Cabin Trip May 16 2009

This year's opener, like last year's opener, required a 300 yard hike through snow. I had checked the web cams on Hwy 20 each day beforehand, and the day before the trip on May 16th, the highway and surroundings were clear and dry.

But that was the highway and surroundings. In the woods, where the sun does not get through as much, you still have a couple feet of snow -- as we soon found out.

So, even though the Big Springs Loop Rd was clear, the access road to the cabin was not. We got there at night and, being the mountain men we are, convinced ourselves we could drive that last 300 yards in that snow.

With each passing year we mountain men find ourselves believing more and more in our skills. We also hone our abilities. One such ability is that of egging each other on until we do something stupid.

So late at night we gunned the vehicle and jumped the snow berm with plenty of momentum -- but ended up high-centered and stuck, for the night, shortly thereafter.

You never see a sheriff in Island Park, except when you are speeding on Big Springs Loop Rd, or are stuck at midnight in the snow on a forest service road, out in the middle of nowhere, hauling -- no, not camping gear and ATVs - but a sofa. He saw we were stuck and offered to call us a tow truck. But after talking with us for a bit, he understood. No, we don't need a tow truck. We believe in our skills. And we could tell he had confidence in our abilities -- as he shook his head, got back in his patrol car, and drove off.

Never matter, being the mountain men that we are we hiked though the snow in the dark and found the cabin. To our delight, it was in perfect condition, having made it through the winter with flying colors.

The next day we knew we had cabin-opener type chores to do, but there was still the matter of the stuck vehicle. We knew we had to get it to the cabin. The conditions were the same - only daylight. We tried clearing a path with a snow blower but it could never get enough traction. We tried getting more tire grab by driving over ground cover, but there wasn't always ground cover to drive over. And of course we tried using all 321 horses but their all-season hooves just wouldn't dig in. What we really could have used was a set of chains or knobby tires.

Make no mistake, however, attempting to move a vehicle through snow a distance of three football fields was a perfectly good way to spend a day in springtime in beautiful Island Park. That is Spring everywhere but the service road between the main road and the Cabin where it was still winter.

We made several foot treks from the cabin back to the vehicle and the road. Some trips were to run errands (using the other vehicle we had there still parked out on the road). Other trips were to continue with the task at hand. And for every trip out there was a trip back to the cabin, in which we took something from the truck with us. First we started with basic supplies, but we finished up with the real important stuff - see photo above - a painting, a TV, and even a couch.

We spent most of the day trying to get closer to the cabin, twenty yards - then stuck. Another few yards - then stuck. And so it went because dammit we were going to get that truck to the cabin.

Never mind that in our trips back and forth we had already completely unloaded the truck!

Never made it. Never got more than a quarter of the way. But we learned some important things -- like snow throwers without posi-traction are lame, and carrying a couch through the snow is very smart because when you get too tired and can't go any further, you can set it down and lay on it.