More trouble in snowmobile land

Got out yesterday. Our trail map area started the morning green. Sleds had flocked in from all over. The clubhouse parking lot was full and the road out front lined with trucks and trailers. Never seen so many sleds out in one day. By afternoon the trails were pretty chewed up and the trail map was back to listing or trails as yellow.
That said the trails were quite good in spots and we had the old 2 smokers howling.
invaders.jpg
 
Mild enough today to soften the base but not so bad that snow will disappear. Perfect condition to set a great base when temps drop tomorrow.
 
Which clubs clubhouse is that?

Man that brings back some memories I’ll tell you. There was a club that we belonged to at one point that had a old school bus in the forest somewhere with a wood burner fireplace in it, I have photos from probably 35 years ago of my dad and I in there.
 
We're stopped at an old sugar shack. Back in the day there would have a stove going.
The actual clubhouse is not much further on. Science Hill Drifters is our local club.
 
Whoops. A friend lost a sled in the water. Ice looked good (much further north). He was going slow and it dropped through. No opportunity to get it to stand up and pull itself out. We'll dive for it in the summer. It's in less than 100' of water. I have low hopes for saving much. It was running when it sank. He jumped off and didn't get wet. I think that was only the second or third time he was out this winter.
 
Whoops. A friend lost a sled in the water. Ice looked good (much further north). He was going slow and it dropped through. No opportunity to get it to stand up and pull itself out. We'll dive for it in the summer. It's in less than 100' of water. I have low hopes for saving much. It was running when it sank. He jumped off and didn't get wet. I think that was only the second or third time he was out this winter.
Best be quiet about this, there a lots of snowmobile haters. If one of those folks calls the MOE, your buddy is looking at min:

Careless driving charge. This is the standard fine for sinking a sled).

Environmental fines.

If he doesn’t commence an immediate recovery, a contractor gets the job - MOE treats sunken vehicles with the same zeal as a nuclear spill. 100’ you’re looking at some serious recovery costs.

The lakes in the north can be more dangerous than in southern Ontario as they have insulating snowpack that can leave sections thin to open. The also breakup fast. We had 3’ of ice on the Mattagami last Saturday, today I saw SeaDoos zipping between the floating ice.
 
Best be quiet about this, there a lots of snowmobile haters. If one of those folks calls the MOE, your buddy is looking at min:

Careless driving charge. This is the standard fine for sinking a sled).

Environmental fines.

If he doesn’t commence an immediate recovery, a contractor gets the job - MOE treats sunken vehicles with the same zeal as a nuclear spill. 100’ you’re looking at some serious recovery costs.

The lakes in the north can be more dangerous than in southern Ontario as they have insulating snowpack that can leave sections thin to open. The also breakup fast. We had 3’ of ice on the Mattagami last Saturday, today I saw SeaDoos zipping between the floating ice.
It's not in Ontario.

I'm surprised they hit you with a careless charge if the ice opened up beneath you. That makes more sense if you tried to run the water and failed.
 
Oddly enough, I watched a YouTube video yesterday on retrieving an Argo ATV to submarine conversion on Lake Simcoe.

It was a primitive A frame rig and lots of iffy rope anchors spots. Chain saw a hole and lots of "go by feel" stuff.

In some places there are companies set up to retrieve non floating pickups in the northern US Midwest. Currents and snow cover make ice fishing a challenge.
 
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Oddly enough, I watched a YouTube video yesterday on retrieving an Argo ATV to submarine conversion on Lake Simcoe.

It was a primitive A frame rig and lots of iffy rope anchors spots. Chain saw a hole and lots of "go by feel" stuff.

In some places there are companies set up to retrieve non floating pickups in the northern US Midwest. Currents and snow cover make ice fishing a challenge.
Did a few miles today on jacked Polaris 800. First time on a hp sled in 20 years, did my first 100’ wheelie in 20 years across 6” of fresh powder.

Was planning to head back to Markham tomorrow but were expecting a foot of snow in the next 24 hours … gonna stay and get a few hundred kms of cold fun!
 
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