I went snowmobiling for the first time in my adulthood yesterday. I went as a little kid but didn’t drive so that hardly counts :)
You start on these nice, wide groomed trails and then we were off up to a lookout. Up meant windier, narrower, less groomed trails. I drove part of the way up and it was SUPER fun! Snowmobiles do not have power steering. So you have to pay attention and use your arms to control this thing 100% of the time. And a lot of leaning (like when driving a motorcycle.) So I scrunched forward and in my supreme geekiness, pretended I was driving a speeder bike but on planet mixture of Endor and Hoth (through the forest and trees BUT in the freezing snow!) :)
Totally look like Leia :)
We came upon a couple who had crashed their snowmobile into a tree stump/well. Husband got off and helped the guy get it off. So then after that, I let husband drive as the trails got narrower and I didn’t want that to be us!
Husband drove a LOT faster than I did and I was flying up and off my seat over and over. My neck and back felt like when you take a hard butt check on the ice – spine condensed. Visualize an accordion…
Made it up to 8656 feet elevation where they have a warming/lookout hut. It’s called the Martis Valley Fire Lookout hut. It’s cool up there and you can see everything (hence the reason they would look for smoke and fires from up there.) The views were amazing. The sun was setting and the sky was filled with gorgeous colors.
Lake Tahoe
Majestic...
I love the mountains. I can never get enough of the beauty no matter what season, snow, sun, cloudy – always. Beaches are gorgeous – I do love Maui (and even my own beach at home) but mountains are my absolute favorite. The Sierras are awesome. I’ve been to Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, British Columbia and Banff. I loved them all. Nothing can compare to the beauty of the mountains for me, not even a gorgeous sparkling Tiffany’s window display ;)
Loved this tree's contrast..
Someone had broken the door of the hut earlier that day so we were using the big slide windows they have to get in to the hut. The hut has a deck which is probably nice in the summer. It was icy so I took a digger on it which I’m sure would have been funny to catch on video :)
The snowmobile place closed at 6:00pm and it was a little after 5pm so we decided it was time to head back. Plus I was now freezing and starving! Husband took what he thought would be a shortcut to make it down quicker. But it wound around the mountain instead of down so put us in the opposite direction. By now it was getting dark and I was imagining all of the stories of people who get lost in the forest in winter and they go off trail and are never found alive again…great (I have quite a vivid imagination!) Luckily husband does have a good sense of direction and got us back on the trail we needed. We got back to the main gate and my hands and face were only partially frozen solid…
It was fun. Would I go again? Sure. Would I go all the time? Probably not – unless I got to drive my own and knew the trails better. It is a great way to get way up there where cars can’t go in the winter. Would be fun to take snowshoes up there and hike around too. And if I ever get my 100 acres in Wyoming – it would be super fun to have my own snowmobile to tool around :)
