Headed up to Palouse Divide on Christmas to see for myself what the conditions were like. Frankly it was bleak. No new snow had fallen since the road closed to vehicles so the roads are severely ruted. The snow on the West Dennis trail didn't start for about a 1/4 of a mile and had interspersed bare patches for the next mile or so.
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| A little thin. |
The skinning was a little tricky because I grabbed my telemark skins instead of mt AT skins. They basically looked like thongs and I had to keep the angle just right while skinning in deep ruts. At least the views of St. Joe Baldy and Latour Baldy was really good. That zone is high up on the to do list.
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| Latour Baldy/Pearson Peak/St. Joe Baldy |
I skinned up to the saddle between East and West Dennis before turning around due to fading light and a snowstorm rolling through. The skiing on the shoulder of the road was actually really good. Very bouncy and I was glad to have the AT skis. Its snowing tonight so hopefully the ruts will get covered and the XC skiing can proceed.
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| Weird melted out pinwheel. |
Be sure to support the Palouse Divide Nordic Club because even if the snow isn't that great there going to have to really get after it once it does snow. You can find a link to there page in the right margin. This new snow will certainly raise the avalanche danger to high at least through the weekend so be extra careful if you get out. Also, be sure to send any avalanche, weather, or snow condition information you might think is helpful for the public to palousebackcountry@gmail.com and Ill publish them here on this blog.
Thanks for reading and if you get out this week be safe and have fun!
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