glossed the twisting highways and county roads on our route.

We arrived in Hurley after midnight in blizzardlike conditions. After dropping off the trailer at the wonderfully snowmobile-centric Days Inn on the edge of town, we scrambled downtown for lastcall.( See sidebar on page 28.)

When we rose the next morning and ventured downstairs for breakfast, the lobby was abuzz with activity. At least 80 percent of the people there were snowmobilers, along with a couple of bewildered business travelers mixed in who were curiously watching all the people in branded sled gear

The historic Plummer Mine headframe is a vestige from this area’ s mining days.

boxing out one another for access to the coffee machine

. The parking lot was also chaotic. Trucks and

trailers were everywhere, with people in brightly

colored jackets unloading or warming their sleds.

One of the major local trails goes right through the

hotel’ s parking lot, so it’ s a popular place for riders.

Our day started with a trip down Trail 17, a

converted rail line that departs Hurley to the

southeast and connects it to Mercer, a neighboring

snowmobiling hotbed. Frankly, with the overnight

snow and traffic already building, the trail surface

was a bit choppy – something that veteran snowmobilers

might expect on a main trail in an ultra-

popular riding area. We soon opted off that corridor and onto Trail 15A, which offered a more traditional Northwoods feel. It cut a more interesting, winding path between the tall trees, and it had a freshly groomed surface. It led us to our first stop: the trailside clubhouse for the White Thunder Riders snowmobile club. Members of that legendary club would be our hosts and unofficial guides.

When we pulled up, six club members were inside sheltering from the gusty winds while one of the club’ s big Tucker Sno Cats with drag attached was idling in the yard. We were warmly greeted by enthusiastic members who were eager to share stories of the club’ s 52-year history. The tales were interesting, but we think they sensed our desire to pile on miles and cut some stories short.

Our leader on day one was Bill Lewis, a relatively new but very active club member, with his nephew Lee White as a sweeper. Following Lewis’ Arctic Cat ZR, we doubled back to Trail 17 but left it as soon as we could, taking the more twisting Trail 8 south and east. It was a marvelously meandering route, with short straightaways centered between lefts and rights

Hurley’ s reputation for nightlife dates back about 140 years. Located on the edge of the Gogebic Range, which was found to be rich with underground minerals in the 1870s, Hurley quickly became the center of commerce and entertainment for miners, woodsmen and others seeking good paying jobs. It was platted in 1884, and its main drag – Silver Street – soon had 87 taverns, with a heavy mix of gambling, drinking, prostitution and bar fights.

While other heavy-drinking areas succumbed to Prohibition in the 1920s, Hurley shrugged its shoulders and kept right on partying. According to the book Bottoms Up: A Toast to Wisconsin’ s Historic Bars & Breweries,“ Prohibition agents staged massive raids on Hurley, but each time saloonkeepers paid their fines and went back to their usual business.” Federal agents would occasionally sweep in and padlock the doors on taverns and arrest a few people, but nothing truly changed.

“ In an economy dependent on revenues from drinking, gambling and prostitution, local officers looked the other way and the city continued its business,” the book states. In fact, prostitution was still said to be prevalent in Hurley into the 1980s, long after the last local mine closed in the 1960s.

Of course, times have changed. Hurley still has a couple dozen bars on Silver Street, including a small handful with adult entertainment on the last block before the Michigan border.

That said, the places we visited on the“ regular” part of Silver Street were definitely family friendly. The Iron Horse doesn’ t look like much from the street, but inside the food was scrumptious, the crowd was lively and the Karaoke host was entertaining. The spacious Silver Street Pit Stop next door had some tempting drink specials. Later we got caught up on neighborhood gossip from some loud, inebriated locals at Spiders Sports Bar.

We visited eight places on Silver Street – we had to sample the local culture, right? – but barely scratched the surface. Most establishments were deep and narrow, a result of the main street-style architecture you’ ll find in many older downtowns, but all were welcoming.

So there’ s still fun to be had. That said, the crowd we experienced was notably more subdued than we remember from our trips here in the 1990s, when we witnessed a lot more drunken rowdiness from folks in snowmobile gear – to the point where we’ ve avoided riding in the area on weekends for fear of meeting the wrong person in the wrong spot. After this visit, we came away with a different sense. Maybe we’ ve all grown up a little bit?