​Hi All


Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year Season.

It has  been a very busy time for many of our club members clearing trails and preparing for the coming snow.  The series of wicked wind storms earlier in the month of November/December brought down more than 150 trees across our nordic trail system up at Fourth of July Pass.  A big thank you for all of our volunteers who helped clear the trails in preparation for the upcoming heavy snows.  We should be able to enjoy the trail network in the coming weeks with more than a foot of new snow in the near term forecast.

The club held our annual Best Hand Fundraiser event on Saturday January 3rd.  Due to a  lack of snow, it ended up being a nice hike in the woods with friends.  The overall turn-out was much better than I expected.  We were able to raise ~$650 for continued support of our club and trail maintenance & grooming activities.  Thank you to all who came out, and especially all of our club volunteers who made this a successful event.  Also a big thank you to all of our generous local businesses who donated many very nice prizes: Sportsman & Ski Haus,Sports Creel,Le Peeps Restaurant,CDA Coffee Company,Hudson’s Hamburgers, Ski Shack,Play It Again Sports,Two Wheeler Dealer,Bakery by the Lake,Vantage Point Brewery,Moontime Restaurant,Emery’s Beer and Mead Works,Post Falls Brewery,Daft Badger Brewery,Trek Bike Store,Little Bear Ranch Camping (Lewis Family),Sunset Sailing Cruise (Gossard Family)

Our next club meeting will be on Tuesday January 6th at the CDA United Methodist Church (starts at 7 pm).  We will have a guest speaker representing our local Sportsman & Ski Haus at the meeting to tell us what types of sporting equipment and rentals they have to offer and their mission as a local business to engage and support our local outdoor activities community.

Our group XC ski outings at Fourth of July Pass (every-other Wednesday) will start on January 14th.  If you wish to join us, meet-up at the Panhandle warming hut at 10:30.  Bring your own snack/lunch and beverage.  We will plan for a 1.5-2 hr group ski.

Our planned multi-day XC Ski trip to Rossland, BC will be on January 25,26,27.  Contact Jim McMillan ([email protected]) if you wish to attend for further details.

Hope to see you all on Tuesday Evening or out on the trails!            

Hope you all are ready for a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.
Since our last meeting, a solid crew of folks have cleared trails and prepared all of our temporary shelters across 4th July Pass trail system.  We are grateful for everyone that participated.  We are ready to kick-off the season just as soon as we get that first big snow.      
Our next club meeting will be held on Tuesday December 2nd at the CDA United Methodist Church [7 PM].  This meeting will include a social gathering with Christmas cookies and hot chocolate.  Attendees are requested to bring a dozen or two Christmas cookies to share with the group. All leftover cookies will be donated to our IDOT friends who plow our parking lot at the 4th of July Ski & Snowshoe Trails.
Our annual Best Hand fundraiser event will be held on January 3rd, 2026.  This event will need volunteers to help set-up & tear-down, staff our card distribution stations, and keep the fire going, etc.   I will have a sign-up sheet available at the upcoming meeting for volunteers.  We would greatly appreciate you taking a shift at the event and helping us out.
The Club Board is in the process of gathering prizes for the event from local businesses including: Trek Bike Store, Sport & Ski Haus, Trader Joes, Super #1, Pilgrims Market, Starbucks, Two Wheeler Dealer, Ski Shack, Gear Garage, Moontime, Vantage Point Brewery, Post Falls Brewery, Daft Badger Brewery.  We would welcome efforts by any club members to solicit donations from other stores or even donate an item of your own.
A preliminary draft copy of our Panhandle Nordic Club-Events Calendar is included with this newsletter.  We will finalize the events schedule as part of our December Meeting.  I will email our final schedule soon thereafter in addition to posting on our website and FaceBook page.  The Trip Leader will send out the details for their trip at least 4 weeks prior to the event with details on how to sign-up.
I have also attached a digital copy of our YA-I-DU-SKI LOG-25-26 Season blank form so you can start logging your km's ASAP.
Do not forget to obtain your annual Park N Ski sticker at any participating retail outlet or order online. 
Also please join or renew your membership electronically via our club website at:  www.panhandlenordicclub.com.
Our guest speakers for the December meeting will be Nancy and Greg Lewis presenting the highights of their recent trip to the Azores.
I look forward to seeing you all on December 2nd for cookies and hot chocolate and holiday cheer!     
​

Welcome to the 2025/2026 season of our Panhandle Nordic Club.  I am excited and very much looking forward to the start of another great ski and snowshoe season. 
Our club will hold our first seasonal kick-off meeting on Tuesday November 11th at 7:00 PM:
United Methodist Church
1470 W Hanley Avenue
Coeur d’Alene, ID  83815

During this meeting we will meet and greet any new club members, provide an overview of our club, compile a draft schedule of outings for this season including volunteer trip leaders, I will share some fresh baked chocolate cookies, and we will play a little winter sports trivia.       

Our Club Board recently met on September 23rd to start the planning process for upcoming events and activities for this season.  We have thus far set the dates for two of our primary events to be held at Fourth-of-July Pass:
·         Best Hand Fundraiser: January 3rd, 2026
·         Rock Soup Ski & Shoe Social: February 7, 2025
Please all be thinking of additional daytime  or extended weekend outings for our club members during the upcoming season.  We will be looking for suggestions and trip leaders during our November Club Meeting with a finalization of the schedule during our December 2nd Club Meeting.   
I am planning on hosting a group ski outing at the  Fourth-of-July Pass on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month starting in January.  We will meet at our Panhandle Hut near the trailhead at 10:30 AM for these group ski events.
Additionally, I am planning on hosting a couple of different learn to ski instructional events on a Saturday in the months of January and February.  Stay tuned for specific dates and times once I have the entire seasonal schedule finalized.  If you have any friends or family who are beginners and would like to learn to cross-country ski please encourage them to take advantage of this opportunity to get to know our club and the Fourth-of-July Pass winter trails.
Do not forget to obtain your annual Park N Ski sticker at any participating retail outlet or you can order online for home delivery at: getoutside.idaho.gov on the [Permits] menu.  When you purchase your sticker, please select Use Area: Fourth-of-July Pass as the designated location.  This ensures these supporting funds are directed to support the maintenance and grooming activities for our home trail network.  You can also purchase the stickers at Super 1 (Hayden & Post Falls) or the Idaho Parks & Recreation-North Region Service Center (2885 W Kathleen Ave).    
Please also join or renew your membership for our club.  This is also critical in supporting the maintenance of the trails and facilities at the 4th of July recreation area and ensuring that the club will endure for many years to come.  We strongly encourage you to join or renew your membership electronically via our club website at: www.panhandlenordicclub.com.  We would also prefer you pay for your annual membership thru the electronic payment methods available within the registration process. If you wish to be on our email list, please make sure you select the box [Add to PNC Group Membership List] within the registration form.  Also, make sure to Key [Submit] after you have completed the form and payment process.  Please sign up as soon as you can.  It really helps to get the membership list for the year completed early.  Thanks again for your support!
The fall season brings several required preparation activities to the fourth-of-July Trail network.  We will soon be looking for volunteers to support a couple of trail workdays to get things ready for an enjoyable season.  Stay tuned for a request for volunteers from our Geoff Harvey.  The more the merrier!
If you are in the market for any new ski equipment or wish to sell any equipment please be aware that we have two different ski swap events in the area over the coming weeks:
Look forward to seeing you all on November 11th to kick-off another exciting season.

​

​Hope you all are making the best of this early Spring weather. While I am sure we will still see some snow in the coming weeks, it has been a very abrupt end to our ski and snowshoe season on our Fourth of July Pass Trails. Our next club meeting will be held on March 11th (NOT our normal 1st Tuesday of the month) at the CDA United Methodist Church (starting at 7 PM). We will host guest speaker Sharon Bosley from the Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission to inform us on the superfund clean-up activities within the Coeur d’ Alene River watershed, Lake, and upper reaches of the Spokane River. Our next Panhandle Nordic Club Event was originally planned for Priest Lake-Hannah Flats Nordic ski outing on March 8th. Due to the lack of snow, I am going to swap this outing for the Lookout Pass to Taft outing originally scheduled for March 15. I will send out the details for this trip under a separate email. Our last club meeting of the season will be held on April 1st at the Vantage Point Brewery-Special Event Venue-top Level [208 E Coeur d’ Alene Lake Drive, CDA ID 83814]. We can each order our own food from a limited menu including smashburger, chicken sandwich, tri tip hoagie, ceasar salad (with chicken or salmon), or street tacos. We will meet at 6:30 PM to enjoy food, drinks, good cheer, and the development of a summer schedule of club activities. Bring your suggestions for summer club outings you might wish to lead.  

Hope you all have been enjoying the generous helping of sunshine we have been receiving in January. Although we have not received much new snow in the latter part of January, our Fourth of July Pass ski & snowshoe trails have actually held up pretty well due to the consistent below freezing temperatures and our diligent grooming team. Things are definitely looking-up in the snow department for early February. Our annual Rock Soup Event will be held on Saturday February 1st. This event includes participants contributing vegetables (canned or fresh), pasta, or whatever you think makes a good ingredient for a Mulligan Stew. We will have both a vegetarian and a meat containing pot. Cooking (inside the warming hut) will begin around 1:30 PM. Folks are encouraged to go skiing or snowshoeing before or after the start of the soup cooking. Soup serving will begin around 3:00 PM and go until approximately 5 PM or when we run out of soup. Bowls and plastic utensils will be provided. You will need to bring your own beverage of choice (BYOB). You can also bring chips, snacks, cookies to share with the group around the fire (both inside and outside fires) if you choose. If you plan to stick around in the late afternoon, you might consider bringing along a flashlight for your return to the parking lot. Hope to see you all there! Our next club meeting will be held on Tuesday February 4th at the CDA United Methodist Church (starting at 7 PM). This meeting will include guest speaker Mark Stambaugh from the Kootenai County Sheriff Volunteer Search and Rescue organization. The Panhandle Nordic Club will begin hosting a XC Group Ski Meet-up on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday's of February (weather permitting). Meet in the Fourth of July Pass-Panhandle Nordic Club-Warming Hut at 10:30 AM. Bring your own lunch or snack to enjoy out on the trail. The planned group ski will be ~5 miles on the trail network with a stop at the peaceful view picnic shelter (we will adjust the route and distance depending on the abilities of the group). All abilities are welcome. If we geta decent turn-out we will continue this in the month of March. Please note that our March Club Meeting will be held on March 12th (NOT our normal 1st Tuesday of the month) at the CDA United Methodist Church (starting at 7 PM). Our Panhandle Nordic Club-Events calendar is also included with this newsletter. If you wish to participate in any of these special outings, please email the Trip Leader, or register via the event signup sheet at one of our club meetings. Once the trip leader has been notified of your intention to participate, further details about the trip and logistics will be provided via email.
Look forward to seeing you all again on February 4th .

Happy New Year! We finally got our first big snow up at Fourth of July Pass at the turn of the new year. Trail clearing and initial grooming activities were completed last Thursday & Friday in advance of our Best Hand Event on January 4th . Our trail snowpack is currently pretty marginal at the lower elevations with some bare patches. Certainly not the best conditions but still skiable. Let’s hope more snow is on the way. This years Best hand Fundraiser Event was a success with good fun, over 60 participants, and a total of $775 raised for our Panhandle Nordic Club. I would like to extend a big thank you to all of our club members who volunteered to prepare and staff the event and donate prizes. I would also like to highlight our local businesses that donated prizes including Trek Bike Store, Sportsman & Ski Haus, Two Wheeler Dealer, Ski Shack, Gear Garage, MoonTime, Vantage Point Brewery, and Daft Badger Brewery. Our next club meeting will be held on Tuesday January 7 th at the CDA United Methodist Church (starting at 7 PM). This meeting will include guest speaker Brett-Vangen-Weeks from the North Idaho College -Outdoor Pursuits Department. Our annual Rock Soup Event will be held on Saturday February 1st . This event includes participants contributing vegetables (canned or fresh), pasta, or whatever you think makes a good ingredient for a Mulligan Stew. We will have both a vegetarian and a meat containing pot. Cooking (inside the warming hut) will begin around 1:30 PM. Folks are encouraged to go skiing or snowshoeing before or after the start of the soup cooking. Soup serving will begin ​around 3:00 PM and go until approximately 5 PM or when we run out of soup. Bowls and plastic utensils will be provided. You will need to bring your own beverage of choice (BYOB). You can also bring chips, snack, cookies to share with the group around the fire (both inside and outside fires) if you choose. If you plan to stick around in the late afternoon, you might consider bringing along a flashlight for your return to the parking lot. Hope to see you there! Our Panhandle Nordic Club-Events calendar is also included with this newsletter. If you wish to participate in any of these special outings, please email the Trip Leader, or register via the event signup sheet at one of our club meetings. Once the trip leader has been notified of your intention to participate, further details about the trip and logistics will be provided via email. Look forward to seeing you all again on January 7th for our January club meeting! 

Spring is here and it is time to start thinking about some summer adventures. To begin with I want to remind everyone that our primary goal for the April club meeting is to develop a list of activities for the summer. Hopefully you will be giving it some thought and be ready to offer up some great ideas.
To say the least, the winter season was pretty uneventful for having good conditions at 4th of July. Let’s all hope that the potential for a better snow year in ‘24/’25 becomes more promising next Fall. But there were a few activities that were successful over the past few months. I want to thank everyone who participated in them. Especially, I want to thank the folks that stepped up and organized and led activities. Hopefully you will consider organizing a summer time opportunity that will get folks together to hike, bike, camp or party.
At the club meeting we will also need to take a few moments to address two upcoming items. The first is the election, or approval, of a new president and/or changes in board member roles. To begin with, Scott Gossard has offered to take on the role of President starting next Fall. If approved by the membership, I will step down from that role and stick around to help Scott transition.
Randy Brewer has indicated he would like to step down from the roles of VP/treasurer and WEB manager. Since I signed the Forest Service Special Use Permit and liability insurance policy for 4th of July and the club, it seemed appropriate that I should stay on the board a little longer. Also, like Randy, I am already authorized to deposit or withdraw funds from the treasury bank account. So I offered to take over the treasurer role. So with Randy’s help I will be transitioning into that role next Fall.
But we are still hoping a member would be willing to join the board and eventually take over being the WEB manager. Until then, Randy has agreed to continue taking care of the WEB site for now. But in order to establish some redundancy for the future, Scott and I will start trying to become more familiar with the WEB tasks Randy takes care of. If anyone is interested, I would encourage you to come to the board meetings next year to see how things function. You might find you would like to become more involved.
The second item involves an opportunity to promote the club and, maybe, encourage recruitment of some new members. Mark Staumbaugh with the Kootenai County Mountain Rescue Team has invited the club to set up a recruiting/PR table at their fund-raising event on May 22nd. He will be at next Tuesday’s club meeting and will give everyone more details about the event. The board discussed the offer, and we all agreed that it would be well worth our effort to take advantage of the opportunity. If anyone is interested in joining us, Scott and I will be representing the club at the event. Let us know if you want to tag along.
Finally, for the April meeting will meet again for pizza and beer, or soda pop. After searching around it turns out that the Pizza Factory is still our best option for the final meeting of the season. I have
reserved the group room (i.e. the same one we’ve met in in the past) from 6:30 – 8:00 PM on April 2nd. I would encourage everyone to order before you arrive so we can get our pizzas and drinks early.
Hopefully, most everyone can make it to the meeting. So see you there!

To say the least it has been an interesting winter! Unfortunately the lack of snow didn’t allow 4th of July recreation area to be much of an outdoor escape opportunity this season. But at least, from what I observed, opportunities to hike were taken advantage of by a few hearty folks. But on the bright side, we were afforded the chance to apply the treasury savings to maintenance of the grooming equipment and we should be in great shape to support next season’s grooming program.
Unfortunately, due to weather and snow conditions several of the scheduled winter trip and activity events had to be canceled this year. Although, after “Best Hand” some activities did and still will happen before the season ends. If you missed them: Fish Creek park and ski, Rock Soup, Round Lake and Mckensie Conservation Area events all took place. The group of participants weren’t large (~6-10 folks) but I think everyone got to have some fun and got some exercise out of the events.
But if you still want to try to make it to a winter activity all is not lost. This coming Saturday (March 2nd) Scott is leading the annual trek at Nordman. Hopefully you’ve already seen the announcement he put out. If so, and you are thinking about join him let him know.
Also, Goeff is offering an opportunity to “ski”. He is planning to lead a trek at Lookout next Wednesday or Thursday. So be prepared to hear more about it at the club meeting next week. There might even be a sign-up sheet on the table when you enter the meeting room.
Regarding next weeks Club meeting, there will be two items on the agenda. The first will be the speaker of the evening. Since the hiking season might be heading our way earlier this year I thought hearing about the history of one of the nearby hiking areas might be in order. If you are not already familiar with the “Cougar Bay Nature Preserve” you might want to attend this meeting to hear Theresa Shaffer speak about her recently release book. It provides a good look into how the area was used and developed in past, and how the preserve came to be. It’s good story if you’re into the history of this area.
The second item is Ya-I-Du-Ski/Snowshoe awards. So if you haven’t got your accomplishment sheet up to date, you might want to get it ready for the meeting so Roberta can tally up the “K’s”. If possible, I am sure She would appreciate it if your accomplishment sheets could be sent to her in advance. If you can scan your list, it can be sent to Truscott’s email address shown on the membership list.
Hopefully, even though it has been a lean year for accomplishing many miles of skiing or snowshoeing you will want to take credit for what you’ve done. If you attended Best Hand and Rock soup you should feel obliged to take credit for snowshoe miles even if you just walked. So document your accomplishments and get them to Roberta.
PS – Everyone needs to start thinking about summer time activities. As always the April meeting will be our opportunity to develop the summer list.
See you next week at the club meeting. March 5th, 7 PM @ the Community United Methodist Church.

To begin this month’s letter I want to acknowledge Dwight McCain. Sadley, he recently passed away. Dwight was always a committed participant in club activities and volunteered regularly to help keep the trails and facilities in good condition for all to use. To honor Dwight’s memory the board has agreed that the Skateaway trail, which he used regularly, will be renamed to “Dwight’s Skateaway”.
Please join me in providing condolences and support to Marty during this trying time! There is a “Celebration of Life” planned for Dwight at the Lake City Church on April 18th at 10 AM. Hopefully many of you can attend to honor a great guy.
​Regarding club activities coming up. I want to remind everyone that this Saturday, February 3rd is “Rock Soup”. Cooking of the soup this year will begin at noon. Hopefully it will be ready to serve between 1 and 2 PM and serving will continue till its gone, or everyone has gotten what they want. Bowls and spoons will be available. But if you want to bring your own bowl and spoon, that’s okay.
I want to encourage everyone to come on up. I know there may not be much snow to ski or shoe on, but walking and/or biking might be an option to work up and appetite. The plan is to have a pot, or pots, heating up and ready to poor ingredients into for the soup. This year the only ingredient, along with a broth and water, that will be added will be vegetables (canned, frozen or fresh). So be sure to bring something to added.
For those who want a little meat in their soup, it can be added when you get your serving. So if you’re interested in a soup with more than just veggies, please bring it with you, pre-cooked if possible. But just in case it’s not, there will be a fry pan available for heating it up.
If you would like something more than just soup to eat, I would encourage everyone to bring along other items to munch on. Like snack food or fruit. Also, feel free to bring whatever you would like to drink. Water and hot chocolate will be available, but BYOB is always an option.
There are a couple of other events coming up soon. I hope weather cooperates a bit better to make it possible to still hold them.
The 1st activity in February will be the Round Lake snowshoe hike. I am the leader, and I still plan on doing it on Saturday, February 10th. So I will try to have a sign-up sheet available at next week’s club meeting (Tuesday, February 6th). I’ll see if I can find out if it’s worth bring snowshoes or just rubber boots. I’ll get the word out to anyone who signs up. If the snow doesn’t happen, I still plan to walk it.
The Methow Valley and Newman Lake events are still tentatively scheduled for February. So stay tune for sign-up sheets or messages from the trip leaders (i.e. Nancy Mertz and Geoff Harvey respectively).
See you next Tuesday at the club meeting. If you’re interested in electric bikes, Greg Lewis will be giving us a presentation.

Merry Xmas & Happy New Year! I for one am still hoping that there will be enough snow to ski and snowshoe on before too long. A few of us went up last week to cleared several windfalls that we hadn’t removed earlier. From that trek, I can at least tell you that there was 2-5 inches of snow on the snowshoe trails. There might be a little more after the last snow shower. For the sake of the “Best Hand” fund raiser, and the rest of the season, let’s hope there is a bigger snow storm coming in the future.
Regarding the upcoming fund raiser, Saturday January 6th, hopefully a lot of you are planning to participate. I also encourage you to spread the word to friends that may be interested in x-country skiing or snowshoeing. Who knows, if they join us for the event they might decide to join the club and help support the future maintenance of the 4th of July trails.
At next week’s club meeting there will be a sign-up sheet for volunteers to help staff the “Best Hand” event support tasks. We may still need of eight to ten folks to help. So please be on the lookout for the sign-up sheet on the table as you come in the door of the meeting room.
As usual, several stores have helped support the event with a variety of prizes. But as mentioned before, if anyone is interested in donating items they would be welcomed. If you do, bring them up on the day of the event and deliver them to the prize table at the panhandle hut. Please put your name on the donations so I know who to thank! If you can’t make it to the event, and wanted to donate something, give it to any of the board members at next week’s meeting.
I hope everyone that wanted to stay active with the club has had a chance to renew their membership. If not I encourage you to sign on to the WEB site and fill out the membership form and submit it. It may be the result of a lest the stellar snow season, but according to Randy our membership numbers are a bit down this season. Also if you know anyone who uses 4th of July for recreation, please let them know that if they join the club they would be helping ensure the future maintenance of the trail systems.
As a reminder, there are a couple of other events coming up in January. On Saturday, January 13th Skiing at Farragut State Park with Nancy Lewis is coming up. January 19 and 20th, Nancy is also leading at trip to Fish Creek Park n Ski near Grangeville. On or near the weekend of January 27 and 28th, Jim Mcmillen will be heading to Rossland B.C. If you are interested in any of these trips there may be sign-up sheets on the table as you enter the meeting room next week. But you can always contact the trip leader directly and they would be happy to add you to their roster of participants.
Keep in mind that due to changes in circumstances or conditions, or lack of, trip leaders may need to adjust event dates or plans shown of the recently sent out winter schedule. So it is always a good idea to make sure your signed-up for the event so the leader knows who to keep informed about changes. The WEB site may also be a good source to check to see if changes to scheduled events are being advertised.
The guest speaker at next week’s club meeting (Tuesday, January 2nd, 7 PM) will be Paul Loutzenhiser from FONIT’s. He will fill us in on the trail association partnership the club recently join into, and how
the club may participate and benefit from it. Goeff will also include some details about his role and activities as our club’s representative.
See you Next Week!