Dirt Toys Magazine reader and OHV enthusiast Dave Bower recently contacted us and shared some photos from a trip he had recently returned from in central Idaho’s Copper Basin.
He tells us that part of the three-week trip was spent battling snow in the higher elevations, specifically Antelope Pass. He sent his e-mail to us in July.
Bower said that on June 29 some vehicles made it past the snow drift that covered the road but these were 50-inch vehicles. Of course, many side-by-sides are wider and, thus, had trouble making it past the snow drift.
However, Bower said, “That didn’t stop them from getting across.” He said they used boards and a hatchet to make a trail. Once one of the vehicles made it past the snow drift and was on the Copper Basin side of Antelope Pass, it was time for the second vehicle to make its way around the snow. This vehicle, however, was a four-seat side-by-side and the extra length of the vehicle made it even more challenging.
He describes what happened. “They tied a tow strap between the machines in case the second one went over the edge. Damn good thing. At one time, the husband of the first machine told his wife to get in and hold the brake. I wouldn’t have done it. She did though.”
Bower went back the next day with shovels and widened the trail a little more. A few days later, he said, a Jeep made it through. The Jeep driver told Bower that he had the Jeep doors off and he could see how close to the edge he really was.
Later in the trip Bower said, upon bad advice, he and his wife tried to take their Can-Am Maverick Trail up to Star Hope Lake. “We got to the snow and had to back a long ways down the trail. My wife was on her knees on the seat looking out the back guiding me. It was a bit scary. If you go off the edge, they will pick you up with a scoop shovel.”
