Snowmobiling Trip 2013

A few days ago Nathan and I left town to take advantage of a great deal we found on KSL.com.  For months Nathan has been voicing his desire to go snowmobiling but the lack of snow, time, and working sleds have prevented us from doing so. 
Now enter KSL deals.  (If you are not familiar with this click here to find out more about what they offer.)  While just browsing last week I came upon an offer for a Two night stay in Island Park, ID that included one day snowmobile rentals for two.  Perfect for us.  After consulting with Nathan I called to check the availability for the days that would work best with our schedule and ta-da! We were going!
We had a great time.  We stayed at The Pines at Island Park which I would recommend to everyone I know.  We were given our own one bedroom log cabin (with loft, so it actually had two beds) with its own private outdoor hot tub.  Which can I say, the hot tub was amazing!  We were out there watching the stars overhead and feeling the 'sprite' like sensation as the gentle snowflakes landed on our exposed skin.  Magical.



Where they had us park our car.  Between two
old cabins.  Tight squeeze.

Looking down at the great room from the loft.

Snow everywhere but we were nice and toasty in the tub.

The next day we picked up our snowmobiles and gear at 9:30 and hit the trails.  In the morning we took the 20 mile ride down to Upper Mesa Falls which is my favorite place in the world.  I had only ever been there during the summer so I was very interested to see what it would look like with the snow. 

This is what it looks like in the summer.

This is what it looks like with 3 feet of snow.

Nathan and I in front of the Upper Mesa Falls Lodge.  The first time my parents took us to visit the falls we were just driving through on our way to Yellowstone. The lodge was vacant and in a bit of disrepair.  I told my parents that I wanted to grow-up, buy the lodge, and live there.  The National Forest Service as since renovated and turned it into a gift shop and small museum open during the summer months, but I still would love to have the place to myself one day. Click here for more a bit of the history of the lodge.

From the lodge you have to go down a pathway to be able to see the falls.
  Nathan found a fun way to get there a little faster.  Slide down the staircases!

 As we left the falls we spooked out a moose and her calf.  We followed slowly up the road behind them for a while until they left the path.  The snow was so deep that when they were off the road it went up to the cow moose's belly and the poor calf had an even harder time.  We rode past and I'm sure they were soon on the road again.  (sorry no pictures of the moose, it all happen too fast)
For the rest of the day we just road around the trails around Island Park.  It is truly beautiful country made even more spectacular by the snow.

 

 

 In all we put over 90 miles on the sleds in just seven hours.  And we had a great time.  This was our kind of vacation.  No where to be, no one to check in with, out in nature, and having the time of our lives together.  Nathan is already trying to get me to book another trip for in a few weeks.   We will see about that.
On Friday it was time to head home so we packed up our stuff and headed out.  We took slight detour (40 miles) to go up to West Yellowstone to get the traditional snowmobiling silk screened hoodie (we get one every time we go up).  And then another short stop to visit with Grandma and Grumpy near Rexburg and then the long drive home to our big puppy.  Believe it or not we did miss the little guy.

Happy Saturday!!!