Sledboard Trip to Cooke City, Montana

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On our way to Montana. We decided to take the trip on Thursday, I started to set the truck up and loaded the snowmobile. Then on Friday finished packing. We made the decision to go to Cooke City while driving through Montana. It is shaping up to be a good adventure. 

 We slept in the truck off a freeway ramp in the middle of North Dakota. When we woke up the truck and snowmobile were covered with a heavy layer of frost.

 We pass through Yellowstone to reach Cooke City, about 60 miles on a narrow twisty, snow covered road. The sights were awesome.

 We spotted several buffalo and small herds of elk, I saw a couple of bighorn sheep also.

 We could smell the hot springs and saw some steam off a couple.

Cooke City, Montana...22 hours and 1100 miles in the truck (including our nap in the middle of North Dakota) and we arrive to a snowy main street and many sleds. We checked into our hotel and went down the street and enjoyed a very good meal at one of the taverns. Burgers and a cold beer and Weez with glass of wine and it was cheers to a good beginning to our sledboard adventure.

Middle of the Night in the Middle of North Dakota

Stopped in middle of North Dakota at a wayside rest, traveled about 350 miles so far. Drove through a bit of a storm in Minnesota, mostly freezing rain then turned into snow. It was all good, lock the F150 into 4-wheel drive and keep on a hammering.

Catch a bit of shuteye, 1or 2 hours, then back on the road. Have got about 600 miles to go to Bozeman.

Good night you all...

Natural Avalanche Northern Bridger Range 14 Dec 12

This is the area we will be in north of Bridger Bowl.

Where to dig a snowpit

Going to travel to Montana overnight tonight. This is what we will be looking for while we are in the mountains around Bozeman, Montana over the next 4 days. I'll be snowboarding and sledboarding, bringing the snowmobile.

I'll post pictures and stories during the trip. Have a good week.

Day # 1 on the Snowboard for the 2012 - 2013 Season

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Preparing our Avalanche Gear

Solid Base Northern Bridger Range - 15 Nov 2012

Sundown Singletrack Mountain Biking & Sneaking Up on the Whitetail Deer

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The theme of the day is to blend into the woods...

 Look close to see the Whitetail Buck in the brush.

 He's keeping an eye on me as he blends into the thick brush.

 As dusk settles in, the deer start to move from their daytime beds. This is the time of day that I slow the pace down and my senses become more acute and aware of movements off the trail.

 The deer do not sense me as a threat and get back to foraging for food.

 I used the flash as darkness settled in and it creates an interesting sight. I stayed on my mountain bike and remained motionless for about 10 minutes as I observed a doe and her 2 young fawns.

After I started riding again it was dark and I had a few miles to ride to get back to my truck.

GOOD TIMES!!  

Another 2 hour mountain bike ride today. With a 2 hour ride yesterday my fitness level is getting better every week. With December approaching I feel good about the singletrack mountain biking that I'm doing now.

The riding improves my reflexes and endurance for the full days on the snowmobiles and snowboard in the mountains and on the hill for Ski Patrol...and it is great to be on the bike in the fall riding singletrack.