Sunday, February 14, 2010

Skiing the Rattling Creek Trails

The season is upon us and finally we have enough snow to get on the singletrack in Weiser State Forest and the Lykens Watershed, a.k.a the Rattling Creek trails. It usually takes at least a foot of snow to cover the rocks and yup, there's a minimum of a foot on the trails. The snowmobiles are out in force, so beware on the snowmobile trails. I was getting a kick out of how the snowmobilers gear up -- not much different than a biker having to have everything match. The snowmobile suits, gloves, boots all color coordinated with the snowmobile. Funny. It's actually nice to finally see the snowmobile trails getting some use for their intended purpose. The snowmobiles have the trails groomed nicely for diagonal striding, but no skating -- too bumpy. And the singletrack is awesome for you backcountry skiers. You'll need someone to break trail, but once that is done, the skiing is good. The parking lots are plowed at Lukes Trails, the East end, and the snowmobile parking lot near the Weiser headquarters. You can't drive into the forest on any of the gravel roads; all the roads are packed by the snowmobilers and aren't plowed. Enjoy!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

are the snowmobile trails rideable?? Does anyone know if the snow is packed down hard enough??

Chili said...

No. Not rideable on bikes in my opinion. There was a guy and two dogs walking on the trail and they both sank in about 4 inches on the trails where the snowmobiles were packing it down (it doesn't pack solid enough to ride bike). Sinkage is about a foot off to the side. You'll have to resort to road or trainer for a couple weeks.