Cataract Creek Snowmobile Trails offical thread 2016/17

[Bisch]

you are 100% correct there Tyler. That cold riding a Skandic is not for this Old Guy. Would love to be out there but common sense is a leading factor in me not being there. Oh and Wendy says I cant go

I don't blame you one bit!

 

[retiredpop]

..

That's SledderGlen Jason

Rodney Dangerfield had the same problem SledderGlen.

 

[GasCan]

Oh and Wendy says I cant go

But you can still make blender drinks when you're inside looking out at the cold. Like maybe....Tequila

Hoping to get out myself...maybe next week if it warms up a spot or two. First time in years for me.

 

[Sledderglen]

But you can still make blender drinks when you're inside looking out at the cold. Like maybe....Tequila

Hoping to get out myself...maybe next week if it warms up a spot or two. First time in years for me.

Will maybe see you out there. Ill be the guy dragging **** around behind me trying to pack trails

 

[Sledderglen]

Good Morning Riders

Just checked Highwood weather station it said -31 right now. Lost creek was -14. BRrrrrrr dress warm

 

[tucker_98]

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[tucker_98]

Hi All, made it out today as I couldn't wait any longer. Thought I'd give an update for everyone, I expected to see alot of people out there who were itching like us but we had the trails (and rocks) all to ourselves.

Snow coverage is good, about 4-6" on average - but there is no base. Where there are tracks or "base" I would say about 1-3". Any throttle at all and you dig down to rocks. Track damage is likely especially on mountain sleds so be careful.

With regards to rideability, it's totally dependent on how you feel about your skis. Click-clack of rocks is a constant where ever you go.

Most ice flows are frozen solid (except for one crossing on Raspberry Pass Trail - be careful very soft).

Stuck mostly to the north end from etherington but did take a trip down as far as cataract parking lot. Midway to the end of Baril Loop trail (from etherington) is particularly bad, we turned around after getting stuck on rocks. Based on both parking lot trails into the system I would stick to the Etherington parking lot as an unload zone, seems to have better snow cover at this point in my opinion, but can't comment on trails south of Cataract Trail as that is as far south as we got today.

Some areas are better than others and it will vary every 5 minutes or so, but overall your skis will hate you.

Definitely a good start! Had a great day with blue skies and temperatures weren't that bad since we dressed for it.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[imdoo'n]

might be good to drag a tire over trail, pack it down some, start a base on a few trails.

 

[GasCan]

Curious is anyone ventured south to Skyline and beyond to the south meadows yet. Usually there is a lot more snow back there and I'm itching to get out this week.

 

[Sledderglen]

Curious is anyone ventured south to Skyline and beyond to the south meadows yet. Usually there is a lot more snow back there and I'm itching to get out this week.

On our trailpacking to do list. Skyline gets drifted bad hope its passable. Looking forward to riding those trails after all the cat work that was done back there to remove the erosion damage.
Maybe see you out there

 

[Kaz Dog]

Curious is anyone ventured south to Skyline and beyond to the south meadows yet. Usually there is a lot more snow back there and I'm itching to get out this week.

In my experience, the better snow is definitely in the south - Skyline, Cummings, Oyster Excursion, and Pasque Trials - and not as good on the northern trails - Etherington, Raspberry and lower portions of Baril Creek And Baril Loop trails - with Cataract Creek trail being the dividing line, and going either way.

When we tried to do maintenance on the trails earlier, there was enough snow on Skyline to not get up it on quads - from a safety perspective - so I feel confident in saying that the snow in the south end of the system should be fine for early season. It always amazes me that guys stop short at Etherington to unload and get on their sleds - and not drive further to Cataract - as the snow is always better from there - early and late season. Plus, there is the warming shack and wood for the stove there to warm up with.

The only reason we have not been out to groom yet is the weather. The club only has two snowmobiles and drags at its' disposal currently, and at these temperatures, even the hardiest of volunteers feel that it may be unsafe for a 8 - 10 hour run with the drags. If we had the All-Tracks machine right now, there would be a warm up period of quite a while in these temperatures before we would move it out of the groomer shack and get it out there to do its' work. I see warmer weather in the forecast, and I know Glen is itching to get on the trails with the new packers he and Darryl have built to start packing, and know that will happen this week.

 

[t-bird]

I've tried going south from Etherington and got completely lost last year, I ended up driving a long ways on a road before I picked up the trail again. It looked like it was plowed for logging?

 

[GasCan]

I've tried going south from Etherington and got completely lost last year, I ended up driving a long ways on a road before I picked up the trail again. It looked like it was plowed for logging?

If you study this trail map, you shouldn't have any problem with getting to the south end of the trails. That's where you find the best snow to play in.

https://www.albertaparks.ca/media/4526117/kc_-_cataract_creek_snowmobile_trails.pdf

Sometimes we'd pick up the logging road just to fast track and boogie down to the south end beyond the maps and lay some fresh tracks when it dumps the fresh stuff. If staging from Etherington, we'd take Raspberry to Cataract Creek then onto Cummings to get to the cross over where we'd pickup Skyline over the summit to Pasque, and south to the meadows. Skyline can be blown in at the summit with wind drifts and deep powder when it snows hard and that's the most challenging part of the ride unless it's groomed and packed. If you're going over Skyline before it's packed with a cut trail, make sure you are in a group and it's easy to get stuck up there.

I remember going with a couple guys when I just got back into riding and had a heavy 09 Nytro 153" I was breaking in. I counted 13 stucks in one day and it was hell digging out of 4' of fresh uncut powder all day long. That was the first big dump of that year and everywhere we went we were trenching deep powder with no base. Fun...but what a workout.

 

[Kaz Dog]

To all,

Spray Lake Sawmills is ploughing the entire Hwy 940/Forestry Truck Road this winter, from Cataract Creek P.R.A. parking lot ("the gate") to Dutch Creek P.R.A. ("the other gate") for hauling logs this winter.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR SLED ON THIS ROAD! Even though they are not hauling on Saturdays, or Sundays, they may be doing maintenance on their equipment with 3/4 or 1 ton trucks. As well, if there is a dump of snow, the grader will be out plowing the road for the week day hauling, and other approved users are on this road. One I know of for sure is the trapper south of the snowmobile trails.

As soon as they are no longer hauling on the Forestry Truck Road this winter, I will put an advisement here. I am in close contact with them.

 

[Kaz Dog]

Posting for Glen here, as he and volunteer Ed were out packing the trails yesterday. -24 when you got back, THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS!



As indicated to me;

- Cataract Creek Trail out (west) from the parking lot to Cataract Loop Trail
- up the Cataract Loop Trail (west) to the junction with Cataract Creek Trail and Etherington Trail
- up Etherington Trail (north) to the ridge top look out where you can see The Great Divide (had to check out some snow fence we installed late last month) and turned around
- back down (south) on Etherington Trail to junction with Cataract Creek & Loop Trails, and proceeded down (south) onto Cataract Creek Trail and back east to Fallers Trail (between the new bridges)
- down (south) on Fallers Trail to junction with Oyster Excursion Trail
- down (south) on Oyster Excursion Trail a short way to the junction with the "cross-over trail" to Skyline Trail
- east on cross-over trail to Skyline Trail, and continued on east on cross-over trail to Cummings Trail
- up (north) Cummings Trial to Cataract Creek Trail at SLS's bridge over Cataract Creek
- back home (east) on Cataract Creek Trail

Some of their handy work below.

 

[Summit X]

I remember going with a couple guys when I just got back into riding and had a heavy 09 Nytro 153" I was breaking in. I counted 13 stucks in one day and it was hell digging out of 4' of fresh uncut powder all day long. That was the first big dump of that year and everywhere we went we were trenching deep powder with no base. Fun...but what a workout.

Was that a day I was there??? I remember I had a good time, but you had a couple of stucks!!

 

[Summit X]

No more reports on the pass?? No suckers spent half a day filling in the rocks on the last climb with snow yet?? I bet it is good if you make it over....

 

[Sledderglen]

Posting for Glen here, as he and volunteer Ed were out packing the trails yesterday. -24 when you got back, THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS!



As indicated to me;

- Cataract Creek Trail out (west) from the parking lot to Cataract Loop Trail
- up the Cataract Loop Trail (west) to the junction with Cataract Creek Trail and Etherington Trail
- up Etherington Trail (north) to the ridge top look out where you can see The Great Divide (had to check out some snow fence we installed late last month) and turned around
- back down (south) on Etherington Trail to junction with Cataract Creek & Loop Trails, and proceeded down (south) onto Cataract Creek Trail and back east to Fallers Trail (between the new bridges)
- down (south) on Fallers Trail to junction with Oyster Excursion Trail
- down (south) on Oyster Excursion Trail a short way to the junction with the "cross-over trail" to Skyline Trail
- east on cross-over trail to Skyline Trail, and continued on east on cross-over trail to Cummings Trail
- up (north) Cummings Trial to Cataract Creek Trail at SLS's bridge over Cataract Creek
- back home (east) on Cataract Creek Trail

Some of their handy work below.
View attachment 201038View attachment 201039

Thanks Scott.
Just a reminder to all riders. Stuff still sticking up in the snow. Hidden treasures out there for sure under the snow. Small creeks and springs are still not filled with snow yet be careful as they appear fast and some are deep. These will be filled in with snow when we get the drags out. I'm packing the trails to set up the base layer. This layer gives us a better longer lasting trail surface and resists mogul action from forming. Riders if you can please spread out across the width of the trail to pack what you can down. Snow to the South better. Like Scott said was cold yesterday. Started out at -11 then went to -24 in the dark.
I would like to thank the Accessories Shop in High River for the excellent bright LED lights for the clubs new to them utility sled. What a difference between my sled and the clubs. Guess its time to update my sleds lights
Trail from Cataract staging area thin but packed. Use your scratchers and watch for rocks and stumps thru reroute. Keep it slow and you should be OK. Etheringtonn gates still closed as the government guys have not opened them yet. Snow up that way still low. No report on Fording Pass area or trail to it. Maybe this weekend I will head up that way. New bridges on Cataract Trail heading West. Thanks Backcountry Flood program for those. Thanks for all the volunteers that helped doing the trailwork this fall and continue into the winter. Thanks to K&C gravel and many others companies that helped out with all the dirt work this fall to smooth out some of those eroded areas. Thanks to the ASA trail funding for helping pay some of the cost of trail repairs, equipment and signage for the area.

Early season conditions out there. Rocks, ice flows, creeks are just a few conditions to be cautious about. Snow getting better. Ride with Caution and be safe

 

[imdoo'n]

looked like the culvert does a nice job packing it down.

 

[Sledderglen]

looked like the culvert does a nice job packing it down.

Thanks. I would of liked a larger diameter of around 24-36 inches but that stuff is way out of our club or my budget. So we got these for free and will work them for as long as we can. 6 feet is a good width but still a pull up some of those hills in fresh powder snow untracked. Little heavier by adding some weight helps but harder to pull in powder which what it is designed to be used on. Work in progress on a shoestring budget.