# Sledding Pictures 2019



## thewoodlands (Jan 14, 2019)

finally started my sled today so we went on a small ride, pics 2189 & 90 are from the state park, pic 2192 are on the county trails and the rest of the pics are from our property.

There isn't much of a base so it would be nice for some heavier wet snow for a better base.


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## xman23 (Jan 14, 2019)

Someone told me VT got 18 inches this weekend. Never saw the storm.


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## thewoodlands (Jan 14, 2019)

xman23 said:


> Someone told me VT got 18 inches this weekend. Never saw the storm.


That's about the same we received but it was sugar snow, not great for getting a good base started.

Did it finally stop raining in PA?


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## johneh (Jan 15, 2019)

Little to know snow here not worth starting the sled


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## thewoodlands (Jan 15, 2019)

johneh said:


> Little to know snow here not worth starting the sled


This Saturday and Sunday Intellicast has us getting 13 - 20 inches, what's your forecast for those days with this new storm coming in?


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## johneh (Jan 15, 2019)

Our forecast says 10 to 20 cm (5 to 10 inches ) 
I will believe it when it happens they have been 
totally wrong so far this winter. Last time they forcast
20 cm it pissed rain for 2 days


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## firefighterjake (Jan 15, 2019)

Went out on my first ride this past weekend after trailering to Medway (not enough snow down home) . . . did 145 miles or so with a ride up through Matagammon and down to Shin Pond. One guy accidentally went off trail . . . spent close to an hour digging him out as the snow was 3-4 feet deep in places.


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## thewoodlands (Jan 15, 2019)

firefighterjake said:


> Went out on my first ride this past weekend after trailering to Medway (not enough snow down home) . . . did 145 miles or so with a ride up through Matagammon and down to Shin Pond. One guy accidentally went off trail . . . spent close to an hour digging him out as the snow was 3-4 feet deep in places.


It sounds like you had a great time @firefighterjake. The last two years and this year we've had chit for snow until later February and last year March was when we received most of our snow.


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## thewoodlands (Jan 16, 2019)

We had planned for a longer ride on the county trails but a bunch of the trails are either shared or closed because of logging.

The first two pictures are the county trails and the rest are from our property.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 16, 2019)

Couple photos . . . not all that great. One is from a scenic view . . . another shows the Arctic Cat (when it went off trail for the second time that day. This one wasn't so bad . . . the third time was when we spent an hour or so getting him unstuck.)


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## thewoodlands (Jan 19, 2019)

We took the sleds for a small ride on our property, attached are some pictures.


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## thewoodlands (Jan 25, 2019)

We want for a ride on the snowmobiles on the county trails, they weren't that bad for the amount of rain we received. Once we came back we (I) decided to go for a ride on our property so the wife followed, it was going good until we were in the big ravine where we had to stop because a big ole basswood was across the the majority of the width of the ravine.

My sled was stuck pretty good so we were able to get my wife's sled turned around so I could come home for a tow strap,d-shackles and a shovel which did the trick. I would've had pictures but the camera was in the rhino.


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## thewoodlands (Jan 30, 2019)

Our ride was made shorter with the wind and the snow coming down harder once we made it to the county trails, not a sled or groomer had been on the trails since we received the 5-6 inches of snow.

Picture 2231 is just starting out on the county trail, 2232 is from further down the trail, 2233 is a snapped of beech just off the trail and 2234 is a widowmaker over the county trail.


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## thewoodlands (Feb 1, 2019)

Today we went for just over 20 miles on the sleds, not another sled out there.


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## Fish On (Feb 1, 2019)

My day today. After 2 years and after major spine surgery felt great to be back on the sleds. 

Cheer!


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## firefighterjake (Feb 1, 2019)

Heading out tomorrow . . . riding from Shin Pond Village to the lost locomotives and tramway via Libby Camps (lunch and gas stop) . . . if all goes as planned.


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## begreen (Feb 1, 2019)

And here I thought I was going to see some actual sledding pics. Never heard the term used for snowmobiling. But then again, never owned a snowmobile.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 3, 2019)

begreen said:


> And here I thought I was going to see some actual sledding pics. Never heard the term used for snowmobiling. But then again, never owned a snowmobile.



If you were in Alaska they would be talking about "snowmachining" and riding the "snowmachine" . . . took me a few minutes to figure out what my sister and brother-in-law were talking about when they first used the term.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 3, 2019)

190 or so miles . . . quite cold outside. 

A few issues. Signs were pretty good until the last 16 miles and then they were pretty much non-existent. Ended up riding down a snow covered road for miles before figuring out it wasn't the trail.

Found the trail to the lake . . . and then it was 15 miles of rough, snow-blown riding with a lot of "whoop de doos" to contend with . . . didn't help that it was snowing and with the gray sky and snow it was hard to see what was coming up.

Made it to the locomotives and tramway. Took a few pics and then headed back . . . and got lost again. Rode a few more miles on the road . . . ended up riding back on the lake.

Got quite low on fuel . . . but eventually with some help from some other riders we made it back to Libby's Sporting Camps (a neat place in its on respect with a lot of history -- quite rustic) where we ended up eating lunch . . . at 5 p.m. . . . about 4 hours or so past when I was planning. Met our waitress who had an accent . . . turns out she lived in the Dominican Republic, moved to New York City and then was looking for a job where it wasn't so crowded . . . trust me . . . Libby's would definitely qualify. To get to their vehicles they have a two mile hike/sled ride out to the road.

Realized I lost my GPS partway back . . . sadly I am 99% sure of where I lost it as I was reading a plaque on the trail and heard something smack against the train . . . at the time I figured it was a chunk of ice or snow. Unfortunately there was no time or enough fuel to turn back to retrieve it. 

Return trip from Libby's to Shin Pond in the dark was mostly uneventful except the guy in the lead forgot about a 90 degree turn and blew the corner and we had to spend some time digging him out.

All in all . . . a good trip. 

Sorry there are not many photos . . . it was just too cold to stop and take many photos.



If anyone is interested in reading the history of the locomotives and why they were never sold, scrapped, etc. and just left to rust in the northwoods of Maine . . .

https://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/discover_history_explore_nature/history/allagash/index.shtml


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## begreen (Feb 10, 2019)

Real sledding video posted by a friend. With the recent snows some of Seattle's streets are closed off to cars. They are just too hilly. Perfect for a long sled run, just watch out for the dogs.


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## thewoodlands (Feb 14, 2019)

We hit the trails for a quick 30 mile ride today, what a beautiful day for a ride. They still have certain trails that you can't ride because of logging that's going on.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 18, 2019)

No pictures . . . but I do have a map with some highlights from Saturday's trip from Sherman to Linneus and back. 170 or so miles.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=13zF6iQrgfyoUroFCbl_KPQMIlsTWbUCJ&usp=sharing


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## hossthehermit (Feb 23, 2019)

Yesterday .........


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## CaptSpiff (Feb 23, 2019)

Somebody hates that ATV sign.  ;-)


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## firefighterjake (Feb 24, 2019)

Where were you riding Hoss?

Did 176 miles yesterday. Unity to Hermon for lunch at Dysarts . . . and back via some different trails.

Headed out this morning after going to breakfast . . . ended a bit earlier than planned.


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## hossthehermit (Feb 25, 2019)

Greenbush / Greenfield, Jake. Finally moved up here last spring. Trail access right across the road from the house .


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## firefighterjake (Feb 25, 2019)

hossthehermit said:


> Greenbush / Greenfield, Jake. Finally moved up here last spring. Trail access right across the road from the house .



One of my former co-workers bought a house there a few years back.


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## firefighterjake (Mar 4, 2019)

Short day on Saturday.

112 miles . . . Unity to Dover-Foxcroft. Riding with my brother in law and his girlfriend.

The plan was to ride up to Katahdin Iron Works to see the old kiln and then on to the B-52 crash on Elephant Mountain.

Unfortunately we only made it as far as Dover-Foxcroft as the girlfriend's older Polaris wasn't running right . . . had to leave the sled there and she rode two up on the brother in law's sled.

On the flip side . . . the girlfriend did take some photos: Ducks in Dexter, a photo of the couple together, photo of me and my brother in law and a photo of us pondering the meaning of life while taking a break beside the trail.


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## maple1 (Mar 4, 2019)

Saturday. Drove a few minutes over wind swept skimpy stuff to get to the view. Much better in the woods.


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## thewoodlands (Mar 19, 2019)

We put the sleds away until next season, it's almost time to build the wood inventory up again.


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## firefighterjake (Mar 21, 2019)

A couple weeks ago . . . March 9th. 140 miles of local riding.

Unfortunately, it's all gone now. . . time to start thinking about ATVs . . . well . . . not quite . . . going to The County this weekend.


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## SpaceBus (Mar 21, 2019)

firefighterjake said:


> Short day on Saturday.
> 
> 112 miles . . . Unity to Dover-Foxcroft. Riding with my brother in law and his girlfriend.
> 
> ...



You came pretty close to my place! I've been hearing sleds for a while now.


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## firefighterjake (Mar 26, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> You came pretty close to my place! I've been hearing sleds for a while now.



Not if you're in the Machias area . . . Dover-Foxcroft is quite a ways away from the Machias area.

In other news . . . finished out the riding season (for me personally) with a trip to The County.


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## SpaceBus (Mar 26, 2019)

firefighterjake said:


> Not if you're in the Machias area . . . Dover-Foxcroft is quite a ways away from the Machias area.
> 
> In other news . . . finished out the riding season (for me personally) with a trip to The County.


Yes, I realized that after making the post. Fir some reason I thought it was closer, but I'm still learning this place. 

I'm surprised you still had any snow left to ride on.


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## firefighterjake (Mar 28, 2019)

SpaceBus said:


> Yes, I realized that after making the post. Fir some reason I thought it was closer, but I'm still learning this place.
> 
> I'm surprised you still had any snow left to ride on.



The trip to Dover-Foxcroft was a few weekends back . . . the trip to The County was last week -- they still have a lot of snow there and have the potential to be snowmobiling into mid-April.


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## EODMSgt (May 19, 2019)

Used the sled to help with some of the work after a storm earlier this year. It's always about the firewood...


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## BigFir (Nov 28, 2019)

Glad to see other sledders here! Got our first sunny ride in last weekend!


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## BigFir (Dec 16, 2019)

It snowed a little the other weekend!


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## johneh (Dec 16, 2019)

Better you than me
Yikes
Wouldn't you know it BC hogging all the friggen snow


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## BigFir (Dec 22, 2019)

5 days straight of pounding snow in the alpine. 5 plus feet in 5 days. And I cant go for another week yet.......
This pic is not mine, but it is unbelievable! In 25 years of sledding the mountains in BC i have never seen such a dump at once.


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## johneh (Dec 22, 2019)

I wouldn't want to be the one breaking trail!


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## firefighterjake (Dec 23, 2019)

No pictures . . . or riding . . . but I did sell my 2007 GSX 500 SS with 9,000+ miles and bought a 2014 Renegade Adrenaline 1200. I suspect there will be a learning curve going from a relatively light-weight two stroke to a rather heavy four stroke . . . not to mention the longer track and different riding position.


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## firefighterjake (Dec 23, 2019)

Some of you might get a kick out of the ad I posted on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist . . .

$1,450

2007 Skidoo GSX 500 SS

9,832 miles . . . and no, they were not all County, Northern or Quebec miles. They were put on the hard way . . . one grueling mile at a time. Well, maybe it wasn't that bad. Oh, who am I kidding . . . I enjoyed each and every one of those miles. By the way, aren't you glad I didn't use that crap NaN mileage that folks are posting in ads these days -- I mean how hard is it to go out, start the sled and write down the mileage on the odometer? 

No, it's not my wife's sled. Come Winter she tends to hibernate inside and the chances of me getting her on to a sled are about as likely as me taking up knitting. Hell, she doesn't even like the smell of two-stroke exhaust.  

No, it has not been in any accidents, unless you count the time last year when I made the ungainly transition from a trail to a plowed road/trail and in the process made a very undignified slow motion roll over. I mean I literally could have eaten half of a Subway BMT in the time it took for me to tip over. The good news of course is at that speed, or lack thereof, there was no damage except to my ego as all my riding buddies witnessed my ineptitude. 

Yes, it is really a 600 cc sled, well technically 598 cc, but who am I to quibble over 2 measly ccs. However, I suspect you knew this already if you know anything about snowmobiles so I will not bother mentioning this fact . . . ^%$& . . . guess I just %&Ied that up by actually explaining it anyways. 

Yes, it fires right up. No, it is not perfect. The top end was done last year. I do not have records of this fact. Why? Because I had the work done by a high school student at the local vocational school and I bribed him with free donuts. Actually, this is not as bad as it sounds . . . the kid works under an instructor who is a former Skidoo dealer and the kids act quite professionally . . . plus as a benefit, the kid found a slow coolant leak so it was so worth the glazed donuts I supplied him and his classmates with . . . 

Yes, it does need some work . . . or at least I would do some work to it. I mean to say I would replace the track so I wouldn't risk being 101 miles in the middle of nowhere and having the track blow . . . but that's just me. I don't like living on the edge myself.  I also might suggest replacing the skis. On my last ride of the year I had a carbide come loose and it wore a hole in one of the skis so that it now shoots snow up like the water jet coming out of the back of a Jet Ski. In fact, now that I write this I am thinking this could be a positive . . . so there is that. The starter is also temperamental and by this I mean downright ornery. For a long time once in a great while it would fail to catch and just make this whiiiirrrrrrrrrrrr sound before catching and starting up. This year I have had to mostly pull start it . . . on the plus side this means I can work on my biceps and triceps.

So yes, I am asking $1,450 or best reasonable offer. By "best reasonable offer" I do not mean $250 and a hearty handshake, $1,450 in Gamestop gift cards or $150,000 but only if I can help out your rich and recently deposed Nigerian Prince/cousin by giving you my checking account numbers, mother's maiden name, My Space password and the locker combination of the gym locker I used in 8th grade back in 1984.

I should also mention I am really not interested in trading for your 1986 GMC plow truck, scratch ticket which may or may not be a million dollar winner or that Cheetoh you found yesterday which looks like the Virgin Mary.

I am the second owner of this sled . . . not that it means much . . . I mean it's not like I'm selling you a bed or second hand boxer shorts. It doesn't come with much because I'm a pretty simple guy and don't tend to buy a lot of extras . . . it does however have a tunnel bag which my brother-in-law from Stafford Springs, CT likes to fill with empty beer cans when we stop to take a break at an intersection since he is all about keeping the trails clean . . . which is a good idea, but I still have no idea why he doesn't just put them in his tunnel bag.

I wish I could say this is "like new", "mint" or in "showroom condition" but hell . . . it's 11 years old with nearly 10,000 miles. I actually do ride it and it has some wear and tear . . . but by that I mean just regular wear and tear. The seat is in excellent condition with no rips, tears or mysterious stains . . . and the plastic is solid with no cracks or Frankenstein-like wire tie jobs holding it all together. 

If there is anything good I can say it's that I am not a hard rider . . . I mean to say you won't find me attempting a double under backwards somersault . . . hell . . . I just about poop my pants when I catch more than three inches of air when I accidentally hit a mogul too fast. I guess that's all I can think of to mention at this point.

--

And yes . . . the sled sold pretty quickly.


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## moresnow (Dec 23, 2019)

firefighterjake said:


> Some of you might get a kick out of the ad I posted on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist . . .
> 
> $1,450
> 
> ...



Funny. I have a 05 SS with 9000+ miles I need to sell! Only thing new on this one is the cover I just unpacked!  Great sleds. Sadly it wont be replaced. 50f here today. Envious of you guys who still get snow. 
The riding pics are inspiring!


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## Bad LP (Dec 25, 2019)

Here is my new ride for 2020. Ski Doo 850 Enduro. Riding area centers around Moosehead Lake Maine but mostly north and west from there. Once in a while head south to  D-F to a friends place for lunch.


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## AlbergSteve (Jan 7, 2020)

Does this count as a sledding picture?


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## BigFir (Jan 7, 2020)

Hahahaha! I actually saw that a few weeks ago driving through town! Silly Albertans!


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## Bad LP (Jan 7, 2020)

Hope it’s not picked!


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## firefighterjake (Jan 9, 2020)

Snowmobile stuffed in a Subaru at the Bangor Walmart and Snowmobile on a roof in Oquossoc.


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## Bad LP (Jan 10, 2020)

What was the name of the restaurant across the street from Oquossoc Marine? Was it Trails End?  Boy did we raise some hell in there a lot more than once. LOL.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 3, 2020)

So far this riding season is mostly a bust . . . at least in terms of local riding.

Here are a few pics from our weekend get-away.

224 miles, Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Left out of Presque Isle and did a local loop south on Friday. On Saturday we headed towards the border trail, but decided to take club trails to avoid the traffic. Ended up riding through the old Loring Air Force Base and then up to St. Agatha for a late lunch at Lakeview (where I ran into a co-worker of mine who was also up for the weekend snowmobiling to my surprise).

I also was able to finally really ride my new-old sled . . . I upgraded to a 2014 1200 Renegade Adrenaline . . . a bit of a change going from a light-weight, carbureated 2 stroke to a much heavier, fuel injected 4 stroke. I really like the power and gas mileage though . . . I was always the one taking the least amount of gas at every fill up.

Photo: Photo of me checking the map and GPSr after we lost sight of the leaders.

Photo: Posing in front of Fort Fairfield's blockhouse and potato barrel Christmas "tree."

Photo: Parked in front of Lakeview . . . when we came in there were a lot more sleds parked here.


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## Bad LP (Feb 3, 2020)

The Lakeview. If those walls could talk we would be in jail.
Not a good season for sleds at all.  I'm hoping that the weather pattern changes because we could still get dumped on but with longer days and the sun higher in the sky plus having such a limited base spring riding might be a lost cause knowing the lack of good ice on the lakes.


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## thewoodlands (Feb 1, 2022)

We took the old Indy Trail snowmobiles out the last couple of days, not much snow on the trails through the woods but the groomers are doing a great job. The attached picture is from the State Park today.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 10, 2022)

I haven't got out as much as I typically do . . . of course the snow came in late this year. I've done a few short, local rides.





Unity Pond aka Lake Winnecook. February 6, 2022


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## firefighterjake (Feb 10, 2022)

Short break near the Pittsfield Club House. Early February 2022


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## Bad LP (Feb 11, 2022)

Quick ride to Kokadjo and back yesterday. Was thinking of running the short loop around Moosehead but the trail turned to crap there so I went back home on 85 following a couple who rides just like me!! Fast and staying on our own side of the trail. Felt good for sure. 
I need to get rid of the ice ripper track with the stupid factory studs. I always knew it was useless but yesterday confirmed it.


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## EODMSgt (Feb 13, 2022)

Doing a bit of scrounging last Friday with the snowmobile.


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## thewoodlands (Feb 13, 2022)

EODMSgt said:


> Doing a bit of scrounging last Friday with the snowmobile.
> 
> View attachment 292096
> View attachment 292097
> ...


Nice work @EODMSgt , who makes the cargo sled?


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## EODMSgt (Feb 13, 2022)

thewoodlands said:


> Nice work @EODMSgt , who makes the cargo sled?



It's an Otter Magnum sled.  https://www.otteroutdoors.com/product/pro-sled-magnum/

It's all backcountry riding (no groomed trails) so I made several trails of my own earlier in the week to trees I had marked last fall in order to pack the snow down. Made pulling the loaded cargo sled a lot easier.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 15, 2022)

125 miles last Friday as I took the day off and took advantage of the nice day.

I am most definitely getting old. Left at 9 a.m. to let the snow soften up (could have waited even longer.) At one time I would have been hitting the trail before 7 a.m. and ridden until early 9 or 10 at night. This time I was back home by 4 . . . in time to make macaroni and cheese . . . and more importantly get in the hot tub to soothe my aching shoulders.

A good ride . . . even though I did not end up where I was hoping. My intent was to ride up to the wind turbines above Kingbury Pond. Blame it on bad signage. Actually bad signage was more than a little problematic in a couple of places. A bit frustrating . . . but I figure I was still out riding and having a good time.

I had some overheating issues in the first hour or so of riding. Ended up having to stop four times or so. Tried adding an extended snowflap modification in the hope it would catch more snow. Did not seem to do much to help the overheating though. Eventually the ice-hard trail softened up some and overheating was no longer an issue. Made me realize I really need to install those ice scratchers I bought last Fall.

I did lose reverse . . . a common problem with my Renegade 1200. Fortunately I was able to minimize the number of times I had to back up.

Open water was a bit of an issue in some places. One did have to be careful in some areas as you would be riding along and then all of a sudden there would be a hole in the trail from a wash out. A normal "ice crossing" to go under the interstate in Clinton was quite sketchy looking with more water than ice . . . I decided to exercise some discretion and went another way. I did not have an alternative option (other than a very long backtrack) at one point when I came across 5-7 inches of running water in the trail. Underneath was an old, wooden bridge. I tested the bridge by foot and it seemed solid. More worrisome was an ice shelf on the edges which could catch the skis. .After some deliberation I decided to go for it and made sure to gun it to get some ski lift . . . and all ended well.









						Feb. 11, 2022 - Google My Maps
					

Feb. 11, 2022




					www.google.com


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## Bad LP (Feb 17, 2022)

firefighterjake said:


> 125 miles last Friday as I took the day off and took advantage of the nice day.
> 
> I am most definitely getting old. Left at 9 a.m. to let the snow soften up (could have waited even longer.) At one time I would have been hitting the trail before 7 a.m. and ridden until early 9 or 10 at night. This time I was back home by 4 . . . in time to make macaroni and cheese . . . and more importantly get in the hot tub to soothe my aching shoulders.
> 
> ...


Those turbines make my blood boil.


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## clancey (Feb 18, 2022)

That story has to do with judgement (LP) and he went for it--"after some deliberation I decided to go for it"    big deal----use better discretion next time...clancey


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## firefighterjake (Feb 18, 2022)

clancey said:


> That story has to do with judgement (LP) and he went for it--"after some deliberation I decided to go for it"    big deal----use better discretion next time...clancey



I trust my skill set.


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