Apparently there is a bit of permit fraud happening in Southern Ontario with people whipping up counterfeit permits on their fancy printers. The local OPP have been scrutinizing permits around here pretty hard to make sure they are legit.
Group of 6 sleds. Some 24 years, most 20+ years saddle bag experience.
Age spread: 50-76 years
Conditions: -20c (ok temps) Snow dust - Pretty Bad.
Route: Hearst to Hornpayne and back. Terrain - lots of hills and valleys - A trail along highway 11.
Issue: Sled 6 misses a 105 deg turn, visor\glasses frost issue. Snow pack is very deep, over the waist up there.
Owners of cluck up, Sled 4 (me) and sled 1 (lead) primarily. Historically, we keep trailing sled in mirrors, or within 2-5 min spacing - always.
This trip, not only did we blow this rule on the Tuesday, we also blew this rule on the Sunday up at the Canyon, when 1 Sidewinder overheated from lack of coolant, and had to be towed to SMR (down West side), where a SMR towny went home to get some antifreeze for us, as Esso didn't have any (Sunday - everything else closed).
So, spread from SLD 1 (1 may have been closer to HP turn South than I indicate) to SLD 6 was in the 30-40KM area.
Primary contributing factors: 1. Sled spacing complacency; 2. Snow Dust, 3. Vision - frosting in helmet\glasses