Cross-Country Skiing at Hyak, 2022

 

This week we set out to do some cross-country skiing at one of our favorite destinations for that purpose.  We have walked along the Palouse to Cascade trail in the spring, summer and fall and often skied here in the winter.  It is the old Chicago-Millwaukee-St.Paul-Pacific Railroad or Millwaukee Road route along Lake Keechelus just over Snoqualmie Pass summit at Hyak.  Because it is on an old rail line it is flat.  A plus is a heated restroom with running water and flush toilets.  There is also a sledding hill off to one side.  

 It is groomed with tracks for classic skiing and a nice wide middle area for the skating version of XC.  We tend to choose weekdays when there are fewer people.  Monday was a holiday and also the beginning of winter break for many of the local public schools so we were prepared for more people and children than we normally experience there.  As it turned out most of the people were families with young children using the sledding hill.  There were perhaps a few more skiers than we usually see but it was still not crowded and very pleasant.  There is also space along the left side for snow shoeing and a separate snow shoe trail than divides from the ski trail and goes into the woods parallel to the ski trail. 

 

 

After a couple of weeks of no new snow, the night before had brought about 10 inches of new fluffy snow making it a pleasant change from the week before when the tracks were basically ice and hard pack old snow.  Bob skied over to one of the park out buildings that had about 5 feet of snow around it.  

The weather was warm and sunny turning to graupel (snow pellets) as we headed back to the parking area.  We wore sweaters instead of five layers and jackets and were comfortable.  

We went back for another day of XC skiing on the following Saturday.  Many more people, again some new snow, and wonderful grooming.  It was a cold 26 degrees F with a wind and lots of gray clouds.  Jackets, hats and gloves were needed and appreciated.  Since it was a Saturday there were many more people out on skis, snow shoes, and sleds.  Even so, it was a wonderful ski day.  We were able to go much farther and even shared cookies with a hungry skier who had forgotten to bring a snack.