Page 34 - TheJanuarySnomad

After a good rest our group started headed east toward Grand Marias with
much better trails. About 2 miles down we came to a 1-mile section that had
been plowed for logging but was still in good condition. We had great trails
until we got to the stop sign where trail 8 meets trail 43/88 toward Seney.
Four of us waited at the stop sign when Paul Reed came up and said Lenny
hit a tree. The group turned around and went about a mile back to find the
rest of our group on the side of the trail.

Trail 8 is an old railroad grade, and several years ago a detour was put in for
logging and left in. Well, it seemed Lenny didn’t quite turn enough right and
caught a tree with the front bumper. Yep, Shakedown ride. He said he was
ok, and the sled wasn’t hurt bad either. Paul and I went to turn around and
both got stuck. Once we were out, we continued east toward Grand Marias
on trail 8.

Just before Kingston Plains Jeff Obear put his kick stand out and put his sled
on its side in slow motion on a right turn. Yep… Shakedown ride. After
putting Jeff’s sled track side down, we continued east about 2 miles to just
past the Kingston Plains parking lot to check the sleds and riders.

Both sleds needed a couple of tie downs and were good to go. We contin-
ued on trail 8 to trail 89 and took 89 to Hurricane River campground and
took a break. Big Russ’s group was there, and group pictures were taken.
We all took in the natural beauty of the area. When Russ went to leave, he
had a started issued that was fixed with a quick shot of WD40. We all head-
ed to town and gassed up. At the station Dave Gabriel came over and talked
with me as they had gone to the Lake Superior Brewing Company to eat.
Dave stated that they took trail 422 up and it was not bad.
Trail 8 was still in good condition and we had a fun time to trail 888. Trail
888 was in excellent condition for after two on a Friday as we headed
south. We continued on trail 888 until it met 88, 43 to go back west. After
waiting several minutes with only four of us at the stop sign, I went back a
mile to find Dennis with the map out staring at it and his GPS. I asked if eve-
rything was ok and Dennis said he didn’t see which way we went. Shake-
down ride. We all headed to the rest of the group and took a break. From
there we took 88/43/8 back to 8 to the Bear Trap. After a break at the Bear
Trap we ran H-58 west to trail 422.

January 2020 The Snomad Page 34