Snowmobiling in the High Country

We live in the mountains at an altitude of 9,400 feet. One of the benefits of living in the area is the ability to enjoy winter sports of all types.

Snowmobiling is one of those winter sports. Our neighbors often travel thru the mountain Jeep trails in a snowmobile caravan from our subdivision over to another called Arrowhead on the other side of the mountain.  Arrowhead has a restaurant we all gather at to enjoy a meal and then we head back to our place. It is just under a 60 mile round trip.

This was my ride for the day. It is a 1989 Yamaha Enticer 400 LTR with 2800 miles. That means it has a long track and can seat two people although I rode solo for this trip. The bag strapped to the seat with the orange straps is a first responder first aid kit. It is the kind of thing you hope to never need but handy to have. I have newer sleds but for a variety of reasons this was the only one ready to ride. Sort of like riding an antique thru the mountains - a 30 year old sled.

We all met at the trail head to the Jeep trail over the mountain at 10:30 AM. It was minus 7 degrees so we were all bundled up and warm.

The scenery along the way is really something. Lots of powdered snow that it turns out is quite deep. In this particular spot it was about 4 feet deep. If you stepped off the sled you sank to your waist in snow. The folks in the distance are digging out a sled that slipped into deep snow

We travel in a line thru the trails

Eventually you end up on the Alpine Mesa where there are acres of deep powder to explore with your snowmobile. This is quite the playground for snowmobilers.

After a while it is nice to remove the helmets and relax a bit. Driving a snowmobile on powder is a bit of a balancing act and you build up a sweat.

30 years of snowmobile design evolution is shown in this image. The really big improvements are in suspension design. The newer ones can glide over humps and bumps at speed whereas I had to slow down to take them.

There is more of course - electric start, electronic fuel injection, better gripping tracks, newer styling and the list goes on.

There is a place up on the Alpine Mesa where you can ride to overlook the Uncompahgre mountains. It is a rather spectacular view.

Occasionally someone would zig rather than zag so it was nice to have others to help get the machine unstuck.

We made it to the Inn at Arrowhead and had a nice meal and compared snowmobiling stories

We made it back to our neighborhood late afternoon and headed to our homes to relax. It was 26 degrees when we arrived back home. Nice day for a ride.