Incredible Boondocking
The incredible thing about the boondocking here is the trees are almost perfectly spaced to pick your way through. The riding may not be as technical as tighter-spaced trees, but you couldat is your preference, find sections where it was tougher to navigate.
Speaking of trees, there's a fairly decent-sized burned-out section-the last forest fire went through in 2006-in the area we rode that may not be real technical but it's real fun. The burned-out areas aren't the only wide open riding spots in the area, as there are plenty of open meadows and hillsides where you could open up the throttle. Then again, the burned-out areas might be just a little more fun as the burned snags give you some obstacles you have to negotiate as you make your way around. The burned-out sections were an especially fun part of the ride on the first day.
Our general route on the first day-general because we boondocked most of ride, only touching groomed trails going out and coming back in-had us leaving from the Clear Creek sno park, located about seven miles north of Halfway. From there it was a short ride along the groomed trail before peeling off and heading off on an ungroomed trail to open hillsides and meadows with a drainage or two here and there.
We also did a little climbing and playing by the appropriately named Lost Lake. It's a short but steep climb out from the lake. From there it was to the Russel Mountain (7,508 feet) lookout and then on towards Deadman's Point.