Finally got some snow!, Stampede Pass, Saturday, 12/14/02

I've waited a long time for this day... and it hasn't come fast enough! After what felt like endless weeks of clear sunny skies as November rolled into December, we finally got some snow in the mountains over the past few days... not much, but certaintly enough to take my new ride out for a spin!

So I've only spent a meer 48 miles on my RMK and can tell already, this is going to be a TON more fun than the Mountain Cat. (Kinda reminds me of how I felt when we upgraded from the ZR to the MC). Some of the early observations with the RMK include a more comfortable riding position (with the taller handle bars), pretty easy to maneuver (despite the 159" track) and a lot of power (I'm gonna love an 800!). It's obviously too soon to get a feel for all aspects of this bad boy but the seasons first ride already confirms my first impression- I don't think we'll be spending too much time digging out this year... that is, as long as we get enough snow here to test it!

Stampede Pass with Don, Saturday, 12/21/02

Went up with Don Gillett today. Since we only went for a half day, we traveled several spur roads off 41 that I've always wanted to do (4111 & 4113). Taking the 4111, in particluar, I was hoping to ride out to a possible connection point with the 810 off 5210 near Bearpaw Butte (where we were last weekend). Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn and ended up with a great view of this butte and the end of the road. We thought we might cut across the ridge to 810 on the other side but that didn't work (the climb was too steep and the snow too soft). Now that I've downloaded our GPS tracks and compared them with the TOPO maps, I can see where we went wrong and will try again next time.

Stampede Pass with Dennis, Thursday, 12/26/02

Took my father-in-law, Dennis, out for a spin... ended up doing 60 miles! For our initial destination, I wanted to go back to 4111 again and try to find the way over the ridge to 810. ...and we got soooo close but the fog got thick and it was getting more difficult to see exactly where we were. So we decided to try it from the other side (from 810 via 5210). Unfortunately when we got to the ridge nearest Bearpaw Butte, it was still pretty socked in. Even though I haven't been able to "closed the loop" on these two roads, it was cool that we did manage to get a little closer than the ride before.

We finished the day by riding out 5250 west to 5405 where we headed north taking the long way home. We took one "detour" up the 5403 in the direction of Snowshoe Butte to confirm those trails with the GPS (since I didn't have one the first time Dennis and I traveled these roads on 1/5/2000). I'm glad we did too because I found the zig-zag route that appears to go over the top from the 54 road system to the 41 road system - from the 5403, you head up the 205 to the 210 zig-zagging to the 126 which connects up with 41 on the other side. This will probably be the first thing I check out next time we ride...

Scouting out snow conditions, Greenwater, Monday, 12/30/02

Brian and I rode up at Greenwater for the first time this season to check out the snow conditions for a planned ride with our wives on Saturday. We were hoping for enough snow in the meadows to play - unfortunately, there are still quite a bit of stumps exposed that make me leary with a brand new sled (same thought with Brian since he just got a Vertical Escape two days ago!). Even though we couldn't play all out in the meadows, we were still able to find plently of untracked trails off the "3 Mile Spur" road (791) that was a ton of fun on two 800's.

Mitch's Muscle Madness, Stampede Pass, Thursday, 01/02/03

Myself, Brian and my neighbor (Mitch) went up to Stampede Pass for the day. Mitch hadn't been on a snowmobile in a long time (something like 20 years) so we tried to take it easy on him. We headed out to show him the weather station and then decided to do the zig-zag trail up from the 54 road system and down to 41 on the other side. This trail (205/210) was awesome as it had about 2-3 feet of fresh snow and completely untracked.

Near the the top, Brian won the "Got Stuck Worst" award for the day (pictured left - 800s still get hung up - granted, less often but now it's just steeper and deeper!). Anyway, we stopped and had lunch at the top and took in the great view.

Making our way down to the 41 side, we were in more untracked snow until we popped out on the road that goes up to the radio towers (126). Circling around that area for a while, we all did manage to get stuck a few more times... enough to give Mitch the extra workout he probably didn't want. After that, we stayed on the more traveled roads and took the long way home.

Rained Out - Bummed Out, Saturday, 01/04/03

The planned ride with our wives got rained out... snow level was between 6,000 and 7,000 feet and the rain was coming down pretty hard. Bummer...

Ride the Ridge, Manastash, Saturday, 01/11/03

Brian showed me around his old stomping grounds... Manastash Ridge from the South Fork Manastash Creek sno-park just outside Ellensburg. We took off out Barber Springs Road and up 670 to the ridge. After a pretty cool view of Manastash Lake from the top, we stopped at the first play area (pictured right). If it wasn't for the fog, we would have stayed here for most of the day I bet. Instead, we just skipped from meadow to meadow to check out the rest of the area - tons of places to play! We made it down to the Rock Creek #2 sno-park that meets up with the 1720 road (we later realized 1720 is another way to Whistlin' Jacks).

Back near the South Fork sno-park, we took the 31 road northwest to Buck Meadows and then hung a left on the Tripod Flat Trail. Exploring around, we took some cool trails to Keenan Meadows (and play areas), Shoestring Lake (and more play areas), then eventually to Tripod Flat. From there, we headed back up Manastash Ridge to see how close the connection is to the Yakima side for a future Whistlin' Jacks trips via Tripod Flat from Easton or Cle Elum.

Stampede Pass with Boyd, Tuesday, 01/14/03

We didn't go very far today but where Boyd and I went was completely covered with 12-18" of fresh snow from the night before. (The last time Boyd, my brother-in-law, rode was 3 years ago with me and Ken, his oldest brother, in Island Park at Harriman State Park.)

We took 5483 toward Meadow Pass, turned right on 114 and rode out to the end of 121. Here we took a side-hill "short cut" through the trees to get on to 118. Once we made it to 118, there wasn't another track in sight to the end/top of 118. There was a fun play area on one of the peaks above Lost Lake and another steep road to the west that only my machine was able to slice through. After I found a place to turn around, we dug Boyd out and started back down. Near the bottom of 118, we could see why there were no tracks in this area... a small rock/snow slide section across the road made those coming from the other direction turn back.

Soaking Wet, Gold Creek/Hyak, Saturday, 01/25/03

It's been a while since we've been to Gold Creek (or the north side of I-90 off the Hyak exit). Opting for a short ride, Brian and I thought we'd go somewhere close but high enough to get above the rain. First stop was a popular hillclimb area near Swan Lake. With a pretty weak snowfall this winter, too many exposed hazards (stumps and rocks) didn't turn out in our favor.

Next stop, we decided to try the Lillian Lake Trail (#1332). This was fine until the road ended and we attempted to follow tracks up into the trees. It would have been great to see where this led (assuming pretty close to Mount Margaret) but we both got stuck several times in the deep, heavy snow. By now we were drenched, miserable, tired and silently wishing we stayed home this weekend. As we worked our way out, my trailing arm got hung up on a small broken tree stalk and popped off the rear mount. Worse yet, Brain tore the soft tissue where the ribs meet the sternum and took him out for the rest of the season (something he found out a few days later based on atypical pain).

KCSR Winter Training Day, Salmon La Sac, Saturday, 02/01/03

Saw a lot of great riding today... started out in the Cooper Lake area, rode up to the No Name Ridge trailhead and eventually back down to Cooper Pass. We ended the day up Fortune Creek and out towards Gallagher Lake and Hawkins Mountain. That whole Gallagher area has some incredible play areas and pretty extreme hillclimb challenges!

CDS Ride, Blewett Pass, Friday, 02/28/03

Rode up in the Blewett Pass/Colockum area with a few people from the Cascade Drift Skippers snowmobile club. We started out early in the day towards Haney Meadow. At Beehive Road, we turned off onto a ridge road and followed that across to the Naneum Basin. From there we took a bunch of cool trails, stopped off at a few hill climb areas and hunted for an alternate way across Pearson Creek to the Colockum side (the bridge appeared to be removed) where our destination was Wenatchee Mountain.

The view was incredible on top of Wenatchee Mountain. At 6,700 feet, we were overlooking the Columbia River as it runs through Wenatchee, with Mission Peak to the northwest and Mission Ridge Ski Area just below us. The pictures I took, including the panaromic, don't even come close to what that view was like.

Coming home, we took Coleman Creek Road over to Walter Flat then did a westward zig-zag to High Creek. It was already dark now as we continued up and over Table Mountain. At one point, we could see city lights off in the distance (assuming that to be Ellensburg) but almost everyone was simply focused on getting back.

Stampede Pass with Dennis, Friday, 03/14/03

Went up to Stampede Pass with my father-in-law and found a TON of untracked, DEEP powder. Skies were blue, sun was out - couldn't have gotten any better. Also got a great panaromic shot of Keechelus Lake as we were heading home...

Stampede Pass with Boyd, Friday, 03/21/03

Boyd was in town so we went up to Stampede Pass for a quick ride. Ended up doing thirty seven miles, of which thirty of them were in 4-6" of new untracked snow! It was awesome - a little wet (weather has been mixed snow/rain), but well worth it. At times, the snow was so slushy it was coming up off the skies like mud splattering on the windshield.

Around Table Mountain, Blewett Pass, Saturday, 03/29/03

Lee and I rode up at Blewett Pass out of Reecer Creek today. The first part of the ride was meadow after meadow. Getting to each was the best: from an open meadow on top of the hill, down through the trees, across a small canyon, back up through the trees, out onto the next hilltop and across another open meadow... we repeated this several times as we worked our way east around the southern slopes of Table Mountain.

As we headed north along the eastern slopes of Table, we found hillclimb area after hillclimb area. These appeared to be the secret play areas of those who know exactly which trails to take through the trees to get to 'em. (I know I couldn't retrace those trails again without following someone who's been there a few times.) At one point we came across the Craig Rogers Memorial and the fatal hillclimb area that took that rider's life in January 98. Oddly enough, this slope looked far less dangerous than some of the others we had been on earlier in the day (for example: no trees or other obstacles on the slope, no terrain traps to navigate, no overhanging cornice, no signs of 'crud' from previous releases, wide, out in the open and consistently even with a great run-out that is long and flat - an ideal place to hillclimb from a first impression!).

We ended the day on the northern slopes of Table where we ran into a guy that completely totaled his tricked-out, highly modified Vertical Escape. Apparently he lost it on a hillclimb run- throttle got stuck and it did 70+ mph down the hill taking out several dense trees before it came to a stop. Lucky for the rider, he got away with only a few cuts... After we followed them "in tow" for a few miles, we took off to Naneum Meadow and then back across the top of Table to Lion Rock on our way home. Took a few detours through the trees to avoid the main trail and ended the ride in the warm, 65 degree afternoon sunshine.

Lake Ann & Gallagher, Salmon La Sac, Friday, 04/18/03

Brent and I rode up at Lake Ann and Gallagher on Friday (this was my first time to Lake Ann). What an AWESOME place!! The hillclimbs around Lake Ann were the best ones I've ever been on and the snow wasn't bad either for playing on such steep slopes... In fact, the Lake Ann bowl was completely untracked until we got there - the one set of tracks we followed into this area along the bottom ended leaving the pot of gold entirely for us!

Leaving Lake Ann, we then broke over the cornice and rode the trail out to the Teanaway road to find 29 Pines sno-park. We ended up not going all the way to 29 Pines (to avoid rough road riding) but did see some incredible avalanche slides along the way - one that crossed over the road near De Roux Creek and another wicked one at the end of Teanaway road near the Long's Pass trail head (further up from where the trail from Lake Ann comes out). Both were pretty eerie!

Back near Lake Ann, we thought about dropping down Chain Hill to catch up with the trail out to Gallagher. Problem was we weren't too sure the combination of snow conditions and slope steepness was going to give us the stopping power necessary to miss the patches of trees all the way down. ...and the last thing we wanted was to end the season with a smashed sled so we opted to go around. (This would have been a good place to try out those chains - if we had some - and obvious why this slope is called "Chain Hill". However looking at it from the bottom later in the day, I'm pretty sure we would have made it without incident...)

Taking the long way back around to Gallagher and Hawkins Mountain, that was a blast too. Lots of snow still up there with plenty of untracked hillclimbs and play areas (well, maybe not after the weekend). By the way, coming in from Salmon La Sac, we only had to go about a mile and a half up from the sno-park. We unloaded at the first road to the right after China Point (if you're looking at a map). After that, we skipped dirt patches for about another 3.5 miles before we got to solid coverage. There were a few creek crossings and trenched spots that needed careful navigation but we didn't get hung up too long. I bet there's still plenty of snow up Teanaway road to start from there (maybe next weekend!).

Lake Ann from Teanaway Road, Saturday, 04/26/03

Jeff and I went to Lake Ann and Gallagher from the Teanaway side. We only had to drive 3 miles up from the 29 Pines Sno-park before hitting significant snow patches where we unloaded. From there, we skipped far less dirt pathces than coming in from Salmon La Sac the week before with Brent.

Heading up Teanaway Road, we explored a few side trails. The first was 1383 along Johnson Creek. We did this one just for kicks and only made it a half mile before encountering too many impassable obstacles (fallen trees). The second was 1392, along De Roux Creek, hoping for a short cut to Gallagher. Unfortunately, the trail was getting harder to follow only after a mile and we turned back figuring another creek crossing wasn't going to be too easy without a bridge (see the pics of our first creek crossing).

Once we reached the end of Teanaway Road, we were pretty much breaking trail with 4-5 inches of fresh snow with several hillclimb detours along the way. Eventually we came out on the top of "Chain Hill" where we took the plunge down to connect up with the trail out to Gallagher. This was a complete hair-raising, white-knuckle decent for me (no chains) while Jeff came down with total control (with chains)! Gotta go out and get me some chains... Anyway, we did a few climbs on Hawkins (even though visibility was poor) and then returned back up Chain Hill to Lake Ann.

Visibility wasn't any better when we got to Lake Ann. There were also a few more sluffs and crud showing signs of unstable snow. So we didn't play much in this bowl as a result and followed the Lake Ann trail out towards Van Epps Pass. Not far from Lake Ann, we did find a trail that cut across the valley back to a bowl we played in last trip (the one to the west of Lake Ann Bowl). The skies had cleared by now as we took several passes up and down this slope.

Making our way home, I got a great panoramic of Esmeralda Peaks. I also got to snap a few pictures up near the top of that wicked avalanche chute we saw last week. It definitely turned out to be a great day of Spring riding after some skepticism about weather and snow coverage.

*Snow depth statistics based on the Snoqualmie Snowfall Report.
**Snow depth statistics based on the Avalanche Report for Crystal Mountain.
Use on these pages for purposes of general seasonal comparisons.

Trail Maps
For additional TOPO! maps of snowmobile trail systems in Washington, visit our Trail Maps page.

...or read our trip logs from other riding seasons.