Riding my non suspension bike, shooting a short vid, a little bumpy. It's great to get out in the woods.
Spring Storms
Snowboarding under the lights.
Arctic Cat 660 4 stroke Turbo / Wide Track
Training
-2 Degrees
Dang, I dig this powder!
The trip started out at 12:30AM Monday morning with an all night drive to Wyoming, 990 miles. Arrived Monday afternoon, got settled in.
The climbing Mountain Cat, M8.
The 900 RMK Beast.
An afternoon lunch fire,
The sun was out and the temp stayed cold all day.
The sleds ran great and we found good snow.
The gang after a good day in the mountains, ready for a burger fest.
Sometimes ya just gotta roll the critter to get unstuck.
Deep...
Yours Truly, riding the Dragon.
This is what mountain riding is all about, boonedocking and cold smoke powder.
Lunch fire while it kept on snowing.
Using a pine branch grate to get the grilling done.
Deep in the woods, the sleds were snow covered during our lunch. With snow all day, our tracks from the morning were pretty much covered and it made for a challenging ride up the mountain through the woods to the trail back to the trucks.
Day 3, as we drove up toward the mountains the clouds were hanging over the peaks, giving us the clue that we would be in for even more snow. The mountains did not disappoint us, the winds were howling at over 40 mph and the snow was falling. As we rode up the trail, with the snow swirling we made our way to an area that we had ridden in on day 1. As we dropped into the valley it was apparent that we were experiencing incredible deep powder conditions.
This was truly an epic day to top off an epic 3 days of backcountry snowmobiling.
Yeah I found the powder and we had a great mountain experience. Everyone came home safe and we pushed our powder sleds to their limits. GOOD TIMES!!
I'll have a story and more pictures up later. It was a great trip with much powder. Found a couple mountains for later snowboarding trips. Have a good week-end... later.
This was a backcountry sled trip in northern Colorado that we experienced some awesome snow conditions. The group included 6 other riders and myself. This was my first adventure with this group, a very seasoned group that enjoys the challenges of exploring new terrain. This group makes its own trails. They ride up out of West Yellowstone on most of their trips. This was new territory for them.
Powder!
Taking a break deep in the trees.
A lunch fire. This was deep in a ravine that we dropped into. The challenge was the climb out along a steep ridge through the trees after lunch. It was a great 1st day.
The 2nd day brought more snow. We spent this day in some steep terrain in very deep snow. We all worked our way up which included guys getting stuck, digging out, climbing higher. We were able to climb to an opening in the trees on a mountain-side with a great view of the valley. Several of the group continued on up traversing back and forth through the trees attempting to gain the top of the mountain. We were in deep forest, so it was no easy task. One of our group did make it up to the top, to the rocks. This day my front bumper did meet a tree on one climb through the trees. On the throttle uphill and I zigged instead of zagged and boom, broke the bumper but nothing else. I think most of us nicked a tree or two this day.
Lunch fire the 2nd day.
This looked bad, but all turned out OK. A frozen stuck throttle and sled meets tree without rider, knocks snow out of tree.
Da Moose!
Da trail opener! This was our path in to the trailhead on day 3, we followed him in. We had all the powder to ourselves this morning.
Da rig! Seven men and seven sleds
Cresting a mountain. It was wind blown and we were hitting rocks in the shallow snow.
Back in the powder on the south side of the mountain. We were in awesome untracked powder the rest of the day. Many miles from the truck.
So deep it took two sleds to pull one out of the powder.
Yours Truly, enjoying another adventure in the mountains... GOOD TIMES!!
RIDE HARD
This was an adventure that took place in the mountains south of Eagle, Colorado. There were 8 of us involved, the Minnesota 4 and the Colorado 4. Six were on skis and Weez and I were on snowshoes with our snowboards on our packs. We were keeping our eyes on the avalanche reports and weather. A man and woman had died in avalanches the Sunday before, one in Utah and one in Colorado. So we had some good discussions about the risk factor and terrain we would encounter. We dug snow pits to check for snow stability while on the mountain.
A bit of freeze dry food for the trip up to the hut. Never used it before, it turned out OK. But after snowshoeing 5 1/2 hours on Friday to arrive at the hut, any hot filling meal would taste good. I would use freeze dry food again, it is so easy to fix, open pouch, pour boiling water in, let sit 9 minutes. Serve. Eat.
Friday morning, gearing up at the trailhead. Ya gatta pack everything you need for the next 3 days in the backcountry. Food, extra clothes, first aid supplies, fire kits, sleeping bag, water filters, headlamps and odds and ends.
These were the views we were greeted to as we entered the deeper forest. The fresh snow and cold temps made for an enchanted forest.
A rest to hydrate, snack and readjust the packs.
Looking under the deck of the hut.
Inside the hut, still a little chilly when we first arrived. We had to heat the cabin with a wood burning stove. With temps in the single digits and below 0 F all week-end, the fire was always burning. The stove is also where we melted snow for drinking water, in a large pot.
Sometimes ya just use body heat. Brad, Krista and Brian.
The view of the outhouse in the dark at -5 F. Once back in the cabin it was time to stoke the fire.
Saturday morning looking out the front window after some freshies during the night.
Traversing a slope so we aren't so exposed to unstable snow.
In the woods hiking back up.
Eric, Steve and Brad. Preparing for a skin up the mountain for another powder run.
Jay.
We both used the Atlas Backcountry Snowshoe. They worked great, they have a heel lift that helps with climbing and there is more crampon surface than a typical snowshoe. I tend to use a shorter snowshoe with more climbing and descending.
The wind at the top of the exposed mountain was roaring and with the temp around zero it was raw. There is something wild about the mountain winds that is captivating.
We ducked behind some trees to make the transition from snowshoes to board. It is all worth it for the ride down. I'm riding a Burton 166 Malolo and Weez is riding her Burton 156 Fish, both excellent powder boards.
Weez ripping it up.
Brad diving into the trees.
Brad and Eric after a run, getting ready to gear up for the skin back up. We took this last run on Saturday at dusk so we mounted the helmet lights to prepare for the hike in the dark.
Deep
Using all the daylight and returning in the dark is a great feeling. Add the snowfall, it's the best. Last week on the sled, this week on the snowshoes, this is living!!
A couple views Sunday morning before the hike out. Ya hate to leave. The snow was surreal this trip.
We had 2 slopes collapase on the snowshoe hike back to the traihead, a person has to be aware always. They were both on low angle slopes, so no slides, but it takes your breath away.
It was a great adventure, everybody in our group got off the mountain safe, we all pushed our limits and found powder. GOOD TIMES!! We had a great group.
Gould, Colorado.
Ducking in the trees and having a lunch.
Saw a moose about 20 feet off the trail this day.
A couple of the riders from Utah I rode with on the 4th day in northern Colorado.
These last 3 pictures were on the 4th day, the last day of riding on this trip. I had a view of the sun going down at the same time the moon was rising up in the mountains. I was still about 12 miles away from the truck up on top. I thought it was a neat sight to see the moon back at the truck at the end of the day.
This was a helmet light set-up I came up with one night in my hotel room. I used it to come down off the mountain in the dark a couple nights. The idea is that it lights up where you look, because the snowmobile headlight is shining straight ahead. It worked great, it is a high power bicycle head lamp, I cut all the straps off and used zip ties in the visor vents.
First day, Sunday in the Snowy Mt. Range, Wyoming
This is more of the Snowies. The snow is starting to pile up, it snowed 3-5 feet the week before on top of what they already had. There are many exposed rocks and stumps, got'ta watch for bumps in the snow. But many trees and areas to explore. I saw one guy who had hit a rock, he was OK, but brand new sled got bent. I bounced off one myself, tossed me off the sled. No harm done.
Second day in Northern Colorado.
This was as far I could get on Monday in this area. It will be getting more snow. There were exposed creek bottoms, and sink holes. I found some hillsides to fool around on with the new dragon. Good powder snow, You just had to search for it.
