Elk bones in Cascade Valley. Photo by Chuck
I was hoping Chuck would take the cue from MAAD and check out the elk bones in Cascade Valley. What a great thing to see, and it makes me happy to know the wolf pack is out there and getting enough to eat. It looks very fresh with bits of meat remaining on the rib bones. Chuck skis to exotic places and has wonderful trip reports, but this is one of his best.
Pocaterra
I got a very late start today but still managed to clock 19K between the Bill Milne trail and PLPP. I skied the Bill Milne trail between 2 – 3 pm then headed south. After seeing Alf’s photos of Packers, I wanted to ski there.
Moose tracks on Packers
It’s been a few years since I climbed Packers and today’s conditions were as good as I’ve ever experienced. As were all the trails I skied.
The temperature was -3°C and VR50(0/-4) worked well.
There were moose tracks to follow as I started up Packers, and I saw where they turned off into one of the meadows. Packers is mostly climbing, but also has some very steep downhills as you’re going up. There’s no ice flow in the usual location, and the big hill looked to be in good shape for descending.
Racquel and Adeniyi on Bill Milne trail
The downhill on Pocaterra was as good as it gets. I didn’t even have to come out of my tuck on all those roller-coaster hills.
Bill Milne trail has been through the freeze-thaw-freeze cycle but still surprisingly skiable. I used my skin skis but I think some red wax would have worked. As Jeremy pointed out, there is occasional tree debris which would get embedded in your sticky wax. The snow is indestructible. I encountered three people walking on the trail without leaving any footprints.
I enjoyed meeting Racquel and Adeniyi on the Bill Milne trail. Adeniyi was skiing for the first time ever.
We’ve had reports on most of the trails that I skied in PLPP so I’ll keep it short. I didn’t have sun on the trails, but it was shining on the mountains and looked magnificent.
Big Tex was parked at the Upper Lake, so you know what that means.
PLPP and Bill Milne Jan 18, 2021
The elk skeleton was Chuck’s photos of the year for sure. This is what wilderness looks like.
That rib cage looks small.
Could just be a beginner skier who tripped on some antlers.