 TRAIL Work
The lack of cold temperatures made it difficult to groom a hard packed trail. There are lots of riders who are not familiar with the grooming process and the troubles that can and do occur. We received some complaints and I know everyone else was the same. We would get what seemed like a lot of snow. But as mentioned it was not cold. The snow was deep, full of air and fluffy. The machines go over it and compacts it to 1 inch. Then it gets mild and rains and that 1inch almost disappears. We get more deep snow and now everyone thinks, now we have tons of snow, the trails will be great. In the mean time, we are still missing that essential element called cold. The drags go through the water holes and the mud and snow sticks to the drags to a point where the BR180 won't even pull the drag anymore. At one point we almost had to leave the drag out in the bush because it was built up with ice and mud and it could hardly move. We took the BR across a small swamp four times and had no problems, then the fifth time it sank up to 8inches above the passenger door window. This is not a good feeling when you sink. It does not look good and it is not fun, believe me. Again this was because we had no cold temperatures. The ground was actually thawing under the trails for most of this winter. The trails would not hard pack as I mentioned above. We like to groom at night so the trails get to set overnight, there is less traffic and it is usually colder at night. That was not happening this year. I went out last Sunday morning at 9.00 am to fix a potential hazard hole on the trail. The groomer had passed over that spot at 10.30 pm on the Saturday night. When I walked on the trail, my boots sank in the snow up over my ankles. That trail should have been hard packed so you could drive a truck on it and not sink in. Therefore, the first 10 sleds would get a fair ride on a nicely groomed, table top trail then it would start to deteriorate and go bumpy. Then some riders would think that trail was never groomed. Meanwhile, it was just groomed that night. I did my own little experiment and questioned some riders. Knowing that the trail was just groomed the night before, I would ask how the trails were. They would vary from, good to when is the last time they were groomed. I know one thing, there is that old saying, you cannot please everyone. Saying that, a huge majority of the riders did not complain and seemed to know of the challenges we were facing this season. Our biggest trouble spot this year was the Pretty Channel dam. The warm weather and rain caused the Severn River to go to high water levels and the therefore the stop logs at the dam were pulled. The stop logs blocked us from being able to cross the dam with the BR180. We were stuck dragging the trail with our small machines. But like I mentioned above, the first machines got the better ride and then it got bumpy. The dam was 7.5 feet wide and the groomer is 9.5 feet wide. It won't fit!! That was the problem with B105 north of Big Chute. Some of the logs have been put back at the time of this article being written and I hope to be across the dam this week.
Rob and Tracy Roth need a huge thanks from everyone for their efforts getting Trail #17 open. They have been working on that trail every weekend. There were a lot of mud holes. They had some help from Bob McKeller, Jim and Peggy Fouracre to fill in holes with pine brows and thanks to them also. Rob and Tracy staked the lakes to Nine Mile Lake and Friday February 8th, 2008.
Ron Martin and Kevin Dawson opened up Trail #10 on Satruday February 9th, 2008. I think Kevin got his feet wet learning the challenges of getting trails open. He literally got his feet wet. He got stuck three times in the snow then sank his machine in a swampy area. The joys, of opening trails. I hope Kevin isn't discouraged and will continue to help out. Thanks Kevin.
All of our trails are now open and that is a good thing. Mother nature has finally cooperated and it sounds like a promising forecast of colder temperatures and more snow. Happy riding.
Event Dates To Remember
SMART Annual General Meeting
The tentative date for the AGM will be on Saturday May 17th, 2008 at 9.30 am and to be held at the new groomer shop. All members are welcome to attend. Hope to see you there.
SMART POKER RIDE - Saturday February 23,2008 CANCELLED
2008 VALENTINE'S DAY RIDE
On Friday February 8th, 2008 the SMART Snowmobile Club hosted its annual Valentine's Day ride. The event was a great success, thanks to Jean Rapson and her crew of volunteers. The weather was perfect, -2, sunny with light flurries and we had a big snow fall the two days prior to the event. The trails were very good. This years ride had over 12 new riders. It was our biggest ride to date. There were 36 snowmobiles on the ride and 38 people.
The day began with everyone meeting at the Riverhouse Restaurant in Severn Falls at 8.00 am to meet and greet. An outstanding continental breakfast consisting of a bagel, cream cheese, coffee, tea, hot chocolate was had by all. The ride departed at 9.30 am and we rode to Orillia for an awesome lunch, all you could eat at Boston Pizza. We then rode back to Severn Falls to the Riverhouse Restaurant. Jean Rapson and her crew organized the festivities and we sat down for a delicious dinner.
A special thank you must go Victoria and Peter, who own the Riverhouse. They put out an excellent breakfast and dinner for the event.
The Jean Rapson crew consisted of Jean, Leanne Ziraldo, Paula Newton and Roseanne Mancari. I want to thank them for all their hard work organizing and collecting the gifts and prizes. Everyone left for home with at least one or two prizes. What a great job girls. Thanks again.
The date for next years SMART Valentine's Day Ride is Friday February 13th, 2009. Hope to see you all back next year and maybe some new faces.
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