The Rural Voice, 2005-12, Page 24SMOOTHING
THE WAY
There's a long, long trail
awinding... and slicing a
straight path through open
fields, crossing creeks and linking
towns.
They have been called highways in
the snow, that network of smooth,
well -marked trails that provide
snowmobilers with improved safety
and optimal conditions for enjoying
their sport.
However, whether it's wending its
way through a picturesque woodlot
or simulating a frosty 400 -series
highway, the trail only exists because
of the generosity and support of
20 THE RURAL VOICE
landowners and the dedication of
volunteers.
Each year, members of local
snowmobile clubs make sure that
agreements are in place with farmers
regarding the use of their fields and
woodlots. Then stakes are laid out to
mark the trails and signs, such as
warning, curves and stop, are posted.
Limbs and trees that may have grown
over the trail are trimmed.
"There is a lot of work involved,"
says Roy Hardy.
When the volunteers get the trails
ready, the next step is to wait for
snow, then it's time for men like
Trail groomers
work long hours
to keep
snowmobile trails
in tip-top shape
throughout
midwestern
Ontario
By Bonnie Gropp
Two trail -groomers cross paths
where trails meet at Blyth.
Hardy to begin their work.
Once a snowmobiler himself, the
RR2, Auburn man now views the
scenery from a different perspective
— as one of four people driving the
two groomers with the Blyth, St.
Helens, Colborne and Clinton
snowmobile clubs' system. The four
clubs united several years ago in an
effort to improve their trails. The
system runs from Seaforth to
Goderich, up to Lucknow and down
to Blyth and Clinton.
The groomers operate on a
schedule with some flexibility. Hardy
is one' of two smoothing the trails in
the club's north portion while Ed
DeJong from Londesborough is one
of two tending to the south trails. The
groomer for the south end is a 122
Bell, 120 -horsepower machine, built
in Gowanstown, that is similar to a
bulldozer. It has an eight -foot drag
and runs on diesel.
Hardy's groomer is essentially a
"tractor with tracks" that was custom
built in New Liskeard. When
grooming the pan levels the snow
down and packs it.
"It's a lot like a grader. We just
keep going until we get a hard,
smooth trail. Not like what there used
to be when 1 was snowmobiling," he
says, recalling the times when
machines blazed through drifts and
created their own areas for travel.
This was often a frustration for