PDtrip3

As good as the snow was last year, the winter of 2002 proved to be a disappointment. All season long, there seemed to be just enough snow to NOT ride - it teased us, snowing a little, then melting it away quickly.

It was like this all across the state. And when the time came to load up for the Cabin, we had to make the call whether to go or not based on reports that the riding conditions were ok near International Falls.

There were several of the regular folks who couldn't make it this year. Nic had school commitments, Mike R. had farm chores to tend to, Zac and Sam were also unavailable. Mike S. was only able to go for a couple of days and Ben decided not to make the trip this year.

Dad, Ardie, and Mike headed up a day earlier than the rest of us. The drove to within 100 miles of the Falls before the snow started to deepen. There was concern that they'd have to pack up ad head home, but this didn't proved to be the case. There was just enough snow to make for decent trails all around.

Mom and I drove up together, and Andrew and Anthony drove over from Alexandria the following day. Due to snow conditions, we took the "back" way into the Cabin. The normal winter route begins at the trail near the resorts on the Ash River which is an old railroad grade from the logging days. This trail used to be a Jeep trail we used to drive into the Cabin during the summer. We now ride in by boat from the opposite direction during the summer, and that is the route we used for this trip. We drove the vehicles as far as the roads were clear and parked them. We drove the sleds in the rest of the way over the lakes and "trails" we nomrally use only during the summer.

Optimistically speaking, I would guess there was a foot of snow on the ground. With tthe wind whipping across the lakes, there was a hard crusty surface to ride on the lakes, and the sheltered areas had a few inches of softer snow.

How the groomers were able to maintain decent trails, I don't know. With so little snow and heavy traffic, the land trails remained in relatively good shape. A few of the portages between lakes were dirt covered, but overall, we were fortunate with the conditions we envountered.

Because we arrived before the big weekend crowds showed up, we spent Friday riding the land trails south and west of the Cabin. Conditions were great - trails were smooth and temperatures were comfortable.

One new thing we tried this year was to ride the Vermillion river. I didn't know it was rideable, but it proved to be a very enjoyable avenue. The Vermillion is very windy yet is wide enough to accomodate plenty of traffic. We saw very few other sleds while we rode the river.

One tricky spot was a short portage that circumvented a small rapids in the river which is open year round. The portage was up the side of a steep hill and back down. Traffic had thrown all the snow off the trails and it is very difficult for an unstudded track to find traction on rocks and tree roots going uphill.

Andrew and I made it up and over without any problem. But it was my Mom who spun out. Anthony stopped behind her and they muscled the sled over the top. Since Anthony had stopped, he couldn't regain traction and was now stuck. Mike and he struggled for a while and he finally made it over.

Mike didn't want to go through that again, so he ended up popping his Cougar into reverse and backed down the hill. Dad and Ardie were still on the river and investigated the other shoreline where two rocks appeared to be spaced just wide enough to allow a sled through.

While this was going on, another group of sledders came from the opposite direction. One guy went cruising up the portage while our guys were still wrestling with sleds. Another guy on a new 900 twin ZR shot the water and skipped across. A third guy on an 800 MXZ followed not wanting to be outdone by the Cat. He rode awfully low in the water, but made it across successfully.

Two other members of that group rode the opposite shoreline and proved that a sled could make it between those rocks - just barely. A 43 inch ski stance was a tad too wide, but our guys had 41 inch stances and made it through. With everybody safely across, we continued on to a resort on the shores of Elephant Lake for some dinner.

Mike had to leave the following day and we carted him out and then continued on towards Crane Lake. We rode the lake trails that day as the weekend traffic was taking its toll on the and trails. There really wasn't enough snow to lubricate the hyfax on the sleds, but we didn't experience any problems in that area

Sunday, we decided to take the lake trail loop from Ash River to Rainy Lake to Interational Falls and back. The only really bad stretch was near Kettle Falls which was almost entirely moguls. I didn't think there was enough snow to make them that big!

When we completed that stretch of trail and pulled onto Rainly Lake, Dad noticed a strange noise coming from his engine. We could barely hear it and didn't think much of it. We rode the 30+ miles to Island View Lodge near the Falls for some lunch. When we came out, Dad's engine was stuck. It turned out that the noise had been the mag-side bearing going out. When the bearing let loose, the force on the crank shaft broke the crank right at the journal for the connecing rod.

Lcukily, the day and trip was nearly over. Ardie towed Dad's sled the 30 miles or so back to the Cabin. Andrew and I then towed it back to the cars and loaded it onto the trailer that night so we wouldn't have to deal with it in the morning. How that crankshaft held together during the 30 miles stretch to the Falls and didn't break out on the lake I'll never know! Just another one of the miracles we seem to witness while up in the North Wods.

The following morning, Andrew, Anthony, and I played around on our Lake for a couple of ours before we headed for the cars and loaded things up. Even with the poor snow conditions, it turned out to be a very enjoyable trip. We'll saddle up and try it again next season!