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Visiting Windy Arch

Tuesday, July 1st, 2025

A few years ago I went to the base of Windy Arch in BLM’s White Mountains in the winter. I had to turn around as Eddy the dog was having trouble on the steep hard pack. I had wanted to go back in the summer, and finally got a chance this spring!

Nome Creek road was closed for construction, so we hiked in from the Wickersham Dome trail…

Where some smoke jumpers were brushing out the trail – which was a huge improvement!!!

Such an improvement – from last year..

And approximately the same area after getting brushed out by the jumpers..

There were signs of last year’s fire..

And a bit of recovery..

We floated a bit of Beaver Creek, camped, and the next morning floated down to near Wolf Run Cabin.

Then hiked up to Windy Arch!

Photo complements of Peter D.

It was very hot – 85f in the shade??

We camped in the Limestone Jags – so beautiful!

And the off-trail walking was the best I have ever experienced in Alaska – fantastic game trails, and wonderful dry streambed walking!

We had a bit of a slog when we had to skip our plan to hike the ridges back to Beaver Creek.. but it wasn’t horrible, just not great..

And it did end.. yay!

The last day we hiked the Summit Trail out, dodging thunderstorms, and just making it out before a big one came in. A few days later, the whole area was closed due to two fires likely started by those storms. Summer in Alaska alas!

This trip was a blast, but if I was to do it again (which I might, it the better parts were really scenic! ) – I would float from ophir creek campground to where Fossil Creek enters Beaver Creek, hike up into the Jags, then out either over Cache Mt or the divide. That would mostly have good walking, and miss the tussock slogs part.
I hope everyone is enjoying summer!

Tags: beaver creek, caribou bluff cabin, packrafting, stub, white mountains, windy arch, wolf run cabin
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2022 WM100

Tuesday, March 29th, 2022

As sort of a last minute thing I signed up for the White Mountains 100 last fall, in a last minute panic that another winter would go by and I wouldn’t do anything “fun”. I ended up being on the waitlist, and promptly forgot about it. Fast forward several months, and a few weeks out Stacy the organizer told me I was in, just as I got back from the Iditarod Trail Invitational. My motivation was a bit lacking, but I said yes, and thus found myself at the starting line at a wonderful 8am morning. I went out as hard as I could, and stayed riding as hard as I could. It was much hotter than I expected, and I was overheating right out of the start, and missed my tire pressure by a lot. When I finally stopped to put more air in just after the first checkpoint I put in 30 pumps, and it was noticeably faster. Duh! 45 ish miles in I tapered it back as my legs and body started objecting loudly. By Borealis I was pretty toast, and was having a hard time eating, and went pretty darn slow for the last 20 miles. Such is life. It was fun though, the second most fun I have ever had in this race (the first being 2019 when I rode it with my wife Nancy). I didn’t do as well as I would have liked, though better than I deserve for not getting in much high intensity riding this winter.

The weather was fantastic!

I didn’t plan my food very well, and ended up having trouble eating after the first 50 miles, but such is life. I had a blast though.

A few miles out from the finish I saw Tyson F riding towards me, and I stopped and congratulated him on his win. He said something about riding around the loop again, and I thought he was joking. It turned out he was serous, and he did another lap, finishing before the cut off. Wow!

When I finished I checked in with the headquarters to see how everything is working, as I provided the laptop, and a few other computer items for them, but alas, apparently I suck at it as I gave them the wrong charger cord and they had to round up another computer. Duh! Next year I will have to be a bit more organized about it I guess, I felt pretty bad to have messed that up. Fortunately they found something that worked out so it wasn’t the end of the world, but I should have screwed that up!

A huge thank you to everyone who makes this race happen, as always it is the most fun 100 mile snow race out there!

Photos:

Strava:

Tags: snow biking, stub, white mountains, white mountains 100
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White Mountains Loop..

Wednesday, January 26th, 2022

Social media media reminded me that I normally ride around the White Mountains NRA’s main “loop”, which is a great 100 mile loop though most of the interesting parts in early January, and inspired, I booked a cabin trip. Then snow came (and lots of it!) and slowly the trails improved.. then more snow. So I moved the trip, and finally, with news that the far part of the loop was in, and with a forecast warm weather into the teens it was on.

The Whites are a special place for me..

The first day Eddy the dog and I (Shiloh the dog stayed home, as he isn’t into long days, the Twins had school, and Nancy had work and nicely took over parenting duties) rode to Cache Mountain Cabin.

It was beautiful, but cold – near zero Fahrenheit up high..

It was much colder down low, and when Eddy and I crossed Beaver Creek it was surprisingly cold. Cold enough my face felt numb in the still air. When we arrived at the cabin it felt a fair bit warmer, and it was -20f. The evening in Cache Mt cabin was spent relaxing and enjoying the evening, warmed by the huge stockpile of wood the “wood fairies” (aka previous visitors) had left us.
I was a bit saddened to see a big dent burned into the wall of the cabin – it looked like someone had hung a lantern on the wall of the cabin, and it at set fire the wall, burning a sizable dent in it. Sad..

The next day Eddy and I rode over the divide to Windy Gap Cabin. I was hoping for a good trail, but was prepared to walk the whole way. Fortunately the trail was great! Alas, it was overcast with lightly falling snow so not very scenic, and I didn’t take a lot of photos.. The ride up to the pass was warm, and soon after leaving the cabin it warmed up to well into the teens, which was great. I was so warm I took off a bunch of layers as a rode up to the top, following the tracks of a large wolverine (no photos alas) most of the way to the top.

The ice lakes were mellow, with very little water..

I did find a dog bootie on the ice lakes with “fulda” written all over it. Later I put it on Eddy, joking it was his “Euro clubbing wear” with some folks we passed. It turns out it is a classic, from the 1997 Yukon Quest dog race! Amazing it is still around..

I have been bringing a small large mouth vacuum insulated container for lunches, and that has been rocking – it is so nice to have a hot lunch quickly while riding..

It was much colder on other side of pass (or divide as folks like to call it), and I nearly froze my butt off until I stopped and added layers.

Shortly after the ice lakes the trail got a lot softer with no traffic since the last snowfall, and while it was still ridable, it was slow and high resistance.

Some bike selfies..

The wood fairies were out in force again, and I was happy to see a huge amount of wood at Windy Gap cabin. Yay!!

The evening was spend warm and mellow, listening to the wind howl outside.

Late in the evening a big dog team arrived with a snowmachine and a huge sled that made a wonderful looking trail. They were heading to wolf run cabin and were a bit lost, we chatted for a bit, then they were off. The next day we headed out to complete the loop, excited by a much warmer and calmer day.
The trails were busy on the way out, and I saw lots of people I knew..

Yay for a nice three day trip in the Whites! I returned to town a bit beat, but very enlivened by the trip that was ordinary enough I feel a little silly writing about it. Double yay for fun ordinary adventures!

Tags: cache mt cabin, Eddy, snow biking, stub, white mountains, windy gap cabin
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Cache Mountain Cabin with the dogs

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2020

Cache Mountain Cabin with the dogs

I have been a bit lost as what to do lately. COVID has hit my plans just like it has affected everyone else’s. I don’t have any big races or events planned, nothing to train for.. and no solid plans for winter adventures this season. It isn’t bad – my family and I are healthy, I am still employed, and life is going just fine. Just the idea of no adventures on the horizon has me a bit down and a bit directionless. It isn’t the end of the world, and I am sure I will find an adventure to look forward too..

Randomly checking the White Mountains NRA reservation system I noticed Cache Mountain Cabin was open and unbooked for Sunday night. After checking with my wife Nancy and my managers (aka Molly and Lizzy) I booked it, packed, and headed out Sunday for a last minute overnight trip.

I was glad I did…

Great views..

A big moon..

And lots of quality time with the dogs. Including Ed(dy) the silly 2 year old pup.

On a new bike..

The trails were mostly empty Sunday, and I didn’t see anyone Monday.

Stay well!

Tags: cache mt cabin, Ed(dy), mckay creek trail, Shiloh, stub, white mountains
Posted in biking, Randomness | 3 Comments »

And Now Winter!

Wednesday, December 18th, 2019

I have done a few overnight trips so far this year, all to cabins in the White Mountain NRA. I love the Whites – it is nearby, has great trails, and a wonderful cabin system. So when I received a last minute invitation to Windy Gap cabin I jumped at the offer. I was even more excited after calling BLM to see if they had any information on the trail conditions to learn they had just broken it out. Hurrah!

Windy Gap cabin is 30 miles from the Colorado Creek trail head I came in on, and the ride in was scenic, but a bit slow.

There were tons of caribou tracks and more wolf tracks than I think I had seen in my entire life so far. It is great to see such a healthy ecosystem. Near Beaver creek I saw a small herd of caribou who took off soon after seeing us.. fortunately Eddy the dog didn’t chase them.

It was much colder than I expected , the forecast was for a high of 16f, and a low near zero. It turned out more like a low of -20f, and a high of zero, with a few sections of brisk wind. I wasn’t dressed quite warm enough, but I survived, and it was a good wake-up to winter riding conditions.

The trail was mostly in very good shape. The section from wolf run cabin to windy gap had been broken out just a few days before, and it was in great shape for biking.

Near the cabin the only crossing of Fossil Creek was a bit iffy, with shelf ice hanging a foot or so above the creek, which was maybe a foot to a foot and a half deep. No big deal on skis or a bike, but it could be an issue for a snowmachine, as it could be hard to get it the front out to make it out of the creek if it goes in…

The evening in the cabin was pretty mellow. The host arrived on skis a few hours after I did, but took only slightly longer than me to get in. On skis this was an achievement as the conditions were less than ideal for skiing – hardcore!

In the morning we headed out, enjoying the nice walk up the hill, then the long downhill to Wolf Run cabin..

There was a few miles of tussocks and low snow cover outside Wolf Run cabin. Maybe not the best skiing, but it was fine for biking. Though I was a bit worried about getting a flat..