Snowmobile the Mirror Lake Highway

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The moose stood near the water, surrounded by willowy branches stripped of their summer greenery. We stood quietly on the groomed trail, listening to ourselves breathe in the endless winter silence, waiting for the moose to turn so we could tell if it was male or female. Motionless as a huge brown boulder, it refused to raise its head and acknowledge our presence.

I would have zipped past, oblivious, had other members of our party not stopped first. I was preoccupied by the novelty of my new experience, and isolated from the rest of the group by my heavy black helmet and face shield. Reluctantly, I slowed my trusty steed, slid to a stop near the group and wedged my head out of the helmet.

When it comes to operating motorized and other types of large vehicles (like horses, for example), I’m sort of a dork. So I was surprised to find myself, after a short lesson and a few quick safety tips, buzzing over a clean blanket of unbroken white on my very own rented snowmobile. Several times I caught myself grinning like a crazy person. And when I pushed the throttle, the grin got bigger.

We were riding along Hwy. 150, the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, where every winter, 34 miles of road are closed to cars, groomed, and turned over to snowmobilers. The highway is closed from the Soapstone Campground, 15 miles past Kamas, to the East Fork Campground, 33 miles from Evanston, Wyoming.

There were, it seemed, unlimited miles of trails to explore, so we took lots of detours from the highway. We discovered plenty of wide-open meadows and snow-covered lakes – fluffy playgrounds to skim over and kick up some snow. There’s nothing quite like speeding across a huge expanse of frozen flatland and realizing, halfway across, that you’re sitting on a really heavy machine – which is perched on a sheet of ice – to give your heart a little shot of adrenaline. Suddenly, I wished I’d paid more attention when my teacher explained the physics of frozen water in fifth-grade science. Why did I spend so much time thinking about recess and gym?

The Uintas in winter are nothing short of spectacular. In every direction, there are incredible views that seem to go on forever. It’s like opening a scenic calendar and dropping in, Alice-in-Wonderland-style, to a magical, perfect place. The deep snow gives everything a graceful, rounded shape. Only the bare aspen trees etch the softness with their brittle branches. Pine trees stand black against the snow, and above everything else rise the startling peaks of Bald Mountain (the highest point visible from the Mirror Lake Highway), Ostler, A1 and Agassiz. Since it’s hard to multitask from the seat of a snowmobile (think of dialing a number on your cell phone while driving in heavy traffic), I had to stop frequently, cut the engine and take in the views.

After playing in the snow all day, we returned to our cabin at Bear River Lodge and I was suddenly confronted with the luxury of having a spacious, warm place waiting for me. No camp to set up, no tiny motel room. We had a beautiful cabin with a kitchen and a gas fireplace. All we had to do was unload a few bags from the truck, start the fireplace, and kick back. We discussed when would be the best time to hit the hot tub. I felt like a rich celebrity.

But there was more exploring to do, and we wanted to make the most of our two days in the mountains. So we suited back up and took a nighttime ride to Lily Lake Yurt.

There was something clandestine about starting up the snowmobiles and taking off into the dark forest. Fragmented scenes shot into the headlights – flashes of trees, fallen logs, branching trails leading into the dark – and then were gone. Looking back, I saw the eerie sweep of headlights from the riders behind me, like an old black-and-white horror movie, where a mob is searching for a fugitive monster running terrified through the trees. At the yurt, we switched off the machines, and found ourselves immersed in the black of a moonless night, the sky full of brilliant stars.

If you’re into cross-country skiing or snowshoeing, you’ll find plenty of quiet trails on the Wolverine Trail System near the lodge. The trails are well marked, but you can also ask someone at the lodge for a map. There are three yurts along the trail to use for shelter and warmth. (Of the four yurts on the trail, three are accessible by skiers and snowshoers only.)

We spent our second day with skis and snowboards lashed to the snowmobiles, looking for backcountry adventure. After spending a few hours towing snowboarders to untracked powder slopes, we found an isolated trail that wound through aspen trees and broke out the cross-country skis.

At the end of the day, we reloaded the snowmobiles and took the scenic route back to the lodge. By the end of the trip, I was feeling downright proficient at operating my snowmobile. I managed to mire myself in a snowdrift only once. Both the snowmobile and I made it back in one piece – leaving me feeling not so inept. Not bad for a dork.

Bear River Lodge holds the exclusive permit to guide tours in the Kamas, Utah and Evanston, Wyoming ranger districts in the Wasatch National Forest. They have a fleet of 60 snowmobiles, which you can rent at the Soapstone gate or the Bear River Lodge.

The lodge also offers an "extreme" tour for more experienced riders, an all-day trip through the backcountry from Soapstone to the lodge and back, which leaves from Soapstone daily on weekdays. The tour includes rental of a new powder machine designed to get off the trail and ride in deep snow.

To rent snowmobiles or take a tour, call the lodge at (800) 559-1121 or visit their web site www.bearriverlodge.com. They also have cabins for rent.

Yurts along the north slope are available for rent year-round. Call the Evanston Recreation Center at (307) 789-1770. The yurts are open, so you don’t need a reservation to stop in for a quick warm-up (provided it’s not in use).

If a yurt or lodge aren’t to your liking, you can stay in Evanston and make the half-hour drive from there. On the Utah side, you can stay in nearby Park City or Heber Valley. However, you’ll have a harder decision to make about where to ride; the options for snowmobiling in the area are almost endless, with miles of trails in Wasatch Mountain State Park, Strawberry Valley and Currant Creek just waiting to be explored.

Utah snowmobiling maps are available from the State of Utah Division of Parks and Recreation. They offer a set of seven maps, which cover the major snowmobile trails throughout the state. The set is available for about $6. Avoid wilderness areas, where motorized vehicles are not allowed.

Snowmobile the Mirror Lake Highway

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