Ard: I've never done much snow machine travel on frozen rivers, but those open spots make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Be careful out there!!!Gaining 3:47 / 24 here right now and it becomes more noticeable by the 21st. I just came back from the cabin yesterday and longer days are what I need for travel. I seldom go in December because I have to leave in the dark to insure arriving while it's still light a little. The rivers are pretty rough for about 25 miles of the trip due to the warm - cold - warm - cold freezup we had, lots of ridges and berms of ice that you don't want to hit going fast. There's also some bad stretches of open water, I was parked looking at one about 100 yards long about 9 miles above the Susitna that looked like I should be fishing it. The ice bridge that crosses upstream may not hold if we have another warm trend, it makes you think as it is when you take a good look at it.
Not many people break through but it happens, I think there have been three since I started making the trips in 2006. Some people crash through and find a dry riverbed, some three or four feet of water, the three I remember were lost snowmachine and all. I drive slow because I'm on a utility sled and going slow you have the chance to spot bad situations before you hit them.
BTW, when I left it was -20 at the launch which is just 40 miles north of here, when I reached the cabin three hours later it was -10 inside the place. That thermos of hot coffee is most appreciated in such conditions. I'm headed back on Monday and won't be poking around here for a while then
Larry,
Craig: I get excited this time of year when we start getting more daylight and you can feel that spring is just around the corner.
Would love to see pics of these places!Gaining 3:47 / 24 here right now and it becomes more noticeable by the 21st. I just came back from the cabin yesterday and longer days are what I need for travel. I seldom go in December because I have to leave in the dark to insure arriving while it's still light a little. The rivers are pretty rough for about 25 miles of the trip due to the warm - cold - warm - cold freezup we had, lots of ridges and berms of ice that you don't want to hit going fast. There's also some bad stretches of open water, I was parked looking at one about 100 yards long about 9 miles above the Susitna that looked like I should be fishing it. The ice bridge that crosses upstream may not hold if we have another warm trend, it makes you think as it is when you take a good look at it.
Not many people break through but it happens, I think there have been three since I started making the trips in 2006. Some people crash through and find a dry riverbed, some three or four feet of water, the three I remember were lost snowmachine and all. I drive slow because I'm on a utility sled and going slow you have the chance to spot bad situations before you hit them.
BTW, when I left it was -20 at the launch which is just 40 miles north of here, when I reached the cabin three hours later it was -10 inside the place. That thermos of hot coffee is most appreciated in such conditions. I'm headed back on Monday and won't be poking around here for a while then