Even though the weather remained much warmer than usual, the snow-cover had diminished greatly, and the trails had suffered somewhat, with the first hectic holiday behind us and the next just a few days away, we decided we really needed some “we” time, so during the days between Christmas and the New Year, we, my daughter and I, decided it was time to take a bit of free time for ourselves and enjoy some of the trails here in our own Yooper county of Alger, always some of the smoothest in the state thanks in no small part to the volunteers and groomer drivers at Alger County SORVA and at Grand Marais’ Crazy 8’s Club. A shout out also to the clubs and grant sponsors from the neighboring counties that provide the continuity on the trail system, the Seney Snowmobile Association to the East, Schoolcraft’s Motorized Trails and Bay de Noc to the South, Trenary Northern Trails and Hiawathaland Snowmobile Club to the West.
The adventure began just before 9:00am on a crisp wintery morning as we rode from my residence on Ridge Road and headed southeast on trail 7, then east and north on trail 8, took a short detour up 422 to check out Miners Castle, then back to trail 8 east and stopped briefly in Shingleton to top off the fuel tanks before heading north and east on trails 8 & 43 (aka the Sunrise grade) toward the Kingston Plains, a favorite rallying spot among local riders. On this day however, there were only two rigs in the parking area and lots of fresh snowmobile tracks, but no one in sight. Setting out north on trail 8 at a leisurely pace of 45-50 miles per hour, we saw our first fellow riders taking a break at the Kingston Lake Campground but just gave a wave and didn’t stop.