Winter 2008

April 15-17, 2011 West Coast Trip: (27 Photos)

27. Despite holding on much longer than most years, Winter is pretty well over here on the East Coast of Newfoundland. Even the late season snow has melted and my sled now stored for summer. However many riders on the Lewishillbillies website were reporting conditions on the West Coast of our province are still prime. With this news in mind, some of the crew booked a unit at B&R Cabins in Hampden and planned a long weekend of late season west coast snowmobiling.

26. Leaving town after work Thursday, Sooley, French, Bill, & Max headed out over the highway for the 7 hour drive to B&R Cabins, arriving sometime around 10pm. The cabin was cozy with running water, satellite TV, woodstove heat, and suitable amenities for cooking. Although not as fancy or spacious as many of the Lodges in the area, it provided more than adequate accommodations for a group of fellers with one thing in mind...snowmobiling!!!

25. Saturday morning was overcast with a few flurries, the crew awoke bright, cherry and refreshed for their first day's ride. French had some trouble starting his 2009 Yamaha Nytro XTX, apparently a defective fuel pump relay was the culprit. After a little fooling it started fine and operated fine all day. Bill would be riding his 2010 Yamaha Nytro X-TX, Max his 2010 Yamaha Nytro XTX and Sooley his cherished 2009 Renegade 800r.

24. Leaving the cabin the guys headed towards the Gorge under snowy skies on hard packed trails. Unfortunately this year the NLSF halted grooming services on the snowmobile trail network earlier than normal citing a lack of funds to finish the season.

23. Therefore, many of the regularly used trails were rough, particularly in the turns, but conditions did get better the further you got into the country as traffic dispersed.

22. Trails were icy and hard at lower elevations, but conditions improved dramatically after the 20 km marker.

21.

20.

19. Due to a lack of visibility the guys didn't venture all the way to the Gorge. Instead they passed the day away jumping and climbing hills until Sooley did the inevitable.

18. He was riding along the trail racing flat out against French when all of a sudden he disappeared!

17.

16. After rapidly turning around French found Sooley on the side of trail looking a sled identical to his Renegade that had been wrecked and waiting to be towed out. After snapping and emailing pictures of "his crash" to the rest of us here at home they continued on their way. Sooley eventually fessed up to the hoax days after his return to town. That evening back at the cabin the guys cooked up a fine feed of baked pork chops, vegetables, and all the trimmings.

15. Sunday the guys left the cabin under clear sunny skies and headed to the Gorge, the trip they couldn't complete the previous day.

14. After the first rest stop, Bill was in the lead followed by French, then Sooley and Max. After a short while Sooley wanted to go faster and passed French just as they entered a series of "yes mam's".

13. When Sooley hit the first bump, the entire contents of his tunnel mounted saddle bag began bounding out through the zippered opening he forgot to close. French said there was Pepsi bottles, gloves, goggles, chips & bars pitching out all over the trail!

12. French and Max stopped and picked up the items stowing them on Max's sled. When they finally caught up with Sooley, he still had no idea the bag was empty so French told him all the stuff was still out in the woods!

11. It was lunch time before they told him the difference and passed back his belongings!

10.

9. After a lunch near beautiful Western Brook Gorge, the guys headed back out of the country passing Main River.

8. They spent the afternoon hill climbing, jumping and dropping over snow ledges at every opportunity until the gas tanks were near empty.

1. That evening a Steak BBQ was on the menu with all the trimmings. All in all it was a very successful trip. The crew managed to log just shy of 400km on the sleds, plenty of that in the air too!!!

The accommodations at B&R although not as spacious and convenient as the big lodges, was certainly comfortable and definitely more affordable. Calculating the food purchased for all meals with the cost of the Cabin, this trip was about 1/2 the cost of staying at a fancier lodge where meals are included. This budget excludes your own personal snacks, booze, gas in the truck and gas in the sleds, as these expenses are equal whichever place you decide to stay.

Cheers, MIKE