Nordic Patrol Daily Logs March 21-22, 2026

[Terry and Sue Flower]

Daily Patrol Logs attached.

On Saturday we didn't see the sun at Paradise until after 2 and spent the time up to that point navigating in very low visibility conditions. Thank goodness for saved gps tracks. It did freeze overnight Friday so the snow was very crunchy. And from the scratchy sounds that we could hear the very few visitors coming down Pan face were not having much fun. It began to soften after 2 and more folks were lined up ready to try their luck on the climb. Better visibility down near Reflection Lake but the snow wasn't any better. Team 3 on skis ended up walking from Canyon Wye down to Narada. They did reset all of the poles from Narada over Inspiration Saddle and down to the lake. Another team reset the poles and ropes in Edith Creek basin around the water treatment building (although it is now completely snow covered). We considered shoveling the 12 inch thick mound of snow that occupied the centerline of the Myrtle Falls bridge but decided that having a stepdown and stepup at the ends would be harder to negotiate. We ended the day practicing a transceiver search behind the Paradise Inn.

Sunday was a different day! Sunshine from the start and conditions were much better. The surface was still pretty firm until around noon when the conga line going up Pan Face started in earnest. Team 1 reset poles on the segment from Canyon Wye to Paradise so all of the poles were reset this weekend other than the one on Mazama Ridge. At the request of the rangers, Team 1 and 2 carried more poles and rope up the Skyline Trail the top of the gully leading down to Edith Creek in a valiant attempt to keep visitors from venturing down. Two folks skied right past me while I set crossed poles there. Oh well, it will discourage most folks. I couldn't see it but I'm told those two skiers actually climbed out of the gully before going over the edge. In retrospect I think putting crossed poles up much higher on the Skyline where the gully first starts would be a better deterrent. I suggested to Ryan that he should check that out and move at least a few of the poles up there. Sunday ended with Ryan leading us through a toboggan rigging and dragging practice. That was extremely worthwhile. Thanks Ryan!

Questions?

Terry

flow...@gmail.com

360-798-6554