July 2024 happenings...

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CONC July Newsletter

President's Corner

Although the hot days of summer typically coincide with a seasonal lull in Board activities, your Board has tackled a surprisingly busy agenda. CONC hiking events continue apace thanks to the efforts of the Hiking Committee, led by Kelly Cleman, and volunteers who generously offer to lead hiking events. Even amid hiking season, the Board and volunteers are also in the throes of planning both summer activities as well as preparing for the upcoming ski and snowshoe season. I will touch on just a few of the items that have been on the agenda recently.

First, I would like to welcome John Sweat to the Board. He agreed to fill the vacant At-Large position, and the Board voted to approve his nomination at its June meeting. John has led quite a few hikes to interesting locations and has helped teach CONC ski clinics. I am looking forward to his contributions to the deliberations of the Board.

I’m excited to announce that we plan to open the Store on the CONC website. Eileen Woodward and Linda Frost have identified a source for hats sporting the CONC logo. Although details and timing are yet to be finalized, we will be offering both baseball and fleece hats for sale online. Currently, we anticipate that hats will be made available for pre-order, with fulfillment to occur after the initial pre-order period has closed. This will be a great opportunity to show your support for CONC.

The Overnight Committee, led by Char Newman, is planning for three overnight ski trips next year. Two will be perennial favorites, the Methow Valley and Crater Lake. The third is a return to McCall, Idaho, albeit at a different Airbnb than the last trip there. Another weekend trip may also be offered, pending the availability of suitable locations and volunteer resources to coordinate another overnight trip.

Ski clinics will again be made available to members. Past-president Jerry Sebestyen handed over the reins for coordinating the clinics to Laura Seaver. Already, Laura has started planning for a full slate of clinics for skiers of varying abilities and interests.

John Fertig, Sue Sullivan, and Bob Timmer have been updating CONC’s Volunteer Service Agreement (VSA) with the Forest Service. The VSA is a critical document that spells out CONC’s responsibilities with respect to building and maintaining ski and snowshoe trails and warming shelters. Without the VSA, we would not be able to do the work that we do on public lands. I greatly appreciate the expertise that John, Sue, and Bob are bringing to this important task.

Lastly, I look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming social on August 14th at Crux. Although prior registration isn’t required, RSVPs help in planning and are greatly appreciated.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me at wppreston@yahoo.com with any questions, comments or concerns that you may have regarding the club.

Warren Preston, President

Upcoming Events

Go to the Events page for more information about upcoming events, including our Sunday Show and Go Hikes.


Aug. 14: CONC Social at Crux Fermentation Project

Please join Central Oregon Nordic Club for an afternoon social gathering on Wednesday August 14,  4:30 - 6 pm at  CRUX Tasting Room located at 50 SW Division. We have reserved a space inside the Tasting room.  

There are food carts on the lawn outside and Crux has a menu of pretzels, salads, sandos and more available for order.  Check out their website for more info: Crux Fermentation Project Tasting Room

Hope to see you there!

Registration is not required, but we’d like to get a rough idea of how many to expect. Click on link to register.

News and Announcements

Input Needed on Winter Bus Service to Sno-Parks

Are you someone who has wished we had public transportation to the Sno-Parks in winter so you wouldn’t have to drive? 

The Meissner folks have invited us to be part of the discussion about winter bus service to Meissner Sno-Park and also possibly Swampy Sno-Park. This would be done on a trial basis during the months of December and January, likely on weekends only. The trial period would determine the level of interest and if there is sufficient interest the schedule could be expanded to more days and/or more runs per day. The details are being worked out, and in order to help with the planning the Meissner group has put together a short survey at this link: 

https://forms.gle/TNvPXJ97Q15nokci7

If you think you might be interested, please fill out this survey. And if you’re not interested in public transit as an option - or aren’t sure - please fill out the survey anyway, as this will help us understand the reasons why people don’t see this as a good option for getting to the snow. 

Thanks for your help on this. 

New Snowshoe Trail at Vista Butte

The last of the new winter trails is finally coming together!

In 2021, the Forest Service approved our proposal to add or re-route 10 miles of ski and snowshoe trails in the Cascade Lakes corridor, and in 2022 the Deschutes Trails Coalition awarded CONC a grant to fund the purchase of markers and junctions signs to complete the work.

On July 8, several folks got an early start to beat the heat, and began the process of clearing the new snowshoe trail at Vista Butte. With 2 chainsaws and a Sawzall, the group cut, literally, hundreds of beetle-killed blowdown. Plans are to return to clear the final stretch to the summit and then start hanging reassurance markers.

We hope to have the work done well before the snow flies. Thanks to Christie Crowe, Gary Evans, Dennis Damici, Kelly Eager, Kurt Keesy, Sue Sullivan, and Charlie Kearns for their work.

-Bob Timmer

Recent Events

Ochoco Trail Work and Camp Out

Submitted by Sue Sullivan

The Central Oregon Nordic Club maintains roughly 100 miles of ski and snowshoe trails here in the Deschutes National Forest. As you probably know, we’re not the only group that maintains winter trails; Meissner, Sisters Trail Alliance COTA, the Dog Pack and several snowmobile groups also maintain trails nearby. In the Ochocos, there are a number of ski trails near the Walton Lake Sno-Park,  and the Portland chapter of the Oregon Nordic Club has taken on the responsibility for clearing and marking those trails. In June, Portland ONC invited us to join them in a three-day work event to spruce up the trails. Nine of us assisted the Portland group, with most people camping at Walton Lake for the event.

It was not all work either! Walton Lake proved to be a beautiful spot to camp. Ron Padgett brought along his dulcimer, and Louise Brown brought a violin, so there was evening entertainment around the campfire. Some folks spotted wild horses while doing trail work. Those of us who had never skied at Walton lake vowed to come back this winter as the trail system goes through some really nice terrain.

There’s a possibility that Portland ONC will be returning to finish more trail work some time later this summer, so we may be having another opportunity to help improve these trails. 

Exploring Pretty Lake and Fawn Lake

Two intrepid hikers were willing to brave the heat with me to explore Fawn Lake near Crescent Lake off of the Willamette Highway. The drive is not any farther down there than to Santiam Pass from Bend, so it makes for a nice day hike.

We did the hike as a loop by walking about a mile from the Fawn Lake trailhead to a junction about a mile in. We took the Pretty Lake trail to Fawn Lake and then took the Fawn Lake trail back to the trailhead. The distance is a little over 7 miles and has about 1100 feet of gain. The hike is in the Diamond Peak Wilderness and goes through unburned forest.

The day was already heating up by the time we arrived at the trailhead and we took it slow. It took us a little over an hour to reach the unsigned side trail to the smaller Pretty Lake. We admired it for a few minutes before the bugs shooed us along. We arrived at the much larger and more scenic Fawn Lake about 30 minutes later. There was a nice breeze blowing here that helped keep the bugs at bay, so we were able to have a seat and enjoy a snack while gazing at the lake.

There are some nice camp spots on the far side of the lake for later in the season when the bugs have died off. We reluctantly left the lake and headed back on the Fawn Lake trail towards the trailhead. This trail is slightly more shaded, so it was a good option for the hike back as the temperature became hotter. We arrived back at the trailhead in good time and were happy to escape to the air-conditioned comfort of the car on our return journey. We only saw three other people on the trail, so we definitely enjoyed our solitude. 

-Kelly Cleman

"This is a wonderful day. I've never seen this one before."

                   -Maya Angelou