Quick question for the Alaskans

[Floorguy]

The weather in south central has been sucking big time. I was supposed to be heading down to the resurrection trail for a bike ride but weather and my buddies work aren't cooperating. So the alternate trip now is circumnavigating Syncline mountain on fatbikes. Syncline is behind Sheep mountain. The route will be Squaw Creek to Caribou Creek to Alfred creek across Belanger Pass roughly 30+ miles. Anyone here done the trip on a wheeler or snow machine? I was wondering if anyone knew how the elevation gains were or hazards etc. I am having a hard time nailing down specifics of the ride. My buddy did it on snow machine years ago but can't remember alot of it and has a tendency to "forget" hills. Either way that's where I will be spending wednesday. If anyone has any intel I would appreciate it.

 

[Floorguy]

Well we didn't make it all the way around Syncline wound up following snowmachine tracks down as far as they went down Squaw Creek where the tracks stopped the snow turn to sugar snow and was essentially unrideable.here is a pic of the backside of Gunsight.

Here is a pic of part of Syncline mountain.

Mtn Ops Enduro slushy

A little mid ride Twisted Creek IPA from Talkeetna

Since the ride was short we headed back towards town and ran up Pinochle and by run up it was a run in foot pushing the bike the ride back down was fast and cold here are some pics from the top.

 

[colonel00]

Looks like a fun time. Gonna have to try out one of those fat bikes one of these days.

 

[Violent Hippie]

I am not an Alaskan BUT that looks like a fun trip. I hung up the mountain bikes here for the season since we already have a couple feet of snow. The fat bikes appear to be a good option if the snow isnt too deep or if its packed. Certainly gaining popularity around these parts.

 

[Floorguy]

I need to log on to my computer to edit the title, no need to be Alaskan anymore. Thanks it was a fun trip much shorter than I planned on. The hare and bird populations don't look like they have started rebounding yet. The first trail was where I went for my first bike based hunt in winter years ago. I had a standard hard tail 26" mountain bike unstudded with a bow strapped to a backpack. The trail then was a sheet of ice I fell...alot, came down hard on my bow once to no ill effect and shot my first archery snowshoe hare. While no hunting this trip the ride was much better and based on the amount of sign a bow or firearm would have been a waste of weight.

 

[colonel00]

A little 10-22 or .410 might make a decent, light hunting weapon for the bike ride. Just mount up some sort of hard-sided scabbard for you to draw quickly from. I know those fat bikes are supposed to "float" much better on snow and bog but do you find you still get bogged down and have to put forth a lot more effort or is it much closer to riding a regular bike?

 

[Floorguy]

With fatbikes it all depends on conditions. You can take it anywhere you would take a normal mountain bike though with slightly more effort mainly from having to get and keep that rotational mass moving, personally i don't think it is to much more effort. Then there are the places that you can continue riding because of the flotation the fatter tire gives you i have pedaled some swampy areas i had walked with a regular mtn bike. With a solid base you can ride on top of the snow or following a trail of a machine. Sugar snow is nobody's friend basically it either fell as sand like snow or its snow that was heavy and wet then experienced a cold snap and the moisture got sucked out of it. Running a low pressure allows more float low being around 2-3 psi and with some tire designs it is possible to ride looser snow.

Future rides I might take a 22 either 1022 or pistol. I do have the cogburn gear carrier, it is not what I would consider fast. This was more a touring trip that we were going to try and accomplish in a day with the sun setting around 4pm and the bulk of the trip being the wrong side of the mountains for daylight we decided to not look for critters

 

[adventure907]

Beautiful country back there, glad you were able to get out and enjoy it. I think I can see the spot I killed a caribou a few years back in one of your pictures.