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Elliott Lake - March 14-16, 2008
SledHeads at Large:
Leanne & Paul
Jeanne & Greg
Paula & SuperSledder!!!
AWOL - Wayne - we missed you!
Nestled into the majestic outcroppings and hills of the Precambrian shield, Elliott Lake is a breathtaking experience for any sledder that wants to make the journey to this part of Ontario. The majesty of the rock cliffs, numerous lakes, winding rivers, together with the wide rolling trails over hill and through dale gives every sledder an experience to remember. If you are fortunate to see them - there are plenty of deer, moose, fox, lynx and even some wolves to be spied along the trails in this region. I would definitely recommend that this trip is one that needs to be planned over 3 or 4 days to really explore the trail system and beauty of the region
This is where the SledHeads at Large decided to head for possibly our last Adventure for 2008 - Elliott Lake! We had originally planned a 5 day trip however - after numerous delays we were finally loaded and ready to go and unfortuantely a shorter trip was now on our agenda. Friday morning the sky was blue and a beautiful weekend for sledding was in the forecast.
After arriving at our destination safely and unloading our sleds we headed out for a short afternoon tour with our resident guide and weekend Host - Tom. Tom and his wife Betty have built a Confederation Log Home just outside of Elliott Lake with the intention of running a future B&B there. The SledHeads were on hand to “check it out” for future trips and reports for other sledders. The OFSC trail runs right across the driveway - definitely a huge bonus if you're a sledder!
Tom is familiar with the area and local lakes and ice conditions and offered to lead our group for a short afternoon ride before dinner. This area of the shield is riddled with lakes, rivers and streams. He took us on a tour of several small lakes connected through portages. This is not something that would be recommended for any sledder without either local knowledge of the lakes in this region or an experienced guide for obvious safety reasons - however, if you love lake running - the conditions couldn't have been nicer this beautiful afternoon. The ice was hard and flat topped off with about 6 - 8 inches of hard packed snow - outstanding!
Saturday morning was another beautiful day. The temperature was warm and hovering just below zero with overcast skies for the day. Today we planned our tour to run down to Iron Bridge and through the deer yards there. We travelled the F Trail a short distance to EL3 to the D134 to Iron Bridge - all trails had been recently groomed and were in excellent condition - thank you to the local Elliott Lake Snowbirds Snowmobile Club and the Blind River Sno-Riders for a great job maintaining your trail system!! As you approach Iron Bridge on the D134 trail make sure you slow it down or even stop here folks.
This area is one of the largest deer yards in Ontario and affords one some fantastic photo opportunities with the large number of deer there for the winter.
After many stops to visit and watch the deer it was then on to Iron Bridge and a short stop for some gas and lunch. Apparently our waitress was having a good day and must have enjoyed our visit - how often do you get your hamburger dressed up with happy faces???
Getting ready to start the engines and start the rest of our loop back towards Elliott Lake I caught a glimpse of something running out of the restaurant. Is that a bird? Is that a plane? Is it faster than a speeding snowmobile? NO! It's SuperSledder!!!!! Once again, our resident comedienne Paula pulled off another surprise from her saddlebags when nobody was looking!
The afternoon had us travel back towards Elliott Lake on the D Trail towards Blind River and up the D105F. Trail conditions were outstanding and the 5 ½ hour drive was well worth it to ride these spectacular conditions!
At every junction SuperSledder was there to show the way! Signage in this District is well marked and abundant - you don't need to worry about getting lost up in this District that's for sure. We also made a quick stop at the newly built groomer barn located just outside of Blind River to read the dedication plaque that hangs there between the two barn doors. A wonderful dedication to Jack Bonar who was obviously a very active volunteer with this area as well as a good friend to all. This sport is built by people like Jack and others that volunteer their valuable time and energy to build the trail system, club houses and grooming sheds that are all too often taken for granted. Thank you to Jack Bonar as well as all others who invest themselves in our sport!
 Late afternoon we crossed paths with some other sledders towing an Artic Cat at the junction of the F Trail just outside of Elliott Lake - thank goodness SuperSledder was there to lend them a hand as well. These fellows weren't quite sure what to make of this masked crusader as SuperSledder happened to appear out of nowhere just as they came to a stop at this junction.
Certainly never a dull moment when the SledHeads are at Large!
A wonderful meal was waiting for us back at Tom and Betty's Confederation Log Home at the end of a great day, together with some good cheer as we recounted the events of the day and the debut of our one and only SuperSledder !!!
Sunday morning and the temperature had dropped during the night making the air crisp and clean for our ride today. The sun was shining and temps were around -15 for our start to the day. Today our intended route was to travel the F Trail up to Aubrey Falls for lunch and then towards Chapleau if time permitted.
I must say that F Trail was not in the greatest shape this Sunday morning and somewhat disappointing. You certainly don't usually find trail conditions as bumpy as these that we encountered unless you are riding in the more populated areas of the Muskoka's! Where is the groomer?
We had noted on the OFSC website that there was a section of the F Trail south of Aubrey Falls that was listed as “plowed road” with some logging. We had decided that if the conditions were not the best in that section that we would turn around at that point. To our great surprise - this was probably the best trail we rode that day! Yes - the road had been plowed - however - I think the plow operator was definitely also a sledder! He had left a nice base of snow on the road and riding this section was a gently winding, rolling, breathtaking experience! Thank you Mr. Plowman!
 A stop in Aubrey Falls for some lunch and fuel and it was time to turn back to head home. Trail conditions had deteriorated further on the F Trail towards Elliott Lake - we had lost those excellent trail conditions of yesterday running the trails further south. We also noted what looked to be a fairly new BR180 groomer and drag sitting idle at the Aubrey Falls Trading Post during lunch. Where is the groomer? Why aren't they grooming these trails? It certainly appeared that the groomer hadn't been on the F Trail towards Elliott Lake in many days - that's for sure!!! Disappointing is an understatement. I would certainly make sure if we plan a return trip to this region that a call to a local club member would be a good idea to find out when the groomer has been out. You don't want to travel for hours and find trail conditions like these. You certainly don't expect it especially on a Top Trail in this region that's for sure.
 All in all a great trip to end the season - the trail system is wonderful and the SledHeads will return to this area for further exploration - next year! Thank you to our Hosts Tom and Betty for a wonderful weekend. You have a wonderful log home and the great home cookin' and your hospitality was much appreciated! We wish you well for your future plans with opening your B&B!!!
Total Km's this trip 450kms.
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