Winter 2003 Logbook

Recollections of Large's Winter

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December

Another year off to a slow start. We had cold weather in late November which froze most of the lakes, but then in got warm again. Black Lake froze Dec. 4th which is the 2nd or 3rd earliest I can recall. Only a few cms on the ground in both Ottawa and Sudbury as the holidays started Dec.20th. I did manage a ride on Dec. 22nd up @ Agnew Lake mine as there is always more snow @ the higher elevation. It goes up to about 1400 feet there from 700 feet in Lively. Put on 64 miles on my new to me 2001 XC 600. About 8 inches of snow, nice riding on the logging roads. Went up to the mine again the next Sunday with Jamie Bradley. Conditions where the same, sunny, nice riding, 61 miles this time I think, but on smoother roads.

January

Made our first real trip Jan. 3rd to Timmins. Rod, Tony and myself left Tim Horton's 7:35 Friday morning by truck under snowy conditions. We were planning on trucking to Cochrane but Timmins opened their trails that Friday so we hit the snow from the Ramada Inn @ 11:15 am. Trails were great!! C trail and A106 to Cochrane, then the A trail right into Kap. Snow increased as we headed north, and the day was 175 miles, with us arriving in Kap ~5pm. Watched the Junior hockey game @ Max's, man it was a great game, Canada beat the U.S. to go to the final(which they lost to the Russions).

Headed back Sat. morning under sunny skies to start and -22C. First bump I hit was 101 miles into the day as most of the trails were groomed overnight and already smooth to start with. In Timmins by 4 or so, with stops in Smooth Rock and The North Adventure Inn in Cochrane, 171 miles back in all. Dinner @ East Side's and then a few hours @ our usual stop. Great first ride to say the least. Rod's F7 and Tony's RX-1 worked fine after a few RX-1 suspension adjustments.

Back in Ottawa Jan. 11th weekend, not really enough snow to ride so I cleaned my exhaust values and did a bit of ice fishing on the Rideau River by Kemptville.... drove the truck right to the holes which was nice but it was damn cold and of course no fish.

Trucked up to Deep River Sunday, Jan. 19 with Mike and Scotty for a run up to North Bay. Reports said the trails were good and the net says North Bay airport has more snow than Kap. airport ( 48 cm vs 56cms ) On the snow in Deep River @ 11:15 am, trails were freshly groomed and it was cool and sunny. 33.3 miles to StoneCliffe and then another 28 to Deux Riveries for lunch around 1:30. Snow kept increasing from here on as we arrived in North Bay Travel Lodge ( rip off, $138 a night!!)@ 5:30 and filled up( 29.8 liters/92 miles ). 156 miles in all and we stayed in the A trail the whole time. Snowed about 12cm between 6 and 8 pm that Sunday night, quite impressive. Late dinner @ Don Cherry's then to Fanny's for a shirt. -23C the next morning, on the snow by 10 am as Mike and Scotty were in no hurry. Trails were rough from the weekend traffic. Made it back to Deep River about 6 pm after two stops for lunch and beers. Quite a wind cool day, only met two sleds in the 156 miles.

Up to Sudbury with Tim and Lisa on Friday the 24th. Tamara and I left Black Lake about 1pm Sat. and headed to Penage, Nairn and then met the crew @ Sand Bay on Agnew Lake about 2:30ish. Lakes were really nice, but trails needed some snow. Had a beer and the 10 of us headed to Webbwood, gassed up again and then to Culter Lake. Trails were perfect from Webbwood on as it is groomed roads. Fox Lk. Rd. to Lang Lk. was perfect as well. Stopped @ Lang Lk. Resort, the Espanola crew split off from Mountion Cove area after a few socials, and Tim, Daren, Tamara and I headed back to Vilidis' for a great dinner prepared by Sled Ed and Ripp'n Rupple. Headed back to Black Lk. with Pistol Pete around 11pm, stopped for a social @ his place, then home. 135 mile day in all, and two-up the whole time, but with my father's 2001 600 Touring it is no problem, except for the lack of steering with no carbides! Back to Kanata Sunday. We got about 5 cm over the weekend but word has it it was a localized snow fall. We need a storm bad!!

February

Got a good thick 10cm on Sat. Feb 1st in Ottawa. Never got any riding in. Cleaned the ice out of the tunnel, greased the sled and that was it.Very warm, +4C each day. Tamara came down Thursday of the next week and we headed out from Carleton Place on Sat. the 8th, her on my sled and I riding Mike's 700 Edge X. It was warm but very windy as we headed down Mississippi Lk. to Lanark, lunch @ the golf course club house, what a building, and then to Clayton, back to Mississiippi Lk, down to Franktown, gassed up, then off to the Ashton Pub. There was more sleds @ the pub than we had met all day, maybe 25. Trails were all smooth but are generally very twisty and as usual the area is in need of more snow. Got back to Mississippi Lk. by 5:20, for exactly 100 miles on the day. A good day, but these trails don't really make you want to come back, they are just too tight and twisty... I don't think I went over 70 mph all day! May head up to Sudbury this coming weekend, it being Valentine's Day and all.

Up to Sudbury Friday evening. Very cold, -30ish C Sat. morning, never got above -22C all day. After much convincing Tamara and I headed out on my father's 600 Touring to Penage via the Long Lake trail. This is a really nice trail now, opened up and smooth. Stopped in to T-Bone's and Shithead's ice hut by about 1pm. Nick and Katie were then along with McQueen, and get this, they actually had lines 'in the water'. ( MNR had come by the week before, 8 of them on the ice around the hut and not one line in the water!) We proceed to have a couple of drinks with the crew in the ice hut and then a couple of more drinks. Left about 4, back to Black Lake via the Reserve. Had a fondue @ Vilgren's that night and headed back to Ottawa Sunday afternoon under sunny cold skies. My XC 600 did get a running as my father put 95 miles on it looking around Whitefish Falls for the new trails to the Island.

Now for our real trip of the season. Picked up Ed on Friday the 21st, and headed out to Mike's. Loaded up and arrived @ the Holiday Inn Resort in Hunstville around 1:30, via Hwy 7, this is not the way to go, about 440km in total. It was sunny and +5C, we ran down the Lake of Bays to Dorset, 38 miles and 1/2 tank of gas as the lake was soft. A few pops @ DeerHurst Resort and back to our room for an early night, although Mike did have the Cranston two step as he stumbled to bed.

On the snow by 7:15am Sat. morning as we had a full day in store. Trails were perfect and hard as we headed north via the D trail through Kearney to South River for a late breakfast. Then on towards Port Loring and into Dokis( the trail is shitty here, too twisty) Arrived in Alban about 4pm, 198 miles later and only 30 seconds before Daren and Tony pulled in, they had come south from Sudbury with Hammell but the panzie Hammell turned back as he was scared to get too far from home. Shithead had warmed the camp and brought down supplies for all. He then proceeded to get rip'roaring drunk, passed and puke all over the place. "Don't be cheap with the vodka" was his line of the night.

Slow start Sunday as it was windy with a light skiff of snow. Left about 12 and headed north on the C trail towards Killarney and then turned towards Lake Penage on Bell Lake Rd. The Killarney trail has really been straightened and is quite nice to ride now. Up to Vildis' by 3 in the sun, watched the end of the Nascar Race and then to the Lodge to watch some golf, talk to T-Bone and Shovel. Headed to Tony's for the Grammy's on his new widescreen TV and to see his Nascar basement. 100 mile day in the end.

Monday plan was the North Shore and the Island, with Rod and Tony joining us. It was a cool -23C start, gassed up in Naughton and off to Penage and Lang Lk, then Cutler Lk, and Massey for lunch. Massey have straighted their trails since I was there last, all trails great except near Spanish where a grooming was in store. Across the big water from Spanish to Gore Bay, and the Island trails were perfect and straight! Into Little Current by 6, gassed up and ate dinner, out to McGregor Bay in the dark and back to Penage by 8:15, a quick run from the Island. 240 mile day in total. The crew closed The Penage Hotel while I went to my parents for the night to spend some time with TicTac.

Tuesday, cool again, -28C in the morning under sunny skies. Met @ Tim Horton's in Lively, and headed on the 108 @ 10:30, then the 109 south to Alban. Trails again perfect, stopped for lunch @ The Champlain Inn and called for the French River Shuttle. Continued south on the C trail, flat straight and a nice combo of lakes and trails in the sun. We stayed on the C until Ardberg where we took the c104 towards Dunchurch, and ran into this great lodge by chance as the sun was setting called Whitestone Lake Resort, great setup here, new lodge building, nice clean, fancy, you name it. Rented a cabin for the night and had a great dinner and a couple of pops of course. Even had 3 rooms so Cranston could snore to his hearts content without one of us threating his life. 155 mile day in total.

Up to -25C Wednesday morning, on the snow by 9:15, hit the 101 which I heard was great and it was. There is so much snow around here is it crazy, has to be over 3.5 feet on the ground. 101 south then the 103 east towards Huntsville, where they mark everything as the 88. We dead ended the 88 twice and pissed around Huntsville for an hour to get the last 5 miles to the truck @ 1:30. Everyone is pissed off by this time because we had a Hunstville map but number don't jive with the trails. Our 80 mile ride became 95 miles! Loaded up and took Hwy 60 home through Algonquin Park, very nice driving through here. All in all, 835 miles in total, no break downs, no troubles and 90% of the trails were perfect! Success. Up to 1900 miles on the year now.

March

No riding March 1/2nd weekend, TicTac arrived here for her spring break. We did get out skating on the Canal, under sunny and warm skies. Got out the next weekend with Tim, Marsha and their neighbours Daryl and Carol. Put on 94 miles from their place to Carleton Place and back. Dropped some oil off @ Mike's and ate @ LakePark Lodge. Trails were soft as it was a warm day( + 2 ), we rode two up on the 600 Edge for the first time, not too bad if the trails were better. Some trails are open, other tight, some smooth, others not, a real mixed bag. Back for a few beers, pizza and the hockey game.

Up to Lively March 15th weekend for a last shot @ the snow. It was a rather hairy ride up through Mattawa and North Bay with no less than 5 vehicles on their roof in the ditch and one head on. Road dried up as we(Duane was with me) made it into Sudbury @ 7pm. Tictac and I suited up about 9pm and headed out to Vilgren's on Penage via the Long Lake trail. It was a great night, and the trail was perfect! 17 miles each way. We found the crew @ Ozzy's camp, had a bever and when back to Pistol Pete's for a few more with Handcock, Razor and Tim. Had a lot of laughs and pulled out of there about 1AM. Tictac had a bit of a stability issue on the drive home but luckily one can sit down on a sled while driving and does not have to stand up @ any time, as standing up was proving to be difficult for her.

We awoke Saturday under sunny skies and +5 as a forecasted high, a perfect outlook! We headed back out to Penage via Long Lake, found Handcock and Tim @ one of the ice huts, then met Stump gassing up(no, not with vodka), said hi and moved on. Next stop was West Bay @ Moxam's as it was the West Bay Derby. There was a whole crew here( Rauteinens, Marshalls, etc. lots of BAD news! ), I had a traveller, and we departed about 3 to Narin under perfectly clear skies. A quick bite @ the King George, then off to Whitefish. All the trails were great, and recall this is March 15th!. Stopped in @ Linda and Sandy's cabin as they were having a get together. We left there about 6 as the sun was going down, went out to Penage via the Fienna(Tictac didn't care for the water here we had to cross as the ice is always shady here) We could not find any of the crew @ Penage so we headed back home to Black Lake via the Reserve Rd, watched the hockey game(Leafs beat Vancouver despite being badly outplayed) and called it an early night. 115 mile day in all and a great way to end the season. Oh, ya, I did pick up a guy walking on Black Lk on the way home. Seems his sled broke down near the Island on Black Lk. and he had been walking for an hour. He was quite happy to see us to say the least.

Sunday was again sunny and even warmer, up to 10 or 12 degrees C!! We trucked the sled out to Vildis' about noon, unloaded and found Shithead, Rod, Andrea, Nick and Kate in Kimbell's Bay. No fish here so we packed up and tried Crane Point until sundown. There are 'No fish in this lake'. Had a great dinner @ Ed's and headed home about 8 pm to close off the sledding season. The 600 Edge didn't like the warm weather and would not rev over 7400 rpm, but fixed itself as soon as the sun went down. So our total were 34 miles Friday night, 115 miles on Saturday under sunny skies, and another 25 miles Sunday.

Two weeks is all it took to go from mid-season to grass. As I write this on March 29th, it is +12 and I should go rake the lawn. Two weeks ago there was 70cm of snow on the ground @ the Ottawa Airport! All in all a great year, a bit late with the snow arriving but lots of cold weather and snow in other parts of Ontario. I believe my total was just a hair under 2000 miles for the year and no troubles. Lakes up north still have tons of ice, but I am off to Montreal for an NHL game tonight, let the good times roll! Be young, have fun.

- Large

March 29, 2003