me” wave. He broke trail up a |
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rather steep slope, twisting |
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between the trees before stopping |
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at a magnificent overlook |
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high above Pat’ s Meadow. |
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From this high, cliff-like perch |
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we could see Alder Creek |
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snaking through the valley |
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below. Across that valley were |
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more towering, tree-covered |
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hills. We later learned we were |
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riding in the ancient Penokee |
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Range, one of the Earth’ s oldest |
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mountain ranges. It certainly |
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didn’ t rival the Rockies, but it |
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was“ Midwest rugged.” |
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local trails. In fact, his family lineage is tied to the founding of the White Thunder club.
We followed Stuhr’ s Ski-Doo Renegade southwest out of town on a different rail trail, past the historic Iron Range towns of Montreal and Pence, to our first scenic stop of the day: the Plummer Mine Interpretive Park. Its towering, 80-foot-tall steel headframe is the last such structure found on the Gogebic Range, making it worthy of National Register of Historic Places recognition. The curious can learn more about the area’ s mining history via park signage.
A turn to the north took us to the highlight of this riding adventure. Sandwiched between Wisconsin State Highway 77 to the south and U. S. Highway 2 on the north is rocky, rugged terrain that brought back fabulous memories from my 1993 visit.
The trails don’ t just twist and turn here, they also rise and descend dramatically, leading riders around huge boulders and past trees with exposed roots clinging to rocky outcroppings. It felt akin to riding in South Dakota’ s Black Hills at times as we weaved through the spectacular backdrop.
Further accentuating the scene, remnants of the previous night’ s fresh snow hung from every branch and the north-facing side of tree trunks, decorating the landscape into a marvelous winter wonderland. The trails here were notable tighter than those experienced the previous day, but top speed was not our goal as we soaked in our surroundings.
At one point, Stuhr stopped before giving us a hearty“ follow
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Soon we wound our way down off of the ridge and into farmland as we approached Highway 2. At Saxon, we stopped at the Frontier Bar. From the outside, this snowmobiling destination merely looks like a convenience store at a Mobil station. Inside, though, we found dozens of sledders enjoying lunch and swapping stories before venturing back out on the trail.
Stuhr asked if we wanted to ride up to“ the lake,” meaning Superior, to which we replied,“ Of course!” This led to the trip’ s worst trail conditions. As is the case around any Great Lake, the snow gets thinner as you approach the big snow maker. The red-stained snow on the trail indicated we were still riding in an area with much iron in the soil.
Despite dulling our carbide
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runners, the ride out to the big lake was worth the trip. Looking down the shoreline, a seemingly unending series of bluffs protected the mainland from Gitche Gumee’ s sometimes furious, wave-throwing anger. On this day, though, all was calm, with snow-covered ice in front of us and a closed Saxon Harbor to the east.
After picture taking, we doubled back – on a mission. Many members of the White Thunder Riders club, including Lewis, were on a big vintage ride and we wanted to find them and their classic iron along the trail. After much searching, we finally spotted them at the North Pole Tavern near Highway 51 south of Hurley.
The parking lot was filled with Johnsons and John Deeres, a Mercury and an Ariens, plus a mix of older sleds from current brands. All participants were having a great time – there’ s truly something special about the social side of vintage rides.
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With some light left in the sky, we asked Stuhr
if there was one more scenic site nearby that he
thought we should see.“ Well, there’ s a waterfall,
but I think it’ s froze-up, but we can try anyway,”
he said. Sure enough, when we got to Spring Camp
Falls, there wasn’ t much to see. With many larger
waterfalls and overlooks in the area, we now have
a reason to return.
Like An Old Friend
There are many reasons why the Hurley and Mercer
areas have been top snowmobiling destinations
since the founding of the sport.
With dependable snow, great local support
from clubs and businesses, fun places to visit and
warm up, plus an interesting and varied terrain,
it has every ingredient needed for memorable
snowmobiling adventures, with or without the
late-night carousing.
Hidden deep in the woods, the B-47 Memorial lends important perspective when out riding the trails.
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