Hi All,
I'm new here. I may have stumbled on here randomly before and seen the site, but I'm a new member. And I have a few things that have been really bugging me on and off for quite a while and that I finally want to get off of my chest. It's not like end of the world stuff, but just stuff that I can't get past lol.
So I have snowmobiled up around the Mesabi Iron Range and Itasca County area for a while. I've been on some long rides that have taken me into St. Louis County and on the extreme southern edge of Koochiching County (just thought I'd add that, it wasn't much lol). I have snowmobiled all my life but really got into it once I was in junior high/high school, and even more once I was in college. I did A LOT of riding after college (never finished, but dropped out after 2011) which would have been 2012-2015. I still ride nowadays and have still done quite a bit; although last year was not quite as much due to weather. This year was crap due to the weather and scheduling. It was going to be a weird year due to Covid-19 and the fact that my uncle wasn't going to make it up due to his wife battling breast cancer. So for the first time (in a long time, if ever) for my dad and I, there is/was no snowmobiling taking place this year. All due to the aforementioned stuff plus some weird things happening. Now, that is part of what is bugging me, but not what I wanted to post...
No. What has been bugging me like a bad case of mosquito bites has been happening now for quite a while. And it's just pure crap. That's right. C-R-A-P. I've learned throughout my years of riding that it's normal to see snowmobile trails being re-routed for numerous reasons. Whether it's a better alternative for groomers getting through an area, a dangerous part of a trail being made safer, a landowner no longer wanting a trail through a certain part...the list goes on and on. Trust me, I've seen enough by now that I'm used to it and can deal with these kind of situations...all except that last part, and let me explain.
A good example of this is like with the mines. I've seen VERY old posts on here dealing with this topic. As old as 2006, and since then it's happened a lot more. Mainly by a company that goes by "RGGS." From what I've seen they're based out of Houston, TX; what I've found by googling is they are all over but I cannot confirm that they are still out of Houston, Texas. What I have confirmed is by what other people have said about how they are impossible to contact. Probably by the fact that they do these dick moves and don't want people contact them because they don't want to listen...
Let me digress. When you peel back the layer of what I was just venting, I get when you see business stuff. I can understand about landowners bitching; there's one area of trail on the old "Pelkey trail," (which was an AWESOME trail by the way, it's closed now and I don't know if they'll ever find an alternative location/reroute) that had closed the trail about a year or two ago. Part of the reasoning I found out through Facebook messenger was that a landowner was getting sick and tired of having their field ripped up. That's just one of the things I could see and say, "Yes, I get it. As disappointed as I might be, I get it." But part of my still doesn't want to get it. Hence, I digress again.
Land gets bought and reroutes are sometimes needed as landowners don't want the trail going through there any longer. I don't really understand that fully as I don't get the whole idea of buying land next to an airport and then bitching about the fact that there's airplanes constantly flying overhead. I know that's not the same situation but it's just the same principle. The whole thing of landowners does revolve around the fact that there are sledders that ruin it for the rest. The few, several, how many ever bad apples do ruin it for the rest. The people that trespass and ruin land, vandalize, or do whatever it is that they do ruin the fun of snowmobiling down a trail because of the snowmobilers that can't stay on a trail.
But to get back to what I want to bitch about the most; I could say that nobody would support the Iron Range mining more than me. Well, there's probably a lot of people that would support it more. But I do: there's the very basic points of the good jobs that are created, it's good for the economy, it's good to have steel from the ground of the US, etc. etc. etc. But to say that it's gonna be a double edged sword is an understatement. Again, I understand the arguments/points that are logical, legal, etc. But a big part of me doesn't understand why and how companies like the Big Bad Wolf "RGGS" can come in and buy land (perfectly legal, BTW), but then all of a sudden, say, "Oh, there's snowmobile trails on our land? Well, we certainly can't have that anymore!" And voila, there's trails like the Lawron Trail, parts of the Diamond Lake Trail, and the Pelkey Trail closed down. Just because they wanted to be asses and demand an ABSURD amount of $$$.
Let me be clear. I don't know those that work for RGGS. I don't know the management team. They may be really nice people. And maybe they don't understand snowmobiling at all. I know plenty of people that don't understand the joys of snowmobiling. They may think it's a waste of gas. Maybe the cold isn't for them. And they might feel like, "What's the Point?" Maybe RGGS management has never, ever done snowmobiling before. But to be a dick like they did and close down snowmobile trails paints a negative image. I do remember/realize that a lot of what I'm bitching about happened a long, long, long time ago. But I'm just finally getting to bitch about it. I know there's other sledders out there that feel the same way.
Let me conclude by saying this. It's not the end of the world. It's not. I might have made it seem that way, but I didn't mean to. Life does indeed go on. But when I go up north and snowmobile, it's a different world. Once you're out on the trail snowmobiling, it's a lot of fun that a lot of people don't get to experience. Sure, it's fun to rip down a trail, and for some it might be fun to jump a sled or it's all about the speed. But for me it goes beyond that. What you can see in the middle of the woods is amazing. You can see lots of nature & wildlife. You can also see a lot of odd, cool, weird and different things. You can see abandoned houses, cabins, cars (yes, I've seen some abandoned old cars, it's weird but cool), pieces of equipment, etc. You also can have good times bonding with friends, partying (albeit responsibly lol) with family and friends, just overall having good times. I know it's not for everyone but there's a lot of people out there that enjoy it. I am a little concerned about the future snowflakes that may see it as environmentally negative and a waste of time.
I hope I didn't ramble too much. And I hope that in the future maybe some of the trails that have closed down would at some point get opened back up. I didn't get to ride them a whole lot but the trails I mentioned before (the Peleky, Diamond Lake, and Lawron trails) weren't anything really special, but they were unique to me. The Pelkey/Diamond Lake trails went through some old mines and they were pretty awesome. I hope the stupid RGGS company will someday wake up and stop being a complete scrooge.
I'm new here. I may have stumbled on here randomly before and seen the site, but I'm a new member. And I have a few things that have been really bugging me on and off for quite a while and that I finally want to get off of my chest. It's not like end of the world stuff, but just stuff that I can't get past lol.
So I have snowmobiled up around the Mesabi Iron Range and Itasca County area for a while. I've been on some long rides that have taken me into St. Louis County and on the extreme southern edge of Koochiching County (just thought I'd add that, it wasn't much lol). I have snowmobiled all my life but really got into it once I was in junior high/high school, and even more once I was in college. I did A LOT of riding after college (never finished, but dropped out after 2011) which would have been 2012-2015. I still ride nowadays and have still done quite a bit; although last year was not quite as much due to weather. This year was crap due to the weather and scheduling. It was going to be a weird year due to Covid-19 and the fact that my uncle wasn't going to make it up due to his wife battling breast cancer. So for the first time (in a long time, if ever) for my dad and I, there is/was no snowmobiling taking place this year. All due to the aforementioned stuff plus some weird things happening. Now, that is part of what is bugging me, but not what I wanted to post...
No. What has been bugging me like a bad case of mosquito bites has been happening now for quite a while. And it's just pure crap. That's right. C-R-A-P. I've learned throughout my years of riding that it's normal to see snowmobile trails being re-routed for numerous reasons. Whether it's a better alternative for groomers getting through an area, a dangerous part of a trail being made safer, a landowner no longer wanting a trail through a certain part...the list goes on and on. Trust me, I've seen enough by now that I'm used to it and can deal with these kind of situations...all except that last part, and let me explain.
A good example of this is like with the mines. I've seen VERY old posts on here dealing with this topic. As old as 2006, and since then it's happened a lot more. Mainly by a company that goes by "RGGS." From what I've seen they're based out of Houston, TX; what I've found by googling is they are all over but I cannot confirm that they are still out of Houston, Texas. What I have confirmed is by what other people have said about how they are impossible to contact. Probably by the fact that they do these dick moves and don't want people contact them because they don't want to listen...
Let me digress. When you peel back the layer of what I was just venting, I get when you see business stuff. I can understand about landowners bitching; there's one area of trail on the old "Pelkey trail," (which was an AWESOME trail by the way, it's closed now and I don't know if they'll ever find an alternative location/reroute) that had closed the trail about a year or two ago. Part of the reasoning I found out through Facebook messenger was that a landowner was getting sick and tired of having their field ripped up. That's just one of the things I could see and say, "Yes, I get it. As disappointed as I might be, I get it." But part of my still doesn't want to get it. Hence, I digress again.
Land gets bought and reroutes are sometimes needed as landowners don't want the trail going through there any longer. I don't really understand that fully as I don't get the whole idea of buying land next to an airport and then bitching about the fact that there's airplanes constantly flying overhead. I know that's not the same situation but it's just the same principle. The whole thing of landowners does revolve around the fact that there are sledders that ruin it for the rest. The few, several, how many ever bad apples do ruin it for the rest. The people that trespass and ruin land, vandalize, or do whatever it is that they do ruin the fun of snowmobiling down a trail because of the snowmobilers that can't stay on a trail.
But to get back to what I want to bitch about the most; I could say that nobody would support the Iron Range mining more than me. Well, there's probably a lot of people that would support it more. But I do: there's the very basic points of the good jobs that are created, it's good for the economy, it's good to have steel from the ground of the US, etc. etc. etc. But to say that it's gonna be a double edged sword is an understatement. Again, I understand the arguments/points that are logical, legal, etc. But a big part of me doesn't understand why and how companies like the Big Bad Wolf "RGGS" can come in and buy land (perfectly legal, BTW), but then all of a sudden, say, "Oh, there's snowmobile trails on our land? Well, we certainly can't have that anymore!" And voila, there's trails like the Lawron Trail, parts of the Diamond Lake Trail, and the Pelkey Trail closed down. Just because they wanted to be asses and demand an ABSURD amount of $$$.
Let me be clear. I don't know those that work for RGGS. I don't know the management team. They may be really nice people. And maybe they don't understand snowmobiling at all. I know plenty of people that don't understand the joys of snowmobiling. They may think it's a waste of gas. Maybe the cold isn't for them. And they might feel like, "What's the Point?" Maybe RGGS management has never, ever done snowmobiling before. But to be a dick like they did and close down snowmobile trails paints a negative image. I do remember/realize that a lot of what I'm bitching about happened a long, long, long time ago. But I'm just finally getting to bitch about it. I know there's other sledders out there that feel the same way.
Let me conclude by saying this. It's not the end of the world. It's not. I might have made it seem that way, but I didn't mean to. Life does indeed go on. But when I go up north and snowmobile, it's a different world. Once you're out on the trail snowmobiling, it's a lot of fun that a lot of people don't get to experience. Sure, it's fun to rip down a trail, and for some it might be fun to jump a sled or it's all about the speed. But for me it goes beyond that. What you can see in the middle of the woods is amazing. You can see lots of nature & wildlife. You can also see a lot of odd, cool, weird and different things. You can see abandoned houses, cabins, cars (yes, I've seen some abandoned old cars, it's weird but cool), pieces of equipment, etc. You also can have good times bonding with friends, partying (albeit responsibly lol) with family and friends, just overall having good times. I know it's not for everyone but there's a lot of people out there that enjoy it. I am a little concerned about the future snowflakes that may see it as environmentally negative and a waste of time.
I hope I didn't ramble too much. And I hope that in the future maybe some of the trails that have closed down would at some point get opened back up. I didn't get to ride them a whole lot but the trails I mentioned before (the Peleky, Diamond Lake, and Lawron trails) weren't anything really special, but they were unique to me. The Pelkey/Diamond Lake trails went through some old mines and they were pretty awesome. I hope the stupid RGGS company will someday wake up and stop being a complete scrooge.
