24.   It's the middle of February, after a week of back to back snowfalls we finally have some decent snow accumulation on the ground. Even a little rain at the end of Thursday's storm didn't dampen our spirits as we planned a Saturday ride at the Sooley Family Cabin in Whitbourne. Janes and I decided to head up early on Friday evening to get the driveway cleared and cabin warmed for the arrival of the rest of our crew Saturday morning.

23.   We arrived at the cabin around supper time, parked on the highway, unloaded my Honda 9/28 snow blower and started in. We had a rather daunting task of clearing the very long driveway and rather large parking area. Snow was nearly 2 feet deep and heavy from recent rain. The good 'ol Honda powered through working like a champ for 3 hours straight to clear the driveway and enough room near the cabin to park two trucks and my trailer.

22.   We spent the evening checking ice thickness on the pond, making a hearty supper, and enjoying a few beer in front of the woodstove.

21.   Early the next morning, Janes and ran over to Monty's Place for breakfast. It's hard to pas up an awesome breakfast at Monty's when your only 5 minutes away.

20.   We returned to the cabin and I spent another hour clearing the rest of the parking lot just in time for Bill, Long, and Sooley to arrive.  Sooley had his 2009 Renegade 800r, Bill his 2010 Yamaha Nytro X-TX and Long his recently acquired 2009 REV 800r short track. Janes would pilot the Sooley Family Arctic Cat and of course I had ol' reliable Project Renegade.

19.   The boys quickly unloaded their machines and we spent the day riding, jumping, skimming water and thoroughly enjoying the fresh fallen two feet of snow.

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15.   Conditions were pretty darn awesome, with pretty consistent coverage everywhere as opposed to open areas being barren of snow. A tangly open spot of water on the pole line stopped most people heading West from Ocean Pond, so we enjoyed the whole countryside to ourselves breaking lots of trail and burning gas.

14.   Throughout the day there were lots of stucks, stucks in trees, and one stuck in a bog.

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12.   A stick managed to pop off the steering connection on my left ADSA arm, a quick fix with the sled's tool kit had it properly re-secured in no time.

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2.   That afternoon we made it to Monty's Place on sleds and had an awesome lunch before heading back in the country to finish out the afternoon. Bill had to head back to town early, and Sooley sat out the afternoon ride after hitting a rock just after lunch.

1.   Long and I spent the next two hours finding and riding every hill and powder cache in the area.

It was a great day, with deep snow, some minor sled carnage, and lots of fun. If the forecast didn't have a heavy rainfall warning for Sunday, we would have stayed up an extra night. Our Annual Winter Cabin Trip is set for next weekend, but the forecast isn't shaping up well so we'll see how it pans out.

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith