Editor's Note: Because of its
participation at the Utah Snowmobile Show last fall, the Davis County
Snowflakes earned the right to have one of its club rides featured in
SnoWest Magazine.)
There are a lot of things snowmobilers
are known for-both good and bad. One of our better traits-at
least one we'd like to be known for-is that we're not afraid to
find the snow and we'll travel to get to good snow.
That was the case this past spring when
the Davis County (Utah) Snowflakes decided just a few days before its
final official club ride of the season to move from its traditional
sledding spot at Fairview, UT, to the Uinta Mountains in northeast
Utah-about 150 miles northeast as the bird flies.
The reason was simple.
The Uintas had just got pounded by a
spring snowstorm and the conditions were excellent for snowmobiling.
Fairview was good but the Uintas were going to be that much better.
It was April 10 and more than a foot of
new snow blanketed the Uintas. Somewhat warm temperatures prior to
the weekend ride had settled the snow by the time the club rolled
into the parking area near Christmas Meadows but it was pretty much
still untracked as we headed south on the Mirror Lake Highway under
overcast skies.
It didn't take long before the group
headed off trail and into the trees as the sledders made their way
towards the Whitney Guard Station, located just west of the West Fork
of the Bear River. While the snow was best described as "spring
conditions," that didn't mean there weren't a few in the group
that didn't manage to get stuck. But there was plenty of help
around and even more good-natured ribbing to go along with it.
Once the Snowflakes regrouped at the
Whitney Guard Station it was decided to head for Double Hill, a
popular hillclimbing area not too far west of Whitney Reservoir.
Double Hill is actually more of a
ridgeline than a couple of hills, with the highest point (on the
south end of the ridge) sitting at about 10,382 feet. As you travel
north on the ridgeline it tapers down to about 10,200 feet. It's
mostly open with just a few stands of trees scattered about, which is
why it's so popular with the horsepower crowd.
We spent a good portion of the day at
Double Hill as several of the Snowflakes worked over the top end of
the hill jumping up and then launching off the cornice. Others were
content playing in the trees-where the snow was still the deepest
and lightest.
Toward the end of the day we headed
north and a bit west toward Moffit Basin to play before heading back
east and then farther north to the parking lot and loading up for
home.
Riding with the Davis County Snowflakes
once again reminded us of the benefits of being a member of a
snowmobile club, no matter where you live. You get to hang out with
friends doing something everyone enjoys-snowmobiling. The day we
sledded there were riders of varying abilities but we all pretty much
stayed together (kind of, sort of) and had a good time. It didn't
matter that one rider couldn't ride as high on the hill as another
or that someone didn't have the latest hardware. The club members
were simply having a good time.
This marks the second year in a row
that the Davis County Snowflakes have been featured in SnoWest.
It's a fairly big, active club that works hard to support the Utah
Snowmobile Association and its mission to promote snowmobiling.
The club, formed in 1987, was started
in Kaysville, UT, and most of its members today come from the
surrounding communities.
For more information on the Davis
County Snowflakes, log on to www.daviscountysnowflakes.org.