Last weekend I made it out for my second fat bike adventure. I had been scheming a full moon ride, but variable weather and lack of riding partners steered me towards a day outing on Sunday.
My plan was to ride north to south on the Loop Road (CD on the map below), and check out a couple of the groomed side trails towards Christina Lake (B) and Maxon Basin (H). There was new snowfall during the week, and the wind had been relentless, so I had pretty low expectations of being able to make it very far southward on the Loop Road, but I figured it definitely wouldn't go if I didn't try it!
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| WY trails winter trail map |
I headed out early to try and catch some frozen snow, as the day's temps were forecast to exceed 50ºF. Waking at 5am, the temp at home was 31ºF, hopefully it would be colder in the mountains. I was dismayed to see temps from mountain weather stations in the 40s already - inversion. At the Bruce's bridge parking lot, it was 40ºF, hardly feeling like a winter outing. Mild wind and a few light flurries. No moon to be seen.
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| Packin up in the wee hours |
I packed up food, water, and clothing for the day, and rolled out around 645 on a Surly Pug Ops again from the Bike Mill. The first switchback was about 80% snow covered, however the rest of the way was about 90% pavement. The 3.8" wide Nate tires don't exactly have low rolling resistance, but they do get the job done, and I'd be happy to have them later in the day. The sun began to brighten the valley, snow squalls came and went, headwinds came and mostly stayed, and 1,500' later I was at Fossil Hill. Soon after, I approached an extended drift section near Frye Lake - unrideable. Drop the tire pressure, try again, not gonna happen. Time to push-a-bike. After a couple minutes I was pedaling again on firm snow, crusty ice patches and spots of asphalt.
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| Turnin round |
The Worthen intersection was the end of my "forward" progress on the Loop Road. The wind and new snow fall of the last week had really piled up. Postholing on foot was almost up to my knee. Not totally surprised, I put this route on the shelf for another day, and started plotting where else I could roll. Wherever I went next, it was going to be downhill for a while, so I bundled up and headed back towards Fossil Hill. The Frye Lake dam was an interesting side trip, as the weather seemed to be moving in for good:
With the warm ambient temps, it wasn't too hard to stay warm, but the wind kept me on my toes. Had it been 20ºF cooler (normal temps), I would have needed a different game plan.
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| Frosty. |
At Fossil Hill I ventured into the trees and took the old snow machine trail down the gulley, avoiding the switchbacks. The sun was peaking out now and then as I popped out on the second switchback, which I took across to Chain Reaction, the newest addition to trails in the canyon. It was a treat to add some single track to the day.
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| A dry spot on the gulley trail. |
This 45 minute stretch was a testament to what a fat bike can do. I covered just about every type of terrain conceivable, the Pugsley handled it all in style without flinching. From top to bottom: wind crusted snow and grass, deep-ish powder snow, snow and ice crusted slick rock, snow-infused mud, dry forest duff, ice-rimmed puddles on frozen mud, loose gravel on frozen dirt, pavement, firm snow pack on single track, dry dirt in the forest, rock gardens, banked snow turns, banked rock turns, slush bogs, mud bogs, and finally back to the car.
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| Snow packed single track. |
Caution: shameless selfie video of me laboring up a hill.
I unloaded my backcountry gear and schemed how I was going to continue the day. I flirted with heading up the Middle Fork trail, but the day was warming and the mud was out in force on the southern aspects. I decided to spare the hikers the awesomeness of the Pugs, and went back to Chain Reaction for another loop up Fossil Hill. Second time on the gulley trail was so fast now that I new the route. Fun! Likewise for Chain Reaction.
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| There's a derailleur in there somewhere. |
While I didn't make it to the traverse I was aiming for, I had a fantastic day on a bike. Really looking forward to the Togwotee Winter Classic later in March. Ride data.
