Scouting ride 21st Sat AM North Island

[Island Hopper]

Renov8 and myself are going to check out the snow level on the back routes... Any one interested in joining us meet at the Hyde Creek ESSO at 9 AM ish...

Dress warm....

[Island Hopper]

We had a great ride today, the weather was superb and the riding conditions interesting....

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1607.jpg
Gearing up at Pauls

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1610.jpg
Keogh Lake all iced up

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1613.jpg
A snowy ride to the Raging Dam



http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1615.jpg
Made it to the Dam with only one event
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1616.jpg

From the Dam we headed through the Benson Valley towards Port Alice..
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1621.jpg
Back towards the mainline

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1622.jpg
Another event which was the last for the day...
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1623.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1625.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1628.jpg
Paul making progress up this icy hill
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1630.jpg
A spinout and a great save.
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1632.jpg
Made it to the top..

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1634.jpg
The conditions continued to worsen and we rode on this for about 10 KM... Luckily it had been plowed just a few days before by a mining company or we would of had to backtrack..
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1636.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1639.jpg
We finally made it through and stopped at Alice lake to enjoy the view....

From there we continued on for lunch in Port Alice and then backroads toward Holberg....

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1642.jpg
The Holberg road is a bit of a snowbelt and it proved itself again with up to 3 feet in spots along the sides.

The road was a real challenge further along as they dumped what they call gravel {I call it mud} to resurface it... They put this on top of a frozen {snowy in spots} surface and daytime heating turned it into a muddy goo that pulled you every which way..... But it was fun...

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1646.jpg
A stop at Georgie Lake where some people were setting up to ice fish...
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1649.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1651.jpg
No explanation

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1660.jpg
Paul Skidooing on the way to look at the connector slide...
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1662.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1654.jpg
After about three K of snow riding we made it to the slide... Riding in the snow is a workout...

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1657.jpg
A few hours of work and we should be able to go around this...

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1658.jpg
From the other side looking back.... A work project for another day...

It was getting late in the day so we made are way back towards Port Mcniell via mostly back roads ....

After around 7- 8 hrs in the saddle My odo showed 300+ KM for the day .....

[bajaman]

I thought Renov8 was putting that KLR out of it's misery with that BIG knife...on his side:shock:in the first pic....or practising for the next cougar attack..maybe??:)
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn92/dwislandhopper/IMG_1623.jpg

[bajaman]

Great pics boys:tup:Wish we where there:mad3:...good to see other crazies on the North island....:clap:

P.S good to see the 640 moving again.:dr:

[Island Hopper]

We did see cougar tracks heading in on the connector track.... I then told Paul to ride ahead cause he has better tires;)....

[bajaman]

Island Hopper wrote:
We did see cougar tracks
HEH HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE :mad2:

Island Hopper and I had quite an adventure With the snow and ice. This was a nice break. Smedley,,,,does this look familiar ;)

[claw]

those cougar tracks two legged or four ?

[2wheelHorseRider]

looks like you had a good work-out dealing with ice and snow.
sure i miss the north island lands and trails.
i will find out what vernon is going to be.

[shevthump914]

Hmmmmmm...i wonder if its melted yet ...sounds like it may need another trial run ...the pictures are great though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Island Hopper]

I don't think much has melted, in fact there is probably more snow out there now..... The 14 day trend is still calling for below average temps right through.... Maybe mid April things will get back to normal.....

[shevthump914]

well if thats the case i wonder if a lil sointula ride would be in order....oh an for some reason my pm thing is currently not working

[Island Hopper]

Yep, I'm usually around on weekends if you want a guided tour of the trails.... Let me know what day{Sat or Sun} and what ferry you'll be on and I'll meet you at the dock.....

I guess with you been new to the site your PM has not been activated yet.... Try posting a request for PM in the admin section....