This is a photo album of our (Corey {me}, Laura {my sister}
and Mike {my friend, the internet genius guy}) snowmobile trip to Good Spirit
Lake, Saskatchewan the third week of February, 1998. We stayed at the Good Spirit
Lake Villas at Spiritwood Acres and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, the
trail markers outside the park were taken down the weekend before we arrived.
Monday we drove (by truck) to Duck Mountain Provincial Park because our cabin
wasn't ready when we arrived in the morning and returned later in the afternoon.
Tuesday we snowmobiled to Norquay and back. There was very little snow until
Wednesday night. By Thursday morning there was a lot of fresh power on the trails.
During the day the wind had picked up and made big, fluffy snow banks to play
in! Friday was stormy with snow falling and 40+ kph winds to limit visibility
and create fresh snow banks minutes after sleds would break trail as we rode
to Sheho and back. Saturday we returned to Regina.
Enjoy Our Pictures,
- Corey, Mike and Laura
This is a map of the snowmobile trails around Good Spirit Lake. Usually they are meticulously groomed and well signed.
Monday PM - Our 3 bedroom "Presidential Villa". It is located among the public cabins on the south west side of Good Spirit Lake. It over looks the golf course and is away from the rest of the Villas, the restaurant and the recreation building with the hot tub.
Tuesday AM - Mikes sled waiting patiently for him. It's a 1998 Arctic Cat - Powder Special 600 EFI. The ads for this sled are true, two pulls and it's running.
Tuesday AM - We stopped for a little while to let the sleds cool down and it sounded like a good time to have a cigar. The trail through the park close to Moose Lodge, was lacking snow. In the marsh section, running north (west of the lake), the trail was very bumpy (especially without any snow!)
Tuesday AM - At the northwest shore of Good Spirit Lake we stopped to have a drink. There were no trail markers after this point. We had a difficult time finding the trail at the north east side of the lake that heads to Canora, SK.
Tuesday Noonish - We are a few miles northeast of Canora, SK. The sun was out and the temperature was around 0 C. This is the beginning of many hills on the way to Norquay Warm-Up shelter.
Tuesday Noon - Northeast of Canora, SK. We had found a hill that make the sled feel REALLY light when you came to the top of it! Mike and I were getting about 2-3 feet in the air for about 10-25 yards at about 40 km/h. Boondocking rules!
Tuesday Noon - It looked fun when Mike did it!
On the way back to Good Spirit, later in the day, I was ejected from my sled after hitting a rock with a ski at the top of the hill. I had to try getting the longest jump, didn't I?!
Tuesday Afternoon - It me took 2 tries to make it up this hill. You can see the bottom of my sled between the trees in the center of the picture.
Tuesday afternoon - Between Canora and Norquay.
Corey riding around without his jacket.
It was about +5 to +10 C.
Tuesday afternoon - Corey at the top of the hill. Jackets not required!
Tuesday afternoon - Mike's Powder Special at the top of the hill while he taking pictures of me riding around without my jacket.. Laura didn't want to climb up the hill (chicken!!!).
Tuesday Afternoon - Trail map at the Norquay Shelter. South of Norquay.
Tuesday Afternoon - Corey at the Norquay Shelter Trail Map. We decided to go back via Canora, because we were unsure of the trail conditions through Kamsack and Rhein. The guest book at the shelter told us that all the trail signs were taken down the previous weekend (little did they know what was to come!).
Tuesday Late Afternoon - Mike coming down the trail along the grid road southwest of Norquay. It was about +10 C and the trail was almost totally without snow. On the way back we knew where the trail was through the fields, because it was totally black mud. When we got to Good Spirit Lake we drove on the lake to the south end instead of following the trail that we were on in the morning. That was the first chance we had to let our sled stretch their legs.
Tuesday Evening - South East of Good Spirit Lake. Laura's riding her sled ('97 Arctic Cat Panther 440). My sled in the background (97 Yamaha Vmax 600 XT). We needed to put on a few more kilometers before all of the snow was gone.
Tuesday Evening - SE of Good Spirit Lake. Say cheese!
Tuesday Evening - My Vmax on the trail SE of Good Spirit Lake. Mike is back at the cabin, presumably getting drunk! The trails were mostly barren of snow (the trail is the grass part!). Laura and I didn't make it to the Yorkton Snowriders shelter as planned as my sled was overheating due to the lack of snow.
We had planned not to ride on Wednesday and we didn't. We went to Yorkton to do some shopping, while my arm recovered. Wednesday evening it was snowing like crazy. We couldn't be any happier to see snow falling!!!
Thursday AM - SE of Good Spirit Lake. Mike and I rode to the SnowRiders shelter right after breakfast. The fresh, fluffy, undisturbed snow was get. Life doesn't get much better.
Thursday AM - In the Yorkton SnowRiders shelter. Mike and I stopped for drinks (iced tea - please, DON'T DRINK AND RIDE), warming up (drying off, gotta love powdery snow) and a morning cigar!
Thursday AM - Looking South along trail from the Yorkton SnowRiders Southern Comfort Warm-up shelter. 1998 Arctic Cat Powder Special 600 EFI in the kind of snow it's built for.
Thursday Noon - East of Spiritwood Acres (where the cabin is) on the trail to the Sheho junction. You can tell it's Mike 'cause his helmet is Red! I guess that Powder Special really does go through the deep stuff.
Thursday Noon - East of Spiritwood Acres. Corey coming though the deep stuff. Maybe you don't need one of those long tracked beasts to go deep!
Thursday Noon - East of Spiritwood Acres. Corey coming though deep snow in a ditch. I gotta do this again.
Thursday Noon - That's more fun! I couldn't see for at least 3 seconds. You can tell it's me 'cause I have red skis and a black helmet. Damn this is fun...Did I mention that? Mikes turn next as I brush off.
Your THE Man, Cool Guy!
Thursday Noon - East of Spiritwood Acres. Mike's helmet seems close to the windshield doesn't it. After the snow settles, he finds that the windshield is broken! Not to let that slow us down we fix it with the do everything repair kit (duct tape!). It was very windy, but only about -20 C. My hands froze in the few minutes it took to fix it, thanks to my red hot exhaust pipe it took a minute to unthaw.
Thursday Afternoon - NE of Spiritwood Acres, across the resovoir from the White Sand Reserve. Shallow hills with lots of trees and wildlife. We saw many white-tailed deer on this leg of our journey. We returned to the Villa for supper. Thursday evening after nightfall, Mike and I went for a ride back to the SnowRiders warm-up shelter though many deep banks. On the way back we met up with a guy and his 2 sons. We rode with them back to the Villas. After we were done there wasn't any fresh banks along that trail!
Friday Afternoon - Laura, Mike and Myself at the Sheho warm up shelter (~10 miles NE of Sheho, ~60 miles NW of Spiritwood Acres). It was snowing pretty hard and was windy, but only about -10 C. Before arriving at the shelter we went to Sheho, SK for gasoline.
Thursday Evening - Our Villa in Sheho. Not exactly luxury lodging, but it was economical. Outdoor washroom (said bushes!), heat (wood stove), running water (snow melting on the floor), fridge (pretty much everywhere but around the stove) and excellent ventilation!
Friday Evening - at the Villa. 1998 Arctic Cat - Powder Special 600 EFI. This sled is about 2 feet longer than my Vmax. Loaded up so we can return it to the guy in Yorkton that Mike had rented it from (broken windshield and all!).
Saturday AM - Overnight it had kept snowing. There was about 2 feet of snow at the door. Too bad it wasn't there at the beginning of the week.
Saturday Noon - After we had lunch with Grandma in Melville. We are ready to return to Regina. The highway up to Yorkton had big snow drifts on it. We had got stuck by the store at Spiritwood Acres, Laura and Mike pushed it out (easy!!!).
Saturday Afternoon - On the highway back to Regina. Not drunk, just tired!!!
This is the end of our 1998 snowmobiling vacation pictures.
eMail me with comments or suggestions
corey@cabler.com
