OlympiaFJ60

Again we visited the Ahtanum area West of Yakima.  This time there was a little more snow.  We traveled the North Fork Road up past Snow Cabin.  We were able to make it within 2 miles of Darland Mountain from the north on this road before the snow (and snowmobile tracks) halted progress.

We spent the first part of the day at Snow Cabin Campground (there was no cabin that I could see).  This is a nice campground at about 4700′ elevation.  It has about 6 camp sites with fire pits and picnic tables.  There are 2 unisex latrines as well, but no running water.  We setup for at one spot for lunch.  I had forgotten to bring firewood, so we scavenged a few of the other fire pits for semi dry/charred wood to use.  After an hour of trying to start a fire (while I was making lunch on the camp stove) we gave up.  We ate lunch, then decided to head further up the road for deeper snow.

Once we were denied access to the top of Darland Mountain, we headed back down the road a little for a good sledding spot.  We ended up finding one at an intersection with the 2300 road and spent an our sledding and having a snowball fight.  There was about 18″ of snow here.  We were just under 5700′.  I could only trek to the top so many times before I was worn out.  (more…)

Similar posts that may be of interest:

Searching for Snow

Sledding at Ahtanum Meadows

Owyhee Sheep Camp Expedition, Part 2

Off-road Camping Trailer

Driving Northwest Forest Logging Roads

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This isn’t a trail run, more like a snow report. Veterans Day weekend we were over in Yakima and decided to look for some snow. On the trip over we went Hwy 410 through Chinook Pass and there was just a crust of snow left on the side of the road from the plows, and only at the summit. We figured we would have to look a little higher. We took the Ahtanum road out of Union Gap and headed up the North Fork road at Tampico. At the snow park (and end of paved road) we took the A2000 along the middle fork Ahtanum creek to Treephones campground. You can stay right at the intersection and it looks like (on the map) you will get to roughly the same place, go by Cougar Flats and another Snow cabin.

Treephones is a state campground managed by the DNR and has many camp sites and is set up for horse and pack animals. There are several large sites with trailer parking and a large turnaround parking lot. Treephones has a nice building built by a local snowmobile club the ?ski benders. It is a large hall with several large picnic tables and a wood stove in the center. We started a fire in the stove and cooked our soup for lunch. We also figured it would be nice to have a warm place to return to should we find good snow.

The Ahtanum area uses the green dot road managment system and some of the roads are closed to vehicle travel. We ended up taking the road behind Treephones up to Eagles nest and Clover Flats camp ground. This is were we started to get a little snow. We continued on to the top and Darland Mountain and Narroneck Gap. This is were we ended up playing, just below 7,000 feet. You can continue along the road and end up looping around to Cougar Flats and back to the North Fork road. (more…)

Similar posts that may be of interest:

Searching for Snow, Part II

Sledding at Ahtanum Meadows

Grey Rock Trail - Ahtanum State Forest

Scouting Whiskey Dick

Off-road Camping Trailer

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This isn’t a trail run perse, but was a really great opportunity to learn some new things and put all skills needed for safe overland driving to the test. The format for the class was a one day, 3 hours in the “classroom” and another 8 hours putting it all to use. The class was taught by Chris Wood, ARBs Western Region Sales Representative and Assistant General Manager. Chris is a certified trainer with the International 4WD Trainers Association and brings over 23 years of experience to ARB’s program.

Chris welcomes drivers of all experience levels and promises to sharpen the skills of both the novice and seasoned off-road-er. This class is put on FREE of charge to participants. There is no hard sales pitch for ARB products, but you get to see alot of them in action. I attended with members of our local TLCA chapter, the South Sound Cruisers and some other area FJ Cruisers owners.

Picture by OlyWAFJ (more…)

Similar posts that may be of interest:

Driving Northwest Forest Logging Roads

Driving the Blue Highways - Yakima to Vantage to Ellensburg.

DNR to hold Safety Summit for Off-Road Riders

Scouting Whiskey Dick

Searching for Snow, Part II

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