[TR] Mazama/HWY 20 - 1/20/2010

[jcp]

Trip: Mazama/HWY 20 -

 

Date: 1/20/2010

 

Trip Report:

I took Feck's advice and headed up to HWY 20. I went solo, and I am still learning, so I kept things pretty darn moderate. I got there mid day on Thursday and it was snowing with some moderate wind. It was very foggy. I skinned in about 3 miles and peeled off the highway to a mellow semi-clearing. Dropping the pack low let me climb up a little bit and get in some decent turns. The snow pack was wet and heavy, and seemed pretty solid in terms of stability. This had a lot to do with the low angle. I got in a few hours of turns the first day, then went between some trees to set up my tarp/snow cave. It snowed consistently through the night and I had to clear off my tarp 5 or 6 times at night. In the morning I got up again and ventured to a new clearing right off the road for some more turns. Despite the snow all night, it was still pretty wet. I headed out around 1pm to do the 5 hour drive back to Seattle. Dropping my knee through the heavy snow really took a toll on my newb thighs! All in all I think it was better than anywhere else in the state. Also, if you are lucky enough to be one of the skiiers with a snowmobile friend, have at it! I jealously watched a few being towed down the highway to ground unventured by me. On the plus side my car did hit 260K miles on this trip, and is still going strong!

 

Approach Notes:

Snowmobile would be great, otherwise skins work. Don't be afraid of the local traffic only sign

[danhelmstadter]

nice! was the road gated at silverstar? congrats on the proud mileage btw. i'm glad my odometer's broke at 90k, or maybe it's stuck in a time warp, either way -- stoked that mine keeps chugin too.

[matt_warfield]

My last car had 240K and doing well until it got nicknamed "The Deer Killer" during an unfortunate incident at night on the way to Smith Rock and started developing electrical problems.

 

My current car is at about 180K but the odomometer quit functioning at 169K so just an estimate. But it got stolen a couple of times last year and is showing its age.

 

Glad you had a good trip for some backcountry action in a beautiful area.

[jcp]

Well, the gate wasn't closed, but the road was plowed just before the gate, so that is as far as you could go anyway. It was open for the snowmobiles to cruise up and down the road.