Why Do I Keep Doing This?
The Short Answer is, because it's fun.
A full explanation is a bit more complicated. No, I'm not talking about Blogging, Newstalkers, Social Media, etc......
My passion is snowmobiling. I'm invovled on the organizational side at pretty muxh every level. President of my local snowmobile club and actively involved as a volunteeer. A Director at the county level organization and County Snwomobile Trail Coordinator. Member of the Board of Directors and former president of the N.Y. State Snowmobile Association (the largest Member Driven Swowmobile Associaiton in the world), Chair of the Northeast Chapter of the International Snowmobile Council (NE States, Eastern Canadian Provicnes, Sweden, Russia), Member of the Executive Committee of the America Council of Snowmobile Associations. There are a few other things-once you start volunteering, the jobs keep coming at you.
But, I do find time to ride-which is where this passion all started. I rode a little bit, on the back of a sled with my dad in the early 70s and caught the bug and never really lost it. I left New York and for that matter real 'winters' for a career int he Air Force. WHen I retired, I came back to New York, though the other side of the state and realized I:
A. Missed the change of seasons
B. Learned that Cabin Fever is a real thing.
So, I was looking around for soemthing to do int he winter and stumbled into snowmobiles again. I bought 2, one for me and one for my step-daughter-I knew virtually nothing, as the technology has changed completely, several times since I rode on back with my dad. I joined a club, because my neighbors that rode joined also, so it seemed the right thing to do. I got more and more involved and raised my hand more.....and hear I am today with a hat full of titles and jobs and duties.......but I do find time to ride.........
Last week, 4 folks from my club journeyed to Cochrane, Ontario (our 'Base of Operations' for the week) and rode from our hotel each day. In 4 days, we rode 783 miles according to my odometer. Not any record setting amounts of miles, but pretty good for us 'not as young as we used to be' types. Temperatures averaged -5 Farenheit (Buzz, when asked our Canadian friends the Celcius temp. they said it's fooking cold, but you shoulda been here last week, eh?)
But back to the subject.....why do I do this? Well, the pictures attached don't do it justice, but it was incrdible-and thew winter beauty is to die for. Plus Polar Bears. Yes, I said Polar Bears......
And then there are the sights to see besides these majestic fellows.......
Having problems loading pics, so I will continue in the comments. I hope you enjoy my reasoning........if it convinces you, come riding with us!
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The sight from my seat:
The Amount of volunteers that make this activity work is staggering. Very few people actually get paid-well over 99% are volunteers.....and the businesses that sponsor us.....
Some clubs even build warming huts (paid for by the lubs and sponsors, most have a wood stove, fire wood, area map and rudimentary food supplies, in case you are stuck overnight:
Yep, gary, -5 F is "fooking cold" - and temperatures below freezing are something I will thankfully most likely never experience again. Almost half a century ago, it was for me a joy to trek in snowshoes through the woods of Ontario's Killaloe area, when you felt your nostrils pinch together from the cold, when you smelled the cedar trees as you walked past them, and now and then a sweet waft of wood smoke from a distant farmhouse. Everything was covered in pure white snow sparkling in the sun, and the wonderful sound of silence was broken only by the occasional bird song, and sometimes the rat-a-tat of a woodpecker. It was heaven on earth - and then the snowmobiles came. Their roar shattered the pristine silence of nature, and it was no longer pleasant to be there.
However, when I eventually bought my year-round log chalet on Gull Lake near Minden I bought 2 snowmobiles as well for me and my wife (2-ups so our kids could ride behind us) - after all, if you can't beat them, you may as well join them. It did provide a variety of activity for our time there, besides clearing and flooding the lake in front of our chalet for skating, and just lazing and reading and playing board games in front of a wood fire inside.
I can't tell you how many ponds/lakes we saw with people clearing rectangles for homemade hockey rinks while on this trip.......truly a Canadian sport! Sleds are much, much quieter and are far more ecologically friendly these days, though I understand your concerns, though I'm sure with the network of trails, that there are lots of 'open space' where everyone can find their own type of winter entertainment without beign disturbed by others doing their thing. The vast majority stick tot he trails instead of 'Free Riding' where there are no trails, though freeriding is prevalent out west in the mountains.
Yeah, Hockey is truly a Canadian sport, but damn it, the American women hockey team just beat the Canadian one at the Olympics.
But it was a barnburner.......all the way to a shoot out at the end! Neither team has anyhting to apologize for!
I haven’t done any snowmobiling but I would love to hitch a ride and photograph some snowmobilier’s day in a deep woods.
Well done photo essay!
Thanks A Mac. Maybe we can make that happen someday?