High Prairie, Alberta

With three guides from the Athabasca River Runners Snowmobile Club leading the way, the riders started their run on the Athabasca River, but it turned unexpectedly sour. The original plan had been to ride the trails overland to Valley View, Alberta. However, given the minimal snow conditions, the decision was made to cancel the hotel reservations at Valley View and instead book new reservations at the Pomeroy Inn in High Prairie, Alberta (a few miles west of Slave Lake.)

"On paper," it looked like a good plan, but only on paper. The run up the Athabasca River was reported to have been a great ride; but when they came to Slave Lake, instead of finding a smooth trail across the entire 80 mile length of the Lake, the conditions varied from wind swept drifts to bare ice.

So much for a great plan; as is often the case, the plan did not play out as expected. Instead of smoothly connecting from the river to the lake they left the river and rode overland for a few rough miles. So rough, in fact, that a couple of veteran riders tipped their sleds over.

All the riders had expected to have a controlled ride for entire length of the lake, but it was not to be. Without sufficient snow lubricate the sliders; and they were forced to abandon their mission, and once again load the sleds on the trailers, and make the drive to High Prairie.

Despite the conditions, there were still few "hard core" riders who chose to continue on, under the guidance of the three guides from Athabasca River Runners Snowmobile Club, to "ditch-bang" their way to High Prairie. They arrived, after a couple of hours, tired and weary, but having no regrets.

The Athabasca River Runners Snowmobile Club

As intended the trek from Cold Lake to Lake Athabasca was a trailer ride not a snowmobile ride. It was a clear disappointment for all.

On a good note, Dick Woodruff took his snowmobile to a metal fabricating shop and they where able straighten and weld things back in place. As the owner of the shop was reported to have said, "It ain't pretty, but it will get you back on the trails." The total cost of the repairs was less than $200 dollars, and Dick was ALL SMILES - Welcome back Dick!

If there is a downside to this trip, it is the fact that by its very nature as snowmobile trip, one is not afforded the opportunity to explore the cities and small villages when passing through.

It's no ones fault, it's just how it is.

Bill Bradfield came through once again; he contacted the local, Athabasca River Runners Snowmobile Club and they invited us to all to banquet dinner at their club house.

Not only did they have great food, but when the "hat was passed" to reward them for their efforts; they, without hesitation, graciously gave the $250 dollars that was collected, back to the "Diabetes Research Institute" - Many thanks to the Athabasca River Runners Snowmobile Club.

MichCanSka, lest we forget, is a charity snowmobile run than was set up to support the Diabetes Research Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for this dreadful disease.

The Shortest Day

Barry led the riders from Big River to Cowan Lake where they rode the lake for several miles before completing the crossing. From that point on the trail took a turn for the worst with the trails running from thin to completely bare. After five hours of making-do as best they could they arrived at Meadow Lake, where the decision was make to load the snowmobiles on the trailers and complete the journey to Cold Lake via the highway.

Even though not all of the riders were happy with the decision to abort the remainder of the days ride; they all agreed that they trail conditions where tearing up the snowmobiles and, therefore, posed a threat to being able to complete the rest of the mission to Tok, Alaska.

Although Cold Lake only has a population of just under 13,000 people it is vary impressive community with the appearance of having a healthy dose of affluence. As anticipated the snow conditions where not any better Cold Lake, Alberta, than they had been in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan; and the decision was made that, the next day, they would trailer the entire distance from Cold Lake to Athabasca, Alberta.

I understand the reasoning, but even so, it seems to take away somewhat from their intended goal of snowmobiling "all the way" from the Sault Saint Marie, Michigan to Tok, Alaska.

More Days in Saskatchewan

Our second day in Saskatchewan began with a continuation of the mild weather. The temperature remained in the mid-teens and for the second day in a row time we finished the day (at Nipawin, Saskatchewan) in the daylight - how sweet it is!

According to all reports, it was a great day on the trails; and best of all, one more day without incident.

Unfortunately (for me), even though we finished the day early, the time saved was lost in the course of doing the laundry day chores. For the sake of all concerned I did the "duty" and brought us back into a state of common decency (a slightly, overstatement, of course!)

Our accommodations, in Nipawin were probably the best we seen thus far; although, the major part of what really made everything work, was the fact that they were located across the road from a Bar/Restaurant/Motel which had great food and a six lane curling arena.

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We knew it had to come to an end before long, and it did! When we awoke on Monday morning the temperature was a crisp 25 degrees below zero (on the Fahrenheit scale.)

Due to the bitter cold Bill Bradfield (the President of MichCanSka) gave the riders a break - they departed at 7:35 instead of 7:30!

Despite the cold conditions, only a couple of riders forced off trail early, and by the afternoon the temperature had risen to a "balmy" 14 degrees Fahrenheit.

The cold temperature was not the sole issue of concern; despite having traveled hundreds of miles to the north, the snow conditions were actually worsening. By the end of the day, when they finally shut down (at Big River, Saskatchewan), they found themselves frequently riding in dirt!

We suffered one misfortune when Dick Woodruff struck an unknown obstacle, and the sled, but furtunately not the rider, had to be transported to the "hospital." The report was not good; the snowmobile had incurred over $2,500 dollars in damages, and Dick decided to complete the journey as a full time driver for his team of four.

Often when traveling, it's the people you meet along the way that make for some of best and most lasting memories. Barry Nontell and Clarice Hunter (husband and wife) are perfect examples. They are the owners of the Timberland Motel in Big River, Saskatchewan, and they were the perfects hosts. They went out of the way by serving a welcoming offering wine, cheese and crackers to weary "sledder's" and their chase vehicle drivers; and by transporting us to and from the local restaurants for dinner and breakfast.

Clarice is also a Harley rider who has, more than once, rode the southern route to Sturgis, South Dakota; and her husband Barry served our snowmobile guide to Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, on our way to today's stop at Cold Lake, Alberta.

Russell, Manitoba to Preeceville, Saskatchewan

Our entry into Canada went smoothly for all concerned, although a little strange. Riders commented that they didn't know how they (customs) knew for sure that everyone had been checked-in. The procedure was to go inside, show your passport, go back outside and drive across the border (how could they be sure that all the riders had in fact checked-in?) The answer was - they couldn't! The procedure was the same for all the chase drivers, and the answer was again the same.

Manitoba (at least in this part) is a flat barren landscape with miles between villages that seldom larger than 1000 residents. Despite the small size, the village of Deloraine (which appeared to be an atypical Manitoba village) had a full-size indoor hockey arena and a three lane quonset-hut style arena for the Deloraine Curling Club; pretty lively for a community of its size.

Despite having a "guide" to lead the way to Russell, all 24 snowmobiles were led twenty-five miles out the way. Pete (our safety coordinator), saved the day, when he showed the guide his GPS device, pin-pointing the current location of the sleds which clearly indicated that they were headed in the wrong direction.

In addition, the riders, for a distance of about twenty-five miles, were forced to make-do without a trail, and were thus forced to endure, what snowmobiler's call "ditch-banging; a grueling (and somewhat dangerous) ordeal which tosses the snowmobile from side-to-side and subjects them to unknown obstacles mindlessly thrown into the ditch, or culverts hidden by the deep snow and what ever else "Mother-nature" provides.

As a consequence, their arrival at the Russell Inn was about two hours late. This was unfortunate since the Inn had a banquet set-up to welcome MichCanSka to Russell.

Russell is larger city with seven distinctive glu-laminated arches that mark the intersections along the main thoroughfare - very impressive!

It is about 150 highway miles to Preeceville, Saskatchewan or about six hours by "toboggan" the euphemism sometimes used by the Canadians for a snowmobile. It is miles of open spaces of multi-thousand acre farms that to this untrained eye appear only as barren land; an appearance that is further heightened by the fields of snow.

There were few towns to fill the void landscape and when arrived in Preeceville, the grain elevator rising above the city was focal point Preeceville. These grain elevators are a ubiquitous feature of the small towns that dot the landscape of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

An Early Run to Canada

Friday was start-up day for group one, the last group of 24 snowmobiles and the final day for the team that followed along with team one from Sault Saint Marie and to Belcourt, North Dakota. Team one is now down to the full contingent of 24 riders who are in it for the long to Tok, Alaska.

For me, as the title suggests it was kind of a lost day, but still not without some points of interest.

The day started with a phone call advising me to leave the Caribou Inn (Hallock, Minnesota) and drive to North Dakota and pick up a pair of snowmobiles and their riders.

From Hallock is only about 20 miles the Red River which forms the border between Minnesota and North Dakota. It also provided a convenient, easy to find, stopping point - just over the bridge into North Dakota.

There were not any real problems with the snowmobiles, but one of the riders was having problems with helmet fogging up due to a failure of the helmets heat shield. Several riders had other minor problems (but, when you're looking at another 3000 miles to travel, minor problems can quickly become major problems).

Therefore, the decision was made for a pair of riders to take the day off, load the "sleds" up and take the 70 miles drive up to Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada and try to address all the riders' equipment issues.

Since the riders were both from team one, I was charged with the duty of making the trek to Winnipeg.

Our visit to the city was unfortunately limited to the southern half of the Perimeter-Loop (or by-pass) and, therefore, did not provide much in the way of a view to the real Winnipeg.

After about five hours of "scavenger hunting" around Winnipeg, we finally called it a day and made our way to Belcourt, North Dakota, by the Canadian route. But, for us, the day held one final surprise. After crossing the border we were within minutes of destination - the "Sky Dancer" casino in Belcourt, when, having discovered that we were, in fact, driving in the wrong direction, we tried to turn around on the highway and end up - stuck deep in a ditch.

An off-duty police officer, who had the "good fortune" to be passing by, came to our rescue and called a wrecker for us. Two hours later we arrived at the Sky Dancer casino.

The highly anticipated evening of casino fun, was all but destroyed.

Nonetheless, having missed the days events at the poker room, I managed win my dinner at the black-jack table before "bowing-out" at a 1:30 A.M.

Minnesota to North Dakota

Yesterday (Thursday) was one long day for a very tired bunch of snowmobile riders; they logged a total of 283 miles and arrived at the motel in Hallock, Minnesota at about 8:00 P.M.

The trails were reported to be great and the weather was a sunny, but 280 miles plus makes for a long day regardless of the conditions.

For the chaser's it was long day also, with a lot of sitting and waiting the snowmobiles to pass. We have to maintain a position close enough to the trails to be able to rescue any snowmobiles if it becomes necessary.

On Wednesday, group two left out of Sault Saint Marie, but after only 83 miles one "sled" was out with drive line problems. The snowmobile was loaded onto the chase trailer and taken to a local "snowmobile hospital" to be checked out. Fortunately, the repairs were able to be made and by Thursday morning the snowmobile and rider were back on the trail.

Today should be a shorter day for all, but still around 200 miles. The destination is the casino at Belcourt, North Dakota, the last stop in the US of A.

To keep abreast of everything that is happening and to see some neat videos as well, be sure to keep a check on the MichCanSka website.

Another Day - Another State

From the Best Western in Ashland, Wisconsin, the riders set out for what was expected to be one of the shorter days on the trail, but in didn't play out that way. Those of you who ride snowmobiles know that the trails markers are not always as clear as they might be and, therefore, it is all too easy to make a wrong turn.

Such was case on Wednesday, and before they discovered their "wayward ways" they had traveled some twenty five miles in the wrong direction. It's all part of the game, and there is nothing to do but - suck it up - turn around and start anew!

In the end, with that wrong turn, they arrive at their destination the American Inn in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, about three hours late. In spite of that the riders all reported that the sunny day and smooth trails made for a great day of snowmobiling.

For me, as "chase vehicle" driver, the day was (somewhat) less eventful. Bill Bradfield, the event leader whose truck I am driving, chose to take the day off, in order to take care of some equipment issues and to replace a cell phone that was lost on the trail.

We spent the better part of the day in Duluth (Minnesota) search out a sporting goods and store and the local Best Buy. Our quest provided for some great views from the hills overlooking Lake Superior (sorry for the lack of supporting photos - the traffic, hills and winding roads would not allow it).

Despite our best efforts, however, our mission was only half successful. Bill was able to purchase a faulty face shield with a new helmet (complete with heated face shield) for less than the cost of a new face shield.

However, the attempt to replace the lost cell phone was a "disaster"; and after, an hour and a half he left the store empty-handed!

Duluth is just a beautiful city, and I regret not having more time to explore its environs (maybe the site for a future motorcycle ride).

The photos shown are of some of the old rail-trestles used to load the ships with ore. They are in the process of tearing down the trestles to salvage the wood and metal (as well as to clear the landscape).

Day Two - Ashland, Wisconsin

Almost reminds me of the military, it has been a day of - "Hurry up and wait!" When you think about it is easy to understand. We are driving the highway at about 50-60 miles an hour, while our counterparts on riding winding snowmobile trails which are sometimes well groomed and, hence, leading to a smooth and fast ride; but more often the trails rough riding and slow.

In either case the trails almost always winding and seldom lend themselves to long stretches of sustained high speeds. Therefore, although they may have short bursts of speed where will hit speeds of 80-90 miles an hour (or even higher), they will likely have an average speed of 25-30 miles an hour from point A to B.

Therefore, much of the day has been spent, waiting for the riders to complete their designated stretch of trail; had then driving ahead to the next stopping point from 25 to, perhaps, 60 trail miles distant.

It all part of the bargain that I bought into, and I have no regrets. I do, however, hope that the scenery and events that follow will make it worth while.

The First Day - Alaska Bound

Our day is done (the road crew, the chase vehicles, the trailer haulers or what ever you call us), but the snowmobile riders are still on the trail. It is now 6:00 P.M., and they are not expected to arrive at the motel before 9:00 P.M.

The day began on a sad note; three snowmobiles were stolen from the motel parking lot over night. All the plans, hopes and dreams were spoiled by some unfeeling and uncaring individuals who placed there personal interests above all others. I trust they are proud of themselves.

In spite of everyone's sympathy, "the show must go on," and so, it did; and right on schedule the 24 riders (joined by a host of 25-30 other riders who riding part way to Canadian border in North Dakota) made their way down and around the I-500 track before striking out on the trail.

With the snowmobiles on the trail it was time for the drivers to hook up the trailers and begin their own journey. Unfortunately, that turned out to be more of a task than it should have been.

When I went to hook up the truck/trailers rig that I was driving for Bill Bradfield (the organizer of the trip and President of MichCanSka), I discovered the key to unlock the trailer coupler would not work. Whether the key was the wrong key or the padlock was frozen, I may never know. After driving to the local hardware store to buy a hack saw, I returned to the trailer to find that the other drivers had already removed the padlock with a hand grinder. The problem was solved.

The rest of the day has been pretty uneventful. We arrived at Paradise expecting to meet the pack of snowmobiles, only to find that they had passed through Paradise without stopping, now more than, ten minutes earlier.

Having missed them at Paradise, we elected to not drive the 40 miles (round trip) to Grand Marais, out of the fear that history would repeat itself and we would miss them once again.

We now know that we were wrong in our thinking and were not accounting for the amount of time that it would take to fuel up some 50 to 60 snowmobiles and feed their riders as well.

This problem will soon disappear - we expect to have no more 30 sleds in the group by the time we reach Wisconsin.

In the Beginning

Tomorrow begins (sort of) the road to Alaska. Actually we will start the trek Monday, but I'll be leaving tomorrow for a 3:00 P.M. meeting at the Quality Inn in Sault Saint Marie in the U.P. (for you non-Michiganders, that's short to Michigan's Upper Peninsula).

The meeting is a get together to coordinate everything before we (team one) departs at 8:00 A.M. Monday morning. If team one has a complement of snowmobiles (and at this point, I don't actually know if the team is full or not) there will be 24 "sleds" leaving on Monday morning.

Tomorrow should solve the answer to a few unanswered questions, such as: where is the first scheduled stop (as well as all later scheduled stops) and why are they not following the Trans-Canadian Trail all the way?

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Crossing the bridge at the Straits of Mackinaw started to get the adrenalin running (the next three weeks should be great experience).

It's now Sunday and I failed to get yesterday's blog finished and posted. It is probably just as well, even though I still don't know much more about all the stops along the way. I have, however, learned that the first stop (for lunch and fuel) is in Grand Marais followed, in the afternoon, by the ride to Ishpeming to finish out the day. That makes for a four hour morning snowmobile ride followed by an estimated 4 1/2 - 5 hour ride in the afternoon (not too grueling, but they're just getting started!).

By highway the entire trip mapquests out at about 4 1/2 hours (that of course assumes a clear highway).

That's not bad for the first day, but when you think about doing that for the next nineteen days you can begin to get a feel for the scope of this project. Then too, the fact that some of the trails may or may not have been plowed out, and considering that the weather could be 20 degrees fahrenheit or 40 below - it's downright scary!

The reason that MichCanSka chose not to take the "Trans-Canadian Trail" all the way, is very logical when you think about it. MichCanSka wanted to make this an international expedition and, therefore, chose to include five states (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Alaska) and five Canadian provinces (Manitoba, Sasketchawan, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon Territory). How cool is that?

The trip begins with one lap around Sault Saint Marie's "I-500 Snowmobile Track" and then it's - hit the trail! Circling the I-500 track might not seem like such a big thing, but when you consider that in forty one years they have never permitted non-racers on the track, you begin to get a feel get for the respect that MichCanSka has so rightfully been accorded.

Long Live Motorcycle Travel

With all the attention being directed towards MichCanSka and the Alaska snowmobile trip, I want to assure everyone that the intent of this blog site is still very much centered on motorcycle travel.

However, as I stated from the very beginning, "This is a work in progress;" and, as such, will from time to time will call for a change in protocol - the Alaska snowmobile trip being a clear case in point.

Following this excursion, my intent is to return to New Orleans and continue on route to Panama, but not before visiting Vicksburg, Mississippi for belated return to further exploration of the civil war.

There were many battles of the civil war that were fought in the western frontier - far more than most of us realize. How many (if any) of these battle sites will fit in the travel plans is unknown at this time, but a concerted effort will be made wherever possible.

The attempt, herein, has been to assure readers that neither motorcycles nor the civil war are to be totally ignored in the future. There is a time and place for everything, and now is the time for Alaska!

More on Going Forward

When the Michigan to Alaska (MichCanSka) plans were first announced on this blog, I incorrectly stated that the trip ran from Michigan through Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and into Idaho before turning north to cross the border into Canada. The correct route never goes west of North Dakota before turning north from Belcourt, North Dakota and crossing into Manitoba, Canada.

From there it's a short 28 miles (by highway) before entering Canada and proceeding for another 175 miles (again, that's highway miles) to Russell, Manitoba. Other stops planned stops are Big River, Saskatchewan; Cold Lake, Alberta; Muncho Lake, British Columbia; Whitehorse and Dawson, Yukon Territory; and the final leg from Dawson to Tok, Alaska.

For me, there are some serious questions about the route of travel; namely, where are all of the other stops along the route? My map quest route encompasses more than 2400 miles with only two of the announced stops being less than 200 miles. All of the rest of the stops represent distances from 330 to over 440 miles (and one - from Cold Lake, Alberta to Muncho, British Columbia - is a journey of more than 940 miles!)

It is my understanding, that most days, the riders will travel fewer than 250 miles, with the average for the 20 day on the trail being 190 miles per day; so where all of the rest of the stops?

Understand that I am not in any way questioning the planning for trip. I have complete confidence in Bill Bradfield and the others who worked for over two years to plan and organize this trip - for sure, they know what they are doing. Nonetheless, I have clearly failed to ask for more information about the complete route of travel and all of the other stopping points along the route.

Departure day is still, nearly, two weeks away and I will report back to you just as soon as I am able to fill in the gaps between the known stopping points.