73 FALL 2019 ISSUE 01 / VOL . 01 maine ’ s magic carpet ride
SNOWGOER . COM 74
This overlook is found off a Forest Service road in the Chequamegon National Forest . It provides endless sightlines , plus placards that describe how the landscape was etched by glaciers .
Dakota were closed , and our contacts there called and said , “ Don ’ t even bother trying to get here , all that rain totaled our trails .”
What to do ? Roads to the northeast weren ’ t as bad — what about Bayfield County ? A trail conditions web search led to Gary , then owner of Woodside Cottages . “ C ’ mon up ,” he said . “ We always offer to ride along with our guests , but I ’ m headed down to Madison for a wedding this weekend . My brother , Dick , will be here , though . Do you want him to ride with you ?”
We arrived in Bayfield three hours later and were greeted first by a magnificent , three-bedroom cottage , one of 13 luxury cabins on the Woodside grounds , and then found Dick . At age 77 , the retired United States Postal Service employee has time to ride and all sorts of enthusiasm for the sport . He had his high-mile Yamaha RS Vector ready to roll , giving us a complete set to go along with the Polaris , Arctic Cat and Ski-Doo snowmobiles we brought .
You can ’ t ride directly from the Woodside Cottages , so we trailered about a dozen miles inland from the Lake Superior shoreline on the twisting , icy Star Route Road to where it intersects with the unplowed , snowcovered Butterfield Road . The parking area there would be our trailhead for the next three days .
We unloaded and followed Dick at a moderate pace down Butterfield — a road in summer but a wide , unofficial but regularly groomed snowmobile trail in the winter — and soon came upon Trail 31 . A funny thing happened there , however : The trail went right , Butterfield Road went left , and we went straight . Soon we crossed Trail 19 , and shortly thereafter Trail 35 . Our path , though , was carved by Dick , who followed one Forest Service road after another . So far , most of our route was across flat land , the snow-packed roads lined mostly by tall red pine , white pine and other coniferous trees . We came across more patches of hardwood trees and significantly more hilly terrain later .