Trip Date: March 2, 2024
Roaring Ridge Ski Loop
Mill Creek Bridge
Cold Creek Bridge
High Horse Knob
Keechelus Lake
Trip Report Summary
Region: Central Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: Iron Horse Mountains
Areas: Palouse-to-Cascades State Park & Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest
Starting & Ending Point: Hyak Sno-Park off Interstate-90 at Exit 54 (Elev. 2550 feet)
Way Points: Connector Trail junction & Cold Creek Trail junction & Mill Creek Bridge & High Horse Trail junction & Cold Creek Bridge & Northeast Roaring Creek crossing & High Horse Knob & Southeast Roaring Creek crossing & Palouse-to-Cascades Trail junction & Hyak Sno-Park (ski tour)
High Point: High Horse Knob (Elev. 3240 feet)
Approximate Stats: 8.4 miles traveled; 750 feet gained & lost; 6.1 hours elapsed.
Related Post
>>> Windy Pass Ski Tour via Palouse To Cascades Trail—Cold Creek Trail (detailed route description)
Trip Overview
The Roaring Ridge Ski Loop is an elongated “lollipop loop” located on the eastern flank of Roaring Ridge, roughly parallel to the western shore of Keechelus Lake. Starting and ending at Hyak Sno-Park, this tour combines three established ski trails: the Palouse-to-Cascades Trail (often called the P2C Trail; formerly known as the John Wayne Trail), the Cold Creek Trail, and the High Horse Trail. Because the P2C Trail and Cold Creek Trail are regularly groomed throughout the winter, whereas the High Horse Trail is never groomed, the entire loop constitutes a cross-country/backcountry hybrid ski tour.
The P2C Trail and Cold Creek Trail are generally well-known to nordic skiers in the Snoqualmie Pass vicinity, but the High Horse Trail is relatively new and unknown. It consists of an old powerline access road that has been marked with blue diamonds and is periodically maintained for the benefit of backcountry skiers and snowshoers. Some maps identify it as Forest Service Road 9070-115, which extends from Cold Creek Road 9070 to Lost Lake Road 5480. The name “High Horse” pays homage to this trail’s position above the former Iron Horse State Park (recently renamed as the Palouse To Cascades State Park).
The Roaring Ridge Ski Loop covers a total distance of approximately 8½ miles, with a cumulative elevation gain and loss of about 750 feet. It reaches a maximum elevation of 3240 feet at High Horse Knob. This tour is best completed during the cross-country ski season—typically mid-December through late March—when the P2C Trail is being groomed on a frequent basis. Also, because the High Horse Trail is ungroomed, the tour is best completed during a winter with a normal to large snowpack, such that most or all side-streams are covered.
It should be mentioned that the High Horse Trail provides a good access route for snowshoers heading up Roaring Ridge or over to High Horse Knob. However, I would not recommend that snowshoers do the entire loop described herein, simply because the 4-mile walk back to Hyak on the totally flat P2C Trail would be very tedious on snowshoes. In my opinion, snowshoers would be better served by doing an out-and-back trek.
Full Trip Report
Eileen, Yoko, and I headed out from Hyak Sno-Park on a cold, overcast Saturday morning. The groomed P2C Trail was covered with 2 inches of fresh snow, which added to the 12 to 15 inches of snow that had fallen during the past week.
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After a mile of easy kicking and gliding, we stepped off the P2C Trail and booted up the informal Connector Trail to intersect the Cold Creek Trail. (For a detailed explanation of how to locate this Connector Trail, see my separate route description here.) Another ½ mile of skiing up the groomed Cold Creek Trail brought us to a junction with the High Horse Trail, which veers off to the left. This junction is discreetly marked with a blue diamond and a small “Snowshoe Trail” sign nailed to a tree.
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The High Horse Trail descends slightly to cross Cold Creek on a wide concrete bridge, then makes a steady ascent across the flank of Roaring Ridge. We applied climbing skins to our skis here and headed uphill. More blue diamonds directed us to keep right at two different forks, as the trail crossed back and forth under a set of powerlines.
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Soon, the trail settled into a mile-long straightaway underneath the powerlines, and we could see two steel lattice towers far ahead. The more distant of these two towers sits atop High Horse Knob, which is the highest point of the loop and was our planned lunch spot today.
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The local snowpack appeared to range from about 5 to 7 feet thick, but we encountered numerous bare patches along the trail during our ascent. Some of these required us to remove our skis and tiptoe across shallow water. The largest bare patch was where a major side-stream (“Northeast Roaring Creek”) crosses the trail.
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Trail conditions improved with elevation, and we topped out at High Horse Knob in early afternoon (2.8 hours + 750 feet from sno-park). This 3240-foot knob offers an unusual view down to Keechelus Lake and across Interstate-90 toward Keechelus Ridge.
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After a long lunch stop on the knob, we continued southward on the High Horse Trail. We kept our climbing skins on to serve as speed governors during the descent, and this worked very well in the present snow conditions.
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Soon after starting our descent, we encountered the crux of the entire ski loop: another major side-stream (“Southeast Roaring Creek”) had carved a deep channel through the snowpack, leaving an 8-foot-high vertical wall of icy snow on the far side. We slithered down the near bank, waded across the creek, and used our ski poles to chop some steps in the ice. I stood in the creek and helped to push Eileen and Yoko up the bank, then I groveled my way up using embedded ski poles as handholds. What had started as a casual ski tour had now morphed into a backcountry skiing adventure!
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Once past the troublesome creek, we enjoyed a fairly uneventful descent for the next ½ mile. After that, however, the trail was riddled with more bare patches that required us to remove skis. All told, I think we doffed and donned our skis at least fifteen times over a distance of 2½ miles!
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At a point where the High Horse Trail flattens out and comes within 150 yards of the P2C Trail, we bailed out to the left and cut through hummocky forest. To reach the P2C Trail, we had to cross a final drainage ditch by tightrope-walking on a slippery alder branch. We stepped onto the groomed surface in mid-afternoon (4.7 hours from starting point), thereby ending the backcountry portion of our loop.
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We were now left with 4 miles of nearly effortless kicking and gliding northward along the shore of Keechulus Lake. It was nearly effortless but not totally effortless, because our “fat” backcountry skis tended to slide sideways wherever the groomed surface had even the slightest cross-gradient. Eventually, though, we discovered that our skis would fit into the striding grooves alongside the trail. (This was an advantage of finishing our tour late in the day; the initially narrow grooves had become widened by the hundreds of cross-country skiers who preceded us.)
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We arrived at Hyak Sno-Park in late afternoon to complete a sometimes-fun, sometimes-frustrating ski tour (6.1 hours for total loop). Our final assessment was that the Roaring Ridge Ski Loop could be very enjoyable during a winter with a much thicker snowpack, but this is not a tour to do with a below-average snowpack.
Equipment Comments
The Roaring Ridge Ski Loop is ideally suited to medium-width backcountry nordic touring skis that have a fishscale base, full metal edges, and sturdy 75-mm bindings or NNN-BC bindings, combined with compatible touring boots. Randonnee (alpine touring, or AT) skis, bindings, and boots can also be used, although such equipment will feel cumbersome on the flatter portions of the route. In either case, full-length climbing skins are recommended for the ascent to High Horse Knob. Additionally, adjustable poles are very handy because they can be shortened for the uphills and can be lengthened for the flats.
For more information regarding the various equipment that we used for this particular trip and that I typically use for other trips of this type, see my gear reviews on the following pages:
>>> Backcountry Nordic Ski Touring Gear
>>> Backcountry Ski & Snowshoe Packs
>>> Wintertime Comfort Accessories
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Route Map & Profile
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