Cross-country Ski - Lost Lake

Trip Report

This has not been the best January for cross country skiing in western Washington. Late January would seem to be a safe choice, but the two weeks leading up were full of doom-scrolling through grooming reports, or more precisely, of reported cancellation of grooming due to rain, water on trail, thin snow pack, etc. 

The Lost Lake route from Crystal Springs Sno Park is a combination of  the Dog Sled Connector Trail ("DP100"), groomed for dog sleds (usual rolling and milling, but no set tracks), which leaves the Sno Park from the west side and winds through woods for a mile; another mile on the Palouse to Cascades Trail, a flat, straight former railroad bed turned into a groomed ski trail with set track; and three miles on the Lost Lake Road, Forest Service Road 5480, which in the winter is a groomed snowmobile trail, rolled and milled the same way as ski trails but without set track. 

The reports on the Dog Sled trails, including the Connector, were dismal for ten days before our trip, with grooming suspended due to poor conditions.   Grooming on the Palouse to Cascades trail (P2C) was interrupted, but resumed.  On Road 5480, the motorized grooming schedule kept running like a well-oiled machine, with three scheduled groomings per week, including the day before our trip.  

We had been carrying a waitlist since shortly after registration opened, but a spate of cancellations during the week before the trip left us with nine people.   Seven of us met in North Bend and carpooled to Crystal Springs to meet two coming from the east.  The clear sky suggested some warming sun, but the temperature was still around +20F.  Based on (non-)grooming reports, we left from the west side of the snow park, not taking the Dog Sled connector.  We took Road 54 to the Lost Lake Road, went parallel to the P2C for about a half mile, then ascended a steep connector to get on the  P2C. 

The P2C was well groomed, with no bare or obviously thin spots.  Snow depth was reported as 14".  Thanks to rolling and grooming, the very consolidated snow pack ("Cascades concrete") had survived the warm spell and was topped by an inch or so of ground-up ice or really consolidated snow, with neatly cut 75 mm tracks.  The drainage ditch on the uphill side was an open running stream, betraying the melting of the snow pack.  About a half mile of skiing in the set tracks brought us to a grade-crossing intersection, and we picked up the Lost Lake Road again and entered the world of snow machines.

We had seen the Trollhaugen snow-cat on Road 54, towing a covered sled like an airport baggage trolley on sleigh runners, laden with the luggage of the Sons of Norway, and their families and guests, to the Trollhaugen Lodge, an arrangement similar to our own Meany Lodge.   A four-tracked snow cat overtook us going up the Lost Lake Road.  We kept to the right, single file, in keeping with the established etiquette.  

Below the hamlet of camps at Roaring Brook, we stopped to shed a layer. Just ahead the grade increases to about 8%.  Steady climbing brought us to a section where the road is on a ledge with the Meadow Creek valley and more distant vistas on one side, and a rock wall on the other.  The sun was strong and pleasant here, and we stopped for photos. 

A  few hundred yards more brought us to an intersection where the Lost Lake Road, 5480, turned right towards the boat launch.   Straight ahead was Forest Road 5483, a half-loop whose lower end also intersects with the Lost Lake Road at Meadow Creek.  The motorized grooming map has an arrow here and a legend, "Groomed intermittently."  Unlike the Lost Lake Road, which gets rolled after heavy snows, is groomed three times a week, and gets lots of traffic, and felt like concrete with the top inch groomed, this road felt like styrofoam under skis.   Some skiers continued up to an overlook above the lake, and others headed for the boat launch,  and lakeside dining for lunch. 

 I noticed two things straightaway.  First, the lake, at 3,090' elevation, had open water on the far side, which I had not seen in previous winters.   Second, we were dining in the shade, with sunshine on our right on the shore and woods, creeping clockwise towards us.  My last two trips here were in early March, when the sun was higher in the sky.  The forecast high at this elevation was +24F, and it felt no warmer than that. 

After lunch, our work ascending was rewarded with a mile and a quarter glide down the road.  The tracks from snowmobile front skis and rear suspensions tended to hold and guide our skis like railroad tracks, but attention and timely weight-shifting allowed us to snowplow or ski long chains of turns.  

The grade eased and we double-poled over Roaring Brook, and then resumed classic stride for the rest of the ski back.   We had spread out on the way down, traveling at different speeds, and with an occasional stop to shake the lactic acid out of legs straining to hold snowplow position.  With primary, co- and assistant leaders, each with a walkie-talkie, group cohesion was not an issue.  We caught up, snacked and made layer adjustments at the intersection with Meadow Creek Road, #5483.

From here it was a flat slog on the railroad bed. We stayed on the P2C to the grade-crossing intersection with Road 54, and turned left, heading back to the sno park skiers' entrance.  On the P2C and again on Road 54, I saw a skier in the cut tracks on the right, with a second skier just behind and to the left, each wearing a vest with distinctive markings. 

The trails around the Sons of Norway Lodge are named after Erling Stordahl, a blind Norwegian folk musician.  This lodge partners with Ski For Light, an organization that helps people with visual and other disabilities to learn and practice skiing.  Some of the Erling Stordahl trails are groomed with two sets of track, side by side, so a guide can ski alongside the skier. 

We were back in the parking lot and debriefed by 2:30 pm.  Going by the map and the various GPS-based devices, we logged about ten miles and gained and lost about 890 feet.  We skied very well as a group, with compatible paces and levels of ability. We felt fortunate to have gotten out on snow and to have spent time in such good company.  The snow on these trails should hold up through the next few days of cold weather.   

Map