68.   Having missed getting out for our official Shed-Headz Crew Winter Cabin Trip last year, this year everything worked out for a traditional multi-day trip.

67.   A lot of the Crew were not able to make the trip but Sooley, Kim, Maffer, Janes, and I loaded up and headed out over the highway Friday morning westbound to Whitbourne. Maffer trailered his Can Am Outlander while Sooley & Janes would be riding the Sooley's Arctic Cat Panther and old Enticer II.

66.   I decided to leave my Bike at home and took Project Powertek REV hoping that there would be enough snow over the entire trip. Weather was great and snow cover pretty decent, the last snowstorm came with a lot of wind which drifted the snow leaving only open areas exposed. It was no sweat to get around on sled, although there wasn't much base for riding off trail. With the pending forecast I hoped that would change!

65.   Once we got everything unpacked and tidied away for the weekend, the first order of business was getting the Sooley Family Enticer II running. It amazes me how year after year, with next to zero maintenance this machine fires up with minimal effort. It's old, slow, loud and rough, but it's reliable! After a prime it started right up. We gave it an inspection and found nothing worrisome, the track is still holding up with a solid 3/8" lug remaining!

64.   With the sleds ready to rip, we headed up the pond checking ice thickness along the way to the top where we set out some ice fishing lines, which is the tradition for our first day.

63.   Earlier this year I bought a cordless drill adaptor for my ice auger at O.P. Fishing & Hunting, this was a great opportunity to try it out. My auger is a 6" model with a fresh set of blades, we used my Milwaukee M18 FUEL Drill on low speed and the 2nd handle. The set up worked fantastic! It's very fast and we drilled at least 50 holes over the weekend without flattening the 5ah battery.

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61.   As usual, it wasn't long before we had a few trout on the ice!

60.   While Sooley and Janes minded the lines Maffer and I burned some fossil fuels in the Machines. I checked out the pole line as far as Highwaters, it was decent but there wasn't a lot of snow cover on the main path, just enough to get by. Maffer stuck to the pond babying his Can Am in the slush & snow!

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58.   For supper we had a dandy feed of Fish Stew made from cod caught last fall during the annual food fishery. Afterwards we loaded up Maffer's Bike with wood for a fire at the top of the pond under clear skies and a million stars. Even with a full load, he only got stuck once in the deep slushy snowy mess on the pond.

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56.   There are definitely worse ways to spend a Friday Evening!

55.   Saturday Morning Maffer, Janes and I headed to Monty's Place in Whitbourne for Breakfast as it's hard to go to the cabin and not have their Omelette at least once during the trip! Sooley stayed behind mending his lines ready to get in a little ice fishing before the forecasted storm.

54.   After breakfast with a snowstorm advisory in place, Maffer headed back to town with his Bike and returned with his sled, a 2006 REV 500ss. It wasn't easy getting around on bike, with more snow his sled would be much better suited to the conditions.

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51.   We got out for a couple hours logging some miles as the storm swept in, and more importantly to check the gullies around the cabin. Heavy snowfall might obscure dangerously thin ice and open areas so we wanted to gauge their condition and note the trouble areas beforehand.

50.   With the storm in full force we all headed back to the cabin around 3pm to weather it out.

49.   Taking advantage of the down time, safety Sooley performed a safety 3rd ceiling speaker replacement operation and got our music back in service. That evening we had an awesome BBQ steak dinner cooked in the upper shed with fresh mushrooms, onions, and rice on the side.

48.   About 9pm the storm was beginning to wind down. We received over 30cm in a few short hours, we couldn't wait to get back out on the sleds and take full advantage of the fresh powder!

47.   That night Maffer fired up his Honda 9/28 Snowblower and got to work clearing the parking lot & driveway. Sooley and I also jumped in taking turns clearing snow as well.

46.   At the same time we all had a load of fun breaking powder on the the two REV's. It was absolutely fantastic playing in fresh fallen untouched powder!

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43.   With gas burned and the driveway mostly cleared we retired to the cabin for a few socialables and a game of Crazy 8's which got totally out of hand at one point requiring no less than three decks of cards. It was an awesome night!

42.   Sunday morning brought a calm after the storm. Clear skies, freezing temps, low winds and a backcountry full of fresh powder was calling our names!

41.   Unfortunately Janes and Kim both had prior commitments and headed back to town before the fun got underway.

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38.   While the breakfast dishes were cleared away Maffer fished off the last bit of snow clearing.

37.   Unfortunately, we couldn't get out for a ride right away Sunday morning. Last night while blasting through the fresh powder Maffer managed to pile the right ski on his sled into the floating wharf down by the pond. The panels weren't lining up so we knew there was something seriously wrong.

36.   With limited tools, I got to work taking off the muffler to view where I thought the damage was. The right ski impacted with the pontoon on the wharf which twisted the NUN, which in turn bent the bulkhead by the engine.

35.   It was a pretty serious kink!

34.   We tried hammering on the bulkhead without much success.

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31.   Plan B was to try and remove some of the damage by exerting an opposite force to the one that caused the problem.

30.   With a strap tied to the bottom control arm & anchored to a tree Maffer made a dozen or so plucks backwards which actually worked to remove a lot of the twist in the nun and started to pull the bulkhead straight.

29.   Now we used a strong straightedge and 2 C-clamps to pull the rest of the kink out of the bulkhead.

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27.   Once straight we folded over a piece of 1/8" Angle Iron that was laying around the shed and bolted it in place to add some much needed strength back to the weakened frame. The end result was pretty impressive, although not 100% the sled was a solid 90% repaired. The panels lined up decently and handling was much improved over what we started with.

26.   While Maffer suited up and Sooley set some ice fishing lines, I headed out on the power line to see how much conditions improved over yesterday.

25.   Although this gully may look OK while snow-covered, this was partly open water during yesterdays scouting run so we knew it wasn't safe to cross today. This was unfortunate because it cut off a large area of our favourite riding, however we cant do much about the warm spell of weather we experienced earlier this month.

24.   With all of this fresh fallen snow trail riding was a huge improvement overall! Familiar trails and ponds marked safe provided fantastic freestyle riding opportunities, off trail was ok, but we kept is slow and careful. Without a dense base layer of snow hidden rocks & stumps could easily bend up our sleds if we weren't mindful.

23.   Once Maffer arrived, the three of us headed out for a full afternoon of tearing up powder from the cabin all the way to Whitbourne.

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14.   After a poor quality winter, there is nothing quite like finally having enough snow to get stuck in! The mistake here was not enough speed. When in doubt, pin it to win it!

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9.   We eventually made it all the way to Monty's on the highway in Whitbourne where we refuelled and picked up a snack before heading back to the cabin.

8.   Maffer's custom breath box!

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4.   Our long afternoon/evening riding really wore us out good as it was our first real ride of the season. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing around the cabin, although we did make a late night coffee run to Tim Horton's in Whitbourne. Oh the convenience of a nearby Timmy's!

3.   Monday was the last day of the trip for Maffer and I, it was spent loading up machines, packing away our gear and cleaning the cabin. Sooley planned to stay until Wednesday, but we wanted to assist with most of the clean up before we left.

2.   Although the weather at the cabin was clear when we left, the drive back got quite stormy. From Middle Gull Pond to Butter Pot Park we were faced with whiteout conditions and significant snow accumulation on the road.

1.   We made it back to town with no troubles, brining one of my favourite cabin trips ever to a successful close.

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith