well i was thinking of trying my hand at puting something togeather. i am not sure what the expected conditions are on the penninsula but i thought of starting out near lake cushman. i played around that area last summer a little but i didnt go too far in. there are some good views of rainer from the ridge if it is a clear day. probably go either the weekend of 17/18 or 24/25. i havnt gone into planning a route yet, and it depends on how long it will take to fix my rig when i get home weither i can do it or not. just watned to see what interest there is out there.

I'd be game. Just have to pick a date and I'll see if I can get those days off.

i am leaning more to the 17/18th as long as i get running again. i would be up for an over night run if there is interest. maybe cross from skokomish to quinalt and see if we can go from there, or start in quinalt and try and circle around to the east and go up the east side of the range as far as we can. if some one has sudjestions i am open to them. all i really want is to go out and have some fun.

My only suggestions regarding snowruns are to call the ranger before heading out to insure the roads aren't closed to vehicles and to scout it out first. The trick with a snowrun is to find where the fresh powder is. Too much old snow and you wind up high centered on your axles, too little and you're bored. Too steep and you slide off the trail, etc. Heading out and having a look ahead of time is really worth it with a snowrun.

Craig
 

craig thanks for the advise. when scouting do you usualy try and cover most of the area that you are intending to run? also should it be some where that has been run when there wasnt snow?

It's nice if you can run it ahead of time either with or without snow, but it isn't mandatory or anything. The important thing is to get out there and have fun.  My suggestions are only in the hope of making it more fun for you, but if you don't have time to scout you should still just wing it.  Just let people know the goal is to make it from A to B, but that is dependant upon the snow / trail conditions. On that sort of run, make sure you have plenty of winches, come-alongs, tire chains, etc as it is likely to become a real challenge (winchfest). Bring what you need to stay warm if you have to spend the night, and probably make it a "guys run" instead of a "family snow fun run".

The reason for scouting right before the snowrun is to determine snow levels. A little elevation change makes for a big difference in snow levels. Once you see small snow patches on the side of the road it usually only takes 1/2 mile before you are in much deeper snow. If it's early enough in the year and the snow is still soft you can push through it. If it's a bit later in the season and there are ruts you are likely to quickly hit a depth where the axles are high centered. So, checking it out ahead of time and being very aware of the trail altitude is really helpful.

The best snowruns are when you've been able to scout the entire trail with a *little* snow, then a fresh snowstorm comes in. For rigs like ours with very modest tires sizes, the best snowruns are spontaneous rather than being planned for a specific date. It's looking like the date you picked might work out like that though.

Craig

 

well here is a route i came up with using google maps. not sure if itll work for a snow run but might be interesting when it is dry again. i dont think ill be able to scout it though. if any one has a place they already know their way around that would work too.

maps.google.com/maps

link doesn't work..I'll be free on the 30th to maybe scout something in the Olympic forest.

fixed it. i wont be back til around the 10th or so. maybe the following weekend?

Tell you what I'll plan on pre running the section from hoodsport to lake wynoochee on Wed Dec 30th. I just want to get out and drive...I'll report back. If anybody wants to tag along we can make met up arrangements..

I went to the Ranger station yesterday to get some more info and a map of the area. Her main concern was the starting point, Hoodsport. She said the route that google maps show from hoodsport to the start of the FS roads is all private roads and the timber company most likely will have the gates shut. She recommended we start from Shelton.

Then we started talking about the road conditions, she said now was the worst time of year to drive that route. She mentioned the snow level was about 2000' and they don't plow the roads. I told her thats what I was looking for....weather wise it looks like it may rain/snow up there tommorrow.

So if anybody plans on coming up. I'm going to start out from Shelton, WA. instead of Hoodsport. Depending on road conditions and if I'm by myself, I am just planning on making a drive up to the High steel bridge to check it out.

Now that I'm looking at both maps.. I think the ranger was pointing at the wrong spot on the map....I think it'll be a game time decision and I'll go from there...

thank you for doing the leg work on this. the weather forcast i looked at before was sayin the snow level would only come down to 3000 ft. i revised the route to go through potlatch park, but if you have a route going from shelton that would probably be better.

Looking at the map I think I found my problem. Some of the towns on the FS road map that I have are not labeled. I think the ranger mistook Skokomish for Shelton. The route she showed me is the same one as you posted from Potlach State park...

I'll probably head out from my house in OLy at 8:30ish...

cool, i hope it works out. i did read on the FS site that FS2353 has a closed gate on it but i am not sure where it is. the route is only on FS2353 for .3 miles so i dont know if it will affect the route. i tried to keep from useing that road but i couldnt find a better route. i wish i could go with you tomarrow.

Went great! Started out on a crappy foot. I got all the way to Potlach state park. FS road was closed. Fired up the GPS and found I had forgotten to upload the Olympics region topo. I'm cheap and only have a small SD card for it...So I had to go at it old school and use the map. My original goal was just to drive to the High steel bridge ove the Skokomish river. I found that pretty easy and decided to follow RD 4320 around to Brown camp. There is not much snow up there and it really depends on what side of a hill you're onif there is any at all. The route that I took would make for a fun day snow run if we have a decent snowfall. The campground was beautiful this time of year and no one was up there. Here's a few pics....