Spudderin' around in Taterland 2018

[Earl]

do you ever see any critters while riding?

[Vintagesleds.com]

[TZR]

Yes, but not all that often.  The occasional mule deer, a whitetail once in a while, and last year was the lone moose.

Other than that its pine squirrels and a assortment of birds.  I hear lots of coyotes in the mornings, and see tracks of both dogs and cats, but have not seen cats in person...........yet !

We do have mountain lion encounters near town, and I see tracks where ever the altitude the deer are at depending on the time of year.

Far fewer cats than Montana.  That was downright scarey !   

Here was bullwinkle last spring.....

[kawidave]

Great pics and storys TZR. Thanks. I just traded in my 08 Triton 12ft tilt clamshell opens at both ends trailer.

[TZR]

Great !   

I spotted a similar Sled Bed rig this weekend out in the country.  Had not been registered since 2012.  Talked to the lady who owned it.

Wouldnt sell it..........she uses it to........wait for it..........HAUL HAY to her llama's and goats.  Im sure she had no idea I would paid several grand for it.........she just got grumpy and said NOT FOR SALE !


That style trailer simply does not exist around here.....AT ALL !   

[TZR]

Happy days from a few weeks ago.  Sunny sky's, nice snow, hayfields to play in.









The next week, things got grey.  Never really got sunny like normal for some time.

[TZR]

Did have a nice partly cloudy day headed to Old Tom summit though.








Got lucky at the top and found calm conditions.  Snow was firm enough to run around on it with the Phazer.  But........stepped off and fell in up to my balls ! 







The view from there is epic.  You dont wanna be there on a windy day though.  Its in a saddle between some serious peaks and when conditions are wrong, the wind blast and white out conditions are life threatening........ especially if you cliff out and fall off the deep end !   

[TZR]

The return route is narrow and real scenic.  The groomer cant fit on this and parts are steep cliffside, so conditions can be tough.

Got lucky this day.  Nice snow and few bumps.

[TZR]

Had got the Ultra set up pretty good a while back, then installed a set of powder ski's with fresh runners.  Of course it didnt snow for a month since then, so no fresh powder to enjoy them.  Its been waiting for its turn to go back out ever since. 















Gotta love early mornin rides.  As the sun rises over the summits it really takes on a grand vibe !   

[opsled]

 Great pics TZ, Thanks for sharing..

opsled

[TZR]

Since we hit a near record snow drought, grooming has been VERY little this year.

But, I did hit it just right for a few rides.  This one was amazing around Topance ridge, a hilly and twisty, high, deep forest trail.

About 10 miles of carpet smooth courderoy grooming !   









By crazy dumb luck, the next day I went over to Scout Mountain hut to do service on the shack.  BAM !  Freshly groomed the entire way to the summit !







Got everything all cleaned up at the Scout hut, built a great fire in the woodstove and had beer and brats for lunch.









Then heavy weather moved in.  Time to pack it up and head down mountain in the next lull.

You can see for huge miles from the hut on a clear day, but once you cant see the valley floor way down low, its time to boogie.

Not uncommon to have whiteout, flat light with 50 MPH wind above 7000 feet.  At 8000 feet it gets wicked bad as squalls push through.  There is a reason the trail route has 10 foot flourecent orange poles to mark the route !   








Took my time to the bottom.  You dont wanna miss the trail bed.  On the sides in places are huge rocks hidden right under the snow on low snow years like this.  They will tear a ski right off if you nail one !

Once your out in the play area hay fields, no rocks anywhere in the open areas, your safe.  Glad to be within a half mile of the truck as the light was flat and wind was really pickin up !

[TZR]

Great pics TZ, Thanks for sharing..

opsled

All youz guys are very welcome !

Im really behind in this thread.  Sorry.  Been workin hard on the next house, doin plaster, lath and drywall since the big thaw the last 10 days.  Dont know if the new snow will hold.  Gotta ride if it does.

A very weak sled season by local standards.   

[TZR]

The payoff from waddlin down mountain in ground blizzard flat light was great snow the next few days.

Allmost a foot of dry pow up near Mount Tom the next day !







And then the day after was fully groomed to the Topance warming hut.

[TZR]

Toponce hut was in decent shape.  But some tard decided to throw plastic water and soda bottles in the woodstove as they left ! 

Had to chip them out with the axe.  Then broomed out the shack and swept the deck.  Restocked and split firewood.  Built a big fire in the woodstove and cooked burgers on the top.

Like usual, cold beer on the deck as the ravens soared overhead.








Beautiful weather all the way down to Inman trailhead.

[TZR]

Then came the big thaws.  Temps in town were near 60 for days and days.  Up mountain was takin a beating, but hangin in there if you knew how to work with it.












Trailsides were gettin exposed on the sunny spots.








A few days into the meltdown, I went up to Elk Meadows hut to service it.  Found it unused.  Nobody was riding except me at this point.

I had not seen this little snow on the roof ever.   






Split and stacked more firewood and sat on the deck watching pine squirrels fight over a pinecone.

Still great corn snow around the backside in the meadows.

[TZR]

The warmth and corn snow was bringin out the animals.

Bullwinkle decided he didnt need to bother much as I was headed to the trailhead.......after all I was only a GMC Suburban with a sled and trailer !   

Good thing I drive like a granny with the rig.  He was in the middle of the road around a blind corner !  Didnt even break into a trot.  Just walked away slowly when I stopped.  If he had a middle finger, that woulda been what he woulda gave me !   








Frozen, icy base with pine needle debris in the deep woods.  Real March like conditions at the end of January !







You dont see this kind of pinecone till late march......this year beginning of February.







The elk are diggin on the trailsides to look for greens.  This was a pretty big guy.