is the point where the “Right Fork” (going down) of the trail takes off and follows an old logging road back to the mine road 0.4 mile from the Deep Cr. Road.) We need to put up a sign at this point. We skied up the trail in the trees to check out snow conditions. The trail had less than a foot of snow and in some places less than 6” and we saw several downed logs in the trail. Don’t’ plan to ski the North Moccasin trail until the snow depth increases by at least another foot. We then skied back down in our tracks. It had taken us 52 minutes to ski up from the log fence and only 7 minutes to ski back down. When the snow consolidates more, I may ski a loop with the “Right & Left Forks” or the Lower North Moccasin Trail, but I was glad we only skied up and back this time. On the way home, I checked the snow depth at the Meadow TH and found 20”. |
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01/06/07 |
15 Sat. Pvt. Ski: Cliff and Judy skied at Lost Trail. It was fairly cold and window and it snowed all day. There’d probably been a couple of feet of new snow in the last day or so and there was over 5” of new since they’d shut down yesterday. In fact the snow was so deep that we couldn’t ski the unpacked snow on all but the steeper slopes. Chair # 4 was open for part of the afternoon and we managed to get “first tracks” on part of the Two Dot run. We could have done it on the Lewis & Clark run, but the snow was too deep to allow any progress with the snowboard and it would have meant walking with the skis. However the “packed” runs had almost a foot of new snow so we definitely got our “powder fix”. |
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01/07/07 |
16 Sun. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Dave, Tim, Ken, and Judy skied the Shoshoni “Meadows” Trail. First we drove to William’s Cr. Summit and left a shuttle vehicle 0.6 miles past the summit at the Lower Shoshoni TH. Note that currently there is no sign here, but it’s the first pullout on the left past the summit. We then skied up the Ridge Road to the south 0.6 miles and turned right and skied west up the fire-line about 0.7 mile. The wind was horrible where the trail tops out on a ridge but wasn’t too bad elsewhere in the trees. We turned right at the point where the fire-line gets very steep and skied a ways through the trees to the Shoshoni Meadows. The “meadows” is a telemark run designed for “expert” skiers. However, today the snow was excellent and we were all able to control our speed very well, and some of us were able to make some good turns. After skiing about 0.7 miles on the “Upper Shoshoni Trail we reached Moccasin Cr. and followed the “Lower Shoshoni” Trail about 0.8 miles back to our shuttle vehicle. Thus our total ski was about 2.8 miles. After skiing, some of us had tea at Bob & Nancy’s. Note that now the Shoshoni Trail is now skiable – at least for strong skiers. I measured 22” of snow at the Meadow TH. The 4 PM reading at Lemhi Ridge Snotel was 24.4”, or about 2 inches more. |
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01/10/07 |
17 Wed. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Jim, Bob, and Tim drove to the Meadow TH and skied up the Buckhorn Trail to the William’s Cr. Trail at the “Big Meadow”. Bob returned to the TH and drove down to the Upper Aspen Loop. The rest of us skied down the William’s Cr. Trail to the Upper Aspen Loop and back to the road. The new snow and wind has covered the trails well. There was over 6” of snow in our tracks from January 1st and much more in the meadows. However yesterday’s warmer temperatures resulted in a rain or sun crust under about 3” of soft snow. This crust didn’t start until we were part way down to the Upper Aspen Loop or at about 7,500’ in elevation. Based on the amount of snow we got Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, this crust shouldn’t be a problem and could even help some. |
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01/14/07 |
18 Sun. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Tawna, Marsha, Helen, Lou, Tim & Nancy, Nancy and Nancy drove to the unmarked plowed pullout just before the unplowed Upper Aspen Loop TH, and left a shuttle vehicle, and continued to the Meadow Trail TH. We walked across the road and skied up the Buckhorn Trail. It was quite cold but the sun was out and once we skied a little we were fairly comfortable. We ate lunch at the “big meadow” where the trail crosses the William’s Cr. Trail. I’d planned for part of our group to ski back in our tracks, but all were willing to try and ski down the steeper William’s Cr. Trail to the Upper Aspen Loop. This is not a good trail for beginning skiers to do on their own. However, the snow was fairly soft and with some coaching even the less experienced skiers did well. We had a radio so that the slower group could stay in contact with those in the lead. The Upper Aspen Loop had been skied enough that it was a great kick & glide. After skiing several of us had hot tea at Bob & Nancy’s. |
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01/16/07 |
19 Tue. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Jim, and Tim left Tim’s car at the Big Fir Trailhead, on the right 0.6 miles past Cougar Point CG. We then drove to the unmarked plowed pullout just before the unplowed Upper Aspen Loop TH and skied out on the Upper Aspen Loop to the William’s Cr. Trail. It took us about 20 minutes to ski these 0.6 miles. This was our first trip on the William’s Cr. Trail below this point, although there were old ski tracks barely visible from 1 or 2 previous groups. It took us another 17 minutes to ski the 0.6 miles to the sign for the Lower Aspen Loop. There is a “Y” for this trail to the right at about 0.5 miles, but it’s easy to miss. However we continued straight. Beyond this sign the trail drops down a meadow about 0.1 mile to gap in the Lodgepole pines which bends left down a steep pitch and then sharply to the right where it drops to a creek crossing. USE CAUTION ON THE STEEP PITCH JUST BEFORE THE CREEK CROSSING ON THE WILLIAM’S CR. TRAIL. THERE ARE SEVERAL ROCKS HERE. It took us about 8 minutes to ski the 0.2 miles from the sign for the Lower Aspen Loop to the creek crossing. At this point we hit an old road and followed it 0.6 miles for about 24 minutes to the Big Fir TH. Except for the pitch before the creek crossing the conditions were Good to Excellent. Total time and miles for this trip was about 70 minutes and 2.0 miles. We weren’t ready to quit so we shuttled vehicles down to Cougar Point and back to the Upper Aspen Loop. We then walked up the road past the Upper Aspen Loop TH and 300 feet more to the Meadow Trail where it joins the road on the left. We skied down the Meadow Trail to the rail fence by the “Big Clear-cut”. Tim followed the regular marked trail to the right and Cliff & Jim took the shortcut along the rail fence. We joined again and skied down to the junction where the William’s Cr. Road “Cutoff” bears left at the sign that shows Cougar Point CG to the 1.2 miles to the right. We then skied down to Cougar Point. I’d rate the snow Good to Excellent except where you ski though the logging cutting unit. WATCH OUT FOR STUMPS & LOGGING SLASH IF YOU SKI DOWN TO COUGAR POINT. The snow has consolidated fairly well and we didn’t hit anything, but It’s still a possibility. We were even able to make some good turns on the steeper pitches. When we ski through this cutting unit the blue diamonds bear to the left to an open ridge and then back to the right though some aspens. We now continue straight and even bear right and follow the right side of the cutting unit. We then join the trail again. Here, Cliff followed the trail which bears right through some Lodgepole pines to a point above the Cougar Point Picnic Area. Tim and Jim continued downhill through the cutting unit almost to the road and then (almost) contoured to the right to the Campground. We’ll put up some more diamonds on these routes later this year. This second trip was about 2.0 miles and it took us about 84 minutes. |
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01/20/07 |
20 Sat. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Judy & Paul, Nancy, Lou, and Renee drove up to Chief Joseph Pass from Salmon. We were joined by Janice and Barb from the Bitterroot side. We took two rigs 3 miles down to the Richardson Ridge Trailhead (TH) which was well plowed. We then skied south on the Anderson Mtn. Road for 1.5 miles to the Richardson Ridge Trail; and then skied another mile and ate lunch at the point where the trail finally starts to get steep. It’s another 1.5 miles down to the lower trailhead for a total of about 4 miles. There’d been about 5” of unpredicted light powder the night before and we all agreed that the trail was the best it had ever been. Those that wanted to go slow in control could do so, and those that wanted to go fast and/or make lots of turns could do that. We did find that even with nine folks the trail was too soft to support a dog. Thus I recommend that you limit skiing with dogs to the Anderson Mtn. Road and possibly the north portion of the Ander-Rich Trail. (Note that dogs are prohibited on the groomed CJ XC Ski Trails.) We noted that MDOT had also plowed the Cabinet Cr. / Shoofly Trailhead and the parking lot was full of snowmobilers and snow play folks. Renee, Lou, Janice, and Barb headed home. Marlene, Judy, and Nancy went out to the Cabin and skied a little on “Herringbone Hill”. Paul heading down the Banshee Trail and I (Cliff) tried to catch him. I couldn’t catch him but I had a ball making tele turns in the soft 5”+ snow beside the set track. I then skied back up the Joseph Cr. Trail and Timber Trail where I joined the rest of the group at the parking lot. I really like the change in the trail routing. Previously after skiing down Banshee, one was required to ski up the Middle Fork Trail and come out on the “Windy Corner” a long ways from the Cabin and Parking lot. Now one skis up the Joseph Cr. Trail that they have made a 2 way trail. This puts you quite a bit closer to the Cabin and Parking lot. |
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01/23/07 |
21 Tue. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Jim, Larry, Bob and Neil drove to Chief Joseph and skied south on the Anderson Mtn. Road to the Richardson Ridge Trail. (See mileages in the previous trip report) We then skied up the Richardson Ridge Trail about 0.3 miles where the “South Portion” of the Ander-Rich Trail takes off. This is at about the high point of the Richardson Ridge Trail and it’s marked with a sign. The south portion of the Ander-Rich trail gets very little use. I expect that we were the first to ski it this year. I wanted to see how well the trail was marked and to leave a track for folks to use this next Sunday. The trail heads south and climbs for a ways and then drops and bends to the west and hits the Anderson Mountain Road by an old logging unit. Going south, It’s marked fairly well with blue diamonds until just before it bends west; however we found there are no diamonds marking the south extension of the Ander-Rich Trail going north. According to my GPS this south portion is about 0.3 miles, although I think it’s closer to 0.5 miles. We continued south on the Anderson Mountain Road to the “Big Meadow” where we ate lunch and made a few tele turns. The snow is well consolidated. We only sank in 4 or 5 inches, but the top layer is quite soft, allowing good control. We backtracked to the Richardson Ridge Trail and skied back almost to the road where we turned right (North) onto the “North Portion” of the Ander-Rich Trail. This part of the trail ends at the start of the Anderson Mountain Road. Someone had skied this and it was a good thing because the diamonds were not too plentiful. My GPS showed this north portion to be 1.3 miles but I’m sure it’s at least as long as the road which is 1.4 or 1.5 miles. Overall we probably skied about 5 miles taking about 1:40, not counting the tele turns on the meadow. |
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01/24/07 |
22 Wed. Pvt. Ski: I (Cliff) drove up to the parking area just before the Upper Aspen Loop TH. I wanted to set a track on a possible trail that I’m pioneering. It’s easier to describe from the Meadow Trailhead. At the Meadow TH look across the road (north) and (currently) see a hole that I dug in the snowbank. Advanced skiers may want to follow my tracks. Let me know what you think. I’ll probably ask the Forest Service for approval to add the trail to our system. I’ll probably call it the Upper Aspen Loop Extension. It would only be a winter non-motorized ski trail because it goes essentially down a creek. After crossing the road, angle slightly down and to the right, to a large downed log. Ski around the log and downhill. Cross a couple of wet draws and bear right when you hit the main drainage. Follow my tracks to the start of the Upper Aspen Loop. Since this is not a finished trail you need to watch out for brush and small stumps and watch out for voids in the snow. I was amazed at how warm it was. All areas exposed to the sun were melting and had crusted over by the time I left. After checking the Lemhi Ridge Snotel, I see why. The Snotel has averaged 6.1 degrees HIGHER than Salmon since Tuesday morning. I measured 21” of snow at the Meadow TH while Lemhi Ridge had about 23”. I measured about 18” at the Big Fir TH. |
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01/25/07 |
Thu. Pvt. Ski: Marlene went with the hiking group and snow-shoed at Chief Joseph. She said that although it was fairly warm in the sun, the snow had not crusted over as it has closer to Salmon. |
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01/27/07 |
23 Sat. Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Marlene and Lou drove up to the Upper Aspen Loop TH and skied up the Upper Aspen Loop Extension (see my 01/24/07 report) to the Meadow TH and back. I think the trail is about 0.5 miles long. Unless it’s very icy this will be a good trail for intermediate skiers. We then skied out the Upper Aspen Loop to the William’s Cr. Trail and back to the vehicle. |
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01/28/07 |
24 Sun. Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Judy & Paul, Nancy & Bob, Tim, Tanya, Shyra, and Anita drove up to Chief Joseph Pass from Salmon. We were joined by Janice, Jill and Joyce from the Bitterroot side. We skied south on the Anderson Mtn. Road about 2.5 miles to the “big meadow” where we ate lunch. Judy & Paul, Nancy & Bob, and Marlene skied back on the road about 0.4 miles were they turned right (east) onto the Ander-Rich Trail and followed it back to the start of the Anderson Mtn road on Hwy 43. They then drove down to the Lost Trail Hot Springs for swimming and snacks. The rest of the group skied, climbing fairly steeply, on the road south another 1.5 miles to the start of the Cabinet Cr. Trail. The blue diamonds are hard to find for the first part of this trail, but we were in luck because another group had skied the trail earlier in the week. We skied up hill for 1/3 mile or so and then down a moderate grade to a fairly steep section and then a more gentle grade to the 1.5 mile point where the May Cr. Trail turns right. The sign says it’s 4 miles to the start of this trail which may have been true previously in the summer time, but now about 5.8 miles to ski to the May Cr. Trailhead. Someone had skied out this trail but I don’t know how far. From the map it’s very steep in a half mile or so. Anyway we bear left at this sign and ski on a gentle grade another 0.3 miles to the point where the May Cr. Ridge Trail takes off to the right. Last weeks skiers had turned off here. Just past this point the trail gets quite steep with a switchback to the right. This section faces north and the powder was excellent. We cut a couple of trees that were blocking the trail. I list this trail as about 3.3 miles, so we skied about 7.3 miles in total. This Cabinet Cr. / Shoofly Trailhead was well plowed, as was the Richardson Ridge TH. |
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01/30/07 |
25 Tue. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Jim, Tim and Neil drove to Chief Joseph and continued to the Cabinet Cr. Trailhead. The snow had been so good last Sunday that we decided to see if we could get more turns in the lower Cabinet Cr. Trail area. We skied up the Cabinet Cr. Trail. It’s about 0.8 miles up to the point where the main fork of Cabinet Cr. comes in from the right (west). The trail gets steeper here going up a fork of Cabinet Cr. At about 1.0 miles the trail gets steeper and Cliff and Jim put on skins. At about 1.1 miles the trail bends right (west) and crosses the creek and climbs even steeper climbing diagonally up the hillside. At about 1.3 miles the trail switches back to go straight up the hill to the south and at about 1.6 miles the trail levels out and reaches the junction with the May Cr. Ridge Trail. We skied east a ways and then down through the trees to the 1.0 mile point (see above). The trees were a little tight but we did manage to get in a few turns. We left with a better feel for the terrain. It’s easier to see the terrain when one skis up hill at a slower speed. In the past when skiing down this trail I wasn’t able to notice many of the landmarks. I think for a future trip, I’ll do the same thing on the Richardson Ridge Trail. Our total ski time was about 2:30 and total miles skied was about 3.4 miles. (Last Trip for January) |
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12/02/06 |
02 Sat. Pvt.
Ski: This was not a “Group Ski” day, but there were at least four groups of
us that went skiing. 2. Marsha and others, and 3. Bob, Nancy, Judy and Paul, and 4. Cliff and Marlene went to Chief Joseph Pass separately. We all took advantage of the cross country ski demo. Most of the upper trails had been groomed and most had tracks set. Conditions were soft. The lower (and steeper) trails aren’t groomed and are closed. We skied part of the “Tele Trail” and found the snow without a base and not deep enough to cover downed logs. Thus one should ski any steep areas with extreme caution. There was about 1.5
feet of snow at the marker near the highway entrance. I’d estimate about 20”
for most of the area, but as stated, there is no base on the unpacked areas.
Also note that the Richardson Ridge Trailhead, is not available. There is a
large pile of sand in it. However, it appears that the MDOT plows are plowing
a wide spot to accommodate 2 or 3 vehicle just before the bridge by the
trailhead. There is a good wide well plowed turnout exactly one mile back
toward Chief Joseph that can be used. Also note that they had not plowed the
Cabinet Trail Trailhead yet. CLICK HERE
for details on these un-groomed trails and trailheads. |
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12/03/06 |
03 Sat. Grp. Ski: Cliff, Judy, and Tim went to the William’s Cr. Trails and skied up the Buckhorn Trail to the Big Meadow and William’s Creek Trail, following Wayne and Tanya’s tracks from yesterday. The trail was very good. Folks need to control their speed on the way back but most obstacles seemed obvious. However use care if you ski the Buckhorn trail above the Big Meadow. It was fairly cold which may have discourages some skiers, however the sun was bright and very warm. We had an enjoyable lunch on a rock in the “Big Meadow”. After lunch we were “suckered” into following some tracks down the big meadow on the William’s Cr. Trail. The trail was ok in the meadow, but once we started down the steeper areas we hit numerous rocks. As I said above: DON’T SKI THE WILLIAM’S CR. TRAIL YET, at least until we get another foot or so of snow or until the snow develops a harder base. We skied back to the road on the UPPER ASPEN LOOP and that was good to very good. It would be suitable as an out and back for advanced beginners. At the road we took the left fork of the Meadow Trails (also the access to the Wapiti Loop) and skied down the Meadow Trail to the Big Clear-cut, making a short loop along the rail fence and back up to the entrance to the Wapiti Loop. We took it to the Right (heading down) Fork of the Meadow Trails and back to the Trailhead. All the upper Meadow Trails and Wapiti Loop are VERY GOOD EXCEPT for the one steeper pitch following an old road down to the Big Clear-cut. Although we didn’t hit any there were some rocks in this section – CONTROL YOUR SPEED. I WOULD NOT ADVISE SKIING BELOW THE BIG CLEARCUT YET. There was 11” of snow at the trailhead, about an inch more than last Tuesday, meaning that they had probably received a couple of inches of new snow. |
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12/05/06 |
04 Tue. Pvt.
Ski: Cliff, & Jim skied the “Right Fork” of the Meadow Trail and
around the Wapiti Loop and down to the “Big Clear-cut” making a small
loop by skiing back along the rail fence. See my comments re. conditions
above. |
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12/06/06 |
Wed. Pvt. Ski: Wayne skied from William’s Cr. Summit south on the Ridge Road to the Deep Cr. Ridge Trail with the intention of skiing the Upper Shoshoni Trail. Note that these latter two trails are not on the official map yet. See my descriptions (links in the heading above) for details. Wayne found the snow on the Deep Cr. Ridge Trails to be so poor that he turned back. Thus DON’T PLAN ON SKIING THE UPPER SHOSHONI TRAIL YET. |
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12/07/06 |
Thu. Pvt. Ski: Wayne skied out the Anderson Mountain Road to the Richardson Ridge Trail and out a mile on this trail. He found the snow good enough that we will schedule a trip on the Richardson Ridge Trail this next Sunday. |
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12/09/06 |
Sat. Pvt. Ski: Tanya & Wayne, Judy, Renee, and Dave skied the Richardson Ridge Trail south of CJ. The snow was barely enough to cover some stumps and logs and it didn’t have much body, but they got by well. See my report for 12/02/06 where I discuss the Richardson Ridge TH. They elected not to use the Richardson Ridge TH pullout, but rather they parked in the unplowed Cabinet Cr./Shoofly TH. Thus when they reaches the road they had to ski another mile east to the Cabinet Cr. TH. They skied through the trees rather than along the road. We might want to see about a route through the trees to connect these two trailheads. |
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12/10/06 |
Sun. Grp. Ski: Tanya & Wayne, Judy & Paul, Bob, and Tim skied the Richardson Ridge Trail to the point where it gets steep and ate lunch. Judy & Paul, and Bob then skied back to CJ and the others skied down to the TH where they’d parked in the pullout at Milepost 4.0 (3.0 miles east of CJ). They all then joined to ski out the G.R. Cabin where they had hot cocoa. Later that day after going to Missoula to buy new skis, Cliff and Marlene stopped at CJ to check out the conditions. Folks reported good skiing but there was still only about 1.5 feet of snow at the gauge at the highway entrance. |
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12/12/06 |
05 Tue. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Jim and Tim drove 1.5 miles past William’s Cr. Summit to the Lower Mukluk Trailhead. The trail follows an old low standard road and currently doesn’t have many blue diamonds but if one follows the most major road/trail that goes uphill they should be able to find the trail and follow their tracks back. However, I don’t recommend that folks ski from the top down unless they have someone that’s skied it before, and then not until we have more snow. The snow was quite light, but we didn’t hit any rocks as we proceeded up, being careful to stay in the center of the old roadway. The road heads south from the TH about level for about 0.1 mile and then drops to the right crossing Moccasin Cr. and then climbs gently to a junction with another road at 0.2 miles. We sometimes ski this road to the left as an out and back. After this 1st road to the road/trail gets quite steep in several stretches. Cliff and Jim put on climbing skins. Tim has quite aggressive “fish-scales” and was able to climb without skins. We realized that on the way back we would need to try and stay in our tracks or risk hitting rocks. At 0.9 miles there is a road that bears right (westerly) and is easy to miss. Watch for the blue diamonds. At 1.2 miles (almost to the end of the jeep road the trail switches back to the left (southeasterly). At this point the trail is not marked well enough to follow uphill unless you’ve done it before. We’ll try and get more diamonds posted next year. Here we followed a path that I’d cut out in the early 1990’s and it switches back several times before it gets to the ridge-to and the Deep Cr. Ridge Tr. at about 1.6 miles. However this junction is not noticeable in the winter because the Deep Cr. Ridge Tr. is not cleared to the west of the Mukluk Trail. This upper part of the trail had several logs and stumps showing. That’s the advantage of skiing up and back. Going slow uphill the logs were not a hazard, and going back down we knew where to slow down. It took us about an hour and 45 minutes to ski the 1.6 miles to the Deep Cr. Ridge. On the way back we made a “barricade” with small trees and limbed other trees so that the blue diamonds would be more visible at one of the switchbacks. Folks had missed this switchback on previous trips. Cliff & Jim left on their skins so that they didn’t get up too much speed and were able to ski back in their own tracks. It probably took us about 45 minutes of skiing time to make the 1.6 miles back to the TH. It’s hard to rate the ski conditions. For us the snow was excellent, but with only about 10 inches it would have been possible to have hit rocks on the way down. Note that the snow is almost always better (except for one trip that I remember) in this area than on the Lower Trails near Cougar Point. Don’t rule out an up and back on the Mukluk trail if you are an intermediate skier that can control your speed. We stopped and measured 12” of snow at the Meadow TH. The Upper Meadow Trails looked excellent, however I wouldn’t recommend skiing down to the Lower Aspen Loop TH yet, and Cougar Point is definitely out for quite a while. |
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12/17/06 |
06 Sun. Grp. Ski: Cliff, Judy, & Paul, Tanya & Wayne, Vickie, and Nancy skied the Richardson Ridge Trail. The snow depth was adequate and the consistency was excellent, but it was quite cold (probably not much over 10 deg. F.) and our skis didn’t’ glide too well, so we weren’t able to make turns where we often could. The plus side was that it was perfect for those that didn’t want to go fast down the hill. Note that the wide pullout for the Richardson Ridge Trailhead hadn’t been plowed for awhile so it was only suitable for our high clearance four wheel drive vehicles. As far as I know they still haven’t started plowing the Cabinet Cr. / Shoofly Trailhead at all yet this year. |
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12/19/06 |
06a Tue. Wrk. Day: Cliff rode with Cavin to look at the William’s Cr. Cross Country Ski Trail Trailheads and to review priorities for the trail system. |
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12/20/06 |
06b Wed. Wrk. Day: Cliff drove to Ketchum (“Sun Valley”) to drop off some clothes and to go to the “Gold Mine” Thrift Store. Cliff bought 3 pairs of used telemark skis and an old pair of climbing skins for a total of $42. Let me know if you have any used cable bindings that you’d sell – the bindings on these skis are too small for my boots. |
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12/24/06 |
07 Sun. Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Marlene and Brenda skied the Upper Meadow Trails and Wapiti Loop and cut our Christmas Tree. We met Gene & Kathy and Glen and skied back to the Trailhead. Kathy and Marlene drove the vehicles to the Lower Aspen Loop and the rest of us skied down the Meadow Trail and took the “Cutoff” to the William’s Cr. Road and Lower Aspen Loop TH. I hit one rock just below the “big clear-cut”, but that seems to be covered now. If the snow isn’t’ fresh on this lower stretch of trail, beginning skiers need to start down the steeper pitches quite slowly and then they can “let ‘er rip” at the bottom. |
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12/26/06 |
08 Tue. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Brenda, Mica and Glen skied at Lost Trail. Brenda and Mica were practicing their telemark technique in powder and they really improved a lot. |
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12/27/06 |
09 Wed. Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Brenda, and Anita & Tony skied up the Buckhorn Trail to the “Big Meadow” where we ate lunch. We then skied down the William’s Cr. Trail to the Upper Aspen Loop and back to the road. Marlene skied up to the TH and got the vehicle. The rest of us skied down the Meadow Trail and took the “Cutoff” to the William’s Cr. Road and Lower Aspen Loop TH. The rock that I’d hit previously seemed to be well covered this time. |
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12/28/06 |
10 Thu. Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Brenda, and Anita & Tony skied at Lost Trail. In the morning Anita skied with here downhill (“Alpine”) gear and Tony used his snowboard. Cliff & Brenda used tele gear. Anita and Tony tried some tele gear for one run down the Lower Sacagawea run. Considering the short time, they were picking up the technique fairly well. The runs were excellent. Early in the season it’s necessary to pack quite a few of the runs, however I always appreciate it when they leave some of the runs and the sides of some runs unpacked. That was the case and although we didn’t get in any “first tracks” we had some good powder. I did notice that in the trees beside the runs the snow was a little skimpy. |
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12/29/06 |
11 Fri. Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Brenda, and Anita & Tony skied up the Buckhorn Trail to the “Big Meadow” where we ate lunch. We then skied down the William’s Cr. Trail to the Upper Aspen Loop and back to the road. Rather than ski up the fork of the Meadow Trail, we walked up the road to the Meadow TH. |
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12/30/06 |
12 Sat. Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, and Tim & Nancy skied up the Buckhorn Trail to the “Big Meadow” where we ate lunch. We then skied down the William’s Cr. Trail to the Upper Aspen Loop and back to the road. Marlene & Nancy skied up to the TH and got the vehicle. Tim and I skied down the Meadow Trail and took the “Cutoff” to the William’s Cr. Road and Lower Aspen Loop TH. LAST TRIP FOR DEC. 2006. |
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11/05/06 |
01a Sun.
Wrk. Day: Cliff & Marlene work on the “lower re-route” of the Buckhorn
Ski Trail including: Flush cut several stumps, cut small seedlings,
move some logs that were too close to the trail. Cut a better route at
the upper end where the “re-route” joins the main trail. Work time about
3.5 hours. |
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11/07/06 |
01b Tue.
Wrk. Day: Cliff & Jim worked on a short “re-route” around a steep
pitch of the “Right Fork” (going down) of the Meadow Trail about
100 yards past the trail junction. (About 0.2 miles from the Trailhead) This trail
is used by beginning skiers to access the Wapiti Loop, our easiest trail.
This steep pitch can be a problem for beginning skiers going down and
sometimes going back up. We cut & bucked several small trees and flush
cut the stumps. Work time about 2.5 hours. |
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11/08/06 |
01c Wed. Wrk. Day: Cliff completed work on the Right Fork Meadow Trail Re-route. Work included pruning branches and putting up intervisible green diamonds. Work time about 2.5 hours.
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11/09/06 |
01d Thu. Wrk. Day: When the trail system was first established in the late 1980’s we used green diamonds to mark the Wapiti Loop, our easiest trail developed for beginners. More recently I’ve been using green diamonds to mark these easier trail “re-routes” to distinguish them from the main trail that’s marked with blue diamonds. I’ve noticed over the years that the green diamonds just didn’t show up any where near as well as the blue ones. Orange diamonds are not an option because they are used to mark snowmobile trails. Thus I decided to put a yellow border around the green diamonds. I took a diamond and trimmed ½ inch off each edge and glued it to a 2 foot long stick. Using this modified diamond as a shield, I sprayed my remaining green diamonds with yellow paint, resulting in a ½” yellow border around each green diamond and improving its visibility immensely. Work time about 1 hour. I’ll take the “shield”
and yellow paint, and over time, modify the existing green diamonds that I
put up yesterday and those on the Wapiti Loop. |
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11/12/06 |
01e Sun.
Wrk. Day: Cliff & Marlene worked on the “lower re-route” of the
Buckhorn Ski Trail including: Pruning branches and installing the
modified green diamonds described above. Work time about 4.0 hours. |
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11/25/06 |
Sat.- Sun. Pvt.
Ski: Wayne & Tanya ski at Chief Joseph. They reported about 12” of snow
with good conditions on the flats. They did not recommend skiing on the
steeper areas yet due to a limited snow base. |
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11/28/06 |
01 Tue. Pvt.
Ski: Cliff, Larry, & Lou skied the “Right Fork” of the Meadow Trail
and around the Wapiti Loop and back up the Left (going down) Fork
of the Meadow Trail. Someone had skied this route previously and there
was about an inch of snow in their tracks. They had hit water several times
but it was now frozen, although we had to be cautious not to break through in
a couple of spots. We spread some more snow over some of the snow bridges to
improve the crossings. We didn’t ski down to the “big clear-cut”, but I think
as long as one kept their speed down there should be no problem. I would not
recommend skiing below the big clear-cut yet. Except for the caution about
not going too fast, I’d rate the conditions as at least GOOD. :>) |
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Abbreviations Used In the Above:
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Cr. |
Creek. |
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Grp. Ski |
One of our scheduled group trips. Some may only want to read the group ski reports. Do a Find - Grp to do this. |
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CJ |
Chief Joseph Pass On Montana HWY 43 which actually starts in Idaho at Lost Trail Pass entering Montana at Milepost 1.0 at Chief Joseph Pass. |
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Mt. |
Mountain. |
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Pvt. Ski |
Not a group ski. Anyone that has an interesting trip should let me know and I'll add it. If possible indicate the snow depths and conditions. |
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Rd. |
Road. |
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TH |
Trailhead. |
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Word Count: 12,926 |
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Web Location |
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** Last revised on web: 1/ |
10/11/2007 15:05 PM minor update 10/19/2007 |
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Previously revised on web: |
04/06/2007 17:45 PM |
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Home Page Location |
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Contact: |
Email
is: ckeene41-b4 followed by an @ and then yahoo.com |
1/ Items with an "*" were
added since previous revision.
Two ** indicate minor update between ski
reports.
