[Just_Some_Hiker]

I had initially planned to head to the Tronsen area yesterday, but when I went over Blewett Pass on Sunday it was raining, so I just continued on to Stevens instead. By this morning, however, the rain had transitioned back to snow, and was falling quite heavily. Heading towards Leavenworth on US-97, the pull-out is about 26-miles out of Cle Elum – just over the pass on the right (southeast) side of the road. When I arrived I was the only person there, but ordinarily this seems to be a popular spot for both AT and nordic skiers. Snow conditions were similar to both Stevens and Snoqualmie passes over the weekend. “Dust on crust,” as they say. About 4-6 inches of fresh snow on top of a heavy rain crust. One thing I noticed was that I wasn't able to punch through the crust as easily as I could at Stevens or Snoqualmie, so skinning on steeper slopes was a little more tricky. I've never been to this area before, so I had no particular objective in mind. I headed SE along the main trail/road and then took a fork heading east. I continued along this trail briefly, but then decided to go directly through the open forest. I found my way to an old skin track, which headed up a steep, forested slope directly to the top of Tronsen Ridge. Once atop the very broad ridge, I followed the ridgeline north towards pt. 5575. There were absolutely no views to be had, so I decided to head back down before reaching pt. 5575. I skied southwards along the ridge, and then down the west side of the ridge through burned forest and glades. Even with less-than-ideal snow conditions, this was some of the most enjoyable tree-skiing I've done so far. Once off the ridge, I skied in the general direction of Tronsen Meadow and eventually found my way back to the main trail (which I guess is actually a loop). I coasted down the trail back to the pull-out, which by then was filling up with more cars.

[Just_Some_Hiker]

[Nancyann]

Thanks for the trail update, JSH. I like your signature photo with the skiis!