A slew of us decided to get out in the snow, well, crunchy snow. We headed for what is normally a cross-country ski destination for many of use - the Nordic Pass area up behind the Hyak (Summit East) Ski area. We used a combination of devices including snowshoes, ice-walker type devices and bare boots. The snowshoes were actually only necessary as traction devices for those of us who wanted a bit more traction and bare soles provided. The snowshoes were not needed for flotation as the snow was definitely firm. We headed to the east from the Silver Fir chair parking lot and then after crossing the rather decrepit over Hyak Creek we headed up the slope trying to follow the blue diamonds or waypoints in our assorted gps devices. We hit the road (humorously labeled with real I-90 Shields) and crossed and continued up. We lost and found blue diamonds but eventually got to Hyak Lake and the up to Grand Junction - normally a x-country warming hut - part of the groomed trail system. We headed a bit east and then crossed over the the major power line corridor toward Frog Lake. Some in the party has to be back in the city and and the frozen snow and chilly temps helped persuade everyone to eat and turn around maybe 1/3 mile from the non-descript Nordic Pass (its above Windy Pass by Ollalie Meadows for those who ski the trail system). Down was quicker and there was some slick "snow" where the tree drip froze over. Lot of bare stuff and lots of rills and hummocks - more snow is definitely needed to smooth out the surfaces for skiing although we did meet one skier on heavier duty gear near Grand Junction. It was definitely not a day to ski, well, down anyway, through the woods. It was a good day with a lot of fun folks. Photos: approaching Hyak Lake and Hyak without the folks.

Nice weather, fresh snow and good company made for a great trip on the Nordic Pass Trail and Mt. Catherine Loop. By using the Common Corridor (see below) and the Nordic Pass Trail, we could ski (or snowshoe) the loop without purchasing a ski area trail pass. (For more information about the Nordic Pass Trail go to http://www.kuresman.com/2006/Trip_Reports/Nordic_Pass/Report_Nordic_Pass.html) We started at the Hyak SnoPark Lot and instead of skiing the Iron Horse Trail towards Lake Keechelus, we skied the reverse direction toward the Snoqualmie Tunnel. At the tunnel we climbed out of the railroad grade, skied up to the Hyak entrance and then took off our skis and walked to the Nordic Pass Trailhead (N47:23.774,W121:24.158) for a total distance of 0.8 mi. Skiing the Nordic Pass Trail was delightful. It’s all off road, marked by blue diamonds. It’s in beautiful forest most of the way, there are no snowmobiles and no avalanche danger. We took advantage of a snow bridge across the creek at the trailhead and we kept our climbing skins in our packs since our skis climbed nicely on the fresh snow. We popped out at the wooden pole power lines and crossover trail (N47:23.704 W121:25.086) and jogged to the right (west) to pick up the trail on the other side (N47:23.694 W121:25.135). We then finished climbing up to a pretty meadow and just beyond was Hyak Lake, 1.5 miles from the Nordic Pass Trailhead. The trail then climbs up to a road crossing (N47:23.460 W121:25.329). The road is groomed by the ski area. Continuing on we broke out to the metal tower power line corridor and old clearcut (N47:23.375 W121:25.356), 2.5 miles from the Nordic Pass Trailhead. Trees in the old clearcut are getting rather large, but not large enough to reliably display the blue diamond trail markers. Whether diamonds are nailed to the trunks or hung from the limbs like Christmas ornaments, they tend to get completely covered with snow. That was certainly true today. To pick up the trail, follow a true bearing of 221 deg for 0.2 mi. and you’ll be on the other side of the clearcut (N47:23.260 W121:25.498) where you can see a diamond on a large tree. From the far side of the clearcut we followed the trail into the forest about 0.1 mi. where we found a Nordic Pass Trail sign (N47:23.211 W121:25.592). The trail proceeded to go along the side of a ridge until the terrain got more gentle on the flanks of Nordic Knob (aka Radio Mt). This is the general area where the old trail from Rockdale Lake comes in. At 3.6 miles we reached Dick’s Creek (N47:22.861 W121:26.162) by a lovely meadow area. We continued to Nordic Pass (N47:22.467 W121:26.451), 4.2 miles from the Nordic Pass Trailhead, 5 miles from the Hyak SnoPark. The pass was delightful with widely spaced trees and plenty of sunshine. There were a few views out through the trees including Silver Peak. The trip today got my official “sandwich” rating. Had I reached for my jacket before my sandwich, it would have gotten a “jacket” rating. After lunch we skied past the snow gauge and then dropped steeply to the Windy Pass area and another Nordic Pass Trail sign (N47:22.345 W121:26.675). At a total distance of 4.6 miles from the Nordic Pass Trailhead, we had reached the other end of the trail at the Cold Creek (Windy Pass) Road. This is also the end of the Common Corridor. The Common Corridor is a stretch of the groomed Cold Creek Road that backcountry skiers and snowshoers can use without buying a trail pass. Snowshoers should stay out of the set ski tracks, but can walk along either side of the tracks. The groomed road was a little icy and irregular today, but still fun and fast to ski. We were soon down to the yurt (7.7 miles from Hyak SnoPark) that the ski area set up for their paying customers. We finally reached the start of the Common Corridor (N47:22.485 W121:23.735) beyond which we would need a trail pass to ski on the ski area’s groomed road. But we turned right and headed down the steep, 1/8th mile long Connector Trail. Many people wisely choose to take off their skis and walk this stretch. The other end of the Connector Trail (N47:22.446 W121:23.643) literally dumped us off onto the Iron Horse Trail. To find the Connector Trail from Hyak, ski 1.2 miles and look for the trail on the right. There is a blue diamond a tree or two into the woods and usually there are ski, snowshoe and/or boot tracks in the snow. A way to find the trail without a GPS is to count power poles and look for the turn after pole #1142. Pole #1142 is missing its number, so you have to watch for pole #1143 before it. Our happy group of skiers skied the level Iron Horse Trail back to our cars at the Hyak SnoPark. The loop totaled 10.4 miles with an elevation gain of 1500 ft.

A motley crew set out for a rematch with Silver Peak via Ollalie meadows. Unfortunately our plans were denied when we pulled off exit 47 to find the bridge to the trailhead blocked by a 10 foot wall of firmly plowed snow. We crossed the highway to park at the Granite trailhead to find the driveway unplowed! We were baffled since the DOT parks their plows down this road and always plows it. So rather than risk a ticket and tow we drove on for another attempt at Mt. Catherine. The Hyak ski lot was thankfully plowed. While the rest of us geared up JimK gained 30 ft on the rest of us by summiting Parking-Lot Peak. We marveled at the huge snow banks as we headed up to the trailhead. Luckily there were easy steps up the bank and the easiest crossing I've ever done of the creek. We trucked our way up the snow watching for the blue diamonds. Last time we were here they were about 8 ft up the trees. With this year's snow they are anywhere from shoulder to ankle level above the snow! Part way up we found a broken trail which greatly sped our progress. We zoomed along to Hyak Lake and soon the ridge. From here we briefly lost the route but picked it up again after some wandering. It was then a slower walk to Nordic Pass when our broken trail fizzled out. Nearly there Emma the dog had some stomach issues and Joanna nearly had to turn back. But Emma's a tough old dog and pulled through the rest of the way on. At the pass we took a brief break. At least we assume it was the pass - we couldn't find any sign of the Nordic Pass sign. Now it was just a long ridge climb to the top. The snow was perfect for us - a little fluffy but easily packed into firm steps. We made good time and were encouraged by the sun popping in and out of the clouds. About a tenth of a mile from the summit Bruce had a catastrophic failure of his snowshoe. He opted to drop back and posthole on in our packed trail the rest of the way. Soon we were at the point where both Jim and I turned back on separate trips a few years back. Steep slopes on both sides of the narrow ridge with a large rock and tree blocking the middle. After some back and forth, literally, we came to the sensible solution of everyone doing something different. Bob went to the right. I followed, ditching my snowshoes below. Everyone else went to the left and had an easier, less steep, trip. But we all made it! This was my fourth try at this peak and now I was on top! We traversed along the dull knife-edge ridge of Mt. Catherine to the summit. The ridge had a huge cornice so we hung back a bit for lunch imagining the other peaks we should be seeing according to the weather forecast. We spat a few invectives at Jeff Renner and then started back down. This time we all took the same route. I quickly fell behind when my legs started to cramp from the Tubbs snowshoes I've been having trouble with. Back at Nordic Pass Bruce made an impressive repair of his snowshoe with a backpack strap. The rest of our trip down went well, we even managed to stay on route with all the blue diamonds. We managed the entire trip, including summit and lunch, in less time than it took to simply reach Nordic Pass just last month. Very satisfying to get that peak monkey off my back finally! On the return we made a quick swing by Exit 47 to find it still unplowed both to Annette and the Granite lot. Trip photos: http://www.pbase.com/billcat/catherine4/

Three of us enjoyed a pleasant and warm snowshoe hike on the blue diamond route to Nordic Pass on Saturday. Conditions were almost ideal for snowshoes. Testing with bare boots resulting in foot-deep post holes. As usual, the ""crux"" of this hike is crossing the creek a few yards from the trail head, but we found a spot requiring just a few steps kicked into the steep snow banks. The ""snow circle"" reported at http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19249 is still there. Have some British circle maker friends been visiting? It's nice to have this public trail available at the pass, but views are limited most of the time. The section from Frog Lakes to Nordic Pass was bordering on boring, with the game of ""follow the blue diamonds"" adding a little interest. Despite the somewhat bleak weather forecast, we had sun almost our entire hike. We started at about 9 and reached Nordic Pass in 2 1/2 hours. The return trip took only 1 1/2 hours and a light rain started to fall as we reached our car at the Gold Creek snow park at 1:30. Driving home we encountered torrential downpours near North Bend -- it's a good thing we started early!

Winter had returned to the mountains with lots of new snow and avalanche danger. Mark and I wanted a backcountry skiing adventure away from avalanche danger so we chose our old standby, Nordic Pass. Mark and I had a great cross country ski trip up the Nordic Pass Trail. There were gobs of fresh snow and the trees looked beautiful flocked in white. Many of the tree trunks were plastered with snow covering up the blue diamonds that mark the trail. Mark and I have skied the route several times before so the missing diamonds did not present a problem. Right at the start of the trip we had to figure out how to cross the creek. The creek itself is small and no big deal to step on a couple of rocks to get across, but getting down to it is another matter. I managed to kick steps down the steep snow bank to the creek and then up the other side. Once we crossed the creek, Tom and Jasper showed up. Tom had snowshoes and Jasper had four limb drive. Tom and Jasper took off breaking the trail while Mark and I took advantage of their tracks at least where they weren't too steep for our skis. We stopped at a pretty meadow near Hyak Lake where Mark changed the wax on his skis. We then skied past Hyak Lake, crossed a groomed track and entered the metal tower powerline corridor. This is a stretch where the blue diamonds are usually missing. Knowledge of the route, a map and compass and/or a GPS receiver are needed to pick up the trail again as it leaves the powerline corridor and web of groomed ski trails. Leaving the corridor we found where Tom and Jasper had turned around. From there on there were no tracks and it was up to us to break trail. It was pushing 1:00 so we stopped for a quick lunch break. We then resumed our trek to the pass. We reached the pass at 2:45 just when it started to snow. On a nice day there are views of Silver Peak from the pass. Some snowshoers and skiers continue up Mt. Catherine from Nordic Pass. There are avalanche slopes on Mt. Catherine, so caution is needed. After a short break at the pass we started a fun return trip down the trail. In most places we could ski straight down the fall line without picking up much speed. We got a few telemark turns in, but most attempts turned out to be short telem-arcs that ended when we ran out of speed. This is not a trip for the casual skier or snowshoer that sticks to groomed roads. But for a person with route finding skills and confidence traveling cross country, the Nordic Pass Trail can be a fun adventure. For a map of the trail including GPS waypoints, send an email to nordicpasstrail@yahoo.com.