The Phazer dropped a cylinder on the way up the road. Turns out the float in the right carb stuck in the up (needle closed) position and the right cyl ran out of gas. Frickin' bumps in the trail bounced it up there so hard it stuck! We lucked out diagnosing the problem, pulled the carbs off, unstuck the float, and in less than an hour we were ready to continue to the top.
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About 1/2 hr. later, we're on top of Jeru Peak. Wind was blowing like hell, I'm guessing 40mph gusts. We endured it long enough for a quick cigarette and a few pics, then dropped off the Southwest side of the mountain into a large play area about a mile away.
Ben's "long track the Phazer project" seems to be a total sucess. The sled had no problem going anywhere we wanted to go. A few bugs still need to be ironed out, but other than that, It seems to be a completely different sled. Congrats, Ben!
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Everything went well there for a little while, until Kris "pickle forked" a tree way the hell up the hillside. Dammit, and he had the high mark too. Luckily, he bailed off the sled just before it hit the tree so he didn't get hurt.
We tried to drag the sled backwards up the hill to free it from the tree, but 4 of us couldn't budge it. I happened to have a small block & tackle in my rack bag that I've been hauling around with me all season, but have never used. We hooked it between the sled and another tree about 75 ft. up the hill and managed to drag the sled backwards enough to free it.
Surprisingly, the Ski Doo suffered very little damage. A new bumper and a couple hood hinges should make it like new again. Kris (who's been there, and done that) estimated the damage to be only about $40 bucks. Whew!
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Here's the block & tackle that I carry with me on my sled. Where to get one for yourself? I have no clue, my Grandpa gave me this one when I was about 8 yrs. old.
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Ben and Kris brought their friend and co-worker, James with them. Nice to meet you, James.
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While the boys were trying to get Kris' hood tied on well enough for the trip back to the pickups, I rode back to the top of Jeru for a few more pics.Look closely at this photo and you can see the blowing snow ripping by from left to right at about 40 mph.Concrete block is one of four remaining lookout tower anchors.
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A zoom shot of the Sundance lookout tower from Jeru. The Sundance fire of 1967 started near here from a lightning strike.
On August 11th a thunderstorm set 5 small smoldering fires to burning at various locations around the mountain. Over the next few days 4 of the fires flared up and were spotted and contained by firefighters. The fifth fire flared up on August 23rd, 12 days after the storm had passed through and was also quickly spotted and contained. Crews manned the fire for 5 days after that, and the fire was considered well under control. With other fires raging in the Panhandle, crews were needed elsewhere and the fire was left unattended. Later that night the fire flared up and jumped it's fire lines; the great Sundance Fire of 1967 was born.
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The fire grew to roughly 4000 acres by noon the next day but with favorable weather conditions there were hopes of confining the fire to the basin near Sundance Mountain. At about 2:00 PM that afternoon winds picked up from the Southwest and Sundance jumped it's fire lines again, this time with a vengeance. The fire traveled 16 miles and consumed 55,910 acres in the next nine hours.
The fire was fed by it's own draft, winds were reported to be in excess of 90 mph. at the trailing edge of the fire. Updrafts within the fire were estimated at 300 mph. A fencepost sized peice of burnt tree trunk was found in a farmer's field North of Bonners Ferry more than 20 mi. away. It is said that the fire generated energy equal the Hiroshima atomic bomb blast every 2 minutes while it was making it's run. The Pack River bridge was nothing but a mass of twisted steel after the fire had passed through. Two bulldozer operators parished beneath their machines trying to escape the heat.
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Looking towards Schweitzer Basin, you can see "Flattop" (foreground) and Mt. Casey" (rear) just to the right of center. One of my goals for the near future is to try to pick my way along the ridgetops to both of these destinations. Any takers?
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