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2022-02-09 at 21:07 - comment by Helen Read
This deserves a separate report. Love this photo of Jeannette. Thanks to Mr. Democracy and Chuck, there are now two ways to go. I seriously lack these skills but happy to help reinforce the trail next time.
2022-02-09 at 17:47 - comment by Chuck
With all the interest in the area, we decided to push the Pipestone River trail today a bit.
While Mr. Democracy prefers to follow the summer horse trail, we always prefer to stay on the actual river ice.
We did not get all the way to Point Camp Meadow today (which is 7 km beyond the Blue #20 trackset loop), but we will be back!
Jeannette follows my track on the actual Pipestone River route
2022-02-09 at 12:22 - comment by DEMOCRATIZE AB
Howdy Helen,
I have always guesstimated that the beginning of Point Camp Meadows is 6 km beyond the Pipestone Blue 20 trail.
Some people prefer to travel up the Pipestone River to get there but I don't like travelling on rivers myself due to the amount of times I have fallen through ice in the past. Someone did lay some tracks on the river at least in part. At times they skied up to the trail which makes me wonder about the ice on the river. I did see some ice collapsed.
The Pipestone River trail has a few small hills and creek crossings. I normally side step the hills to make it easier to travel, particularly for spring travel purposes. When the trail is well skier tracked by me after I have skied it at least 3 times, it is quicker to get up there than Stoney Creek when the wax works well.
Ideally I recommend people ski up there later in spring. When there is a good hard snow crust covering the Point Camp Meadows, it allows for fantastic skate skiing and one can zip across the meadows in minutes up towards the junction to the trail which leads to the Little Red Deer River. This trail provides access towards Skoki Lodge. There is also a warden cabin up there. That is roughly about a 20 km trip one way.
Who ever broke parts of the Pipestone River trail had some difficulty finding the trail. There is a lot of snow up there right now and many of the blazes on the trees are either buried or covered by snow. If you can't find the blazes or ski tracks, you will lose the trail very easily. If anyone goes up there now, follow my skinny ski tracks. I made the mistake of following the old fat ski tracks in one spot and that lead me way off trail. It was a good adventure though and I enjoyed it. At night I made sure I stuck to the main trail coming out in order to ensure the Pipestone River trail is broken all the way.
2022-02-09 at 08:44 - comment by HenryL
Helen, I too enjoy reading Mr. Legalize D's night shift accounts. I think that Chuck has mentioned Point Camp Meadows in a past post. I was also guessing as to where this was, so I looked at the satellite layer of Google Maps. There is a place that seems to fit the bill - a sharp point in the creek that faces a huge meadow to the north. Perhaps perfect for a camp! I'd say that it's about 7 km above the trails. Take a look yourself. I've attached a closeup of the potential camp location. I hope that you decide to explore in that direction.
2022-02-09 at 07:38 - comment by Helen Read
WOW!! You are one hard worker on the evening shift!! How far from top of groomed trails would you guess is Point Camp Meadows? I am now sorely tempted to check it out, but this is pushing me likely beyond my limits. Thanks for sharing your unique ski reports, especially at 2 AM!
PIPESTONE RIVER- NORTH END POINT CAMP MEADOWS- Tuesday Ski
Report Submitted by DEMOCRATIZE AB
(trip) Date: Tuesday Feb 08, 2022
Submitted: Wednesday Feb 09, 2022 at 02:06
Participants:
MR LEGALIZE REAL DEMOCRACY ON SINGLE CAMBER 59 MM SKIS
Discussion:
Excellent fast winter skiing on Swix V40 wax on the Pipestone Blue 20 trackset trail. There is a little debris on the trail but not to serious. It was effortless skiing up with great grip anD sweet long slide. There has been about 3cm of new snow since the tracket was set.
The Pipestone River trail beyond Blue 20 was partially skier tracked. Who ever rebroke the trail went off trail in a number of areas and got kind of lost. I completed the trail breaking to Point Camp Meadows and to near the north end of the meadows. Trail breaking was fairly easy in the trees with ski penetration a little over the ankles on average. Moderate speed skiing. In the meadows the trail breaking was fairly easy to moderate difficulty. Slightly crusty snow. A little over ankle deep ski penetration on average. Moderate speed snow at best. Multiple crusts in the snow pack make for a great skiing base, far better than average for this time of year. I skied up meadow until it started to get somewhat dark. Fantastic 360 views with mainly clear skis overhead. Winds were pushing 60 km with a wind chill feeling like -20c. After eating dinner, I skied back to a very nice 1/2 high moon with hard shadows. The wind stopped once I got into the trees.
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