Monkey

I went sledding with the guys near Salmon la Sac on Saturday. It was a great day, with lots of adventuring around the area going from bowl to bowl, with lots of single-track along the way. Had some good climbs, and I spent some time trying to learn to turn my sled in a tight circle by dumping it on its side but I didn’t really get it this day. I’ll try again next time. Overall a good day. Here’s some pictures, though none of them are of me!

I went sledding with the OMLB crew up near Gold Creek on Saturday. Good times were had by all. Got a lot of sledding and boarding in. High clouds and light snow now and then with about a foot of fresh snow. Lots of sledding plus me being out of shape equals lots and lots of sore muscles today. Totally worth it, though. Got to learn to ride the sled a bit more. Some fine snowboard runs. Hung out with some good guys. A Saturday well spent.

Helen and I went snowmobiling today up in Snoqualmie Pass, near Gold Creek. We had a good time taking it easy and riding the roads up to the radio tower and back. Helen broke her sled in (it was brand new) and had a blast. Very light snow most of the time. We got some Super Nachos at the bar in North Bend on the way home, too.

We got a sled for Helen, so we can snowmobile together this year. It’s also the sled some of my buddies will use to get out there and snowmoboard with me Arctic Cat M6 153” with added electric start, so Helen doesn’t pull her shoulder out of socket trying to start the thing.

I went snowmobiling a few more times since my last post on the topic, but I’ve been slacking getting more pics up.First, I went out to Stevens Pass after the ski area closed for the season for some sledding and generally goofing off. I went with Tom again and met Jonny and Steve. The weather wasn’t great, and the snow was pretty icy all around, which made the sledding and snowboarding, well, interesting. We did a bit of each, but generally spent the time making a camp fire, roasting hot dogs, etc. It was a fun time.

Next I went back to Gold Creek with the same crew on a beautiful spring day. It was Memorial Day, in fact, and yes there was snow. A good 4-5ft of snow in most places. We had a great time. Lots of good climbing, I got to see new parts of the area, and learn to sled a little more from the other guys. We snowboarded just a smidge. I made a little boo-boo that day, though…

After watching Tom and Jonny successfully climb up the hill from Baker Lake repeatedly, I decided to give it a go. The hard part was going to be the turnaround at the bottom, not necessarily the climb. And, of course, I blew the turn around and ended up off course. I suppose if I was more experienced I would have been able to correct once I was off course, but I wasn’t exactly sure what to do, and I hesitated, then stopped. Pointed up hill. Bad idea. Trying to get going again the sled dug right in and was stuck.

Jonny was down there with me, and he and I pulled on it a bit to no avail. It was pretty hot and sunny that day, and we got hot fast, so we removed most of our gear, including our helmets. Instead of digging, we decided we’d try to roll it over once down the hill. It seemed like a good idea… it was already tipping that way, and it seemed that it would balance on the edge of the trench it’d already dug as it went around. We had a good handle on it initially, but it got away from us suddenly and started rolling. (For reference, the sled weighs ~550lbs and is 10.5ft long.) I dodged out of the way, but not in time. One of the skis on the front caught me square on the face and sent me flying down the hill. The sled rolled 2 or 3 times then stopped on its own, undamaged of course. I ended up 20 feet lower on my hands and knees, watching blood drip from multiple points on my face. Ouch.

Jonny had a napkin that I used to slow the bleeding and we made our way back up the hill to the sled where my first aid kit was. We got me cleaned up and Jonny put my face together back together with steri-strips and Band-Aids. I got a good gash across my brow above my right eye, across the bridge of my nose, and just below my right eye.

Jonny and Tom (who’d joined us once he’d heard about the blood) helped me get my sled upright and turned around and pointed in a better direction. After one false start I climbed up and out no problem. We lounged around a bit, and rode some more, though I took it pretty easy after that. Once we were done for the day we went down to the bar in North Bend where we had some monster nachos, then I took Tom home and went to the ER in Issaquah. They checked me out there, and put 4 stitches in my nose.

I managed to keep Helen in the dark about my injury until I got home. I didn’t want her to worry, and I knew it wasn’t serious. When I walked in and she saw me she said something like “Umm… what happened? Those bandages look a little… professional.” A fantastic response.

Here are the pictures, including a few shots of my face. There’s some more pics in the thread at SnoWest, too: http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152338