January 25-
Getting another slightly
late start, at least for a school night. Went riding again today and then
had to get back, take care of some work things, have dinner, make some phone
calls and now I can sit down and write.
The first order of business is to talk a bit about the
Ride In. I just want to thank all of you that have signed up. It looks like
our numbers for this year will be pretty similar to previous years. I also
wanted to make sure you all knew of the changes for the meeting place for
the back country rides, poker run registration and shirt pick up. We are
back to meeting at the Ramada Inn in Hancock. It is right on the trail, so
makes for an easy meeting place in the mornings. We will be meeting there
around 9:30-10 am both Friday and Saturday mornings to put together the
groups for the back country rides as well as handing out the sheets for the
poker run and shirts. The other change of venue is the Banquet on Saturday.
We have moved to the Memorial Union Ballroom at Michigan Tech University. I
have made some maps
to show you where the Tech campus is located in relation to Houghton and
Hancock as well as where the Union Building is on campus. There is sled
parking available, but Tech is not allowing us to bring sleds close to the
Union. You have to park the sleds down by one of the maintenance buildings
and then because of the way the campus is laid out, you have to walk about
1/2 mile to the Union, even though as the crow flies, the sled parking area
and the Union Building are only about 1/8th of a mile away from each other.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that if you are at odds on if you
should ride your sled to the banquet or take your vehicle, I would opt for
the vehicle. You'll be more comfortable at the banquet in street cloths than
snowmobile gear anyway. In years past most have come to the banquet via
vehicle. So those are my announcements for the Ride In at this point. I have
one more item related to the Ride In to share and that will come in a bit.
Topic number two is the weather. Snow and more snow.
Actually this week was kind of quiet when compared to other weeks. We did
get hit good earlier in the week, but then I did not have to move snow
Wednesday, Thursday or Friday and could have moved it on Saturday, but it
was just too cold to fiddle with 4" of snow, so I waited until today,
which was not any warmer, but at least I did not move snow two days in a row
with bitter cold. Back on Monday I took some pics of the "Dee
Compound" buried under all the snow. The first shot is of the shop
roof. We cleared it back between Christmas and New Years, but from the
looks of it now, one would think it has yet to be cleared this winter.
The overhanging drifts on the front actually make it look like there is a
lot more snow on it than there really is. I knocked down those drifts and
there is about 2 feet on the roof, not 4. Knocking down the drifts is pretty
cool. I just take the roof rake and jam it into the drift about 4/5ths of
the way to the top. The entire drift on one side then comes crashing to the
ground. I do the other side and then clean the snow with the snow thrower.
The next pic may be a little misleading in the other way. It is of the snow
piled on top of the wood pile. I say misleading because the top of the
wood pile comes up to my eyes, so there is about 4 feet of snow on top of
the wood pile. It is kind of a pain to deal with, but not too bad. I just
shave back the snow to expose the next round of wood pieces. Hopefully this
next warm season I will get a permanent shelter built for the wood and will
not have to deal with snow on the wood pile any more. My last pic of the Dee
Compound is of the snow
banks on the driveway. These are not plow banks, they are snow on the
level banks. I either use the snow thrower only to clear the snow or the ATV
plow to push the snow to the sides and then take that snow and throw it with
the blower. The blower tosses the snow about 20 feet away from the driveway,
so the banks are left untouched and just what has fallen this season so far.
The banks are now about 8" taller than the cutter bars on the thrower.
I may need to make some extensions or just chop at the top of the banks with
a shovel to keep the banks clean.
I got out to ride 3 times since I last wrote. None of
them days in a row, but that is probably a good thing as some of the rides
had some digging out to them and after today's ride I am worn out. I
actually started to feel worn out about half way through today's ride. I
guess you could say I was feeling my age!
Wednesday's ride was just 4 of us. Teddy picked up a new sled
and wanted to break it in, so he,
Nick, Brian and I took off for an afternoon ride. The weather was pretty
good. It was not bitterly cold and the visibility was pretty good. As has
been the case on every single ride (except today) this season, we broke
trail through at least a
8-12" of fresh snow the whole day. This sure has been one heck of a
year for riding. I am not exaggerating when I say that every single one of
my rides has been through fresh powder, except today's, which included some
fresh powder, but also some back country pounded to death by the weekend
warriors. We had a good time cruising down some logging roads and the
were feeling our oats and decided to do some hill climbing. My first run up
was rather unsuccessful as I snagged onto a little sapling that was bent
over and stuck in the snow. Nick rode up to help me and then continued up
the hill and proceeded to get stuck. I made it up a different way and on my
way down took a pic of Nick's
stuck in the steep and deep. We played around a bit more in the bush
before heading to Phoenix to warm up and then head home.
Thursday was a down day, and with the Nytro getting a
face lift the week before, the M was feeling a little left out, so I decided
to do a little cosmetics to it. No new graphics kit, but a buddy from the
Jackson WY area sent me some screens
for the vents on the M and I decided to put them on. They seem like a
good idea as they go on with velcro, so you can take them off quickly to
clean them if you need to, plus if they need to come off permanently, then
the velcro just needs to be peeled off the hood. They went
on pretty easy and my only concern was the ones
for the intake. They had snaps in addition to the velcro and I was
concerned about the possibility of snow getting sucked in between the velcro
and the snaps, but today's ride had plenty of chances for that snow to be ingested
and it did not. If you are interested in picking up a set of these for your
own sled (I am not positive that they have them for all hood designs, but
would think so), you can contact "Lefty"
at Extreme Toy Protection.
On Friday, I hooked up with Chris (m8man) and Joe
(winter_time) for a ride. People have been asking me all season how I like
the Nytro and my honest answer has been that I really have not been on it
enough to make a strong assessment. So I decided to take the Nytro on Friday
and put it through it's paces so that I could give a respectable report on
it. At first I did not feel comfortable on it at all. I have gotten so used
to the M and the setup on the Nytro is quite different from the M that I
just felt like a fish out of water. I did remember that when I rose the sled
last February, it took me about 30-45 minutes to really feel comfortable on
it, so I stuck with it. Over the course of the afternoon, I did start to
feel a little more comfortable on it, but never to the point that I feel on
the M. I must clarify things a bit by saying I am talking about feeling
comfortable on it in true backcountry riding. Not trail or even just logging
roads, but off camber side hilling and deep snow riding. The sled performed
just fine. It floats across the snow as well as any 144" tracked sled
will. It has plenty of power, but I just could not totally become
comfortable with the riding style. There may have been something else going
on because I have seen Skylar carve the sled with ease and did so myself
last Feb, but on the ride Friday, I could carve it, but just struggled. I
can say this though. On the trail, the sled rocks! The setup is very
comfortable and the sled handles the twists and turns of the trails awesome.
I can also say that when I was not leading and was just following in tracks
as we rode through the bush, the sled also performed very well. So as a true
crossover sled, I think it a very good option. As a mountain or pure
boondocking sled (which is not what it was designed for), I would say you
would be better off on something else. Keep in mind a boondocking sled in my
opinion is going to see less than 10% of it's miles on the trail and is
going to be asked to do a whole lot more than just run some untracked
logging roads, so my idea of a boondocking sled may be different from that
of others. I can also say that I though the sled really looked cool in it's
new graphics!
Anyway, back to the ride. Chris, Joe and I took off from
the gas station in Allouez and found our way through the backcountry up to
Lac La Belle. Again, it was one of those rides where we had plenty of fresh
power to play in the whole way up. It's been pretty quiet up here during
the week, so the back country is able to recharge itself with snow and by
the end of the week you can travel in areas that look like they have not
been touched all year, when in reality someone could have been through the
previous weekend. Our goal was to head up to Lac La Belle and meet up with
Troy and Zach and then let them lead us through the backcountry between Lac
La Belle and Copper Harbor. We made it in pretty good time, make the hook up
and headed out. I really enjoy hooking up with them because then the
pressures of having to lead are off and I can just play follow the leader
mindlessly and not have to worry about where we go next. We had some stucks as
Joe demonstrates here and even an "Omaha Beach" moment, where
all sleds were augured in. Troy took us down some secret
paths through the woods and to some nice overlooks, although with the
snow falling Friday, we could not see much!
On Saturday it was back up to Lac La Belle to guest bartend at the
Bear Belly Bar and raise some funds for the Make A Wish Foundation as part
of the ride in. I got there at about 11:30 and snapped this shot of Old Blue
on the road to Lac La Belle with the 6
foot snow banks. Things were pretty quiet at the BBB/G when I got there,
but by a few minutes after 12, the place was packed with snowmobilers.
Bartender Chris and I worked hard to get folks their food and drink orders
and manager/chef Dave filled the food orders. Later in the afternoon we had
two other bartenders show up and I was able to spend more time meeting and
greeting and got to meet lots of great visitors to the site. In addition to
being very good folks to chat with, they were very generous. In the roughly
4 hours we collected tips for the Ride In, we made $400 and owners Troy and
Cathy matched that and brought the haul for the day to $800. A special
thanks goes out to Jennifer and Brett for their generous contribution to the
tip jar and the special gift given to Nora and I. We are looking forward to
picking out some pics of Burt and Baileys for the custom pillows! I also
need to thank Troy and Cathy for their generosity for allowing me to come up
there and screw up drink and food orders while raising money for the ride
in. Plus their matching contribution is really above and beyond the call.
Bartenders Chris, Bud and Marc as well as manager and chef Dave also need to
be thanked for their time and hard work in making sure we raised as much
money as we did to jump start things for the ride in. It was a very fun
afternoon and I am already looking forward to doing it again next year!
That brings me to today and today's ride. It was Al, Teddy,
Ken, Tom and one other that took to the back country. We actually all drove
up to a spot in Keweenaw County to start the ride, figuring we could get
more riding done in the high country if we started there. On the way up, I
could see lots of tracks put in since my ride up to LLB on Saturday morning.
It is amazing how fast things can go from untouched to all tracked up and
then back to untouched up here. When I pulled up, Al and Teddy were already
there and so were some other guys. Al spoke with the briefly and said they
were from Bessemer. Not sure why they would have trailered all the way over
from there. Seems to me they have some good snow and terrain to play in over
there, but oh well, maybe they were just looking for a change of scenery.
Ken, Tom and the other showed up in a little bit and we
all took off. It did not take long for an early turn down the wrong path to
turn into a stuck event for all 6 sleds. Most of them stuck more than once!
The only problem with that scenario is that it takes a lot of work to get
that many stucks unstuck and you have only been riding for 10 minutes and
have used up a bunch of energy. I think that is one reason why I just ran
out of steam before today's ride was over. At one point, Ken realized that a
weld on his steering post had broke and he needed to limp it back to the
trailer and so Tom and their buddy head out of the bush early, which left
Al, Ted and I to play the rest of the afternoon. We had to look a little
harder than usual this year, but we did find some untracked
areas to play in. It's not even that big of a deal to be on totally
untracked snow, but is like the icing on the cake when boondocking.
The snow was kind of funky. There was around 8-10"
of power on top and then a layer of firmer snow. Not rock hard or anything,
but for the most part the sleds would ride on top of that firmer layer and
then occasionally bust through, especially if you were climbing a hill. In
any case, we did have fun on the ride today and with the base of firmer
snow, we decided to give hill climbing through the trees a try. Some run
were successful and some not. Ted had a fun one. He has his limiter strap
let all the way out, so the brand new Summit he is on really wheelies. On
one of his climbs, he just about came over backwards and the sled came
to rest right next to a tree. He did not hit the tree, just came close
to leaning up against it. The snow was really deep in there. On my stuck, I
dug down to the ground and stepped into the hole and the snow came up to the
top of my shoulder!
After that we played on a few more logging roads and then
started working out way back. I was getting pretty tired, so was glad when
we were on our way back. Then we came across a nice hill with no trees on it
and Ted gave it a shot and had to peel off. He gave it another try and made
it, which only egged Al and I on to try. So up the hill we both went. Me
first and then him and neither made it. I was almost able to peel off and
not get stuck, but unfortunately, almost
does not count when getting a sled not stuck!
I used up about half of the remaining 5% of energy I had
left for the day getting unstuck and we got the sleds down and were able to
head back to the trucks with no more incidents. I am glad to have the next
few days off from riding. I have a few things to take care of for the Ride
in the next few days and then will be riding Friday and maybe Wednesday or
Thursday as well. So my body will enjoy the rest the next few days as well!
I guess that about gets you caught up on the goings on. I
am looking forward to the Ride In and seeing some of you again and meeting
some of you for the first time. Until next time...
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-
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January 18-
I'm getting a late start tonight. Typically I am
done with the journal and getting ready for bed by this time of the evening,
but I have the day off tomorrow and just got back from a ride, so those of
you typically checking in by 7 pm eastern for the journal have learned it
was not ready by then. I did not score the hat trick again this weekend, but
did get out for two good rides yesterday and today and quite frankly, it was
still too cold on Friday to get out. In fact from about late Monday on, it
was too cold for this old buck to get out on the sled. I am sure that there
are those that laugh when I say single digit temps are too cold to ride in,
but we don't see that kind of cold often and I guess living up here, I just
get spoiled and can be a little choosy about the conditions I ride in.
I am glad that we do not live in an area that gets that
kind of cold often. I suppose I would probably get some different riding
gear for that kind of cold, maybe some gauntlets for the handlebars and a
full face helmet or something, but that kind of cold is just not fun to ride
in if you ask me. I guess I really should not be complaining about the cold
too much as just about all of the Midwest got colder than we did up here
this past week. My coldest temp was 5 below on Wednesday at around 3 in the
morning. We never really warmed up much from Tuesday through Friday,
basically staying around zero to 5 above, but seeing temps of 47 below zero
in MN and even into the -25 to -30 degree range in southern WI did make me
feel good about living in a place where extreme cold is pretty rare and it
also snowed pretty much non stop from Monday through Friday. On Friday
morning we even managed to be the warm spot in the entire Midwest. Yep, I
looked at temps from the Dakotas and eastern NE south to the OH River Friday
morning and I could not find a reporting temp that was as warm as us. That
is a pretty incredible feat if you ask me.
Saturday was warmer and today was downright balmy with a
high of 26! It was still a little chilly when we started the ride yesterday,
but did warm to around 15 by the afternoon. We got an early start to make
sure that we got to some good snow. With the cold and low traffic all week,
plus the steady snow all week, I knew that the backcountry would have some
untouched snow in many areas and wanted to be able to be the one to put
first tracks in it. Once we hit the bush, we were almost the first ones to
make tracks...almost, a
coyote or wolf beat us to it by a few hours. I guess that wasn't too
bad, plus it only went down the logging road for a half mile or so and then
I was really making first tracks.
My riding partners were three from downstate. Paul who owns
Sled Solutions, his friend Jordan who owns Arctic FX and Matt, who I did not
get to learn what he does! We had a good time carving through the fresh snow
up here and pretty much made a bee line straight for the higher terrain to
find the steep and deep. Here is a shot of Jordan
in some of that steep and deep. I'd say that were was a solid foot of
fresh powder out there, which was plenty fun to play in. Here is a shot of my
sled at rest in the bumper+ deep snow. Here is a shot of Paul
taking a break and giving the thumbs up. Paul had his camera out from
time to time as well and sent me a few shots from the ride. Here is one of me
on my way up a hill and here is one of Matt
playing in the powder. Here is another one of Jordan
stuck. I'm not picking on Jordan at all, we all got stuck yesterday,
it's just that the pictures Paul and I had of him were of him stuck.
We worked our way up the peninsula and stopped off at Lac
La Belle for lunch. Which by the way, I will be guest bartending at this
coming Saturday the 24th from around noonish or 1 until around 4 pm. All of
my tips will go to the Make A Wish money we raise at the Ride-in, so if you
are up this way next weekend, be sure to stop in at the Bear Belly Bar and
Grill in Lac La Belle- I'd love to meet ya! Anyway, after lunch we headed
back out into the bush and had no problems finding some fresh
powder to play in. In fact we found a spot where there was about
18" of fresh powder on top of the 3-4 foot base. Much of that snow must
have fallen pretty recently too, as it was quite powdery and had not settled
much. We had a SW wind the night before and were in an area of the Keweenaw
that could be hit pretty good with just the right SW wind, so it is possible
that the area we were in had been hit with most of that 18" in the 12
hours prior to our arrival up there. In any case, it was plenty deep and
deep enough for me to
get stuck on relatively flat ground! I can add that I was turning around
to help the others get unstuck on a hill I had just climbed and encountered
a downed tree that was buried under all the fresh snow that the skis got
stuck on, but a stuck is a stuck! The bummer part about that stuck is that
the others were still back down the hill about an 1/8th of a mile back and I
was left to my own resources to get myself unstuck. Just as I had gotten the
track on fresh snow and the snow packed down a bit in front of the sled, the
others came riding up and for good insurance I had one give a tug on the ski
just to make sure I popped out of my stuck spot.
We played around some more in the 18" of fresh and
then began to work our way back down to the cabin. As I mentioned, Jordan
owns a company called Arctic FX, which makes custom sled graphics and our
plan was to ride for the day and then head back and give the XTX a bit of a
face lift with some custom graphics. I love the XTX, but the graphics on it
were just not my cup of tea. I understand that things like graphics are
really a personal thing, so if you have a black and white XTX and like the
graphics, please do not feel offended. In fact, I am sure that there will be
those that do not like the new look I chose for it, I just hope Nora is not
one! Actually the new look is pretty bold and might take some getting use to
for Nora, but I am pretty sure she will like it.
It was cool to see Jordan take the graphics kit out of
the box. It came in one 20
foot long roll, with all the different graphics pieces on it. I had
already removed all the stock graphics from the sled and also gave it a good
cleaning, but just to be sure all the adhesive and other surface contaminants,
he used some cleaner he brought with him and gave the sled a once over.
After that, he got to
work applying the graphics. It's not too hard, but I was happy to be
sitting in a chair watching him! It's like anything else, there are a few
tricks to make things go smoother and they actually shot some footage for a
video they are going to put out to help show some of the tricks to applying
the graphics. It took him about 2 hours to put all of the graphics on the
sled and before I show you the after, here is a look back at the
sled when it first arrived in my shop, now here
is the after. The graphics that Jordan creates for the sleds are not
generic, once size fits all. They are custom made for each sleds display
areas. So they fit perfectly onto the different surfaces of each make and
model of sled. Here is one of the
graphics that went on a section of the sled just behind the seat and
here is a piece that went on the
gas tank. Jordan printed up a couple of graphic bearing his company name
too and we put one on each side of the rear
portion of the tunnel. I was thrilled at how it turned out and think the
Nytro is now one of a kind, at least in the Keweenaw! Be sure to check out his
website, lots of cool sleds he did on it!
Today's ride was actually a KSE ride that I tagged along
on. Matt was the guide and there were 4 guys from Brainerd MN that he was
leading. I stuck to the back and played "sweeper". I actually did
not take too many pictures. We were too busy having fun for me to stop, get
out the camera and take pics. However, we did get to a spot where Matt
started some jumping and I got into position to capture one
of his jumps. Kind of a cool shot with him coming right at you. My only
question is what was he looking at?! I know it sure as heck was not his
landing spot and I know if that were me, my eyes would have been as big as
saucers and looking right where I was going to be landing! The other shot
from today was at one of the scenic
overlook stops. Things slowed down enough then too that I could break
out the camera and take some shots. It was a good trip today and fun was had
by all. The 4 from MN were pretty tired at the end of the day, but all said
they would be back again. That was actually my first ride with Matt for the
season and that just leaves Al and Dave left from our group that I have yet
to ride with. It sure would be neat if we could get the whole gang together
for a ride before we leave for WY. I guess if we don't, then we will all be
riding together for 6 days!
I think that about covers it for this one. Just a heads
up that we are keeping the registration for the Ride-In open for another
week or so. You will not be able to get a shirt as it just complicates
things too much to send shirts out after the event, but you will be able to
attend, take part in all of the events like the backcountry tours and the
banquet. So you have not missed out on the event yet, if you have not
registered, but don't wait too much longer!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-
January 11-
If I could put a sound
track to the journal (and who knows, maybe some day I will!), I would be
playing the song Back in the Saddle Again. I am thinking of the one
done by Aerosmith I believe it is and not Gene Autry. The leg is not yet
100%, but was good enough that I could get back on the sled and ride. And
ride I did. I scored the hat trick- riding Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Not
sure how many miles I put on and I really do not care. All three rides were
great and I have 23 pics and one movie to share.
I guess the first order of business is the new site look.
By now you all have seen the new look and I hope you like it. I realize that
with the volume of visitors to the site I am not going to make everyone
happy, but I just felt like it was time for a change of color. I got help
from Jim Formanek with things and did some work myself. Rather than get into
who did what, if you see something that looks professionally done, there is
a good chance Jim did it. If something looks like it was done by a hack,
then it was probably me! I realize one of the issues is the size of the text
links in the left hand navigation menu. I do have plans to try a few things
to try and make them easier for you all to read. If you want to fix it right
away yourself, you can change the screen resolution of your computer. In
Windows XP, you just right click on the desktop and choose properties and
then click the settings tab and you will see a sliding bar that lets you
choose the screen area or screen resolution. Set it to 1024 x 768 and that
should help. I created the left hand navigation menu to match what was
there, but a little better organized. The problem is, the amount of items
there is more now and also I did not want to make the menu so big that you
would have to have a special scroll bar just for the menu. You will see the
scroll bar if your screen resolution is 800 x 600 or less, but if you want
to get rid of it, then change your resolution to at least 1024 x 768. There
are a few more enhancements I want to make to a few spots on the site, but
they will not change the look, just some additional features to help you
with the site, like mouse overs which will tell you what cam is associated
with what snowflake, just by moving your mouse pointer over that flake.
Anyway, hope you all like the new look. I do not see it changing much from
this setup anytime soon.
The second order of business would be the Ride-In. The
deadline to register is this Thursday, January 15th. We might still be able
to sneak you in after that, but you will not be able to get a commerative
shirt. Things have been a little quiet up here with snowmobile traffic, so I
hope everyone is just saving their pennies to come up for it. I have been on
the horn collecting some great prizes for the silent auction and raffle. So
far I have a pair of SLP Powder Pro Skis. They will work with all sled
makes, we will just get the right mounts for the winner of them. I also have
a Klim Valdez Jacket (sized to the winner), and DVD's from Dobson
Entertainment, Team Summit and Dan Gardiner (Boondockers). I know others
like John Stachler and Lori/Cathy from the Wildlife Refuge Cabins are also
collecting prizes. If you would like to send something up for the event,
just contact me! I am getting excited for the event. Usually it is a pretty
stressful event, but I think after the site remodel and trail cam issues,
this years Ride-in will be a breeze- especially with the help I get from
John, Lori, Cathy and Nora.
Third on the list of items is the SNOW we have been
getting. Another 26.5" in the past week. School was suppose to start up
again this past Monday, but they got the day off because of snow and winds.
We did actually have a 24 hour period with no snow this past week. I believe
it was Tuesday. It was the first time in 37 days that we did not have at
least a trace of snow fall from 8 am to 8 am! The new streak is at 5 days
and counting. The snow is deep too. I have 3 feet on the ground at our
house, but in the higher terrain during Friday's ride, we dug down to the
ground and the snow came up to just below a certain object on my chest (too
scared to use the "N" word!). When we got home, I took out a tape
measure and measured from the floor to just below my "N" and it
was 55"! So in the higher terrain up here, we found 55" on the
ground. That's a lot of snow for January 9th!
On Wednesday I had to dig out the snowmobile trailer. It
was last clear of snow on December 9th when I put it into it's parking place
and here is what I had
to clear off of it by January 7th, less than a month later! It only took
me about 30 minutes to shove it out! Not sure when the next time I will be
using it, but it is sitting in it's spot collecting snow again.
Here is shot of the front
of the cabin Thursday morning. It was coming down pretty good and all
told from that event we got around 11" of new snow. The banks are
getting pretty big around there. In fact most cities have already had to
resort to clearing the plow banks with a front end loader and dump truck. I
don't think I will have to resort so such means, but there is already around
18" of snow on the shop roof and a the next clearing will likely take
the snow right up to the eaves, which means the clearing after that will not
likely fully clear. That would be my only problem with too much snow.
Otherwise old Mother Nature can bring it on!
Now to the snowmobiling. Skylar came for the weekend and
was to arrive around midday and then we would take off once I was done with
my work. I got a call Friday morning from Brian and he said that he and some
others were going to be heading out for the day and heard I might be finally
able to start riding again, so he gave me a call and we all ended up meeting
up here at our house and took off from there. The snow on Friday was just
fabulous. The 11"+ that had fallen the day or so before was still fresh
and once we got into the higher terrain it was over the hood all day and
still falling at a good clip.
As mentioned, it has been pretty quiet up here,
especially during the week, so any tracks that might have been put in the
snow in the backcountry were long buried by the snow we had all week, so we
pretty much made first
tracks all day. As we rode through the woods, I had a hard time
believing it was only early January. The base is 2-3 feet of snow, with the
foot or more of fluff on top. I was a little leery at first, worried I might
hit something and end up hitting my leg on the handle bars again, but as I
drove by snow mushroom
after snow mushroom, I was able to chase away the fears of hitting something
and just have fun. The leg actually got better as the day went on as well.
When we first started out, I could feel it and knew it would impact my
riding, but after about an hour, it actually felt better and while it was
never 100%, it did not negatively impact my ability too much.
It was my first ride with some of the old gang and felt
good to be out with them as well as riding with Skylar again. Even though
Skylar had never even met the others, he fit in well and we had a good time
riding. Here is a shot of Brian,
Chico and then my sled. Skylar and Bob were behind us and did not make
the pic.
We worked our way up the spine
of the Keweenaw and into the higher terrain. Snows always deepest up there
and as mentioned, we measured 55" on the ground, with the top
18-20" of it providing snow over the hood, as
Skylar demonstrates here. The Yamaha really did well. When we started
off I told Skylar that Friday's ride would be the acid test for that sled to
see how it would do in the steep and deep and it never lost a step to the
other sleds. It got stuck a few times but was not really any worse to dig
out than the others. Get the track on the snow, a pull on the ski loops and
it popped right out in every occasion.
As for the
M, it is just awesome! From the running boards that NEVER load up to the
way the chassis rolls over with the greatest of east to the way it can climb
a hill loaded in snow- I just love that thing. Arctic Cat would be pretty
silly in my eyes to change much with that sled. Some talk about it not
having as much power as other 8's and I suppose more power would not be a
bad thing, but I think they have hit it out of the park with this sled's
features for deep snow boondocking and just need to get more folks on it.
The whole afternoon I was trying to think of a way to thank Route 12 Arctic
Cat without sounding like a butt kisser and never came up with anything, but
the honest truth I am very lucky to have been able to use that sled from
them and I can say that everyone that I have talked to about the sled and
who have dealt with them all say to a tee that they are awesome to deal
with. Every single person has had nothing but a rave reviews about their
shop there in Arlington Heights IL and my only beef with them is they need
to get up here and ride with me! But seriously, a HUGE thank you goes out to
Rt 12 Arctic Cat for the sled and if you are in the Chicago area and wanting
to be on a Cat, they seem like a no brainer to work with.
As mentioned, Skylar did have a couple of stucks on the
XTX (we all got stuck) and here
is one of them. Yep, he really is standing there. In fact it was at that
stuck that I dug down through the snow to find the ground to take the
55" snow depth measurement. That was a you-know-what grin on his face
and we all had them on Friday in that snow. I did say we all got stuck on
Friday, including my first stuck of the season. Here
it is. Both Brian and I pulled up onto the snow bank and had our sleds
teeter on top and then slip back a bit. The application of power to the
track only caused us to dig in deeper, but not much effort was needed to
pull the sleds out of the bank.
I had my helmet cam with me on Friday, but actually ended
up losing it, only to find it again. It was quite the miracle that we found
it, but Chico said he thought he saw it laying in the snow behind me, but
thought it was a branch or something. Anyway we did find it and the cam and
footage on it was fine, but I still have not dialed in the mounting for it.
I am going to move it from the top of the helmet to the side so that I can
get it aimed in the right vertical reference. I REALLY wish I had been able
to use the footage shot on Friday. Some cool footage of Brian and I riding
side by side, carving our way down some logging roads. Sort of like synchronized
snowmobiling!
On Saturday, Skylar and I loaded the sled onto the
trailer and hauled them south to Greenland to hook up with Lenny and Dan
(Mr. Freeze). As we were loading them up I told Skylar that we must really
be nuts that we were loading our sleds on the trailer to head away from the
awesome conditions we rode in just the day before, but I had promised Lenny
that we would ride with him and one of my loves is to see new areas and I
knew the snow would be good down there too- which it was.
We arrived in Greenland at around 10:30 and actually chased Dan from
the trail to Lenny's house. We did not waste too much time getting out into
the backcountry there, Lenny leading us through the backcountry down there.
The snow as good, probably around a foot of fresh on top of their base,
which was plenty enough to carve our way down the logging roads Lenny took
us on. Here is a shot of us
during one of the breaks during our morning riding. Lenny had sacrificed
riding in some of his favorite spots so that we would have some good snow to
ride in with him and I know I was thankful. Any backcountry riding is fun,
but it is just like your favorite frosting on the cake to have untracked
snow and that is what we had for just about the whole day on Saturday. Just
before lunch, we took a side trail to some property that Dan owns with a
million dollar view. You can see the Big Lake, the Porkies, Ontonagon
and Rockland from that point where he hopes to build a house some day.
Awesome spot.
We stopped for lunch and had some belly busters at Bobs
in Greenland and then Lenny and Dan took us to some more scenic
overlooks. The first one we went to was the Mass Bluff that overlooks the
town of Mass City. Here is a shot of the M
and XTX and Skylar on top of the Bluff looking south. After that we got
back on the sleds and headed to the South Bluff, which had equally beautiful
views of the land around it. Here is a
shot looking to the north from the South Bluff and here is a
shot looking to the south (FSV).
That view to the south was almost like being out west with all the hills in
it. We all sat up there and picked out what looked to be fun play areas for
us. Mine was way off in the distance and I am not sure if it would be OK to
ride in the spot I saw, but if so and if Lenny and Dan can find the way to
it, I would like to get
in here and do some side hilling.
Darkness was setting in and Skylar and I had over an
hours drive to get back home, so we closed out the day around 5 or so and
headed north. My thanks to Lenny and Dan for showing us a good time. They
are both super nice guys and fun to ride with and I hope they can find their
way up north sometime soon so I can return the favor.
Today it was just Skylar and I riding some of my favorite
haunts just outside my front door. The snow from the work week had settled a
bit, but we still had over
a foot of powder to work with. Funny how in a year like this a foot of
powder to ride in just seems ok!, but that is the way it has been. Except
for the weekend between Christmas and New Years, we have had fresh powder to
play in and the way it is coming down outside right now and suppose to all
week, it looks like this week will continue that trend.
We did encounter some tracks today, but I know a few
spots that are a bit more hidden and we were able to spend about half of our
4 hours of riding on logging roads that looked
like this. We even found ourselves on one of the groomed trails for
about a mile today and found it to be pool
table flat. The day's travels also took us by a few little knobs to jump
off of, so we took the bait and had a little fun. Here is Skylar
on the XTX and here is me
on the M. Here is one
more of me, I think I actually had some air between the ground and my
track on that last one! I think. At one point we came across a little hill
where I could put in a mini high mark and sidehill at the same time. I tried
it yesterday while riding with Lenny and Dan, but hit some shallow snow and
washed out. Today no wash out and you can watch it here on this
video.
Skylar had to travel back to Cheeseland today, so as much
as we both wanted to ride all day, we had to call it and be back by around
noon to 1 pm, so we worked our way back towards the Dee compound, but not
before finding a few more logging
roads to put our
marks in.
It's was a long three weeks to wait to get back on the sleds,
but the past three days were worth the wait and now with a little luck I can
be injury free for the rest of the season and get plenty more saddle time in
all the wonderful snow we have. It really is turning out to be a winter to
remember this season. It just seems like it never wants to stop snowing and
that is fine by me!
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-
January 4-
Happy New Year to you
all! I don't know about all of you reading this, but 2008 sure did fly
by, yet some things that happened in the year seem a long time ago. It
does not seem like it has only been 8 1/2 months since we lost Burt, it
seems a lot longer for some reason. He and Baileys sure are missed and
Nora and I plan to adopt a dog this spring, once the snow stops falling
and I am done running off to play. I think that will also help me get excited
for spring, which is not a very usual thing for me to be sure.
It's been a pretty slow week
for journal content. My leg has continued to keep me from getting out much,
although it has improved. I was able to stop taking pain meds on Monday,
on Tuesday night I could finally stop sleeping flat on my back and like
a board and by Wednesday was able to put the sock on my left leg all by
my self. A rather momentous occasion for me! By Friday I was able to even
bring my injured leg up enough to just barely cross it over my right knee.
So it is definitely on the mend, although it just does not want to do anything
with much speed. The swelling has gone down enough that I can see my kneecap
and I can also make out where the point of main impact was. With the swelling
down, I can feel a knot about mid thigh where the main impact was. Hard
to believe that is has been over 2 weeks with this stupid injury, but I
am very thankful to have such a great wife to help me get by. Nora has
really been a huge help with moving snow. I get on the ATV and do the plowing
and she does the footwork behind the snowthrower. I can add that she has
gotten very good at working that thing and as a team it usually only takes
us around 20 minutes to get the entire driveway cleared.
I think if the healing of the
leg continues on it's current pace then it should be near 100% by next
weekend. I plan to stay off of it as much as possible this week and just
continue to rest it. I think that is one reason why it did not heal much
in the first week and why I had such a bad flare up on the 26th because
I just did not let it rest and heal. It has been a bit of a challenge not
to get too down watching all the snow fly (26.5" in the past 6 days) and
know that I cannot go out and play in it, but it looks like this is going
to be one of those winters where lots of opportunities for snow play will
be had. So best to get healed up now, rather than keep aggravating it and
have it give me problems longer into the season.
The one bright spot to having
the bum leg has been that I have been able to get a ton of work that needed
to be done, done. On New Years Day I spent 14 hours on the computer taking
care of things that had piled up and then on the 2nd, I spent another 7
hours, which was in addition to the regular 8 hours of work done earlier
in the day on Friday. Then yesterday I went out to get the trail cam going
and Nora and I spent 7 hours out there with Dave and Lori (in the office
mainly) trying to get all the bugs with it worked out. We got dangerously
close! I now have a setup where the wireless connection to the trail cam
computer is nice and strong. I have the camera hooked up to a brand new
computer and running. I just need to change some settings on the machine
so that the computer can communicate to the world wide web. So long as
the weather is not too nasty tomorrow, I plan to get out there in the afternoon,
give a call to a IT guy and have him walk me through the procedures needed.
When Nora and I first pulled
up to the Wildlife Refuge Cabins office yesterday, I saw one of Dave and
Lori's brand new sleds sitting out in front and got a little jealous thinking
that Dave was all clear to ride and would be heading out for a ride. The
truth was actually a bit different. Lori had brought the sled down for
me to use because she knew that it is hard for me to get around in the
deeper snow with my bad leg. So I got to ride the sled down to the trail
cam to shuttle the old equipment out and bring the new equipment in. Here
is a shot of me bringing
the new computer down to the trail cam shelter on Lori's shinny new Skidoo.
It's a good thing I did not have all my gear on, or I think I would have
just taken off for a ride! In any case, hang in there trail cam fans. I
think we are finally getting close to getting this thing to update on a
more regular basis! Before I forget, I'd also like to thank Lori and Dave
for lunch. We all had food from their new station in South Range and it
was excellent.
I really do not have much more
to talk about. As I mentioned, it has been a pretty lay low week for me.
Other than moving snow and sitting at my computer. I guess I have been
eating and sleeping. One thing is for sure, once my leg is all healed up,
I think I am going to just go nuts with activity! I am not one that is
good at sitting around and doing nothing and I can feel all of this pent
up energy just waiting to explode.
As I sat down to write today,
I realized that I only had the one picture of me on Lori's sled to share
with you, so I put on some boots, my jacket and hat and snuck outside to
snap a few shots of the snow around here. I mentioned how we have picked
up over 26" in the past 6 days and our seasonal total to date is now at
142.5. We are on a pace to get over 300" if the pattern stays as active
as it has. Whether or not we reach 300", it looks more like late season
out there than early season. Here is a shot of the
snow piling up between the shop and the cabin. I wonder come March
how much snow will be there. I just hope that the shop roof will be able
to clear all season!
The wood piles are becoming
gigantic snow mushrooms.
The hope is that this summer I will be able to build permanent shelters
for the wood piles and the task of digging the snow out before you can
toss it in the boiler will become a thing of the past. So far we have gone
through about half of that stack, which is not too bad, given the fact
that we started in November and December was very cold. I think the rest
of this pile will last through Jan at least and this
pile will last through Feb and March and part of April. That is if
we can find it come Feb! Probably a good thing I am not a jumper on my
snowmobile. That looks like it would make a pretty decent jump and I don't
think Nora would be happy with me doing that! I mentioned how Nora has
been working the snowthrower and cutting back the banks that I make with
the ATV plow. Here is a picture of her
handiwork. I've always dreamt of having the driveway go through a tunnel
of snow 5-6 feet deep on either side and the way this winter is going,
that may just be realized. As mentioned we have had over 26" of snow in
the past 6 days, although a lot of it has been total lake effect fluff.
The shop roof was totally clear just a week ago and now has about a
foot of snow on it. That fluff really compacts down over time, but
so long as you are not trying to build a base, is still the best snow there
is- if you ask me.
Well, I guess that about covers
it for this one. My final duty is to remind everyone that the clock is
ticking to sign up for the ride in. Only 11 more days to get your name
in to be able to partake in the event! You can also look for the donation
cans while you are up here. I dropped off one to Dave and Lori and they
will have it at the station in South Range. I plan to get one to Krupps
Mini Mart in Twin Lakes. I am hoping to get them to M&M powersports,
Quincys, Eagle Harbor Inn, Bear Belly Bar and Grille in Lac La Belle and
Ziks and the Mariner in Copper Harbor. So keep an eye out for them and
toss a buck or some change into them to help us raise funds for this years
event! Plus I hope to see all of you up here for the event. Some great
prizes and I plan to start hitting the pavement and phones to get some
more prizes for the silent auction and raffle. Until next time...
Good night from the Keweenaw..
-JD-
