2006
Journal Entries Day 1-5
Day
1: (Thursday,
February 16th, 2006) We
arrived safely in Searchmont, Ont. late Thursday evening at 7 P.M.
We started Thursday morning in St. Ignace, MI. at the Quality Inn. We left
at 8:00 A.M. and rode north and then east across the eastern UP, riding
to Detour Village and taking the ferry to Drummond Island. We stopped for
lunch at a bar before riding across the ice bridge to St. Joesph Island,
Ont. It was windy and snowing, making it hard to see the stakes or christmas
trees that marked the way across the lake. When we arrived on the island,
we were greeted by a small brick building with a sign that said "Custom
Phone" . To clear customs we had to pickup a phone inside this building
and answer questions about where we were born and model and make of our
snowmobile.
Entering Canada at Customs and historical marker
We rode the short
distance across the island and then tried to find the ice bridge to the
mainland. At first we could not find it due to the increasing blowing snow,
using the GPS we were able to locate the 1st marker and proceded the 7
miles across to Bruce Mines, Ont. If the wind and blowing snow had increased
much more we would have been forced to stay on the island, not sure where?
Riding on torward Searchmont, Ont. we ended up on the wrong trail (very
poorly marked) and had to navigate using the GPS and ride on back roads
to get us back to the main trail. Unfortunately we did not plan for this
and now would be very tight on fuel to get to our destination.. by late
afternoon the snow was coming down very hard and made visablity difficult!
We arrived at the only gas station in Searchmont, Ont. to discover they
were out of gas and the gas truck had slide off the road and the earliest
would be around 9:00 A.M. in the morning before they would get any fuel.
We then realized that John'sled had just ran out of fuel! We had to tow
him the last few miles to the cabin we had rented. We rode 224 miles today
and were very hungry! We tried to get some food at a Ski resort, but only
found a bunch of Skiers and a under staffed bar. We got to the only store
in town just before it closed and picked up a few things... John and Pete
made up a killer Chicken Parmesan over pasta. Tbone volunteered to keep
the wood stove stoked over night while the rest of us slept very good!
While outside the temps dropped below 0 and a hard snow fell!
Our rides for 2006
Day
2: (Friday,
February 17th, 2006) We
got up early to about 6 inches of fresh snow (about 4ft total on the ground).
Pete and Betty cooked up a HOT breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast! After
using up our spare gas and borrowing some more from the owner of the cabin
we rented, we got on the trail about 8:00 A.M. and headed north toward
Wawa, Ont. The ride was spectacular, fresh show up to a foot and beautiful
scenery, too bad no one got out their camera? We arrived at noon at a Canadian
outpost called "Half-Way Haven" after riding a 100 miles!
Half-Way Haven - all the comforts of home, restaurant, rooms to rent,
showers and gas! this place is self-contained with generators, satellite
TV and radio-phone.
After a hot lunch
and warming up, we rode north toward our ultimate destination of Dubreuilville,
Ont. we decided to take a shortcut and ride up the Magpie river, unfortunately
we made a wrong turn and ended up back at the river and ended up making
a big circle. The temps today steadly fell and flying down the river at
40-50 miles per hour chilled us all, riding down a portion of it again
pushed all our gear and clothing almost to their limits. We arrived about
5:30 P.M. in Dubreuilville, Ont and checked into the Heritage Inn. After
dinner everyone hit the sack and I stayed up to update the web site.
Day
3: (Saturday,
February 18th, 2006) We
arrived safely in Terrace Bay, Ont. Saturday evening at 5 P.M. We
started Saturday morning in Dubreuilville, Ont. at the Heritage Inn. We
got on the trail at 8:00 A.M. with temps 27 below 0 and windy. We arrived
in White River, Ont. at 10:00 A.M. (over 70 miles). That was the easy part
of the day. As we rode west the mountains appeared on the horizon, what
we experienced next would be considered "double black diamond" in snow
skiing! we rode over 100 miles thru trails that mountain goats would have
difficulty. We averaged on 18 miles an hour with plenty of opportunities
to fall off the mountain! The only incidents of the day, were when Pete
tipped his sled over on its side at the top of a steep hill, he got it
righted back before Robert could get there (otherwise he would have had
to buy beer at dinner). The other incident was when Pete was going down
a steep incline, braking and he accidently hit the starter button on the
handlebars, which causes the engine to stop and restart in reverse... when
he hit the gas to go forward again, he started backing up the hill to the
surprise of Robert and John who were following close by....! Their expert
driving ablity kept them from hitting Pete! Today was like riding a rollercoaster
for 5 hours straight, if you got sick, you could stop, but unlike a coaster
you could not get off.. (Don't eat Green Snow!) We all safely arrived
in Terrace Bay at 5:00 P.M. after 211 miles (note: Betty did not ride today...
a good thing!)
A spectacular view of Lake Superior, this spot is due north and on
the other side of lake from Copper Harbor, Michigan
Day
4: (Sunday,
February 19th, 2006) We
left Terrace Bay, Ont. about 7:30 A.M. after a cold chilly (8 below 0)
walk 2 blocks away to get to a restaurant for breakfast, unfortunatley
it was closed! The walk back into the wind was bone chilling! After
a grabing some muffins and coffee at a gas station next to the motel and
letting our noses and ears thawed out from our morning exersise we got
on the trail. We rode west to Nipigon, Ont., where we loaded the sleds
and drove 80 miles to get to the other side of Thunder Bay (no trail this
year), we unloaded at Kakabeka Falls,
Ont. and road the rest of the way to our motel in Shabaqua, Ont. the The
trails today were very good except for a 2 mile stretch where a logging
company plowed the trail down to gravel. Riding on 2 miles of gravel trails
with no snow sucks! We got into Shabaqua, Ont just before 5 P.M. Bill and
Tracy our host at the Timberland Motel made sure we got fed and got us
into warm and cozy rooms. Temps today got up to about 14 today. (note:
Betty did not ride today, but will be back on the trail tomorrow!)
Sunrise over Lake Superior, the clouds hung close to the lake
Day
5: (Monday,
February 20th, 2006) We
left Shabaqua, Ont . about 7:00 A.M. and rode southwest toward Crane Lake,
Minnesota. The trails were smooth and the weather warmer with highs in
the upper teens. We stopped for Lunch at the "The Castle" restaurant
in the White Otter Motel in Atikokan, Ont. We had to check in at US customs,
a little shack with a agent with a little office. He has internet access
and Netfix to keep him occupied! We had a great dinner at the Voyagaire
Lodge. We rode a total of 230 miles today! As we were eating dinner the
it started to snow really hard... We hope we don't get snowed in, or maybe
we do.....
Taking a break on the trail, a sign says "nice trails eh!
John and Robert getting ready for dinner at the lodge
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