32.   I was really looking forward to some snowmobiling near Southern Harbour this weekend, I booked a couple days holidays to make a long weekend for this particular adventure. A week before I was scheduled to leave we had a great snowstorm so snow conditions out there were excellent, needless to say I was excited. Unfortunately mother nature dealt us a terrible hand dishing out three days of warm temperatures and heavy rain here on the East Coast of our province.

31.   Snow conditions transformed from excellent to nearly non existent, with cold temperatures forecasted for the weekend trails would freeze solid. For snowmobiles this spelled melted hyfax, overheated engines and exposed rocks. By all descriptions, just terrible conditions.

30.   Like many times before, I made best of a bad situation and went ahead with my trip invoking Plan B. Instead of risking damage to my sled, Project Foreman took its place. I wrestled the skidoo off the trailer during a down pour of rain, revived the bike from winter hibernation, checked it over, and loaded him aboard the trailer for departure Friday later that evening.

29.   Saturday morning Captain H. (with Terry as passenger) and I took our ATV's, while Joe & Scott opted to ride their fan cooled sleds. 

28.   The day brought sunny skies and temperature just below zero, a great day for winter outdoor activities. Snow covered trails were frozen solid, traveling by ATV was easy. Snow found off the main trails was also hard enough to permit travel by wheeled vehicles with relative ease.

27.   We left Meghan's Gas Bar, crossed the highway and headed East on the Provincial Trail-Way a short distance to a bike path heading North across some frozen gullies.

26.   This well used trail took us across country towards Trinity Bay and within viewing distance of the Bull Arm Fabrication site. 

25.

24.

23.   We had some ice fishing gear with us so we stopped to bore a few holes and try our luck. This also helped us determine that the ponds were still plenty safe to traverse even after the rain this past week.

22.

21.   For lunch we made a fire and before long bacon was sizzling in the pan along with fresh onions. Once that was cooked a can of beans was added, meanwhile another pan heated up bottled moose. This was served with tea and home made bread.

20.

19.

18.

17.

16.   That afternoon we didn’t travel far. Overstuffed from lunch we spent our time exploring the area around the gully we were ice fishing. 

15.

14. 

13.

12.   That afternoon Terry also got his first ever opportunity to operate a snowmobile. Riding Joe’s Skidoo Citation he had a few crashes and stucks but most of all a ton of fun.

11.

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.   Even though the weather didn't cooperate for or planned snowmobile run we managed to pull off an awesome trip. We burned some gas, had lots of laughs and passed a great day away in the country!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith