Epic Snowmobile Trip

 Last Sunday, a warm and blue sky winter day, Mike drug me out of the house and off to experience and epic snowmobile trip.  We arrived in the McCoy Creek parking lot just before noon, a bit concerned to be the only vehicle in the lot.  We drove the snowmachines off the trailer, turned on the SPOT, our avalanche beacons, and away we went.  And went and went!

Turns out, around here, Sundays are good days to go ride.  About a quarter of the way into the trip, we spied 10 or so sleds off trail.  And that was it.  No other snowmobiles to see the rest of the day.  We had the thousands and thousands of acres to ourselves.  

We rode along Palisades Lake to climb up to Black Mountain.  A stop for lunch of warm tomato potato soup spiced with red chili flake packed in the Thermos which kept it steamy hot.  Further on west until we came out to see the flats of Grays Lake.  As we were in Idaho which requires a $45 per sled permit, and being waaaay on the east edge of Idaho, we continued on the trails alone.  As we turned north, I began to notice outbuildings worthy of an overnight stay if we got ourselves in a bind.  At these lonely spots on the landscape, one remembers it is a machine that is transporting you across the white, loney, open, desolate, deserted landscape.  

The image below is what we call a snow donut.  When the sun hits south facing hillsides on these warm afternoons, snow will break and roll down the side of a hill making lovely donut shapes.  This is a very large snow donut.  Worthy of a photograph. 

At the end of the day, Mike and I got a solid 70 plus miles on the sleds and saw a LOT of beautiful, high country.  The machines worked perfectly and combined, only needed 7 gallons of fuel to top them off.  I wish you could have ridden along with us on this epic trip! 

Our neighbor lost her husband while I was off in Tennessee.  We met at the local amazing restaurant called Graze and enjoyed a wonderful meal and very good conversation.  She is anxious to help me with the garden this summer and I would be greatful for the help!  My breakfast - avacado toast.  Eric, the chef, inspires me with his beautiful, creative food.  On this dish are two perfectly poached eggs atop arugula, pickled red onions, thinly slice radishes, a sliced avacado atop a crispy piece of sourdough bread.  Finished with a slash of pickled mustard seeds.  I came home and promptly figured out how to make pickled mustard seeds!  It was divine!  I am hoping we meet there again soon! 

Lately, I have been following Substack describing themselves as "a new economic engine for culture."  I'm not sure I understand any of it, however, I have discovered some great writing.  I even subscribed to The Department of Salad whose author, Emily Nunn will laugh you right into making beautiful, delicious salads and new tasty dressings.  Just the recipe for the perfect vinegarette was worth the $50 fee for a year!  This lovely piece "On Not Loving a Wall" made me think of all these kinds of people I have in my life (and am oh so thankful for - you know who you are!!).  There may be a day when I move this blog to Substack, but for now, I'll just keep paging through the articles, wondering how it all works......Let me know if you are a Substack-er.  We need to talk!