| Description: | Pebble creek drains from Portneuf Range to the east, not to be confused with the alpine ski area of the same name that is on the west side, closer to Pocatello. There are numerous snowmobile trails on the forest roads. We skied up Pebble Creek Road. The day was nice, superbowl sunday promised small snowmobiler crowds which was more-less true. The road was packed and snow was hard from the sun and freeze cycle, which made it for hard skiing. Haven't skied on snowmobile tracks for a few years, I forgot what a pain it is - the skis don't stay straight very well on the snowmobile tracks.. Still, it was better than staying at home. I made it to the Pebble Creek guard station ca. 5 miles up the road, there are also several houses and a yurt which seem to have been frequented by the snowmobilers. Having had enough of 2-stroke engine exhaust, I decided to take a road on the other side of the creek on the way down, and connect with Clear Creek road. This for sure avoided the few snowmobilers that were buzzing around, but, I did not really find the road, so, just followed some snowmobile tracks on the hill sides. Thanks to the GPS, I found the Clear Creek road after some adventurous skiing and then it was just a slide down back to the car. Snowmobilers were getting their TVs ready so there was none to be seen on the way down.
Overall a good day out, though I have seen this area and don't need to come back. The snowmobile tracks are just not that great of a lead for cross country skis. I wish they made snowmobiles with ski blades of similar witdh to a x-country track. That would make life much more enjoyable. |
