At the beginning the trails were hard and snow off trail had a thick crust. At first the conditions made it hard for the liquid cooled John Deere Liquidfire from running hot. But as we climbed and the snow softened the problems went away so we could cruise along diving off the trails at different play areas as we cruised along. 

As expected there were some mechanical issues.  A couple recoil problems that were easily resolved, fouled spark plugs, and one of the trailers lost a ski. But with all the experience and talent from riding vintage sleds we managed to make repairs getting to Whistlin’ Jacks in record time.  After relaxing we had one of their great dinners, lingered in the restaurant swapping sledding stories before going back to our cabin for the night.

What a difference one day can make in the weather and conditions.  Overnight a storm came through bringing a crusty layer of course ice at the lodge and lower trails, and at higher elevations inches of blowing snow.  The soft powder blew over our hoods while soft snow that accumulated and blew in along the groomed trail. It was a nice fast ride back to the sno-park. Well, as fast as the slowest vintage sled could go. We saw only a couple other sleds while making our way back arriving in the middle afternoon.  We were also happy to see all of our directional signs are still up and guiding other snowmobile riders from the Taneum Sno-park to Whistlin’ Jacks. It was a great trip, one that we look forward to each year.

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