Leaderboard

Pigs will fly and Hell will freeze...

Heading to Quebec Friday, so worth the drive.

Found this article recently... https://www.snowtechmagazine.com/off-trail-snowmobile-trespassing-the-devil-made-me-do-it/ "Those who cry they have nowhere to ride should be reminded that buying a snowmobile with a deep lug track was a voluntary purchase. You don’t go buy a high powered rifle to go deer hunting if they only allow slug hunting in your local area. Nor do you use the rifle to go duck hunting. If you want to use that new rifle you’d better find where it is legal to do so. The notion that it is an obligation of the club volunteers to accommodate riders who want to go off trail and break laws is absurd. If these riders want a different experience and opportunity, they can take their machines to locations where that kind of riding is legal and acceptable, or they can roll up their sleeves and do the work to create such opportunities – just like everyone else has. Not all riding areas will be able to have legal off-trail opportunities. Just like your rifle, you can’t use it everywhere hunting is legal."

Kind of slow here...I guess we need to post some pictures for all to enjoy. I like to cook on the trail so posted some of the grandboys and a few friends and wife cooking over the last few days. Also a few recent "Random" photos. Good snow out there....get out and enjoy!

I rode through Franconia Notch on Saturday. It really is a cool trail, great views. Fun cruising under the highway. Just be ready to give a wide berth to the groups on the rentals. You of all people know they can be a bit unpredictable.

As always a great ride with the "crew"...I get tied up on weekends sometimes with other riders, but love the pictures and routes. I need to do that route!

I've heard that the Colebrook Ski-Bees have a new trail trail named after Keith Haynes. I remember the old Keith Haynes trail that we'd pass on the way to Colebrook. That trail was not our first option. Here's a magazine story about riding sleds in the area around the Balsams back in the 1990's. American Snowmobiler 1994 https://amsnow.com/reviews/snowmobile-trails-travel/1994/11/the-historic-balsams We got in a lot of riding in not a lot of miles. Especially when we hit the R. Keith Haynes Memorial Trail. The sign on the Haynes trail marker simply stated, "North Country's First Groomed Trail." The joke of the day was "…and it hasn't been groomed since." It was a narrow trail. Ice formed from a previous rain and melt had frozen hard and bumpy in the -30 degree temperatures we faced during our travels. No amount of grooming would make a difference until much more snow would come. In the meantime, the grooming club would suffer abuse for this next to impossible to groom section of trail. BTW: I have an extra 1992 Umbagog Sports Association trail map that I can spare, any taker? This is the one with a picture of the new 197 ft bridge over the Androscoggin River built by the club.

No longer in need i disconnected kill switch and problem went away. Now just need to come up with a kill switch fix

This guy!

That's a great weekend right there!

177 miles on Saturday, 80 Miles on Sunday.....

There is some great snow and snowmobiling to be had here in central NH. I have a cabin located just 1 hour North of Concord, NH in Dorchester, NH. It is 8-10 minutes up the hill from the Baker River Clubhouse. It is a great base location because you can ride in all directions and find some great snow and conditions. Tenny Mountain Ski area is also just down the road. The riding has been good and we continue to get snow especially up in the elevation. Winter conditions are here but will not be forever...so check us out on facebook: NH Accommodations and Central NH Cabin rental as well as Homeaway https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p4086570?noDates=true. Good place to bring the family, friends and anyone else! Let me know.

So much for the $50 plate on anything 25 years or older lasting forever! pathfinder

Note that under current law there are two ways to qualify for antique plates: model year before 1969 or 25 or more years old. After 5/1/2020 there is only one way to qualify: model year before 1995. The twenty-five year old rule isn't there anymore. F&G still has the prior-to-May 1'st rules on their web site.I couldn't figure out how a 1995 qualified today but after 5/1/2020 it required a 1994 or earlier.

Beautiful sled!

Quebec

Had the privilege of meeting Sabrina and her team in '18 at the Vintage World Championships in Eagle River WI. She is amazing on the track, which she proved at Eagle River this year by being the first female ever to qualify for the front row in the Championship Finals where she finished 9th. She is someone who is obviously going to continue her rise to the top in the racing world. pathfinder Boonville Herald · 16 hrs · Sabrina Blanchet with the Vintage Adirondack Cup trophy after her big win Sunday in Boonville. She is the first female to ever win the Adirondack Cup. — at Boonville Snow Festival

Hooked up for a club ride...Fort Mountain Trailwnders...We headed out from Rumney and worked our way into the hills to find a great place for a TRAIL SIDE lunch. There were 14 of us dedicated club members seeking redemption on the negative snow gods and naysayers in the sport. So off we went and found variable conditions on our pursuit to snowmobiler happiness. I found a nice spot out of the wind around 11 am. First the coffee then the SAUSAGE, PEPPERS & ONIONS cooked and served on fresh rolls....now if that doesn't sound good there is something wrong with you. With some time for good fellowship and our bellies full...off we went to finish the day. A good time had by all! Come to find out that your NHSA Treasurer not only is a bean counter for our association but he also can cook beans (in this case sausage and peppers). Way to go Steve! Trail Siding cooking...get out and do it! Everything tastes better cooked in the great outdoors. Ride often and ride safe...I'll see you on the trail.

NH does offer a 20% tax reduction to landowners who allow public access to land held under current use, but public OHRV/sled use isn't a required activity to get the discount. 20% Recreational Adjustment. If a landowner decides not to post, and opens the property to public use without an entrance fee for 12 months a year, the land is entitled to a 20% reduction in the current use assessment of the acres opened to public recreational use. To receive the 20% recreation adjustment, the landowner must allow all of the following activities: Hunting Skiing Fishing Snowshoeing Hiking Nature Observation If any of these activities are detrimental to a specific agricultural or forest crop, that activity may be prohibited. If the 20% recreational adjustment has been granted, posting to prohibit any activity listed above requires approval of the local assessing officials. See Cub 305.03 for further explanation. The landowner may prohibit trespass upon his property for all other activities, including use of mechanized and off-highway vehicles (such as snowmobiles and three-wheelers), camping, cutting down trees, etc. Posting land to prohibit these activities will not affect the 20% recreation adjustment. Here's the current use rules: https://www.revenue.nh.gov/current-use/documents/2019-booklet.pdf Valuation of current use land is set by classification: farmland, forest land, unproductive land, and wetland. From the NH Business Review: Farmland is currently assessed between $25 and $425 per acre. White pine forest with documented stewardship is assessed between $66 and $99 per acre and without stewardship between $110 and $165 per acre. Hardwood forest with stewardship is assessed between $28 and $43 per acre and without between $47 and $71 per acre. Unproductive and wetlands are assessed at $20 per acre. If land in current use is not posted but open to recreation — hunting, fishing, hiking, skiing, snowshoeing and nature observation — it qualifies for an additional 20 percent reduction in assessed value. There is no buyout provision in the program. When land in current use is sold or transferred, it remains enrolled. But if the land is either developed or put to a disqualifying use, a land use change tax equal to 10 percent of its “full and fair value” is charged. Today, 3,008,456 acres — more than half the land area of the state — is enrolled in current use, and virtually half of it qualifies for the recreational discount. Forest land, with and without stewardship, covers 2,623,405 acres, or 87 percent, of the land in current use. The 204,353 acres of farmland account for 7 percent of the total, while 180,698 acres of unproductive land and wetland make up the balance.