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Photos by Ed Johnson

By the powers vested in me, I induct David, David, Kerstin, Lori, and Ed into the honorable Order of the Trail Breakers!  The above inductees never wavered in their determination to go the full distance, breaking trail the entire time.  They never mumbled a discouraging word, in spite of the fact that I, their "leader", forgot his jacket and had to race back to town to borrow one, forcing them to wait in the falling, wet snow.  They never faltered, even when the NOAA god brought rain upon us an hour before predicted, forcing the team to trudge through the wet mist from Flagline, along Crosscut, and all the way back on Swampy Loop.  Look Ho! at the full arm extension to get their poles on top of the snow as they broke through a foot of heavy snow.  Look Ho! at the smiles on the last leg of the ordeal, below the Shelter Tie intersection.  For me, their "leader", I am grateful for their immense, positive attitudes!

Contributed by trip leader Dennis Krakow, photos by Warren Preston

A small group of skiers headed out into somewhat challenging conditions.  The low cloud ceiling and wind said to stay in the trees.  Which we did, more or less.  We basically skied the COTA "3 psi" trail, which coincidentally is 3 miles.  Lots of trail breaking in a foot of thick snow.  One photo shows John pulling me up from a 0 mph fall.  The other gives an idea of conditions.  The final is the treat we had driving back to town.
I'll try it again there when we finally get freezing temperatures to create a crust.  It is pie season, right?

Eight Nordic skiers traveled the Ridge loop on Sunday, Dec. 15. It’s about a 2-3 hour ski that can be accessed from the Swampy snow park.  We started out in snow flurries and cool temperatures.

All climbed to the Ridge on a newly broken ski trail and then descended with our graceful gliding to the junction with the beginner trail.  The trail had wonderfully light powder snow.  Even the lower hairpin turn was  easy to navigate with this “hero” snow!

Contributed by trip leader Warren Preston

As the sun descended below the horizon, December's Full "Cold" Moon illuminated the way for eight CONC skiers readying to circumnavigate the Tangent Loop at Meissner Sno-Park. The wide, groomed trail with about 2" of fresh powder provided ample opportunities to gaze up at the bright orb hanging in the sky. The scudding clouds provided constantly changing views, leading to many stops for photo opportunities.

We skied up Tangent to the Mushroom Trail to Manzanita to the Meissner Shelter. After some clothing adjustments, snacks, and more photos, we continued onto Larkspur to Snowbush back to Tangent. The steady climb up Tangent toward Swampy Sno-Park was rewarded as we turned the corner to head downhill toward Meissner. The full moon lit our way as we headed east along the trail until we returned to our vehicles with smiles on our faces.

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John Stephenson led 10 CONC members on a ski tour to Todd Lake on December 8, 2024.  His timing was pretty good, as our freeze-thaw cycle was slightly interrupted the night before and during the day with a bit of fresh snow.  Yet conditions were not ideal, but everyone was capable and enjoyed getting out.  Dennis Krakow brought up the rear as sweep, and found the cache of snowshoe signs.  He was able help out the shoers by putting up the sign showing the trail entrance off Road 370.

(photos by Molly Conners)

Contributed by hike leader Sharon Evoy

It was a beautiful day in the Dry River Canyon. Three of us & one well behaved dog had it to ourselves nearly the whole time. Conditions were ideal - no ice! 

Contributed by ski leader Gary Elnan

Our revised ski route of Upper Meissner trails was a good choice - the groomed trails were in fine shape and everyone had a pleasant ski in good trail conditions.  We saw only a handful of other skiers on our Tangent-Gentian-Gilia-Bitterbrush-Snowbush-Tangent route from Swampy.  The temperature was about perfect, no wind, and bluebird skies.  We skied about 6.1 miles fairly quickly but it didn't seem too strenuous.  Still working on our ski conditioning.

Contributed by leader John Stephenson

Six snowshoers, including several Bend newcomers, completed the Todd Lake snowshoe loop on this beautifully sunny day. The lake was frozen over, and the sun-exposed flats had a topping of large, shiny crystalline flakes that must have formed during the recent freeze-thaw cycles. Unusual and pretty cool!

Contributed by trip leader John Stockham

We had 5 early-season skiers who skied 8.0 miles on Tangent, Snowbush, and Manzanita starting from the Swampy SnoPark.  Snacks at Meissner Shelter.  Started skiing about 9:30 AM. We had originally planned a somewhat shorter route on Gentian and Bitterbrush Loop, but these trails were not yet groomed.  Beautiful day - sunny around 30 degrees.  The trails were all in good shape - but could use a bit more fresh cover.