[Wildfire]

The Valley Mountain Bikers and Hikers are hosting a winter trail ride (or XC ski if you prefer). I've been riding out there quite a lot this winter and it has always been ridable (disclaimer: on FatBike) despite a bunch of snow. It's got a lot of terrain, great views and variety and follows along the base of the Talkeetna Mtns between Palmer Fishhook and Buffalo Mine Rds. Here's the official scoop:

Wasilla Creek Headwaters Trail - This is an easy to moderate trail that offers varied terrain - large open meadow to forested narrow paths - and great views of the Talkeetna Mountains to the north. It is a multi-use groomed winter trail and is great for skate skiing or classic skiing, and biking. There are several loops to explore and if you aren't familiar with this area it is a good time to see some new territory. The entire trail system is probably about 18 miles but there are many shorter loops - so plan on a nice afternoon outing. Any child old enough to enjoy this activity is very welcome to join us.

Where & When - Meet at 12:00 pm, Sunday, January 21st at the trailhead on Sun Valley Road.

Directions to trail - From Palmer - take the Glenn Highway to Palmer Fishhook Road, at MP 6.5 Fishhook take a right on Sun Valley Road. Follow Sun Valley around past Wendt Road. About 1/4 mile past Wendt Road on the right side there is a small trail that leaves the road. Parking is on the side of the road.

What to bring ~ bring water, snack and appropriate winter clothing for the activity.

Call our Hotline 761-3636 if you have any concerns about changes or cancellations due to weather.

Come out and enjoy all the snow!

http://www.vmbah.org

 

[R.T.R.]

Do we have to bring water ??

 

[Bearbait]

Nice photo, looks like fun riding

 

[Wildfire]

Bring beverage of choice

I forgot that some of you don't drink water (rusts your pipes) so bring whatever you wanna chug and chunder after the ride. I'm heading out there this afternoon and will post a trail report upon my return. Should have a good turn out from the valley fat bike contingent so if you Anchoragua riders wanna join in we should be able to throw down a nice trail.

 

[Wildfire]

Looks good

Just got back from a ride, not bad, 3" of new snow over a firm base. Some drifting happened on the Great Swamp but overall pretty ridable. There were a few skiers out, a dog musher and a couple snowmachiners so the trail is being packed and the Powder pounder said he was going to run the groomer over it tomorrow morning.

 

[R.T.R.]

Marc, if the conditions stay the way it is right now, how do think sno-cats / WTB Timberwolfs, would fare out there ?

 

[Wildfire]

No problem

Marc, if the conditions stay the way it is right now, how do think sno-cats / WTB Timberwolfs, would fare out there ?

We'll dig you out in the spring Dallas was out last night on Snowcats and did fine on the main trails but had to push a bit on the open swamp areas. I rode it again today and did the whole loop. The main trails had been groomed but were a bit soft still but I think they will set up well tonight.

 

[Wildfire]

Good turnout

Thanks to all who showed up. The trail conditions were excellent. Here's a picture of our synchronized pushing exercise.

 

[R.T.R.]

I'm glad I took the fatbike instead of the sno-cat bike. Nice trails, BTW.

 

[Wildfire]

Thanks for coming out

I'm glad I took the fatbike instead of the sno-cat bike. Nice trails, BTW.

Glad you and Brij could make it, it was fun despite the soft conditions. Hope you're truck's alright.

 

[R.T.R.]

Trucks a-ok , thanks. WE'LL BE BACK.....

 

[The Japanese Bike Pusher]

Pushing?
Ummm ..... nope, don't remember any pushing.
Beautiful trails back there. I am glad that I was invited.
Thanks everyone.
Brij

 

[Bearbait]

Brij, you probably didnt do any pushing,
Pushing would imply that you didnt enjoy it, or work was involved.

Its so enjoyable for you that you've turned it into an entirely seperate activity called
"assisted bike walking" or something

 

[Wildfire]

The man can float

Brij, you probably didnt do any pushing,
Pushing would imply that you didnt enjoy it, or work was involved.

Its so enjoyable for you that you've turned it into an entirely seperate activity called
"assisted bike walking" or something

He possesses great skills. I really don't think Brij did any pushing unlike us mere mortals. I could barely even make out his tracks. Maybe I should go on a diet and lose about a hundred pounds then I too could float like Brij. Nah, probably not.

 

[The Japanese Bike Pusher]

The oldest hindu trick

Levitation - growing up in India they teach you this is elementary school. It's getting the fat bike to levitate with you that is the real litmus test. :nono:

 

[R.T.R.]

Levitation

See Marc, I told you it was a " Johnny Quest " thing

 

[Wildfire]

Just as I suspected!

I figured it was some kind of magic carpet thing, very impressive!

Hey, who started selling fat bikes to light people? The whole idea was as an equalizer/cheating devise for bigger people who used to sink like a stone on SnowCats. Now (gasp) light people are getting ahold of them. I must protest. Don't you know there's a minimum weight requirement on those things?. :nono:

 

[AlaskaRed]

Beware with dogs on those trails

Hi All, Glad to read through the thread and not find horror stories of dogs in traps. Those are the trails I find myself on nearly daily and unfortunately there are a couple of active trap lines out there. One on the Murphy side (~1 mile from 90 degree turn on Murphy rd.) utilizes leg hold traps (which one of our dogs "discovered" earlier this winter) which were only about 60 feet from the main trail. I've also found a small snare set on the "foothills trail" that is due north of the Wendt Rd. parking lot and across the marsh and just the other day I came across someone putting in a new set south east of the wendt parking lot in the trails off the large cut out there. I know these locations are vague, and I'd be happy to elaborate if people want to know. As an FYI, all of the traps are set there are removable without tools, but the snares might be difficult depending on how tight it is. A small pair of wire cutters may be a good addition to the saddle bag. There was also one more I found where the a**hole actually put dog bones in the lower branches of the spruce along with a jar of stinky stuff. All that was left there was a cut cable. This trap I could have hit with my ski pole from the middle of the trail.

My girlfriend and I attended a trappers meeting shortly after our incident and they were sympathetic and thought the people trapping out there are out of line in such a heavily used multi-use area. I tried to get in contact with the trapper that caught our dog but got no response.

Keep an eye on the pooches and enjoy the riding. I wish i had some fat wheels, I haven't been able to ride out there in a long time, so I've been on the twin planks.

-Will

 

[Wildfire]

Thanks for the warning, yours wasn't the only dog caught out there. Hope he's ok. Always something. I think I ran across that trapper parked on the trail with his snowmachine: smaller guy, smoker, dark hair, scraggly beard, blue snowmachine suit? It would certainly be nice if he could do his trapping away from the trails but then that would of course involve extra work to check his sets. This is a problem all over the valley, people think it's the wild west out here. Bike softly and carry a large stick.

 

[R.T.R.]

Hi All, Glad to read through the thread and not find horror stories of dogs in traps. Those are the trails I find myself on nearly daily and unfortunately there are a couple of active trap lines out there. One on the Murphy side (~1 mile from 90 degree turn on Murphy rd.) utilizes leg hold traps (which one of our dogs "discovered" earlier this winter) which were only about 60 feet from the main trail. I've also found a small snare set on the "foothills trail" that is due north of the Wendt Rd. parking lot and across the marsh and just the other day I came across someone putting in a new set south east of the wendt parking lot in the trails off the large cut out there. I know these locations are vague, and I'd be happy to elaborate if people want to know. As an FYI, all of the traps are set there are removable without tools, but the snares might be difficult depending on how tight it is. A small pair of wire cutters may be a good addition to the saddle bag. There was also one more I found where the a**hole actually put dog bones in the lower branches of the spruce along with a jar of stinky stuff. All that was left there was a cut cable. This trap I could have hit with my ski pole from the middle of the trail.

My girlfriend and I attended a trappers meeting shortly after our incident and they were sympathetic and thought the people trapping out there are out of line in such a heavily used multi-use area. I tried to get in contact with the trapper that caught our dog but got no response.

Keep an eye on the pooches and enjoy the riding. I wish i had some fat wheels, I haven't been able to ride out there in a long time, so I've been on the twin planks.

-Will

Better show this to Charlie