Heading for the Highlands
37 WINTER 2025 VOL . 06 / ISSUE 01 SNOWGOER . COM
38
Heading for the Highlands
We didn ’ t waste time after unloading the sleds and ditching luggage inside : Soon we had mapped a route , geared up , loaded sack lunches and fired up the sleds . With trails leading through the back acreage of the farm , we crossed a series of barren fields that led to SANS Trail 701 amid thick woods with rolling hills — a familiar scene for this Upper Midwesterner .
The trail rose further as we motored away from the big lake . We crossed over the Trans-Canada Highway and stopped to take in the view : mid-sized mountains , distant ocean inlets , dark trees and deep snow . I was beginning to think our long drive was worth every minute .
Riding my loaned Ski-Doo Renegade 1200 , we soon reached the long , straight and wide trails Russell bemoaned in the truck . Relief coursed through my veins when I saw these wide routes mounded with countless feet of drifted snow — like choppy ocean waves frozen in place .
We cruised at a decent clip , constantly jumping over huge drifts and landing in a powdery cloud of snow that would either sink our sleds or send us happily bounding toward the next oncoming drift . Flotation and momentum were the keys , and I felt like I ’ d arrived in paradise . Although frontheavy , my big Ski-Doo four-stroke had copious amounts of flotation and lowspeed torque , which made it an ideal dancing partner in these conditions .
Much more than solely straight and wide , these lumpy trails were an infinite terrain park . My group of retired riders was heavy on the gas , and we all laughed like goons watching each other jump our sleds and , sometimes , fall off and become entombed in deep snow .
Floyd , a member of the Nova Scotia Snow Patrol , guided us to Cape Clear for his favorite view in the area and , possibly , in all of the Cape Breton Highlands . Whereas capes are typically raised land jutting out into the sea , Cape Clear is a tremendous hill that towers