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White Gold Brings Snowmobilers Out

January 29, 2008 - The Penquis region has the best snow cover it has had early in the winter season in years and the fluffy white stuff, often dubbed white gold, has attracted thousands to the region to enjoy outdoor recreation activities, the vast majority of which are snowmobilers.

However, while grooming efforts have begun in eamest, the earliness of the season has presented its problems. The ground has never frozen properly and rains before Christmas have kept minor streams flowing.

The stretch of ITS 85-86 that crosses East Cove of Moosehead Lake in Greenville only opened to traffic over last weekend and officials caution that the rest of the lake is not safe to travel. While trails are signed by local clubs, one must be cautious about traveling on sleds.

Late last week, a Harfords Point woman, Jayne Sullivan, lost her way while taking two children via sled to an intended Rockwood destination for lunch. After making a wrong tum, Sullivan's sled got mired in deep snow and she and the two kids tried to walk out. However, walking was difficult, especially for the adult woman, and ultimately, as darkness closed in, the group hunkered down under an evergreen tree while Sullivan tried to keep the boys warm with her own body heat. She had not told anyone where she was going. Luck was with her, however, as a search party was dispatched when she did not tum up anywhere; wardens found her at about 11 p.m. that night. Fortunately, none of the tluree were injured. A separate incident emphasizes that people must take care around the snow machines.

A Garland man, described as in his late teens, was helping a friend work on his snowmobile when he slipped and fell underneath the running machine. Brandon Blanchette had his left foot amputated and the leg fractured. Blanchette was airlifted by LifeFlight from the Dexter airport to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor and has been listed in fair condition.

Area businesses benefit from the sled traffic. Many riders determine their day's route by designating a restaurant at which they want to have lunch. The loop that includes crossing Moosehead Lake between Kineo and Rockwood is open for travel. A pair from New Hampshire, Craig Myers, 28, and Mark Silegy, 35, came down from the Old Smith Farm in Day's Academy Grant to have lunch in Greenville. They traveled the west side of the lake to come south and used the east side trails to return north.

Wardens continue to warn that ice is not thick and that sledders should stay on marked trails. Speed and alcohol continue to be major factors in snowmobile-related accidents. Sledders are advised not to mix alcohol with riding and to slow down, staying on their own side of the trail during travel.


SOURCE: PISCATAQUIS OBSERVER

DATE: 01-09-2008


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