Wallowa Backcountry - Norway Hut Day 1

We were lucky enough to get some spots in Wallowa Norway Hut for some backcountry skiing.  My prior experiences with backcountry huts/yurts had set the bar pretty high...The Three Sisters Backcountry Huts and the Williams Huts in the Sawtooth were my prior yurt adventures and each had its own unique character and personality.  Both were awesome but very different.

It was hard to know what to expect given the general lack of info available on the Wallowas.  We had not really talked to anyone who had stayed at the Norway yurt in the Wallowas so were were very curious about ....everything!  I did not know much about that part of the state and was curious to see what that little corner held in store for us.

Day 1 - we met in Halfway, Oregon and stayed overnight at the 'Carson' house which is either owned or has some affiliation with the Wallowa Huts.  We met our future yurt-mates that evening and the excitement and questions built and loomed.  We were fortunate enough to have an incredible legacy visitor.  George had been up the the yurts for 18 yrs running!  So we quickly picked his brain about what laid in store for us.  Out of the three yurts/huts available in the Wallowa's, the Norway hut seemed to be our best option and it did not disappoint!

We woke up and the guides brought in breakfast for us at the Carson hut.  We did some quick intros around the room and then discussed the plan for the day.  Day 1 started with some egg and sausage muffins, and a spread with bread and lunch-meats to pack up for our adventure to the yurt.  The transportation to the yurt included a quick drive up to the trailhead where we would get towed in by snowmobile for 6 miles.  I was curious to see how the tow in was going to be considering I was the lone splitboarder amongst the yurt-mates.  The tow in kept my attention as it was a bit of an art trying to stay in synch speed wise with the sled.
We got to our drop off point where we transition into skin mode and skinned into the yurt - roughly 2 1/2 miles and 2K of elevation gain.  We made our way up the road and were quickly treated to nice peak-a-boo views of what was in store for us over the upcoming days.  The higher we skinned, the better the views.
Eventually the skin skin skin up crested a saddle where the crux of the day awaited us...a short descent on skins to the yurt.  There were a couple of snow angel casualties by for once I was not one of them - considering my lack of skill in 'ski mode' while on the split board, I felt like that was a nice little personal mini triumph.

The guides portered our gear (except our day bags that we used for our skin) via sled to the yurts so it was nice not having to carry up the extra lbs/load on our skin in.

Once we got to the yurts, we picked our beds for the next few days and settled in.  We ate lunch and then waited for our group to re-group so that we could head out for a couple of quick runs before the sun set.

The location of the Norway Hut is incredible.  It sits on a little flat spot overlooking some of the surrounding peaks (Granite, Red, Cornucopias, Norway).  It is a double decker yurt with the kitchen area on the bottom floor and the sleeping area on the top floor.  Each level has a stove so there is plenty of heat to go around.  The yurt proper is pretty nice and it is a huge bonus that sleeping bags and thermarests are provided for the visit.

Soon enough, we were back in skin mode, hiking up to the ridge close by to find some snow to descend.  We headed up the ridge and the views just continued to get better and better!

The temps had been relatively warm as of late so the snow conditions were a big question in my mind.  As it turns out we lucked out big time.  There was some recent snow earlier in the week that help freshen everything up - and the warm temps meant we had views for miles with incredible bluebird days.

Our first couple of descents gave the guides a chance to suss out the crew they had to contend with for the next few days.  We got some great turns in and I snapped pix as if it was my first trip ever,...yup yup. trigger happy on the photos but it was hard not to marvel at the terrain.

All too quickly, our day wrapped up and we found ourselves skinning back to the yurt where the guides were already getting some apps ready prior to dinner.  The crew inhaled food and quickly started working on the keg of IPA (one of 2 kegs no less).  Pretty soon, the beer was flowing freely and the stories of the day were recounted and revisited.  We were treated to the first of several awesome warm meals at the hut.

The guides were not only incredibly knowledgeable of the area and snow pack, but they were kick ass cooks and people to boot.  We all discussed how this level of catering and babysitting was making us soft soft soft....but ohhhhh so nice....

some pix of day 1:

Christmas Valley Sand Dunes - Fatbiking Pix 2

Christmas Valley Sand Dunes - Fatbiking

The unusually warm weather held through Sunday which meant there were outside the box opportunities for this time of year.  Christmas Valley Sand Dunes are east of Fort Rock in Oregon and as per the website are the largest shifting inland sand dunes in the state.  The dunes were created way back in the day when Mt Mazama blew her lid (creating Crater Lake).  The sand dunes are the pumice and ash from said explosion.

Another intriguing reason to go was the Lost Forest.  The lost forest is a little 'forest'...although forest is probably a bit of an exaggeration as it is not a 'thick' forest but more like a series of scattered ponderosa pines in an area that outwardly appears to have no water source.

Despite the geologic intrigue, the real reason was to get out there and dust off the fat bikes!  This time of year, the fatties are usually getting some mileage in the white stuff.  This was a little window to get out and play in the loose stuff.

After a 2 hour drive we got to the recreation area and were pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the temps were.  It was shorts weather!  and in January no less.

We quickly found one of the access roads to the dunes and saw that it was a giant mud-fest for a couple hundred feet.  The fatties handled the mud although it was that horrible clay mud that just stuck to everything.  The wheels and drivetrain quickly caked up and we did a little house-cleaning after we got through the bog.  Shortly after, we hit the dunes and had ear to ear grins on our mugs.  After riding for about 15 minutes, we stopped, took some pix, and deflated tires to around 4-5 psi.  This made a significant different in handling in the sand and made the riding just a little less challenging than it was before.

We spent a little over an hour pedaling though the dunes and kept having the pinch me moments of how it felt 'hot' in January, shortly followed up by....'where are we'!

What a great destination for a different kind of fat biking (different for us that is).  It would be fun to go back and do a little more exploring but it will definitely have to be during similar temperatures as I cannot fathom being out there in weather much warmer than what we were in.

Some pictures:

Smith Rocks - The Zoo

With the unseasonably warm weather this weekend, we decided to switch it up and seek fun in the sun.  The snow conditions are abysmal at best but the forecasters were predicting 60 degree temps for the weekend.

The loose game plan was to climb a day and ride a day.  Saturday was our day to climb so we got got moving and put a plan together:  The Zoo.  The crux for the approach was to determine whether to go via Skull Hollow or via the  regular Smith 'trade route'.  We opted for skull hollow as the hike up and over Burma road was brutal.

Time wise, it was probably about the same to go via Skull Hollow or the Smith side.  The Skull Hollow was a better option as the hike in was mellower and more importantly it was away from the hordes of people.

After a nice hour long approach with amazing views, we descended into the drainage were the Zoo sits.  We opted for a nice mellow 5.8 to start with.  It had been a while since either of us had been on real stone so we wanted to find our groover and flow before jumping on anything more demanding.

It felt a little awkward at first but I tried to remind myself of how that seems to be typical for me on many first climbs of the day, and somehow I always seem to overthink the easy stuff.  Perhaps because the mind has the opportunity to wander a little?

We did a quick lap on the warm up and then moved over towards the platform where we did a couple more routes.  We stepped up the grade each time and somehow managed to keep climbing without falling.  There was only 1 other party there so it was very different feel than what we predicted was playing out at Smith proper where people were probably waiting in lines to jump on the stone.

It was a 4 route day - not a ton of routes but probably about the limit for us considering we had a nice long 1 hour hike out back to the car.  It felt good to get back on stone and it also felt good to force the body to work hard and also get the lead head back on outside.

Overall, it was a really pleasant day on steep stone at Smith...yes, I said steep stone at Smith!

gimme gimme!

Cross Junkyard style

this looks like super ridiculous FUN

2014 - It's a WRAP

What better way to polish off the year that was 2014 than to head up to Tumalo for a quick split lap?

Surprisingly, the weather up at the mountain was nicer than it was in town.  A couple thousand feet in elevation gain provided for warmer temps.  Dutchman Sno Park was a disaster!  I have never seen it that busy with people stacked double time for parking.  It was NUTTY.  We ended up going over to Sunrise parking lot and trudging across the road in order to get a lap in at Tumalo.

The skies were clear so I was looking forward to the views as we ascended...as usual the views were kick butt.

The skin up was so toasty that I removed my gloves...until we peaked at which point it was time to bundle up as the temps moved from the mid 30's to the single digits.

We transitioned to ride mode and took a super mellow aspect down and got as many turns in as possible.

ohh, sweet nectar for the soul - ohhh and atlas shrugged: