Caines Quest of Central NL
By Tom Caines (Formerly showcased on Sledworthy.com in 2013-14)
Spreading the word about Riverfront Chalets and the Hodges area seems to have become somewhat of an obsession for me as of late. It has allowed me to have one of the best snowmobiling seasons that I can remember, not to mention the excellent spring riding that kept me coming back all April (2013).
My brothers and I are avid sledders, having grown up in Corner Brook; we loved winter, snowmobiling, skiing, and anything winter related really! Being from the West coast you learn to love winter at an early age, you’re in for a pretty rough time if not. Currently we all live and work in Gander (Central Newfoundland).
Central Newfoundland snowmobiling appears to be worlds apart from the offerings on the West Coast, relatively flat terrain, the trail network is mostly limited to the old rail bed, and the late arrival and early departure of snow have made snowmobiling here somewhat frustrating.
Thus we travel west, usually between 8 -12 times a season we head for Corner Brook and the glorious snow covered hills that wait. Our favourite destination has been Lewis Hills, close to 75% of our riding is done on the slopes surrounding Newfoundland’s highest point. Blomidon and Marble Mountain usually get a yearly visit as well. For the past couple years we wouldn’t even bring the sleds back home. Opting instead to leave them at our parent’s house in Corner Brook, it wasn’t worth the hassle to transport them halfway across the island only to sit and wait for the next trip west. Our first ride has traditionally been the first weekend after New Year’s and the last ride tended to be early to mid May. This has worked well for much of the last decade, but changing family requirements ie. kids over the last couple years have made these trips much harder to plan and even harder to get approval for. LOL
For the last few seasons we have talked about heading somewhere new for a weekend, the original plan was to stay at a cabin near Gros Morne and see what the area had to offer. But the coordination involved put a damper on that plan. Folks working shift work makes even simple scheduling difficult.
Discovery of Riverfront Chalets.
With that in mind we decided to look for something closer to home. A day trip or single night would be much easier to arrange. One of the guys suggested we try Riverfront Chalets in Grand Falls. We had stayed at Riverfront Chalets a couple years earlier during the summer, the accommodations were top notch. Beautiful chalet cabins, loft bedroom, BBQ s, hot tub on the deck, and great view overlooking the exploits river. The place is best known for its river rafting tours; would it even be possible to go for a snowmobile ride?
We browsed the website and checked out the winter adventure section, the online interactive booking system made reserving a chalet and booking a guided tour extremely easy. We booked the cabin for March 31st, with plans to ride on April 1st. It would be the last ride of the season, now we just hoped the snow would hold out. By the end of March, the snow in Gander and most of Central was gone, trails were opened up and sleds were put away. We contacted Paul Rose to inquire about the snow conditions where we planned to ride and were assured that there was plenty of snow on and around Hodges to keep us happy. The trip was a GO. Paul suggested that we arrive early on the 31st so he could take us for a quick run to show us around and see what the area had to offer. Any chance to ride sounded good to us and we took him up on the offer. The weather for the 31st and 1st looked good, sunny and +5 during the days -14 at night. We left Gander just after dinner and arrived at Riverfront an hour later.
The snow conditions on the drive started to cause some doubts as to the possibility of getting any riding at all. The highway was bare and only small patches of snow remained in the trees. We arrived at River Front to discover that it still had great snow cover and we would be able to leave directly from the Chalets. It was like stepping back into winter, while 20 km east, Grand Falls was completely snowless.
We quickly unloaded the sleds and gear then met up with Paul for a quick tour of the Hodges area before supper. This being the first time any of us had ever used a guide, we weren’t sure what to expect, was this going to be a strictly trail riding experience, would we find places to play, and how would our riding styles compare. Any and all questions were quickly brushed aside as Paul showed us what Hodges had to offer. A quick ride up the road from the chalets and then up a tight twisty trail to the top of Hodges for a look from the highest point in Central. Paul pointed out all the main features of the surrounding area, the Galf Topsails in the distance, places to play, trails to take and lines that had not been attempted yet. We had made the right decision to try this place. What started as a quick intro to the area turned into a 5hr skill testing adventure! From picking slow lines through tight trees to Climbing cutovers and maneuvering perfectly spaced old growth on the side of Hodges, the intro turned into a full-fledged ride, including multiple stucks, sawed off trees and awesome pictures to tell the story. We arrived back at the chalet around 10pm that night. Time for the BBQ and a dip in the hot tub. The intro day was excellent, but we weren’t sure what to expect tomorrow, the group that we would be riding with on the scheduled tour were beginners, having never been on a sled before, how would that affect the tempo of the ride? It was a beautiful clear night, the temp dropped to -14 but the hot tub was perfect, we talked about our plan for the following day. Would we head out on our own or would we ride with the group and see where that led, it was decided to ride with the group and experience the complete guided tour. Around 1 AM we pulled ourselves out of the hot tub and hit the bed.
The following morning was a repeat of the previous day, perfect blue skies and the sun was starting to soften the overnight frost, we gassed and oiled the sleds and even added fuel stabilizer believing this was the last ride of the year. All suited up we made our way to Paul’s house to join up with the rest of the group, Paul was giving the group an intro to sledding, hand signals, safety, controls, gas brake etc.
Once everyone was introduced we were on our way, this was a mixed group if ever there was one, one end was west coast riders looking for things to climb, sidehill or jump, the other end were novices who were out for a sightseeing tour. With such varied mix of skill levels surely someone was going to be disappointed, where would the day lead? It needs to be said that Paul is an excellent guide, its easy to see why he won the 2012 Sleddy award for Guide of the year. The ride was tailored to ensure everyone had a great time, the novices were shown how fun snowmobiling can be while we were shown new places to play and released from the group to go explore, each time we had a time and place where we would meet up with the main group before heading on to the next location or stopping for dinner. It turned out to be a great day for everyone involved. As the guided tour was coming to an end and the group was headed back to the chalets, we bid farewell to our new east coast friends and once again headed off in search new snow. Being our last ride we stayed out till dark squeezing every last ounce of winter that we could.
It was a great introduction to the Hodges area of Central Newfoundland. During the 1hr ride back to Gander the conversation centered around how convenient this location is, and how good the conditions were. It is a day trip, it is much easier to plan a day trip than trying to get away for a weekend and none of us expected such excellent conditions, loads of snow on the trails and powder in the higher elevations. Maybe winter wasn’t over!
Well winter wasn’t over, we had three more trips to Hodges in April, the 7th , 15th , and 22nd all turned out to be perfect days, Blue skies, sun and each week better than the last. We met up with Paul on the 7th and 22nd, needless to say the days were filled with exploring, breaking trails, and refining the techniques needed to navigate the terrain. The time spent riding in April really help develop and fine tune our riding skills faster than any other riding I’ve ever done, I credit two factors in this development. One: the terrain is more forgiving, not necessarily easier, but the consequence of a failed line or bad sidehill doesn’t result in the sled rolling hundreds of feet down a mountain slope. You are able to push yourself without paying a huge price when you exceed your skill level. Second: Paul Rose as a riding partner and guide, if you’re willing to go there, try that, he is right there with you. Pushing, Pulling and lifting just like the guys I normally ride with.
We had the entire area to ourselves for the full month of April; we even managed to introduce some of our riding buddies to the area. Stopping to gas up the sleds resulted in some strange looks and people asking where we were headed, most were in disbelief when we said Hodges. Even folks in Grand Falls thought we were joking about still riding just 20 km away.
With such great riding so close to home, 2014 is looking to be the best year yet. Anyone in central can squeeze in a day trip. Coming from the east or west coast? Stay the night and enjoy the accommodations and get the guided tour.