Short bus
New member
With still No Snow on Casper Mt. we decided to load our new to us 1975 yellow Tucker 1644Sno-Cat on the trailer and go cruise Cooke City MT .Area
Thursday Jan 17,2013 we Hitched up the Trailer to the Power Wagon and left our home in Casper Wyoming heading north to Cooke city Via Chief Joseph HWY out of Cody Wyoming. Entering Cooke city on this route in the winter one encounters road closure and need to travel the last 12 miles by snowmobile or Snow-cat, So around 3:00 PM we unloaded the cat and secured our truck in the parking lot at the end of the plowed Wyoming state HWY 296. With the 318 Industrial purring along at 3200 RPM in 5th gear we covered about half the distance to town before stopping to check things out to find the only Mechanical bummer of the trip.(all other bummers to be law enforcement related) It seems that travel at this speed would cause the transfer case to get almost too hot to touch so I pulled out the sat phone and called a friend who is an expert at these things and he said go slower so we did.
A short while before sundown we pulled into town and down the main street (you can drive Sno-Cats on the city streets in Cooke City) to our accommodations At the Alpine Motel. We unloaded and turned on the heater in the room before walking across the street to the Miners bar for what was a very Tasty Pizza.
Day 2 after a not so restful night due to loud drunken snowmobilers we headed for the Daisy and Lulu Trails first Just 1/4mile out of town to the East a left turn lines you heading up the many switch backs climbing the well groomed Daisy Trail .Not a lot of snow for this area but more than other places in the Rockies this year one had to be careful of rocks and logs and such when leaving the trail for the odd hill climb or short cut between switch backs the one finds many of on this trail. After reaching the end of the trail at the saddle between Crown Butte and Chimney Rock we started to head down Daisy hill to a flat ledge when we had our first encounter with the tree cops. (U.S. Forrest Rangers). The tree cop told us that all vehicles not steered with a ski or skies where restricted to groomed trails He told us that since we didn’t seem to know this he would issue us a verbal warning but if he saw us again we would be cited.
Wow after a big brake like this we counted our lucky stars and headed back to town to check if this was BS or not. After we arrived at the visitor center it only took a half a dozen phone calls to find out no one at the US Forest Service knows what the regulations for over the snow Travel in Gallatin National Forest are but they would find out and call back. In the mean time we wanted to go to the town of Silver Gate Montana about 3 miles to the west of Cooke City. Since the highway to the west is plowed the visitor’s center guided us toward a groomed Trail that used to be the main Highway many decades ago. We Cruised under power lines along a river bank on this narrow trail lined with log cabins both old and new passing two couple cross country skiing and dogs. We got to Silver Gate and parked the cat beside the road in front of a business that was closed for winter and walked down one side of town (one block) and back down the other. Stopping by the general store we learned about wolf tracks nearby and not to get on the bad side of the tree cop, also leaned some tid bits about this local and that.
Having had a quick snack we headed back to the Visitor center where the nice lady had gotten information for us on the phone and typed it out for us. It looked like having anything but a boring Cruise on a groomed Trail in Gallatin was out but off trail was allowed in the nearby Shoshone Natinal Forest in Wyoming. Getting Close to dark we headed back to the motel parked the cat on some planks and hit most of the zerks with our ne battery powered grease gun. We took a shower and headed across the street for dinner again this time to the Bistro an unpretentious place that has a little more local flavor catering more to the non-snowmobiling tourists and locals it also serves as a sort of internet Café. As we were seated by the owner we were told the delivery did not come so a few Items on the menu where not available. We sat by the big fireplace and enjoyed a good meal before returning to our room to enjoy this time a Quiet evening slumber. One would have thought Friday night would have been rowdier than Thursday night. But it was very quiet.
Day Three Saturday this was the big day for us we were picking up our Ice climbing mentor and friend to give him a ride to an Ice climbing destination. Our friend Aaron is responsible for leading many of the first accents in Cody’s South Fork Valley. With Aaron we were to haul a reporter from the star Tribune that is writing a piece on Aaron, his Wife Kelly, her dog Nola, and Tanner another climbing friend of ours.
With Jan driving (seat all the way forward) the two girls in the back seat with Nola the black lab and my self riding shot gun the only room left for Aaron and Tanner was the tow ropes and skis.( I think they had the most fun). A three Mile Cruise lead us to creak it was 2000’ elevation gain from there on snow shoes to the base of the climb our route was blocked and we had to back track to an steeper and less direct way around what a slog byt the time we got back to the cat I was ready for bed but we had a beautiful sunset drive back to the parking lot where we said goodbye to our friends before the 12 mile night ride back to Cooke City. Put the short bus up on planks and made inspection before heading for the Bistro one last time.
Sunday Day 4 breakfast and check out of the Alpine Motel headed for the Truck and half ass loaded up the short bus for a two mile drive to the Bear Tooth HWY unloaded the cat and started up the switchbacks for the top of the world store. Found out they were closed for winter Found out Jan threw away the three day old Pizza. Stole Jerky from emergency food supply and Cruised up to make a pit stop at the outhouse at Bear Tooth Lake then Drove up a little past the Warming hut at Island Lake, elevation 9500’ish turned around and had an awesome view of Indicator Peak stopped and talked to some snow boarders nursing their snowmobile with a bent A-arm down the Mountain we stopped at the warming hut to check it out it was like 80 Deg. F in there we stoked the fire for the next travelers and headed back to the car . we were free today to drive off trail as we were in the Shoshone National Forest free from the $5,000.00 fine and six months in Jail for following a snowmobile off the groomed trail in Gallatin National Forest but not free from the glacial deposit of boulders unseen.
It was a good day for the short bus 12 miles from town to the truck and 32 miles round trip up the Bear Tooth and back loaded the short bus good this time and made it to cody in time for Dinner at the Chop house with our Friends Aaron and Kelly then hit the road to spend the night in Thermopolis Wyoming home to the world’s largest hot springs.
After a good night’s sleep and breakfast tit was off to the Star Plungehttp://starplunge.com/ for a soak and then the drive home sweet home by 1:00PM
Thursday Jan 17,2013 we Hitched up the Trailer to the Power Wagon and left our home in Casper Wyoming heading north to Cooke city Via Chief Joseph HWY out of Cody Wyoming. Entering Cooke city on this route in the winter one encounters road closure and need to travel the last 12 miles by snowmobile or Snow-cat, So around 3:00 PM we unloaded the cat and secured our truck in the parking lot at the end of the plowed Wyoming state HWY 296. With the 318 Industrial purring along at 3200 RPM in 5th gear we covered about half the distance to town before stopping to check things out to find the only Mechanical bummer of the trip.(all other bummers to be law enforcement related) It seems that travel at this speed would cause the transfer case to get almost too hot to touch so I pulled out the sat phone and called a friend who is an expert at these things and he said go slower so we did.
A short while before sundown we pulled into town and down the main street (you can drive Sno-Cats on the city streets in Cooke City) to our accommodations At the Alpine Motel. We unloaded and turned on the heater in the room before walking across the street to the Miners bar for what was a very Tasty Pizza.
Day 2 after a not so restful night due to loud drunken snowmobilers we headed for the Daisy and Lulu Trails first Just 1/4mile out of town to the East a left turn lines you heading up the many switch backs climbing the well groomed Daisy Trail .Not a lot of snow for this area but more than other places in the Rockies this year one had to be careful of rocks and logs and such when leaving the trail for the odd hill climb or short cut between switch backs the one finds many of on this trail. After reaching the end of the trail at the saddle between Crown Butte and Chimney Rock we started to head down Daisy hill to a flat ledge when we had our first encounter with the tree cops. (U.S. Forrest Rangers). The tree cop told us that all vehicles not steered with a ski or skies where restricted to groomed trails He told us that since we didn’t seem to know this he would issue us a verbal warning but if he saw us again we would be cited.
Wow after a big brake like this we counted our lucky stars and headed back to town to check if this was BS or not. After we arrived at the visitor center it only took a half a dozen phone calls to find out no one at the US Forest Service knows what the regulations for over the snow Travel in Gallatin National Forest are but they would find out and call back. In the mean time we wanted to go to the town of Silver Gate Montana about 3 miles to the west of Cooke City. Since the highway to the west is plowed the visitor’s center guided us toward a groomed Trail that used to be the main Highway many decades ago. We Cruised under power lines along a river bank on this narrow trail lined with log cabins both old and new passing two couple cross country skiing and dogs. We got to Silver Gate and parked the cat beside the road in front of a business that was closed for winter and walked down one side of town (one block) and back down the other. Stopping by the general store we learned about wolf tracks nearby and not to get on the bad side of the tree cop, also leaned some tid bits about this local and that.
Having had a quick snack we headed back to the Visitor center where the nice lady had gotten information for us on the phone and typed it out for us. It looked like having anything but a boring Cruise on a groomed Trail in Gallatin was out but off trail was allowed in the nearby Shoshone Natinal Forest in Wyoming. Getting Close to dark we headed back to the motel parked the cat on some planks and hit most of the zerks with our ne battery powered grease gun. We took a shower and headed across the street for dinner again this time to the Bistro an unpretentious place that has a little more local flavor catering more to the non-snowmobiling tourists and locals it also serves as a sort of internet Café. As we were seated by the owner we were told the delivery did not come so a few Items on the menu where not available. We sat by the big fireplace and enjoyed a good meal before returning to our room to enjoy this time a Quiet evening slumber. One would have thought Friday night would have been rowdier than Thursday night. But it was very quiet.
Day Three Saturday this was the big day for us we were picking up our Ice climbing mentor and friend to give him a ride to an Ice climbing destination. Our friend Aaron is responsible for leading many of the first accents in Cody’s South Fork Valley. With Aaron we were to haul a reporter from the star Tribune that is writing a piece on Aaron, his Wife Kelly, her dog Nola, and Tanner another climbing friend of ours.
With Jan driving (seat all the way forward) the two girls in the back seat with Nola the black lab and my self riding shot gun the only room left for Aaron and Tanner was the tow ropes and skis.( I think they had the most fun). A three Mile Cruise lead us to creak it was 2000’ elevation gain from there on snow shoes to the base of the climb our route was blocked and we had to back track to an steeper and less direct way around what a slog byt the time we got back to the cat I was ready for bed but we had a beautiful sunset drive back to the parking lot where we said goodbye to our friends before the 12 mile night ride back to Cooke City. Put the short bus up on planks and made inspection before heading for the Bistro one last time.
Sunday Day 4 breakfast and check out of the Alpine Motel headed for the Truck and half ass loaded up the short bus for a two mile drive to the Bear Tooth HWY unloaded the cat and started up the switchbacks for the top of the world store. Found out they were closed for winter Found out Jan threw away the three day old Pizza. Stole Jerky from emergency food supply and Cruised up to make a pit stop at the outhouse at Bear Tooth Lake then Drove up a little past the Warming hut at Island Lake, elevation 9500’ish turned around and had an awesome view of Indicator Peak stopped and talked to some snow boarders nursing their snowmobile with a bent A-arm down the Mountain we stopped at the warming hut to check it out it was like 80 Deg. F in there we stoked the fire for the next travelers and headed back to the car . we were free today to drive off trail as we were in the Shoshone National Forest free from the $5,000.00 fine and six months in Jail for following a snowmobile off the groomed trail in Gallatin National Forest but not free from the glacial deposit of boulders unseen.
It was a good day for the short bus 12 miles from town to the truck and 32 miles round trip up the Bear Tooth and back loaded the short bus good this time and made it to cody in time for Dinner at the Chop house with our Friends Aaron and Kelly then hit the road to spend the night in Thermopolis Wyoming home to the world’s largest hot springs.
After a good night’s sleep and breakfast tit was off to the Star Plungehttp://starplunge.com/ for a soak and then the drive home sweet home by 1:00PM
