Snow cat trip

mtntopper said:

Your best bet for safety is to go no further than you are prepared to walk out. A satellite cell phone is the most effective communication tool in the mountain areas.

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I agree with the "walk out" logic and in my area of the country walking out is viable most everywhere I go. But sometimes a radio is handy for talking with friends on a trip with you, calling back to base camp or home, etc. I have a pair of handheld FSR/ radios and while the pair was only $80 they have impressed the heck out of me and we've been able to get clean transmissions at distances of about 8 to 10 miles over rolling terrain. They claim longer ranges over flat ground.

I was thinking a CB might reach out a little better and be much better in the case of any emergency, it also would be convenient if travelling with a group and communications between snowcats was desired.

Certainly a cellphone (again at least here in many areas of the midwest and I presume in the northeast) is a very viable option as well.

BigAl said:

Bob,

I have a telephone but keep catching the phone cord on trees and tearing it off . I don't think i will use it anymore . Trying to rewind 10 miles of phone cord is a pain !

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Al, that is why I won't have video monitors in the back seat of my cars. I know it is all the rage to allow your kids to watch TV in the car, but I really didn't want to deal with the whole issue of adding cable TV to the car. At least that is what I told my daughter

If anyone is considering going with a CB, let me know if you need one. I have several mobile, base and handheld units.

I have a few mobile CB's around. I also have a few of the radios bob was talking about I personaly think the little hand held radios work better as long as they are not cheapies. CB's are AM they only work well in line of sight???

I'm in for a Idaho or Utah based trip. I'll bring my IMP and some of those frosty beverages to share.... A Uintah trip up to Mirror Lake should work without too much regulation hassle!

Dummyfatpigpoo said:

I'm in for a Idaho or Utah based trip. I'll bring my IMP and some of those frosty beverages to share.... A Uintah trip up to Mirror Lake should work without too much regulation hassle!

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Dummyfatpigpoo ????? Man I won't even ask how you came up with that name and unless that frosty beverage bottle still has the sealed cap on it I ain't drinking !!!

No offense, but you make me as nervous a sheep at a animal lovers convention .

You have got to be be related to ole " Mtnflopper (Festus) " with a name like that !!!

BigAl said:

Dummyfatpigpoo

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\

Now I thought that was your "pen name" BigUglyAl. Then again he makes some sense so it can not be you.......

Dummyfatpigpoo, don't let ole BigUglyAl scare you off. You got to remember all he has to talk about is a Krispy Critter imitation snow cat that never even made it to production as it was way to slow to stay up with a little old lady pulling a red wagon.......

TTT...........lets keep this moving forward

I think maybe we need to send out the call and find out who is willing to come to an event like this.I received a few PM's from people out east saying that ID is just to far for them to travel. Maybe if you tell us where you are and how far you would be willing to travel we could sort of find a spot in the center of them all?? As a few have voiced concern of the legality of use on forest roads and such we will have to be very careful where we go?? And OK with local forest service personnel when we do choose a spot. The few states that I seem to find rules about them are very vague. WY and SD seem to consider them over snow vehicles. MN says OK in approved areas and on trails w/o width restrictions?? Cannot find anything in MT,UT that says what they would be considered (snowcats). Well I am up for ideas and people have expressed a desire to get together and have some FUN lets see if we can make this work.

I would consider locations as far east as MT, WY, CO and NM. I gotta draw the line somewhere.

Eric

I would also consider a trip as far as western montana.

Maybe it is good the catters from the East must be afraid they will get stuck in the powder of the west???

Ok, lets seriously think about this ....

Most guys and gals do not have the money or the time to travel a thousand or more miles to play in the snow , no matter how much fun we can make it . I can respect that .
I think we are looking at a more "local regional" snow cat meet than one "big blow out ".
We would have to time this to give anyone time to get it into their schedule . Feb or early March maybe
1. Knowing the exact numbers of particitants for lodging would be needed .
2. Games or runs would need to be considered and set up before we show up and all sit around chasing each others tail .
3. Potlucks,bar-b-ques, or informal dining would need to be considered .
4. I think it should be about a 3 day event. That way 1 week should give everyone enough time with travel time included .

Anyone care to add to this ???

Wherever we end up , I think one of the FFmembers needs to know the area well and what kind of activies we can expect .

I still think Idaho would be a good place . We can pull from Calif ,Ore,Id,Colo,Nv,Wa, and Utah .That would be under a 1000 miles unless your coming from the LA area . It may be too far for Bill .

I had the same idea on the 1000 mi mark, thats where I drew the line.

I'm still game for this idea. As far as I can tell, it seems like California, or at least El Dorado Nat. forest, is one of the most tolerant to our idea I talked to some ENF folks last summer about my Sno-Cat and they were pretty much of attitude of "do whatever you want". there are some X-C ski areas that need to be left alone though.

May be the low #'s of snowmobiles that we have here. may not be creating the over-legislation from all thee use. also I think CA has alot more public lands than the eastern states. I would think ID, WY and MT would be easier to get along with than CA tho.

Eric

Should someone create a frapper map for all those that are interested in joining?

If only people that are interested joined, it may become apparent where a couple central locations would be.

bczoom said:

Should someone create a frapper map for all those that are interested in joining?

If only people that are interested joined, it may become apparent where a couple central locations would be.

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Good idea

Jen's Jeep said:

Good idea

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Fine ! Your elected !!!