By Dawn De Busk 

Staff Writer

CASCO — Gary Drew and his wife Carol Drew and Bob Symonds — all with the Crooked River Snowmobile Club based in Casco — spent three days clearing debris and downed trees from the 42 miles of trail system. 

It took three days to get the trails ready for the first snowmobile riding of the season, according to Trail Master Symonds. 

Then, it was time to play in the snow.

“Yep, we went out [riding]. Really good trails. They are in pretty good shape for the amount of snow. Still hitting rocks in a few spots,” Club President Gary Drew said. 

The first nor’easter in February didn’t dump as much snow as was needed, and it wasn’t until later this month that subsequent snowfalls finally added up and brought out the snowmobiles.

“This last weekend, people were out a lot,” he said, adding, “I’ve seen a ton of sleds on the trails” on Monday, which was Presidents’ Day and a holiday for some.

On Tuesday afternoon, Drew said it was “a disappointment” that the forecasted snow turned out to be sleet. 

“If we can get this storm on Thursday or Friday, it will help. We have a good base now. This will help. We need 5 to 8 inches to cover the rocks and the washouts and such. Any storm helps,” Drew said. 

Symonds was up north this week, and he was watching the weather and wishing for snow. 

“I called home to see what happened, and heard there was just sleet. It shouldn’t affect our trails any though. The sleet will actually help the base a little bit, cover everything,” he said.

“Hopefully, we’ll get some [snow] by the end of the week,” Symonds said. 

Drew learned to snowmobile before he was in kindergarten. It’s an activity he loves as an adult.  

“I started snowmobiling when I was 3 or 4 years old. It was a small motor ski, the first sled I grew up on. My parents told me they had me out on a sled when I was 3 or 4 years old, putting around the driveway,” he said.

“When I was younger, I used to like to go fast. As I’ve gotten older, I like to enjoy the scenery and look for wild animals,” he said.

“I like being the president of the club, and people comment on how good our trials are. All the work we put into it to make it a good experience,” he said. “I enjoy seeing the scenery and wild animals, and seeing people having fun and enjoying it because it is a lot of fun.” 

ATV TIRES WRECK SNOWMOBILE TRAILS 

Drew did want to discuss one of the downers this season.

“There is something we are having problems with this year. We are having troubles with ATV’s on the snowmobile trails. A rubber tire on the trails — they just tear up our trails,” he said. 

There are track kits that people can buy to convert ATV’s from tires to snow-tracks. Then, the owner licenses the recreational vehicle as a snowmobile.  

“As long as they have tracks on the ATV, and register it as a snowmobile, they are legal to be on trails,” he said. 

“We think it is new people moving up here from other states,” he said. 

“They need to join a club, an ATV club, and know the laws of snowmobiling, and help out instead of making more work for us,” Drew said.

The Raymond Rattlers Snowmobile Club also experienced having an ATV tear up trails that were freshly groomed and already short on snow. 

This was the club’s Facebook entry on Feb. 7: 

“Pipeline Trail update. With the little snow we have, our groomer operator spent 5-6 hours getting the pipeline trail in decent shape, only to check it this morning to find an ATV tore up all the work he did,” the post said.

There were a couple angry face emojis next to the comments.   

“Angry face doesn’t quite show the anger and frustration the club feels when the hard work and time we put in is ruined by someone who isn’t supposed to be on the trails right now.”

On Sunday, the Crooked River Snowmobile Club (CRSC) put up a post, asking ATVs to refrain from using trails. 

“People please stay off our trail systems with your ATV without tracks! 1 in Naples and 1 in Raymond/Casco,” the Facebook post said. 

The Lake Region ATV Club responded saying, “Come on people, this goes without saying after all these years. No ATVs on groomed snowmobile trails without tracks and also has to be registered as a snowmobile. The only exception is if you have verifiable landowner permission or own the land the trail is on. Please knock it off.”

DOING THEIR BEST WITH LITTLE SNOW 

Over the weekend, the Raymond Rattlers invited people to get out on their snowmobiles.

“We have been out processing the snow the best we can. Still not enough snow to cover all the rocks. Overall, the trails are in pretty good shape. The neighboring towns have also been out. Please get out and enjoy,” the Facebook page post said. 

The lack of snow in the region sent a couple members of the Bridgton Easy Riders snowmobile club to northern Maine. President Blaine Chapman and Trail Master Steve Brill took a vacation, and spent it snowmobiling up north.

Most of the clubs include trail conditions on websites and Facebook. Meanwhile, hazardous areas warrant signs on the trails. 

“We usually post [conditions] on our Facebook page. Right now, it is like early season riding: Bony areas, thin areas, and good areas,” Drew said. “Usually in bad sections, we put caution signs out.”

Drew said the lack of snow coupled with the pandemic has hurt area businesses. 

“Well, there was these restaurants around here that serve breakfast, lunch and dinner — a lot of them rely on snowmobilers to come in the winter. Unfortunately, with COVID, some of the businesses have closed or they are open fewer days out of the week, and some are still struggling,” Drew said. 

So, the snow has a domino effect. 

“I am hoping we can get a fair amount of snow from this storm here. Hopefully, that’ll put us in good shape to ride for another 3 or 4 weeks,” he said. 

Besides getting out and riding their sleds, Drew and his wife appreciate people’s compliments on the trail conditions, especially after all the hard work involved.  

“Thank you! We have heard from people out on the trails that our trails are in good shape for the snow conditions. Please be careful. A lot of sleds out this weekend,” the club’s Facebook page said on Feb. 12.