You know that guys are all just discussing various inadequate vehicles, right?
Every fall I, and a group of friends go out to ride the train and chase it along those backroads. We don’t even air down for Apache Canyon. I don’t think we’ve ever even used low range back there. I keep waiting for a day of snow, although I doubt that can be significantly slicker than the mud on C.5 and D.5 before FR103 (which is treacherous mud, to be sure).
I am positive that from Apache Canyon there are some spurs to get some cool shots of cascade, but I haven’t found them yet. We typically try one or two and then hustle to Osier to make sure we meet the arriving trains.
I’m very tempted for opening next year to get on a snow machine (or maybe even skins or snowshoes) to get to some really new spots. One of these years the snow, and schedule might work out to make that possible. I do have the advantage of youth, and a lifetime traipsing amongst mountains, which is a definite bonus.
Here’s a few pics we got from the Bighorn section house area a couple weeks ago of the Engineer/Fireman’s School train:
Dan