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Dog Sleds

1K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  chazac 
#1 ·
OK, So I am all for multi use of sled trails including x country skiing, fat tired bicycles, dog sleds, etc. It does seem though to that organize a full fledged dog sled race on ITS 85/86 just North of Greenville on a Saturday might be just asking for trouble. As a long time dog fancier, I know how unpredictable dogs can be, and as a long time sledder, I know how unpredictable riders can be.
I hope all went well today, and there were no problems, but I sure hope in the future they find a safer place or a safer day to race dogs.
 
#2 ·
They do it every year in Jackman on the trails and close down this sections and reroute for the event. It brings in more people to town then any other weekend. We welcome it and have never had an issue up there. It's very well organized and directed.
 
#4 ·
I like dogsleds and sleds. But, if there wasn't any warning or the trail shutdown, I think your right. Sounds like an accident waiting to happen that could be avoided by signs or shutting the trail down. You have a bike race on the road, at least they put up signs and maybe a couple flashing lights.
 
#5 ·
As a rider that encountered one of the not so pleasant racers let me share my story. We arrived at an intersection and were sitting on the side of the trail. The dog sled came over the top of the hill of course you don't hear anything until it is right there. The guy starts screaming at us to get out of the way calling us assholes etc. laundry list of swearing and yelling as we are trying to start and get out of the way. Now keep in mind we just got there and this was the first sign we saw about caution dogsleds. Well I couldn't help myself I caught up to the guy he stopped and I informed him that he should be courteous and more respectful when he spoke to me (yes that is what I said) as I approached him. Of course I was saying it very loudly and forcefully LOL. He apologized and had some excuses yadda yadda, but considering I pay to register my sleds and our money goes for the trails and grooming etc. He should have had a better attitude, the rest of the group we passed on the way to town was very nice pulled over for us and waved us by.
 
#10 ·
I passed the first 3 teams of the day on my way to Buck Lane. The first one was a woman who did not look impressed. I was way to the right at an acceptable speed as I knew ahead of time they were coming. The second team was also a woman and she smiled and waved. Third team was a scruuffy looking fella, no hat and a blue coat. He was thouroughly disgusted with crossing paths with me. I felt that guy was going to have a LONG day ahead of him with that attitude.
I thought they had the race posted fairly well around town. Also they had race officials at almost every intersection. Almost impossible IMO to post an official up at EVERY entrance to the ITS trail.
I heard that most of the issues the teams had were not to do with snowmobilers at all, moreso of the course. 3 teams failed to make the same turn near Scammon Ridge. Dogs got tangled up and some got inured.
I like dogs and snowsleds...."Just can`t we all get along"?:bc:
 
#7 ·
For years now, we have been seeing dog-sleds on the trails (NY, VT, NH, and ME). Only happens once or twice a year - at most. We don't see a problem here, just slow down and give the musher a thumbs up. As a dog owner/lover, I love to see it. Very seldom is the trail shut down or rerouted because of a meet. Local media will advertise the event months in advance. My 2 cents. :)
 
#9 ·
When they run the dog sled race out of Ft. Kent into the Allagash I have ridden on that trail around Round Pond...the dog sledders don't like it much. Of course they need snowmobilers to pack down their trail first but after that's done they don't appreciate our presence much.
 
#11 ·
We came up the other way I think from 83 to 110. Anyway it was the first sign we saw that mentioned a dogsled race, and we stopped at tthat intersection to talk about which way or to detour around it etc. Thats when he came over the hill. We didnt even know he was there or which way they would be coming from so in all fairness we were sitting on the side of the trail that made it the most difficult for him to go by. We didnt mean to it just happened that way. It was a 4 way intersection and he came from behind us to the right. He just didnt have to have a crappy attitude. It sounds like the guy with no hat etc. We ran into 2 dogsleds one right behind the other one went to the right side of the trail to let us pass the other went to the left so we had to zig zag between them. I kind of felt like I was interupting a pass on that one, but they both seemed OK with us catching them. THe last one we caught was a woman who was way ahead of all of the others. I think she was in the lead because we didnt see any others and made it all of the way to Greenville. We did run into all of the Forest Management guys and wardens on the way in.
 
#12 ·
I like the sled puppies !!! About 10 years ago I was coming down a trail leading back to Eagle Lake around dusk when we encountered a sled dog team coming the other way with NO DRIVER !!! Another mile or so down the trail I see this lone guy hoofing it as fast as he could manage up the trail. He waved me down and asked if I saw his team. Yup, I said, and it looked to me like they weren't going to stop until they hit the Lakeview !!! I said 'hop on - we'll catch them' and we headed back up the trail where we found the renagade puppies cornered by a couple of other snowmobilers. As soon as that lead dog saw his owner get off the back of my machine he started whimpering, put his tail between his legs and if he could have buried himself in the snow any faster it he would have been a mole !!! The driver explained to me he was breaking in this new lead dog and he's a devil and smart little sh*t. When he reached down to try and scoop up a 'bootie' from one of the dogs, the lead dog bolted the team and jarred him off the sled !!! and then 'took off' fully knowing he had bucked the guy.
 
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