Last Chance Snowombile Adventure

John and I recently took a 54 mile snowmobile trip south of us to White Otter Castle on White Otter Lake. We had visited the castle once before by boat during the summer when our family rented a cabin on Clearwater West Lake which is adjacent to White Otter Lake. But this time we headed south from Agimak Lake in Ignace riding our Skidoo Skandic two up snowmobile via lakes and land portages to White Otter.  We figured it would probably be our last chance for such an adventure with the warm temperatures coming that would likely melt down the portage trails and make the lakes unsafe.

It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and a very comfortable temperature of about 35 - 40 degrees. John had a map with him to help us find our way amidst all the choices of different trails we came upon. Thankfully he made all the right choices and successfully arrived at our destination.

Coming down one steep hill, we saw a good sized animal just sitting on the trail. I couldn't figure out what it was till we got closer and it walked into the woods. It was a large linx. Cool looking animal.

The White Otter Castle is an amazing structure built by Jimmy McQuat and completed in 1915 at 60 years of age. When he was a child, he was once scolded, " Ye'll never do no good. Ye'll die in a shack!" Later in life he resolved to avoid such a fate. Unfortunately, he died in 1918 so he didn't get to enjoy his accomplishment very long.

On our way back from the castle we noticed a sign in the middle of the trail saying "Trail Closed".   I wondered if they had just closed it since we came through earlier in the afternoon.  Sure enough when we got to Agimak Lake where there had been tall orange pieces of tubing marking the trail, they had been removed.  So I guess we just made it in time.

Since John and I first met with a snowmobile ride, it brought back lots of sweet memories from 42 years ago. We're still enjoying our snowmobile rides together. Yahoo!