8906_MSA_November2024_Newsletter

LAST FRONTIER Grass Jr.

fast, six of us headed for a place that Kim wanted to show us. As we headed out this day, we rode a freshly groomed trail to the North West and then turned north into the mountains. As we climbed in altitude, we quickly encountered cloud cover. Even with both of our “guides” wearing fluorescent orange helmets, it was decided to head for lower ground for the day. This however was not at all disappointing. We ended up going through some beautiful open areas of rolling hills and then descending down through Cache Canyon, which is an active gold mining area during the summer months. We ate lunch overlooking one of the mining operations. The snow in that area was over the windshield of an army deuce and a half! Usually, we had dinner at Kim’s cabin, but this night we ate at Susie Seibert and Rod’s, who manage Gate Creek Cabins. Moose burgers were on the menu and it was delicious. Our last day of riding would be much different than the rest of the week. As we got to Kim’s cabin, we found Dean with a big ice pack on his knee. He had come off his sled the day before on a small climb and twisted his knee AND our host wasn’t feeling well, so our last day of riding would be a group of 3. Our guide this day, would be Randy Bedard. After being in Alaska for 5 days, I would have trusted my life with Randy, which says a lot about him. I’ll talk more about him later as today we headed to the mountains after a quick meeting and decided the sun was coming out. Randy took us out of camp a different route than any other day but ended up in a familiar spot to start our day’s adventure. Randy found some “smaller” mountain ranges and valleys that let us use our new techniques of side hilling and climbing. Randy literally took us the whole length of a mountain range and back, cresting at about 3200 feet in altitude. Bright sun and incredible views were all around and changed at every level. Words just can’t explain the majesty of the area. Sadly, after burning almost half of our fuel, we had to head back. Running out of fuel here isn’t scary, it’s deadly, so we didn’t take any chances. Back to camp and unloaded our trusty sleds of our trailside snacks and unused water. As with every end of day, Jeff and I would retire to camp to debrief on the days ride and compare notes before heading to Kim’s camp for dinner. That was the end of our riding for our trip. As you’re probably wondering, Jeff Miller and I were riding 2023 Polaris Voyager 650s. Jeff’s had a 1.6” lug track and mine had a 2”. They were a great machine with the 650 having plenty of power and smooth deliv ery. The Voyager chassis is a great all around chassis that does well both on trail and in the powder. I’m a Ski-doo guy but I was impressed with the Voyager’s capabilities. I’m sure Chris Gamache is smiling as he is reading this and I can’t write this without Thanking him for the connection with Kim. They are both as dedicated to Polaris as I am Ski-doo and having me on a Polaris for a week had to be just the cats a&& for them. Our host for the week was Kim Bergeron. Kim is from Dublin, NH. He is on the Execu tive Board for NHSA as well as participating in the ISC, NE Chapter for NHSA. He also owns a place in Petersville, Alaska. Kim also participates in the Iron Dog race, doing so

since I believe 2019. Randy Bedard, was one of our guides during my stay. He is a life long Polaris rider, having worked for Polaris for over 35 years, starting in Minnesota. He is also an Iron Dog racer, having raced with his brother Mike. AND, Randy is a Cancer Survivor. He is the perfect guide. Knows his terrain, uses good judgment, watches his surroundings and has tons of common sense and communicates well with people. He may not have been born in Alaska, but he knows it well and cherishes every moment of every day he lives there. We also had another “Guide” join us during my time there. One morning I arrived at Kim’s camp to see this “Hippie Dude” sitting on the couch. I say this as I was profiling him and totally missed it. His name was Dan Bembeneck and he was one of Randy’s lifelong friends as both were born in Minnesota. Come to find out, Dan knew his way around the mountains of Alaska quite well too and could ride a snowmobile with the best of them. Friday morning, after another great breakfast, we packed up the Tahoe and headed to Anchorage. We stopped along the way at Denali Brewing Co. for lunch. After lunch we said our goodbyes to Kim and Randy, then stopped at a Polaris dealer to get some local trail maps and swag before checking into our hotel for the night. Saturday morning, we did breakfast at a little local diner that Dean knew about. Always nice to have a chauffeur/tour guide who knows his way around. Spent some time in the stores of downtown Anchorage getting stuff for people back home then took a road south for a ways to sightsee as our flight didn’t leave until 9pm. A nice relaxing day bonding with my new friends and taking in more breathtaking scenery of Alaska. Jeff and I arrived back in Portland, ME at 2:30pm on Sunday to our awaiting families. A quick dinner at Longhorn’s with Brandy, Dana and Brandon and home to Plymouth about 6:30. A lot of vacation packed into 9 days and back to work at 7am on Monday. A sincere Thank You to Jeff Miller for all of his help with travel plans, nightly bench racing, map gears tutorials, cool stories and an overall fantastic time. Another Ski-doo guy that is a friend for life. It took me a while to digest the whole trip and reflect back on it, kind of a little at a time. To start, the flights were really good both ways, Thanks Delta and mother nature. The meals and food were incredible and I have a very small palette, my daughter says. The accommodations were perfect and our host made sure we had everything we needed. To put the area we stayed in, into words, is not possible. Every elevation, every turn, every plateau, every mountain had a new and spectacular view, unmatched any where I have ever been. The sheer vastness of the Denali region is mind-boggling. Let’s just say, I have never been so far from a road, railroad, power line or other man made object in my life and probably never will be again. I was in a place where, as hard as I yelled, screamed or whistled, no one would hear me. Scary yes, but it was the quietest most beautiful place you can imagine. Now I know why they call it The Last Frontier, and I got to see it on a snowmobile!

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