TLDR: Mostly firm following the snowshoe path to Hyak. Past that, the Nordic Pass trail is nearly untraveled and I’d recommend you be comfortable with route finding to continue onward. The snow’s soft and unconsolidated in parts, causing you to slide on steeper grades, but overall a delight.
What a brilliant nordic system. I rarely see trail reports so I was unsure about the conditions given the recent warmer weather. Armed with both microspikes and snowshoes, I set off on a sunny Tuesday to explore the trails, aiming for Hyak + Rockdale Lake.
I parked in the nearly empty parking lot at Silver Fir Lodge, and on the left side of the building, found the snow ramp leading to the trails. Once I saw the chair lift, I turned left to follow the snowshoe prints up the road. Yellow snowshoe signs appeared, and I put mine on soon after because the snow was feeling soft. The path to Hyak was well defined by previous users, but blissfully quiet as I wove my way through the forest.
After a brief stop at Hyak Lake, I continued onward to Rockdale Lake by following the blue diamond markers for the Nordic Pass. The markers were sporadic at times, and the path untraveled, so I had my fun breaking trail. It was deep and unconsolidated at parts, but otherwise easy to stay atop of.
I popped out of the forest to cross groomed ski trails a few times before connecting with the Mount Catherine Loop (orange markers) back to Hyak Lake. The views at Grand Junction were expansive on this clear day, and made for a good snack break before I dipped back into the woods and to the lodge.
I traveled about 6 miles in total, and throughly enjoyed the quiet + fresh snow on the trails. Onward to Surveyors Lake next time!
Comments