Near North Epic Snowmobile Adventure

What makes an Epic? Adventure, adversity, the unknown, feelings of triumph, times of reflection, its definitely has to be out of the ordinary and unforgettable. We could spend our time debating these qualifications, but I think the answer is depending on the situation the recipe can vary wildly. Since I’m a mountain biker where the term is with out a doubt overused I get kind of annoyed whenever I hear “that was Epic”, because really… It usually wasn’t. (Except when Dave says it, I just seem to laugh). How Epic can another day riding the same trail as yesterday, taking a lift up and riding 800ft of vertical at blue mountain for a day or two laps around Albion hills really be. Now I’m not trying to harp on Ontario’s mountain bike scene, there’s definitely good riding and potential for epics. They could even include a stop at the above mentioned locations during a trip, however unless a trip includes the majority of the descriptors above they definitely don’t qualify in my mind. As a result Epics are ultimately quite difficult to plan and more often then not just come about when you are on what is seemingly going to be another traditional adventure. So why was this trip Epic? Well lets see, what was a simple trip for 4 Guys on sleds, doing two easy 6 to 8hr days on groomed trails, turned into 3 days, of adversity, testing our limits, with nothing going as planned as we rode for a 10 and 12 hour days, questionable trail conditions, crossing rivers on beaver dams, nearly being stranded without gas, going down a hill more suited for ATV's, trying to find our way down a closed trail and cold night riding without a windshield! However, it was filled with exactly what we where looking for, excitement, adventure, an escape from daily life, some fast paced riding and multiple evenings filled with laughter, beers, good friends and ultimately the three best days of my winter. Yes it was EPIC!

I had been looking forward to a couple days of snowmobiling for a long time now. The last snowmobile I owned was an MXZ before I moved to Southern Ontario for school, and even though I managed to squeeze in a couple of rides when I was back home on friends and families sleds I really hadn’t done any substantial snowmobiling in about 6yrs. I arranged to borrow a pre-production Nytro from work to head out with the Preston clan on a trip up North. I met Luke in my last year of University he’s became one of those close friends that you know you’ll never loose touch with, so I was excited to head up to this home town to do a little sledding with Luke, his younger brother Chad and his Father, Don. The plan was to trailer up the sleds to Sundridge and stay at his parents place on Thursday, Friday was going to be a 6 to 8 hrs day to Sudbury on the OFSC Trails, Saturday come home on different route, and Sunday we'd head home after a short ride on the local trails. Simply put som good, fast, adrenaline pumping fun, topped with good times and good friends.

The week before the trip saw a warm spell throughout Central Ontario that brought rain to some areas up North in February. As a result we knew some of the trail conditions would be less then ideal and the only firm plans we had made where to book a Hotel room Friday night in Sudbury so everything else could be reviewed on based on the trail conditions. Unfortunately Mr. Preston informed us he couldn’t come along for the whole trip because he couldn’t get away from work, but we where still stoked for the trip and hopefully he'd meet us on day two. After a few Timi’s stops (you don’t get to travel very far with the Preston’s unless there’s Tim Hortons en route.) we reached Sundridge on time and where greeted with warmth as always. First by Kuma, the family dog which filed in for the 3 kids after they had all left for school (I’m sure Mr. and Ms. Preston will tell you he is much more obedient then the kids ever where), then by his parents and sister.

It didn’t take long till we where looking at trail maps and analyzing the trails conditions on the OFSC website finalizing the plans for the weekend. Our original thoughts where to go to Sudbury on the trail system south of Lake Nipising (C105D and C106) then come back down towards Parry Sound (along TOP trail D) and then back along one of the trail north of the Seguin trail back to Sundridge. However, on the drive up we decided to add an Audible and consider spending a second night in Parry Sound to get some extra KM’s in. Since the rain and winds turned all the lakes to skating rinks of glare ice without any snow pack, combined with the two warm spells some of the trails weren’t maintained along that route. So plan B was to head up through Powassan along SSR700, (Top Trail C was closed due to the conditions) to North Bay then across to Sudbury about a 500km day. We knew that the Powassan area the trails weren’t going to be great since it received the worst of the weather, nevertheless the OFSC Trail report said the trail SSR700 through to North Bay was open but icy and to ride with caution. So our plans where set for day 1, day 2 we where to meet Mr. Preston for a late lunch about 2/3rds of the way down from Sudbury towards Parry Sound where we could do a little night ride after dinner and then Sunday’s plans where to come back across the Seguin trail to Sundrige for a late lunch and to be back in GTA shortly after dinner.

So the next morning I got up as planned and got the machines unloaded and prepped, as the Preston brothers finished getting ready, and by around 10AM we where set to leave. My first impressions on the Nytro where awesome and I immediately felt at home on it. A lot of people still prefer the Apex/Vector Chassis for trail riding, but I’d much rather give up the extra wind protection and larger gas tank for the Rider forward position, suspension and low/centered weight. I’d even argue it was less tiring then the other sleds on the long days. Now I have a tendency to ride throwing my body into every corner, and the Nytro’s riding position and center of gravity made that riding style feel Natural and effortless. It begged you to come into the corner hot, brake hard, lean off into corner, pin it again, lean off into the next corner and repeat. A recipe for guaranteed fun. Oh and when the trails got rough stand up and pin it again and things just got more entertaining.

Crossing the lake behind Sundridge to get to the Trail system confirmed what we though and the lakes where glare ice. But once on the trails things where going pretty good for the first half hour, the trails where a little rough since they hadn’t been groomed for weekend traffic yet but we where having fun enjoying the sunny day and my love for snowmobiling had already been rekindled. However, as the trails converged with a side road through Trout Creek to get us across HWY 11 things where starting to look a little grim. This went on for multiple KMs at a slow pace which included me getting flung off sled when the sled went from a sand to loosing traction on ice, resulting in the track spinning a little sideways and connecting with dirt high siding me off the sleds, flying over the hood and then coming to an abrupt stop as I hit frozen ground at about 40KM/h. Fortunately the sled didn’t role over and aside from a bruised ego and hip from hitting the ice, the only issue was my boot caught the windscreen popping of the plastic rivets off and the rest of the day was going to be ridden with the windscreen neatly tucked in my jacket. Yes the medium windscreen is that small, but it’s amazing how much of a difference it made without it. As we regrouped and the Preston’s where chuckling a little about me suddenly learning how to fly and we got going with hopes of reconnecting with an actual trail. Now as the snow is getting thinner and thinner to our surprise we turn north on the SSR700 towards Powassan and are greeted with a view of pastures showing as much grass as snow and a trail that is starting to show a few patches of mud. So we consider our options of A) turning around, which we aren’t to interested in or B) progressing through as there is supposed good snow as we get close to North Bay. Well I’ve never been a quitter and we where too excited about the riding after North Bay so we decided to inch our way foward on the limited snow. After about 3 hours, we’d only covered about 75 maybe a 100 KM's, but things where starting to look up as the snow cover was starting to get thicker again.

Then we came across the following downhill. Now I pull up, stop, evaluate the situation. I’m thinking if I come over that rock with my left ski just to the outside of it (you can't see it as you had to start going down about two sled widths over from the picture on the left.), my track will roll over it and as the pitch flattens out a little I can tap the brake slide the back end out, which should get my front end over enough to grab the line on the right around the large rocks, shift my weight to swing the back end a little and as long as I don’t touch my brakes down the icy pitch I’ll be at the bottom and off I go. Like clock work I get to the bottom stop and look up to see the Preston’s standing at the top conversing. I guess watching me crest the 75 degree pitch of ice off the start with smooth rounded rocks for about 1.5 sled lengths then slidding out the back end, straightening it out on the right side and coasting down looked a little more Kamikaze then how smooth I though I was and they where contemplating the other options down. After I hiked back up, (and fell back down 2 or 3 times) the discussion ended with me taking the other two sleds down because I was confident in the line I took. Now to Luke and Chad’s Credit this picture doesn’t do the pitch any justice as the first section you don’t see well in these pictures is the steep icy pitch of about 1.5 sleds long before you had to swing the sled 45 degrees to get the next line on ice in less then a sled length and straighten out again to coast down without touching the brakes and getting sideways on the ice as the risk of a roll over would have been high. After that things started to look good and we figured we would make up time on the abandoned rail line in towards North Bay. Nope, no luck again! The snow that was left was too thin and there was black railway rocks sticking out of the snow and we are moving at a crawling pace once again. Now finally after these two stretches of rail line we stop. Luke looks like he wants to call in the cavalry with a trailer once we get to North Bay and me, and Chad are frustrated as well. But then from this point the trail becomes solid again and as the pace picks up, so does our moral. We arrive in North Bay as the Nytro’s gas light comes on and we proceed in for lunch and fuel. Now we're about 2 or 3 hours behind schedule, but I’m optimistic about the rest of the ride to come, and Luke won’t say much but his expression says I’ve had enough.

So we leave North Bay and start heading west towards Sudbury and the trails turn into just what we needed, groomed smooth with some long straights to wind out the engines and when we stop, we all have grins from Ear to Ear thinking the rough stretch was more then worth it. We played tag with a couple groups of riders and things where great as we rode into the sunset, at brisk pace. Shortly after the sunsets we hit the old rail lines going down towards Sudbury and continue to make good time. Around dinner we pulled into what I believe was River Valley for gas, coffee and some stretching. We seemed to be the entertainment for the evening as all the locals stopped seemingly to buy a coffee and to say Hi to us. After a half hour and a little laughing about the scene we’ve caused we were off again. However, as the temperatures dropped I wished I had that little windscreen on and about every 30KM me and Chad would switch to warm up on the LTX. This continued till we turned off the main trail to go into Sudbury for our nights in Sudbury. We quickly brought our stuff in, showered and Boston Pizza was calling for a couple pints and some pizza to recharge and laugh about the day which was exactly what we needed.

The next morning we are waiting outside Sudbury Cycle for them to open so I could replace the rivets on the windscreen, with clear blue skies in anticipation for a great day. We where taken care of promtly with the friendly service we expected, I popped the rivets in and we were off. As soo as we left the trail that goes in and out Sudbury we where greeted by well groomed trails, and carried a casually brisk pace. After a few photo ops. we saddled up to meet Mr. Preston and Alisha for a late lunch before we headed towards Parry Sound. As we followed the trail signs towards Parry Sound for countless KM’s of tying together what appeared to be first tracks though wide winding corners at a flat out pace for while we where as excited as ten year olds in a candy store. However these first tracks at 11:30 AM on a trail that the groomer had obviously groomed in both directions already indicating it was groomed either the previous night or early in morning should have indicated something wasn’t right. But caught up in the riding we didn’t think twice as this was the first time things seemed perfect and we thought we'd be laughing all day.

Sure enough at the line where the Sudbury Snowmobile club turns over the maintenance to the French River trail system we where greeted with trail closed signs. Now we new the TOP trail was closed from the OFSC site however because it indicated the trails from Sudbury to Parry Sound where open we expected trail markings we couldn’t miss. So after a quick what now, we figured the trail was most likely closed due to the trail not having enough snow for the groomer but it looked like approximately 10 to 20 sleds had been through the trail since the last snow so what the hell lets go. The rough unmaintained trail was a mixed experience. It was rough and tiring and our average speed dropped to snails pace putting us way behind schedule. On the other hand the Nytro was a lot of fun to hammer through the bumps, which left me waiting for the boys on the vectors throughout this stretch. This section also provided some of the most memorably moments, crossing rivers over Beaver Dams, riding along a half frozen river, and some scenic views. We stopped after a while on the bridge below where it seemed like we where the only people within hundreds of KM’s and we just might have been. We finally made it too the gas stop around 1 or 2 and Called Mr. Preston who was already at our lunch destination in the little town with a about 6 houses a gas station at the corners of the C104D and C102D (Loring I believe). While we where still what turned to be about 5 or 6 hrs away through the ungroomed trails.

Things got better as we headed through the French River area. The conditions where less then ideal however the Scenery was phenomenal, and I vow to go back and ride that area. With a little more snow the scenic trails would definitely make the list of best rides in Ontario. Not having any indication of where we where in relation to the next gas stop the Nytro’s gas light came on again but we ended up finally arriving at our lunch stop around 8PM in Loring. Where we found Mr. Preston and Alisha had left hours ago (I can't blame them since we where 6 hours behind, and the gas station was closed. Luckily the population of Loring must be about 10 and the owner of the gas station lived right behind it and was happy to help us out an give us gas so we could make it to Parry Sound. We laughed at the resemblance our gas station owner had with Ted Nudgent and how he invited us up for a beer, and who knows what other substances. But we wanted to get to Parry Sound ASAP as we where burnt from 10hrs of riding, with some tough trail conditions. We expected the rest of the way to be quick and smooth as we clipped down the Hydro line into Parry Sound, but whomever staked the trail must have been drunk. I’m sure we traveled 3 times the straight line distance along the Hydro line, with trails that kept you on your toes as the warm spells meant there where numerous streams that melted through the trail.

Now for our last big decision of the day! Through our challenges we forgot to call ahead and book a room. There are two options going into Parry Sound, however you have limited access by snowmobiles, or going out to the old Jolly Roger (Travelodge) that has a reputation as a snowmobile get away with easy trail access, video surveillance, parking insight of you room, a bar, and a Golden Griddle provide all the amenities one could ever want. The only problem is it’s in the middle of nowhere and if they didn't have a room we'd have to backtrack a half hour to Parry Sound which we weren't in the mood for at this point. We decided to roll the dice and head to the Jolly Roger. Now at around 11PM we start meeting groups of riders meaning we must be getting close to our destination and as we meet at group of stopped riders we ask A) see if the need any help and B) find out how much further we had to go. Our face must of told the story of the day we had because the sledder said with sympathy only a couple more KM’s to go boys. Arriving at our destination with what felt like we had just finished Cain’s Quest (Probably the worlds most challenging snowmobile race) and where ecstatic that rooms where available. We walked straight into the Bar, Ordered a Pizza before even going up to room and we laughed at everything purely out of exhaustion. It must have been the best tasting beer I’ve had all year. We then demolished the XL Pizza between the three of us, and I fell asleep in my longjohns from the day.

A good nights rest, big breakfast at the Griddle and knowing that the trail condition where in top shape the rest of the way we where glad to be on the road home. We took the Seguin trail across from Hwy 400 to Hwy 11 which I must say isn’t a trail I’m particularly found of as it poker straight, has high volumes of traffic that ensure you keep your speeds down for safety and if you feel like throwing common sense out the window there’s always friendly OPP on the trail to give you a ticket. But it was groomed flawlessly, and we made good time till getting us to the trails heading back north back to Sundridge. These trails provided the perfect end to our trip as they where groomed meticulously, and windy allowing for a high speed adrenalin filled ending to the trip. But to top it all of the Nytro’s gas light came one while we where still a ways out to make sure the trip ended with a little nervousness as the final fill up showed only .3 Ltrs left in the tank but we made it back to the Preston’s where his mom had a wonderful lunch ready for us that we devoured, while reliving the weekend we just had.