The Calm Before (well....during) the Storm!

Let me first start with the latest front and back yard house shots:

As you can see the bulk of our snow has melted. We had a major warm up with temperatures in the mid 40's for a couple days, then about 3 inches of snow, followed by another 40 degree warm up. I hate when all the snow melts in the middle of winter, it always looks so crappy out. The good news is that as I am typing this, we are getting a major snowfall. Most of the news stations are saying 4 - 8 inches, which I am very happy about. It is very nice to see it snowing again!

Since my last post, Dad and I finished the work on the two snowmobiles. The work took about two days. The first day, we took the both machines apart, this let us take the good track from the Polaris off so I could put it on my Ski-Doo. The next day we got the Ski-Doo 100% back together, adjusted, and tested. We also got the Polaris about 95% back together, but didn't get a chance to test or adjust it. However, having the Polaris back together made it so much easier to move around! The process of swapping both the tracks went really smooth, Dad and I both learned a little and if we ever have to swap a snowmobile track again, I think it will go even smoother. I have to thank Dad and Mom for the help. Dad for letting me turn his garage into a snowmobile repair shop for two days and Mom for keeping a eye on Maeve for one of the days so we could finish!

Like I mentioned above, we had both sleds back together, but I still needed to get the Polaris running and adjusted before I deliver it to it's new owner. I guess I really wasn't worried about it, because that sled has always ran real good, but it hadn't been started for over a year. About two days after we finished the major assembly process, I can back up to my folks and we started work on getting the Polaris started. IT STARTED! It only took about 10 pulls and it came to life! It was idling really good and the track didn't need any adjustment. We checked all the fluids and let it warm up for a while. Maeve even helped a little bit!

Dad and I were both very impressed on how good the Polaris ran after it sat for so long. We both commented on how it would be a good sled to hang onto, but we also both realized we didn't have anywhere to keep it! I'm very confident that it will make a great snowmobile for Randy! Also, since we had a couple people think that we wouldn't get it running again, I shot a short video of the Polaris running:

It was a very good feeling to have the all snowmobiles back together and running. I know that my Ski-Doo will perform much better with a newer track and the Polaris will make a great starter sled and addition to Randy's household. Hopefully if he likes snowmobiling, he will try and venture up north with us next winter!

Another Snowmobile...

Since I am just one person, the need for me to have another snowmobile might seem a little silly. I mentioned in my last post, that I would explain and that is what I am going to do!

This story starts in November of 2005, my friend and participant in our annual snowmobile trips, Brian Moline, (pictured here) was the only one of our group who didn't own a snowmobile. He was talking to my brother Michael at my wedding and Michael mentioned to him that his boss had just bought a new snowmobile and was looking to sell his old one. Brian went over to look at it and a couple weeks later he bought it for $1400.

The snowmobile is a 1996 Polaris 600 XCR SP. My brother's boss was the original owner and it had about 6500 miles on it. The snowmobile ran great, it just needed a new track, springs, and the shocks recharged. Brian, with the help of a few of us, had the shocks recharged, and installed the new springs. About a year later he installed a new track with studs.

Brian rode this sled in the 05-06, 06-07, and 07-08 riding seasons. I don't think he even put 1000 miles total. A few minor things had gone wrong with the sleds, a bolt on the track tensioner stripped out, an idler wheel went bad, but overall these are routine items that need to be replaced on a snowmobile.

During the February 2008 trip during an inspection of his sled, Brian noticed that one of the axles had came loose and he lost a idler wheel, bent the rear swing arm, and lost two axle shaft bolts. I'm not sure how this could happen, but I'm guessing something didn't get tightened up all the way. Brian made some phone calls on getting his sled fixed, brought the rear suspension home to fix (leaving the rest of the sled up north) but ended up buying a new sled. This left him in a situation in which he needed to get rid of his old sled, since he was storing it in Larson's garage at the cabin! He was going to sell it to a snowmobile salvage yard, but since my snowmobile needed a track, the track on the Polaris was brand new and had studs, I offered to buy the sled from him so I could swap the track off.

We transported my new parts sled home and I got the rear suspension from Brian at his house here in Bloomington. Dad and I spent about 2 hours repairing the rear suspension. We bent back and welded the bent swing arm bracket, replaced the one damaged and one missing idler wheels (including the spacers and bushings), replaced the worn out slides, fixed the shock mount bushings, and replaced the suspension bumpers. So basically a hundred bucks in parts and a couple hours was all it took to get this sled functional again.

You might wonder why I am putting the time and money into rebuilding the rear suspension if all I wanted the snowmobile for in the first place was for the track. Well, I guess I would hate to see a perfectly good snowmobile go to waste, plus when I get it back together, it will be very easy to resell. It turns out the my good friend (and regular comment leaver on my blog) was going to be taking snowmobile safety classes. Since Randy lives in the VERY north metro and has some land, I'm guessing he figured taking the classes would be fun. I mentioned this snowmobile to him and he seemed very interested. So since I know where this sled is possibly going, I am making sure that everything is 100% before I give it to him. I even had my super talented Mom sew up the rip in the cover!

All I have to do now is the hard work, swap the tracks and reinstall the rear suspension. I should be able to get that tackled in the next week or so. After that, I will heading north to deliver the Polaris to Randy! I posted a few pictures of it below, it is still missing the rear suspension, but it gives you an idea of what good shape this sled is in.

February Snowmobile Trip 2009

This is the second snowmobile trip that we took this year. We typically go over the President's Day long weekend, but because of some schedule conflicts and Valentine's Day, we went a weekend earlier.

Three out of the seven of us that were going left for the Larson cabin on Thursday, the rest of us went up on Friday morning, including Dad and me. We got up at about 0500 and were on the road by 0545. We took the 'burban up again and only had to make one stop in Danbury, WI to get some more coffee and a bag of donuts. We were very worried about what the trails were going to be like when we got up there. The Twin Cities had been experiencing a huge warm up and most of the snow has melted away. The temperature on the ride up was about 4 degree which wasn't too bad. We were surprised on how much snow they still had up there when we arrived. Obviously some of it had melted, but they still had a pretty good base! We arrived at about 0900 and got the sleds and our gear unloaded. The temperature outside was almost 30 degrees now!

After we got our sleds unloaded we were still waiting for two more guys to show up, so we headed out on a quick 20 mile ride. The trails were bare in some of the corners and were there wasn't as much tree cover, but overall not bad considering. When we got back from our quick ride, another guy showed up. We decided since the last guy had been having ongoing snowmobile issues, we would head out without him and hook back up with him later in the night. We set out and put another 50 miles on around the Brule, WI area and headed back to the cabin. Chris Vervais, the last one in our group had showed up and his snowmobile was still not working! Needless to say, Chris would not be joining us in the morning. We had some lasagna and went to the bar for a few drinks and called it a night. I think we were back and in bed around 0100 or so in the morning.

The next day we woke up and were amazed at how nice of a day it was. The sun was shining, bright blue sky, but the temperatures were in the 30's again. We were all wondering how long the trails would last with these warm days. Before we left, I did remember to take the last remaining three pictures of our group:

Top Left: Me on my 1997 Ski-Doo MXZ 583

Top Right: Phil Larson on his 1999 Ski-Doo Formula III 700

Bottom: Brian Larson on his 1999 Ski-Doo Formula III 700

We all wanted to put a few miles on today and wanted to change to scenery up a little bit, so we headed south and west. We ventured into the neighboring Douglas county and we very pleased with the trails. We managed to explore about 100 miles worth of trails and never really hit any real bad spots, but we did pass many other snowmobilers so the trails were getting pretty worn out. On our way back to the cabin, we saw a sign which I thought was pretty funny (see below) and Phil Larson did his part of recycling by picking up a road kill rabbit and bringing it back to the cabin to clean. We all thought it would be best to leave it, but we were not the ones that had to ride with it the whole day! When we got back to the cabin, we feasted on more lasagna and duck chili and stayed in for the night and had a few cocktails. We were all in bed by midnight.

The next day, Brian Larson had to leave early in the morning to work, so Chris Vervais had a chance to ride his snowmobile for the day. This would be out last day of riding, so the night before we got Vervais' sled and my new sled (long story which I will explain in my next post!) loaded on his trailer. We hit the trails again, but since Dad and I wanted to be on the road by 1300, we only put about 30 miles on. The trails were officially beat up, but still ridable. When we got back, we loaded our sleds up, said our goodbyes, and hit the road. The ride home was uneventful and we made it up there and back on a tank of gas in the 'burban!

For the season was have almost 600 miles logged so far. I'm not sure if we will get a change to go out again or not. I guess a lot depends on the future snowfall. Either way, so far it has been a great snowmobile season!

MLK Day Snowmobiling 2009

This was our first snowmobile trip of the year to the Larson cabin. I was driving the 'burban up there and Dad and my friend Chris were going with me. I woke at about 0500 on Friday morning and got the 'burban started. I was very cold that morning, but the 'burban fired right up. I was smart and loaded up the snowmobiles, hitched up the trailer, and loaded everything that wouldn't freeze the night before, so I just had to toss a couple coolers in the back and hit the road. On my way up to my folks house to pick up my dad, the thermometer on the 'burban hit the lowest temperature I have ever seen:

I apologize for the quality of the picture, but I was driving down the road at 0530, towing a snowmobile trailer, and attempting to take a picture....I think it turned out pretty good!

We got Dad loaded up and then we hit the road again to pick up my friend Chris at his wife's work in Plymouth. We got his things transferred and were back on the road again in a few minutes. The drive up to the Larson cabin went very well, no issues what so ever. We did stop in Danbury, WI to buy our out of state trail passes and get some coffee, but since the 'burban has a 44 gallon gas tank, we could have made the entire trip without stopping!

We arrived at the Larson cabin a little before 1000 on Friday morning. Phil Larson (my friend's dad), Brian Larson, and Brian Moline all came up the night before so the cabin was warm and they had their sleds ready to go! Shortly after we arrived, one of Phil's friends from work, Bob Claerhout showed up. Now we had the whole group together.

As we were getting the sleds ready and getting dressed, I took the opportunity to snap some candids of some of our group. I didn't realize or remember until after I got home, that I forgot about 3 people including myself, but I will try and get those shots next time we go up!

Top Left: Brian Moline on his 2002 Ski-Doo Legend 600

Top Right: Chris Vervais on his 2000 Polaris XCF 440

Bottom Left: Bob King on his 2001 Ski-Doo MXZ 600

Bottom Right: Bob Claerhout on his 1998 Polaris XC 700

When everybody finally got ready, we hit the trails at about noon. We made it about 10 miles from the cabin and Vervais' sled started acting up again. He has been fighting with his sled for a couple years now and keeps dumping money into it, bringing it to many repair shops and no one can figure out what keeps making in bog down. Anyway, he limped his sled back to the cabin and the rest of us headed off to Iron River to get a snack before dinner. The trails were perfect and the temperatures were just right. After we were done in Iron River, we headed back to the cabin and heated up the duck chili that Dad and I made. I was a hit again. We finished the first evening off with a couple of drinks at the local bar and hit the hay around midnight.

The next day we woke up to about 3 or 4 inches of fresh powdery lake effect snow. I love waking up to fresh snow when we go snowmobiling, it just makes everything about perfect. We all had breakfast, got geared up, and hit the trails around 0900. Vervais was going to stay behind and bring his sled back to the shop in Hayward, so we would only have a group of 6 today.

We all decided that wanted to put some serious miles on today and head north. We headed straight north and hit Lake Superior within an hour. I did remember to take a picture of it while we were stop there, but we didn't stop for long, it is freaking COLD standing next to that lake with the wind blowing!

Once we hit Lake Superior we went east and almost made it out of Bayfield County until we realized that it was getting late and we were in the northeast corner of the county and the cabin was in the southwest corner. We stopped and got a late lunch and started the trek back to the cabin. I think it took us almost 2 hours to get home. The one nice thing about the trails being in PERFECT riding condition is that you can ride all day long and not get too sore! The other thing that I noticed about riding this weekend so far is the lack of snowmobiles. I think I saw maybe 1/10th the number of snowmobiles that I usually do. I don't know if it is the economy or just that there is so much snow everywhere right now, maybe people don't have to travel places to ride?! Who knows....I know it is nice not having as many sleds around! After we got back to the cabin, we heated up some home made lasagna that Vervais' wife made and had a nice dinner. A few of us headed out for a couple drinks, but we were all back and in bed by 0100. A great 170 mile day of snowmobiling!

On Sunday, we all woke up in a very good mood and ready to ride again. Vervais' sled was still on the fritz and he wouldn't be joining us today either and Bob Claerhout had to leave early to work, so we decided to stay a little closer to the cabin. We headed out for the Cable/Drummond area. We have never rode there before so we were all excited to check it out. Once again the trails were perfect, but we did hit about 2 miles of trails that were kinda crappy, but other than that, very smooth riding. We stopped in Drummond for lunch and I got a chance to take another picture.

I thought this picture was pretty cool of all our sleds lined up in the parking lot at the bar. After we ate, we headed back to the cabin. My snowmobile hit 5000 miles on the way back, and I took a picture, but the flash reflecting off the plastic on the gauge, made it impossible to even read, but it does have 5000 miles on it now! On the way back, we took a small trail around Larson's property and ended up on a dried up slough that had about 2 feet of powdered snow on it. We all took turned busting over the fresh powder and had a great time. It was the perfect finally to the weekend. After out deep powder adventure, we got our sleds loaded up along with Bob Claerhout and we hit the road to come home. The others were going to stay the night, but Dad and I figured since we weren't going to be riding anymore, why not head home and sleep in our own beds for the night! The drive home was smooth and I almost made it home without having to fill up the 'burban!

Overall, we put about 320 miles on in 3 days and pretty much covered the entire county. As I am writing this, we are getting ready to go up for another weekend. A few are heading up tonight, Dad and I are leaving at about 0500 on Friday morning. Hopefully the warmer temperatures that they are predicting don't mess up the trails too bad!

Wintertime Justice!

First, here are the latest front yard and back yard shots:

We haven't really got much snow since the last time I posted. The temperatures finally came above 0 and we even had a couple of days that were about 40 degrees! It was nice having a little bit of a warm up but it made a ton of ice everywhere when the water all froze again!

My friend Jeff had pointed out to me in a comment on my last post, that the moron snowmobilers had been caught! Here is the story:

http://www.startribune.com/local/37649714.htmlelr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUUsZ

3 Wisconsin snowmobilers arrested in deer killings
By ROBERT IMRIE , Associated Press

WAUPACA, Wis. - Three Weyauwega men accused of corralling and running over deer with snowmobiles have been arrested in what a state official described Thursday as an unprecedented thrill killing.

"There could be more arrests. We feel we have the main players at this point," Waupaca County Sheriff Brad Hardel said.

Nicholas Hermes, 22, was charged Thursday with five felony counts of being a party to mistreatment of animals. Brothers Robby Kuenzi, 23, and Rory Kuenzi, 24, have been arrested but not yet formally charged because the paperwork isn't done, Hardel said. The brothers could be charged Friday, he said.

Four deer were found dead Saturday near a snowmobile trail about five miles south of Waupaca where a herd of around 40 deer were known to gather. A fifth deer was severely injured and euthanized, authorities said.

One deer had its stomach ripped open by a snowmobile that stopped on top of it and then quickly took off, said Ted Dremel, a state Department of Natural Resources warden. Another deer had been tied to a tree, where it wrapped itself around and choked to death.

The killings outraged snowmobilers, hunters and others, and a reward fund grew to more than $10,000 before the arrests were announced Thursday. Investigators received numerous tips that helped break the case, but no reward money has been dispensed yet, Hardel said.

Asked what was the most important tip, the sheriff declined comment.

One tip led investigators to Hermes, who worked at a dairy business. He told them he accidentally hit a deer Friday night while snowmobiling with his girlfriend and the Kuenzi brothers, according to a criminal complaint.

Hermes then saw the brothers chasing and running over deer with their snowmobiles, he told investigators. Rory Kuenzi dragged one deer behind his snowmobile and then tied it to a tree near a road, he said.

Hermes told investigators he tried to get the brothers to stop hitting deer, and he hit one or two only accidentally.

Hermes changed his story to investigators at least once, and his girlfriend, Emily Scofner, 18, gave a slightly different version, the complaint said.

Scofner said Robby Kuenzi hit a deer first, and then his brother and Hermes hit it. The men later road into a field where all three chased deer with their snowmobiles, she said.

After they finished chasing the deer, the men talked about coming back to get one to eat. That's when Rory Kuenzi dragged a deer to a tree and left it, Scofner said. She said she thought the deer was already dead and did not realize it was tied to the tree.

The dead deer included two bucks and three does. One was a fawn.

State wildlife officials have documented 17 thrill killings of wildlife in recent months, but they've never seen a snowmobile used as the weapon, DNR regional warden Byron Goetsch said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. He described the incident as unprecedented.

"It is an unfortunate trend. We have to look to see why these things are occurring," he said. "Something like this is not normal behavior and would suggest it could lead to other things."

What's known is the "indiscriminate killing" generally involves males in their early 20s, they have used baseball bats, vehicles and guns, the incidents occur after dark and the killers have disregard for their own safety, Goetsch said.

No alcohol was involved in the Waupaca incident, Hardel said during the news conference.

One snowmobile used in the roundup had been stolen from a bowling alley in nearby Manawa around Christmas and later abandoned, the criminal complaint said. Investigators found another snowmobile with blood and deer fur on it during a search of Hermes' home, it said.

Hardel said a third snowmobile was also seized.

Judge Raymond Huber set a signature bond of $15,000 for Hermes during his initial appearance Thursday in Waupaca County Circuit Court, the district attorney's office said.

The maximum punishment for each charge of animal cruelty is up to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Stolen snowmobile!? I hope no one gives these idiots any sympathy and they get the maximum sentence. People who steal snowmobiles (which is exactly the same as stealing a car) aren't people who just made a small mistake in judgement and killed some deer. They are criminals that have probably committed many other crimes before this one. POUND SAND WISCONSIN!