Short bus
New member
Did a little Inspection on The Short Bus last Wednesday greased it up and then found about a one inch tear in an inside track belt. I called a friend to wine about it and he said just get out the torch and fix it. So I did. Took a couple of hours with the cutting grinding and welding but before it was dark it was done. I did save however putting the track back on for in the morning as it was getting dark. Thursday morning took a half hour putting the track on and just looking at stuff. Packed some stuff up and goofed off the rest of the day.
Friday Morning checked the weather and it had been snowing hard in the Big Horn Mountains so I called around and got a room at the Elk View Lodge near Burges Junction. Loaded up the truck and hitched up the cat and got out of town about 2:00 PM stopped and had dinner with a friend in Sheridan and drove up the Mountain in a snow storm to arrive around 8:00 pm. I found a can opener and was able to park.
There is no cell service or internet but I was able to stick my sat phone antenna between the window and the screen and call my Friends Tyson and Tom who would be joining me from Cody in the Morning.
The Cody boys where coming along in hopes of finding so hill I could run from top to bottom on so they could ski the 18 to 20 inches of fresh powder. They showed up around 9:15AM and by 10:00AM the three of us where towing the short bus over to unload at Granite Pass.
I backed the short bus off the trailer and we loaded it up every one worked very well together and we were on our way heading up a steep deep untracked face off of the end of a ridge we had seen from the road which when we arrived found shorter than it looked from the distance below We decided to save it for the way back and go peek over a ridge across the valley to the east it was tough on the ridges as they don’t hold snow from the Wyoming wind so you have to wind around the drifts near the tree line to keep in the snow and not scar the ground.
On top of the second ridge 3 miles from our big parking space we found nothing impressive so I kicked Tom and Tyson Out of the cat to ski down to the valley and hauled them up to the top of the first ridge and kicked them out again.
Retrieving them this time required passing our parked truck witch was now surrounded (see can opener) by cars and trailers crossing the highway and wining through the trees for a while. Thanks Tyson for the two way talkies.
Back at the truck we had lunch and looked at some topo rings and Headed East this time some where I am not sure where, back by saw mill pass maybe between Bruce Mountain and Look Out Mountain, but wherever we were the powder was deep we passed between an group of about 10 snowmobilers three of which were stuck bid them good day and turned the cat strait up the face. At one point I spun a little and had to back up 20 feet and pack a few times before we could crawl back on top of the deep snow to gain the summit saddle. Again I kicked out the skiers and made five trips like this.
On My first trip down I engaged one of the snowmobilers in a conversation He said they were watching us and that eight of them where betting against us making it up. Said they all thought we were crazy. I
wished them a good day and finished my last trip around 4:45PM loaded the skiers and headed to arrive at the truck around 7:00PM. All told we ran 7 hours and put on 36 Miles. After a quick drive back we got lucky at parking and went for some surf and turf special at the Lodge.
Sunday Morning we slept till almost 8:00AM we talked over some ideas and concluded we could not tempt fate enough to gain a better day than Saturday. We all agreed. Murphy be dammed we were heading home.
With all the time On my hands I cruised through Sheridan and Buffalo to do some window shopping at the fancy tourist shops , when of all things I was spotted by forum member mtntopper we visited for at least an hour until the cops showed up . But that is another story
Friday Morning checked the weather and it had been snowing hard in the Big Horn Mountains so I called around and got a room at the Elk View Lodge near Burges Junction. Loaded up the truck and hitched up the cat and got out of town about 2:00 PM stopped and had dinner with a friend in Sheridan and drove up the Mountain in a snow storm to arrive around 8:00 pm. I found a can opener and was able to park.
There is no cell service or internet but I was able to stick my sat phone antenna between the window and the screen and call my Friends Tyson and Tom who would be joining me from Cody in the Morning.
The Cody boys where coming along in hopes of finding so hill I could run from top to bottom on so they could ski the 18 to 20 inches of fresh powder. They showed up around 9:15AM and by 10:00AM the three of us where towing the short bus over to unload at Granite Pass.
I backed the short bus off the trailer and we loaded it up every one worked very well together and we were on our way heading up a steep deep untracked face off of the end of a ridge we had seen from the road which when we arrived found shorter than it looked from the distance below We decided to save it for the way back and go peek over a ridge across the valley to the east it was tough on the ridges as they don’t hold snow from the Wyoming wind so you have to wind around the drifts near the tree line to keep in the snow and not scar the ground.
On top of the second ridge 3 miles from our big parking space we found nothing impressive so I kicked Tom and Tyson Out of the cat to ski down to the valley and hauled them up to the top of the first ridge and kicked them out again.
Retrieving them this time required passing our parked truck witch was now surrounded (see can opener) by cars and trailers crossing the highway and wining through the trees for a while. Thanks Tyson for the two way talkies.
Back at the truck we had lunch and looked at some topo rings and Headed East this time some where I am not sure where, back by saw mill pass maybe between Bruce Mountain and Look Out Mountain, but wherever we were the powder was deep we passed between an group of about 10 snowmobilers three of which were stuck bid them good day and turned the cat strait up the face. At one point I spun a little and had to back up 20 feet and pack a few times before we could crawl back on top of the deep snow to gain the summit saddle. Again I kicked out the skiers and made five trips like this.
On My first trip down I engaged one of the snowmobilers in a conversation He said they were watching us and that eight of them where betting against us making it up. Said they all thought we were crazy. I
wished them a good day and finished my last trip around 4:45PM loaded the skiers and headed to arrive at the truck around 7:00PM. All told we ran 7 hours and put on 36 Miles. After a quick drive back we got lucky at parking and went for some surf and turf special at the Lodge.
Sunday Morning we slept till almost 8:00AM we talked over some ideas and concluded we could not tempt fate enough to gain a better day than Saturday. We all agreed. Murphy be dammed we were heading home.
With all the time On my hands I cruised through Sheridan and Buffalo to do some window shopping at the fancy tourist shops , when of all things I was spotted by forum member mtntopper we visited for at least an hour until the cops showed up . But that is another story
