Tri-Town Sno Travellers

Weekly Update

2012-02-01T08:02:00.001-05:00

Hello Everybody

The next general meeting has been moved from the 14th to the 7th.

Nearly all of the trails are now open. The A-Trail is good all the way through with the exception of a small stretch north of Latchford where there is a small pond that doesn't want to freeze.

I spent some time on the interactive map yesterday and noticed that there are many mistakes right around New Liskeard. The Moose Lake reroute has been removed, the old trail over by ESSM is showing up again and the reroute along Hwy 11 behind Gilli's shows the old trail. I'll work with the OFSC over the next few weeks to fix this.

We are doing regular grooming on the trails that are now open.

I anticipate that everything will be open by the weekend.

The trail we call Ray's Ridge that ends at Lake Temiskaming just south of Haileybury is still a concern. We will be putting up large signs warning of the dangers. So far, there is no other way through Haileybury. Use this trail carefully if you are going that way - the rest of the trail is fine.

Marcel and Richard wasted several hours on Monday re-staking the Thornloe trail where someone mowed down all of the stakes along a 1 mile section of trail.

Unfortunately the real world is intruding on my Tuesday rides but I should be available from the 14th on to go out.

Should we do a Valentine's ride and go out for supper? Maybe leave around 5:00 - do a 1 1/2 hour loop and end up at one of the sponsor restaurants for supper. Then another hour ride on the way home.

Have a good week and get out and ride.

Bill Ramsay

President, Tri-Town Sno Travellers
705-647-4010

Trail Work

2012-01-23T12:42:00.003-05:00

Hello all

Hopefully the rain doesn't beat us up too badly this afternoon.

We had about 10 volunteers out on Saturday to stake the Thornloe and Belle Vallee trails. We also finished up some staking behind the groomer shelter.

The A trail south of Cobalt is being a problem this year. There is water on the trail on a spot that the groomer cannot bypass easily. The groomer keeps breaking through the ice and leaves the trail nearly impassable. Richard also says it isn't much fun either. We are still hoping to open the A trail south to Temagami on Wednesday, the Quebec trail the day after and mark the lakes.

Regular grooming will start as well.

We are still looking for a groomer operator in Latchford in case you know someone. They must have a vaild G class licence to drive the groomer.

The reroute around Radley's Hill road extension through John Wilson's property is very nice.

Some of the trails are a little brushy but we intend to start brushing next week once the trails are nice and smooth.

On Saturday I stopped 4 people without trail passes. We sent them back from where they were coming to get off the trails at the nearest intersection. In case someone asks, going fishing is not a reasonable excuse to be on the trails. Fishing is only an excuse if it is the only way to get to the lake you are fishing at - if you can trailer closer then you cannot ride the trails. Since John's Tackle Box is right at Lake Temiskaming the trails are not to be used to access the lake.

Bill Ramsay

President, Tri-Town Sno Travellers

705-647-4010

Trails are opening

2011-01-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

Haven't pdated for a while becase there hasn't been any snow to write about

The A trail will be fuly open by tomorrow. A bunch of us are going out to sign the L186. The rest of the trails will be open next week and regular grooming will start.

The fields are still way short of snow. We were staking on Tuesday and there was less than 5 cm on most of the fields. This new snow will make it a little better but still use caution - there really isn't much out there.

Got some snow now

2010-12-13T20:26:00.000-05:00

We got about a foot of snow with yesterday's storm. We're trying to get the Argo so the guys can go pack the swamps between Haileybury and Latchford. There is frost in the ground but the swamps still wont' support a groomer. With luck they will be out his week. We should then be able to do a little grooming by next week.

Most of the major signs are now up. Some vandals attacked the big one down by Latchford. It's always discouraging to see the club's stuff being wrecked. We also have problems with the signs being run over by ATV's.

I was out for a little ride at the cottage today and dropped the back end of my machine through the ice on a beaver pond - it was good on Sunday. Be careful on any ice since a lot of it isn't very thick yet.

Hopefully Lake Temiskaming will freeze soon. We really don't like to have the trails marked on the Wabi River without ice on the big lake. Somebody could get out there in a snow storm and we'd have a swimmer. Nice to avoid that with safe ice if possible.

Some light flurries

2010-10-22T22:27:00.002-04:00

We've been having light flurries the last few days in the area. No accumulation yet but the temps are staying low for now. Hopefully some fo the water from September will drain away.

The permits are out at the vendors. Prices are the same as last year - $200 before December 2.

October's here

2010-10-01T11:19:00.000-04:00

The leaves are turning colour and the geese have headed south. It's time to start getting ready for the upcoming snowmobile season.

The Moose Lake Trail - L186 - reroute is finished except for signage. I can't wait to get out and give it a try, but alas we need winter and snow first.

Our first meeting is Tuesday October 5 at the groomer shelter at 7:30 - come on out and see what we are doing this year.

4 of us attended the OFSC AGM in Collingwood. Elvis was there and did a little singing for us. He looked younger than I expected. Everything is basically status quo for this year. There won't be any infrastructure money. Permits will be the same as last year - $200 on or before December 1 and $250 thereafter.

Ramsay Law Office will now be an outlet for Classic permits. This year they will be $125 all year long. Next year they will be $130 up until Dec 1 and then $180 thereafter.

According to the OFSC audit of trails with GPS we only have about 340 km of local trails. We are going to do our audit this winter to figure out how we lost nearly 60 km of trails.

GPS map software of OFSC trails will be available this winter. A real help in many cases. Because we had 3 reroutes last winter they won't be correct on the maps of our trails. The change on the A trail in Coleman, the new Moose Lake Trail, and the rerout on the Quebec trail all won't show up.

There is going to be a new online trail conditions map that will use the same data. Going to be really cool. Should be really up to date and we can customize it for parts of trails.

February's nearly over

2010-02-23T21:46:00.001-05:00

We went out for a ride today to the east and the north. The trails were excellent. The snow is still a little low but it is not really a problem except in the roughest areas.

While we were stopped at an intersection (wearing our trail patrol vests) two kids coming along the trail took off across a field. We wondered if it was us that caused this and then we saw the cruiser. I guess they blew the previous stop sign and didn't appear to have permits. He got the registration numbers of one of the sleds so there will be a trespassing charge and a no permit charge - I hope his granny that owns the sled gives him a good talking to.

On the river we came across a lonely muskrat. It seemed to be sleeping in the middle of the river so we shooed it off into the bush so it wouldn't get run over.

We also worked on upgrading signage because of some problems found in a trail audit. The goal is to keep the trails consistent across the province so that when people crash into stuff they have a hard time suing us.

Poker Run update

2010-02-07T18:32:00.000-05:00

We had a great day for the Poker Run on Saturday. It was a little cool in the morning but warmed up nicely during the day. 135 hands were dealt. The winners were 3rd - Bob Kerr, 2nd - Ray Snarr and 1st was Ron Caruso. Thanks to everybody for helping out.

The trails were excellent. The new brusher really makes a difference and you can't believe the difference it makes to be brushed. Latchford to Cobalt is still a little rough but is a lot better now.

I tried the reroute on the A107Q and it is quite good - needs snow because it was created last week. Really neat where it comes out onto Lake Temiskaming. There are 2 large ash trees curved over the trail like a giant archway.

There are no excuses so get out and ride.

All trails open

2010-02-02T21:57:00.000-05:00

We met at lunch today and decided to declare all trails open. The trail through Haileybury needs grooming but it is well packed right now.

All of the lake trails have been staked.

Some brushing is still needed on the Belle Vallee trail. Richard is planning on getting it done by the weekend.

The Poker Run is this weekend. It is always a fun ride and a good chance for people to visit about snowmobiling. I'll be out on the trails riding along.

Get out and ride. This is it. Winter is here and it won't last forever.

Post rain

2010-01-26T21:10:00.000-05:00

5 of us from the club went out for a ride this afternoon. The trails were still a little soft but they were surprisingly good. Richard was out using the brushcutter on the front of the groomer. It was doing a great job. The A trail from Latchford to Haileybury was rough - it needs another 6" of snow before it becomes really usable but the other trails allowed us to travel at the speed limit.

We probably won't groom much until after the weekend unless we get some snow since there is literally nothing left to groom.

The last part of the reroute on the Quebec trail was cut on Monday. With a little luck it will be open by the weekend.

The guys are also going to work on staking the lakes soon. That'll have all of the trails open and awaiting snow which is forcast for Monday but that didn't turn out so good last week.

Rain rain go away

2010-01-25T21:15:00.000-05:00

Things aren't looing good out there. It has been raining all day. The snow has held up but the lakes are going to be icy. Hopefully we will have a little snow as it cools down so the trails aren't glare ice. I'll do an update on Tuesday or Wednesday.

We haven't closed the trails yet but they are very limited and there may be washouts on the creeks so use extreme caution.

Mid January update

2010-01-19T17:01:00.001-05:00

We actually got a little snow last night. It was pretty fluffy but it whitened things up a bit.

By the end of the day today the A trail should be open from one end to the other.

We are still having problems with reroutes on the unopened trails.
         The Belle Vallee Trail reroute has been worked out and should be open by the weekend.
         Moose Lake reroute is running into bureaucratic delays so we're going to reopen the pipeline trail.
         The Quebec trail needs workwith heavy equipment to make it usable.
Hopefully Moose Lake will be open for the weekend.

Staking the big lake is nearly ready to go and may be done tomorrow. Richard has checked it out and he thinks its safe.

We are forecast to get a good dump on Sunday / Monday. If we get the snow and no rain we should be fully open on all but the Quebec trail by Tuesday.

Trails open limited

2010-01-10T21:46:00.000-05:00

Several volunteers came out to help the trail guys to stake some trails Saturday. We did the Thornloe trail - L189 - from the Wabi River. The A Trail is open from Cobalt to Kerns. Club Echo also has some trails open.

They guys are going back at it Monday. The L 185 will be open by the end of the day tomorrow.

1st Week of January

2010-01-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

Is it really Jan 6 already. Richard has been out working on the trails all week. He has packed a large portion of the A trail and staked and signed it north of New Liskeard. Tomorrow he's going to pack the trail to Thornloe. A group of volunteers is going out on Saturday to stake the trail to Thornloe and if we have enough people also the A trail to Cobalt. We're leaving the Groomer Shelter at 9:30 on Saturday if you are interested in helping out. Bring your sled and a shovel for piling up snow.

At this rate we should have some trails open on a limited basis by Monday and all that we can open by Friday.

We have all of the information to the MNR and MTO to be able to do the Moose Lake Trail reroute. With any luck our contractor should be working on it by Jan 20 with it open by the end of January.

Mid-December update

2009-12-15T21:10:00.000-05:00

The guys are busy replacing the cleats on two of the groomers - they were getting quite worn down. This should be done by tomorrow or Thursday. With that done the groomers will be ready to go once the trails are ready to groom. There still is not enough snow and the frost is not very deep in the ground. Another reason for not grooming yet is that we have been jynxed by thaws between Christmas and New Year's the last few years. We'll look to see where the weather is next week to see if we'll work on getting something open early.

The cold weather expected over the next few days should go a long way to freezing the ground so that the groomers won't sink in the swamps. We're still thinking about renting an Argo for a few days once we have some more snow and some cold weather. Lake Temiskaming is almost frozen over today and the Wabi River has been frozen for nearly 2 weeks now.

Bill and Marcel had an onsite meeting with the MTO at Brown's pit. It looks like the reroute is going to be feasible so we should have the trail open in January. The reroute is very scenic and should be a very nice new trail.

Snow's here

2009-12-05T18:53:00.000-05:00

We finally got some snow on Thursday. Too late to help with early season permit sales but still it should have people thinking about sledding.

I was out in the bush today. There is about 10 cm of the white stuff. There is no frost in the ground so it would be nice if it got cold for a while before we got much more snow.

The Wabi also froze Thursday night. That's certainly a good sign. It had actually frozen several weeks ago but the disgustingly warm November melted all that nice ice off.

We're still working on the Moose Lake trail reroute. It looks like we may have to delay opening the new trail until next year because of issues at the MTO pit.

Millions

2009-11-29T22:41:00.000-05:00

We sent off about 70 applications for the Ski-Doo millions things. The $700 will pay for at least a week of grooming.

Late November update

2009-11-29T22:40:00.001-05:00

November has been a busy behind the scenes month. We are still working on the Moose Lake Trail reroute. So long as we can get all of the government agencies on board the trail will be really good with some nice scenery.

Permit sales are going well. Remember they need to be purchased on or before December 1 to get the pre-season rate of $200. We set up at the mall to sell permits on Thursday. The plus 7 weather didn't help sales but we did sell some of the vintage permits and some regular season permits. If you didn't get your vintage permit you can still pick one up by filling out the application form at Ramsay Law Office - we then send the application to the District office which will then mail the permit out. Make sure you have your ownership because we must take a photocopy of it.

We're going to replace the tracks on one of the groomers in a couple of weeks. We're going to do one tractor a year so that they don't get in bad shape. To get this done we bought a large compressor. There are a lot bolts on each track to hold all those cleats on.

Come out to the meeting this Wednesday at 7:30 at the groomer shelter. They are interesting and you get to know what is going on.

And oh yeah - we finally have a light dusting of snow on the ground.

A small flurry

2009-10-01T11:41:00.000-04:00

We had a small flurry on September 30 - no accumulation but the chill was definitely in the air. Its easier to get motivated about working on the trails now.

Several of the club members helped out at the District booth at the plowing match. Huge crowds but not a lot of interest in our booth. A chance to talk to sledders from around the province and the other volunteers around the district.

Fall Fair

2009-09-22T16:34:00.000-04:00

The club had a very active weekend with the Fall Fair. Robin looked after security for the fair and the Gauthier's and I looked after the booth. We had quite a bit of interest in the new vintage permit. It was a good time to meet with club members and discuss future plans.

We found out that there might be a bridge available for the Wabi Creek crossing on the trail behind the groomer shelter. We still need to find out how much the bridge will cost and how much it would cost to install.

I chatted with several of the local ATVers who would be interested in helping us put up some swamp crossings. This would be a benefit for us to be able to get the groomers out earlier and allow the ATV'ers who don't want to be buried up to their armpits in muck move along.

The winners of the Fall Fair draw were:
Shelley Laferriere - the picnic blanket donated by UPS
Francine Brazeau - Ski-Doo Teddy Bear from Maille's
Joe Doire - Polaris Sweatshirt from Tri-Town Motor Sports

We are helping out at the plowing match this week for the district booth. Come on in and get your new maps.

AGM Update

2009-09-15T08:54:00.000-04:00

Robin and I attended the AGM this past weekend. We really felt it was worthwhile. The trip to Valcourt to see the museum and tour the plant were fun - we also met a lot of people from other clubs and made lots of contacts.

Kent Lester of Supertrax gave a speech on Friday - one of the focuses was the increasing sales of flatland deep snow sleds - these are the sleds being used to ride off the trails. This trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Many of us enjoy this type of riding but it puts us at risk as a club because the off trail riders are hurting themselves and then suing the OFSC and local clubs. Snowmobiling is going to have to figure out how to deal with this issue - it would be nice to strike a balance where we have trails going to areas to ride but won't be sued if the person hurts themself.

The price of permits was set the same next year as they are this year. $200 early, $250 after Dec 1 and vintage $125 all year long.

We got some great ideas from other clubs - look for me to list some of them once the club executive has had a chance to discuss them.