Sno Cruise Guided Tours and Rentals - Saskatchewan Resort Vacation or One Day Snowmobiling Excursions

WEATHER

Adverse weather, 25 years of riding in the Nisbet Forest and these are the pictures that I have of us riding in snowy weather. In 1990 we arrived at the forest on a very snowy day, but then part of the day was sunny, then back to snowy, then it was sunny again! We rode in the storm at time just following the contours of the Nisbet rolling hills and tree lines and stopping for a breather, and for one member straggling behind. Here we discovered the remains of an old homestead, it's log buildings and relics of old farm machinery. It looked to us like we could see a small lake on the other side of the trees encompassing this old timers yard site through the storm, and it was some 10 to 15 years had passed before we were to ever come across the same site, and discover it's location on a sunny winter day! It was a day to remember and luckily I had started carrying a camera to record it. In 1995 a snow storm came up near the end of the day, and we were outside the forest in an area unknown to us, but we were able to follow our tracks back just before they were filled in! In 1997 it snowed on us pretty good for part of the day but being in the forest we just followed along the trails and corridors which was fool proof, at least we knew where we were and there wore no cliffs to fall off of ! In 2003 we headed out in a fog of all things, which made following the leader easy enough but interesting just the same! It cleared up by dinner time and we considered it to be a unique day and didn't mind it at all, it would be different if our lives were at stake and it occurred on a regular basis. This leaves 2006, our plan is to take one of the longer rides, 160-180 miles [260-290Km] from Macdowall across country to Emma Lake for lunch and back on the 4th of March. Sunset Bay has a top restaurant in the area and it's a pretty cool hike that we sometimes have done a few times a year. There was storm warnings that hit Saskatoon after we trailered to Macdowall. Things started to get interesting right away! Someone forgot their electronic key at home, his wife said that she wouldn't hop in the car and bring the key, but she did offer to drive out and take buddy home! Quite an offer! We were held up briefly while Buddy drove into Prince Albert with his sled on the truck, and bought a replacement electronic key at the dealer. He drove on to the town of Shellbrook on the other side of Nisbet, where we met him at noon and carried on heading N, NE. We had rode through the Nisbet to get to Shellbrook taking the time to hit some new spots, that we often by pass just because we're in a hurry. When it was time to leave the restaurant at Emma Lake it was starting to snow. We were leaving pretty late, it was 4:30 PM at least a couple hours later than usual. We left the gas station at Emma at 4:37. When we rolled into Shellbrook it was nearly 8 o'clock and it had been dark for several hours. Many times we had to just follow tree lines in the both the forested areas and in the rolling forest fringe fields. The "invisible" rolling hills at a steady 50 to 60 Km/hr were at their peak for excitement and our tracks filled in just as fast as we could make them, running boards filled up and snow piled up on top of the hoods covering the headlights all the time! It was not cold but rear ending the sled in front of you or getting left behind was the biggest concerns. The next leg of the journey was to get from Shellbrook to the Nisbet, it was only a few miles but it took some extra time, once a scrub pile came out of the dark snow storm into our peripheral.......we finally recognized something familiar, from here we high balled 'er through the forest and back to Macdowall! Weather, in Saskatchewan we do have the occasional storm but they have never interfered with our snowmobiling. Even our temperatures often dip down into the -20's C sometimes usually over night hitting the -30's for several days at a time, but it is a dry cold, not the humid wet air that feels super cold, chilling your core to the bone like in other parts of Canada. This is why we have such unusual dry powder that is so much fun to ride in!

2006 March 4