With over 400 kilometres of trail network, sledders in Whitecourt, Alberta, are often able to enjoy snowy, scenic routes all to themselves. For Whitecourt Trailblazers member Barry Murphy, however, his best memories of riding in the Snowmobile Capital of Alberta are along with six or seven hundred other sleds as part of the annual Family Poker Rally.
“We usually do that as a family,” said Barry, whose daughter, wife Lyrethea and son Devon each have their own sleds. “That’s probably the most memorable time of the winter season around the Whitecourt area. You get to hang out with your friends and have a little barbecue and a few sociables later when the sled rally is over, meet different people on the trails from different parts of Alberta, and it’s a small world so you see people you haven’t seen in awhile.”
Barry said the annual two-day rally always spans a weekend and features a different trail on both Saturday and Sunday.
“Every year (the club) change(s) it up,” he said, adding that the Trailblazers tends choose trails that do not take an entire day to ride, such as the Groat Creek and Carson oops that were featured last year, because they are “good for everybody, especially young kids.”
He said that last year was an especially good year for the event because the weather was good.
“The year before it was like minus 36 when we went out on the rally and you don’t get as many people, but last year the weather was good for everybody, even little kids,” he said. “Everybody got to participate.”
Fresh powder for the whole family
Family-friendly riding is a familiar concept to Barry, who said he taught his son Devon to snowmobile around the age of six.
“He just followed along and watched and learned,” he said.
Now 16, Murphy said now Devon is probably the better rider of the two.
“He’s younger and stronger and he definitely can ride a sled, that’s for sure.”
Barry said the Whitecourt area offers several trails that are appropriate for teaching children how to ride. In particular, he suggested the Groat Creek and Carson Lake loops.
“The Groat Creek Loop trail and the Carson Lake Loop trail would be good learning trails, the best for teaching young kids,” he said. “There aren’t too many steep hills, and they’re in wooded areas so it’s kind of nice, not so cold. You’re in the bush 90 per cent of the time and you’re surrounded by trees.
“They’ve got nice log cabins,” he said. “When you get halfway on each trail, there’s an actual cabin with a fire pit outside and a stove inside. They’re very nice, they’re well-maintained and well-built. It gives you a chance to stop and have a wiener roast or do stuff like that, and if it’s a little cold (the kids) can warm up.”
The views may just get your beginner rider stoked on sledding; according to Devon, his favourite part of snowmobiling is the views from the mountains and the view from the Carson Lake cabin is the best in the area.
“There’s a lookout point over Whitecourt,” said Devon. “You’re kind of like looking down at Whitecourt and you can see the Athabasca.”
The Golden Triangle: A Murphy family favourite
Beyond the Groat Creek and Carson Lake trails, both Barry and Devon said the Golden Triangle trail is a highlight.
“The triangle is popular,” said Barry.“ It goes from Whitecourt to Swan Hills to Fox Creek, then back to Whitecourt. A lot of people from out of town come here to do that, they leave Whitecourt, sleep in Swan Hills, then go to Fox Creek and sleep there, then come back to Whitecourt again.
“We actually did it in one day, me and my wife and the president of the Whitecourt Trailblazers Ken Linford,” he said. “We didn’t stop. The whole time we were on the snow.”
Devon echoed that the Golden Triangle is his personal favourite because “it’s an all-day trip”.
