The snow is hanging in there at 4th of July, with any luck there will be a little more before the Spring melt begins. Hopefully it, and future additions, will be enough so that it sticks around through March.
FYI – we’ve learned that the Methodist Church may soon be asking groups that use the facility to secure liability insurance. Since this would no doubt result in additional costs for the club, the subject will be brought up at the March club meeting. We will be looking for a vote to see what everyone thinks about the idea of getting a policy or looking for a new venue. So don’t be surprised if the subject is brought up after the presentation.
For March the Club meeting will still be held at the Community Methodist Church. It will start a 7:00 PM Tuesday, March 7th.
Speaking of this month’s presentation, Phil Hough will be filling us in on the latest about the plans for the Scotchman Peak roadless area. For those not familiar with it, Scotchman Peak is located on the north end of Pend d’ Oreille Lake. It is noted for a trail system that climbs up to a Forest Service Lookout. Sometimes there are mountain goats hanging around along the trail or near the lookout. If you’re not already familiar with the area, this is your chance to hear more about it.
For those of you who have been or want to participate in the YA-I-DU-SKI AND SNOWSHOE activity, Roberta Truscott will be looking for your tally sheets at or before the March club meeting. If you need one, the Tally sheet is located on the Members Page in the WEB site. If you haven’t started one, but have been keeping track of your skiing or snowshoe accomplishments, you should make a copy of the sheet and fill it in. Then, either email it to Roberta at (glenn.truscott@gmail.com) or bring it to the March Club meeting.
You may notice that the title on the accomplishment tally sheet shows “2020-2021 Ski Season”. Don’t worry about it. Just cross it out and enter 2022-2023. Someday we’ll get it updated to the current years.
FYI – the upcoming event for March is the annual trip up to Nordman Airstrip (@ Priest Lake) for Cross Country Skiing. The event is currently scheduled for Saturday, March 11th. Scott Goddard, who volunteered to lead the event, will probably be sending out a message about signing-up for the event or changes in plans if necessary soon. His availability may have changed for being able to lead or participate by the 11th. Stay tuned for more news about this event.
Based on the list we created at the beginning of the season, Nordman is the final group event the club had schedule for this season. Since there may still be enough snow through March for skiing or snowshoeing, If anyone wants to lead one more event later in the month let the board know. We’ll try to help you get the word out.
See you on the 7th!
PS – if you hadn’t seen other notices. Jim McMillen received and was trying to pass on that the Palouse Divide Nordic Club was promoting a Loppet at Bald mountain this weekend. 

Hanna Flats (Nordman) XC Ski Outing, Saturday March 11, 2023.
Meet at 9 AM at the Hayden Super 1 at the east end of the parking lot.

The Hanna Flats Nordic trails are relatively gentle, in a meadow and forest setting on the west side of Priest Lake.  Several different trail routes and distances are available.  I am planning to ski the route covering approximately 4 miles.

I also plan to stop for a late lunch before the trip home at the Moose Knuckle in nearby Colin, ID

Hanna Flats XC Ski Trails are ~4 miles north of the town of Priest River on State Route 57.  Drive time from Hayden is 1hr-45 minutes.

Please RSVP to Scott Gossard at sagossard@gmail.com if you plan to participate.  I can also be reached at (208)-661-9523 if you have any questions.

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The ski and snowshoe area received an inch and a half of powdery snow from the storm earlier in the week. The snow fell on a hard frozen compacted base. The bitter cold wind chills experienced the past few days halted any grooming until today. The grooming this morning was limited for the sake of our grooming personnel driving snow machines in still quite cold temperatures. The inner core trails were groomed with the exception of Loose Moose. Elderberry was groomed only to Treetop View. Skateaway and lower Skywalker were groomed. The remaining ski trails have a hard base with and inch and a half up to three inches on that pack.
Snowshoeing remains good area wide and in fact the pack is sufficiently congealed that one can use snowshoes with little effort area wide on or off trails. The latest snow is, but a thin coating over an icy surface. The trail up from the parking lot to Skywalker is quite icy under the trees with little new snow. Most of the new snow was intercepted by the trees. Similar situations are likely area wide under thick forest cover.