Post by Philip on Jan 25, 2020 15:00:14 GMT -9
Saturday Jan 25
Today Patrick, Ryan, and I skied up Salonie Creek for the first time in many years. This used to be a regular route for us, but the crappy winters has put it out of reach for a while now. But today we experienced some excellent conditions, and with the continued cold forecast this should stay nice for some time.
We had a key to the KISA range gate, so we drove in to the rifle range. You could park at the gate if you don't have a key and ski the road to the range. It is vehicle-packed snow. No dirt or rocks at this point. Not super fun, but it's only about a mile in. Once at the range you take an ATV track through the cottonwood trees for about a mile to the river. The snow under the trees is punchy and loud. Also not that fun, but again, only about a mile. Get on the river bed where the trail approaches close to a small tributary. The river bed itself is very firm and smooth snow with excellent poling and glide. The hard surface does not create a well-defined ski track, but it's fast and flat with lots of options for skiing along up the wide, braided gravel river bed. A few miles up the river as you approach the canyon the snow gets softer and you start to create a ski track. The poling gets a bit vague in the deeper snow and the kick grip starts to diminish, but the canyon is lovely and a fun place to explore. You have to cross the open creek a few times and can take advantage of snow bridges and ice dams in places, though we did take our skis off and dash through the shallow water once. You can ski quite a way up the canyon past the frozen waterfall on the south canyon wall before sheer rocks on either side block passage. The way back to the car is superb with a very gentle gradient helping you along, and we had a tail wind out of the valley most of the way. It was 5 miles from the car to where we turned around. Add 1 mile if you start at the gate at the Chiniak Highway. Despite the chilly temps in town it was surprisingly pleasant going up the river and canyon, but do take wind layers, good gloves, and a puffy coat just in case.
Our route (red line, one way)
Easy cruising up the river bed:
Entering the canyon:
You have to bust a few moves:
This was as far as we got. The reason why the ice in the creek is broken is because Patrick tried to ski across it to get farther up the canyon. Luckily he was able to scramble to dry land as the pieces broke apart.
Just behind Patrick is the choke point (where he almost took a swim) that convinced us to turn around:
Taking advantage of our track on the way back was lovely:
Today Patrick, Ryan, and I skied up Salonie Creek for the first time in many years. This used to be a regular route for us, but the crappy winters has put it out of reach for a while now. But today we experienced some excellent conditions, and with the continued cold forecast this should stay nice for some time.
We had a key to the KISA range gate, so we drove in to the rifle range. You could park at the gate if you don't have a key and ski the road to the range. It is vehicle-packed snow. No dirt or rocks at this point. Not super fun, but it's only about a mile in. Once at the range you take an ATV track through the cottonwood trees for about a mile to the river. The snow under the trees is punchy and loud. Also not that fun, but again, only about a mile. Get on the river bed where the trail approaches close to a small tributary. The river bed itself is very firm and smooth snow with excellent poling and glide. The hard surface does not create a well-defined ski track, but it's fast and flat with lots of options for skiing along up the wide, braided gravel river bed. A few miles up the river as you approach the canyon the snow gets softer and you start to create a ski track. The poling gets a bit vague in the deeper snow and the kick grip starts to diminish, but the canyon is lovely and a fun place to explore. You have to cross the open creek a few times and can take advantage of snow bridges and ice dams in places, though we did take our skis off and dash through the shallow water once. You can ski quite a way up the canyon past the frozen waterfall on the south canyon wall before sheer rocks on either side block passage. The way back to the car is superb with a very gentle gradient helping you along, and we had a tail wind out of the valley most of the way. It was 5 miles from the car to where we turned around. Add 1 mile if you start at the gate at the Chiniak Highway. Despite the chilly temps in town it was surprisingly pleasant going up the river and canyon, but do take wind layers, good gloves, and a puffy coat just in case.
Our route (red line, one way)
Easy cruising up the river bed:
Entering the canyon:
You have to bust a few moves:
This was as far as we got. The reason why the ice in the creek is broken is because Patrick tried to ski across it to get farther up the canyon. Luckily he was able to scramble to dry land as the pieces broke apart.
Just behind Patrick is the choke point (where he almost took a swim) that convinced us to turn around:
Taking advantage of our track on the way back was lovely:
