We arrived at the cabin to temperaturs below 0.  It was toasty warm inside with the corn stove blazing away – a great sight to see when coming in from the bitter cold. Watched Florida take apart Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl and then Michigan State demolish Northwestern in their Big 10 opener. Drank a few beverages and headed up to the loft for some good rest.

Slept well, and woke up to minus 5 degrees (not including wind chill).  With some help from our excellent hosts, we unloaded all the sleds and got everything ready for the day. All the sleds fired right up despite the more than chilly conditions.  Not a trip for the weak!

The day before, one of the sleds at the cabin had lost it’s electrical system so we loaded it up for a stop at a dealer on the way to breakfast. The amazing dealership up there found the problem, and it was fixed in just about 15 minutes. (You don’t see service like that very often these days). It was just a $35 relay.

Now off to breakfast at the Villager. Nothing better than a hearty breakfast up north. These carbs and calories were going to be needed for a full day of riding! After breakfast, headed back to the cabin to suit up and head out. Everyone made sure to put on extra layers of clothing for this ride as temps had maybe risen only a few degrees since morning.

We were lucky enough to have 2 great leaders who knew the trail well. This made for an excellent ride experience as we did not have to spend time looking at maps and finding good trails and (non-trails). Lots of great riding as we explored many of the trails and also adventured off the beaten path into lots of fresh snow and outstanding scenery.

After a few hours of riding, we found ourselves flying across a frozen Otsego Lake, in Gaylord. It was such an awesome sight to float across a frozen lake on a snowmobile.

After 2 gas station fill-ups and the day almost done, we ended in Lewiston at the Famous (and Friday fire legendary) Tally’s Bar for Tally burgers all around. Everyone enjoyed their meal as we talked about the day of riding. After finishing up, we headed out as daylight disappeared for the final trek back to the cabin. Loaded all the sleds back onto the trailer so everything would be ready to roll out in the morning. Enjoyed the evening relaxing around the fire and called it a night. Headed for home Sunday morning…of course, ran into another blizzard on the way back.

Everyone made it home safe and sound. The great weekend ended with no accidents, no breakdowns, but loads of fun and 100 more miles on everyone’s sled! Special thanks to our very generous hosts for letting us invade their cabin for a few nights.

More pictures at various points in the trip.