MIKE HALL: Adventure Motorcycle,Travel, Motorcycle, Overlanding, Backcountry, Avalanche, Snowmobile, Snowboard, Snowboard, Sledboarding, Winter Fat Tire Mountain Bike, Mountain Bike, Ski Patrol @ Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Jackman, Maine

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Studded Tires and Boardn' in the Spring Time

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Been a couple weeks since the last fat tire mountain bike ride. So it was feeling good to get back on the bike. Snowboarding on my week-ends in March.

Headed down into the river bottoms on the snowmobile trails. With all the thawing and freezing the past weeks the trails were full of ice. The Pugsley performed great with studded tires. A fire after dark always adds to the adventure. The Canada Geese were circling and honking in the darkness. Good to be out in the woods...   




 Heading back to the truck crossing the old bridge that I have ridden across many times since 1985. Some things don't change...


Stud!!

Ski Patroling on the Board / Day 2

 Enjoying a brief snowstorm that dropped a few inches of snow.

It was a good week getting out on the bike and snowboard.
Keep ridin' and boardin'...

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014


United States Department of CommerceHazardous Weather Condition

Apple Valley MN

7 Day Forecast

NWS Weather Forecast Office
Overnight
Partly Cloudy
Partly
Cloudy
Low: -13 °F
Friday
Snow Chance for Measurable Precipitation 80%
Snow

High: 14 °F
Friday
Night
Slight Chance Light Snow Chance for Measurable Precipitation 20%
Slight Chc
Light Snow
Low: -4 °F
Saturday
Chance Snow Chance for Measurable Precipitation 50%
Chance
Snow
High: 3 °F
Saturday
Night
Decreasing Clouds
Decreasing
Clouds
Low: -16 °F
Sunday

Top 10 Winter in the North Land / Number of Days Temparture Below Zero this Winter

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The big Ford F150 is in it's element... -13 below zero again tonight. This is a good winter to enjoy the outdoor winter activities. A few pictures. We received 7 inches of snow on top of rain, then the temps plummeted below zero and gave us a real winter wonderland. Snowboarding and Ski Patroling were great with the fresh snow and cold temps.
Out on the roads at 2:00 AM during the storm. Good times!

 The little Ford has seen it's share of snow this winter and just keeps plowing through. I put a set of Michelin X-Ice snow tires on and they rock. The car is a blast to drive with these conditions.

Hitting the slopes with fellow Ski Patrols
 Conditions are very good now and the cold is keeping people away, so there are no crowds. Had to splint a young guys broken wrist, just to keep it interesting.



Board On!!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Sundown on the Prairie

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The tree of the day. I can see where the trees in the "Wizard of Oz" came alive, the personality is out there for all to see. Makes one wonder what that sucker has been through in it's many years standing out in the middle of the prairie.
 Sometimes the adventure is just getting out into the countryside and strapping the snowshoes on and go cross country. The starkness of a late winter day is my favorite part of the day, going from daylight to night.   

My gloves seem to be giving thanks for the last rays of daylight. Ski poles make a good hanger for my gloves as I take a break for a shot of water and a energy bar.

This winter has been a good time for fire building and practicing a bit of winter survival in the extreme temps and conditions. A fire always creates a feeling of security and throws off the warmth that takes the edge off the sub zero temps.  

A twist to this adventure was that after my fire in the woods, I discovered that my lightweight blue jacket was missing. I had strapped it onto my backpack and hiked across the prairie, down off the bluffs and boonedocked through a swamp. So I had no choice but to backtrack on my snowshoe track and low and behold as I approached the bluffs, there it was. It worked out good to be hiking back on the trail that I had packed in earlier.

Got back to the truck in the dark and felt good to have experienced another winter evening...
Snowshoe On!!  

Friday, February 14, 2014

Best Winter Ever / Cold & Snow / Fat Tire Surly

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Good ride down along the Minnesota River on a beautiful evening. Started out in the late afternoon and rode into the dark. The snow conditions were very good and the temps were about 5 degrees at the start and dropped to about -2 degrees after 2 hours on the trails. We were treated to a moonlight ride back to the truck.





 The moon came out bright on the ride back and the Coyotes started their chorus of howling. It always adds to the adventure of being out and sharing a cold winter night with the sounds of the night.

Ride On!!
Moon over the Fat Tire...