Burning Up the Icy Trails
Adventure Girl
By Megan Burkholder |
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Snowmobiling in Central Ohio is hit or miss, according to Dale Huffman, founder of Delaware County Snowmobile Club.
"We haven't been out here in five or six years," he said.
Photo: David S. Lewis
Alum Creek State Park's multi-use trail requires a minimum 6" fallen snow, which packs down to a 2" base. We got lucky here in 2010 and, after a week of accumulated frozen precipitation, I met Dale, his wife, Becky, and other members of the club out on the trail.
Right away, I could tell Dale trusted me. He pulled over his fancy $10,000 two-seater snowmobile and motioned me to the driver's seat. I scooted my ski pants over the hump to the front heated seat, which seemed a little warmer than the rear heated seat. Dale lifted his helmet's face guard.
"It's real simple," he said. "That's the throttle, and that's the brake. Just take it slow."
Adventure Girl's rules when snowmobiling:
1.) Follow instructor's basic safety guidelines.
2.) Don't let your mind wander; there will be a tree in your face the moment you snap back to the present.
3.) Don't turn your head to look at the pretty deer; it's only a log, and now there's another tree, and you are about to hit it.
Dale saddled up on the lesser-heated seat behind me, and I tapped the throttle with my thumb and we inched slowly, as a snowmobiling virgin does. Chug . . . chug . . . chug . . . Nothing exploded, so I squeezed the throttle harder. Shaky skis turned into smooth gliding and, with the wind in our helmets, we cruised into the snow covered straightaway.
"Watch out little bird! I just might run you over!" I yelled in my mind. Little bird, being telepathic, moved aside in time. I then shifted my eyes up and to the right, cocked my head and wondered why this bird was out on a trail in the middle of winter, by himself. (Reference Rule #2.) Snapping out of my reverie, a tree-meshed turn threatened immediate carnage. I released my thumb from the throttle, and my shoulder muscles strained to steer the skis right. A vision of Sonny Bono appeared.
"It's not your time, Adventure Babe, not your time," Sonny sang, clad in a ski jacket atop a puffy Heaven cloud.
Heart pumping and crisis averted, I straightened the skis and gave the sled juice onward. Little yellow trail caution signs warned of bumpy ice patches and random branches compromising the 10-foot-wide path. Up and over a hill, butterflies circled in my belly from the potential danger of not knowing what was on the other side. We careened around a bend where the snow had worn down to the earth's gravel.
"Oh, look, is that a deer?" I questioned myself. (Uh-oh . . . Rule #3.) I turned and saw the log with branches protruding like antlers. Sensing danger, I looked forward in time to see a fallen tree cutting our path diagonally from the earth and over, the kind of tree that decapitates those who ignore Rule #3. I cut back the throttle and steered left to the path's edge, expecting Dale to reach up front to grab the brake. But there was no time for that. Slightly praying, I maneuvered under the tree, waiting for my helmet to scrape bark, but it didn't. Looking in the tiny side mirrors, I saw a black mass behind my reflection and figured Dale, too, had made it though without decapitation.
Arriving at the trail's end unscathed, Dale told the others gathered around a bonfire that I was a bit of a "hot rod." Step aside cheese and alcohol: I feared I had found a stronger addiction in snowmobiling.
Word around the fire pit is that snowmobilers from Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and even Canada pack their trailers and haul to Michigan, where lake effect snow ensures a full season of ground coverage. Dale and Becky often travel with members of the Delaware County Snowmobile Club to Michigan's snowbelt: a snowmobiler's wonderland of interconnected trails and gas/restaurant/hotel stops every few hours. To feed my newfound addiction, I've taken their advice and am planning a snowmobile weekend near Traverse City next winter. I hear up north, snowmobiling is so common that Michiganders just call it "sledding."
Where can I be Adventure Girl/Boy?
Snowmobiling
Delaware Co. Snowmobile Club
Dale Huffman (614) 496-9463
Meetings second Sunday of the month through winter.
Ohio State Snowmobile Association
sites.google.com/site/snowmobileohio
(No rentals available in Ohio)
Snowmobiling in Michigan
www.michiweb.com/snowmobile
(Rentals available)
Sledding: the convenient, cheaper alternative for Columbus
Check out these hills where you can live out all of your Spies Like Us fantasies:
Mt. Sterling: Deer Creek Dam, Crownover Mill Rd.
Delaware: Alum Creek Lake Dam
Grandview Heights: Wyman Woods Park, 1520 Goodale Blvd.
Bexley: Miller's Hill, End of N Parkview Ave.
Pickerington: Sycamore Creek Park, 500 Hereford Dr.
Reynoldsburg: Blacklick Woods Metro Golf Course, 7309 E Livingston Ave.
Clintonville: Whetstone Park, 3923 N High St.
West Columbus: Glenwood Park, 1925 W Broad St.
Southwest Columbus: Big Run Park, 4201 Clime Rd.
Originally Published: February 1, 2010
