Marc and I went up 14A on Sunday and found all the sledders parking at the large switchback that has all the road damage (6200'). We tried to drive further and found 3 foot drifts at the mouth of the canyon and got stuck for the second time already. This is the lowest we have ever had to park. After a long sled ride and many face shots we arrived at 9000' and 30" of fresh pow between Medicine Mtn. and Baldy. We attempted to ride to the SW Bowl of Baldy and found deeper snow that Barnie (Old school Polaris 600)could not handle. After more shoveling we bailed back to the road and wondered if Eric and Mark, from Sheridan, where on the other side of Baldy. Turns out their trailhead at Bear Lodge only had 2" and not enough snow in the borrow ditches to even get started.
We put up our 12m Mantas and got in a marginal session in variable West wind conditions. The wind picked up several times but it didn't last very long and had us stranded from our sleds. I barely made it back and Mark ended up hiking. On the way out we found the WYDOT Blower had made it to the trailhead and we passed him on our way down a mile later. We ended up leaving our sleds and hitching a ride from some friendly sledders back to our truck and trailer.
All this fresh snow is a good sign for roadside kiting when the road opens in a couple weeks. Hopefully the Beartooths got a similiar dump but the Snotel Site is questionable. We should be able to drive to Long Lake by Mothers day and all the way through 14A in the Biggies.
This is why I still live here!
