schubwa
New member
It's been pretty rough around here lately, especially after the deluge we got last weekend. I did a 22K skate ski race around Crescent Lake in the pouring rain. So very miserable.
We did get 6" mid week that freshened things up and covered the frozen rain pack. Everything was much improved but there was more wet weather forecasted for this weekend.
Trouble was I was booked to go into the Three Creeks Backcountry Yurts starting Friday. I've been into that local backcountry more than a few times, but never with this outfit. They started working on getting their permit back in 1997 with the Forest Service and finally opened for business a couple winters ago. One of the owners, Jonas Tarlin, has guided trips I was on in the past and I was glad to see him as he's one cool dude and has a great sense of humor. This trip was unguided as I was going with Scot Kellar and Steve and Karen Ward, whom I skied with last spring at the Selkirk Hut in BC. Another couple from Portland, Bruce and Juliette Cannon, joined us. They're friends of Scot's and are old hands at AT skiing.
Three Creeks Yurts have two yurts which each sleep six and a sauna. There's plenty of fire wood available (you know, beetle kill) so we made like crazy Norwegians and sauna'ed like we were…crazy!
Here we are checking out The Prow. This place has some serious terrain and it's not a two day drive and $1000 a day to get at.
I know, there's nothing steep in Central Oregon.
Another view from The Prow, this time looking west. Too bad it was wet pack and froze overnight.
Saturday dawned clear and beautiful and we decided to go for a long tour. It wasn't the day to tackle the icy steeps so we just skinned up the high plateau behind the Tam McArthur Rim. Here you see views north to Mt Jefferson and Mt Hood (Wyeast). Mt Adams (Pahto) in Washington State was visible just out of this picture.
Skinning up you have great views of Mt Bachelor on the left and Ball Butte.
Here you see the north face of Broken Top and the upper slopes in the Snow Creek drainage. I'm coming back up here.
Skiing out this morning I stopped and took another shot of some of the fun pitches above Three Creeks Lake.
We did get 6" mid week that freshened things up and covered the frozen rain pack. Everything was much improved but there was more wet weather forecasted for this weekend.
Trouble was I was booked to go into the Three Creeks Backcountry Yurts starting Friday. I've been into that local backcountry more than a few times, but never with this outfit. They started working on getting their permit back in 1997 with the Forest Service and finally opened for business a couple winters ago. One of the owners, Jonas Tarlin, has guided trips I was on in the past and I was glad to see him as he's one cool dude and has a great sense of humor. This trip was unguided as I was going with Scot Kellar and Steve and Karen Ward, whom I skied with last spring at the Selkirk Hut in BC. Another couple from Portland, Bruce and Juliette Cannon, joined us. They're friends of Scot's and are old hands at AT skiing.
Three Creeks Yurts have two yurts which each sleep six and a sauna. There's plenty of fire wood available (you know, beetle kill) so we made like crazy Norwegians and sauna'ed like we were…crazy!
Here we are checking out The Prow. This place has some serious terrain and it's not a two day drive and $1000 a day to get at.
I know, there's nothing steep in Central Oregon.
Another view from The Prow, this time looking west. Too bad it was wet pack and froze overnight.
Saturday dawned clear and beautiful and we decided to go for a long tour. It wasn't the day to tackle the icy steeps so we just skinned up the high plateau behind the Tam McArthur Rim. Here you see views north to Mt Jefferson and Mt Hood (Wyeast). Mt Adams (Pahto) in Washington State was visible just out of this picture.
Skinning up you have great views of Mt Bachelor on the left and Ball Butte.
Here you see the north face of Broken Top and the upper slopes in the Snow Creek drainage. I'm coming back up here.
Skiing out this morning I stopped and took another shot of some of the fun pitches above Three Creeks Lake.