Coltdriver
Member
Today I drove up to the mountains west of Bailey (Colorado) and snow shoed up to a place I also visit in the summer.
I had never tried snow shoes but this turned out to be an excellent experience. I have had these for a couple of years but just never had a chance to give them a try. They are Yukon Charlies. Really excellent.
So I park my Subaru at the entry of this forest road and get suited up. My son gave me a set of Multicam fatigues for Christmas, I wore the top over a long sleeve t shirt under a fleece liner the pants over thin thermal underwear, put on a pair of Nikon Monarch binoculars, strapped on a medium sized fanny pack, Danner boots, gators, Pel Tors, wool cowboy hat, mittens that fold back so your fingers are exposed if you want to shoot and a face cover over my nose that covers my neck and velcros behind my head. I always carry a Browning High Power in a shoulder holster when I am in the forrest.
Yesterday I picked up a 23 inch .223 barrel in blue for my Encore. Got a good deal at Sportsmans Warehouse. $199 on sale. I had a bunch of 50 grain sierra loads I had created for a #3 Ruger that I used to have. They chambered with no problem even though they were last fire formed to the Ruger.
The forest road has about two feet of snow on it, most of it fairly firm. The wind was blowing pretty hard about 500 to 1000 feet above me, maybe around 50 or 60 MPH. But in the forrest it was totally calm, the air sparkling with snow being blown from the tree tops.
I start heading up the road at an altitude of 8200 feet. The only sound is a little wind above. There are deer and rabbit tracks everywhere, crossing the road, going off into the forrest.
After a nice slow walk, almost all of it on top of the snow or just an inch or two into it, and about a mile and a half later I am at 9000 feet and the road breaks out into a circular meadow about a thousand feet across. The sun is out, an occasional wisp blows across overhead. It is cold. Easily below 0, but I am warm and comfortable and going slow so that I don't overheat from exertion.
By going around the left edge of the meadow I stay out of the wind. I moved into some very deep snow and was able to walk through it very easily even though I was sinking into it one or two feet. I crossed a place where there is normally a little stream and started following rabbit tracks to see if one might be flushed out of the bushes among the pine trees. No luck but I did end up at the far north end of the meadow. So I picked out a tree stump and tried the new barrel. No scope, just buckhorn sights and a dot at the end of the barrel.
A single shot .223 is great plinking fun. As near as I can tell with iron sights it is a good barrel. I tried it at around 50 yards then at around 100 yards. Then I shot it at a stump about 200 yards away along the eastern edge of the meadow. I followed around the edge to look at the stump and was happy to see that I was hitting it about where I thought I was aiming too.
Now I am back at the entrance of the forrest road to the meadow so I start heading back down. Downhill is such a relief compared to trudging up hill but the cleats on the snow shoes require you to pick you feet up so you don't stumble.
About half way down I get one of two major treats of my little trek. There was a commotion in a pine tree up on my right and there sat a very large Great Horned Owl. Eating my rabbit. One of the prettiest things I have seen in the forrest. I looked at him through the binocs for a few minutes. He looked back the whole time. As I walked by he was no more than 30 feet from me, watching me all the time with big yellow eyes.
I got back to my Subaru and got all of the gear stowed and headed back home which is about 85 miles away. On the way, just a few miles west of Bailey I spot a Bald Eagle sitting in the sun in a tree. I stopped, got out the binocs and got a good long look at a very large majestic bird.
I sure do love those Encores.
I had never tried snow shoes but this turned out to be an excellent experience. I have had these for a couple of years but just never had a chance to give them a try. They are Yukon Charlies. Really excellent.
So I park my Subaru at the entry of this forest road and get suited up. My son gave me a set of Multicam fatigues for Christmas, I wore the top over a long sleeve t shirt under a fleece liner the pants over thin thermal underwear, put on a pair of Nikon Monarch binoculars, strapped on a medium sized fanny pack, Danner boots, gators, Pel Tors, wool cowboy hat, mittens that fold back so your fingers are exposed if you want to shoot and a face cover over my nose that covers my neck and velcros behind my head. I always carry a Browning High Power in a shoulder holster when I am in the forrest.
Yesterday I picked up a 23 inch .223 barrel in blue for my Encore. Got a good deal at Sportsmans Warehouse. $199 on sale. I had a bunch of 50 grain sierra loads I had created for a #3 Ruger that I used to have. They chambered with no problem even though they were last fire formed to the Ruger.
The forest road has about two feet of snow on it, most of it fairly firm. The wind was blowing pretty hard about 500 to 1000 feet above me, maybe around 50 or 60 MPH. But in the forrest it was totally calm, the air sparkling with snow being blown from the tree tops.
I start heading up the road at an altitude of 8200 feet. The only sound is a little wind above. There are deer and rabbit tracks everywhere, crossing the road, going off into the forrest.
After a nice slow walk, almost all of it on top of the snow or just an inch or two into it, and about a mile and a half later I am at 9000 feet and the road breaks out into a circular meadow about a thousand feet across. The sun is out, an occasional wisp blows across overhead. It is cold. Easily below 0, but I am warm and comfortable and going slow so that I don't overheat from exertion.
By going around the left edge of the meadow I stay out of the wind. I moved into some very deep snow and was able to walk through it very easily even though I was sinking into it one or two feet. I crossed a place where there is normally a little stream and started following rabbit tracks to see if one might be flushed out of the bushes among the pine trees. No luck but I did end up at the far north end of the meadow. So I picked out a tree stump and tried the new barrel. No scope, just buckhorn sights and a dot at the end of the barrel.
A single shot .223 is great plinking fun. As near as I can tell with iron sights it is a good barrel. I tried it at around 50 yards then at around 100 yards. Then I shot it at a stump about 200 yards away along the eastern edge of the meadow. I followed around the edge to look at the stump and was happy to see that I was hitting it about where I thought I was aiming too.
Now I am back at the entrance of the forrest road to the meadow so I start heading back down. Downhill is such a relief compared to trudging up hill but the cleats on the snow shoes require you to pick you feet up so you don't stumble.
About half way down I get one of two major treats of my little trek. There was a commotion in a pine tree up on my right and there sat a very large Great Horned Owl. Eating my rabbit. One of the prettiest things I have seen in the forrest. I looked at him through the binocs for a few minutes. He looked back the whole time. As I walked by he was no more than 30 feet from me, watching me all the time with big yellow eyes.
I got back to my Subaru and got all of the gear stowed and headed back home which is about 85 miles away. On the way, just a few miles west of Bailey I spot a Bald Eagle sitting in the sun in a tree. I stopped, got out the binocs and got a good long look at a very large majestic bird.
I sure do love those Encores.
