Page 37 - TheJanuarySnomad

Peggy’s sled was out, and they wanted to continue to Big Springs. John Koss
said he would ride with us to the Springs and then figure things out. We
went back to the intersection of trail 413 and 7 and stopped Russ’s group. I
had found a way around the water hole and told Russ. Russ’s group decided
to go back to the Jack Pine and eat, while mine headed to Big Spring.
My group headed south to Big Springs. The reroute was very easy to follow.
We took in the beauty of Big Springs and went out on the raft and back.
Many pictures were taken as several in my group had never been there be-
fore, and memories made. The original plan was to have lunch at the Big
Springs Inn right next to the Springs. When I called to let them know I was
advised they were going to be closed Saturday for a private Party hence
lunch at the Jack Pine Bar.

We headed out from Big Springs and past the Big Springs into the feeder
trail back to trail 7. About a ¼ mile in Dave Gabriel sled was parked on the
trail with his off-trail group behind him. I went thru the group and found
Dave about 4 sleds back looking at the front of Tori Leslie’s sled. Tori’s hus-
band John posted on Facebook they had new sleds and wanted to ride so I
invited them to join us. I tapped Dave’s helmet and asked if they were good
and he replied yes, and we headed north...more on that later.

We headed up to the Jack Pine and stopped for gas and food. Paul Reed met
a guy in the Jack Pine he knew who used to ride with a buddy of mine. We
then headed out for the 32 miles back to the Buckhorn. I told the group
when we got back to Shingleton in 16 miles we could decide to stop at the
Tanglewood Inn or head straight back to the Buckhorn.

Trail 41 was rougher than on the way down, but we made it to Shingleton
and decided to stop at the Tanglewood. Dennis was still working and took
great care of us. We were told the groomer had just come through the park-
ing lot, headed up to the Bear Trap, so trails would be excellent back to the
Buckhorn. We headed back on trail 8 west and it was perfect, 2 miles later
we had another groomer coming at us. What a fun quick run back!

January 2020 The Snomad Page 37