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Columbia Plateau for you Washingtonians

mikemikelle

mikemikelle

Active member
Waterville Area- Some great snow, and great views!

Took my wife out for our 1st trip in the Imp (and 1st trip in a cat). The "official" reason for the Imp is future cabin access (wink wink). We're in the process of purchasing a 20 acre parcel and building a cabin. She had seen the property in October, but not in the snow...


The area is all around 3000 ft. Don't know if any of you have cruised around up there (we did see a set of cat tracks), but the snowmobile's sure hit it. All rolling wheat fields, with lots of varied terrain. I'm sure it's all privately owned, but you would never know by the snowmobile tracks. Would be an awesome place to have some sort of a roundup at some nice farmers place. Lots of unplowed county roads also, which I believe are fair game.


Waterville is a cute little town, and is only 1/2 hr from Wenatchee, where they have everything. Once I have it all built, I want to line up about 30 of you for the view pic!!!


...and yes, she is now speaking to me after bringing it home.
 

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Count me in. Lots of history up there. Hwy 2 was the main road in WA until I-90. Farmers are all in Vegas with 1/2" of water sitting on their winter wheat, big crops this year!! Pretty big grade coming up from Orondo, any slick spots?
 
We went over the same weekend as McCall. Bare and dry all the way. Weather came in that night. That probably was the same weekend as your trip to pick up?

Also ran up Icicle Creek in Leavenworth....Think we got next year's xmas card pic. That'll save me 4 hrs next Thanksgiving weekend!
 

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Great pics! I've always wanted to explore that area. I like your idea of a meet up. Count me in. Cheers

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
Welcome to OverLook"D

Our little place in Waterville,WA. Don't know whether to call it undiscovered, forgotten, unwanted, or cast aside, but what we think is that it is the perfect place to build a vacation home. Hopefully it serves as inspiration for all of you who are looking for that place where you can "cat" to your hearts content. It's not fancy, expensive, or exclusive...just fun!!

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We purchased the Imp for cabin access (or was it visa versa), and we are having a blast with it. If you've ever thought about getting your own "Snowcat Destination" location, we highly recommend it. In our little bit of Heaven- Tons of private or un-plowed county roads, endless terrain, unbelievable views, and 3 hr access from the Seattle area. 1/2 hr to the nearest large city (Wenatchee), and 15 minutes to gas/groceries.

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Though it's been a bit warmer than normal, we've had enough snow to make it out a few trips this season. Our elevation is about 3000, which puts us about 2500ft above the Columbia River (which is only 1.3 miles away as the Raven's fly).

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The view South, looking over the top of Wenatchee, and due West looking over the completely cloud covered Entiat River valley.

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Just up the bluff, a few hundred yards from us, there was a wheat tram that ran from 1902-1909, until the railroad came in and put the Columbia stern wheelers out of business. This is a new replica tower, made to commemorate the history, and to serve as our little neighborhood monument (I was hired to build it this past summer).

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One of the few places where you can drive your cat right to the ski area, and pull up for a front row seat at the slopes - NO JOKE!. Shout out to the Badger Mountain Ski Hill, ran by volunteers from the area's Lions Club. Cheapest lift ticket in the country- $10 per day (and I believe a family pass is $150 per year!) The cat trip, cross country on un-plowed county roads, takes about a half hour, and you can pull right up to the back of the lodge.

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Our nearest neighbors are a mile away; 2 young families whom purchased parcels next to each other (best friends). Needless to say, their little kids think the snow cat is the best thing ever, and both families are now in the market for their own cats. We set a new "Imp" world record last week. The text came in that the neighbors needed help getting the moms/little ones in to their cabin- 3 families worth. 1 trip, 3 adults, and 6 little kids (2 babies) with all the gear (yes, 9 people in the Imp!)

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Wow, 9 people in the IMP, that has to be a new world record. Great views from your cabin, looks like a nice place to hang out.
 
We did our annual Snow Day at the cabin (also in Washington) yesterday and had 13 people on one of the outbound loads. Granted, four of them were under ten years of age, but it was still a pretty full load. When we bought the cat Bill Guthrie suggested open seating in the back because "people will enjoy riding outside through the snow" and he was right -- great advice. Fun times.

Ron

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Lots of snow on the Plateau. You Coloradans will probably laugh at the 3000 ft elevation, but over here near the West coast, we start at sea level, so a 2500 ft drop within a mile of horizontal make for some great vertical relief; photos, skiing, and snow catting !!

February dropped lots of quality snow. Average snow depth in the 3 ft range, with lots of drifted snow to 5 and 6 ft on the bluffs make for epic backcountry skiing. Waterville even made national news with a truck stuck on Hwy 2 just out of town:

https://twitter.com/wsdot/status/1094447642711535616?lang=en

We're pretty biased about or adopted 2nd home location, but heck, why not? After all, it's the reason we found this other crazy addiction that all of you are already in on. Still can't believe how fortunate we are to have the access, views, solitude, and a neighborhood ski area, all within 20 miles of a large town with all amenities.

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Skin track up the bluff, right out of camp, and the run drops 1100ft. Waist deep powder, fluffy face shots; much more like continental snow. The gate I-beam is about 5ft high off the driveway.

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Lake Entiat to the Northwest. Earthquake Point and Duroga State Park down at the Columbia River, on the way to Lake Chelan

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The big town of Wenatchee in the background, and Rocky Reach Dam down at the river

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The Entiat River valley, due West from our location

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The :40 minute run over to Badger Mtn Ski Hill, visible in the background as small vertical cuts (800 ft of drop)

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In the background, the ski tracks show the Smokehouse run, which drops 1100ft from the bluff, past the Smokehouse (shitter), and finishes down at the plane crash (actual crashed Cessna is still on the hill 3/4/74)

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Back to camp for a bonfire, dinner, drinks, sunset , and star gazing!
 
Great pictures..congratulations on your cat. Looks beautiful out there
 
It's worth a shot. I have put a lot of hours on the 1200 since mid February. It's starting to need some R&R.
 
PJL said:
It's worth a shot. I have put a lot of hours on the 1200 since mid February. It's starting to need some R&R.
Click to expand...

have you thought about doing/hosting a day of training for snow cat owners?

thinking you very well could have 20 some snow cat owners show up.
 
what a prefect life you have, it is beautiful area, and you are so fortunate, and a great little snow cat over to ski area and your work on the cabin is great
 
Pontoon Princess said:
have you thought about doing/hosting a day of training for snow cat owners?

thinking you very well could have 20 some snow cat owners show up.
Click to expand...

As a matter of fact, mentioned on my very first post of this thread!

It should have bin this season, but the snow was light until mid Feb, and to add to that, thought McCall was still a go. Had we wiped the dust off the crystal ball, maybe we could have put it together.

Our thought is to put something together with Badger, maybe a vintage show at the ski hill, a big circular tour route (anybody for a poker run?), maybe with the vintage sled heads also, etc. I'm sure the Lions Club and the locals would love it (and would cook as one of their fundraisers). Still new to this, new to the area, and trying to get a handle on the local weather and its predictability. Hoping a local informs me that a particular weekend is almost always a guaranteed blue bird 3 day shot!! It will happen eventually, but sorry, not this year.

Maybe some others have knowledge of additional close-by areas. Our Waterville area is a great one day tour. Wenatchee is the obvious choice for hotels/restaurants, and is surrounded by mountains. Additionally Lake Chelan has amenities, and is also surrounded by mountains. If we could get permissions from the forest service, Slide Ridge, Grouse mtn, and Junior Point have some incredible views (elev. 6500' ish) down to Lake Chelan (1100 ft), knock your socks off stuff! Easy snow road, but extreme drops and vistas. Also the Entiat valley climbs up to some big stuff. Now you see my problem- think too big, ADOS (Attention Deficit..Oh, Shiny..), easily excitable, wheels spin too fast, too many good places, too little time money beer fuel and winter!!!! help
 
great idea, love to see it happen, you could even put together a impromptu gathering and have a test run, and get a feel for running a bigger jamboree. how is the snow holding up, melting fast?

I can bring the timberline ale
 
Pontoon Princess said:
great idea, love to see it happen, you could even put together a impromptu gathering and have a test run, and get a feel for running a bigger jamboree. how is the snow holding up, melting fast?

I can bring the timberline ale
Click to expand...

We still have freezing temps at night and in the am, but daytime temps are mid 50's, and nearing 60, so we've definitely turned the corner. My last visit was weekend before last, so not sure how the snow is holding. I may go over this weekend for a last cat trip. Part of the learning curve is seeing how long it lasts on average. Last year the snow was gone at this time, but it was a light year. This year looked the same, but then we got some good winter weather. The winter before last, we catted in on March 28, and had 1-2ft on average, and was gone by April 7th.

Point being I'd hate to schedule something now, only to find out we'd missed the window by a few weeks, all after people spend time and money on travel to the area.

If anyone wants to gamble on a day trip this coming weekend, I could be talked into it...just would need to know asap. Currently working over nearby the cabin (leave for the jobsite tomorrow AM), so I take the cat over with me to avoid coming all the way home.
 
ya, you are probably right about missing the window, for myself I would need a couple weeks notice to make this happen for me. I would love to come over for a gathering in the future...
 
"All you guys have to do is take your cats out, have fun, take pictures and share them. Then the forum might not be "all about Colorado". "

It's snow envy. Gonna be 70 here this week and it's turning to water fast. Was out Saturday training with our SAR people. In shirt sleeves, doors wide open. I have 2 more rides promised out this month and I'll be hard pressed to find enough snow left at our low elevation.
 
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