61.  As mentioned before, last year was one of the best years yet for snow accumulation at the Sooley Family Cabin in Whitbourne. We enjoyed a great Annual Winter Trip that year and now 2005 is shaping up to be awesome as well.

60.  Sooley, Maffer and I left town Wednesday morning under beautiful sunny skies destined to be the first to arrive at the cabin. With the sleds unloaded and still wearing sneakers we did a quick little run around the cabin & potato field. In true Cabin Trip tradition Maffer and I got our sleds stuck within the fist 10 minutes of unloading. Maffer was riding his recently repainted 1994 Scandic 503, and I had my '97 Grand Touring 500.

59.   Sooley was looking forward to his first cabin trip on a machine that wasn't constantly trying to break his back like the old Enticer! His 1997 Skidoo Mach1 700cc triple was a welcome addition but he was still rocked the two Enticers for old time sakes as well as guests!

58.    I also had Project Invader on site for another test flight. I did a bunch more work on the sled this year but I had to replace the already replaced fuel lines at the cabin as my Canadian Tire fuel lines went hard as a rock, cracked and leaked.

57.  With that out of the way, we spent the day getting the cabin sorted out before suiting up for a scouting run near Highwaters. Snow conditions weren't crazy but it was certainly easy to get around and there was more snow in the woods.

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55.  Bill and Long arrived Thursday morning and we made tracks carving up as much snow as we could ahead of an imposing forecast of rain coming on Friday. Bill had both his '97 Vmax 700 and his new 2005 Yamaha RX-1 with him, Long was riding a rental Skidoo Grand Touring 800 triple. We hit a lot of jumps and burned a lot of gas, unfortunately not taking time for a single pic as it was dark.

54.   That evening while on a beautiful night run up the pole line Long tagged a rock with the right ski of his rental Skidoo. The impace bent up the ADSA trailing arm in the front suspension and would need to be replaced.

53.  Thankfully one of the crew managed to pick up a replacement part in town on his way to the cabin so we had the sled repaired in no time!

52.  Friday and Adam arrived with a clapped out 600cc Arctic Cat rental weapon. The sled was studded which was a good thing given the glare ice conditions shaping up on the pond, but the rear suspension was shot and flattened to the ground every time Adam hopped aboard!

51.  We spent most of Friday around the cabin due to the heavy rain. Later in the afternoon we suited up, braved the wet conditions and got in a little riding. With a lot of water on top of the ice the liquid cooled sleds would not overheat.

50.  With so much water on the pond Sooley broke out the ol' Ice-Water Skis and went for a run up the pond towed by Long and his freshly repaired sled. 

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48.  These skis were rigged up during the 1998 winter trip, at that time we used my 1989 Argo 6x6 as the tow vehicle.

47.  Ronnie, family and dog arrived Friday evening and claimed the bunk house for their stay, Long made sure three was plenty of wood in the wood stove so they wouldn't be cold.

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44.  Supper Friday evening was our usual fare of barbequed meats of all sorts with a myriad of quick and easy sides.

43.  Rain finally ended overnight and soon after the temperature plummeted freezing all water on the ice completely solid by Saturday morning. The ponds were now glare ice with zero traction or cooling for the liquid cooled sleds, what little snow remaining in the woods froze hard as a rock.

42.   Later that morning French and Todd arrived at the cabin, they just came back from a sled and stay overnight adventure in Gander where they logged some decent miles on the sleds. Todd recently sold his Yamaha Viper and picked up this brand new 2005 Skidoo REV 500ss, while French rocked his new 2005 RX-Warrior.

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38.  Even though snowmobiling conditions were terrible, we made the most of the day by running the fan cooled sleds to the top of the pond to go ice fishing and have a fire in our fire pit clearing.

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36.   This year we had a lend of my uncles 8" gas powered auger which was awesome for drilling ice fishing holes!

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26.  Saturday afternoon the girls showed up just in time for a barbeque followed later with a camp fire and few brew.

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19.  Sunday morning came all to quick, it brought overcast skies, snow flurries, cold temps and a kick ass breakfast.

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12.   Snow flurries continued throughout the day Sunday, it was barely enough to keep the sleds cool cruising up the pond, but we managed to make a day of it on the machines.

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4.   By Sunday afternoon we had the cabin all cleaned up as ir was time to load up and head for home.

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1.  Overall 2005 wasn't the best Winter Trip weather-wise, but those of us who got to the cabin early enjoyed great snowmobiling. With that said everyone still had a great time!

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith