"Stobart to Prince Albert" trail

Junior is Being Helpful
Family ride in Nisbet with a BBQ. Crazy carpets for the eskers are great for the kids. There was several families involved, and the kids had a great time. At the end of the day we were riding out and junior was in front of me on our  ZL 500*  Arctic Cat, to date the quickest 500 we had owned. Because it had the .75" track it was faster on the top end than a  ZR 600 , just because the  ZR  series had a 1" track standard. In stock form this 500 engine was not refined with power valves and had a little higher engagement to get her rolling. Incidentally several years later I bought the '03 red  FIRECAT F-5   , and although it had power valves and was very refined in comparison laydownengine and all, there was a brief moment every time you started the F-5 that the exhaust valves cycled and for a split second you heard the old ZL 500 bark when it idled! On this day the 'Ol ZL barked to life with out me realizing it was going happen. It was just dark and as our group as pictured here there must of been 6 or 8 sleds in a convoy heading out of the forest for the trucks, and in the dark I took my hand off the throttle and started coasting down from maybe 80 or 90 Kph, to slide my hand out of my glove to adjust my jacket or something don't exactly remember. When suddenly while hanging on with only my left had the 'OL ZL barked to life and I thought for sure I was going off the back! Instantly the throttle was modulated precisely and I knew I wasn't falling off, turns out junior thought dad needed some help.   Unbelievable, he modulated the throttle perfectly and we kept up with the whole group like nothing happened. This has been quite awhile, but I am pretty sure I let him operate the throttle all the way back after that! You know that you couldn't wipe that smile off his face if you had to!! I said "Don't tell mom!!"

* Don't let this article lead you to believe that the ZL 500 was slower than the ZR 500...they had exactly the same engine, in their minds obviously the green ZR went faster because of the bright color and also probably because it cost more. Kinda like many moons ago our car was a 1973 Red Pontiac Formula 400 Firebird, everywhere we went we were stopped by the police!!!! Sometimes a little incontinent when you are trying to get from point A to point B. You just about could tell after passing or meeting a cruiser when it was time to lean on it for a quick couple miles and for the fun of it quickly pull off into a bluff of trees etc. Yup at Mach 100 they would go by!!

There are runs out of the  Eskers  in several directions. Extensive dirt bike and ATV use has made this whole area unrecognizable.

WE are riding out of the Nisbet Forest on the
"Stobart to Prince Albert" trail