30
Mar
2014
jloomis

Clear Lake & Frog Lake Spring Snowmobile Ride

Even though it is officially Spring now, I am clinging to winter as long as I can. My reward for loyalty was some fresh snow in the mountains. My friend Nick and I took advantage and drove up to Frog Lake SnoPark early Sunday morning to go snowmobiling in the fresh snow.

Frog Lake Sno-Park was empty when we arrived around 8 AM. We unloaded two sleds and hit the trail. There was only about 6-12 inches of snow left on the trail right out of the snow park, but still enough to ride. We headed across highway 26 over to Clear Lake. We rode through some bare patches of road on our way up higher where we found plenty of snow. Then back down to Clear Lake where there was no snow. We quickly turned around and headed back higher up.

No snow down around Clear Lake     Better snow just above Clear Lake

We found tons of snow higher up above Blue Box Pass. This was Nick's first time snowmobiling and he had a blast in the deeper snow off trail. The weather was pretty decent too. We had snow flurries at first and then sun-breaks throughout the rest of the day.

Snowmobiling above Blue Box Pass     Lots of fresh Spring snow above Blue Box Pass

Next we rode over to Frog Lake and then up to Frog Lake Buttes. There was still snow covering Frog Lake, but I wasn't confident it was solid enough to ride across the lake. It was a very bumpy ride up to the Buttes. It got better higher up with the fresh snow smoothing it out a bit. We rode over and down the backside to a large clear cut where we played for a bit on the open hill. While there was probably 4 feet of snow it still wasn't really cover all the stumps and short trees. We never got a really good snow-pack this year in the 4,000 - 5,000' elevation level. Most of the snow stayed higher.

Frog Lake still mostly covered in snow     Tons of snow up on Frog Lake Buttes

Instead of riding back the way we came, we decided to snowmobile down and around Frog Lake Buttes making a large loop. Unfortunately that was a mistake. The snow was fine until we got lower in elevation. We found the same tree blocking the road 2-3 miles from Frog Lake snopark that was there a couple weeks ago. Instead of turning around we rode up the hill and around the tree in the dirt and rocks. I sure hate doing that to the sleds, but sometimes options are limited. The sleds were fine and we quickly cleaned them off when we got back into the snow.

Fallen tree obstacle and very little snow down lower in elevation

Despite are few run ins with bare roads, we had a great day snowmobiling. The snow up high is still awesome and we finished the day at around 50 miles of riding. Getting to the snow might prove challenging in the coming weeks though.

Gear List

2014 Polaris 800 Pro RMK Snowmobile
2008 Polaris 700 Dragon RMK Snowmobile
HMK Summit V16 Pack
GMAX GM76X Helmet
Smith Phenom Turbo Fan Goggles
Columbia Men’s Bugaboot Max Electric Boots
Columbia Men's Echochrome Ski Pants
Columbia Titanium Hightail II Softshell Jacket
Columbia Triple Trail Shell Jacket
Columbia Powerfly Down Puff Jacket
Head Digital Sport Liner Gloves
Outdoor Research Ambit Gloves
Columbia Men's Fast Trek Fleece Hat
Balaclava
Petzl TIKKA XP 2 Headlamp
Olympus Tough TG-1 Camera
Sony Action Cam HDR-AS30V
Sony Live View Remote RM-LVR1
Lifeline Aluminum Sport Utility Snow Shovel
First Aid Kit
iPhone w/NeoTreksGPS
Suunto A-10 Compass

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