Riding a sled on rivers in | |||
Alaska was a big change | |||
from the river riding I ’ m | |||
used to back home in | |||
the Upper Midwest . | |||
In the continental | |||
United States , snow | |||
cover gets beaten down | |||
and the best lines pack | |||
into chutes that weave | |||
between the riverbanks . | |||
Up in Alaska , it was | |||
totally different . With |
fewer people riding the marked routes and a lot more snow here , paths |
Sections of the Iron Dog snowmobile race and Historic Iditarod
Trail follow frozen rivers .
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don ’ t get beaten down . |
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There was so much |
landscape covered by feet of snow . Some sections of |
were scattered throughout the river |
there was enough muscle in our group |
snow and the rivers we |
the Kahiltna River had steep , rocky banks that were |
and , with snow piled on top , some were |
of riders , plus a powerful Ski-Doo utility |
rode seemed so grand |
dotted with tall pine trees . |
fun to leap off and land softly in the |
sled , to rescue the machines . |
that it put me into a |
Some of us in the group carved through the powder |
powder on the other side . But running |
We stopped at a special place known |
different state of mind . |
while riding from riverbank to riverbank , pulling our |
sleds down it wasn ’ t a care-free affair . |
as the “ big rock ” on the Kahiltna River |
Rather than squeeze |
sleds onto one ski and , where possible , riding up the |
Some of those rocks and ice shelves |
and it made a fine backdrop for eating |
the throttle against the |
gradual inclines on the shore and then hopping back |
cause eddies where water never freezes . |
our bag lunches . The enormous rock |
handlebar , I ’ d let off the |
down onto the river . Others followed along in the back |
Two riders dipped their sleds into the |
was a few stories high and split so wide |
lever and look around to |
at a more relaxed pace . |
swirling pools and caused a few tense |
that it could fit a pickup truck inside . |
take in my surroundings . |
The Kahiltna was wide and sweeping with constant |
minutes as one slipped deeper while |
Legend has it that this rock was used as |
It was often a desolate |