Saturday, November 30th 1991. Myself and 3 buddies leave south central Sconny for our first ever trip to the U.P. I'm on a 1988 Cougar, two others on 89 Cougars, and one on a brand spanking new 92 RXL 650. Destination, Onatoboggan. I had called the resort the night before, and he said it was raining, but was supposed to change to snow. We decided, screw it, we're going no matter what. Just north of Bruce Crossing the snow starts getting deeper, and just keeps getting better as we go north on 45. Arrive at our destination and the resort owner said, yep, it snowed, 18". We waited till dark, and then rode the sleds to the Candlelight Inn off of 38. It was a real struggle with the deep lug .75" tracks. Lmao. The next morning was a sunny day, riding in all that fresh lake effect snow, constantly getting stuck on the trail. Groomers were just getting out to pack the trails. I was hooked, lake effect snow for the mother effing win! Here we are 32 years later, and I still love the yoop, and that LES!
One of your memorable moments
- Thread starter Magnumb
- Start date
I was in my senior year in high school. Brennan Marine in Bay City was going out of business and decided to skip school to check out what they had left. The only 73 Ski Doo's they had left were a couple of Elans, 1 Olympique 440S and a Silver Bullet 340. I was drooling over the Bullet, but the salesman said it was sold. I went back home to talk to my dad. I was working and had a 71 Elan that I could sell if need be. He said that he would pay 1/2 and I would have to do the rest. We headed up there the next day to check out the Olympique, upon taking it for a quick spin, that's all it took, sold. Well wanting to ride the sled more, I planned a trip to the UP. Another freind of mine had a 73 Elan SS and was on board about going to the UP. I had a 2 place sled trailer that was converted from an old boat trailer., bought it from the next door neighbor for $40. Well the day was here and we loaded up to head north. We took his car which was a 72 Gran Torino. Everything started out good till we got north of Bay City by Beaver Rd., flat tire on the trailer. Found one, fixed it, was on our way. We headed to Paradise to ride. The sleds worked great and we had a blast for the 2 days we were up there. On the last day we rode till about 5, loaded up to head home. We got about 2 or 3 miles outside of Paradise when we heard a wheel bearing going out on the trailer. Limping it back to town, we found a place to park for the night. We decided to spend the night in the car, after all were young and tough. The next day we got the wheel bearing fixed in town and headed home. Things were going great, we were reflecting on all the fun we had riding. Going down 75 just south of Grayling, bam, another tire blew. Luckly we was by an exit and limped the trailer off the highway. Upon looking at the trailer, I noticed that the axle was bowed really bad from the weight or something. My friend told me that he knew someone in Houghton Lake, that we probably could leave the sleds and trailer there. Cool, lets limp the trailer as far as we can, as I was pissed somewhat. We took off riding the side of the road for I don't know but it was miles. FInally the tires and trailer couldn't take it any more. My friend came up with the idea to take his sled apart and put it in the car and for me to ride my sled down to Houghton Lake. We took the hood and skis off his sled. Knowing how small an Elan is, it fitted somewhat in the trunk, we also tied it down really good. Our gear, gas cans, hood, skis and what not we put inside the car. All loaded up, we left the trailer there and headed out. When we got to Houghton Lake, he found the house where they lived, surprise........... they sold the house about 8 months ago. Not knowing what to do next, especially with my sled, I happened to notice a gas station on the corner was just about to close. I rode to the station, explained our circumstance and ask if I could keep my sled in his garage for the night and pick it up the next day. If was a relief when he said, "yes." So here we are heading the rest of the way home to Clio/Mt Morris with a sled sticking out the trunk and the inside crammed full. I sat in the passanger seat with holding onto the Elan hood. The next day, I took my dads single place trailer and picked up my sled.
Early 2000's. Guys trip up to cabin in Presque Isle. 4 or 5 of us left early am. Snowing hard all day. Wound up in the Bond Falls area for a late lunch. Can't remember the name of the bar/restaurant. My buddies then wanted to hit the Lac Vieux Desert casino as long as we were close. Left there in the dark and it was an absolute blizzard. I could not find the trail. Cars and trucks in ditches and just left abandoned in road. I rode Hwy 45 to US 2 and headed west. US 2 to Marenisco M64. M64 to County B in Presque Isle. Never saw another sled or car. Was a great ride using the highways but would lose roadway at times because of snow and no tracks to follow. Looking back, I thought it was great but at the time, I was a little scared.
Ah, you bring back memories of 1998, or 99. We left the old Red Horse Inn at Gwynn early morning to get breakfast in Ishpeming. Heavy LES snow storm warnings where out as we left, headed for Big Bay. Half way to Big Bay the rate at which snow was falling, was unbelievable! Very much like goose feathers! It was so great, so much, and kept getting worse, and very deep fast. We had to stop often to clean the hoods, and helmet shields off. We lost the trail several times due to heavy, and blowing snow. Finally after several times getting stuck, we made it into Big Bay. Ate a very late lunch, fueled up, and headed back. It was still tough going due to the LES weather conditions. By the time we reached Ishpeming, we were hungry for a late supper. Soup, and sandwich at the Country Kitchen hit the spot!. We got back to the Red Horse at Gwynn at 11:30 pm. The two of us that are still here, on the right side of the sod, will never forget that trip!
winterwarlock
Active member
Every ride from day one, all memorable, good or bad. Any day on my sled is a great day!
fusionrider
Member
Late February 1995 or 96. Returning from a ride to Lake Superior and stopped at Fort Flambeau on the Turtle Flowage for dinner. It started to snow while we were eating and as we left Shane said good luck. Didn't understand what he meant until we looked for the marked trail. 16" of snow was predicted and it was coming down heavy. This was a heavy snow season and the water level of the flowage was lowered in case of a rapid thaw so the surface had several heaves. We could only see to the next marker and that worked until the markers were missing. We made a couple of circular passes and lost our bearing. There were no other riders out that we saw. It wasn't too cold so we figured we would wait out the storm or until morning. After about a half hour the snow let up a little and I could just make out the shoreline. We followed it and about 200 yards ahead we saw the signs for Springstead landing. We were staying in Springstead. Rode to County 182 and rode the middle of the road back to our cabin.
pclark
Well-known member
That’s a good one, I sold a fireplace insert to a guy and he showed up with a Toyota Corolla I think, I asked him if he was going to haul it in that and he said”Yep”. I was flabbergasted so I took a couple pics!
Post Christmas the 26th of December 2018 north shore - was maybe 8-10” on the ground, just enough to keep the slides cool and the carbides clicking. This pic, by midnight the 28th there was about 28”, and it snowed another 8” over night. Yeah, we were stuck there for a week until the parking lot was plowed, but do you think we were complaining?? Hell no!!