[*LawDog]

Great updtaes Jim....

Nice to not only hear of the conditions but something about the area as well... Looks like elnino' is hitting all of north america... GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE AND STAY WARM !


Tim

[Jim]

No internet Monday.

Day 15, Monday March 1, 2010
The son of the local snowmobile club president whom we meet with last night met us at 8am this morning. He had his brother and 3 buddies with him. They all had big Mt. sleds and were ready to show us their groomed trail system and warming cabin out in the bush. Dick Woodruff took his sled to a metal fabricating shop to be repaired again. This time Mark Dobie, and a few others went along too. The rest went on the ride. Now to us from Michigan we know what a groomed trail looks like. We soon discovered that the term "groomed" is relative! Three quarters of the trail was as bad as the worst trail you have ever ridden in MI. At least we were riding, and bouncing, and hanging on for most of the 50 mile loop. The kids took us to their warming cabin where we built a fire and enjoyed a hot dog roast. The kids really liked that! From there we finished the loop and were back to Ft. Nelson by noon. O'ya, the kids were 9-13 in age! They skipped school to participate in a "community activity"!!! They had a ball showing us "old" guys around. They were great. We then loaded up and trailered through the mts. to Muncho Lake about 136 miles north and west of Ft. Nelson. Spent the night at The Northern Rockies Lodge. A very nice lodge made from logs. The scenery coming through the Mts. was beautiful. Snow depths range from 4 inches to maybe a foot in some areas. The road and shoulders were snow free, therefor no place to ride a sled. We did find out that we could have ridden the Alaska Highway through the Mts. with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police escort if the shoulders were snow covered. But they were not! The locals tell us that they have never seen a winter like this. I guess we just picked the wrong year to do this. However, I and glad to be here as our group has been great and we are still raising money for diabetes research.

[Jim]

Day 16 Tuesday March 2, 2010

A pretty sunny day and 35 degrees. We traveled from Muncho Lake to Watson Lake, Yukon. The drive through the mts. was very beautiful, perhaps even better than in the summer due to the sparse snow cover and the rocks and vegetation showing through. We stopped in several spots and took pictures. I was thinking of how great it would have been to ride our sleds through the Mts. on the shoulders of the Alaskan Highway. We did stop and soaked in the mineral hot springs on the way. That was fun. Some rolled in the snow and slid back into the water to warm up. We had fun! As soon as we crossed into the Yukon from BC the clouds moved in and it started to rain lightly. We got to our hotel "The Big Horn" in Watson Lake around 1pm. We had hear that there was a 300 mile long back road that was snow covered that we could ride from Watson Lake to Whitehorse, so a truck load of guys went to check it out while the rest of us unloaded our gear and settled into our rooms. They returned in a couple of hours with a report that the road had been plowed!! Not good, gravel showing in lots of the road and with temps in the 30's and rain, it didn't look good. At this moment we are discussing our options and will have a meeting later as to what to do next. If we can't ride our sleds we will trailer to Whitehorse in the morning. From first hand experience, the trail system in Michigan is the best in the country. We are so spoiled and take it for granted. MSA has lead the way and the proof is on the trails. I miss Michigan trails ALOT!!!!

[Kim & Brian]

By the sounds of it, yes Michigan trials are the best. We will continue to do the "Snow Dance" for everyone, but not much snow to ride on here either. Hopefully you get snow to at least ride sleds across the Alaskan border. Enjoy the rest of the trip and will look forward to reading your posts.

[Jim]

Day 17 Wednesday March 3
We traveled to Whitehorse today the capital of the Yukon. It was 263 mile drive by GPS. Drove through some beautiful mt. scenery and stopped to take many pictures. One of the teams (Bill Bradfields) had two flat tires on their trailer today, at the same time. Luckily we had stopped for lunch and discovered them. It was the rear axle both sides and there was a fix it shop less than a mile away! Normally we could ride the shoulder of the road on our snowmobiles, but the shoulders are completely bare. The unplowed part of the right-of-way has 8" to 1 ft. of snow but there are so many obstructions that it isn't practical to even try to ride there. We met with the president of the Klondike Snowmobile association tonight to develop a ride for tomorrow. The plan will be discussed in the morning with the entire group. It looks like a 150 mile ride with no gas stops. Should be interesting. The country side is very pretty with frozen lakes and snow caped mountains, with the dark green spruce forests and a blue sky. We left this morning at 4 degrees F and stopped here in Whitehorse at 36 degrees. There is about 6-8 inches of dirty snow.

[Woodscat600]

Jim, on 04 March 2010 - 12:41 AM, said:

Day 17 Wednesday March 3
We traveled to Whitehorse today the capital of the Yukon. It was 263 mile drive by GPS. Drove through some beautiful mt. scenery and stopped to take many pictures. One of the teams (Bill Bradfields) had two flat tires on their trailer today, at the same time. Luckily we had stopped for lunch and discovered them. It was the rear axle both sides and there was a fix it shop less than a mile away! Normally we could ride the shoulder of the road on our snowmobiles, but the shoulders are completely bare. The unplowed part of the right-of-way has 8" to 1 ft. of snow but there are so many obstructions that it isn't practical to even try to ride there. We met with the president of the Klondike Snowmobile association tonight to develop a ride for tomorrow. The plan will be discussed in the morning with the entire group. It looks like a 150 mile ride with no gas stops. Should be interesting. The country side is very pretty with frozen lakes and snow caped mountains, with the dark green spruce forests and a blue sky. We left this morning at 4 degrees F and stopped here in Whitehorse at 36 degrees. There is about 6-8 inches of dirty snow.

Hope your snowmobile riding gets better. You have to be carefull changing trailer tires in Whitehorse. We stoped for lunch in Whitehorse and saw we had a flat on the trailer so put on one of our spares but it was a bit soft. We went to a shop about a mile away to fill it up and while filling the tire it blew up and threw me against a brick wall behind me. By the time the ambulance arrived I was almost able to get up on my own and the bleeding had slowed so I was able to talk them out of draging me off to the hospital. That was 22 years ago and I can still remember all the details up untill the boom. Hope you have better memories of Whitehorse than I do. It is prety country up there. We will miss you at the MSA groomer workshop this weekend.

[Jim]

Day 18 Thuusday March 4
A day I will never forget! We were up early and trailered back south to Johnson's Crossing. There is an unplowed road that goes to Ross River, 138 miles away. The locals told us that it was a trail the locals use all the time. So we decided to take the scenic tour. A nice 4-6 hour trip. We unloaded and finally hit the trail about 10am. The chase truck had a 300 mile drive to get to Ross River. The road we were taking was the short cut, but not plowed in the winter. We were looking for a nice, beautiful ride. All went well for the first 60 miles or so. The trail was hard pack, wide, scenic, beautiful. After that the trail narrowed, and the snow got deeper. The only place the trail was hard pack was where the locals rode one behind the other. So what you had was a "ribbon" of hard pack 15" wide buried under 8" of new snow with a total snow depth of 2-3 1/2 feet. The trick was to balance your sled on this ribbon of hard pack. Sounds easy, ha? When you slipped off this thread of hard pack you were stuck, like right now! At times there were 5-7 sleds stuck at the same time. The snow was almost waist deep on me. When you stepped off your sled you sank to the bottom in sugar snow.There was no base to hold you up. It reminded me of stepping off your jet ski in water waist deep. Almost everyone got stuck 2-5 times. We were pulling sleds out to the point where all were almost exhausted. By now it was getting dark. We were moving only about 1/2 mile per hour. Some started talking about spending the night on the trail and suggested getting fire wood while it was still light. I was ready to do that at one point. We were lucky, as the temps were in the 30's and there was no wind or snow. Pete called for help on the Sat. phone and soon there were a couple of Mt. sleds with extra gas on the way. We were about 38 miles out from Ross River. We kept inching our way ahead. Finally after about 3 hours or more we met the Mt. sleds. Many took on gas. Finally at 11pm all 24 sleds got to Ross River for supper!!! We were all exhausted and tired out. There is lots more to the story, but I'll save that till another time! The important thing is that we all made it safe.

[Jim]

Day 19 Friday
We all slep in a little. We were all pretty sore and tired but it was time to head for Dawson. We trailered all the way to Dawson, Yukon. It was a 300 mile drive. The roads were dirt, gravel, paved with parts snow or ice covered in many places. Snow depth ranged from 4" to a foot. Got to Dawson around 5:30pm. Unloaded our gear and ate supper at the hotel. Dawson is a historic town with most of the buildings restored to the 1800's. There is a poker run tomorrow that we plan on doing. Hopefully we will have time for some much needed rest.

[Jim]

Day 20 Saturday
Spent the day checking out the town of Dawson. Neat town with lots of old restored buildings. We took in a poker run sponsored by the Sled Dogs snowmobile club of Dawson. The trail took us high into the mts. with many over looks. Drove past many old mine shacks from the gold rush days. The club had a hot dog roast out in the mts. for poker players. The trip was only 35 miles but very scenic. We got to snowmobile on the Yukon river and do some exploring. I didn't win a thing, but sure enjoyed the ride. In the evening a group of us went to the gambling hall for drinks and to watch the live shows. Very entertaining. Group 3 did get to Ross river at 1:30 am Sunday morning. They probably wouldn't have made it with out the help from the people of Ross Lake who took their Mt. sleds out to break trail and lead them to the Bed and Breakfast. Much thanks to the people of Ross River. I am sure that all of group 3 were exhausted by the time they got to Ross. This has been a great adventure. Mother nature played a large part and we had to roll with the punches, making the best of a bad situation. And that we did!!!

[Woodscat600]

Jim, on 07 March 2010 - 08:15 PM, said:

Day 20 Saturday
Spent the day checking out the town of Dawson. Neat town with lots of old restored buildings. We took in a poker run sponsored by the Sled Dogs snowmobile club of Dawson. The trail took us high into the mts. with many over looks. Drove past many old mine shacks from the gold rush days. The club had a hot dog roast out in the mts. for poker players. The trip was only 35 miles but very scenic. We got to snowmobile on the Yukon river and do some exploring. I didn't win a thing, but sure enjoyed the ride. In the evening a group of us went to the gambling hall for drinks and to watch the live shows. Very entertaining. Group 3 did get to Ross river at 1:30 am Sunday morning. They probably wouldn't have made it with out the help from the people of Ross Lake who took their Mt. sleds out to break trail and lead them to the Bed and Breakfast. Much thanks to the people of Ross River. I am sure that all of group 3 were exhausted by the time they got to Ross. This has been a great adventure. Mother nature played a large part and we had to roll with the punches, making the best of a bad situation. And that we did!!!

Glad you are enjoying yourself along the Yukon. Is there still a gambling house called Diamond Toothed Gurties There. I lost $10 in there one day, how about getting it back for me. Hope your ride into Tok is Fantastick on the Top of the World Highway. Post what the price of gas is in Chicken later.

[Jim]

Bruce,
The price of gas in Chicken is $5 per gallon. Yes, the gambling house is still here in Dawson. Sorry, but I couldn't win your $10 back. The guys dragged my over there to see the girlie shows!

[Jim]

Sunday we went for a short ride up to the "Dome" the highest area over looking Dawson and the Yukon River valley, very pretty. Monday we left Dawson around 8am. Temp was 6 below zero F. The sun was coming up so I knew I wouldn't need my heated vest. Wow, that was a mistake. We headed out for Tok Alaska on the "Top of the World Highway". As we got higher in elevation the temps got cooler and I got cooler! The scenery was out of this world! We traveled 185 miles across the tops of many mts. We WERE on top of the world. Clouds moved in and the sky became overcast but the scenery was still beautiful. Moving around the tops of some of the mts. the wind was very strong. In fact it blew Sandy and David off the trail and into the pocker brush along the edge of the drop off. Good thig there was brush in that area or they might have gone over the edge. The wind had to have been 60 mph or more. If you got off your sled the wind would blow it side ways towards the drop off. And it had warmed up to zero. It was COLD up there. The road had been groomed a few days ago so it wasn't too rough. The road is cut into the side of the mountain with no guard rails. In some places the snow had drifted across the road completely hiding it. In those areas we had to "side hill" our sleds across to the other sides of the drifts and avoid the drop off. It made the trip very interesting. About 80 miles from Tok we got something to eat and fill our sleds at Chicken, AK. All 52 of the Michcanska group sledded into Tok about 6pm. What a ride it was! That evening the President of the Chamber of Commerce addressed the group at a special supper in our honor. Tok has become a sister city to Sault Ste. Marie, MI. White capped mountains surround Tok. A very pretty location and the people are very friendly. Tuesday a guid took us on a 40 mile ride out in the bush country to moon Lake. The rest of the day we spent checking out the town, shopping and napping.

[Jim]

Wednesday, sunny, teens beautiful

We were on the trail about 8:30 am. It was zero, and the sun comming up. Not a cloud in the sky! We were on our way back to Dawson. Dave Low had trouble with his heated visor and it kept fogging up and he couldn't see. Said that he would find someone to drive him to Whitehorse where we will pick him up tomorrow on our way home. Haven't heard from him yet! The ride back on the "Top of the World" highway was beautiful. Blue sky, white snow, green trees, very little wind and the scenery was unbelievable. In all my years of snowmobiling this 185 miles is the most scenic that I have ever seen. Words can not describe it. We couldn't have had a more perfect day. I took lots of pictures! The trip back was easier than going over. We all made it back safe. Now to get things loaded up and head for home in the morning.

[Woodscat600]

Jim, on 10 March 2010 - 10:11 PM, said:

Wednesday, sunny, teens beautiful

We were on the trail about 8:30 am. It was zero, and the sun comming up. Not a cloud in the sky! We were on our way back to Dawson. Dave Low had trouble with his heated visor and it kept fogging up and he couldn't see. Said that he would find someone to drive him to Whitehorse where we will pick him up tomorrow on our way home. Haven't heard from him yet! The ride back on the "Top of the World" highway was beautiful. Blue sky, white snow, green trees, very little wind and the scenery was unbelievable. In all my years of snowmobiling this 185 miles is the most scenic that I have ever seen. Words can not describe it. We couldn't have had a more perfect day. I took lots of pictures! The trip back was easier than going over. We all made it back safe. Now to get things loaded up and head for home in the morning.

Jim, thank you for keeping everyone informed with your posts. You did a great Job and I know that many enjoyed reading what you had to say. Good luck on your way home and may the Hemi be your friend. The Duramax, Powerstroke, and Cumins will be on standby.

[Jim]

I am finally home. There was no snow from B.C. to the U.P. or south of the bridge. There was only a few feet of snow in the Mts. of the Yukon when we left to come home. An unbelievable winter all across the north. I rode in 10 different states and Providences and I have to say that "hands down", Michigan has the best snowmobile trails/program around. Other areas had some nice trails, but the signing sucked, or they were only groomed once a week. I rode miles of trails that were in ditches along sides of the road and had to go up and over every driveway, field access, culvert and road crossing. NOT FUN. In many areas the trails did not connect to other trail systems. They only looped around an area and came back to the same point. We take Michigan trails for granted. Thanks to all the volunteers, DNR,and grant sponsors for our wonderful trail system in Michigan. It is the goal of MSA to make the program even better!! I also want to thank all the different snowmobile clubs that helped the Michcanska riders as we rode to Alaska. Many of the local clubs provided guides, meals, and help as needed. The people we met were wonderful. The most important thing is that we raised over $70,000 for Diabetes Research. That is not the final number as donations are still coming in. Thanks to all who donated. It was a great adventure for a great cause!!

[Jim]

The final numbers are in and we raised over $100,000 for Diabetes Research!!!! It looks like the ride next winter will be in Quebec and leaving from the Soo again. Preliminary plans are being investigated in the next month or so. Next MichCanSka meeting is Oct. 2, Sands Motel in Cadillac.