Wolf Creek Trailblazers: Snowmobile
Club grooms local trails for sport use
By Norm Vance
Photo: Norm Vance |
The Wolf Creek Trailblazers Snowmobile Club
of Pagosa Springs, Colorado has been serving local riders for
two decades. The two prime reasons for the club are to have a
great time on their snowmobiles and to operate an active snow
trail grooming effort. The great times come during club outings
on local trails with special trips out of the area. Grooming takes
place as needed according to snow fall and trail condition.
The current membership and club leaders are making progress
at an all-time record pace. Older grooming machines have been
traded in for up-to-date groomers with the help of an active grant
acquisition effort.
Colorado has a snowmobile and off-road vehicle registration fee
and a system that returns registration funds back to local communities
through clubs like the Trailblazers. Clubs can apply for special
need grants and for funds to operate the yearly grooming activity.
Photo: Norm Vance |
The Trailblazers have a large Bombardier groomer (shown here)
that grooms a thirteen-foot wide trail in one pass and a Tucker
groomer for smaller, eight-foot, trails. If you have never ridden
on a groomed trail in Pagosa Country, it can best be explained
as an interstate highway made of snow through a breathtaking winter
wonderland.
Over the last several years the southwest has experienced a prolonged
drought forcing most grooming and trail riding to the highest
elevation trails, usually near the summit of Wolf Creek Pass.
The club grooms Wolf Creek Trail just to the west of the summit
and looks forward to being able to groom on the summit one day.
With good snow the Trailblazers are permitted to groom trails
on a variety of forest access roads in the area. These are shown
on the map provided here. There are other commonly used trails
shown that usually have a trail broken by local snowmobilers.
These are not as interstate like and more of an adventure.
click on map to see larger view
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That’s the work. But perhaps the best part of the club
are its social activities. These include the club snowmobile rides
along with monthly meetings plus any special activities that may
crop up from time to time. The regular meetings are held the second
Thursday of each month at 6:30PM at the Methodist Church. Members
often meet at The Adobe, just down the street, for meals and refreshments
at 5:00 or so before the meeting.
Club rides are great fun as a long line of riders snake up one
of the local trails and find meadows for play. There are fast
riders along with slower ones and sooner or later a group pulls
over for snacks or lunch and conversation. Sometimes the party
is on ten or more feet of snow!
The Trailblazers welcome guests and new members.
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