Spray & Cascade
Trip date: Friday Dec 17, 2021
Submitted by Carole
Particpants:
Carole & Jamie
Discussion:
I thought that I would join skier Roger and submit my first report on this site. My birthday ski yesterday took Jamie and I on a cold, blue-sky ski along the Spray River to Goat Creek. It was quiet on the trail and the conditions were great. We returned on the East side of the Spray River. I'm no animal track expert but I believe that martens have been running around between the second Spray River bridge and the Goat Creek bridge. We also skied along wolf tracks. Our ski was beautiful!
Today, we skied the Cascade Fire Road to the end of the track setting and a bit beyond to the campground at Stoney Creek. The track is in fantastic shape. There were many animal tracks including marten, snowshoe hare, big cat, and deep tracks (moose, I would guess but perhaps elk) near the Stoney Creek campground. There is evidence of this large animal spending time stomping and feeding around the campground. We followed these tracks to cross the creek. I figured that if a possible moose crossed the creek, it would be safe for a couple of skiers. We skied from the main trail back via the Stoney Creek Warden's cabin. That part had not been skied in a while. A big cat and many horseshoe hare left their tracks in the deep snow in this section. Some trees have fallen over this piece of trail. It was another awesome day!
Both trails are surrounded by snow-laden trees.