I took a quick overnight trip out to my friend Grant's cabin in Skwentna on MLK day. He needed to take a snowmachine out there and leave it so he would have transportation when he flew out, and he wanted to bring his freight sled back. We rode two out and one back. The ride back was brutal. It was like riding a bucking horse for 3 hours. (70 miles out and 70 back.)

Here are some pictures:

This Grant's trailered snowmachines at Deshka Landing. We had the place to ourselves which surprised me as it was a beautiful day and a holiday.


Here is a picture of "The moon, the sky, and the river".


Here is a picture of McKinley (on the right) and Foraker as we headed north on the  Yentna.


Here's a panorama view of the same.


The clouds rolled in over night and this is what McKinley looked like heading out.


Because it was fairly warm, we had to pick our way around a lot of open water on the river on the way back.

Paul

Remind me why I live in S. Texas, it has been brutal here lately, we have been below 32' no less than 4 times in the last 2 weeks.
Really rough weather here!
Still picking peppers and tomatoes out of the little green house, though.

Sounds like he-l-l.

Paul

Real nice pictures of a real cold place!:D:D:D Regards, Rick.

Nice post Paul.  The photos are beautiful !     I`ll bet you slept well the following night.

Just what I needed, pic's of a snowbound landscape while sweltering here in a heat wave! Very nice.

One would think - I did the first time I made this trip - that riding on a river would be like driving on a highway. Au contraire! Especially on rivers as large as the Susitna and Yentna, the ice is pushed up all over the place. Some places the blocks are 10' thick and pushed up more than head high. There was on stretch about a mile from Skwentna that was 'smooth' for about a mile. Over the rest of the course of the 69 miles I'd say there were 10 or 15 'stretches' of flat ice that were NEVER more than 300 yards long and most were MAYBE 100 yds in length. Imagine the "moguls" of down-hill skiing.

I felt like I had been beaten with a big stick.

Paul

How do you assure that the ice is thick enough for safe travel?

If your ears get wet, it aint thick enough!

Joe, my understanding is at umpty below 0, you do not get wet, just stiff,if you fall in.

Mainly experience. Sometimes the 'experience' is death. I'd guess that the average number of deaths per year from 'going through the ice' on a snowmachine is 3 to 5. In the VAST majority of those deaths, alcohol is "a factor".

Mostly, steering clear of open water is just a matter of being aware of your surroundings and paying attention to them.

Snowmachines make a lot of noise, so hearing is out, but 'mist' coming up off of the water is very common when it's really cold. (Of course, when it's really cold, there isn't often a lot of open water.)

On a 'flat' surface like a river, the height of your head when sitting on a snowmachine is high enough to see maybe 50 yds in front. IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TOO FAST, that's enough time to react to an open water patch.

By the time November rolls around, all of the ice is 'thick enough'. Breaking through thin ice is a very rare event. The problem is coming to an open hole due to a spring. These can occur in a lake as well as a river.

The rivers change daily depending on the weather. We left on Monday and there was almost no open water. On Tuesday when the air temperature had come up about 10F, there was A LOT of open water.

Finally, THIS particular 'path' is practically a super-highway for snowmachines. Meaning that it is traveled heavily, and there are A LOT of 'eyes' keeping an eye on the conditions, and pretty much constantly reporting any important changes. Often the first question out of someone's mouth when you get off of your snowmachine at your destination is "How was the trail?"

Paul

How did your shoulder hold up?

I have a new 'attitude' about my shoulder: "It is what it is." There's nothing that is going to make it better, so I just 'deal with it'. I took some aspirin when I got home. Shoulda taken some before I left. Gotta work on managing the 'attitude'.

Paul

Spectacular photo's Paul. Every one fit for a post card.

Good attutide with your shoulder too. Don't stop doing what you enjoy.

Just curious, what is "Skwentna", a town, a river port, an old settlement or a camp site?