I know that ideally every snowmobiler would like to wake up every morning in a cabin in the mountains somewhere and open the door to see a fresh blanket of powder awaiting them, but in the real world we have jobs and places to be, and snowmobiling is our escape from that world. Some of us live in big cities and travel every weekend to enjoy our sport, but there are some of us that actually live in some of the places that everyone else travels to each winter.  The snowmobiletrail.com staff are lucky enough to live and work in one of those places- Northeast Minnesota.  The snowmobiletrail.com headquarters is literally a stone’s throw away from the state trail and for the most of the season the only travel we do to go for a ride is to walk from our front door to the garage. This week we are posing a question to all of the snowmobilers out there:  If you had your choice to live in one of these two areas which one would you choose- Northeast Minnesota or Michigan’s Upper Peninsula?

            THE CASE FOR NORTHEAST MINNESOTA:  Northeast Minnesota will never claim to be like the mountains or the UP, but what it does have going for it is cold and occasional Lake Effect Snow.  Northeast Minnesota doesn’t get huge amounts of snow (On average 84 inches a year) but winter comes earlier and stays longer.  Early in the season before there is adequate snow elsewhere, Northeast Minnesota not only gets its usual Southern Minnesota traffic but it gets traffic from the UP and Wisconsin as well.  The same can be said late in the season when our friends further south start getting 40 degree temperatures and rain, Northeast Minnesota is still getting snow and once again we are flooded with snowmobilers seeking the last traces of winter.  The disadvantage is that if conditions aren’t right we can suffer from an extreme lack of snow and the season can be short or not take place at all.

            THE CASE FOR THE UP:  The answer here is simple- Lake Effect Snow- insane amounts of it, in some areas as much as 300 inches of snow in a season- for those of you keeping track at home that is a whopping 25 feet of snow!  In the UP snow may come late but you are virtually guaranteed good riding conditions for the entire season once it shows up.

            So the question is, which one do you choose?  Northeast Minnesota, where you can get a very long season but no guarantee that you will have adequate snow every year or the UP where the season may be shorter but you are virtually guaranteed to have good snow every day once it starts.  We want to know.  Go to our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/snowmobiletrailcom/ and put your answer in the comment section and tell us why.  Thanks again let’s keep our fingers crossed for a good year!   

What’s that? A trail update in November? Yes my friends it is true- Falling temps, Frozen Water (As evidenced in this fabulous frozen swamp photo) and falling snow keep inching us toward a new season. We were out doing some trail work this weekend and actually had to ride out to a few places that needed to be brushed- on a snowmobile. We didn’t venture too deep into the woods with deer hunters out there but we are going to have to do more work this weekend. Right now we still expect the trails to be open on time December 1st!  We will keep you updated as conditions change.

You wake up on a Saturday morning, the air is crisp and cold, there are flurries falling from the sky.  The night before you loaded up your sleds on the trailer and hooked it up to your truck.  You load your riding gear in the back seat and drive to meet your buddy in the parking lot of your favorite trail and head out for a great day of riding, but have you ever wondered how that trail got there?  Today’s blog is all about the birth of a snowmobile trail and you might be surprised how much work and planning really goes into it.

                STEP 1:  THE IDEA-  Imagine there is a vast network of trails on the East side of your town and another large network of trails on the West side of town.  You like riding both trail systems but you have always wished there was a connection between the two so you could ride both sets of trails in the same day.  You look on your trail map and you see a narrow section of land dividing the two trail systems and you think to yourself “wouldn’t it be great to have a trail that connected these two large trail networks?”  You can see the route in your mind but then you begin to wonder how such a thing would get done.  You wonder where to start and the answer is quite simple- Your local snowmobile club.

                STEP 2:  THE SNOWMOBILE CLUB- So you do some investigating and find out that there is a snowmobile club in your town and it just so happens that many of the members of this club have had the same idea you had and they have started a committee to try and build a trail.

                STEP 3: TALKING TO LAND OWNERS:  You find that most of the trail that you would like to build goes through private property.  Now comes the hardest task of all- going door to door talking to land owners to get their permission to build a trail that runs through their property.  This is where most trail plans die.  It is extremely difficult to get land owners to agree to let you put a snowmobile trail on their property, but, miraculously this happens every year and most snowmobilers are not aware of it. Many snowmobilers falsely assume that the state has decided to build a trail when in fact it is the snowmobile clubs that have put all the work in and gotten easements from the landowners for the use of their land.  Permanent easements are the preferred way to go but often times trails are built using temporary easements which means the landowner can cancel the easement at any time and effectively shut down the trail. This is why you must respect the law and speed limits on the trails along with obeying the ever crucial “Stay On Trail” signs.  People have given their permission to the club for use of their land- respect it!  Every year snowmobile trails get shut down because some idiot snowmobiler did something stupid resulting in the cancelation of an easement.  These people are allowing you to be on their property and without the cooperation of landowners our trail system would be dead.  If you are lucky enough to obtain the proper easements then the physical work begins.

                STEP 4:  BUILDING THE TRAIL- This is where the actual physical labor of building a trail starts.  This usually consists of gathering together all of the club members and spending hours on end cutting trees and clearing a path through the woods wide enough for the groomer.  Sometimes this means dealing with difficult terrain like swamps and steep or rocky areas that may require the use of heavy equipment, all of which must be rented by the snowmobile cub at the clubs expense.  That is another thing many snowmobilers are not aware of- all of the work done to maintain your trails is done by volunteers.  This includes getting the proper permits from the DNR to build bridges and then the actual bridge building itself. None of these are easy tasks.  All told it can take hundreds or even thousands of man hours to build a snowmobile trail and equal that in expenses.

                STEP 5:  MAINTAINING THE TRAIL- Now that your new snowmobile trail is in place it needs to be maintained year after year, that includes mowing brush, cutting fallen trees and overgrowth, fixing washouts and bridges, renewing temporary easements, and of course grooming all winter long and keeping the trail free from trash and debris- again, all work done by club volunteers.

                THE PAYOFF:  When it is all said and done you have one more trail that can be enjoyed by thousands of snowmobilers every year.   As you can see, there is a lot that goes into your trail system and the lion’s share of that work is done by snowmobile clubs.  We encourage every snowmobiler to join their local clubs because the more hands they have the better your trail system and riding experience will be!

With the recent eight plus inches of snow that fell in Northeast Minnesota on October 27^th the natural inclination among Northern Minnesota Residents was to harken back to the 1991 Halloween snowstorm that dumped 39 inches of snow on Duluth and kicked off one of the longest snowmobile seasons ever in Minnesota, but is early snow always a good thing?  Today we look at the pluses and minuses of winter coming early. 

            BRUSH:  Heavy wet snow can cause huge problems with trees and brush being weighted down leading to  lots of branches, trees, and debris covering the trail.  When heavy snow causes major tree failures t can take weeks or even months to get trails open again.

             SWAMPS/ WETLANDS: The number one complaint about early snow is that the swamps and wetlands haven’t frozen yet and with early snow cover acting as insulation they may not freeze all winter.  This problem was mostly avoided in 1991 for a number of different reasons, for one the ground was cold and dry when the snow started so the snow stuck right away and did not trap a lot of moisture in the ground.  Secondly 39 inches of snow is so much snow cover between a snowmobile and the unfrozen swamp below that the lack of freezing didn’t matter.  Frozen lakes and swamps are essential for safe riding and thin ice covered by snow doesn’t get adequate time to build up and create a safe stable surface.  On the flip side, however, some snow over a swamp can be a good thing- it allows a groomer to pack the snow into slush which then freezes when it is exposed to the cold air and creates a hard cement like surface that is a perfect base for grooming.

                GRANT-IN-AID TRAIL DATES:  In Minnesota, the Grant-In-Aid trails which make up the majority of the trail system, don’t open until December first- which means if you normally ride on a Grant-In-Aid trail, early snow doesn’t do you any good, because it is illegal to ride on those trails until December 1^st, however the state trails are technically open as soon as there is snow to ride on, they may not be groomed but they are rideable.  The only problems that you may have would be state trails that cross the aforementioned swamps that aren’t frozen.

                A GOOD BASE:  Early snow can help create a good solid base, especially on higher terrain that isn’t affected by swamps and moisture. Snow likes snow- so once there is early snow on the ground, any snow that falls on top of it is likely to stay as well. Early snowfall that doesn’t melt can lay the foundation for a fantastic riding season as it created a good base for the groomer to work with as the season goes on.

                CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SNOWMOBILERS SOUL:  The best thing about early snow is that it gets your snowmobile blood pumping right away.  Instead of agonizing well in to December wondering if it is ever going to snow, you instead wake up every morning and there it is, waiting for you or waiting for even more snowflakes to fall and make life that much better.

                REGISTRATIONS AND PURCHASES:  The two groups that love to see early snow the most are snowmobile clubs and snowmobile dealers.  Money is provided to the clubs for grooming and maintenance from the registrations collected by the state.  We all know how bad snow years put snowmobile trail funding in a big bind.  The same holds true for snowmobile dealers, obviously you need snow to ride a snowmobile and lack of the white stuff means lack of sales for the dealers.  A good early storm followed by cold temps send people flocking to the dealer to buy new sleds and registrations go through the roof.  The more it snows the more sales and registrations go up.  This is a classic case of FOMO- fear of missing out.  If you have even a little bit of snowmobile blood in you the sounds of your neighbors cruising by your house on their sleds force you to get off the couch and get your own snowmobile world in order.  No one wants to sit inside as the snow keeps piling up outside, and that is what has made snowmobiling the wonderful sport that it is, snowmobiling gives you the keys to freedom that let you be out in the glory of winter instead of being a hermit until spring.  So since the snow has come early go out and fire up your sled, the trails will be calling soon!

Well we weren’t really on the trail but 8 inches of new snow was enough to bring the sleds out for a little romp in the field!

As the name implies, snowmobiletrail.com is a website that focuses on snowmobile trails.  We eat live and breathe snowmobiles and snowmobile trails.  To get us ramped up for another winter of riding we are going to do a series of articles all about snowmobile trails. 

To understand the vast snowmobile trail network that stretches across the Northern US and Canada you must first understand the essence of the snowmobile trail itself. Snowmobile trails and their locations are not random, they are very well thought out and built with a purpose. Each trail can be classified into one of four categories:  The Destination Trail, The Connecting Trail, The Spur Trail, and the Access Trail.

THE DESTINATION TRAIL:  Destination trails are the backbone of every trail system, quite often they were the first trails built in a state or province and they have a very specific purpose. The earliest trails were cut through the woods to gain access to cabins or hunting grounds or to get to a specific location.  Many of these trails followed old trading and trapping routes that had been in place for centuries and since these trails were already in use during the summer months, it made sense to use them as snowmobile trails in the winter. These trails were designed to bring the snowmobiler to a specific destination, a specific place where many snowmobilers wanted to go, whether that be a lake, a town, a scenic overlook, a bar or a hotel.  In some instances the trail itself is the destination.  There are a handful of trails out there that traverse landscapes that are so grand and breathtaking or are so well constructed that they are an absolute joy to ride.  These are trails that you ride in order to soak up the trails’ essence, not just to get from point A to point B.  We are lucky enough to have two such trails right outside our back door at snowmobiletral.com, the CJ Ramstad North Shore State Trail, which is the most widely visited trail in all of Minnesota, and the Tomahawk Trail, which was voted by snowmobilers as one of the 10 best trails in the United States.

THE CONNECTING TRAIL:  The connecting trail is as the name implies: a trail designed to connect you to something.  This is what is often referred to as a point A to point B trail, its sole purpose is to get you from one area to another. A trail system starts with Destination trails and what branches off of those destination trails are connecting trails.  Typically a connecting trail is used to connect major trail systems to each other.  In Minnesota for example the state created a series of state funded and maintained state trails and then the clubs made a series of Grant-In-Aid trails to connect the state trails with each other or to gain access to those state trails from their clubhouses or groomer sheds. Some connecting trails wind up crossing beautiful landscapes and become destinations in themselves but others are simply a convenient way to get from one trail system to another.  Because of their nature these trails can become heavily used and often times deteriorate rapidly.

THE SPUR TRAIL:  These types of trails are everywhere and they are usually the result of businesses wanting to gain access to the trail. They can also be short trails that hop off of the main trail to bring you to a place like a lake or a scenic overlook.

THE ACCESS TRAIL:  The access trail is usually constructed to provide access for a community to the state trail system.  It usually is a trail that is built off of the main trail and leads to a parking lot so that people can trailer their sleds and have a starting off point, but several of these trails can also be built running through a community so that the people in that community can ride out of their back yards and get to the trail.  In fact many state trails provide a great deal of access to private land owners that live close by. It’s common for snowmobilers that are buying a new home to look for a house that has close snowmobile trail access this cuts down on the amount of trailering for the sled owner and greatly increases the frequency of their rides.  Instead of having to plan out a trip and load up their sleds they can simply just go out to their garage, fire up their sled and take a quick shot through the woods or down the ditch line to reach the state trail and enjoy a quick ride. Trust me, when you can leave your house and be on the trail within two or three minutes, life is good!

I was going to hold off posting anything until the first week of October but the snowmobiletrail.com@gmail.com inbox started filling up with people asking when we are going to start posting articles so I figured I would give everybody a little warm up.  Apparently there are a lot of antsy snowmobilers out there anxious for the snow to fly.  To be honest it is hard to write about snowmobiling when you are sweltering in 80 degree temps in late September.  I even went out to the garage one day to visit my sleds and when I pulled the cover off of one of them it was like “Dude, its 80 degrees out!  Cover me back up and come back when its about 40 degrees colder!” Finally this past week the weather has gotten more normal and our high temperature on Tuesday was actually colder than the high temperature was the day we rode in the Yeti Tour back in February.

A NEW SEASON AND NEW FEATURES

From day one snowmobiletrail.com’s goal has been to keep snowmobilers informed.  We started with free trail maps that you can download to your phone, then we added snowmobile club info, then we added facebook, then the blog.  With the blog came several featured articles on where to go and what to see along with stories from the trails as well as photos and videos of fellow snowmobilers out enjoying our favorite sport.  One of the most popular items we added to the blog were trail conditions up here in Northeast Minnesota.  The reality is that winter comes early here and stays late and Lake Superior provides us some of the best late season snow conditions outside of the mountains and the UP. Every year snowmobilers from Southern Minnesota and surrounding states flood Northeast Minnesota in the early part of the season as we are often the first ones to have rideable snow, we even get people from the UP here early in the year because it hasn’t gotten cold enough to start up the famous UP Lake Effect Snow machine.  The same mass migration happens late in the season when hoards of trailers hit I-35 heading north searching for that last little bit of Heaven before spring takes full hold and the sleds get put away for another summer.  That’s when it hit us, besides wanting to now where to go and what to see, the one thing all snowmobilers want is to know how the trails are.  Yes we are able to give you up to the minute trail reports for Northeast Minnesota because the trails are literally outside our back door but what about the rest of the country and Canada?  Snowmobilers are a mobile bunch by nature and we all want to know how the riding is before we invest the time and money into trailering somewhere for the weekend.  So this year we have added a new tab to the snowmobiletrail.com website, the trail conditions tab.  We have gone around and found the most reliable and up to date trail condition information for each state and province. Now you can find out riding conditions virtually anywhere by logging onto the snowmobiletrail.com site.  After all, we aren’t called snowmobiletrail.com for nothing!  If you don’t find a state or province on the list it is because we have not found what we feel to be accurate and reliable information for that state or province.  We are open to suggestions however, so if you find a reliable site, drop us a line at snowmobiletrail.com@gmail.com and we’ll look into adding it, also Keep in mid that the season hasn’t started yet and we haven’t finished adding all of the links.  In the meantime we have some great articles coming up for you on the blog to really get you pumped up for what will hopefully be an awesome winter- after all, we are way overdue!

Hello everyone!  Well, here we are again, the longest day of the year, which means from here on out the days start getting shorter and snow starts getting closer.  Sorry if you posted a comment in the past month or so on the Northeast Minnesota Snowmobile Blog, the Russians are hacking into the blog and Spamming us to death and we just bulk deleted everything so if you had something posted we apologize.  Let the countdown begin!

            I used to have a St. Bernard that loved the snow.  One would expect a dog that had been bred to rescue people in the Swiss Alps to be a big fan of snow, but this dog was an absolute snow addict.  Every fall when the first snowflakes fell from the sky she would start barking until you let her outside.  Once there was any amount of snow on the ground she became an outside dog for the rest of the winter.  Every spring she would lay on the last patch of snow she could find until every last flake was melted.  Once all the snow was gone she transitioned back to an inside dog, spending her entire summer in our kitchen laying over the air conditioning vent.

Hardcore snowmobilers are a lot like my St. Bernard and for them, spring can be a depressing time.  Over the years I’ve struggled with different ways to cope with post snow depression and I have finally found a solution that makes dealing with spring a little bit easier.

THE SEASONS OF TRANSITION

Much like life, I look at a year as being simply a transition from different stages leading up to the ultimate conclusion of winter.  The first thing to do is look at spring not as the death of winter but a rebirth of a new series of transitions that ultimately leads you back to winter.  I try to forget the fact that snow is melting and look forward to the life that is springing up all around me, the return of birds, green grass and leaves on the trees.  It’s time to wash and wax your sled, lube it up, put fuel stabilizer in it and tuck it away in your garage for the summer.  It may also be time to fix any minor or major problems that developed with the sled over the winter.  This year my kid’s Indy needs a whole suspension rebuild which will be much easier to do with the temperature in my garage above zero.  Now that your sleds are squared away you have to come up with a mental trick to help grind your way to winter and that’s where my transition stages come in.

Besides being a snowmobiler I also happen to be a Minnesota Vikings fan, which in itself is a special kind of added torture.  Luckily the NFL transition somewhat mirrors the seasonal transition.  The typical Vikings season usually ends in late December or early January which is usually when the best snow starts arriving.  You finish out the snowmobile season and spring comes which also means NFL draft time.  As you are checking out the Spring only models from the manufacturers you are also seeing your team building for their future just like (If you purchased a spring only sled) you are building for your future snowmobile season.  Before you know it, June 21^st arrives and the days start getting shorter- yes the hottest summer days are still to come but each day gets shorter and shorter and you are marching ever closer to winter.

SUMMER:  By the time summer arrives you can look forward to a cooler filled with ice and beer on your deck and the grill cooking up the perfect steaks.  Every time you reach into the icy cooler and feel the crisp cold beer on the back of your throat you are reminded of the crisp coldness of winter.  In the NFL you have OTA’s and then training camp and the next thing you know its August and preseason football is here.  Back to school ads start cropping up on TV and fall is just around the corner.

FALL:  This is when things start taking shape and your snowmobile juices start flowing.  The first snowmobile club meetings are called to order, swap meets start popping up and the NFL season gets under way.  The leaves start changing color and October arrives.  By October, the Cleveland Browns  have already been eliminated from playoff contention and clubs start feverishly working on getting the trails ready.  Snowmobiletrail.com starts posting blogs and every day gets a little bit colder.  After Halloween passes you can start watching the weather every night before you go to bed.  You know that the cold nights will start bleeding into cold days, ice starts forming on the pond and any day that early snowstorm could hit and at long last you are back into winter and your sleds roar to life for another season of bliss.  Give these mental tricks a try this off season and see if it accelerates your journey toward what will hopefully be a winter that is less disappointing than football season. 

April 1st marks the official end of the snowmobiling season and it was another poor year to say the least. After two years of horrible snow conditions and an excruciating long off season marked by a major thunderstorms in July that uprooted tens of thousands of trees in Northern Minnesota that took months to clear, everyone was looking forward to what would hopefully be a nice cold and snowy winter, but once again mother nature decided otherwise.  We did get snow, but that snow was always soon followed by fifty degree temperatures and rain which melted and ruined the trails and prevented the snowmobile clubs from getting on any consistent grooming schedule.  There were severe thaws in December, January and finally the ultimate season killer in February. All we can do now is start looking to next season and hope we don’t go through a fourth bad winter in a row.

We would, however, like to thank all of our new followers that came on board this year.  The wider we expand our reach, the easier it is for us to share good trail condition info from around the state.  We still have a few articles to throw out there before summer so keep checking in, and be sure to follow us on facebook for the latest in trail conditions and links to some new features we will have coming up next winter including our new series “Trailside Stops” where we highlight all of our favorite trailside bars and fueling stations that are essential to a good day’s ride.  We also encourage you to check out the Northeast Minnesota Snowmobile Blog Archives where you will find old articles on specific trails, destinations you may want to consider for next years trips, info on vintage sleds and of course some entertaining snowmobile stories from the trails as well as a slew of pictures from our various rides.   Enjoy the off season!

“The approach of a Yeti is often times preceded by unusual changes in the weather.”  -Ancient Himalayan Proverb

            “Chasing Something Legendary.”  That is the motto of the March of Dimes Yeti Tour.  From its inception in 2011 the Yeti tour has indeed been legendary – legendary in its ability to coincide with freak weather conditions.  Yeti Tour 2011 went off without a hitch, perfect weather and an extremely smooth execution of the event, instantly making it one of the premier fundraising rides in Northern Minnesota.  Unfortunately the winter weather gods have not cooperated since.  The ride portion of the event was cancelled in 2012 & 2013 for lack of snow.  Brutal cold hit the Yeti Tour in 2014 but trail conditions were excellent. In 2015 the Yeti tour was hit with an extreme lack of snow, the ride went on as planned but trail conditions were poor. 2016 saw record setting warmth and rain. All winter we watched the extended forecast and everything for 2017 looked great.  The previous weekend saw fantastic trails and perfect temps but a record setting warm up was on the way and that is where my Yeti Tour 2017 adventure begins…

            It was Wednesday night February 15^th and I was making last minute preparations for the upcoming Yeti Tour on Saturday the 18^th.  I knew the forecast had called for warmer weather and I thought I would get a quick ride in on my 2015 INDY SP to make sure everything was working well for the ride.  I was going down the trail and noticed snow coming up through the top of my ski.  I stopped and was shocked to see that one of my carbide bolts had come loose and somewhere along the line my carbide had literally broken in half and was now missing. I rode home and in the process shaved off most of the bottom of my ski to a point where I now needed a new ski.  I went to our local dealer only to find they didn’t have a ski in stock and that it would take until next week to get one.  That meant no riding of the new Indy for the Yeti Tour, so I had to switch to my trusty old 2000 Indy 600 Touring sled.  The Touring sled had been the centerpiece in our family’s sled line up for years, but as my daughter grew up she eventually wanted her own snowmobile and the Touring sled now sits idle and only goes out if we have guests.  Since I hadn’t put a lot into it I gave it a good going over and made sure it was ready to go. 

By the time Saturday arrived the weatherman’s predictions had come true and I woke up to the sound of melting snow dripping off of my roof, I checked the temp and we were already at 37 degrees.  I rode to the Yeti Tour staging area (an advantage of living two blocks away from the state trail) and joined the group of about 20 riders.  There had been over 40 riders registered but half had dropped out due to overheating concerns.  I too was concerned about the overheating issue but decided to give it a go anyway.  I paired up with my longtime friend Allen who was going on his first Yeti tour.  He too had been concerned about the heat the night before but like me had decided to give it a go, we figured that if the temperature looked like it was going to become an issue we could simply turn back.

We rolled out of the Sunset Bar and Grill staging area right at 9:00 AM.  We hit the Hermantown trail heading north to Fish Lake and were amazed at how perfectly groomed it was even with the now rising temps, a phenomenal job of grooming performed by the Hermantown snowmobile club.  We did encounter a few bare spots in areas where the trail ran north/ south and was a victim of southern exposure.  By the time we reached Fish Lake a few riders had already had overheating issues and elected to turn back.  The rest of us continued on to find before us absolutely pristine trail conditions thanks to the efforts of the Reservoir Riders snowmobile club.  We soon reached a well-traveled CJ Ramstad North Shore State Trail that despite the heavy traffic was still in good condition.  From there we turned onto the Pequaywan trail which was in even better shape.  After a quick stop at the Pequaywan Inn it was off to Hugo’s on the Brimson Trail for a fuel stop.  The Brimson trail was in even better condition than the Pequaywan.  It had become evident that the farther north we traveled the more snow there was and the better the trail conditions were in spite of the warm weather.

While we were at Hugo’s getting fuel a conversation ensued as to whether we should go back the way we came or continue on the route.  It seemed that several riders were worried about the rising temps and possible deteriorating trail conditions and going back the way we came meant assurances of a familiar trail that we knew was still in good shape.  I argued that there was no reason to believe the trail conditions would be worse ahead of us with the fantastic job the Pequaywan snowmobile club had done earlier in the week.  Half of the group turned back and half decided to go on.  At this point Allen and I had hooked up with Jim Bianchi, the president of the Hermantown snowmobile club.  The three of us decided to leave the rest of the group at Hugo’s as they decided to hang back and have some food and beverages.  I was worried about the increasing heat and wanted to get back to Duluth as quickly as possible.  At the moment it was 47 degrees, the forecast high for the day, but it was only 1:00 and I thought the temp could continue gong up for at least the next few hours.

As we left Hugo’s I soon found that both of my predictions proved to be correct, the trails remained fabulous and, in fact improved the farther we went, but the temperature kept rising and soon the old Touring sled started letting me know it wasn’t happy.  There was a great deal of hesitation and the engine started giving me a strange tone.  We hit the Yukon trail and rode to the John A Brandt Memorial Shelter and I loaded up my running boards with snow to cool the heat exchangers.  Once we got back on the trail the snow melted almost immediately and the sled became more and more doggish.  I crossed a remote gravel pit road and pulled over to load up my running boards again only to find that Allen and Jim were no longer behind me.  I waited and waited but they didn’t arrive.  I doubled back to find Allen and his 2008 Ski-Doo broken down on the side of the trail.  He was cruising along just fine and then the check engine light went on and the engine just stopped.  We thought it may be hot so we waited to see if it would start, it did not.  Another Yeti group came along and we tried in vain to get Allen’s sled to re-fire. We called the support vehicle crew and told them we would meet them at the end of the Gravel Pit road.  I towed Allen to the road and was dragging him down to the highway to meet the support vehicle when we came across a gate blocking the road.  It was locked and there were huge boulders on both sides of the gate to prevent anyone from driving around it.  Now we were really stuck.  It was so warm out that my sled would overheat if I had to pull Allen any further and the gate was blocking us from moving forward.  I unhooked Allen’s sled and theorized that there was so much snow on top of the boulders that I could probably ride over them.  Allen thought it was an insane idea but we really didn’t have a choice.  I made a ramp of snow and took a run at it and sure enough I was able to ride over the top of them.  From there we pulled Allen’s sled over the boulders to the other side of the gate.  We decided that with the rising temps it would be foolish for me to continue attempting to pull Allen’s sled any further and I gave him a ride to the Highway where we waited for the support vehicle to pick us up.  We loaded up my sled first and then drove down to the gate to pick up Allen’s sled.  When we got into the truck to make our way back to Duluth we were astonished to see that the temperature had risen to a whopping 58 degrees- a horrible temperature for any snowmobile.  Thus ended the ride portion of the 2017 Yeti Tour.

Later that night we all met back at the Sunset for the post Yeti Tour banquet where we ate pizza, gave away door prizes and had a Chinese auction which featured some fantastic items like an autographed Adrian Peterson football, a Yeti cooler (of course) and a snowmobile lift system for your garage which I just happened to win.  The night ended with us giving away the grand Prize for the Yeti Tour Raffle, a new Yamaha Viper, which went to a lucky snowmobiler from Two Harbors, and one lucky person walked away with a baby Yeti. You don’t see baby Yetis every day but at the Yeti Tour you can count on finding things you never expected.

Overall, Yeti Tour 2017 was a success and raised tons of money for a great cause.  What will Yeti Tour 2018 be like?  You can find out yourself by joining us for the 2018 Yeti Tour.  Just log on to www.yetitour.com for more information.  There’s one thing we can be certain about, the Yeti Tour will always be legendary.

Normally after a good weekend of riding we would post some good pictures from the trail, but I had the misfortune of seeing the one thing no snowmobiler wants to see or be a part of:  a snowmobile accident.  I decided to go out for a quick ride and rendezvous with some friends on a nearby lake and just a few minutes down the trail I crossed a road and there was a rider on the other side.  He stopped me and told me to be careful because there was a rider up the trail who had hit a tree and broke his leg and they were waiting for the paramedics to arrive.  Just then the first of the emergency personnel arrived and I gave him a ride out to the crash site.  When we arrived at the scene we found the crash victim laying on the ground with his buddy close by and his sled off to the side of the trail.  In typical snowmobiler fashion he was more worried about the condition of his sled then the fact that there was a bone sticking out of his leg and was more mad that his season was over than the fact that his leg was broken. When the EMS guy asked him what happened I heard the familiar words “I was going too fast.”  The guy was mad at himself for “being an idiot” as he put it.  The EMS guy said something to him that was very pertinent, “Well, look at it this way, the good news is we can fix your leg and fix your sled, but we can’t fix death, so it could be worse.”

                The thing is, it could be worse and for a few snowmobilers every year the worst happens.  Snowmobiles, like any motorized vehicle, are dangerous, and the fact that we are riding on ice and snow in conditions that are ever changing makes snowmobiling a riskier proposition than many other forms of recreation.  Add to that that snow tends to conceal objects buried under it and you get another combination for disaster.  For the most part, however, nearly all snowmobile crashes can be avoided by being aware of three simple things. 

                EXCESSIVE SPEED:  By far the #1 most common factor in snowmobile accidents is excessive speed.  When you are going too fast it makes it extremely difficult to avoid unforeseen objects or hazards that pop up on an unfamiliar trail, field or lake.  We all know someone who was flying across a lake on what they thought would be a nice safe flat surface only to be launched into the air by an ice road or pressure ridge that cropped up out of nowhere.  This exact thing happened to me years ago on my way to my sister’s house.  She lived on a small private lake that was a blast to ride on.  I drove to her house, stayed for a while and then hopped on my sled to go back home.  I was flying across the lake like I had done dozens of times before and then suddenly there was an ice road that someone had plowed in the hour that I had been visiting my sister.  I pulled up on my sled and jumped it about thirty feet and landed in a nice puff of deep powder.  Needless to say I was lucky.  I’ve seen other riders make this same mistake and go tumbling head over heels and destroy their sleds in the process.  Excessive speed on the trail is the cause of nearly all head on collisions every year. Going too fast into a corner can result in you drifting to the other side of the trail and hitting someone.  Excessive speed also accounts for the majority of all single sled trail crashes.  An icy corner can make you lose control or if you are going to fast you can miss a corner all together and wind up in the trees.  The thing about trees is that they don’t move.  In the decades old battle of snowmobile vs. tree the trees have won 100% of the time.

                OBJECTS HIDDEN UNDER THE SNOW:  One of the unique problems snowmobilers face is that snow conceals dangerous obstacles under its magnificent beautiful powder.  This problem faces every rider from the woods to the mountains.  Every year riders are killed or seriously injured by hitting hidden culverts, creek beds, rocks, stumps and barbed wire fences.  I have a motto that I follow now and it can be used anywhere- “If you don’t know, go slow.”  I came up with this after riding through a beautiful unfamiliar field years ago and suddenly riding right off a steep drop off that resulted in a shattered wrist.  Since then whenever I come across unfamiliar terrain I go slow enough to avoid any such hazards.  Even if you hit a rock or a stump, at a slow speed you dramatically reduce your odds of a severe injury.  This rule of thumb is especially pertinent on an unfamiliar trail where there could be a hairpin turn or fallen tree that you ride up on with no idea that it is coming.  Going slow gives you enough time to react and avoid disaster.

                ALCOHOL:  This one is a no brainer.  Alcohol plays a major role in snowmobile accidents every year.  This is one I never quite understood, you are riding on a powerful motorized vehicle on ice and snow usually in extreme weather conditions through the woods on a narrow trail surrounded by trees (that as mentioned earlier don’t like to move) and yet some people think combining all that with alcohol is a good plan. Alcohol related crashes involving snowmobiles almost always result in serious injury or death. The rule of thumb here is just don’t do it.

                If you follow these three simple rules you can avoid wrecking your sled or worse yet wrecking yourself and you will be able to enjoy the beauty and awesome adrenaline rush of riding the trails for years to come.