After seeing several reports on nwhikers over the years I finally got a chance to visit this historic guard station high on a ridge in The Blue Mountains.
I saw a good weather window and reserved the facility through recreation.gov. A shout out to several friends who I thought might be interested rounded up one other person so we were a team of two.
Upon contacting the Pomeroy Ranger Station to get the access code for the door I learned that Cloverland Rd was only plowed to 5 miles before the Cloverland Sno-Park. Lack of funds and tons of snow this year has made it impossible to keep the road open. This would make for more than 8 miles to ski up to the facility. Oh well, I was going anyway.
We arrived to a wide spot in the road where snowmobilers had their rigs lined up and began the ski in. It ended up being only 7.25 miles to the guard station instead of 8+ we were expecting.
As we were approaching we saw two snowshoers ahead of us. We caught up to them and began to chat realizing that we were all going to the same place. We thought it odd that the facility had been booked by two parties but all decided we would make the best of it as there is room for 4 max. It was getting late and nobody was going to return as a deep chill began to set in.
We fired up the propane stove and the guard station warmed up quickly.
Cloverland Road is normally plowed to Cloverland Sno Park but there was so much snow this year that plowing stopped three miles short. Not much of an inconvenience for snowmobiles though.
My first time in this national forest.
Cloverland Sno Park sits idle.
Big Butte.
Looking south from the top of the ridge near Wenatchee Guard Station. The Grande Ronde River is some 4000' below.
Last hill to the guard station where we'll spend two nights.
Two snowshoes from Spokane were also headed to the guard station. Somehow the facility was double booked. We all agreed that it was no problem since we were 4 in total which is the maximum allowed per night.
Wenatchee Guard Station.
Looking southeast from the guard station. This is a popular snowmobiling area.
Built by the CCC in 1933-34 and still standing.
The guard station is one of many historic structures that are preserved and maintained with funds from nightly rentals. Many would be lost forever if not for this program.
The following morning our two housemates snowshoed out and we skied west along the ridge enjoying the views to the south of the Wallowas, Seven Devils and other ranges in the distance. Canyons drop down to the Grande Ronde some 4000' below.
I used a sled to pull the gear up and it worked great.
The three days we were here were windless and sunny.
Looking south to Oregon. Several ranges are visible from here. Saddle Butte is the last peak on the ridge right of center.
We skied out about 6 miles west to Jones Ridge.
In spite of it being a sunny Sunday, there were not many snowmobilers out today.
Leaving Asotin and entering Garfield County.
A campground along the way at 6000.'
Back at the guard station after a day of skiing.
My new skis are getting plenty of use this year.
A modern pit toilet at the guard station.
The facility has a propane heater, stove and refrigerator.
I wasn't sure if the wind scoured the area around the cabin out or if it was dug out intentionally. At any rate, it was nice to not have to dig our way to the door.
The Wallowas.
Wenatchee Guard Station.
The area transitions to fir and tamarack from mostly pine below the ridge.
Shed behind the guard station.
After another windless night the morning dawned sunny and cold. We began to pack up for the ski out which went quickly. I was pulling a sled with most of the gear which was far better than having it on my back.
You’re getting a lot of use out of your new skiis. Sure beats snowshoeing up long roads, and pulling your gear in the sled was a great idea!
Nice to see a trip report from that unique and scenic area. I’m guessing it would also be good in the fall when the tamaracks turn gold.
WGS is a special place. Bummer about the extra 10mi RT and weird about the double booking. I've had issues with people poaching reservations recently (claiming to have them when they don't or overstaying), so hopefully that wasn't the case. Glad you got to experience it!
It is too bad that the road runs right in front of it.
The winter groomed route actually passes right by the door of the cabin. In summer the road is below. A couple of comments in the log book expressed the noise as "annoying" but we found all the snowmobilers we encountered to be very courteous and all slowed down when passing us when we were out skiing. The newer generation of machines definitely make less noise and stink than those of the past. There really wasn't that many of them for that matter.
fourteen410 wrote:
I've had issues with people poaching reservations recently (claiming to have them when they don't or overstaying), so hopefully that wasn't the case
That was my initial thought but I believe that there was some kind of glitch in the system. I've written recreation.gov to inform them and will contact the Pomeroy Ranger Station as well.
I can imagine some major conflict if somebody with a reservation looking for privacy arrived to an already occupied facility. Too bad people feel the need to do that because it's really an inexpensive option and all the funds generated are for maintaining these cabins for the public's use. If the system is abused, no doubt this program will cease to exist for everybody and these structures will languish to the point of no return.
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