Out on the trail for one more fishing trip before “break-up” (the ice “breaks up” in the warm sun and the snow “breaks up” with it). I now know where the tricky spots are and I’m prepared for them until we come to a new tricky spot that I’m not prepared for. Wind has put snow drifts in the trail bed and we come to a section where the snow has hardened at about a forty-five degree angle. Just like that the machine is on a sharp tilt but luckily this time I’m on the right side of the machine to lend my weight to keep it from going over. Quickly through that and then quickly and easily through the sharp curve where I went off the trail the last time. Next I’m quickly passed the narrow lane over the snow covered stream that last time landed me in a deep hole. I’m thinking no mishaps today and I would knock wood as I think this but there’s no wood around but the trees.
As we start the series of downhill stretches, signs of spring are showing on the south facing slopes. Along with the small twigs and branches the wind has deposited in the trail, are clumps of spruce needles, pieces of birch bark and little streams of alder seeds. As they are all dark objects, they prevent the white snow from reflecting back the heat of the sun where they lie on the trail. Absorbing the heat they start little pot holes forming beneath them in the smooth snow starting the trail to melt out. We can easily ride over it on the downhill but the uphill will become a challenge in the days ahead.
Our ride is over uneventfully as we pull out onto the lake
glistening in the midday sun under one of those gorgeous
violet-blue March skies. Temperature in the mid-twenties. Perfect day for fishing. We space our machines at three likely spots, Dan shovels the snow off the ice and Will starts the auger. What a difference a well-sharpened auger makes. He’s through the ice and down to the water in all of two minutes,then on to the next hole. Dan has his jigger ready with a
nice shiny trout lure to catch the fish’s attention.
In very short order we are all sitting with a line
and thinking about the fact that it seems to be taking awhile.
The last two times they were biting by now. And then one bites. Dan hollers he has one, whips out his line only to find it empty, his favorite lure gone. Just like last time a “tank” has broken the line. As he lowers a hook baited with shrimp Dan is saying he doesn’t get it because he has new “6 test” line or something like that which isn’t suppose to break. And just like that it breaks again. We don’t have time to explore possible logical explanation, besides some monster fish prowling the deep because all of a sudden we seem to be in the midst of the proverbial “Chinese Fire Drill” fish
coming out of the of holes one after the other. It started with Will, then me, then Dan on his third try all pulling out fish, getting fresh bait on the hooks and the hooks back in the water while the school is down there. I figure I have two people to help bait my hook but after waiting around I give up on that in the end because those two people are too busy pulling in fish one after the other. Off come the gloves and off comes the fish from the hook. I bait my own with shrimp wash my hands in the snow and am thankful that this time it’s warm enough that my fingers don’t freeze.
We’re catching them at such a fast pace we don’t notice how many we have until I notice the snow littered with fish and ask, “Hey, how many do we want.” I count two dozen land-locked silvers, clearly more than we need and Will asks with disappointment in his voice,
“You mean we’re done already,
it feels like we’re just getting started.”
It’s not even 2 in the afternoon with many hours left to the sun and energy not spent. Dan starts coming up with other things to do. “We can bring some fish to Tim” he says, and then, “How about we check out the old cabin.” Sitting on a bench above the lake, an old squatter’s cabin has seen better days. A friend, who was last to live there before he built his own cabin, thinks the roof may have caved in and asked us to check it out if we had the chance. When I express enthusiasm for that venture - I’d love to see what’s in there - Will and Dan give each other worried glances. The cabin lies at least a hundred yards or so from the trail which means negotiating unpacked snow to get there, which means yours truly might get stuck, which means they would rather I didn’t go. Thinking about getting stuck dampens my enthusiasm as well and I’m happy to wait for them on the trail where I can stretch out on the machine and bask in the warm sun.
From my perch I can’t see the full way to the cabin but I can see Dan waiting while Will goes ahead to check the snow. I can see Will riding in a big loop then gunning the machine up and over a small rise. Soon he’s back announcing it isn’t too bad and Dan takes off after him. Dan circles around the loop, guns it and is up and over the same rise. Now I can’t see them but I can hear what’s going on. It isn’t long before the machine starts a loud whine, stops, then revs and whines some more. I figure Dan is stuck. After a while I see him come back over the rise, go around the circle again, rev it up and shoot up over the rise again. And very soon comes more whining. And more whining. He’s determined to get there. Right now he’s probably standing in thigh-high snow trying to manhandle the machine up onto the bench. Then no noise at all. Then Dan yelling at Will, “Don’t go in if it’s not safe” and Will yelling back, “It looks good to me”. More conversation yelled between them, they are obviously not together, then machines are going again and instead of them coming my way I see them ride out on the lake. As I’m wondering where they are going it soon becomes clear they must have decided it’s the easiest way to get back on the trail. Dan arrives first looking done in. “ That wore me out”, he says.
He offers that he’s worried about the south facing trails we need to take to get back to our cabin from Tim’s and probably remembering some spring rides in the past when we couldn’t get back from Tim’s and had to go around the long way by the river. He wants to head for home and I’m happy to oblige.
The usual procedure is for a following snow machine to wait at the bottom of the hill for the one in front to reach the top. That way if some one gets stuck, the following machine won’t be forced to stop in the middle of a hill and lose their momentum to get to the top. As I’m sitting at the base of the hill I see Dan reach the top and then in almost slow motion slide off the machine into the snow. He’s sitting there seemingly motionless as Will flies past me up the hill in soft snow not even needing the trail. But then he merely stands watching as Dan begins to stir and work his way back on to the machine. No disaster up ahead. Everything is alright.
The beautiful view of Mt. McKinley and her sister peaks greet us when we come out at the top of the ridge. The view stays with us as we follow the ridge feeling more relaxed with the easy going ahead. When we come to the snow drift I see Dan has gone around it and put a fresh trail on flat snow. Good. I put my tracks in his and follow his lead until his new trail runs out at the base of a big tree. With the snow drift passed he simply rode back onto the trail and as I do the same I realize I’ve overshot it just a bit. Ahead of me another tree blocks the way
and I steer my machine to avoid it. Not enough.I needed about another 1/2 foot. By the time I
get that figured out the cowling of the machine
has whacked into the tree and once more I’m
down in the snow. Thank heaven for soft snow.
It makes for such a comfortable fall. And as the
picture shows you can lie there as you collect
yourself for the task of getting back on the
machine. Now if my head had hit the tree
I probably would have different words to write.
Back at the cabin we divide the fish into three packages, two for friends , one for dinner.
Dan and I settle into our lazy boys, he with his before dinner martini, me with a cup of tea. Will on the other hand still has energy to burn. “I think I’ll go cut some trees”, and off he goes with the chain saw to bring in more wood. As for us we've had enough excitement for one day.