Forging Ahead
Not us. We forged ahead, literally plowing through the deep snow on our sleds as we explored deep in the backcountry of one of most mountainous regions in Idaho.
Sure, the weather didn't exactly cooperate, but the snow conditions were phenomenal. And when the snow stopped, the clouds broke and rays of sunshine fell down across this winter landscape, we were stunned at what we saw-magnificent scenery and snow absolutely everywhere. And that's saying something as this was later in March and by that time, sun can start melting snow off the south-facing slopes. Not last March. It would be well into April before that happened in this part of Idaho.
When the call came in to ask if we would like to participate in an Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation-sponsored three-day tour that would include snowmobiling in three different spots each of the three days, our answer was a quick yes.
The diversity of terrain and the amount of area we were going to cover during the three days alone was intriguing. The variety of what we were going to experience was also inviting and very appealing. It was a trip that can easily be replicated by any snowmobiler 
who seeks above-average adventure and is willing to take some roads less traveled.
Day one called for our group to trailer our sleds north and east of Cascade to the Warm Lake parking area, unload and ride to the remote (with a capital R) town of Yellow Pine. Stick to the groomed trail and it's a ride of about 25 miles. We mostly stuck to the trail for the ride but we managed to track up a couple of meadows and hillsides along the way. We stopped for lunch at 
the Landmark Ranger Station, where there's a group of small cabins and other buildings dating back to CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) days. It was near here that we found a few meadows to bust powder in, although we didn't have to leave the trail to find untouched snow. We broke trail in several inches of new snow on the groomed trail much of the way to Landmark as we crossed Warm Lake Summit. Trails lead off from Landmark into every direction of the compass and we explored a couple of them but were soon on our way north to Yellow Pine. The groomed trail we rode is one of just two roads to Yellow Pine, only one of which is open in the winter. That's the kind of remote we like. It was between Landmark and Yellow Pine that a rider in our group pointed out some wolf tracks that crossed the trail. The tracks were fairly fresh, as was the little bit of carnage that was all that was left from a wolf's meal.
Yellow Pine was threatened by a massive forest fire in the summer of 2007 and made media headlines when some of its residents refused to leave. The town was spared and today it serves as a great base camp to explore the 
surrounding country.
This is what it looked like, standing at the base of Tamarack Resort before hopping on the Tamarack Express quad chairlift on our way up the mountain. This is during the ride up and the view once we got to the top of the 7,700-foot mountain. It was quite a change in the nearly 3,000 feet from bottom to top.