Northwest River
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Snowmobilers get ready for the snow By Allen Crabtree Snowfall in the Lakes Region has been spotty in the last couple of years, and those who enjoy snowmobiling have literally had rough sledding. No snow means no sledding, but the need to maintain the trails and bridges on the snowmobile trail system continues regardless. On a recent bitterly cold weekend a crew of volunteers from the Sebago Branch Duckers Snowmobile Club tackled the task of repairing and replacing some old snowmobile bridges over the Northwest River on a club trail in Sebago. "This snowmobile trail follows the bank of the Northwest River," said Branch Duckers club president Glenn Snow. "The river twists and turns and the trail crosses it three times, and the club maintains bridges at the crossings. However the bridges are old, maybe thirty years old, and they are badly in need of repair and widening." Many years ago this snowmobile trail was a town road connecting the village of East Sebago with "Mud City", now know as Center Sebago. Today it is a scenic, isolated three-mile route winding from Route 114 to Folley Road at Perley Pond through second-growth stands of white pine, hemlock, oak and maple. The only people using it now are snowmobilers in the winter and hikers and fishermen in the summer. Where the old road crossed the Northwest River the town road agent built solid stone abutments for timber bridges. Over the years the road was abandoned and the bridges fell into disrepair. About thirty years ago a group of local snowmobilers contacted the landowners for permission and then restored the bridges, opening the road again as a popular local snowmobile trail. The club added new equipment this year to groom trails. The groomers are more powerful and efficient, but are also wider. This meant that the old narrow bridges needed not only to be repaired but also widened as well to accommodate the new groomers. Saturday morning Glenn Snow was joined by his father, Jimmy Snow and fellow Branch Duckers John Duschene, Robert Bailey and Ted Davis. Perhaps it was the biting cold of the day, or the reports of a heavy snow storm only a couple of days away, but the crew of volunteers jumped to their tasks. With his tractor Jimmy had staged telephone poles and two-inch thick rough-sawn pine planks at the bridges. The crew removed the old planking on the bridges with pry bars and used peaveys to roll the new poles into place next to the existing bridge supports. Where the old timbers were sound the new poles "sistered" them. Where unsound, the old timbers were replaced. The result was a sound, wider structure. New planks were nailed into place and then travel planks were laid at right angles to provide a stable and sturdy travel path for snowmobiles. By the time the crew was done on Sunday, two of the three bridges had been repaired and widened. The third bridge is still useable but will be worked on next year. There are more than 550 miles of snowmobile and cross-country ski trails in the Lakes Region, all of which are maintained by one of the many snowmobile clubs in the area including the Sebago Branch Duckers club (Statewide there are 13,000 miles of trails.). Preparing for the snow season is a year-round job for these clubs. Club volunteers work with landowners to get permission for trail routing, brushing out trails, building and repairing bridges, and posting trail signs. When the snows come the clubs begin grooming their trails for snowmobilers and skiers who enjoy the Maine woods in winter. These trails are open to all to enjoy winter in Maine, and you don't have to be a snowmobiler to be a member of the Branch Duckers club or another snowmobile club. I am a member to help support their trail program even though I am more of a cross-country skier than a snowmobiler. My dog and I ski on a trail back of our farm that connects to an unlimited network of snowmobile trails. I do have an old, antique (1980) snow machine but all I use it for is to pack down the ski trail when the snow gets deep. Often I don't even need to use it when my neighbor Alan Greene comes through on my ski trail with one of the club groomers on the way to groom the club trails. This winter has started out to be
a good, snowy one with the promise of plenty of skiing and snowmobiling. The Branch
Duckers invite all snowmobilers and cross country skiers to join them on the trails!
All that they ask in return is that you ride safely, operate within the law and
respect the landowner, the land and club efforts. For more information, to join,
or to learn where to get a trail map, contact Branch Duckers club president Glenn
Snow at 207-787-8824 |
Sebago
Branch Duckers Snowmobile Club volunteer Ted Davis works on an old bridge
Club volunteers replaced this old bridge
Sebago
Branch Duckers Snowmobile Club President Glenn Snow (l) | ||
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