Lots of effort goes into grooming local snowmachine trails

Outdoors in Alaska, by Howard Delo

Snowmachining is in full bloom in the Valley. Every weekend, starting Friday evenings, steady streams of snowmachiners are headed into Big Lake or continuing north up the Parks Highway. After a couple of low-snow years, I'm sure the motels, diners, gas stations and various other businesses supporting this winter recreational sport are happy to see the numbers of snowmachiners returning to the area.

Notices stating the Nancy Lakes Recreational Area and Hatcher Pass are open to snowmachining "on groomed trails" have contributed to this return to the winter trail. Big Lake has a system of around a hundred miles of groomed and maintained trails for riders to follow.

There are several other trail systems around the Valley that are maintained and groomed by private businesses, local government or nonprofit groups for folks to enjoy.

Have you ever wondered what's involved in establishing and maintaining these trails? In years past, I never gave it much thought, even when I was buying my trail maintenance sticker supporting the Big Lake trail system.

However, recently, I've been getting information from Assembly Woman Jody Simpson of Big Lake addressing the efforts both the borough and the state have been making to develop and record easements establishing and protecting many of the trails in Mat-Su. An e-mail earlier this month discussed the need for volunteer labor and equipment to brush-out and relocate about a mile-and-a-half of trail near Houston.

This past week, I spent a day out with my friend Ron Wilson, of Alaska Winter Excursions, located at Susitna Landing, Mile 82.5 Parks Hwy. The Susitna River had finally frozen enough that Ron could begin putting in the approximately 90 miles of trail system he has established and maintains throughout the winter riding season.

Our project that day was to slightly widen, groom and mark the approximately six miles of trail running to Trapper Lake. Ron would be pulling the trail groomer behind his big Ski-Doo work machine while I was to follow on my Polaris Widetrack, placing marker stakes about every eighth-mile along the trail.

Ron and his wife Marilyn had spent several hours attaching reflective material to the trail stakes prior to our departure. Ron had purchased his snowmachine, the trail groomer, and all the trail marking materials out-of-pocket to establish this trail system. He spends several days each week grooming and maintaining the trail system so it is available to casual day-trippers, folks living remote who haul freight in from the road system, and for snowmachine tours he conducts.

The trip went well and the scenery was spectacular -- with a deep blue sky serving as a backdrop to the snow-covered Alaska Range and Mount McKinley, colored with a reddish hue in the afternoon sun. Once we got off the river and into the trees, the calm of a winter day in the backcountry was rejuvenating. It was a tough day of "work."

Now I have some appreciation for the financial cost and sheer effort of establishing, grooming, marking and maintaining a winter snowmachine trail. With that appreciation in mind, I will try to find out who provides this service on the trails I tend to frequent and I will make sure they receive a few bucks to offset their efforts. Hopefully, you will too.

Christmas is Thursday. The procrastinators out there will begin panicking while the rest of us enjoy the season. Our tree is up (thanks to my wife -- I still need to finish hanging the outside lights!) and the presents are waiting to be wrapped. The eggnog has flowed through many a holiday toast and the office parties are happening with regularity.

Remember the true meaning of the holiday festivities -- the birth of Christ. Regardless of your religious affiliations, or even if you acknowledge the existence of God, remember that the "reason for the season" has a spiritual basis and means more than presents under a tree. Merry Christmas.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist living in Big Lake. Send your comments and ideas to editor@frontiersman.com.