Sault Ste. Marie Trail Report – 02/09
SAULT STE. MARIE UPDATE via Sault Ste. Marie Snowmobile Association – 02/09
Good morning!
I think it took Steve a few days to mentally recover from a stressful run down 49 on Monday. Definitely takes nerves of steel to cross the beaver pond the 1st time! He sent me this very detailed report from his perspective on how the run went-
“Thank you to Pete for following the groomer and providing live reports from our grooming run on Trail 49 Monday night.
As reported, Passenger Chris and I left town around 5:30pm Monday night and headed to Kinross on Trail 49. It was our first attempt of the season to go all the way through behind the Chippewa County Road Commision property and across the big beaver pond south of 12 Mile Road. I believe the last time Trail 49 was groomed between 3 Mile and 5 ½ Mile Roads was December 26th.
The trip started out great as we touched up the city trails on our way out of town. We busted through the big snowbank by the substation just south of town and headed south. I don’t think the trail could have been any rougher. We dug the front of the drag in deep and started knocking the tops off the bumps. Conditions were near perfect as we could carry a pile of snow with us and it would fall into the low spots as we moved along. It was a slow stretch as we were running only 3-4 mph.
We continued south and headed towards the swamp south of 12 Mile. Trip was uneventful as we crossed the pond and arrived in Kinross where we turn around.
We headed north on the return trip and couldn’t believe how nice the trails looked. The moguls we gone, and the trail was surprisingly smooth.
We made it to the beaver pond and started our way across. We were just clearing the bridge when I realized we had brown slush and water coming out from the drag. I had just enough time to warn Chris we were in water before we broke through with the groomer. Somehow, I managed to not panic and kept my speed constant. I didn’t want to stop and I didn’t want to spin the tracks with more throttle. There was a string of explicatives from both of us in the cab as we slowly climbed our way out. I had enough snow with me in the drag that it covered the hole we made on the way by.
Overall, Trail 49 is in very good shape. We will be able to groom everything except the pond itself moving forward. Another trip or two through the 3 Mile to 5 ½ Mile Road stretch will have it back to normal.
We are still receiving complaints of riders going off trail on Trail 49. The latest is from the Amish community just south of town. Several years ago, they purchased the land our trail runs across south of 6 Mile Road. It was pretty neat to allow our request to continue using their newly owned land for our snowmobile trail. They said no one person could decide to let us access their land. They had meetings within their community and they overwhelmingly supported keeping the trail where it was. As you ride through there, notice they ran their fence lines off the woods line leaving us enough room to safely groom through there.
There have been riders going off trail and getting into their pastures. Somehow, we need to keep everyone on our trails. If you ride with riders that continually break the rules, find new riding partners. We work way too hard keeping the trails we have.
Steve Lawson”
Great reminder Steve! Please always respect the landowners that so graciously allow access across their property. If you’re unsure whether or not it’s private property, just stay on the trail. It’s pretty simple, really. All of 49 follows private property so just follow the trail please! And let your riding partners know to do the same. After having this trail partially closed all season, riders know just how vital this trail is to our area. Let’s not lose it due to trespassing.
Thanks all! And thank you Steve for your dedication and detailed reports!
Word is that 49 is holding up great!
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