This report is really for xc skiing on Jolly Road under Sasse Ridge. Head towards Salmon la Sac. Find the trailhead about 13.5 miles out 903 from Cle Elum Town Hall. First Ski trail at Lake Cle Elum Look for the stop sign on Jolly Rd. Pass Jolly Rd 100 yards, make a U turn and park on the south bound shoulder, note the parking signs.
Jolly Road has nice scenery with pines and open scenery quite different from typical western trails. We enjoyed the open skies and sunny day (with cloud breaks, heh, heh) Explore the grading landing about half way up for views of Polallie Ridge and the top of Mt. Daniels. The best view point is 2/3 of the way up. Good view of the Lake and river valley. Places to lunch if you bring sit pad. Signs of elk and coyote. Hawks and ravens soar the ridges. Trail continues but gets steeper and more narrow. Sapling crowd the road and block views. Very quiet despite proximity of snowmobiles.
This is a nice trail for skiers between beginning and intermediate levels. The hill is steady and steepens toward the top. Us couch potatoes can do it with breaks. Descending requires some snowplow ability. The hills last for a while. May test your quads.
Trail is non motorized. Starts at 2,000 feet. Viewpoint of Cle Elum Lake is at 3,000. 2.8 miles to viewpoint. Gentle round trip took about 3.5 hours. COuld go quicker.
No avalanche chutes. Today the snow was 4 feet deep at 3,000 feet. Very slushy with signs of heavy melting. SKiers and snowshoers both were postholing. Whump, whump settling noises and cracks propagating from skis and snowshoes. Since the terrain is mild we were in no danger of starting an avalanche.
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