Breakfast was in the lodge, and the Darkside Team joined our friends Gaf, Ed, and Dan in the lodge. We should be on the trail by 9:30am, we have only about 100 miles to Moose Valley today. Should be an easy run… Right.
After breakfast, we all retreated to our respective cabins for last minute detail before our trail ride begins, finally, on Day 4. We all gather our sleds on the trail out front of the lodge, I had to change a blown fuse for my rear light before departing, and off we went. The trails were swoopy, still not groomed, but definitely passable.
It was the first ride of the year for many of us, and it showed right away. Action Dan blew past the trail head within the first mile, quickly recalibrated, turned himself around and then promptly went into the deep powder off trail and into the guide rope along the trail. We got him out, and now we’re off.
About 5 miles in, we pass a groomer. Super duper, this day is about to be ok. But not before Hedgehog attempts to pass the groomer and gets stuck in about 6 feet of powder just off the trail. All we could see was his helmet head popping out of the snow, looked more like a ground hog looking for his shadow, then Hedgehog! Fortunately the groomer saw the rookie mistake, and backed up, attached a tow strap to his rear bumper, and pulled him out for us with ease.
We continued down the trail another few miles, I wasn’t really watching my mileage at this point of the day, and from my position at the tail end of our group, I see one of our guys off trail in deep powder, going along a gully and side hill. I’m asking my self who needs to be off trail, looking for deep powder when the trail had plenty. Then I notice it is Chip. And he’s not doing this for fun, but because he just got sucked off the trail. He’s looking good, though, about 20 yards off trail, wide open, on his new long track Yamaha Vector, and I say to myself, damn, he’s doing good on that new sled, he looks like he’s going to make it back to the trail. Then I saw the clump of 2”-3” trees that he is quickly approaching. And into them he goes. With a tree stuck between his right ski and front hood, and 6 feet of snow, we are going to need a couple guys up front to come back and help out. Then a young man on a Quad is coming up the trail, laughs at Chip’s predicament, and jumps in to help. He says he has a chainsaw on his quad, we’ll just cut a couple of these trees down, and pop him out. While the chainsaw is warming up, it runs out of gas. Just another day on the Darkside. Since everybody runs 4 strokes, we don’t even have any mix fuel to syphon out of a tank. Fearless Leader Craig returned, grabbed his folding saw out of his sled, and Chip began making fire wood.
After cutting a couple 3” diameter trees out of his path, Chip had his Yamaha back on the trail, with the only damage being loosing a reflecter on the front and a hit to his pride.
As we progressed out of Quebec, and into New Brunswick, groomed trails were still another day or 2 away. The marked trails were really wind blown with serious drifting. Too much for 11 sleds to break, and get in at a safe time. Dylan and Connecticut Jim referenced their respective GPS units for alternate routes, and we tried a couple, but were not sure they were going to be any better, and it was so close to dark, around 4pm. Instead of taking a road in, that we thought would get us to Moose Valley, but not positive, Dylan suggested we try one more trail, that his GPS said would be only 12 miles in to our destination.
We got about 1.5 miles down this trail, with Action Dan out front, Dylan and his GPS right behind, and then rest of us. We came accross a log, buried under the recent heavy snow fall, that Action & Dylan crossed before it was exposed to the rest of us, now blocking our path. Connecticut Jim tried going around the fallen log, and promptly got buried in 6 foot of snow just off the trail. Dan and Dylan, had kept going, breaking trail, and not really able to stop and see what was happening to the rest of the group. It took about 45 minutes to get the remaining 9 sleds, loaded with saddlebags, turned around in the deep snow and facing back the way we came in. It was safer to take 9 sleds back to the road, and into the lodge, then to continue burying sleds along the unbroken route. Action Dan and Dylan were too far up the trail to have any idea of their situation.
When we gathered everybody at the road that would hopefully take us in to Moose Valley, I asked Craig, “what we going to do about Dan & Dylan?” He responded, “knowing those 2, they will beat us in and being have a drink by the time we get there!”
About 20 miles down the road, we arrived at Moose Valley. But Dan and Dylan were not there as hoped. Serious concerns were expressed. It was now dark, and about 5 below zero, but fortunately no wind.
Dylan carries an InReach satellite tracking, emergency response unit. Connecticut Jim also carries one. A flurry of calls began to InReach to inquire for a GPS co-ordinate of their location. We were then told that he had hit the SOS button. The Royal Canadian Police were contacted, and we were putting a plan together to go back out with a small group of 4 to attempt to find them, with the location that InReach provided.
Craig, Kevin, an RN, Ron and Chip, a graduate of West Pointe and a retired Captain in the Army, headed back out the last known location of the missing 2, and would attempt to follow their tracks further in.
In the mean time, the RCP was in contact with the local snowmobile club, to request assistance from them on the trail. The President of the local club was sent an overhead GPS photo of where the InReach unit had recorded their distress call. He knew exactly where they were at, and he headed out on his big Ski Doo Skandic for the rescue as well.
The search party of 4, got past the log in the trail, got stuck a couple times foraging down the tracks, followed the missing 2’s trail, and found them at the bottom of a hill, in about 8 foot of snow, where the path they were on deadended. Dyaln was able to get his sled turned around, but Action Dan with his saddlebag loaded 2up machine was buried, and buried deep. The 2 of them couldn’t ever get it out by themselves.
The rest of us waited at the lodge, making idle small talk, and getting updates from Josie’, the manager at Moose Valley, as she took phone call updates from the RCP, the snowmobile club President via his satellite phone, and InReach
At around 9:30 pm, the phone call came from the club President, he had all the riders accounted for, and they would be in shortly. A sigh of relief was had by the small group waiting at the lodge, and knowing our friends were ok, a celebratory drink was ordered.
When our group was all back together the real story came out, Apparently our 4 guys had come accross the lost riders first, and found Action Dan and Dylan had already settled in for the night. They had cleared a spot to start a fire, cut some trees, and apparently had a roaring bon fire going, that would last thru the night. They were so cozy, they had their coats off, hanging from a branch of a nearby tree, and eating Cliff bars, and looking at the stars and moon, having a good time. Action Dan’s response to our group when they came up to them was “What are you guys doing here?” They got over their disappointment that they would not be staying in the woods tonight, and headed back with the group.
Apparently the trail Dylans GPS said to take was a prior years trail, and hasn’t been maintained for awhile, hence the debris, and non grooming.
Upon their return to the lodge, Josie’ had warm cheeseburgers for the late arrivals, and several more adult beverages were had, as Action Dan and Dylan regaled us with their story of their quality time in the bush of New Brunswick. They actually told their story with so much enthusiasm, we threatened to take them back out and drop them off for the night!
Tomorrow, we will be at Moose Valley for another night, riding local trails, and looking for moose.
Bye for now…
Stick