8212_MSA_December2022-R1

(Continued from Cover) The next 25 or so miles through Haynesville and towards Linneus turned into “Birch Alley” created by heavy wet snow that eventually turned to powder as the aforementioned storm progressed. My black and yellow blizzard turned all white as I dodged and ducked under arched trees. My windshield was white, my dash was white, my legs were white as I pushed 15 inches of snow—slow but sure. There was a lot of snow but, thank God, the groomers had established a hard base and traction was never an issue When we got close to Linneus proper, the trail opened up into fields again and we plodded along. I was relieved when we made it to AK4 and picked up ITS 83, which had seen some sled traffic and less snowfall. We made Houlton a few miles later, 205 miles in, around dusk, about 6:15 PM. We had been on the trail almost 11 hours at this point--- Time for a break. A leg stretch, nature call, and sock change and I was refreshed and ready to go. Up ITS83N we cruised, making better time than we had up to this point. Sled traffic had beat down the snowfall and the rail bed guided us into Mars Hill at a good clip. We made our final fuel stop at Freshies, headed out of town and picked up ITS81S at AK9. By now it was full on dark but at least we still had sled tracks to follow. We were rolling along and…Fun Fact: Did you know that Moose like to sleep in the snowmobile trail?? Mike and John never saw him and I can’t repeat what the radio chatter was in this forum. All I can say is it’s a good thing I answered a nature call in Houlton! Wow! Onward Ho! We waved at Tanya Tucker when we hit AK8 but no time for pictures! I thought we had cleared most of the difficult conditions. I was mistaken. The sled traffic had turned up Connector 105N. ITS81 towards Ashland was virgin snow. Once again, I was breaking trail in 10-12 inches of fresh snow. Then came “Birch Alley 2.0”. Another 15 miles of dodging, weaving, and ducking but we made steady progress. Mr. Moose showed up again but at

least he wasn’t sleeping. Along the way, Mike offered to take point, but I had come this far and we were close. This WAS the “SSS” after all. We made our way up by Scopan Lake and eventually made it to AK13 and ITS 88 just in time to watch the groomer roll by. We followed the groomer into Ashland and pulled up by Quik Stop at 9:30 PM. We took a minute to do a wife check in and saddled up for the last 17 miles. ITS85 North to Portage was in decent condition and we made reasonable progress. All the while, I was contemplating the final approach to Camp BGTSOB. Given the time, darkness, snowfall, and unknown slush conditions, I keyed the mic and declared we would ride the road the last mile and a half to camp and avoid the lake. I got an immediate “roger that” from my riding buddies. 15 hours and 292 miles from our start, we hit the kill switches on our sleds. We had made it! That run was a personal record for mileage and time on the trail. Factoring in the snowfall and trail conditions made for an epic day! We had run our planned route and were well prepared with gear, fuel, and knowledge. Knowing I had my two trusted amigos with me gave me a sense of security during the difficult stretches. Radio communications made the time fly and the chatter kept our spirits up. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the crews from EMSC to Portage Lakers and every club in between for their dedication and efforts. That trip was one I won’t soon forget. The Spaulding Sled Safari ’23 is already in the works.

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