Ox

I don't think that's the one that he actually meant tho.

Better Jan than May!

I doubt that'll last. I'm upwind of you and it's all wet here. Calling for 2-4" (rain) in NW Ohio. As long as it doesn't reach The Soo, I'm good...

Almost shocked that some doo-gooder hasn't turned in the fact that there is a bridge in a park that doesn't have sideboards and the waterway have a fence up near it for 10 meters in both directions on both sides!

OK, using your ratios, I figgered out Mamma's 'Burban. We took a trip through Da UP Eh! over Labour Day weekend. Up through the Mak, all over Da UP, and back down through that cheesehead state and back through Chi-Town.... We averaged 10.3 litres/100 on her (2013?) 'Burban with the 327 (I spose?) but it shuts off cyls when not needed. Many of the newer gassers are really good. My BIL had a 3/4 ton 4wd with the small hemi and got 15mpg (US) just around home. And had plenty ass to pull race car. I don't want to have anything to doo with all that smog schidt on the new diesels! On contrast, I got 15.3MPG (us) with my dually empty this week round tripping Toronto (401) with the Cummins on winter fuel. That was way better than expected on winter fuel! .

re: Diesels I never understood the whole "Maintenance costs" argument ??? In the last 20 years and >330,000 miles, I have put prolly $2500 (US) in "repairs" on my Cummins motors. 280K miles on '99 from new, and the '06 from 145K to 195K. (So not 5 brand new motors) An injector pump on my '99 and an injector on my '06. I have heard of WAY higher repair bills for other motors, but not the Cummins. ??? Other than that - of course there is alternators and whatnot, but that's all the same anyhow. Oil changes, folks like to fuss about that, but nothing says that you have to use the most expensive schidt that you can find on the shelf. Diesels have been running for >100 years on less. I run Rotella most of the time, but I have ran Mobile 1 if I think I'm gunna park in the bush @ -30* as the old '99 doesn't like to start that cold w/o being plugged in. She WILL start, but under a LOT of noted duress, so I put the thin stuff in for that porpoise. I still have that truck as it's my plow truck and my "yard truck" for my gooseneck around the farm/shop. Sure, you use 2wice as much oil at change time, but you can run 2wice as many miles between, so ??? Now - with all that said - when I was looking for a "new" truck a few years back, I am pretty sure that I would NOT have bought another diesel as I'm just not puting that many miles on my truck currently, and I think that a bigger gas would be fine - compared to the $10,000 option upcharge for the big diesels. However - I ended up buying a 10 yr old Florida truck with another Cummins in it for 1/2 price. Now the motor will wear out about the same time that the salt takes the chassis. (maybe?) Before that - I had an old '82 6.2 diesel, and yeah - I put a hole in the side of that block, but let's not count those production qty test mules eh? Also - did pump the fuel tank full of prox 3 gallons of water once when I was on my way to go sledding. Dropped tank and changed fuel filter and all was fine. The Fords that filled up that day all lost 8 injectors each! I think the bigger Internationals (skewl busses) just needed drained and filter too?) So - I would not buy a new one likely. The big Hemi seems to doo pretty good balance, but it's certainly not for maint costs, but the upcharge. It takes a LOT of miles to pay that upcharge back, and it's about the life of the truck at this point. .

You wunna tell the story about that aggin? I know that we discussed it a few years ago, but looking at the pic, and the description, I'm still not figgering it out again. Maybe you was just testing the motor? Because it aint even in the right chassis. Maybe that's just part of the stealth program? Put it in a dead chassis and no-one would suspect? .

Weight may be a bigger difference in a start/stop and lower speed route application, but if you are long haul and faster speed, aerodynamics will trump weight for sure. Those V nose trailers cut through the air so much better than the old skewl 4 place blunt nosed trailers! I towed a chums narrow/V-nose 3 place (prolly a 60* included angle) about 3500 miles out west many years ago and hardly knew it was back there. (behind a 1 ton dually Cummins) Planning to hook onto his newer one in another week or so and try it again. If my gooseneck is empty (6000#) or even loaded with steel bundles (say another 12K?) it doesn't make much difference once it's rolling, but you put a big flat thing up there to catch wind, and all you can hear is the pipe the whole trip and kan't pass a fuel pump!

"Building Ice!"

Apparently they are talking about them opening for THIS season? But when the new buyers bought Halfway, they were "too late" in the year to open the D from Searchmont to Wawa. Likely doo to maps being already approved and whatnot is my guess? But the short stretch from Marathon down the hydro is OK I guess? Is there any reason they couldn't "Wilderness Trail" the stretch to Hornepayne by signing it, and clearing it, but not grooming it? (yet) Like the Wakamatta route to Aubrey mentioned the other day? Half the way to Hornepayne could be ridden on the plowed road if need be.... Or - the trail runs within eyesight of it anyhow.... (or used to anyhow - they could have moved it in the last umpteen years for all I know)

Your dad is the good lookin' one eh?

Well, hooking up to Hornepayne would be much more value than the second leg to Dunc Lake.

Gordy hasn't come out and said that Wawa lake has popped yet, but from his werding - I take it that it has. ???

Those look like a wind break to me.

I remember staying in town one week and got the last room between both motels (both owned by same people at that time) and then the next time - had the whole place to ourselves. Gotta love the traveling hockey teams! LOL!

Must have been highly localized. Gord had clear skis in Wawa this morning and said that they weren't calling for anything noteworthy. The Montreal get's all the good stuff!

I've done the Wakamatta trip on ATV's many years ago. That's some big country back in there. Not been through in the winter yet. The pics tho remind me of a day that we took the hydro line along 101 through The Shoals park. Stumps all must be cut to 3' tall! It was a mine field! At one point my chum with his Pol was running point, and I was following, picking our way through one of the mine fields.... My chum made a hard turn, and I pulled mine over hard to make the 90* turn, to only have pulled it over too hard, and actually fell off / stopped on the dime. Trouble was that it wasn't a dime, but rather an old rotten stump hiding flush with the snow that my ribs landed on. It was a small stump, and it broke away, so it likely could have been worse. Must'a cracked a couple as they made sure that I remembered that stump daily for the next few months. We haven't been back through there since. Kind'a holding that off 'till one of those REALLY epic snow years - maybe.... Or maybe we can try it when we are really old(er) and maybe the stumps will be mostly rotted away by then? I was told that they cleared that area in the winter is why the stumps are so tall through there. This pic taken from that day, right next to the hwy. I think my chum bent that trailing arm right there, so can't really blame it on the mine fields out on the hydro, but .... Pic shows him ready to call Gordy in Wawa to see if he's open and has any trailing arms on the say phone. He did have an arm, but no rad rods for the RMK, and we ended up having to head home. .

Well, to be fair, how many trail riders have a saw or axe on their sled? They may have brought one if they knew it was like this, but if they knew it was like that - they likely would have stayed home. So that cuts both ways... There is a writ on this very subject in the front of the current issue of (I think) SnowTech. Me and my boy took a pass through - what I believe is known as "Trail 7" north of Wawa a few years ago and there was deadfall everywhere! We cut our way through quite a bit, but started running out of daylight, and Shirley someone with a chainsaw could make 5x the progress that we were. I don't know if we were almost through the worst of it, or just getting to the bad spot, but we did clear many fells. I later seen it posted that they had gotten that trail open - maybe a year later (?) for the first time in many years - because it was all fell in! LOL! There was this day in 12/99 that we did ride on through tho. I'm kind'a of the mind that much of it really wouldn't need cut down tho? With the guards on the groomers, I would think that it would knock the snow off of them and they could start to retract, usually after the sun comes out tho... ??? This was between the Cow and Montreal Rivers I believe. It was the only spot like this that I can recall. Actually - this pic may have been taken when we stopped for an oncoming groomer up from Searchmont. They were however cutting the sapplings too. Prolly better in the long run?

That classic Doo looks to be the "vintage" part of the post eh? Rick (?) @ Stop 129 (Johnny's) prolly didn't like you puting tracks on his lakes! I've never lost one in the slush before. All indications (story's) that I have heard always point to under powered to be the main theme. I'm sure that short track is also a main player here too.... However - I did leave a machine prolly 50 klicks or so from there for 2 or 3 weeks with a broken chain. Came back with the kids to fetch. It was far enough in the bush that only a cpl of fishermen had tracks around it. I was really surprised that anyone else was that deep in the bush that time of year.

Paradise, Mich (hop/skip from The Soo) 1995 Chum with the XLT taking pic Me on the Deere and 1970's Rupp coat/toque Chum on the end now known as "Lefty" and runs a burger joint in Naubinway. Feb (?) 1998 @ north end of Whitefish Lake, Wawa.

The ? is, did they have a compass the next time? Or did Chris Kuvey have to come fetch them?

What's the time stamp on that Yamahaha pic? Some of those faces may seem familiar.

When I was looking through the pics of the buildings in that area, I was kind of wondering if it had possibly been torn down as there seems to be a lot of empty lots on that side of the street. I considered buying a 97 xlt sks, but I bought a used Doo Grand Touring 580 in stead. I was shopping for a 600 long track for riding in Canada. I wanted a 600 so's not to drink as much gas, and a long track for breaking trails. Turns out that the 800's doo better on gas when breaking trail than the 600's doo! Over the next several years I learned that the small trippples were not so good at digging out as a twin. My twin would trq out of a hole, while my chums xlt would try to spin out assoon as the clutch engaged. So, kinda glad I ended up with the Doo in the end.

When me and my buddy came up over The First/Fourth weekend in '96 to scout out riding in The Great White North, we stopped downtown Soo for the first night. Talked to a gurl werking there. She was prolly mid 20's? She told us of crossing over to a US island that would give 1/1 exchange for Loonies, and said that they would ride over with a 100 Loonie bill, and get drinks for the night and go home with nearly 100 Loonies worth of Yankee change. Also told us that it was on the other side of the shipping lanes, and that they couldn't cross if a freighter went through recently, and it was common that an official on the US side would come to the bar(s) and let all Canucks know that it was time to head home. But at least one time they waited too long, and the boat was already through, and they had to ride way out to cross ahead of the freighter, and then double back to home. It sounds like you know this chick, and that maybe you rode with her. She was werking in a motel on the north side of the main street right down town. We was within walking distance to that big tent, and we got supper at a Subway shoppe on the south side. The parking was under the building, but I am having troubles finding that building now. ??? I haven't frequented the downtown in many years, and I don't see the building that I am visioning. I almost wonder if it wasn't this building before some renovations? https://www.google.com/maps/@46.5113685,-84.3353204,3a,75y,87.34h,92.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sw6DgPkYl4ysa54LyOKj8LA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Again - I'd guess she's about your age... ??? .

I was expecting that to be Frater - especially with the windmills, but I'm pretty sure - not - from the part in the vid of you pulling out onto the hwy. (should be a hwy dept there) From the direction of the camera I couldn't see if there was a bridge on the south side when you pulled out onto the hwy, but the R/R crossing didn't look like it was back Mile 38 (McDonald Creek?) either. BTW - I noticed that they put up a new bridge there (Chippewa) recently too. Was you all the way up to Mile 67? It's a long way back the R/R from there I think? Ruled out 38, but I found the road, and I think it's 67, but not labeled. Long time since I've been up that road.