castle in the clouds trails
 

I was out on the sled today friday jan 28 and came to the castle trails entrance the gate was locked with a sign that said closed until further notice.Iwas under the impression the main trail was going to remain open over the ossipee mts?

Red Hill too?
 

Found at the NH Trails Bureau http://www.nhtrails.org/Trailspages/...oTrlCndtn.html

Red Hill is still on the Moultonboro Snowmobile site. They say on their home page that the gates will not be opened until they have enough snow. I haven't been up in a while, apparently there isn't enough snow on the trails.


http://www.moultonborosmc.com/trail_conditions.htm


Home page http://www.moultonborosmc.com/

Castle trail still closed
 

We sledded the area Saturday and found the Castle trail (Corr. 15) was not open. Unfortunately there were sleds that had somehow accessed the grounds and were bushwacking around the gate to get off the property. My assumption is the Ossippee side was not properly secured and folks were gaining access that way. It also did not appear that Moultonboro snowmobile club had groomed any trails. We did not violate the gate closing and rode trail 26 instead. The riding was pretty good considering. We rode some of the Wofeboro trails as well and they had not been groomed either. There were lots of sleds out there. The warming hut on the powerlines is open in Wolfeboro.....Great hot dogs! There appears to be enough snow for grooming, I guess I just don't understand the physics involved in making the decision not to groom.

With the closing of even Corridor 15, it is a very long way around to get to Ossipee. in fact you probably "can't get there from here". This also has to have a big impact on local businesses. Prior years, the parking lot on rt. 171 in Tuftonboro was jammed with trucks and sleds on the weekend. Saturday, there was not one truck to be found. Gee, with all the solitude, where were all the deer? :confused: :mad: :rolleye2: I guess they were still stressed! :eek:

Well, enough venting.

Deer?
 

Where are all the deer? We had three of them cross right in front of and between us on the Moultonboro trail to Melvin Village. I have never seen deer this close when hiking. I guess they are more afraid of hikers than they were of our four 4-stroke snowmobiles. Probably didn't hear us coming.

Scared of people, not snowmobiles
 

If you check out the Snowmobile Manufacturers web site they talk about many studies that seem to confirm that animals are much less concerned about snowmobiles than they are about people on foot or sking.
http://www.snowmobile.org/facts_ece.asp
Very clever these "dumb" animals.
It is funny to think that the people who want only the "right kinds" of activities in their woods may actually "stress" the animals more than the big, bad snowmobilers. :D
Some of the researchers comments about the environmental lobby are illuminating. There seems to be an attitude in some lobbiests of "Don't confuse me with the facts. Snowmobiles are bad!" This may explain why we are not having a "public" conversation about these trails. It's easier to make up your "facts" when not to many people are examining them too closely.
The only valid concern that I can see in all the studies I have seen is that if snow is not sufficient there can be damage to the plants and soil. That is probably the case this year but if that is the reason, why can't we have a discussion about that rather than the arrogant attitudes that we seem to be encountering? :(

...so many overweight sno-mos
 

Just like all the 300 lb sixth graders that plague the schools of NH, a quik glance tells you that the sno-mo crowd are also grossly overweight. While the very new and very expensive four-stroke sleds are much quieter and without the distinct & voluminous exhaust plume of two-stroke snomo oil & gasoline, the great majority of the sleds out there, are the noisey-smelly two-stroke machines. So, why not take this closing of the miles & miles & miles of your long-time favorite, and formerly friendly Ossipee Mountain trail system as a stepping stone to better health. You all might want to haul your sleds down to the local junkyard and start perusing the second hand stores and yard sales for a pair of snow shoes and a olde ski poles. You will be very surprised how much distance you can cover, going up hill, in a three hour time, and how many calories get burned off. And hey there Mr SnoMo, if you want to go hug a tree, no one will be there to see it!

Sno-mo is but one facet of winter sports
 

FLL, turns out that snowmobiling is only one of many activities that I and many other snowmobilers participate in. I happen to also have snowshoes and cross country skis, but life would be pretty boring doing the same thing over and over. Life is for living. The more variety, the better life is. Also, snowmobiling can provide a good amount of exercise if you're doing mountain trail riding.

I'm sure I don't speak for all snowmobilers, but let's be careful of generalities.

Yikes, where is the logic?
 

FLL - Lets follow your "logic" here. If we all get rid of our boats and swim the lake for our recreation, we can keep real lean and trim. We would also stop a lot of lake pollution and stop stressing the fish (and the rock bass!) :eek: :emb:

trails are opem
 

The trails are now open. The Bureau of Trails has signed an agreement with Lakes Region Conservation Trust on insurance coverage. Read Carol Carter's story in today's Union Leader.
Legend

Great News!
 

Thanks for the update!
Here's the link:

http://www.theunionleader.com/Articl...0403&archive=1