And it was a cold start and low snow. Rumors are going around about snow here and snow there and then you hear they got 3 feet at Summit and it was all blown away within 24 hours. And now we have lots of impatience folks just itching to ride.

So we meet at Chatanika Lodge and had breakfast. Me, I was late, not my usual habit, being late that is, but I had enough time to get a quick breakfast in thanks to Ronnie feeling sorry for me and cooking fast :supperhappy: Thank you sir.

We had 15 riders show up and I was pretty sure that with that many rigs we’d overflow the limited parking area they have at 42 mile Steese, so we rode out from the lodge and headed down the Orange trail. For those of you who don’t know, Chatanika has a nice color coordinated trail system, and today we felt Orange, of course we could have been in a blue, green or red mood, but Orange was the color of the day.

A couple things about the Orange trail; it doesn’t cross the river, tends to get use more and is easy to follow. However, it also follows the valley bottom to the Pipeline, an important fact to remember as it also gets the least amount of snow :sympathy:

But I don’t think anyone cared, so off we go and we lose our first casuality about 4 miles down the trail. Don’s heated visor stopped working and he decided to ride back to lodge blind rather than follow us. We made it through the valley and hit a couple cold spots, but nothing to bad until we crossed the Elliott a Olnes Pond and got to the Pipeline, where the temps dropped down to 20 below. A bit on the chilly side, the good news is that from there on we were heading uphill and into warmer temps and deeper snow.

The ride along the Pipeline to Old Murphy Dome Road was probable the best riding of the day, 20 inches of snow and smooth sailing. I think everyone really enjoyed riding along the Pipeline with the warmer temps and fresh snow that took out all the bumps we were getting way to use to.

Don’t they all look much more relaxed here.

We hit the Old Murphy Dome road and headed back to Elliott Hwy where we crossed the road and rode along the mine access road to the base of Murphy Dome and then on to Cleary Summit.
The ride to Cleary Summit and down Fairbanks Creek Road was sweet. Enough snow to play in and no rocks until we connected with the Historic Fairbanks Circle Trail that is.

This last part of the ride was no fun at all. It appears that some folks in their 4×4 trucks/jeeps decided to run the trail to Chatanika and tore it all up. I guess I would have minded, we all have to have or fun and recreation, but their rig’s kicked all the snow off the trail and in places we were skipping rocks to make it back, no fun and hard the sleds.

So to make a long story short, the ride was overall enjoyable and everyone had a good time.

The best way to describe this ride is “whew”. We meet for breakfast at 8:00 AM at Hill Top Café and got out of there a little after 9:00 I think. Breakfast was OK, but as always a bit slow in getting to our table.

There was six of at breakfast and six of us at the 57 Mile parking lot at 10:00 off loading and getting ready to hit the trail. I took a quick peek down the trail head and it looked pretty smooth, fact is it was smoother than I thought It would be. Seems we lucked out and we were the first tracks after the BLM had groomed the trail, lucky us.

So it started out looking pretty good and that lasted for about the first mile and half. Then the six of turned into to four of us as Tony and Joe had to go back after Tony’s sled started having trouble and they had to return to town. At least it was a nice day for a drive….

The first portion of the ride was fairly easy and uneventful, a little overflow, but not bad. So we made it to Windy Gap Cabin and had a little break, easy ride, the trails are great, heck, let’s go up to Windy Gap, and so we did. The trail to the Gap from the cabin always had a little overflow and I expected some, but not 3 miles worth. The picture below was the “little” overflow we hit before the cabin and this was just the start of it. The area by the cabin is also a place where we always find overflow, but it’s usually smooth and solid and you can’t beat the view of those mountains in the background.

As I said, the trail to Windy Gap was interesting with lots of windy trail, powder and overflow, but once we got to the Gap it was spectacular. Deep snow with lots of sunshine and warm temps, couldn’t ask for more than that. We just sort of lazed around a bit and enjoyed it all till we decided to head back to Windy Gap Cabin and consider taking the trail past Caribou Bluffs, the Borealis LeFever cabin and head north along the Big Bend Trail back to the parking area, a loop of an estimated 90 miles or so. A good plan and one that everybody could make on a single tank of gas without any concerns. As all good plans go, this one started out OK, but I guess I should of known when Nokai’s oil light came on, seems he forgot to fill up his oil reserve. Ooops, bet that doesn’t happen again, especially after we spend 15 or 30 minutes trying to siphon some of the oil out of reserve one tablespoon at a time. We had got about 4 oz of oil out my reserve and into his when three sleds coming tracking down the trail and my first question was “anyone got any oil they’d be willing to sell”. Response was a big “no”, but they did have some they’d give us  SO Nokai got a quart of 2-cycle and we were ready to hit the road. I have to say that’s guys like these that make Alaska great, he wouldn’t sell us any oil but he did give us a quart to by with. We owe you all one.

So after socializing a bit we headed south towards Caribou Bluffs and they went on up towards the Gap, or at least as far as that 3 mile stretch overflow. We past the turn off to Caribou Bluffs and headed to Borealis LeFever Cabin and our connection with the Big Bend trail, well we were suppose to turn on the Big Bend Trail, I kind of missed the turn, another Ooops for the day. After getting turned around we and hitting the Big Bend Trail I was getting a bit relaxed, the ride was almost over the Big Bend Trail was looking pretty good. 3 miles along the trail were stopped as the trail hit a dead end, well, not really a dead end, just a deep gully with no ice bridge. Humm, looks like a trail on the other side of the gully, but no one’s been on it this winter, our gas tanks are getting below the ¼ mark and we now have to make a decision. Do we break trail down towards the valley to the north of us, uphill to the south, or turn around and back track.

I was tempted to ride down the valley and find a way around the gully, but was out voted and so we headed back to Caribou Bluffs and the Fossil Gap Trail. Although it add almost 40 miles to the ride, it was a beautiful run down along Beaver Creek and through the canyon. I was glad to discover that the trail that usually goes down the creek bed the whole way was moved to the south western bank. There was a lot of open water on Beaver Creek as you can see.

And let’s not forget the windblown area that were like riding on concrete, had packed and rough, fortunately it was short lived and we were back on more powdery terrain. Our last stop of the day was at the trail junction by Colorado Creek Cabin where we ran into Darrell Bon who did invite us over for coffee, but it was 8:30 PM and everyone was beat and ready to head home.

All in all, a long and tiring ride but enjoyable as all get out. I can always tell it’s a good ride when I’m to sore to do much the next day .

My plans for the weekend were changed do to unforeseen circumstances, and since I already had the sleds loaded to go, why waste a nice sunny day with snow on the ground.

So my neighbor Jake, along with Tyler and I headed out to the flats via the ice bridge at the end of Cushman St. and enjoyed a good 50 mile ride. We started by going up to Clear Creek Butte, headed southwest from there and cut trail back to the ice bridge and made a good loop.

The sun was out most of time and the snow was pristine, most of the time. We rode down to the Intertie and didn’t see a soul until we got close to the river. At this point we also started seeing more tracks and what trails there were did become hard packed and well used.

But hey, as you can see in the photos below, there were lots of open fields with untouched powder. Seems folks like to come up the slough from the Tanana and didn’t do much riding to southeast of there, thanks all, I really appreciate you leaving me all those open fields of powder.

I always love Cantwell in March, the weather is usually starting to get warmer and the snow is fluffy and soft. We headed down on Friday the 20th for the Backwoods Lodge, Mike and Kathy are the best of host and always treat us well. This year they were swamped and out of rooms, but we got our regular which was good or I’d of had to drive another 45 miles to Byers Lake, also a good riding area, but it wasn’t on my schedule, at least not this weekend.

So Tyler, Trish and I got checked in and ready for a great weekend. I got up early Saturday morning and let Tyler sleep in a bit while I double checked our gear and had some coffee. The schedule was to meet folks at the Killer Smoke Café, the only place to eat that was still open in Cantwell, have breakfast, and decide where to ride and head out. When Tyler and I got there the wind was howling, the wind chill was way cold and I wasn’t so sure about riding, but after eating we all decided to go up the Jack River to Caribou Lakes and see what Mother Nature held for us. And a good decision it was, by time we got a mile out of Cantwell the winds died down and the day was just gorgeous as any I’ve ever seen.

Dean was going to join us, but the girls hadn’t gotten up yet, so Paul, Pat, Nokia, Tyler and I headed towards the Jack River. The trail on and along the Jack was pretty darn good, I was impressed considering what we’ve ridden on in past years. Impressed that there was actually a trail to Caribou Lakes with lots hills along the way to play on, not always the case, having a trail in that is. For those who have never been down there, the access down into the Jack River from the Denali Hwy is a spectacular view.

We saw Caribou, Moose and one Porcupine sitting on top of a stunted spruce tree eating his breakfast. At one spot I counted about 11 moose hanging out together and just enjoying the day.

So after playing around by the lakes we decide to head back to the rigs, Paul, Pat and Nokia were planning to drive back to Fairbanks, Tyler and I had plans to spend the night and maybe ride in the morning if conditions were right. On the way out we ran into Dean along with Tiff, her boyfriend and another couple that had brought their 3 year old son along. We’ll the weather was on the cool side so Tiff and her friend decided to head back to the cabin while Dean and the boys went on towards the lakes and points beyond. About half way out we ran into the girls again and this time their stopped because the 3 year old is cold and crying, so we pulled over and gave them a hand. I gave them some hand warmers and one of my space blankets for the little one to help warm him up, and also figured it be a good idea to keep behind them on the way out and make sure all was OK with them and the little one.

After getting back near the road the girls took off for the warmth of the their cabin while we sat on our sleds and chewed the fat a bit then went our separate way, Tyler and I to the lodge and the others to their rigs for the drive back to town. We had all agreed it was a good days riding, decent weather, beautiful country and a great day to be alive.

During our stop with Dean and the boys, Dean and I, made plans to get together that evening to go over some maps of an area we want to explore in the next week or two. So around 6:00 P.M. Tyler and I rode on up to the cabin they were staying at to visit. Just as we get there Adam (Tiff’s boyfriend) is heading out with a plastic drag sled. I asked him where Dean was and he said he’s broken down 12 miles back up the river. Well OK, let’s go get him. It turns out the adjuster bracket on his track broke and he was stuck. So Tyler and I got to do some more riding back up the Jack River, As we got closer to where they were I saw smoke from a fire on the trail and was thinking that maybe Dean got ticked off and decided to burn his sled, nope, they just made a fire to keep warm. I will say that someone should tell them boys that the next time they build a fire don’t build it in the middle of the trail….!!! Makes a big hole the rest of us have to go over.

So we hooked his sled up to plastic drag sled and as I was the only one with a tow hitch on my sled I got to do the towing , so down the Jack we go to get him back to their place. By now it staring to get dark and I wasn’t looking forward to pulling his sled up the hill we had to get over so we also took the river down to a road that runs into the river and by the airstrip to get over the hill. Along the way we actually had to stop twice to let the moose on the trail move out of our way, which was kind of cool I must say.

Some food for thought on today’s ride: We had to provide help twice, once because of the cold and then to get a broken sled out. This got me to thinking about what I was carrying for survival gear. My Panther is all geared up, but it carries a lot more than the M sled, so I’ve spend the past week reevaluating what I had and outfitting my SOS pack and sled bag. I just hope everyone else remembers to do the same, it may not be you who needs your survival gear, could be someone else you save, but then again it could be you riding out alone on a short trip when your sled breaks….

March 14th was FST’s SnoRondy, our 9th annual and by far the best Rondy we’ve had to date. Lots of folks showed up for the Drag Races, Kids SnoCross, 120 Rodeo, obstacle course, and of course hot dogs and brats.

As always, I was scrambling my butt off to get the drags organized (racer signups, place board, and help) and make sure we had all the food out and volunteers to cover the other activities. The COE was a great help, they always are and are the best folks to work with.

This year we added the Fun Lions Kids SnoCross races and had young’uns scattered all over the place, which is good, especially with the new federal regs coming out which will in essence eliminate the manufacturing and buying of small machines. Oh yeah, I know, some of you ignorate folks think this is a good thing, well it’s not and will in fact cause more harm then good. Why you ask, simple, instead of being able to acquire a smaller machine for the kids to ride and get “proper” training on, they’ll have to start riding larger more dangerous machines. Oh no they won’t you say, well maybe in your big cities and towns they won’t but in 99% of Alaska that’s exactly what they’ll have do. Our roads are limited and kids need something to do besides build snowman all day or watch videos, and snowmaching is one of the best ways to get them out of the house and playing on snowy winter days. So now were going to have more accidents and all you fools who supported this type of regulation can just kiss my *beep* for it.

So, now that I got that out of my system, the Rondy was a lot more work this year but worth it. And as always gives us more things to consider for next year and make it even better, so here’s hoping that next season is a good one with lots of snow and warm weather come Rondy time.

What a blast and very interesting weekend this was. And I should have known it was going to be that way to. I had us all loaded up and ready go Thursday night and on Friday the wife decides to hit the grocery store and pick up a couple of last minute item, so she does a nose drive on the parking lot pavement. Ouch, she calls me at 1:15 PM, knowing I plan to leave work early and lets me know she isn’t going, not with a big O’ bruise on her hip. :<( I get Tyler and we finish loading up and hit the road for Paxson, figured it be a nice easy ride down. Friday afternoon and just a spit of snow was falling, with nothing to do but enjoy life and the drive. Hahahha, that was a laugh at my own mind set or maybe I should say lack of my mind as I seem to have forgotten that I live in Alaska and the weather can change in about 2 seconds flat. The drive to Delta was fairly uneventful, normal winter ice on the road, nothing to be concerned about. Then we hit the Donelly Dome area and the wind picks up, not bad, no biggie, then we hit Black Rapids. Now the winds are at 20 to 30 mph with some gust at maybe 40 or better, but still nothing new, then Tyler says “hey papa, what’s that” and I look over and see a 200 foot tall cloud of snow blown up from the river by the wind, every once in while you can see the river and there isn’t a lick of snow on the ice, it’s all suspended in that cloud. Now the fun begins, whiteout conditions most of the remainder of the ride. I did have a pucker moment or two when the wind gust blew the trailer sideways a bit, but we made it to the lodge at 7:15 in one piece. I have to say that Willey has done a heck of job cleaning up the Paxson Lodge, the atmosphere is friendly, the food is good and the rooms are cleaner than I ever remember seeing them. I’ll have to make it a point to visit more often in the future. Saturday morning we get up and there is now eight of us and were waiting for Dean to show up so we can head out. The light is flat as can be and the trail down the Denali Hwy is all but visible. Before we got 3 and half miles down the road we had already pulled three folks out of the ditch. I was leading at this point and also ran off the road a time or two, but hey I had my new ride and she just jumped out the powder and back on the trail like a snow coach, oh yeah, I like my new toy….. The only way to give you an idea of what it was like is to show you, so here’s some pictures that demonstrates what we had to go through. Check them out until you see the fuzzy one, thats not a bad picture, just lots of blowing snow.

Dean offered to lead and I said have at it, my eyes were getting tired of the strain. And as you can see, it was a slow going ride in and took us 3 and half hours to make the 44 miles to MacLaren Lodge. I think after the first few miles everyone sort of settled in to the slow pace and keep their eyes on the tracks in from of them. It did clear up closer to the lodge and we made it in all in one piece.

The only drawback was not being able to play much on the way in and I wasn’t up to going out again in the flat light. Paul, Pat and Tom did though, they rode out along the river trail and put on about 20 miles When they got back they said it was a lot of fun, even driving blinded on the river back to the lodge, thank goodness for the trail makers Alan put up.

So a quiet evening was had by all, Suzie did steaks for dinner with all the trimmings and I must say she out did herself. A relaxing evening with good food and friends is always a welcome break from the day to day work grind. So here’s my plug for the MacLaren River Lodge, if you come to Alaska, this place is must see.

Sunday, we woke up to sunshine and fresh snow, yeah team, it looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day and an excellent ride back to the rigs. And it was, for the first 20 miles or so.

Then the wind hit and were back to the same conditions as in the first picture, whiteout conditions and you couldn’t afford to lose sight of the sled in front of you. Just past Tangle Lakes we hit a hugh windblown snow drift and had 4 sleds from our group go over sideways trying to side-hill it across. Some folks opted to walk over it and Tom, Pat, Dean and I helped them and others get across. Now were just about done when along comes this group of seven sleds with lots of kids. Each one of the seven sleds is packing double and just about all of them get stuck. So we hang out and dig them out and get them turned around headed back to Paxson, this was just way to bad weather to be packing young’uns .

Well we all made it over the first drift and a smaller one and were back out of the wind about 10 miles out of Paxson. We stopped at this point and waited for that group we helped cross the big drift, just in case they needed more help and as we were considering going back to see how they were doing they showed up. Dean, Pat and I let them go on ahead and then we got to play a bit more as we passed them on the way out.

Let me just say two last things. First it was a great ride to MacLaren even with all the weather we hit and I’ll do it again first chance I get. I just love the MacLaren River Valley, and second, its trips like these that make me appreciate being alive but also helps me remember that Alaska can be unforgiving. So always pack your safety gear and when you’re riding into the back country, take along a friend or two, hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst…

Weekend before last I was down near Chulitna playing in the powder and enjoying the warm temps and sunshine. Then last Friday and Saturday I’m helping to mark the trail into Fairbanks for the Iron Dog racers and have to admit it was a blast. Just cruising down the trail, stop put up a sign, cruise a little more. It was much of a ride as far as miles go, but it was easy and enjoyable.

During the week Melissa bring Tyler and Mason over, Tyler’s been riding with me for the last 2 years and is doing pretty good for 10. Mason at 3 is just now getting to consider the fun it might be. He isn’t 100% sold on sledding at this, but I figure with “big brother” doing it, he’ll fall right in to being another sled head.

So here’s his first real experience on actually riding a sled and not just a passenger behind me.

Humm, not sure of that thing, is he..

Now as I said, volunteering for the Iron Dog was fun when I was riding along and enjoying the day, then came the station duty part. Not my favorite part of volunteering, but someone has to do it. So I’m sitting on Noyes Slough where the racers have to cross the Chena River to get into town. Hey what’d ya need a guard for, let them run. We’ll as you can see below I was more of safety net than anything else, just in case one of them didn’t make it. All that nice frozen river opened up and added a little extra obstacle for them i.e water skipping over a very deep hole.

So to top my weekend off I blew the engine in my Cat. Darn it. Down the river about 7 miles or so she just gave up the ghost. Turns out my crank shaft busted right in half and I’m down for the count. Fortunately there’s about 9 folks behind and Larry, bless his kind soul, volunteers to give p his run to the Monderosa for lunch to tow me and back to my rig and a big repair bill. We’ll it turn out kind of on the good side, my darling and oh so loving wife has decided that me without a sled is like a refrigerator without food, so I got a new sled…. Stay turn for those stories..