News

On a beautiful Sunday on the last day in May, 11 fit hikers explored Lookout Mountain in the Ochoco National Forest.  The 7-8 mile trail was in excellent condition, having been recently logged out.  John Stephenson timed the hike for the wildflowers, and did not disappoint!  But of equal value is John's knowledge of flora and fauna, stopping to point out that the bit of drier vent fluff on the trail was actually an owl pellet filled with a small animal's bones!

  

 

And don't forget the views!  On the hike up, John pointed out that we looked east toward the Strawvberry Mountains.  At the lunch spot we looked west towards the Cascades.  The route was also marked with blue diamonds, so it is a designated nordic ski trail.  John vowed to return some day to ski it in the winter...

A pleasant, sunny day made for a great hike for nine club members on the Tam-A-Lau trail in Cove Palisades State Park.

Contributed by hike leader John Sweat

We could not have asked for a better day for a hike along the McKenzie River.  We started at Clear Lake and enjoyed the turquoise color as we hiked along the western shore towards the outflow, which is the headwaters of the McKenzie.  As we progressed, it was a pleasant reminder of the lush greenery on the westside of the Cascades.  A few flowers were in bloom,  Trillium and Fairy Slipper ( Oregon native orchid ).  The falls were a site to behold and were certainly a Kodak moment.  We opted to do an out and back rather than the loop to avoid the general public.  Our stats for the day,  6.4 miles and 650 ft in elevation gain.

On a mid-April Friday, five CONC snowshoers took advantage of an impressive late-season snowstorm and headed out to reach the top of Potato Hill, just west of Santiam Pass. 

It was a calm, sunny day after the storm, there was an abundance of fresh snow (1.5 feet up high), and we broke trail the entire way up (1,100 ft). What was advertised as a moderate 4.5-mile trek ended up being considerably more challenging with our small group taking turns breaking trail. But our small but mighty group was up to the task, and all were rewarded with amazing mountain views! 

Potato Hill will be snow-free by next Friday given the warm weather ahead, but it was a winter wonderland the day we were there!  

Post by John Stephenson, with photos from Denise Lowry and Steve Whittaker

thanks to hike leader Gary Jones

A group of four hikers dodged showers and enjoyed a hike to Steelhead Falls Sunday, April 12.

The Member Forum is a place to ask questions, seek out ski/snowshoe/hike buddies, buy/sell/trade gear, etc.  You can start a new thread or add to an existing thread.  

The Forum is in the Members only area of the website, so you have to be logged on to see it.  The easiest way to keep an eye on the forum is to Subscribe to the forum.  That way, you will receive an email whenever there is a new posting.  You can subscribe to an individual thread if that's all you are interested in, or you can subscribe to the forum as a whole.

To subscribe to the forum, Just click on Subscribe:

If you're already subscribed, you will have the option to unsubscribe.  

Six adventurers set out for Todd Lake on Monday 3/9, led by Dick Kennish.

Weather:  Mostly Sunny!     Snow Conditions:  Ice....

Therefore the flats were fast and the hills were treacherous.  All managed to get to the lake with only a few bumps and bruises.  Everyone made the best of the day given the challenging conditions and the gorgeous views.

Swampy did not get as much snow as I had hoped; only 2-3 inches.  But it was dry and fresh and provided a wonderful base to ski up Swampy Loop, Ridge, Butte, and out to Flagline Tie where we had to "break trail".  In Peace meadow, the six of us felt obliged to carve a fresh peace sign, which received several thumbs up from skiers coming down behind us.  The snow got a bit heavy on Flagline and stayed that way on our return along Swampy.  But overall conditions were great and we were glad to have taken advantage of the day!

  

Thanks to trip leader Kei Fortier

Conditions were perfect, with blue skies and some fresh snow.  We summited Vista Butte,  and then while I chose to get some turns in the bowl and ski back down through the woods, the lone other participant decided to ski back on the trail to the prearranged rendezvous point at the Ridge Loop intersection.  Splitting up the group almost never goes wrong :).  Except he ended up waiting at a different intersection.  I think on future trips, I will make sure all participants that have mapping apps on their phones set a waypoint for the rendezvous point, to help minimize navigation issues. 

Our Yellowstone B group at the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Thanks to Franki, Tom, and Warren for contributing to this post.

"I am glad that we went in the winter because there were few tourists. We almost had the place to ourselves, except for the wolves, antelope and bison, which were everywhere! Mammoth Hot springs was amazing as we hiked around it and the Yellowstone Grand Canyon was truly a memorable sight. We saw several bison and a moose mother at close range during our ski days. One day, we climbed up a bank to dodge a bison! George’s knowledge of the local wildlife and geology proved invaluable on this and many days."

"The trip was amazing. To be able to be in the park with basically no people was so special. George was a wealth of information and was very engaging. Learning all of the geological and animal information was a true highlight. "

Bison have the right-of-way, so we made a quick scamper uphill to let this fellow make his way up the road.

Our ‘rig’ for getting to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone! The driver made handmade interpretive pictures for us!

Although we didn't spot any wolves, we saw some nice wolf tracks!

A sight from Mammoth Hot Springs

Just outside of Gardner

Sunshine and smiles!