Page 21 - NovemberSnomad2020

How One Trip Created Another

Majority of us who enjoy snowmobiling usually pack up on a Friday
after work and drive three to six hours to ride our snowmobiles for a
couple of days, then make the long ride home. Unless you went on a
specialty ride, this was the normal weekend ride schedule for many
snowmobilers. Well, back around the 2001/2002 snowmobile season
two brave SnomadS, Bruce Sheppard, and James Jetke planned a club
ride to the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This was going to be
a weeklong trip which would provide a support truck and trailer to fol-
low the sleds from each stop. This would be like a saddle bag ride ex-
cept the support vehicle would carry everyone’s gear. When I heard
about this trip, I thought, what a great idea. Where do I sign up? Weeks
before the trip, James and Bruce had a meeting with all the club mem-

bers who signed on, and what they expected from us, and how we
were going to drive the truck. GREAT, everything was set, but when we
came close to the date of the trip. The southern portion of the Upper
Peninsula had no snow, and there was none in the forecast. So, instead
of cancelling the trip, these two brave souls came up with a plan B. Can-
ada, the Lake Superior Loop Ride.

Brian Crabtree and I left on Sunday morning and we drove to Haden
Ontario where we would leave our truck and trailer for the week.
Haden was where our journey through Ontario would begin. We all met
for dinner and got to know everyone and what they type of sleds we
were all riding. After dinner Brian and I unloaded our Yamahas and
went on a short ride to check out our sleds, both were running great
and we were happy on the way they were running. Once we returned

to the motel, you could see the excitement in everyone, we all could
not wait for the ride to begin. The first morning brought subzero tem-
peratures, in other words it was DAMM cold. We rode to Searchmont
Ontario to top of our fuel when James Polaris over heated. We added
coolant, burped it and we were on our way to halfway haven for lunch
and more fuel. This was the first time I ever bought fuel from a gasoline
truck. (No Pump just a hose). ). After lunch we headed off to Wawa,
would be our first stop for the night.

November 2020 The Snomad Page 21