News

The Vista Butte Snowshoe Trail is cleared, signed, and ready for snow. With a break from the heat and smoke, CONC volunteers headed out Tuesday in a “Vista Butte or Bust” spirit to finish clearing the abundant blowdown, install trailhead signs, hang reassurance markers and trim for marker visibility. 

The trail departs from kiosk and begins its 700- foot climb to the summit. It is rated “Most Difficult” due to the elevation gain over its 1-mile length. Be aware that it has been implemented as a Class 2, winter-only trail. It is not cleared to ground and should only be used with a minimum of 12-24" of snow. The alternative, less strenuous route is to reach the summit in about 2 ½ miles via the Nordic trail (share the snow - please stay off the ski tracks).

Work on this trail began in January 2016 with an initial scouting; followed by refinement, submission to the Forest Service for approval, and this year, construction. 

Over these years, the following 24 volunteers contributed over 250 hours in scouting, marking, clearing, trimming, brushing, and sign & marker installation on just this trail. Funding for the markers and signs was provided by the Small Projects grant from Deschutes Trails Coalition.

This project completes the implementation of 4 1/2 miles of new and re-routed snowshoe trails proposed by CONC in 2020 and approved by the Forest Service in October 2021.

Contributed by hike leader Roz O'Donoghue

6 CONC members experienced a classic club hike on August 27th.  The weather was pleasantly cool with clouds passing by from time to time.   The hike featured several sparkling lakes, a lunchtime summit on a mountain with views, trailside blueberries, dramatic volcanic formations as well as a visit to a historic wagon road in the lava fields.  The hike finished with 6 contented hikers.  

PowderHouseSkiTuningSpecial_forCONCMembers_August2024.pdf

Recently Mt Bachelor created a new trail from their West Village area to the Pine Marten Lodge that is accessible for free to hikers. This new trail, called the Evergreen Trail, is over 4 miles long, is wide and has an easy grade. It comes with a bonus, as  hikers can also take the lift down for free! So a lively bunch of  21 CONC folks did this hike on Thursday, August 22.

The weather forecast called for a slight chance of showers after 11 AM, then a chance of rain and thunder showers after 2 PM. We got an early start in hopes of beating the rain, with fingers crossed that there would still be decent views of the mountains.

We lucked out! We set out from the base in cool temperatures and high clouds. We spread out into the Hares and the Tortoises, with everyone going at a pace comfortable to them, and with lots of opportunities to enjoy the nice views along the way. We made it up to Pine Marten Lodge in a couple of hours, and although the trail is open to bikes we didn’t encounter any bikes as we hiked up.

After a nice lunch at Pine Marten Lodge, about half the group decided to continue on to the top of the Rope Tow trail at about 8200 ft. This trail is also new this year, and ends at an overlook next to the remains of the top of the rope tow. From there, a much rougher trail continues on to the summit.

Then came the reward! Just as the rains began, the last of our group got on the chair to head back down to the base. Even if you’re an old hand at riding up the lift in winter, riding down is a new experience, as it offers a front row seat for views of the Sisters and Broken Top.

Everyone agreed that the whole experience was really fun, and we talked of making this a regular part of our hiking schedule.

Contributed by hike leader Gary Jones

 A gorgeous day was enjoyed by a group of 11 hikers from the club on Sunday, August 18

Contributed by hike leader John Sweat

I had a few hikers willing to take this trail by the horns and endure the steady climb up for 3.5 miles. After trudging up hill for an hour and 40 minutes, we hit the summit.

Our reward for our efforts was a relatively smoke free sky to the south and great visibility to the west and north.  After a quick snack we made it down in short time to the trailhead and back to Sisters. Our stats for the day was 7.6 miles with an elevation gain of 2300+ ft.  A fun day and a big thanks to all who joined me!

Contributed by hike leader John Sweat

It didn't take long for this hike to fill and with good reason.  Canyon Creek Meadows Trail has so much to offer, beautiful wild flowers, lush green meadows a meandering creek, a cirque lake with Three finger Jack looming in the background.  What more can you ask for?
We were all very fortunate on our hike with comfortable temps, clear skies (Smoke Free) and best of all, relatively free of mosquitos!  The only down side of our outing was no signs of Mountain Goats, one hiker had informed us they were up on the higher plateau. Oh well, can't have everything..
I want to thank everyone for joining me on this hike.  A very fun day!   

Contributed by hike leader Gary Jones

There were still plenty of wildflowers to see on the Browder Ridge hike. Warm but not too hot! A good time was had by all.

Submitted by Sue Sullivan

The Central Oregon Nordic Club maintains roughly 100 miles of ski and snowshoe trails here in the Deschutes National Forest. As you probably know, we’re not the only group that maintains winter trails; Meissner, Sisters Trail Alliance COTA, the Dog Pack and several snowmobile groups also maintain trails nearby. In the Ochocos, there are a number of ski trails near the Walton Lake Sno-Park,  and the Portland chapter of the Oregon Nordic Club has taken on the responsibility for clearing and marking those trails. In June, Portland ONC invited us to join them in a three-day work event to spruce up the trails. Nine of us assisted the Portland group, with most people camping at Walton Lake for the event.

It was not all work either! Walton Lake proved to be a beautiful spot to camp. Ron Padgett brought along his dulcimer, and Louise Brown brought a violin, so there was evening entertainment around the campfire. Some folks spotted wild horses while doing trail work. Those of us who had never skied at Walton lake vowed to come back this winter as the trail system goes through some really nice terrain.

There’s a possibility that Portland ONC will be returning to finish more trail work some time later this summer, so we may be having another opportunity to help improve these trails. 

Submitted by John Sweat

Our outing started with beautiful weather and a pleasant drive out to the Fremont-Winema National Forest.  At the beginning of our hike, it was somewhat uneventful but, as we were making our ascend to the summit in amongst the Mountain Mahogany we were greeted with a display of Indian Paint Brush and Balsamroot.  At the Lookout we enjoyed a refreshing breeze and wonderful views from, Mt Shasta, Mt Scott, Thielsen, Diamond and the Sisters.  Our stats for the day were 8 miles with close to 2100 ft in elevation gain.
Our stomachs were on empty and couldn't wait for the family style Dinner Tree feast!  The meal was more than satisfying and when we finished we all had enough leftovers for the week.
Overall a very fun and eventful day.