Kakwa Riding Area

YamaDooPolCat · Oct 25, 2013

I'm from BC and I've met FatGuy1. We met in Saddle Creek. More people from BC should be like him, he's good people.

BC has lots of great places to ride, Kakwa is just one. However, most of the areas we used to ride are now closed by enviromental opportunism, with Mountain Caribou being the best excuse and the god-send government people have been looking for to shut us down.
I see the BC Government was at the Alberta Snowmobile show in Oct with a couple booths, what was the message our civil servants were giving about the rest of BC?

fatguy1 · Oct 25, 2013

SledMamma said:
Well, the fact that he would laugh at you about taking an avalanche course tells you just how credible the guy is. My gawd some people are stupid. I think it would be awesome to run into you guys in Kakwa-- some planned meetups might go a long way to showing everyone that people are just people no matter which side of the border they are from. Its always easy to villainize people you don't know, but 99% of the time familiarity breeds respect and we could use alot of that.

I'm curious what work the Swan City Snowmobile Club did to impress the BC Parks guys so much. Our little club could use this kind of good rapport with them. We have started helping them with trail maintenance etc., in the off season but I am wondering what else we could be doing...

Say hi to the wifey for me I see she is signed up for a SheShreds Clinic: awesome!!

I must say I'm a little embarssed because I'm not as involved in the local club as much as I should be even though I've been a member for 10 years, Maybe Sam can be more specific on the details of what the club has done that BC parks likes so much. I know folks constantly haul in fire wood for the cabin, I know the club brought in a large table, and replaced a broken window. some also go in during the summer and pick up cigerette butts that don't make it into the marked cans. And I must say that most folks don't venture into the "closed areas" as tempting as it may be.

Yeah my Bride has staff now so she is going to be able to take weekends off and make it out sledding more than just 4 or 5 rides this year.:d

HCR800<3 · Oct 28, 2013

SledMamma said:
Well, the fact that he would laugh at you about taking an avalanche course tells you just how credible the guy is. My gawd some people are stupid. I think it would be awesome to run into you guys in Kakwa-- some planned meetups might go a long way to showing everyone that people are just people no matter which side of the border they are from. Its always easy to villainize people you don't know, but 99% of the time familiarity breeds respect and we could use alot of that.

I'm curious what work the Swan City Snowmobile Club did to impress the BC Parks guys so much. Our little club could use this kind of good rapport with them. We have started helping them with trail maintenance etc., in the off season but I am wondering what else we could be doing...

Say hi to the wifey for me I see she is signed up for a SheShreds Clinic: awesome!!

As a club we do what we can to help the BC side out, as FatGuy1 said.. Our groomer guy (Laurie Ranestad) loads and hauls wood from the Alberta side parking lot (Lick Creek Staging Area) to the far end of the lake and piles it for a knowing volunteer (can be anybody) who hooks our skimmer of wood onto their sled and hauls it across the lake full of wood. When damages happen to the Kakwa Lake cabin we replace them with the clubs dime and volunteered time. For instance a window was broken last year and we replaced it, also the deck on the cabin is being used to chop firewood and we have put in some money to help repair this in the summer months. The supplied cigarette bins at the lake aren`t used as they should be but the effort to change this is there. A couple years ago I believe Parks picked up 2 pails full of butts, that was taken down to one pail last year. SO not to bad but can`t always get everyone on the same page.

Last year on Family Day Weekend we created an event at the cabin in which the Swan City Club brings out hot dogs and burgers and we cook and have our `Member Appreciation Day `.. Which we invited BC Parks to come and join where we were presented with our Appreciation Certificate from BC Parks.

SO basically our club and it`s members and volunteers keep the cabin in respectable shape in the winter months and stocked up with wood. We have one volunteer who every year puts out our STARS boxes on the BC and Alberta side. Also through the Broadview pass to Cecille Lake we have a small single groomer which one of our volunteers pulls through to smooth the trail that becomes very, very wavy and beat up for everyone`s riding comfort.

We support the local CAC fundraiser that comes to town every year, and we also work in ties with the companies on the road to Lick Creek Staging area to make sure everyone is happy and abiding by the rules of the road.

We have meetings every month to which mostly the usual 10-15 volunteers show up, but every October when we sell our camp permits for the year we have a big meeting where our turnout has reached almost 200 people. This is where we get everyone on the same page and remind them of how sensitive the area is.

Last year we had a casualty on our trail system, at that point the club took initiative to invite RCMP, STARS and surrounding fire departments to a special meeting where we discussed steps and ways to deal with an emergency in the back country, sadly not as many people showed up as we had wanted but our efforts to make sure that everyone knows what to do in an emergency situation was there. Now as a memorial for the loss of a fellow Kakwa rider and volunteer we are making an emergency skimmer, which will allow someone to put an injured person inside and pull them to where they need to be to get the attention they need.

Any changes or concerns we have we inform BC Parks of, the tie is never gone. We are always in constant sync with them. We will be repairing some of the outhouses in the areas along the trail to the BC side (Deadhorse Meadows and Kakwa Day Use Area).

I am involved with the club myself, but there is so much more to our club and what we do with BC Parks. If you are looking to know more you are more than welcome to message me and I would be glad to give you the contacts to which could answer your questions more elaborately than I can.

Really, it`s all about making a name for your club and letting people know that you are there and you are making a difference in where they ride. And you have to have the people who are willing to donate their time.

Here is a photo of BC Parks presenting to club with an appreciation plaque. In this photo is our previous secretary Tanya Metcalf, our groomer man Laurie Ranestad and our new club President Lou Moffrat.