Back Breakin’ Braaap

Well good Lord woman, when are you going to blog about the fun stuff? LOL…I’m already hearing it now, and trust me, those days are forthcoming, sooner than expected. In order to have those golden ITS trails and pristine side trails that lead to our exotic snow covered destinations, local club volunteers are doing some pretty heavy lifting and some back breaking work.

Behind everyone of those thousands and thousands of miles of white ribbon are volunteers who work countless hours, most often time without recompense, aside from the fact that they to want to one day kick back and ride those immaculate ribbons of snow into the horizon.

Some of this work requires blood, sweat and tears. Ok, we’ll forgo the blood part…but it sure does get your heart pumping if nothing else.

Aroostook County recently had a blessing on December 1st in the form of a heavy snowfall. This beauty didn’t come without a price though, as snowmobile clubs are now scrambling to ‘get the wood out’ so to speak.

This wet and heavy snowfall left a beautiful, scenic landscape that only Norman Rockwell could capture, but it also left some heavy damage to trees and havy debris on snowmobile, ski and snowshoe trails.

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Huge evergreens toppled right over, roots and all, because of the heavy rainfall in November and the lack of freezing temps. With a very saturated root base, a top heavy snowfall just made it all that easier to bring the giants to rest, unfortunately, right on the trails, in most instances.

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Yearlings and saplings bowed their young crowns to the earth in respect of mother nature.

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Thus leaving in its wake a mountain of work for snowmobile trail maintenance crews. Most left the comforts of home, where they still have house roofs and decks that need to be cleared to volunteer and clear out littered trails so that grooming activities could start and set a good base for the winter months to come.

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So, to the many men and women who work hard, volunteer, and give up their weekends and evenings to go above and beyond, we sincerely thank each and everyone of you. You are the meat and potatoes of our clubs, and without your dedication and passion for the beautiful season we call winter…most of us would not have the opportunity to enjoy all of great snowmobiling and winter adventures throughout the year.

Let it snow…so we can Braaappp!

Denise Duperre

About Denise Duperre

Denise is an avid snowmobiling enthusiast and her passion for riding both on and off trail allows her to meet snowmobilers from far and near; share adventures and point them to well keep secrets tucked away up in snow country. An Aroostook County native, and a dual citizen, Denise rides both sides of the river that separates the US and Canada way up north in Aroostook called the St. John River Valley…where ITS 81 and ITS 83 connect to over 2,300+ miles of pristine snowmobiling . Ride along with this Valley Diva as she shares her adventures on… IS IT SNOWING YET?