Blue Hills Trail

A light freezing mist on January 22nd created super fun conditions.  This changed to snow the next day, and 2″ of fresh snow were groomed to perfection this morning.  Skiers in the know started arriving just as the groomers finished.  We were treated to a lovely afternoon with packed powder fresh corduroy, sunny temps in the low 20s, snow dusting the hemlocks, and a shiny icy coating in the tree tops.  Wow!

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house

• 1/21: Fast & fun!  10 degrees F, sunny, just need more snow.  Great grooming of the snow that’s here. –Ladysmith, WI
• 1/21: Great grooming! –Rice Lake, WI
• 1/21: Skied the Westside classic trail with my buddy – very nice! –Ladysmith, WI
• 1/22: Freezing mist made for fast fun ski Westside!  Woo hoo! –Ladysmith, WI
• 1/22: Great job of grooming with little to work with.  Where the classic track was it was great – then coming back with the freezing mist it was bad fast! –author’s location unknown
• 1/22: Great trail – beautiful winter day! Thanks. –Bloomer, WI
• 1/22: Fun hills.  Real nice trails. –Birchwood, WI
• 1/22: My family & I love to come here Sunday afternoons to enjoy great trails & the great outdoors :) –Ladysmith, WI
• 1/23: Two eagles today! –author’s location unknown
• 1/24: Fresh corduroy everywhere!  Thanks groomers. –Ladysmith, WI

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Fresh corduroy almost everywhere!  With temps in the low teens, skating was much faster than anticipated.  Groomers have done a great job with the limited base – most trail sections are smooth enough to ski all out.  The underlying base is solid packed powder, the surface provides good edge control, and the infrequent dirt spots are easily avoided.

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house

• 1/16: Skied core loop!  Excellent!!  1st time out this year & it was great.  Thanks! –Madison, WI
• 1/16: Wow!!  What a treasure for all you folks lucky enough to live here AND to have so many dedicated to “Mother Earth” to so painstakingly maintain & preserve & respect her for all of us “City Sisters” to enjoy. –Plymouth, WI
• 1/16: Thanks for the tracks. –Chetek, WI
• 1/20: Thanks. –Eau Claire, WI

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Fresh corduroy on the Eastside core loop made for very good skate skiing conditions today.  Temps hovered around 30 degrees F, afternoon sunshine highlighted the beauty of the woods, and the trails ranged from solid controllable hardpack skiing, to a packed powder consistency on lesser traveled trails.  Nice way to celebrate the MLK holiday.

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house

• 1/16: Westside is excellent.  Core loop very good.  Love the skier in the tree. –St. Paul, MN
• 1/16: Skied the classic track on the gravel rd. to the end & back – multiple trips – JUST EXCELLENT!! –Ladysmith, WI

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Snow conditions today were really great!  The surface ranged from a hardpack powder (on heavily skied trails) to a firm packed powder on lesser traveled routes.  Skating was fast, edge control was good, and the occasional dirt spots and soft spots were easily negotiated.  The parking lot and warming house were busy again today, it’s nice to see so many happy skiers able to enjoy our local taste of winter.

Be sure to check out the home page on the website where trail conditions include links to maps showing the few challenging areas (thin spots on uphills).

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house

• 1/15: Good to very good conditions… we all enjoyed ourselves! –formerly from Ladysmith, WI
• 1/15: Thank you for the Rice Krispie Treats! –author’s location unknown
• 1/15: Good experience overall, beautiful day by the way!! –author’s location unknown
• 1/15: I fell a lot… but it looked pretty on the way down! –author’s location unknown
• 1/15: Good times as always – thanks for all your hard work!  Hope the snow holds out… –author’s location unknown
• 1/15: Fifth annual MLK weekend from Madison.  One fo our favorite traditions.  Thanks for the wonderful grooming & cozy warming house. –Madison, WI

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Fabulous Cross Country skiing in the Blue Hills today, East and West sides.  Excellent coverage, great base.  Mostly firm, some soft but negotiable.  Several kilometers tracked for classic striding.  Brand new loop 29A – 30 was beautiful.  Went 22K w/o retracing steps and left much more for tomorrow.  Will only get better.  Brisk but tolerable temps.  Come and enjoy!

We had visitors from near and far, check out a few pictures from today – plus an image showing the classic track now available on the Westside.

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house

• 1/11: Skied from the Audie boat landing to the far loop on the Westside.  We then skied all the Westside, & back to Audie.  The groomed trails were quite good. –Eau Claire, WI
• 1/13: Friday the 13th proved to be outstanding!  Finally winter is here!  Groomers did a wonderful job.  Thank you! –Ladysmith, WI
• 1/14: Wonderful ski today.  Once again the groomers excelled! –Ladysmith, WI
• 1/14: Visitors from… –WI: Eau Claire, Bruce, Menomonie
• 1/14: Fantastic 15 degree day.  Westside great shape & fast.  –Rice Lake, WI
• 1/14: Beautiful ski. –Minneapolis, MN

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In the past week, 4 days set or approached record high temps.  Thanks to great grooming of the snow we’ve received this winter (timely grooming helps preserve the base) – and a well timed 3″ snowfall January 12th – we’re skiing on amazingly good conditions considering the little snow we’ve received during this winter done missing.

Packed powder skiing was thoroughly enjoyable this afternoon.  Those of us chatting in the warming house today are predicting a fun weekend in the Blue Hills.  Carpe diem – come ski the Hills!

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The word’s out!  The Westside of the Blue Hills Trail has good cover on almost the entire network of trails.  It’s only been groomed once (rolled & compacted on January 4th) so the surface is still rough.  However, in this season of  the winter gone missing, skate skiing the Westside was very enjoyable this morning.  Check out the Westside pictures (below).

The only problem area is a 200 meter section of trail on the back loop between map points F & G.  That area has 5 meters of intermittent running water, and a sun-exposed hill with very thin base.  You can either tread cautiously over that area, or bushwhack through a snow covered bypass above this section.  To access the Westside, you’ll find limited parking at Letter A or Letter L.  To ski from the Eastside to the Westside, you’ll need to remove your skis to walk a 100 meter bare stretch of trail near #26 as you prepare to cross the Firelane Road.

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Sunshine and near record warm temps blasted the Midwest January 5/6.  Thanks to the work of our groomers the past few weeks, the compacted trails withstood the heat wave – only occasional dirt spots are present.  After decent overnight freezes, we were able to perform light grooming of the core loop Saturday and Sunday mornings.  With this weekend’s temps rising into the low 30′s, skate skiers enjoyed firm fast trails topped with a little fresh corduroy that provided enough edge control to help conrol the downhills – more like skiing a cool sunny day in March.  The core loop continues to provide the best skiing, while many of the side trails are firm enough to provide enjoyable skiing despite the overall lack of snow.

On January 1st, a classic track was set from map points 1-21 & beyond.  The track is still present, but shallow and glazed.

Eager for more grooming?  Due to the thin base, until more snow arrives, we have to limit our grooming to avoid uncovering more dirt spots.  If skiing the next couple days, you should find decent conditions just as temps reach the low 30′s.

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house

• 1/4: The groomers are magicians with the 5″ of snow we got January 1st.  Thank you! –Ladysmith, WI
• 1/4: Grooming wonderful.  Thank you! –author’s location unknown
• 1/5: Warm temps softened the snow, but still better conditions than most places.  Strided the ungroomed trails for variety. –Twin Cities, MN
• 1/7: Screaming fast!  What a BLAST!!  Thanks groomers for touch up. –Ladysmith, WI
• 1/7: Great skiing for this 2012 winter!  Grooming good.  Love the skier in the tree :-)  –Eau Claire, WI
• 1/7: We are blessed to have this trail.  Thank you. –Wabasha, MN
• 1/8: EXCELLENT - hope it holds ’til the snow comes back. –St. Paul, MN
• 1/8: Didn’t think it could get any better than yesterday but it did!  Fun day!  Note that the core loop is now flagged with blue ribbons. –Ladysmith, WI

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Adequate base, firm trails, fresh corduroy, temps in the upper 20s, and occasional sunshine… Wednesday (January 4) was a great day to enjoy the Hills.  The core loop continues to provide the best skiing, while many of the side trails are firm enough to provide enjoyable skiing despite the overall lack of snow.  Don’t let your local ‘brown-out’ keep you from enjoying winter!

And take note – today we were able to groom (roll) the Westside trails for the first time this season.  Perhaps give the Westside a couple days to firm up before skiing those trails.

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house:

• 1/2: Hallelujah!  What a wonderful ski.  Thanks to the groomers! –Eau Claire, WI
• 1/3: Great to be back in the Blue Hills :)  Skied 12 km.  Thanks to the groomers & Mother Nature! –Eau Claire, WI
• 1/3: Had a nice time striding on ‘the road’ for my first time out. — Chetek, WI

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As we ushered in the New Year, wintry weather came calling.  A 5-inch snowfall greeted us on New Year’s morning, and grooming started at daybreak.  Hopefully we’ve left behind December’s unusually warm, dry weather.  Skiing conditions are pretty decent on the Eastside of the trail system.  Right now, the core loop offers the best skiing (it’s received multiple groomings in the past couple weeks).  Two trail sections groomed for the first time today are still quite rough with dirt spots showing and are best skied uphill (ski from 30A to 30; and from 7 to 30).

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house:

• 1/1: Beautiful way to start the New Year! –Rice Lake, WI
• 1/2: Ringing in the New Year together thanks to the snow from Mother Nature.  We love the Blue Hills.  Visiting family, we are from –Two Rivers, WI and Gardiner, MT
• 1/2: The first of many times out here in 2012. –Rice Lake, WI
• 1/2: Great way to bring in the New Year.  Skied the core loop & didn’t see any rocks.  Super job grooming! –Ladysmith, WI

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Despite warm weather and the general lack of snow, after receiving 1″ of fresh snow we were able to lightly groom the core loop yesterday.  This created good skating conditions on the ‘gravel road’ (1-22-33-21-29), with poor-fair conditions on the rest of the core loop.  A classic track was reset starting near the warming house and ending beyond intersection #21.  The base is thin, rock skis are recommended, and extra caution is needed on downhills.  If skiing the core loop, it’s probably best to ski a counterclockwise direction.  Avoid skiing downhill from 11-21.

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house:

• 12/24: Wonderful 1st of the season ski – thank you! –author’s location unknown
• 12/24: Gravel road (1 to 29) is very nice with the new snow we got this morning. –Bruce, WI
• 12/24: Really good ski!!  Did the core loop just groomed.  A little soft, still would use “B” skis. –Alma Center, WI
• 12/24: Great track considering rain & 45 degrees F a week ago.  Skied everywhere, even ungroomed trails OK. –Rice Lake, WI
• 12/24: Merry Christmas Eve!  Glad there was at least a little snow for some skiing while home for a visit. –Missoula, MT
• 12/26: Day after Christmas family ski!  –Iowa City, IA
• 12/29: It was a nice morning ski after a night time dusting of snow.  Our first time out this year.  –Apple Valley, MN
• 12/30: Thanks to all who “did much, with little”. –Rice Lake, WI

Using our G2 grooming implements, we were able to lightly groom most of the core loop today (see map image below).  This created good skating conditions on the gravel road (1-22-33-21-29), with poor-fair conditions on the rest of that loop.  The base is thin, rock skis are recommended, and extra caution is needed on downhills.  Also, just east of #22 watch for a patch of gravel that was brought to the surface.

Recent comments from the logbook in the warming house:

• 12/7: 5-6″ snowfall December 3rd.  Groomed (rolled) about 10 km to create a 1″ base that offered OK early season skiing today. –Ladysmith, WI
• 12/19: Thanks to John Kann for clearing & blazing our new snowshoe trail!  It starts right behind the warming house – follow the green flagging tape. –Ladysmith, WI

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Two things to report
1 – Thanks to John Kann (Rice Lake) for his enthusiasm and hard work laying out and clearing a snowshoe trail as part of the Blue Hills Trail system.  The trail starts just behind the warming house, and heads north through the tall pines.  It eventually approaches #32 on the Eastside map before returning to the warming house via a different route.  The trail is well marked using green flagging tape (look at the first two pictures below for an example).  Once you’ve used this trail, feedback is welcome.

2 – It looks like a brown Christmas in Ladysmith.  However, despite the warm weather and rain during the past week, there is still enough snow in the Hills to provide a semblance of cross country skiing.  1/2″ of granular snow sits on top of the base; the base is thin but adequate; and where groomed on December 5th, the base is quite solid.  Skate skiing was OK on the grassy trails today, and actually quite good on the gravel road (1-22-33-21-29).  Based on my experience today, I think most of the trail system can be skied if you use rock skis, and exercise extra care on downhills.  I’d avoid the back loops on the Eastside until we have more snow.  If in doubt on downhills, remove your skis and walk down the side of the trail.  Check out the photos below for more info.

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At the Blue Hills Trail website – as of December 2011 – about 40% of visitors use Internet Explorer as their browser.  The remaining 60% are mostly split between Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, with a small percentage using Safari.  If you typically use only Internet Explorer, you might enjoy having a second browser available.  Here’s my bias: browsers other than Internet Explorer tend to be more stable (fewer problems with page loads) because they are designed for broader applications across the internet.  Also, Internet Explorer is supposedly the target of most malicious viruses aimed at browsers.  Many years ago I stopped using Internet Explorer, and I haven’t been disappointed.  On my Windows based PC, I use Google Chrome most of the time; and occasionally use Mozilla Firefox.  Both Chrome and Firefox perform reliably, provide fast page loads, and are free.

My recommendation: your Windows based PC came with Internet Explorer installed.  It makes sense to have more than one browser available on your computer – if one doesn’t work well for a certain website, it’s likely your alternative browser will work instead.  If you haven’t tried Chrome or Firefox, they are easy to download and install.  Give them a try.

Click here for Firefox download page

Click here for Chrome download page

The deer gun hunt is drawing to a close (last day December 11) and with a 5″ snowfall and colder temps, our groomers were able to groom (roll) a limited portion (11.9k) of the Eastside trails yesterday – see the first image below.  With a thin base and rough surface, waxless striding was the way to go, and was fairly enjoyable.  Be sure to use your rock skis – and think twice before bushwhacking the ungroomed snow (very sticky conditions where not groomed).  The woods are gorgeous, check out the pictures below.

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