Salmon, Idaho Cross-Country Ski Trip Reports
“Winter” 2007 – 2008
Author: Cliff Keene Latest revision: 10/15/08 Search for * (asterisk) to find any changes from 03/06/08 and ** for any future minor changes.
Click on the following links for previous year trip reports: Last Winter 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. Area Ski Trails Links: (Hit the refresh button if one of these seems to stop loading.)
Trail
Descriptions Trailhead
Locations Trail Map Trail Segment table
Chief Joseph Lost Trail Pass Area Trail Links: Lost Trail Chief Joseph Un-groomed Trail Segment Table
Chief Joseph Groomed Trails Map or Chief Joseph Area Un-Groomed Touring Trails Map <- This is an excellent map.
Click on one of the following to jump to that section. Hit the Back button to return here.
A. MARCH - APRIL 2008 TRIPS (To see late March & April trips click on February and scroll upward)
B. FEBRUARY, 2008 TRIPS (To see late February trips click on January and scroll upward)
C. JANUARY, 2008 TRIPS (To see late January trips, click on “December” and scroll upward)
D. DECEMBER, 2007 TRIPS (To see late December trips, click on “November” and scroll upward)
E. NOVEMBER 2007 TRIPS (To see late November trips, click on “June” and scroll upward)
F. June 2007 – October 2007 (Work Days) (To see late October trips, click on Web Site Statistics and scroll up.)
G. . Web Site Statistics
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03/01/08 |
36 Grp. Ski: It looked like a bad day so there wasn’t a good turnout. It turned out better than it looked. Cliff and Tim skied up the Buckhorn Trail from the Meadow TH and down the William’s Cr Trail and out the Upper Aspen Loop. The top layer of snow was great but there was a sun crust, down a few inches. At the “Big Meadow” on the William’s Cr trail we found that the wind had scoured most of the new snow off. Skiing down the steeper areas was only fair. We were able to make a few turns, but not with any confidence. We ate lunch part way down to the Upper Aspen Loop. We skied on that trail back to the meadow, about 200’ from the road. At that point rather than turning left to the road, we turned right and skied up to a creek and up the creek to some flags that we’d tied and where we’d previously pruned some tree limbs. We then turned left and skied uphill about 100 yards to the road, just across from the Meadow TH. We hope to establish and mark this trail as an official route. It makes a good alternative to skiing up the Meadow Trail or up the road. |
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03/05/08 |
37 Pvt. Ski. Cliff and Tim Skied from the Lower Shoshoni TH on the “Horse-log Trail” to the 1st spur to the right and down the steep road to the Mukluk Trail Spur A. The snow on the “old road” was excellent and we made many turns. We then skied up the Mukluk Trail to the point where the trail leaves an old road and becomes a narrow cleared trail. We then skied back down in our own tracks. The snow was fairly soft and we were able to make quite a few turns. All sun exposed snow has a fairly substantial sun-crust, but once someone breaks a trail the snow is excellent on gentle slopes. Turning is only easy on the steeper north facing slopes (less sun). Unfortunately most of our meadows do not face north and are crusty. I think the best snow is on the Mukluk Trail and its unmarked spur trails. |
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03/08/08 |
38 Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Judy & Paul, Renee & Jay, and Tawna (let me know if there are others) went to Chief Joseph and skied the Richardson Ridge Trail. Most folks skied the entire trail to the Trailhead. Cliff, Renee, and Tawna turned off to the north and skied down a steeper slope to Joseph Cr. and the Hwy 43. We then skied down (between the Creek and the road) to the trailhead. The snow had been fairly good until we reached the sunny flat where we encountered the “glue meadows syndrome”. In other words the snow stuck to our skied on almost every step. |
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03/12/08 |
Cliff & Marlene leave for a ski trip to the Seattle area and on to Whistler, BC. |
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03/15/08 |
39: Anita & Tony, Cliff, Steve, and Brenda downhill ski on Whistler mostly in the Harmony and Symphony areas. We return to the condo at “Whistler Creek” mostly on Franz’s Run which will be the downhill ski run for the women’s Olympics in 2010. Marlene and Carol XC Ski and Snowshoe at the Callahan Valley. |
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03/16/08 |
40: Anita & Tony, Cliff, Steve, and Brenda XC ski at the Callahan Valley and watch an XC relay race at the XC Olympic Park. Cliff tries to go too fast on old skis and falls and hurts left hip bone. |
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03/17/08 |
41: Anita & Tony, Cliff, Steve, and Brenda downhill ski. We take the Gondola from Whistler Creek, then ski down to the Whistler-Blackcomb base and take the Blackcomb Gondola and several chairlifts to the 7th Heaven area near the top of Blackcomb. The fog is thick so we move down the mountain somewhat to better light. Cliff’s legs tire out so he bails out early. The rest of the group gets about 28,000 vertical feet for the day. Marlene and Carol snowshoe in the Callahan Valley. |
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03/18/08 |
We walked around Whistler Village and drove to Pemberton. After lunch Anita & Tony drove to Vancouver to catch their plane to Boise. |
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03/19/08 |
42: Steve & Carol, Cliff and Brenda downhill ski on the Whistler side. Cliff again has to bail out early due to fatigued quads. Marlene XC skies and snowshoes in the Lost Lake area to the north of the Whistler – Blackcomb base. We all head back to Seattle area on Thursday. |
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03/25/08 |
43 Ski-Wrk. Day: Cliff, Bob & Nancy drove to Chief Joseph. Cliff and Nancy skied out to the Richardson Ridge Trail and put up blue diamonds wherever one was not visible in the downhill direction. The trail is about 2.5 miles and we installed 60 diamonds over the upper 2 miles. The lower ½ mile is fairly well marked, but does need to be checked a little more when we do the diamonds for the uphill direction. I did add a few diamonds facing downhill where I knew there were problems. Folks occasionally ski uphill at least part way from the bottom. Folks also ski down part way and then back. Diamonds aren’t quite as critical here because folks will have their tracks to follow. Bob had their new dog, so was only able to ski up the lower section to meet us. We ran out of time to do a complete job on this section. I’d not anticipated the need for so many diamonds. I think the reason is that we know the trail quite well so we normally only have problems finding the trail in a couple of spots. However when we approached the trail as someone skiing it for the first time we realized that it was necessary to put up quite a few more diamonds to make them “intervisible”. |
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03/27/08 |
44 Cliff & Tim drove to William’s Cr Summit. We skied north up the Ridge Road about a mile to the high point and down through the trees to the “Blindfold Meadows”. We’d hoped that the new snow might be skiable, but we found a sun crust that resulted in our doing mostly “survival skiing”. We skied down to the William’s Cr. (aka Moccasin Cr) Road to the Lower Shoshoni TH. We then skied the Horse-Log roads to the Mukluk TH and our shuttle vehicle. The snow on the north facing “steep road trail” was outstanding. The snow on steep shaded north faces is still excellent. However the sun is now hot enough that a sun crust develops quickly on other aspects. On the way home, I measured 42” of snow at the Meadow TH. |
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03/29/08 |
45 Cliff got a late start and drove to Lost Trail Ski Area. I skied Chair 4, and although the snow was fairly well skied up, I got in some good runs. |
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03/30/08 |
46 Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Judy, Lou, Renee & Jay, Tim & Nancy (and ??) skied up the Buckhorn Trail from the Meadow TH and down the William’s Cr. Trail to the Lower Aspen Loop. Marlene, Judy, and Nancy got the rest of the vehicles and drove to Cougar Point. The rest of us skied up the Meadow Trail “Cutoff” to the “Junction” and down to Cougar Point. The snow was fairly good although there was some crust in places. , |
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April, 2008 TRIPS |
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04/01/08 |
47 Cliff, Tim & Nancy ski the Horse-Log Trail up to the upper Spur C and around the upper loop. We ate lunch at the “log corral” and skied back on Spur A to the “Steep Roads”. Tim skied down the western most road and Cliff and Nancy skied the “By-Pass”. Snow was still good on these trails. |
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04/06/08 |
48 Grp. Ski: Cliff, Judy, Renee, and Tim drove to Lost Trail Ski area where we got “single trip” lift passes. We skied down the Gunsmoke Trail and up Chair 4. We then skied the Oreo Trail down to Saddle Mtn road. We skied out the road to the second saddle where we ate lunch. At this point I realize that I should have planned to leave town at 09:00 rather than 10:00. We elected to start back. Once back to the Oreo trail we turned right and skied south to the fork in the fireline. We took the right fork which is the Saddle Mtn. Road, rather than the left fork which is the Oreo Trail. The snow was too hard or crusty to ski this steeper trail. This was the last day of skiing so they were offering food and beverages for half price. So we took advantage of this. |
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04/09/08 |
49 Cliff, Lou, and Tim went up to Lower Shoshoni TH and skied to the top of the upper “Spur C” Horse-Log Loop and climbed up higher. We were searching for a possible route from the Upper Shoshoni Trail. We made our way to the south east to the small creek that starts to the west of the Upper Shoshoni Trail. We then skied back down the creek to the end of the “Spur B” road. We thought that this creek bottom might be a viable route, but it needs more checking. We then skied back to the Shoshoni TH. |
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04/11/08 |
50 Cliff and Tim skied south up the Ridge Road to the Deep Cr. Ridge Trail and up the Fireline to the Upper Shoshoni Trail. We skied north to the Shoshoni Meadow, but then, rather than following the trail along the upper part of the Meadow, we skied to the left and then north to the creek mentioned in the previous trip report. We found that the creek was too steep to use as a route under most conditions. Our previous tracks had iced up somewhat too. This might be a suitable route if the snow surface had very deep powder. However under those conditions we would much rather ski the usual Shoshoni Meadows route.
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* 04/13/08 |
51 Grp. Ski: Cliff, Judy, and Tim drove to the now closed Lost Trail Ski Area parking lot, after leaving a “shuttle vehicle” at the start of the West Camp Creek Road. This road is on the left side of Hwy 93, about 2.4 miles north of Lost Trail Pass. We were scouting out a “new ski trail”. This trail starts just north of the entrance road to LT Ski Area just across from the Lost Trail Hwy Rest Area (closed in winter). We actually started skiing at the access trail to the top of Chair # 3; this was to avoid climbing the steep snow-bank. It was about 0.17 miles over to where the trail actually starts. We noted that some folks had been taking a shortcut to the trail from our starting point. The trail is flat for a quarter mile or so and then drops at probably 10% or more. It was about 1.37 miles (37 minutes) to the West Camp Cr. Road. In many areas the snow had not warmed up and still had a crust, resulting in difficult skiing. However with good snow it should be an easy run for intermediate XC skiers and probably even advanced beginners. Rather than ski back to the shuttle rig right away, we skied back to the Yurt at the bottom of Chair # 3. It was about 0.25 miles back to the yurt. I don’t know if this trail has a name. I may call this the “Old Hwy 93 Trail unless someone has already named it. We ate lunch and the picnic table beside the yurt and then skied north on the West Camp Cr Road (at this point we are actually in East Camp Cr, but the road bends back and eventually reaches West Camp Cr. FS road are often named for their destination. It was about 1.5 miles (1.46 on the GPS) from the yurt at the bottom of Chair 3 to the start of the West Camp Cr. Rd. and our shuttle vehicle. Our total ski distance was 2.96 miles for about an hour and 20 minutes. After returning to the Ski Area parking lot we drove a shuttle vehicle back toward Salmon where Hwy 93 crosses Moose Creek. This is almost exactly 3 miles from Lost Trail Pass. We then skied down the old road down Moose Cr. The road starts on the west (right) side of Hwy 93 just as it starts dropping (past the wide pullout on top). We actually started skiing at the wide pullout where there was more parking space. The old road meets the bottom of the Drifter Ski Run and becomes the cat track down to the base of Chair # 2. It was about 0.59 miles down to Chair 2 from our vehicle. The old road enters the trees just to the south of the base of Chair 2. Another option to get to this point would be to ski down the Lost Trail Drifter Ski Run although that could be a little steep for many folks. The trail was probably about the same level of difficulty as the trail to the north. However it was hard to compare because by now the snow had warmed up and was essentially corn snow. There are a couple of tricky creek crossings but not a problem for intermediate level skiers. The total ski distance for this run was about 1.43 miles for about 34 minutes. |
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* 04/15/08 |
52 Cliff and Tim skied south up the Ridge Road to the Deep Cr. Ridge Trail and up the Fireline to the Upper Shoshoni Trail. We skied north to the Shoshoni Meadow, but then, rather than following the trail along the upper part of the Meadow, we skied to the left and then north almost the same as we did on April 11, but then rather than skiing down the creek we veered to the left and followed the ridge line to the northwest. This is mostly a gentle downhill for maybe a half mile or so, but then gets fairly steep. We found the going hard due to the crusty snow. However with good powder and a good base to cover the numerous blow-downs, this could be an interesting “telemark run”. It’s probably not anything that we’d want to mark But it may be fun to try it again with good snow conditions. We came out at about the boggy area where the main Horse-Log” trail starts downhill to the west to “T” into “Spur A”. One advantage to this run over the usual Shoshoni Meadows route is that this faces more to the north and thus will have better snow at times. |
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May, 2008 TRIPS |
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* 05/15/08 |
53 Cliff and Tim skied north up the Ridge Road. We skied 0.8 miles to the 1st “high point” on the road and at about 1.3 miles we skied out on some old “firewood cutter roads”. These roads do have the potential to provide some additional skiing. There may also be a possibility that these might provide a possible connection to the “Blindfold Trail” road. The Ridge Road was skiable, but there were a couple of spots where we had to walk our skis across bare ground for 10 or 20 feet. In recent years past this would have been completely melted by this date. We agreed that it was probably time to hang up the skis. |
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Ski Year 2007/2008 Wrap-Up Counting trips to Lost Trail and not counting 19 times when we walked on the trails to do some trail work, I’ve skied 53 times this winter. Exactly the same number as last year. (2006/2007). Last year was only 44. My first trip was November 23, 2007, actually a work day on skis) and the last trip was May 15, 2008. The first scheduled trip was December 02, a little later than last year when we scheduled a trip in November. After the start of December the snow was deeper and more consistently powdery than any year in recent memory. We were able to ski all the way down to the Big Fir and Cougar Point Trailheads all winter for most of the season. In November we completed a trial more “gentle” connector route between the Shoshoni Trail and the Mukluk Trail. This connector is still rated most difficult with some pitches over 15%, but it should allow intermediate skiers and in most conditions, advanced beginners to ski this route. I’ve tentatively elected to call most of these old roads the “Horse-Log Trail”. We skied these quite a bit this year and sometime in the next year or so we will lobby to add these to the “official trail system”. I will suggest that the main trail to the west and south be called the Horse-Log Trails with Spurs A, B, and C. There are also some roads and horse-log trails off the Mukluk Trail that are quite gentle. This area doesn’t get much use but it may be well to add these to the system too. I suggest that we just add them as lettered spurs to the Mukluk Trail. Refer to the early season work days for some of our work on this potential trail system. |
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02/02/08 |
28 Grp. Ski: We skied south on the Ridge Road to the Shoshoni Meadows and down to the “Horse Log” trails to the Mukluk TH. Let me know if you went on this trip and I can add names. |
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02/03/08 |
29 Grp. Ski: We skied down the Meadow Trail to Cougar Point twice. |
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02/10/08 |
30 Grp Ski: We had to cancel the planned trip down the May Cr. Trail and instead went to William’s Cr. Summit and skied down the North Moccasin Trail. It was very poor skiing due to the fact that snowmobiles had been on the trail. This trail is not closed to snowmobiles and thus they were within their rights to be on it. However if a snowmobile does use this trail it makes it almost unusable for cross country skiing. |
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02/14/08 |
31 Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Rob, Anita and Tawna went to Lost Trail Ski Area. This could have been one of the best days of the year. |
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02/16/08 |
32 Grp Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Bob & Nancy, Judy & Paul, Renee & Jay, Tim & Nancy, Lou and Stacy. Skied up the Buckhorn Trail and ate lunch at the Big Meadow. Bob, Marlene and Stacy backtracked down the Buckhorn Trail. The rest of us skied down the William’s Cr Trail with Nancy and Nancy skiing out the Upper Aspen Loop and the rest of us skiing out the Lower Aspen Loop. Cliff, Tim, Judy, Renee and Jay then skied up the “Cutoff” of the Meadow Trail and down the Meadow Trail to Cougar Point. Prior to this or at the same time, others skied the upper Meadow Trail and Lou skied down the road. Those areas that had been hit by sun were starting to get crusty. In some cases the snow was good but in others it was almost like a breakable crust. The recent warm spell has affected us somewhat. |
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02/18/08 |
33 Pvt. Ski: Cliff and Judy went to Lost Trail Ski Area. What with the recent warm weather and the lack of snow since last week we weren’t expecting that the snow (at least the powder) would be that good. However we found that the “out of bounds area” to the north wasn’t too bad. There were no long untracked areas, but we were able to plan our turns so that we could make quite a few in powder. By the last run, however, there wasn’t much left. Pray for snow. |
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02/24/08 |
34 Grp Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Bob, Anita & Tawna. Drove to Chief Joseph. We met with the group from the Bitterroot that was going to ski the entire May Cr. Trail. We (from Salmon) elected to take an easier option. We skied up the bottom of May Cr 2.5 miles to the May Cr. Cabin where we ate lunch. We’d found that the snow on the right (sunny side) of the valley was crusty or hard in the trail. We found an occasional ski trail on the left (shady side) where the snow was still soft. We’d been planning to ski up May Cr., the remaining 2.5 miles to where it gets steep. (And possibly tie in with the Bitterroot group). However considering the snow conditions, we elected to ski southwest about a mile up the side creek that comes in by the cabin. The snow was perfect. We skied up a mile or so, made a few turns on a side-hill and returned to our vehicles. Later I heard that the through skiers found fairly good snow, but the steep southerly exposed section down to May Cr was fairly crusty. |
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02/2708 |
35 Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Larry, Nancy, and Paul drove to Chief Joseph. We went south across the road on the Anderson Mountain Road Un-Groomed Ski Trail. Where the trail starts there are signs and arrows pointing left to the Ander-Rich Trail. This trail is fairly well marked for about 0.3 miles. However just beyond a small clear-cut the trail is very poorly marked. We installed blue diamond markers from this point, south to the junction with the Richardson Ridge Trail and the Anderson Mtn. Road. We found that it was best to just install the diamonds facing north for southerly bound skiers and wait until the trip back to install diamonds in the other direction. The trail was designed to bear left and be co-located with the Richardson Ridge Trail up to the high point at about 0.3 miles. It then turns to the south, approximately following the Continental Divide again, and returns to the Anderson Mtn. Road in about 0.3 miles. This “South Section” of the Ander-Rich Trail doesn’t get much use, and in fact most folks that ski the “North Section” ski directly to (or from) the junction of the Richardson Ridge Trail and the Anderson Mtn. Road. Thus we made a short fork in the Ander-Rich trail, with the existing fork going SE about 200’ to the Richardson Ridge Trail and a trail sign, and the other (New?) fork going about 200’ SW to the Road & Trail Junction. We installed diamonds with arrows so that folks would know that there are actually two trails starting here. After eating lunch we realized that we didn’t have enough time (or blue diamonds) to do the “South Section” so we headed back (north) and installed diamonds facing south. With only about one exception the diamonds are intervisible (while at one diamond, you can always see at least one more ahead). We installed about 60 diamonds on the Ander-Rich Trail and were pleased with a good days work. By the way, the snow was excellent, especially skiing back in our own trail. |
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01/01/08 |
17 Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Renee & Jay, Bob & Nancy, Mike, Tawna, and Chuck skied up to the A-Frame and ate lunch. We saw an avalanche that had been made in the last few days just to the east of “Telemark Hill”. It’s not where we normally ski but too close for comfort. It looks like a snowmobile may have set it off. After lunch Bob, Nancy, and Mike skied back on the road and shuttled vehicles. The rest of us skied down the Buckhorn Trail to the William’s Cr. Trail and on down to the Big Fir Trailhead (TH). The snow is a little shallow at the Creek crossing, but we saw no rocks. The snow is a little too soft to enable one to make turns on all but the steepest pitches. |
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01/01/08 |
17a Grp Potluck: Cliff & Marlene, Renee & Jay, Bob & Nancy, Mike, Tawna, Chuck & Mona, Ken & Bonnie, Pat & Chuck, Judy & Paul, Lou, and Larry & Monica met at Bob & Nancy’s for our annual New Years Potluck. It was a great way to start the new year. |
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01/03/08 |
18 Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Tim, and Nancy skied up the Buckhorn Trail to the “Big Meadow” and down the William’s Cr Trail to the Big Fir TH. Snow was still soft but was starting to get some “body” so that we didn’t sink in quite as much as on Tuesday. |
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01/05/08 |
19 Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Wayne, Tim & Nancy, and Renee & Jay skied down the main (left fork) of the Meadow Trail to the Wapiti Loop and around the loop and back to the Meadow Trail. (Actually Cliff, Marlene and Nancy skied only ¾ of the way around the loop and took the shortcut to the Meadow Trail. We all joined and skied down the Meadow Trail to the Cougar Point TH, after stopping at the remnants of an old log cabin to eat lunch. The snow is still too soft to ski off the trail and make turns, and there are rocks that can be hit in the Cougar Point Picnic Area. There seems to be no problem however if you follow the blue diamonds. After skiing we stopped at Jays for snacks and beverages and then drove to Bob & Nancy’s for more snacks and beverages. |
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01/06/08 |
20 Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Anita, Tawna, Renee and Jay drove to Chief Joseph and skied the Richardson Ridge Trail. The snow now has a fairly good base and it was possible to turn on the steeper pitches. We skied out to the Gordon Reese Cabin for lunch and met some other folks and had a nice visit. The snow was even firm enough that we were able to make a few turns in the “Picnic Meadows” clear-cut. |
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01/09/08 |
21 Pvt. Ski: Cliff accompanied Cavan to the Mukluk TH. The purpose of our ski was to show Cavan the “new trails” in the area, so that at least some of them could be added to the William’s Cr. Ski Area Trail System. We discussed other priorities. Cavan is preparing a grant request for several improvements to the trail system. One of the most important is to prepare a new map of the trail system and to prepare and post metal “You Are Here” signs at many of the more critical trail junctions. We skied up the Mukluk Trail to what I’m proposing as a beginner “Spur C” to the Mukluk Trail. We then skied back and around the “Spur B” beginner loop and looked at a possible extension of this loop and up the “Spur A” to the “Spur A By-pass”. Then out to the proposed “Horse-Log Trail” and around to the Mukluk “Spur A”. We skied down the steep telemark portion of this trail and back to the trailhead. The snow depth was 26” at the Meadow TH. With a few light crust sections. |
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01/10/08 |
22 Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Anita and Tawna went to Lost Trail Ski Area. As usual the powder was great. |
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01/13/08 |
23 Grp. Ski: We’d planned to ski the Perreau Meadows Trail, but did the Shoshoni Meadows to Mukluk route instead, due to a lack of skiers. Cliff & Marlene, Neil, Lou, and Jay. Skied up the Ridge Road to the south 0.6 miles to the Deep Cr. Ridge Trail TH. We then skied 0.7 miles west up this trail that follows a fire-line. On the right side of the fire-line just before it gets very steep we turn right at a sign for the Shoshoni Trail. The Upper Shoshoni Trail is a “Telemark Run” and recommended for experts. A short nearly flat ski leads us to the “Shoshoni Meadows”. It usually takes me about an hour to ski to this point and it’s often a nice sunny spot for lunch, with a great view of the Beaverheads. This time was no exception. We also found that THE SNOW WAS PERFECT. Before eating Neil and Jay made a couple of yo-yos, and then after lunch we headed downhill. The snow was firm enough to hold us up, but had a few inches of softer snow so that we could turn with control. At the bottom of the second meadow, we hit the head of Moccasin Creek and the “Lower” Shoshoni Trail. Once Marlene broke out the trail the rest of us got a great glide down to the point where the trail hits the switchback of an old road. Normally we turn right and ski uphill to the Lower Shoshoni TH. However since last year we’ve located a series of roads used in the 1950’s by loggers using horses to skid the logs. I’m now calling this the “Horse-Log” Road. We turned left at the switchback (actually we kept heading straight) and skied down the road about 0.3 miles to the point where it turns left and crosses Moccasin Cr. We then ski up this road past another road to the right that I’ll probably call “Spur B” and two other roads to the left, possibly Spurs C & D. Past Spur D, we bear right and start downhill and “T” into the afore mentioned “Spur B”. After about ¼ miles or so there are three routes downhill. The first two are fairly steep and not recommended if the snow is not very soft. The third route is a “by-pass” that takes off the 2nd road and, although rated as “Most Difficult”, it is usually suitable for advanced beginners if the snow is fairly soft. Cliff & Jay skied the 1st (western most road), Neil & Lou skied the second road and Marlene skied the by-pass. All reported good skiing. At the bottom of the steep pitches, we skied out about 0.3 miles on what I’ll probably call the Mukluk Trail Spur A. We pass a “Spur B Beginners Loop”. We then turned right and skied about ¼ mile on the Mukluk Trail to the Mukluk TH and our shuttle vehicle. |
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01/17/08 |
24 Pvt. Ski. Cliff went to Lost Trail Ski Area and skied Chair 4. I got a late start, but although I didn’t get “1st Tracks” the powder was still fairly soft. I did note that there are still quite a few rock on the upper ridge. The wind keeps scouring this area. |
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01/18/08 |
Grp Snowshoe: Marlene accompanied the “ladies hiking group” and they snow-shoed the Big Hole Battlefield area. (This was after a day and overnight at Fairmont Hot Springs near Anaconda, MT. |
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01/19/08 |
We cancelled our group ski for this weekend, due to lack of interest mostly because of the cold temperatures. However several members skied on their own. Renee was returning from a trip skiing at Old Faithful. Tanya skied the Deep Cr Ridge – Mukluk Trail on Saturday and she skied the Shoshoni Meadows on Monday. Lou went to Chief Joseph on Sunday and spent the night. He skied a few loops at CJ and went to the Trailhead Telemark ski demo at Lost Trail Ski Area. |
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01/26/08 |
25 Grp. Ski: We skied the Richardson Ridge. Please let me know if I left someone out. Cliff & Marlene, Anita & Tawna, Judy & Paul, Renee & Jay, Renee’s Friend from the Bitterroot Side, Lou and Neil went, I think. |
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01/27/08 |
26 Grp. Ski: We skied south on the Ridge Road to the Shoshoni Meadows and down to the “Horse Log” trails to the Mukluk TH. Let me know if you went on this trip and I can add names. |
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01/31/08 |
27 Pvt. Ski. Cliff, Anita and Tawna went to Lost Trail Ski Area. Once again the powder was great. |
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12/01/07 |
02 Pvt. Ski: Cliff
and Jay skied the Upper Meadow Trails and Wapiti Loop. We drove to the
Meadow Trailhead at William’s Cr. Road MP 12.9. We then skied 0.1 miles to a
junction. We took the “Right Fork” which is probably the best for beginning
skiers as the “Left Fork is a little steeper. There used to be a steep
pitch on the Right Fork, but now there’s a by-pass with a more gentle grade,
marked with green diamonds. This trail “T’s” into the Wapiti Loop. We
followed the Wapiti Loop to the right for almost 0.1 mile to the point where
the trail bends sharply right and the actual loop begins. Normally you should
always take this trail to the right because this part of the Wapiti Loop
is only marked in the counter-clockwise direction. There are a few creek
crossings that you’ll need to avoid jamming your pole down, but they should
be ok now. |
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12/02/07 |
03 Grp. Ski: Cliff
& Marlene, Anita, Judy & Paul, Neil, Renee & Jay, and Dave drove
to Chief Joseph and skied out the Anderson Mtn. Road to the Richardson
Ridge Trail. The snow depth appeared to be marginal, so we opted not to
ski through on the Richardson Ridge Trail. Rather we skied up the trail about
0.3 miles to it’s high point and turned right (south) onto the south
extension of the Ander-Rich Trail. We followed it to it’s end on the Anderson
Mtn. Road and continued out to the “Big Meadow” where we ate lunch and made a
few turns. |
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12/06/07 |
04 Pvt. Ski. Cliff
and Neil drove to Chief Joseph for a scouting ski trip. We found good
news and bad news. There was about 35” of snow by the Trailhead signs and the
snow gauge showed about 3.5 feet. However there was a hard crust. The Saddle
Mtn. Snotel shows about 6” of snow Sunday night and 14” of snow Monday;
however both Monday and Tuesday had temperatures above freezing. Based on the
difference between the increase in snow moisture and the increase in
precipitation, I’m quite sure that there was also quite a bit of rain on
Monday. Further there had been almost no new snow since the warm
temperatures. Thus there was a hard crust about 1” down with only 1” of light
fluff on top. |
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12/08/07 |
05 Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Anita & Tawna, Stacy, Judy & Paul, Neil, Renee & Jay and Tim went to the Meadow TH. We skied different trails, but eventually most everybody skied the Wapiti Loop and Upper Meadow Trails down to the “Big Clear-cut”. Except that the Wapiti Loop was still a little “humpy”, all the trails were at least GOOD and EXCELLENT in many places. There is a logging road to the right about ¾ of the way around the Wapiti Loop (See the 12/01/07 report.) We found that this was an ideal short-cut that allowed our slower group to catch up with the fast group and allowed the slower group to avoid the steeper drop on the Meadow Trail. The depth is still too low to allow skiing down to Cougar Point, but the upper trails seem to have a good enough base to safely allow a little speed. We ate lunch at the “Rail Fence” and skied back up the “Left Fork (now on the right) to the Meadow TH. Several called it a day but Cliff, Judy & Paul, Neil, and Tim Skied up the Buckhorn Trail and back. Neil and Tim sawed out several hazard logs that were blocking the trail. (See the 12/01/07 report). |
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12/09/07 |
06 Grp. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Tim, Renee & Jay went to the Lower Shoshoni TH after leaving a shuttle rig at the Mukluk Trail. We skied the trails between the two trailheads which I think I’ll call the “Horse-Log Trail”. The snow is deep enough that trail breaking was somewhat a chore. We skied out and back on what I may call “Spur C” and around the loop on “Spur D”, and down “Spur D”. We back-tracked up Spur E and ate lunch near some sort of log corral. We then skied back down to what I may call Spur B. There are two steep roads that go down to the Mukluk Trail Spur A and a more gentle “By-Pass”. Renee & Jay took the west road, Tim took the east road and Cliff & Marlene took the by-pass. We wanted to see if the by-pass would allow intermediate or advanced beginners to make this trip. We were very pleased with our new “by-pass” trail. There’s one spot that’s a little steep, but will be fine once the snow gets a little deeper. We may want to cut a few more trees in this area to allow more snow to reach the trail. |
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12/09/07 |
Pvt. Ski: Bob & Nancy went to Chief Joseph and skied out the Anderson Mtn Road. They wanted a more mellow trail for their dog (than what we skied at William’s Cr.). They found a couple of inches of new snow on the crust, apparently somewhat better than what Cliff and Neil found on Thursday. They skied out to the Richardson Ridge Trail and back to the parking lot. They made a loop around by the Gordon Reese Cabin and found the groomed trails in good shape. They reported 3 feet of snow on the gauge by the entrance road. They reported that the Missoula Trailhead store was having their demo day (I regret that I missed getting the word out about this). |
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12/11/07 |
07 Pvt. Ski. Cliff, Chuck, Neil, and Tim drove to William’s Cr. Summit and ate lunch. We discovered that the Ridge Road to the North had been plowed. We walked up a ways, but decided that there was enough snow on the plowed road to allow skiing. We skied up 0.4 mile and to the left on the old road that I’m calling the Blindfold Trail and out the “Blindfold Meadows”. Everyone that skis this area must sign an oath of secrecy or wear a blindfold (LOL). We skied up the Meadows to the right (North) making about 5 switchbacks. We separated and looked for a good route up to the road. I think I have a good route now – not much over 100 yards and without too much deadfall. Now the payoff we started down the meadow. However we found that the new powder was so deep that we couldn’t get up enough speed to make any turns. Since this slope faces south it should set up somewhat and be good in the future. We skied back down the “Blindfold Trail Road” and followed it to its end. It crosses the meadow and reaches a westerly bearing ridge, and then the road bears right (north) and drops down to a creek and small opening in the trees. There are several lines in the trees that look promising, where we might be able to ski down to this road. Neil’s binding broke (or came off), so we called it a day. The snow depth at the Meadow TH is 16” with a 2” hard base and a thin crust at 10” (6” of soft snow on top). This is about 2” more than we measured on Sunday. |
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12/13/07 |
08 Pvt. Ski. Cliff and Bob skied up the Mukluk Trail to the first road to the left. I think I’ll call this the Mukluk Trail Spur A. There’s also a loop trail (Spur B?) that starts at this junction too. Just bear left at 45 degrees rather than 90 degrees and follow the blue flags. It comes back to Spur A. We skied up this “Spur A” road to the point where it gets steep and took the new by-pass trail that we’d cut out earlier this fall. It starts by climbing to the right and making a switchback to the left and crosses the steeper road and climbs up to eventually re-join the road within about 200 feet of the top. I was interested to see if we could easily climb this trail without skins. We found that one needs to be waxed well, but that it’s possible. At the top be turned left and skied out to the “Horse-Log Road” and turned back. On the way back down we watched for needed trail improvements. We determined that there were two areas where some moderate sized trees should be cut. This is needed to provide more maneuver room and also to allow the snow to collect in the trail better. The trees are intercepting too much snow. Once back at the Mukluk trail we turned left and skied up a few hundred yard to a road to the right (west) (Spur C?). This road (and the Spur B) is quite flat and suitable for beginning skiers. At the point where this Spur C takes off, the Mukluk Trail gets quite steep and is no longer suitable for beginners. With a little more work this next summer we should be able to have enough gentle trails in this area so that it can be a destination for beginning skiers. This could be a true multi-use area where the more advanced skiers in a group could ski up the Spur A By-Pass Trail to the Horse-Log Trails or else ski up the steeper part of the Mukluk Trail and back. I didn’t measure the snow at the Meadow TH, but it probably had a couple more inches than when I measured it on Tuesday. |
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12/15/07 |
Grp. Ski: Tim led a trip including Bob & Nancy, Dave, Jay & Renee, Neil, Paul & Judy, and Wayne & Tanya. They skied up the Buckhorn Trail to the “Big Meadow” where some ate their lunches. Tanya and Dave skied further up the Buckhorn Trail to the top of the steep pitch. They reported good conditions. The group then skied down the William’s Cr. Trail to the Upper Aspen Loop and back to the road. They noted a few rocks along the William’s Cr. Trail but generally reported fairly good snow. Tim and Neil skied down to the “Big Clear-cut” and the rest returned to the trailhead. |
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12/16/07 |
09 Grp. Ski: Cliff, Jay & Renee, Neil, Paul & Judy, Tim and Wayne & Tanya. Skied out the Anderson Mtn Road to the Richardson Ridge Trail. Paul & Judy (and dog Mollie) skied back to the TH and then (without Mollie) skied some of the groomed runs. The rest of us skied down to the Lower Richardson Ridge TH. The TH was well plowed on both sides of the road and the pullout used in previous years was even plowed. |
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12/22/07 |
10 Grp. Ski: Cliff,
Anita, and Tawna drove to William’s Cr. Summit. We skied 0.4 miles
north up the Ridge Road to the “Blindfold Trail” We skied to the end of
this trail and back to “Blindfold Meadows”. We expected good turning,
but the 9” or so of very light powder slowed us down too much. After it (and
Monday’s new snow) settles and wind set some this may be better. For now to
get in turns you need to be on the steeper trails. |
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12/23/07 |
Grp. Ski: Jay, Renee, and Roy skied the Upper Shoshoni Trail and had good skiing in the Meadows. After hitting the Horse-Log Road, they continued down to the Mukluk TH, following our tracks from the day before for the most part. |
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12/24/07 |
11 Pvt. Ski: Cliff,
Brenda, and Marlene drove up to William’s Cr. summit and found that there
were no parking areas plowed. We drove back to the parking area just below
the Upper Aspen Loop TH. We skied through the trees past the “Big Clear-cut”
to the Meadow Trail and the new connector with the Wapiti Loop and around the
loop. We got a Christmas Tree and headed home. |
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12/25/07 |
12 Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Marlene and Brenda joined Jay and Roy to ski “Horse-Log Trails”. (Lower Shoshoni to Mukluk TH). There was new snow since Sunday, but the trailheads were plowed out now. |
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12/26/07 |
13 Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Brenda and Micah went to Lost Trail for the afternoon. We only had time to make a run down side street and two runs on Chair 4, but the snow was fantastic. Powder and no lift lines on the day after Christmas if you can imagine. |
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12/27/07 |
14 Pvt. Ski: Cliff & Marlene, Anita & Tony and Brenda skied all the “Horse-Log” Trails and one of the new “beginner loops” off the Mukluk Trail. |
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12/284/07 |
15 Pvt. Ski: Cliff, Brenda, and Anita & Tony skied at Lost Trail. The wind was too strong to open Chair 4 until about noon so we made a few runs on Chair 2, ate lunch in the lodge, and finished the day on Chair 4. There’d been several inches of new snow since Wednesday so it was almost as good as previously. |
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12/29/07 |
16 Pvt. Ski: Tony went snow kiting across from the Big Hole Battlefield. Anita, Brenda, and Cliff & Marlene skied the Meadow Trails. Anita, Brenda and Cliff then skied down to Cougar Point. The snow is now deep enough to ski all our trails. After skiing we drove to the Sharkey Hot Springs and soaked in the hot water. |
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11/03/07 |
12w Wrk. Day: Cliff & Marlene, Renee, Roger and Jay cut a by-pass around the steep section of the “Sho-Muk” Trail. This by-pass is steep enough that it will have to be classed as “Most Difficult”, but in most snow conditions it will allow intermediate skiers to ski between the Lower Shoshoni TH and the Mukluk TH. See the Wed. 10/31/07 report for a description of this trail. We now have two 20-25% “telemark runs” and the new 15-17+% by-pass to allow access from the Lower Shoshoni TH to the Mukluk TH. There are several miles of old “horse-log era roads” and horse skid trails that can be skied in addition to the main connector roads. Work time 4 hours for 5 folks. |
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11/06/07 |
13w Wrk. Day: Cliff, Lou and Neil cleared hazard logs from the Sho-Muk Trail. Work time 5 hours for two and 3 hours for one. |
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11/07/07 |
14w Wrk. Day: Cliff and Neil cleared the remainder of the main Show-Muk roads. Work time 5 hours for two folks. |
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11/09/07 |
15w Wrk. Day: Cliff scouted the upper portion of the Show-Muk Trail to locate an upper loop and to locate a route around a steep pitch. I also found an old horse-log trail that might be made into an easy loop at the bottom of the steep areas. Work time 4 hours 1 person. |
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11/10/07 |
16w Wrk. Day: Cliff & Marlene and Jay cleared the “Upper Loops” of the Show-Muk Trail. Work time 3 hours for 3 folks. |
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11/15/07 |
17w Wrk. Day: Cliff and Neil cleared the road portion of the proposed “Blindfold Trail”. Someone had done some clearing on this trail since I last skied it, so it didn’t take us too long. This trail follows an old logging road that takes off the Ridge Road to the left (west) 0.4 miles north of William’s Cr. Summit. It’s hard to see, but I don’t want to make the entrance too obvious. There’s one lone blue flag to mark it. It goes about _ miles to a meadow (used by expert skiers) and continues to a ridge where it drops to the right (north) for another _ miles down to a small creek where it dead-ends. I think it may be possible to make a loop of sorts by skiing up the meadow, and a few hundred yards through some trees, back to the Ridge Road at its 1st high point. The old road would be suitable for beginners, but the loop would have to be classed as at least intermediate (more difficult) or more. Work time 5 hours for two folks. |
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11/20/07 |
18w Wrk. Day: Cliff, Chuck and Neil cleared the 1st spur to the left (east) on the Show-Muk Trail out to the fork. We then cleared the upper (right) (SE) fork. This should be a very interesting up and back trail. The upper fork is moderately steep (+10%), so one should be able to get a nice glide in the tracks on the way back out. The lower (left) fork of this trail can be cleared next year. However, it’s almost skiable now with only a few obstructions. Work time 5 hours for three folks. |
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11/23/07 |
19w Wrk. Day: - 01 Pvt. Ski: Cliff (on skis) & Marlene (walking) scouted out three “beginners loops” off the Mukluk Trail. We don’t have a very good place for beginning skiers to ski, especially in the early season. Except for one moderately steep section where the Mukluk Trail crosses Moccasin Cr., these loops should be suitable for beginning skiers and they are flat enough that they can be skied now with only about 6” of snow. I’ll see if we can widen the trail where it crosses Moccasin Cr. so that it can be truly classed as “easiest”. Work time 4 hours for two folks. |
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11/24/07 |
20w Wrk. Day: Cliff & Marlene, Renee and Jay cut the 1st two of the above mentioned beginners trails. Work time 4 hours for three folks. |
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11/25/07 |
Pvt. Ski: Renee and Jay skied the main trails at Chief Joseph. They reported adequate snow (maybe up to 20”) with no concerns about hitting rocks. The parking lot had been plowed and the Gordon Reese Cabin was open. They were told that the trails would be packed (without a set track) on Tuesday. This was confirmed in Mel Mooers’ ski report. |
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06/01/07- |
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04/21/07 |
53 Sat. Pvt. Ski: Cliff and Tim skied the last day of the 2006/2007 Season. Go to: http://home.custertel.net/~ckeene41/skitriprpt06_07.htm for last years report. |
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06/02/07 |
01w Wrk. Day: Cliff, Dave, and Jane & “T” joined Bill Dickson and several other Forest Service Trail Crew personnel to work on the lower Meadow Trail above the Cougar Point Picnic site. The 1.3 mile section of Trail # 222 that goes down to Cougar Point had never had diamonds facing downhill. Although this is a fairly steep section, the trail is a good one to ski up and then ski back in one’s own tracks. I’ve had periodic requests to design this trail for uphill travel. Also for the last several years there’ve been some missing diamonds at critical points in the downhill direction. There were also several rocky spots that prevented us from skiing this section for much of the season. We re-routed the trail around some rocky areas, removed some rocks and logging slash, made switch backs up a steep area and straightened a dog-leg in the trail. Diamonds are now installed up about 0.5 miles through the logging cutting area. (See later dates for finishing this all the way.) Bill probably has the total number of people and time. I think the time was about 6 hours on the mountain for the group. |
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08/05/07 |
02w Wrk. Day: Cliff and Marlene installed diamonds the rest of the way up the 1.3 miles to the trail junction (See 06/02/07 for background). Estimated work time about 5 hours for two folks. |
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08/10/07 |
03w Wrk. Day: Cliff worked more on the Meadow Trail above Cougar Point. The last set of diamonds was a very dark blue and they don’t show up as well as the standard lighter blue. Green diamonds are even worse, but I’d found that by painting a ½ inch yellow border around green diamonds, they are quite visible. Thus I used my template to install a yellow border around the dark blue diamonds. I installed black arrows on diamonds that precede sharp bends in the trail. I used a template that I’d made for this purpose with partial success. Estimated work time about 4 hours. |
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08/22/07 |
04w Wrk. Day: Cliff and Lou cut a downed tree that was blocking the Lower Meadow Trail about ½ mile from the “junction”. We are trying to make some of our ski trails “multi – purpose trails where possible, thus we’d brought our mountain bikes to test out the trail. I was too tired, but Lou rode down to Cougar Point. He reported that there were some loose rocks that might be removed to improve the trail. I did install some additional diamonds on the “William’s Cr. Road Cutoff” section of the trail that goes from the “junction” to the Lower Aspen Loop TH. Actual work time about 3 hours for two folks. |
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08/23/07 |
05w Wrk. Day: Cliff accompanied the “Ladies Hiking Group”. We hiked up the Lower Meadow Trail to the “junction” and continued up to the point where it hits the William’s Cr. Road. We then hiked out the Upper Aspen Loop, down the William’s Cr. Trail and out the Lower Aspen Loop to a shuttle vehicle. I was shuttled up to the Meadow TH and the rest of the crew headed home. I rode my bike down the entire Meadow Trail to check its feasibility as an intermediate Mtn. Bike Trail. Generally the upper part is no problem because it follows an old road for the most part. The last mile (of the 1.3 miles from the “junction”) has never had a constructed tread. The “tread” is the result of elk and cattle traffic. Although rough, I felt that with a little more work this trail would be a good intermediate level Mtn. Bike Trail. I worked on the tread in a couple of places. Actual scouting time about 2 hours for 1. |
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09/08/07 |
01ww Wisdom RD Wrk. Day: Cliff (I) am also a member of the Bitterroot XC Ski Club. I attended their work day where we filled the basement of the Gordon Reese Cabin with firewood. We had a nice potluck lunch after working hard all morning. |
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09/09/07 |
06w Wrk. Day: Cliff and Marlene went up to the Lower Meadow Trail above Cougar Point. Using a shovel and a rake we removed logging slash from the new section of trail (that eliminates the dog-leg) and removed as many rocks a possible from the tread. I think the trail will be a lot better for mountain biking now. I was surprised at how many diamonds I’d used on this trail and I decided that it would be good to know how many diamonds it takes to mark a trail of this type. I counted about 60 facing downhill on the 1.3 miles up to the “junction” and about 66 facing uphill on the way back to our vehicle at Cougar Point. Thus dividing 66 by 1.3 gives about 50. Thus a rule of thumb is that for a trail that needs intervisible markers in both directions, we need about 100 diamonds per mile for a trail with a moderate to high amount of turns. This assumes that diamonds are “intervisible” in other words, there will always be at least one diamond in view at all times. Realize that when a ski trail follows a road or well cleared trail it may not be necessary to have intervisible diamonds. These diamonds are classed as “re-assurance” markers. With a diamond at all points where there is a fork in the road or trail and periodic diamonds to “re-assure” the skier that (s)he is still on the trail. However many of our trails are not this well cleared. Estimated work time about 5 hours for two folks. |
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10/14/07 |
07w Wrk. Day: Cliff and Marlene went up to the Lower Mukluk TH and hiked a ways up the Mukluk Trail and turned east onto what I’ve been calling the Showmuk Trail. CLICK HERE to go to the report for February 01, 2007 where Cliff, Tim, & Neil scouted out this trail. Also scroll up to read the 2006/2007 wrap-up where I discuss this trail. Marlene and I tried to find a good 15% grade to by-pass the steep section of this trail but most routes would require quite a bit of tree felling so we gave up. Currently there are two roads that drop down this steep section and both have 20 – 25% pitches. We put the “by-pass” on hold and did some scouting further to the south and found a real interesting loop. It is moderately steep but will be fun for high intermediate skiers. Almost no clearing will be needed. A little flagging ribbon should do the trick until we decide whether to add these old “horse log” road to the system. Estimated scouting time about 3 hours. |
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10/14/07 |
Wrk. Day: Jay, Renee, and Roger went on the Aspen Loop. They cut up some downed trees that were in the trail and replaced the diamonds and signs that were on the trees that had fallen. Much of the work was actually on the William’s Cr. Trail just before the Lower Aspen Loop takes off to the right. There are a few more downed trees to cut that will need a larger saw. Work time about 3 hours for 3 folks. |
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10/24/07 |
08w Wrk. Day: Cliff drove to the Meadow TH and walked out 0.1 miles to the Junction of the left and right fork of the Meadow Trail. About 100 yards past the junction on the “right fork”, to a more gentle “re-route” that by-passes a short steep hill. We’d marked it with green diamonds. This segment was available all last winter but hadn’t been getting much use. As stated previously, the green diamonds don’t show up at all. Thus I took my “diamond template” and sprayed a ½” wide yellow ring around the outside of the diamonds. This trail should now be suitable for beginning skiers to access the Wapiti Loop. I then walked to the Wapiti Loop and did the same thing to the green diamonds on that trail. The diamonds are quite widely spaced on this trail and I added a couple at some critical bends in the trail. However I don’t have enough diamonds to do this properly. The yellow rings should help a lot, however. It should be noted that this trail is only marked in the counter-clockwise direction. Some folks ski it clockwise, which is not a problem as long as there are ski tracks in the snow. About ¾ of the way counter-clockwise around the Loop I
discovered a wood cutter road that enters from the right and follows the
trail for about 100 feet. I need to follow this wood cutter road to see if it
might make a good ski loop. |
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10/25/07 |
09w Wrk. Day: Cliff drove to the Lower Shoshoni TH and walked the old “horse log” roads. I was looking for a loop that I’d found last winter. I also trimmed a few small trees that were in the road. I didn’t find the loop until it was time to head home. . Estimated scouting time about 3 hours. |
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10/29/07 |
10w Wrk. Day: Cliff drove to the Mukluk TH and walked
up to the “interesting loop” that Marlene and I had found on Sat.
10/14/07. I trimmed whips and small trees from the trail. It should be
a dandy loop; except that where it “T’s” onto the contour road, there’s a
steep sharp turn without much room. We may want to put up a “caution” sign.
On the way out I think I may have found a possible re-route around the steep
pitches that I discuss in the 1st 10/14/07 entry above. |
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10/31/07 |
11w Wrk. Day: Cliff drove to the Mukluk TH. I walked out to the steep sections or road that I’d been trying to by-pass, and finally found a route. It wasn’t that it was impossible to make a 15% grade around the steep sections, rather it was hard to find a route that didn’t require lots of tree felling. I finally found a route that doesn’t require much tree felling but will require cutting quite a few downed logs. Work time 2.5 hours for 1 person. |
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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. I keep track of the number of Grp. Ski and Pvt. Ski days that I attend with a number just before the Grp. or Wrk. Designation. |
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Rd. |
Road. |
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TH |
Trailhead. |
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Wrk. Day |
A day where we work on the trails, or scout out new trail locations or re-routes. I keep track of the number of work days separately from the number of ski days. |
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Word Count: 8,813 |
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Web Location |
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* Last revised on web: 1/ |
10/15/2008 17:35 PM |
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Previously revised on web: |
03/06/2008 11:45 AM |
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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.
