02-15-25
Last
year I did not get out on any cross country ski trips. Last week Gary,
John, and I skied 10 flat miles alongside Lake Keechelus. It took a few
days to recover from the first use of skiing muscles in a long time.
This weekend Gary and I headed out for more skiing and a little
elevation gain and loss. Last week we left later than normal and had
heavy traffic. This time we planned to get ahead of much of the crowd.
We were on our way by 6:56 am. We sped over Snoqualmie Pass and down to
the Cabin Creek exit. There was a little slush but the road was mostly
bare and wet. There were abut a dozen cars in the lot. We had a good
dump of snow a week earlier then a dry week. We were afraid it might be
very icy. The snow in the parking lot was packed but not icy. That was
a good sign. We walked across the overpass to the ski area, leaving at
8:16 am. There is usually a big berm of snow to climb over. Not so far
this year. There is only 34" of snow at Cabin Creek. It is not a lot
but everything is covered. The track was freshly groomed. They do it
very early in the morning. We had an almost untouched track. We had
planned on a trip around the loop and up to the Y on the Amabilis Road.
After a year off, I did not want the whole near five mile
descent for my first downhill. I had not been on the lower groomed
course in years. I checked after the trip and it had been 20 years.
We quickly decided to take advantage of the small crowd to do the groomed loop first. We saw very few people on the loop. The snow was thin but the conditions were excellent. It was freshly groomed snow and not icy. There were lots of ups and downs and it made for good practice. I was pleased to not fall down. On my last trip the trees were much smaller. There were some spots with views out. The loop feels much more enclosed now. The snow was not fast and that was okay with me. By the time we finished the loop we had traveled 3.9 miles from the car with about 350' of elevation gain. There were more people on the main road now but still not a lot. It was now 9:33 am. We headed down the road and turned off on the Amabilis Mountain Road. There was one track on the right. Unlike previous trips up Amabilis, the road was now wider in spots. The right side was had skate tracks from earlier skiers but the left side was mostly smooth. That helped me a bit on the descent.
We made steady progress going uphill. After 4 miles before starting the climb, we were less fresh than trips just going up Amabilis. The good snow made for go traction on the way up. With our faster speed I took a lot less photos on skis than I would have with hiking boots. When I did stop I took several at a time. We saw a few much faster skaters zoom by going uphill. A few folks were already coming down. It was about 2.5 miles up to the Y in the road. In the old days the road was never groomed. Later they started grooming up to the Y. Above that a loop could be done but there was no grooming. With grooming several times a wee around the upper loop, more skiers do the loop. I still prefer going up and down the left road. We have done the counterclockwise loop several times but I have not come down the steeper right road. This day we reached the Y at 11:13 am. It was time for lunch. We could still see across the valley but the view will not last much longer. Trees are already making it hard to get an open view.
After lunch it was time for the fun part. of the trip. The 2.5 mile downhill can be challenging when it is icy. The conditions were very good for a first long descent in a couple years. At first I was going at a good speed right behind Gary. As we reached some flatter spots I really slowed down. With no trips last year and only two the year before that, I think any wax on my skies is old and gone. Instead of wishing I was going slower I wished for more speed. I had to kick and glide on the way down several times. Gary did better and pulled out of sight. The switchbacks are wider making it easy to get around even with uphill skiers. My time going down was slow for me but still Gary covered the 2.5 miles in 22 minutes including one 5 minute stop at the big left switchback. That is much faster than hiking.
I wanted to get the day up to 10 miles so we went right at the bottom on the main road. Our pace was good as we put a little more effort into the last mile of skiing. We ended the skiing at 12:03 pm and walk back to the car, arriving at 12:07 pm. We had a 1:16 drive and skied 10 miles and were done just after noon. Skiing makes longer trips much faster than hiking and much much faster than snowshoeing. Our early finish on a Saturday led to an easy drive home as the downhill skier were well short of heading home.
I was concerned about icy conditions making this a tough trip. In fact, we had great conditions. I should have waxed my skies to make for a faster descent. With two ski trips in two weeks I hope this will be a year with many more trips to come. It would be nice to get out on skies half a dozen times instead of two or three. We still have not had a snowshoe trip yet this year so that will be coming up soon I hope.
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Trips - 2025
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We quickly decided to take advantage of the small crowd to do the groomed loop first. We saw very few people on the loop. The snow was thin but the conditions were excellent. It was freshly groomed snow and not icy. There were lots of ups and downs and it made for good practice. I was pleased to not fall down. On my last trip the trees were much smaller. There were some spots with views out. The loop feels much more enclosed now. The snow was not fast and that was okay with me. By the time we finished the loop we had traveled 3.9 miles from the car with about 350' of elevation gain. There were more people on the main road now but still not a lot. It was now 9:33 am. We headed down the road and turned off on the Amabilis Mountain Road. There was one track on the right. Unlike previous trips up Amabilis, the road was now wider in spots. The right side was had skate tracks from earlier skiers but the left side was mostly smooth. That helped me a bit on the descent.
We made steady progress going uphill. After 4 miles before starting the climb, we were less fresh than trips just going up Amabilis. The good snow made for go traction on the way up. With our faster speed I took a lot less photos on skis than I would have with hiking boots. When I did stop I took several at a time. We saw a few much faster skaters zoom by going uphill. A few folks were already coming down. It was about 2.5 miles up to the Y in the road. In the old days the road was never groomed. Later they started grooming up to the Y. Above that a loop could be done but there was no grooming. With grooming several times a wee around the upper loop, more skiers do the loop. I still prefer going up and down the left road. We have done the counterclockwise loop several times but I have not come down the steeper right road. This day we reached the Y at 11:13 am. It was time for lunch. We could still see across the valley but the view will not last much longer. Trees are already making it hard to get an open view.
After lunch it was time for the fun part. of the trip. The 2.5 mile downhill can be challenging when it is icy. The conditions were very good for a first long descent in a couple years. At first I was going at a good speed right behind Gary. As we reached some flatter spots I really slowed down. With no trips last year and only two the year before that, I think any wax on my skies is old and gone. Instead of wishing I was going slower I wished for more speed. I had to kick and glide on the way down several times. Gary did better and pulled out of sight. The switchbacks are wider making it easy to get around even with uphill skiers. My time going down was slow for me but still Gary covered the 2.5 miles in 22 minutes including one 5 minute stop at the big left switchback. That is much faster than hiking.
I wanted to get the day up to 10 miles so we went right at the bottom on the main road. Our pace was good as we put a little more effort into the last mile of skiing. We ended the skiing at 12:03 pm and walk back to the car, arriving at 12:07 pm. We had a 1:16 drive and skied 10 miles and were done just after noon. Skiing makes longer trips much faster than hiking and much much faster than snowshoeing. Our early finish on a Saturday led to an easy drive home as the downhill skier were well short of heading home.
I was concerned about icy conditions making this a tough trip. In fact, we had great conditions. I should have waxed my skies to make for a faster descent. With two ski trips in two weeks I hope this will be a year with many more trips to come. It would be nice to get out on skies half a dozen times instead of two or three. We still have not had a snowshoe trip yet this year so that will be coming up soon I hope.
 Lot In The Morning |
 Start Of Skiing |
 Start Of Berg Loop |
 Gary Is Coming |
 Gary's Having Fun |
 Ups And Downs |
 Heading Up Amabilis |
 Nearing The Y |
 View From The "Y" |
 Gary At Lunch Break |
 Route To The Summit |
 Back Down At Base |
 Christmas Tree? |
 Finally Some Skiers |
 Grooming Machines |
 The Lot Is Now Full |
Trips - 2025
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