Snowmobile Report

[lureman]

Just returned from a trip to the Ash River area for a weekend snowmobile trip. We lodged at Ashkanam Resort and found their hospitality great! Saturday evening in the lodge they had karoke which was a blast, many singers and good laughs even had the local pub dog howling with a Karoke master!

As far as the riding some trails where good and others where pounded by the volume of traffic (Presidents Day long weekend). Day 1 (Saturday) we went from Ash River to Crane Lake via the Arrowhead Trail Link (rough) from there down to Buyck then over to Orr and returned to Ash River via Arrowhead and Arrowhead Link (some of this portion was ok while parts were very rough, lots of exposed rock on trails which sounds terrible when hitting, very scenic) we met alot of others on the trails. Day 2 (Sunday) we took off from Ash River to Kettle Falls the first portion of the ride on the lake was good, once we reached the Kettle Falls trail which has a fair amount of portages we found the ground trails very rough, upon arriving at the falls we where rewarded with some great scenery! From Kettle Falls we took the Rainy Lake trail to Black Bay which is just outside of International Falls, the ride was terrible no grooming and thousands of rock hard drifts for 28 miles the ladies were not happy! The group then took a short break at a local pub for a beer and drummies and shared some laughs about our bumps along the way. We rode back to Ash on the Voyageur Trail which had been groomed and was a welcomed smooth ride after the prior leg. Day 3 (Monday morning) we took the Voyageur Trail from Ash through Namakan to Crane Lake the ride was great, it was a smooth ride with fresh snow, beautiful scenery and minimal traffic.

Overall the group enjoyed the visit to Ash River area and plans a return next year. The scenery is exceptional, the resort we which we stayed was very nice, the local snowmobile clubs did their best to work with what mother nature has provided they could use some more snow, area resorts and pubs we visited were accomodating making the decision to return next year easy. We may try to schedule a different weekend to avoid the extra holiday travel or possibly a mid-week trip.

[let it snow]

lureman,

Sorry I didn't see your e-mail before I went to the river Saturday. My ex-sis-n-law and her husband run the karaoke at Ash Ka Nam - we were there to hear my niece Cali sing. We loved Scralett the dog too! She's a hoot!

Yeah, the riding got a little tuff, from what I hear. We wanted some warm temps but 33 on Saturday was too warm - 24 on Sunday was too warm too! And lots and lots of traffic - not a good mix.

I am glad you had a good time despite some ruff conditions and very happy you'll be back to the area. Pick most any other weekend (but if you can do mid-week - THAT'S THE BEST!) and you'll be fine. It's now 4 below and the trails are really set up!

Hang on to those sleds in the Hallock ditches - and maybe I'll see ya next year! Oh, don't forget about us for fishing and scenery the rest of the year...this is a beautiful place in any season!

LET IT SNOW