We had a fantastic group of hearty souls come out in -1F degree for our grand trailhead opening. Skied from 1-18-17-16-20-21-14-15-16-17-18-1. This is all the center loops and the marsh. If you haven't skied in the bog area it is absolutely beautiful! One person even picked Labrador leaves and we all chewed on them and learned how to make tea. Even with the cold temps the grooming and tracks were perfect! Not hard, crusty or icy but rather still fluffy and soft. Nice glide!

Photos:

(Karla Anderson)

I skied a short loop to see how the trails were doing in the slight warmup of temps today. Glad I went because it was a rare situation when tracks were fast, groomed well and the air temperature extremely comfortable. Corn snow was falling. To have all the trails groomed using an actuator to lift the setting of the tracks wherever there are hills was a treasure. Hats off to our groomer for elevating us to a new standard of better grooming. Tomorrow's ribbon-cutting celebration will be held at the new Jensen Trailhead at 12:30 PM. Due to the cold, it will be a quick ceremonial grand opening cutting of the ribbon (using a lopper), followed by a short program at 9905 National Forest Lodge with hotdogs, beans, chips, cookies and a few warm drinks. Ski activities will occur after 1:30 PM for those hardy enough.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

The trails are in perfect condition. There was an inch of new snow over yesterday's nicely groomed trails, making it ideal for safely doing the steeper downhill runs. Four of us skied from Jensen Trailhead to 19>23>22>21>14>17>2>1, through both wetland bog areas and high ground with steeper terrain. It is so nice to have the trails ready for our Jensen Trailhead, ribbon-cutting celebration this Saturday, Jan 18th at 12:30 pm. Join us if you can (visit our website for details).

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

The trails were groomed today and are in perfect condition. In preparation for our new Trailhead, ribbon-cutting celebration this Saturday, Jan 18th at 12:30 pm, join us if you can (visit our website for details).

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

Skied over fresh snow on previously groom trails, it was easy moving through the snow covered tracks.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

The one-inch of new snow made for an amazing kick and glide and freshened up the forest. I imagine the wetlands will still have a slightly uneven glide due to the bog undulations.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

Trails were crunchy, fast, and easy to ski on today. Nothing has changed much in the last few days regarding the conditions, the light dusting on the tracks has helped to keep the kick decent. We skied through the wetland from 14 to 21 and had little trouble with the set tracks from last week.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

It was 5 degrees, and there was no new snow. I used my metal-edged wider skis with blue wax, which resulted in good kick and plenty of glide. I skied across Lake Gegoka to 15, then went to 16>17>18>19>back to 18>1>2 and back on to the Lake. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors with the sun out, making it feel warmer than it was.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

I skied morning and afternoon, both on double-track trails and trails that go through the wetlands (see map showing wetlands in light blue). Some of them were groomed for a second time after the frozen conditions set up. I was on a mission to count birds for the Isabella Christmas Bird Count, so I was going slow. With that context in mind, the wetland areas had undulating spots, making it less than ideal but fun nonetheless. There is plenty of base and I encourage you to come out and enjoy one of the places where natural snow is present to ski on. My wide metal edge skis worked great on the non-wetland trails but were problematic on areas where ice had been set up around skinnier skis than I had. Regardless, I was outside in a beautiful forest and could ski on the outer edge of these conditions.

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

Today with a dusting of new snow on previously groomed trailsit was a delightful ski through superior National Forest. Grooming plans: Tomorrow we will attempt to groom more trails that were not touched on Tuesday.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)