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To Know more about La Ronge and area:
La Ronge Snowmobile Club's Web Site
Upcoming Rides
January 2, 2009 - Lake Ride: Meet at Eagle Point shop before 10am. Bring your own snack and beverage for fire pit stop. It will be a lake Ride, possibly too long for young riders. Contact Lolita for more information.
Club Meeting
The next Club Meeting will be held at the Restaurant at Eagle Point Resort at 7pm Friday January 8, 2009. Come out and bring your friends.
Snow La Ronge Club
- Snow Laronge
- Call Peter Clark for more info 425-2334
This should be a really fun ride. We need to get a real count on who all wants to go to arrange for rooms and meals. I'm in!!!!
ReplyDeleteJD
Rob T and his lovely wife will be there. We look forward to it. Sounds like 6 so far?
ReplyDeleteShel
Hi everyone that's interested in this trip I went down to make sure trail is open for us and it is open all the way to montreal lake. The way I have it figured the mileage to fuel stop 1 is 88 miles, 140 km. So with a few of us carrying extra gas all should make it. Looks like we could be up to 8 people going.
ReplyDeleteRob M
Well after 343 miles or 549 km's we did it Candle Lake and back. It was cold,windy,bumpy well not the whole way, and still everyone did it you guys are awesome and a big thank you to our pit crew that meet us at various places. Thanks again guys for going and making it a very special weekend. And remember its only 40 more miles to the next stop. LOL
ReplyDeleteRob and Chandra
Thank you to Rob M. for being our capable guide and showing us everything from the challenging swamp area to the memorable and winding trails north of Montreal Lake. We thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and the ride itself.
ReplyDeleteThank you to our truck and trailer crew for the yummy homemade cinnamon buns and warm coffee. Our bed was comfy and the meals were yummy. I will remember this ride even after the bodily ache wares off. It was awsome to hang with you guys.
R & S
So glad to hear you all had a great time! Even with the cold temps! So far, the Stanley ride is on right? I've been hearing rumors they were thinking of cancelling it!? Hopefully not....whats the plan for leaving time? We meeting like last year, at 8:30am behind the Harbour Inn? Theres a few guys that want to join, so I wanna update them with the place and times of meeting to ride to the rally.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
-Jodes.
The Stanley sled train will be leaving in front of the Motor Inn, on the Lake, in front of Patterson Park at 9 am. The Derby being cancelled is nothing but a rumour. This ride would never be cancelled. 10 to 15 cm of snow advertised for Friday. Looks like it should be a great trip look forward to seeing you there.
ReplyDeleteRob T.
2009-01-29
ReplyDeleteMy first time for many things
This trip to Candle Lake was my first time for many things. It was the first time I’ve ever ridden my sled far enough to stay somewhere overnight and it was my first time ever going to Candle Lake. During the ride, I thought about the irony. When I get home I can say I endured a windchill of -38c and that I just might have a few stress fractures. The irony came to me as I thought of our ancestors who would have shown stress fractures from the heavy labour that comes with farming in the old days. Our ancestors would have lived in draftee houses and would have only ventured out in these temperatures to feed livestock and retrieve more wood to heat their homes. I wonder what they would think that this group of 6 ventured out in that inclement weather and endured the bodily strain….for fun! Not only did we venture into a significant windchill from the comfort of our furnace heated homes, but we also created our own by traveling at an average speed somewhere between 65 and 86 kms/hour.
People today often have trouble enjoying the journey in life, always looking to the future, to the goal. Snowmobiling, however, is about the journey and not so much about the destination. Our group of 6 left Zesty’s in La Ronge on Saturday morning, January 24th, 2009 to head across our familiar Lac La Ronge, through the meadow, down the trail and the ditch until we arrived at our first chilly destination: the transformer.
There we were met by a truck and trailer driven by Garry and Deb who provided us with warm coffee and homemade cinnamon buns. We enjoyed the visit with each other and watching 3 year old sociable Cameron struggle with indecision about whether to remain in the warmth of the heated truck or to come outside and visit. Ultimately, his sociability won the contest and he joined us for a chat outside. After sinking our teeth into the warm sweet taste of the buns, and slurping the warmth of the coffee, we were off once again.
Although I don’t know exactly where we were most of the time, I left that to Rob M., I know that we ventured across the bumpy and vast Montreal Lake. The snow on the lake was sculpted by the wind to appear like a white and sparkling desert dune. Did I mention the windchill? It didn’t feel like the desert, I just mean the sculpted snow reminded me of the desert dunes I’ve only ever seen on television. I took the sensation of the contrast between the vivid blue of the sky against the glistening of the snow desert ahead. It was fantastic to have that wide open space with no one around except the 5 others with whom I shared this experience. Eventually, we found ourselves navigating a grass entangled swamp with incredibly deep snow. This miles-long change of venue gave me the biggest source of amusement I’ve had in a long time. Even sitting on my powerful 800 cc skidoo, I found staying in another’s path impossible and managed to avoid the small trees that peppered the area with a certain amount of tenacity and excitement. This portion of the ride gave me a newfound appreciation for a powerful machine. Most machines can move fast, but an 800cc longtrack is almost a requirement for moving through this terrain. I knew better than to take my thumb off the throttle in the deep stuff, but simply had to so I could catch my breath to continue laughing and riding at the same time.
After clearing the swamp, it wasn’t long on smoother trails to reach our next destination: the gas bar and restaurant at Weyakwin. Once again we met our truck and trailer crew. There we enjoyed the warmth of the coffee and delicious flavour provided by our burgers, dry ribs, and pizza. After light conversation, we concluded all was well and we carried on with our journey as Rob M. skilfully led us across eve more of Montreal Lake, bittern and a vast network of trails. We arrived at a warm up shack on the trails maintained by the Lakelands to discover a warm and welcoming fire was already burning for us.
Groomed trails were all that remained between the shack and Candle Lake. The sign on the shack tells us the kilometres left to make our destination. Was it 35kms? I forgot to mention earlier, but this trip also gave me my first time on a groomed trail. I must admit, it was a smooth end to our backwoods journey…or so I thought. Portions of the trail provided tall snow laden evergreens as its embracing view while at other times I could drink in the brilliant pink sky from the setting sun in its contrast to the greyness of the tall sticks remaining as remnants to a fire. The trail was smooth but windy preventing any high-speed riding. I suppose this is a wise precaution designed to prevent serious accidents that could result from wide and smooth trails.
Upon arriving at Candle Lake, we immediately went to a gas station to find it was closed at 6:15pm. The sign claimed closure at 6pm, we just missed our opportunity. Oh well, it was back to the Lake to arrive our final destination for the day: Minowakaw Lodge and Joe’s Cabins. As we rounded the peninsula on yet another bumpy lake, the light of the landing where we would arrive at our lodgings shone like a radiant gold beacon in the darkening sky.
We were greeted in Minowakaw Lodge by a vigorous, 80 year old, Lu and her crewmembers who quickly informed us of our lodgings and that supper was warm and waiting for us in the common room.
My husband and I entered our retro-decorated and somewhat rustic #10 room and basked in the immense warmth it provided to our weary bodies. We quickly noticed that we could later make tea on our kitchenette. We dropped all of our gear and traversed the 10 feet into the entrance of the main lodge. The six of us joined our truck driving team and found 3 year old Cameron to be in good spirits and ready to eat.
The warmth, the bar, and the choice between endless amounts of stew and spaghetti and meat sauce or a combination of the two lulled us into conversation and laughs. We relived our day’s ride, learned more about each other while some played pool near our table. Adding the warm atmosphere was Lu who periodically checked on us and quickly recognized my husband for the rascal he is.
Going to bed that night, we were pleasantly surprised by the comfort of our double bed. We contentedly laid our aching bodies to rest for the evening. As planned, we woke early to sip some tea before meeting our crew in the common area for breakfast. At our familiar round table, we discussed our route home. While we devoured our eggs, bacon, homemade hashbrowns and toast, we thought it would be prudent to avoid blowing belts navigating through the deep and challenging swamp area for a second time in favour of an unfamiliar network of trails south of Molinosa Road. Wow! That was a fabulous decision. While the swamp gave us challenges and laughs, the trails south of Molinosa could not be improved upon to provide a memorable and more relaxing riding experience. The narrow trails brought a reprieve from the up and down bumpy ride of the lake in favour of twisting and turning on the pillowy soft powder beneath us. Our trip through the unknown was enjoyable and the smoothness of the gently rolling hills and eye-catching vistas gave us no obstacles or impediments. This alternate route gave our group a memorable finale to our ride through the backwoods into the more familiar territory nearing home.
After having a short stop at our familiar transformer, it was a speedy trip home. Once again the sky grew pink with the sunset as we saw the lights of La Ronge and Air Ronge in the distance. After wishing each other fairwell, it was home to a warm soak in Epsom salts and more reminiscing of the weekend events.
For me, this trip was an opportunity to experience new sights, spend time with friends, create memories with my husband, and challenge myself physically and mentally. Many things could have gone wrong: someone could have been underdressed and very cold, belts could have broken, there could have been an accident, a motor could have blown. None of these things occurred and the trip will always be remembered by me as a wonderful time in my life.
That was beautiful Shel...I mean anonymous( the rascal husband part gave it away)
ReplyDeleteVery well written. You should join "book club"!!
Do you do lymrics?
Looking forward to more good times at ride to the rally and in case you didn't know...Rob McDougald turns 40 years old on Saturday. If anyone sees him, give him a big hug!!!
JD
Hi JD. Thanks for the compliment. Actually, I prefer hykus over limericks, fewer rules. See you tomorrow on the ride to Stanley Mission.
ReplyDeleteShel
Wow....very well written. Put a darn tear to my eye! It felt as if I was right there on that ride! Good job Shel....Its great to see how the chilling weather cant put a stop the fun that surrounds snowmobiling with the club!
ReplyDeleteI wish I was there to have experienced the time you all had. Seems as though, another trip like CL may have to be planned in the near future. See you all on Thursday!
-Jodes
I find it interesting,how women can go on a ride and have a philosophical(wordy)experience.while the men only have a wooohooo going through there heads...Rascal husband
ReplyDeleteMay I just say what a relief to find an individual who really knows what they're talking about over the internet. You certainly understand how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More and more people have to read this and understand this side of your story. I was surprised you are not more popular given that you definitely have the gift.
ReplyDeletemy website :: Zahngold Verkaufen