White River Snopark Yellowjacket Snowshoe

[Sugar Pine]

Snowshoed part of the Yellowjacket Trail from White River Snopark past the Salmon River crossing last Sunday. The parking lot was mostly empty when we started at about 9:30 am but packed with sledders upon return. Didn't see any other snowshoers or skiers all day.

We used microspikes starting out but switched to snowshoes as we ascended. Never post-holed, even when breaking trail. I was recently excited to find the Gaia USFS Roads and Trails map includes Nordic trails; alas, it is not correct, at least not for the Yellowjacket trail.

Mt Hood from Salmon Creek Crossing

Salmon Creek Crossing. It was pretty steep, especially on west side

The real Yellowjacket trail is well marked (west side of Salmon River crossing)

We left the trail for a direct descent back to the parking lot through an area with many downed trees and huge root balls.

Back by the sledding hill, beautiful day.

[bobcat]

Pretty - such a beautiful day. Years ago, I skied Yellowjacket from Highway 35 above Trillium to White River. It was challenging!