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This is a story about guys you know.
Jeff, the state cop who's investigating a funky murder. Ed, who sells plastics and just bought his 12-year-old a new sled. Bruce, the unflappable guy that not only repairs snowmobiles and all sorts of motorized buggies, but is a pilot too. Chris, Bruce's 22-year-old son who works on sleds so much he can tell you problem points on any model in the last 15 years.
There's also Mike and his pal Don, who doesn't own a sled but makes sure to come on their annual snowmobile safari, riding Mike's older Ski-Doo. This is a story of an annual male-bonding pilgrimage of anywhere from 25-70 sledders - guys who like to enjoy the trails, but also enjoy the tales at the end of a solid day's run.
Everyone is welcome, from newcomers, to the long-time riders and friends who return year after year.
Sled support and logisticsThere are few guys like the trip's sled support man Pat, nicknamed Double D (diesel and donuts!). He's semi-retired and drives the big rig that serves as the support truck. His goal? Just to hang with the other guys for 4-5 days. Then there's Tom, who keeps coming back and spending more time helping Pat because his sleds have broken down each of the last 3 years.
There's Ken who's retired and has a place in Florida and the Soo, but comes up every February to sled with his pals aboard his Arctic Cat Pantera. Ken used to run the show, these annual trips planned for a loosely knit group of Michiganders that share the bond of snowmobiling. He passed the torch of organizing on to Dan a couple years ago. Last year's outing to Wawa, Ont., and well beyond, was a 6-8 month planning process, which keeps Dan, a farm implement salesman, hopping, even during the ride.
Dan makes sure there are hotel rooms, trail permits, meals and groomed trails along what this year was a roughly 800-mile trek. Of course he also makes sure gas is where it needs to be when there are no stations along the trail.
For instance, Day 2 of our jaunt was a super 200-mile ride from the railroad town of Hornepayne to Longlac, a town on the frosty fringe of the Canadian north. But the first gas station (Klotz Lake Camp) was about 160 miles into the ride, so Dan persuaded the Longlac Snowmobile Club to meet us about 100 miles in with a hot, delicious chili lunch, bonfire and some precious petroleum.
Yep, gas is important when there isn't a pump within 150 miles.
Our problem this day was that Sabarini's (the only gas station and store in this area) closed 2 years ago. That was the year, all the riders are more than happy to tell you, it was 35-40 below for much of their 4-day annual ride and sleds and riders were dropping, well, like frozen pizzas from an overstuffed freezer.
So when we wrapped up the morning leg's final 25 miles over ungroomed trails and found Bobby Beaulieu and his crew from the Longlac club waiting alongside the main road, well, chili and hot dogs could have earned a four-star rating from the pickiest eater.
Trail ConditionsOdd, that we had to wrestle un-groomed trails in Ontario, where generally the trails are wide and smooth like sweeping superhighways running up and over the rolling terrain on this northeastern edge of Lake Superior. But the Hurst groomers don't like to smooth the trail toward Longlac, say the snow club members. Seems if you groom only toward Hearst, a lot more folks take the trail, and their vacation dollars toward Hearst. Subtle marketing!
But look at the bright side, you can play in the deep snow along the path toward Longlac until you reach the highway and the A Trail as it heads north and west, to the town. Once you hit the main trail, it's a wide white highway over rolling hills, across creeks and with enough twists and turns to ignite the racer under most snowmobilers' down-stuffed jackets.
The scenery is tranquil and enticing. Tall thin pines (logging is the No. 1 industry here) look like giant Q-tips with snow as the cottony ends. There are barren tracts too, areas where forest fires have charred the terrain for miles. Yet the pines keep coming back.
To be sure, there are boulders buried under some of the huge drifts, so off-trail riders need to be wary and alert. But there are more deep snow areas to play in here than most folks will find in the U.S.'s East or Midwest.
Wawa the launching padWe started our trip about 2½ hours north of the Soo, just off Michipicoten Bay in Wawa (Ojibwa for wild goose). Our rooms were at the snazzy Wawa Inn, a clean, modern, first-rate motel that also offers chalets out back, if you're traveling with a big group. Parking is spacious and easy, and the hotel's food is excellent, so you don't need to drive anywhere once you've settled in.
The ride from Wawa to Dubreuilville is a pleasant one, heading out across Wawa Lake for a speedy start and then winding through wooded trails across another lake or two and then on into Dubreuilville. Here, we slipped into the Heritage Restaurant on the main drag. It's nothing fancy, but the food is good, and it's conveniently a block or so from a gas stop just outside the local mill's main gate.
Winding trails with good elevation changes and excellent grooming will take you into Hornepayne after about a solid 180-mile day. The Centre Inn with its Canadian National Railway's dorm, hotel and mall is THE place to stay in town, right next to the railroad tracks and a short hop from the gas station. There's plenty of sled parking, just across the street. (Note: Make reservations well ahead because space is quite limited.)
Heading toward Longlac the next morning, the 32 members of our group took a little extra time to fire all the sleds in the 8-below weather. An hour or so into the ride the support truck had to take one sled aboard, but mostly this was a glorious day of riding, aided by the club's chili lunch. Trails that afternoon were perfectly groomed, making the second half of the ride seem short.
There are a couple trails out of Longlac too, so you can explore areas like Nakina, Geraldton or Jellicoe, if you want to add a day or so to your trip. We settled in at the Four Winds Motor Hotel, a gem in this remote logging area. One day was spent on a poker run put on by the Longlac club, which went out of its way to entertain the group.
Finishing loopThe ride back to Wawa, again roughly 200 miles a day, via Hornepayne, was as exciting as the ride up. Although the trail markings just outside Longlac, aiming us toward Hillsport, were iffy, we had enough former boy scouts in the troop to finally get us to the Hillsport Wilderness Resort, a friendly log lodge where Mark and Karen Stephenson made us feel at home. Lunch was fabulous as were the tasty Snow Coaches, a local favorite consisting of banic (a native bread) stuffed with onions, peppers, cheese and bacon. Refueled (both body and sled), we were off to the Centre Inn for our last night on the trail.
The A Trail back to Hornepayne was a treat with wildlife along the way. Bald eagles are not uncommon and a few riders saw lynx. Others say they've seen black wolves in the area too.
Wildlife might be the most activity you'll see. We'd gone nearly 150 miles this day before we passed another sled heading the opposite way toward Hillsport. It was a Monday, but over the weekend we didn't pass more than a handful of riders each day.
On this night, the last on the ride, more than 20 guys crammed into a Hornepayne hospitality room, sipping beer and soda and munching chips. We were talking sledding, not just sleds. This wasn't about fast, but about experiences. It was about getting stuck and pulling a buddy out. It was about missing a corner and laughing about it. It was about engine woes and bashed rocks. It was about teasing and being teased.
The next day we'd ride from Hornepayne to Wawa again on beautiful smooth trails, load up our sleds, shake the hands of some new friends and head home. The sledding was fun, but it was the group that made it a trip to remember. There were jokes that we can't repeat and tales of sledding adventures from the past 30 years.
Some were even true!
Canadian travel tips:• Know the range of your sled
• Bring a small extra gas can just in case
• Be prepared to buy pricey trail permits
• Take extra-warm clothes and a full-face helmet. You don't want to lose a nose!
• Zinc oxide helps treat frostbitten or nearly frostbitten skin. Same stuff is used on diaper rash, but it works!
• Gauntlets help to keep the wind off your hands on cold mornings.
• Dial 1 first on your cell phone to get through to the States.
• Have your passport ready at the border.
• Average lunches run $10 and more for dinners.
• Tall windshields are a good idea.
• Carry extra straps and tools for towing and trailside repairs.
• Bring a GPS system if possible.