4/17/2009 10:54:48 AM,Snowmobiling,Dean,
Check out the video (experimental!)
Our Snow Train trip had been rescheduled to February due to a lack of snow on the trails we would be riding. Unfortunately, that resulted in a much smaller group than we had originally planned on when it was scheduled for January, and the folks that did not make it for this trip were missed. This was the first time that I rode a saddlebag trip, and I learned a lot from this experience. I had been worried that I would not have enough clothing, which was not a problem at all. I did not wear about half of the clothing that I brought as it was. I did find that my snowmobile outfit is not warm enough for the conditions we had up there. I layered up to the max that I could squeeze into my suit with, and still I had some very cold periods of riding. My hands were quite cold the whole time too, and I plan on buying some gauntlets to remedy that.
Pre-Trip
We traveled to Sault Ste. Marie on Tuesday night without much to speak of. We arrived at the Catalina Motel, settled into our rooms, and got the details and instructions for the train ride from the Hotel. There was an Arby's across the street from the motel and we went there for some dinner and picked up some sandwiches and beer for the train ride the next morning. We were all pretty tired, and after a couple beers we called it a night because we had to be up early to get our train tickets and get our sleds loaded onto the train.
Day One February 18, 2009
Train ride from Sault Ste. Marie to Hearst
We were warned by the motel to get an early start, and fortunately we took their advice because we had a bit of a tough time finding a Tim Horton's and the train ticket office (in that order). We got things settled and showed up at the train yard where we very quickly had to load up the sleds after a fight with the frozen locks on the trailer. The train was almost empty, and I was surprised at how big the box cars are inside. There was another group of about 6 or 8 guys that were going up with their sleds too, and you could tell that everybody was excited to be doing this trip. Our sleds were loaded into a cargo car and we had the car ahead of it. There were two cargo cars ahead of us that were mostly empty, and then a passenger car with about 12 people in it. I'm pretty sure that the engine was ahead of that. From what I could tell, there was only the conductor and the driver on the whole train.
The train got started fairly early (I want to say 8:30am), and I was very surprised that within 20 minutes we seemed to be right in the wilderness. There was a lot of snow on the ground, and the trees were flocked making the scenery beautiful. I shot a couple pics with my phone, but they did not come out great. I had higher hopes for better pictures and next time I will definitely bring along a dedicated camera. My Mino video camera was along though and I took a few videos out the window. The windows were not very clean and that is pretty obvious in the pictures and the videos. The seating was quite comfortable, and there were many seats that faced one another which was nice for having a conversation. We had all of our snowmobile gear in garbage bags, since we would not have anywhere to store our gear bags once we get on our sleds. I'm not sure if the train offers a service to allow you to send some gear back on the train once you arrive, but that would have made the trip a lot nicer. As it was, we did not have much of anything to pass the time except looking out the window at the scenery. I brought a book, and read a bit of it, but by evening we were all quite anxious to get off the train. I think the train ride ended up being 12-13 hours in all. There is not much of anything along the train route except for a couple tiny towns. Every once in a while the train stopped and people got off (some with snow shoes) in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. I began to get a little concerned late in the day because of the distance covered, and was worried that we might have too many miles to ride comfortably.
When we got to Hearst, our hotel parking lot was right where we got off the train, and we found out what cold really means. I think we only had to travel about 150ft to the hotel, but it was so cold that my eyes were tearing up and freezing in that short distance. It probably did not help that we were all carrying a lot of gear. The Companion Hotel was great because they had indoor storage for the sleds, a bar, restaurant, and other amenities. We had some dinner in the restaurant and a couple beers before hitting the bed.
Day Two February 19, 2009
Ride from Hearst to Hornepayne click here for log
The next morning we headed back down to the restaurant for some breakfast. Joe had to get a new battery for one of his sleds, so we had a bit of time to eat before the store opened. We did not have a lot of miles to cover today, so it was okay to get a late start. We geared up and rode over to the store where they changed the battery and we gassed up our sleds and hit the trails. It was obvious within the first few minutes of riding that it was going to be a cold day, and we stopped several times in the first hour to add gloves, cover up exposed areas and take care of things like that. I had not been really cold in my jacket/bibs before, but I was chilled to the bone this morning. I think the temp was around -29°C that morning, but the wind chill was totally unbearable. We stopped complaining, and began to just knock out the miles with only a couple breaks along the way since it was kind of hard to enjoy a break when you’re freezing cold! The trails were very wide, smooth and well signed, but there was a very long stretch near the beginning that ran along the Highway (11). We only saw 2 other sleds the whole day. There were no gas stations between Hearst and Hornepayne, and we traveled the 100 miles without any problems, arriving at around 2:30pm.
Hornepayne seemed more like an outpost than a town. Our hotel was actually a complex that served as a community center, strip mall, Restaurant, Bar and hotel. Once we checked in we headed down to the restaurant for a bite of lunch, since we hadn't eaten since breakfast. All of us had the open faced hamburger platter, which I hadn't had in years! This must be a Canadian specialty, because I've never had the likes of it in the US. It consisted of a large oval plate, with two slices of bread, and a hamburger patty on each slice, and fries on the rest of the plate. Cover the entire lot with about 3 cups of gravy and you have one delicious albeit unhealthy meal. There was a LCBO in the strip mall, and we were able to get some wine and some cosmopolitans to enjoy the rest of our day while Joe and Jake took off on their sleds to get a bit more riding in. Gord, Rich and I relaxed with cocktails and a nice cigar. I think I passed out for a while, and woke up when Joe and Jake returned from their ride. We grabbed some dinner, which was a buffet that was pretty good, and then headed back for a quick cocktail and bed.
Day Three February 20, 2009
Ride from Hornepayne to Wawa click here for log
We got an early start on what was my favorite day of riding this trip. The sky was clear and blue, and the temps had climbed up a bit. I put an extra layer of clothing on which kept me perfect the whole day. Today’s trails were wide and really well groomed, as before, but there was a little more terrain today, and a few rather large areas that were bare from recent logging. I didn't realize it at the time, but most of our pictures were taken at places that the trees had been logged. My helmet has a built in visor, which I was glad to have due to the bright sunlight and snow reflection.
We stopped in Dubreuiville to gas up and get lunch, and arrived earlier than expected. Dubreuiville was very nice, with the homes dotted around a rolling landscape and a nice main road running through the middle. We went into the restaurant and had some lunch, where we found out that the Mill which the town was named for had closed, and not much was still open. The gas station was only open for an hour each day, and so we headed over there and filled up before moving on to Wawa. The trip to Wawa went really quickly and we made one nice, long stop where we had a couple refreshments and took in some of the scenery. When we got to Wawa we found our lodging and decided to change from rooms to a log cabin. The view was beautiful, and the cabin was really nice too, so we had a few beers and a cigar before cleaning up and going to the lodge’s restaurant (lather, rinse, repeat). Dinner in the lodge was excellent, and a bottle of wine back in the cabin topped off a great day.
Day Four February 21, 2009
Ride from Wawa to Sault Ste. Marie click here for log
This was our longest stretch, and we had a lot to do when we completed it, so we got an early(ish) start and began to knock out the miles. The trails were beautiful again today, although they were a bit narrower than the previous trails and we began to run into some other traffic too. We expected this, since it was Saturday and we were closer to Sault Ste. Marie. The sky was blue all morning, and we were making pretty good time. Rich began to notice his sled was running badly, and we stopped a couple times to check it out. At halfway haven, we found another identical sled to Rich’s that was suffering from the same problem, and after we gassed up we got back on the trail to try and finish up the day while the sled was still drivable. Unfortunately, the situation just got worse, and the miles were getting tough with lots of winding as well as some congestion with other traffic. By the time we got to Searchmont, it was so bad he decided not to chance it, so we planned to leave him there and come back with the trailer to pick him and his sled up. We hurried as quickly as we could, and Joe took the lead bringing us to Sault Ste. Marie, but still it was getting late. We finally made it back to the trail head, and found that Rich had managed to get a ride to the trail head (with his sled too), which was great, since it was late (around 7) and none of us had eaten any food since breakfast. We loaded up our sleds and headed back to the Catalina where we checked into our rooms, cleaned up, and cracked open a much anticipated beer! This was the first time I had gone over 200 miles in a single day, and it was pretty grueling. I probably could have covered the first two days of our trip easily in a day, but today’s riding was more difficult.
We headed over to a local steakhouse to cap off a fantastic trip, and I gorged myself on a very big meal that included Escargot, Caesar salad, steak Oscar and a desert (along with a couple glasses of wine). This was a fantastic meal to end a long day and wonderful trip.
Conclusion
On the way home, we discussed the trip, train, and other aspects of the trip. I think the general consensus was that the train ride was very long, and could be avoided. The area was spectacular to ride in, and we loved all of the places we visited. I personally would love to do this again either with or without the train ride. My thanks to Joe for putting this together and I hope that we get a chance to go again next year with our friends that could not make it this time. Saddle bagging was easy, and I look forward to doing that again! It may be difficult to find a “loop” that will take us back to our truck, but I plan on working on that early and having a good route for next year.
4/17/2009 12:22:26 PM, Rich,
Hey Dean, thanks again for putting all this information on your site, it brings back great memories. Joe, thanks for putting the whole thing together and again for allowing Vinny to use your sled on the previous trip (nice to see it all back in one piece). Good to see Jake again on this trip. Gord, nice to have cocktails with you in Wawa. It was my first trip with out Don and we really missed you buddy.
4/13/2009 6:40:08 PM, Rich,
Hi Dean, I know I am the one that has been bugging you for pictures because if you can remember my camera didn't work. I had 4 batteries with the camera and all were dead. I bought a new battery for next year but still can't wait to see the pictures.
1/21/2009 3:54:17 PM, Dean,
Stewart: If you do a google search for Catalina Motel and Hearst, the motel home page as all the information you need.
12/4/2008 12:44:36 PM, stewart,
how much is the train with a sled? do you have a number i can call.
how many km a day do you estimate you will be riding?
11/11/2008 8:00:01 PM, Dean,
Where are your senses of adventure! I'll take lots of pics and make you jealous!
11/10/2008 1:06:42 PM, M&M,
I have to agree with your dad on this one! LOL
Have a blast Dean, and take lots of wildlife pics for us to see. (0:
11/9/2008 2:53:44 PM, Dad,
I sure hope you guys have a super time up there, but I can think of warmer things to do with my time. Fishing, sunbathing, bar-hopping along the waterfront all comes to mind. I will think of you guys when I'm in sunny Key Largo having a rum and coke. Just be careful..........Dad
2/9/2009 8:57:50 AM,Snowmobiling,Dean,
Gord, Don, Paul, Joe and Ryan all made it to my house by 5:30am Wednesday morning, which was a little later than they expected due to border issues, and we were able to hook up my trailer and get on the road by 6:00am. I don't think Rick really believed me when I told him that the group from Canada would be over between 5 and 5:30, but he was up and ready to go anyhow.
For some reason, Google Maps had shown almost a 12 hour drive from my house to the Best Western in Baraga where we were staying, but the GPS in the car had us arriving at about 2:30. We knew that was improbable because we would have to stop to eat, gas up, use the washroom, etc. We stopped at Foggy's bar in Christmas, since we all had to pee, and because we like it. Foggy's is definitely a favorite stop of ours, and we have made it there at least once every year since we started going to this area. Foggy himself knew of one of our group that had passed through earlier that day, but we thought he was mistaken when he called him "Daddy-O". In the end we made it up to the hotel by late afternoon.
The hotel was quite a bit nicer on the inside than it looked from the outside. There were 12 of us in our group, and we had 6 double bed rooms all in a row in a corridor to ourself. Everything looked quite new, and there is a pool, hot tub, sauna, restaurant and lounge all on the premises. The hotel is also right on the trail, making it easy to get to and from. I would definitely stay here again, if in the area.
We had a few drinks in our room and were introduced to Rich's group, which had driven separately and arrived earlier in the day. Scotty, Vinny, Chris, Rob and Rich had gone out for a quick run down the trails to check conditions, and said they were excellent. We found out that Daddy-O was indeed in our group (Chris), and it was obvious that there must be some story there! Scotty, Vinny, Rob and Chris headed out again on the sleds in search of a bar and pizza, and we went down to the restaurant in the hotel. The food ended up being quite good (I had spaghetti), and afterward we had a few more cocktails and I headed off to bed while the other guys stayed up for a few more drinks.
Day 1 (Thursday, January 8, 2009) click here for log
After a quick breakfast in the restaurant, we unloaded the sleds from the trailer and got them started and took care of a few issues with them before heading out for the day. We wanted to get up to Copper Harbor, and we headed out a little later than anticipated. The trail took us up toward Chassel, where we topped up with gas and had a hard time finding the point where the trail crosses westward. We ended up riding the side of the road for a while and eventually picked back up on the trail in South Range. While on the road, the biggest steer I've ever seen in my life charged at me as I drove by. I don't know if it is my imagination or what, but this thing was huge! Honestly, I didn't think cows got that big! We continued up through Houghton and crossed the bridge over to Hancock, which was a very interesting ride. I was impressed with how well the trail ran through these two towns and the design of the bridge to accomodate snowmobiles. About 5 miles out of Hancock, we stopped at Quincy's tavern in Dollar Bay and enjoyed a nice lunch. I thought that since I just started a diet I would behave and order a salad, but when they delivered my Cobb, I realized it was anything BUT healthy, with a full chicken breast, hard boiled egg, several slices of bacon, loads of cheese and garbonzo beans. At least I didn't go hungry. Once lunch was out of the way, we decided to shorten our trip to a loop up to Calumet and then turn around and head home, since it was getting to be too late to make it all the way up to Copper Harbor. Rick and I were probably the most dissapointed, as we have been hearing about how wonderful Brockway Mountain Drive is, but we knew that we would be miserable if we pushed forward. The loop from Hancock around Calumet was very nice, and on the way back we saw a house fire that was way out of control. Firemen were putting water on it, but the fire had punched through the roof and the whole house was engulfed. The neighboring houses seemed safe, and we completed our trip and ended up back at the hotel by 6pm. Rick and I headed down to the hot tub and pool with Scotty and Vinny, and afterward everybody showered and some of us met down at the restaurant for dinner, while the group that went out for pizza went out in search of it again, since they ended up at a bar that only served frozen (yech!). Tonight I had meatloaf, which turned out to be very good but again, not at all healty. I headed to bed early again, as we had an early ride planned for Friday.
Daily mileage: 130
Day 2 (Friday, January 9, 2009) click here for log
I couldn't help but feel old as I heard about how the folks that stayed up closed the casino, and here I was at the opening of the restaurant for breakfast, just 2 1/2 hours after they went to bed. Today we were heading to the Porcupine Mountains area, and we made it out earlier than Thursday, but still a bit later than we planned. Vinny was not feeling great, and decided to rest for the day. There is still some debate as to whether he was sick or hung over. Feel free to leave a comment on your opinion on this. Heading out from the hotel was a spectacular ride, and we were the first ones on the trail as evidenced by the perfectly groomed conditions which had hardened up very nicely with no traffic on them before us. I remember thinking that this was as good as it gets while we rode out that morning into the snow flocked trees. The trail seemed quite a bit more remote than the ones we rode in the Keewenau the day before. We made it to Ontonogon where we stopped at Roxey's for a bite of lunch. I ordered something called the "Bitch burger", which was a burger loaded with jalepeno's and topped with pepper-jack cheese. It was quite delicious, although not very good for my diet. We spent a couple hours at lunch, since there was only one cook and she could not prepare all of the food too quickly.
When we headed back, we decided to take a trail that ran north to Winona from Greenland and made its way back down. This was another really nice run and we enjoyed that quite a bit, although we ended up going to Twin Lakes and backtracking a ways to the right trail. Part of the trail crossed over a couple valleys that had wooden bridges which provided a spectacular view of the river and surrounding area. I wish we could have stopped here and taken a picture or two, but everybody else on the trail seemed to have the same idea and we just moved on through. This day turned out to be a longer ride than we originally thought, and we ended up back at the hotel at around 7:30pm. Once the sun went down, we all got very cold and had all of our handwarmers on full blast, which was not helping much. Rick and I used the hot tub and sauna again and spoke with a group that was saddlebagging their way across the U.P., which seems like a very cool thing to do. I had originally tried to arrange a saddlebag trip quickly, but did not have enough time to research locations, hotels and distances and decided to just book this hotel and do day trips. Anyhow, the restaurant was closed by the time we got cleaned, so we ordered some pizza and hung out drinking a few cocktails. Daily mileage: 195
Day 3 (Saturday, January 10, 2009) click here for log
After an early breakfast, we headed down to get our snowmobiles started and I had to get mine jump started. It was very cold out, and the lock was frozen on the trailer too. Vinny was feeling better and would be riding with us, but Ryan had to sit out the day because he felt sick. I don't think there is any doubt about him being sick because he didn't get drunk the night before, and for him to sit out a day of riding, it must have been bad. Today we were heading to Big Bay, which was to the east and not as long a ride as the previous 2 days. That was okay with us since we would need to load up the trailers and pack up that night anyway since we wanted to get an early start home in the morning. We passed through the town of L'anse first, and then had a nice but uneventful ride over to Big Bay, where we stopped at the Lumberjack tavern for some lunch. The bar has the distinction of being the location where the historical events that led to the true story behind the movie "Anatomy of a Murder" took place. I had a chicken salad for lunch, and figured it was fairly healthy, except it was not enough to fill me. We agreed to head over to a steak house that I saw advertised for dinner, so I wanted to save myself for that occasion. On the ride back from lunch, we stopped for a beer and a cigar on the trail at a scenic straightaway. I decided to use up the remaining room on my video camera, so I took a few videos of the group coming down the trail, then put on the handlebar mount and shot some video of the last portion of trail before getting back to the hotel. I wish I would have thought to do this earlier, as the trails had deteriorated quite a bit by this point and I ended up getting video of the barest, bumpiest chunk of trail that we experienced the entire trip. I also realized that I need to bring breath mints, since the cigar taste is awful when confined in a helmet. Ryan was feeling better and met us outside where we loaded up the sleds, cleaned up, and got on the road to the steak house. We arrived at the steak house only to find that they were closed for a staff Christmas party! Chris, who seemed to know every bar in the U.P. knew of another place, and we headed that way. We were glad to have been diverted, since this was a really nice place, and dinner was fabulous! We had a nice red wine, which was so cold it should have been frozen. Not sure what was up with that, but oh well. The chef came out and chatted with us, which was nice and we ended up having a great final meal. Daily mileage: 130
Next day we were all up early and we checked out an got on the road by 6:00am. Everybody was anxious to get back home, and the ride was looking like it could be bad. It turned out okay though and we did not get any of the stormy conditions that we had seen on the news. We were back at my house at 3:30, and only stopped once for gas and a quick lunch, so we made pretty good time.
Although we did not get to all of our destinations, and it was a long drive, I will definitely make my way back to the Western UP again. Hopefully next time we will be able to saddlebag and spend a night up at the tip of the Keewenau!
1/28/2009 10:18:52 AM, Rich,
In regards to Gord's comments about never being hung over so Vinny must have been sick. I think you meant to say that you have never been sick unless it was from a hang over. However, you always tough it through those hangovers. I guess you'd never be on the trails unless you did.
In regards to Paul's comments, it was actually Rob who got us around that logging truck and then Chris followed and I was 3rd up. By the way I was the only one to get stuck twice on that little detour but still managed my way out.
I am still looking for any still pictures of the trip if anyone has them available.
It was a great trip and although I enjoyed everyone's company is great to have my son in law from New Zealand join us and he had the time of his life as snowmobiling is not available in New Zealand. He's back home enjoying the 25C weather again.
1/24/2009 1:36:47 PM, gord,
with regards to vinny having a hangover or being sick.
I have never really experienced a hangover myself so i am going with the sick deal
all in all it was a great trip and as usual dean set up a good time for all.
thanks again gord
1/21/2009 8:43:00 PM, Paul,
Dean Great Job
First thing though is you forget or didn’t go into is truly how cold it got on Friday coming back in. After 6 when the sun went down the temperature dropped making the trip back to hotel an experience that I will try and forget. The temperature was unbearable with masks frosting up and limbs freezing up. Two guys showed sign’s of frost bite and when we drove past the Casino sign I think it said it was showing a temperature of -16 F.
I know I was the suck on this length because I just wanted to pull over and cry…..If Ryan hadn’t been pushing me from behind I think I still would be out on that trail. I like you headed to the hot tub this night but it was to thaw out and see if I could get the feeling back in my limbs.
You also didn’t mention the trip on Saturday running into the logging truck that blocked our path into Big Bay. We all stopped and sat there looking at each other thinking oh well what do we now….. He obviously wasn’t going to move. Then I think it was Chris who said I’ll find a way around and went over the 2 foot bank into the woods and made a path around the truck. Then Rob said if Chris can do it so can I and away he went following the same path. Soon 11 sleds made it through this tight obstacle course back onto the trail. For the rookie snowmobile like me that was a fun experience.
Had a great time and like you can’t believe what great condition the trails were in and how little traffic we ran into.
1/21/2009 4:12:00 PM, Dean,
One more thing...I'm still not sure why it takes Rick so long to get ready in the bathroom, but I think it may have something to do with Kleenex. Can he every go through that stuff!