Had a great ride Saturday with some of the Snow Travelers members and a couple of some “soon” to be members. We headed into the White Mountains with the plan to make it to Richards cabin, one of the remote cabins the BLM maintains for recreational use. We did make it and the ride was great for December, fresh snow on the ground and almost no other tracks on the trail. We started out with a head count of 5, lost 1 about 3 miles in do to engine trouble. Ended with 4 of us at the cabin and then picked up another member on the way out, so we were 5/4/5 on riders for the day.
When we got to the cabin we ran into 7 guys riding some really old iron, almost Tired Iron vintage, not quite, but close. Turns out it was 7 attack helicopter pilots recently back from Bagdad enjoying a retreat in the woods. A nice bunch of young gentleman and glad to see them safe and home after the service overseas.
So after visiting for a bit we headed back out and stopped at the Nome Creek Road to play in the powder a bit and then back to the rigs. A short day, but good riding and good company.
One of the club members had engine trouble last weekend while riding down near Denali, more specifically, by the Igloo at Parks Hwy Mile Mark 186. So Dean and I went down to help him get his sled out. It was a decent Sunday morning for a drive, temps were in the mid 20’s above zero and that made it a good day to ride, almost felt like spring riding. Anyway, on the drive down it was snowing and blowing, the road got icy and slick but not too bad.
We made it to the meeting point at 10:00 AM, off loaded and rode on it. First mile was nice, lots of fresh snow and deep, after that the winds came up. So now were riding in wind blowing snow and Brian (owner of said downed sled) isn’t 100% sure just where his sled is, thank goodness he had it GPS’d. After we all got stuck once I pulled the Bearcat over and suggested they go find the sled then come and get me, and that’s what they did.
The Bearcat is great for hauling loads, whether it be lumber, firewood or broken sleds, it’s just not meant to do a lot of boondocking in A$$ deep snow
All in all a pretty easy rescue, I only wish it had been on a Friday so I could of stayed and played in all that fresh powder.
The ride home was terrible. All the new snow turned into packed ice and became as slick as could be. We did make it most of the way back in two-wheel drive, until we got close to Fairbanks, then I had to go into 4 wheel for about 20 miles.
All in all it was a great weekend for playing in the snow. Just wish it was longer.
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