Forum Index > Trip Reports > Windy Pass at Olallie Meadow - 2.15.2013
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ragman and rodman
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ragman and rodman
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PostSun Feb 17, 2013 11:38 am 
This XC ski trip starts at the Hyak Sno-Park (Exit 54 on I-90). Permits are required to park here and this is what the Washington Parks website says about the permit requirement: "Daily Sno-Park Permit and Daily or Annual Discover Pass; OR a Seasonal Sno Park Permit plus Special Groomed Trails Permit sticker, without Discover Pass." IMO, the above description is a good argument for a more simplified permit system. The trip starts on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail which is as flat as a pancake. After skiing the JWPT for ~1 mile, look for a blue diamond on the right side of the road. This signals the place to leave the JWPT and make a short uphill hike through the woods to FS9070... then follow 9070 as it winds up through the Cold Creek drainage... passing between Tinkham Peak and Mt. Catherine... and on to Windy Pass and Olallie Meadow. There is lots of room to roam around in the open terrain of Olallie Meadow which offers excellent views... with Silver Peak and Granite Mountain being especially prominent. FS9070 is a "shared corridor" that is groomed by the Snoqualmie Pass Nordic Center. ~10 miles roundtrip, gaining ~1500 feet of elevation. Maps and photos of our ski trip to Windy Pass at Olallie Meadow. ..

"Teanaway 70" Peaks List... a guide to hiking and scrambling in the Teanaway Area. ----------------
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Joe
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PostSun Feb 17, 2013 4:49 pm 
Do you have to buy a Snoqualmie Pass Nordic Center day pass to ski FS9070?

Joe
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Blowdown
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PostSun Feb 17, 2013 6:38 pm 
No. As I understand it, for the portion of the trail that's "shared", you don't have to have a Nordic Center pass, just the Sno-Park Pass. I agree that the system really could be a lot simpler.

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ragman and rodman
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ragman and rodman
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PostMon Feb 18, 2013 10:40 am 
Joe wrote:
Do you have to buy a Snoqualmie Pass Nordic Center day pass to ski FS9070?
If you ski 9070 the way we did, by connecting to it via the John Wayne Pioneer Trail, you don't need a nordic center pass... however, if you use the portion of 9070 from the nordic center to where it meets the connector trail from the JWPT, then you do need a nordic center pass.

"Teanaway 70" Peaks List... a guide to hiking and scrambling in the Teanaway Area. ----------------
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Randito
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PostMon Feb 18, 2013 1:20 pm 
Yes -- as part of the Summit Nordic Center's special use permit, "traditional" use of road 9070 from a point just before the road crosses Mill Creek to "Windy Pass" is permitted. This is refered to as the "common corridor". You'll need either an annual sno-park permit with a groomed trails sticker ($80) to park at the Hyak Sno-Park and use the John Wayne trail to reach the point where you may cut through the woods (look for tracks and blue diamonds on the right) A one day sno-park permit is $20 -- but you also need a discovery pass to use the Hyak sno-park with a one day pass. OTH if you buy a Summit Nordic day pass for $18, in addtiontion to two rides on the chair, you get access to all the groomed trails and use of the warming huts at Grand Junction and Ollallie meadows.

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Arginine
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Arginine
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PostMon Feb 18, 2013 2:33 pm 
ragman and rodman wrote:
IMO, the above description is a good argument for a more simplified permit system.
Seriously. There's something sick about that system. If I read your report correctly you went on 2/15 right? That was a Friday. Pacific West/Hyak/Summit East was closed that day. Just park at the ski area lot (not in the condos parking though) and go for it. No donations to the "state", great access and you can try skiing back down one of the runs on the way out. I do it all the time during the week when I go skin up there, never ever been hassled. Hyak is cool about that. Sorry about the lost cash. The pics and route maps were nice.

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wolffie
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PostWed Feb 20, 2013 10:48 am 
From Windy Pass, you can go up to Nordic Pass (the pass between Ollalie Meadow and Mill Creek) and up the ridge to Mt. Catherine. Then go N on the PCT to the groomed trails, or curve NE into Mill Creek and out that way (you may need a pass for this part, they do groom it, call it "Hidden Valley" or something, it's a road). Nice loop. I've done this as late as May, parking at the boat ramp. But the snow machines tend to take over and wreck the snow up at Windy Acres after the ski season closes. I've also followed the PCT S from Windy Pass below the east face of Silver Pk and climbed it that way on snowshoes. There are some slopes to be wary of. Are the groomed trails open!? I'd guess they are, but the Summit East (Hyak) website keeps saying they're closed and un-groomed. ?? nordic report. I used to take my kid up there all the time, and want to take her up again. What's the deal? That was lots of fun, the Nordic Center at the Old Milwaukee Lodge was (is?) a family-friendly venue for introducing kids to winter. 20 years ago, they had a great flat area for toddlers their first time out (this was across the road from SIlver Fir Chair), but the pavers took that. They need someplace easy enough for toddlers to learn to ski well enough to ride the lift and get back down.

Some people have better things to do with their lives than walking the dog. Some don't.
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