WARM AND COZY: The Cranbrook Snowmobile Club does a great job of looking after their trails and cabin.

On Sunday, I decided to go snowmobiling so I called up my dad to see if he wanted to come along. Despite unco-operative weather, he was more than willing to accompany me to the Lumberton riding area—located south of Cranbrook, B.C., off Highway 3/95.

Lumberton is maintained by members of the Cranbrook Snowmobile Club and it is one of the most popular places for locals and out-of-towners to sled. Having lived in the East Kootenay my whole life, I’m reluctant to admit that, prior to this, I had never rode Lumberton. I'd been told that it is a huge area with lots of great trails and I was eager to see if the rumours were true.

There was blue sky over Cranbrook but as we drove the 15 kilometres from the highway turnoff to the staging area, it didn’t look too promising. Arriving at the parking lot, I was surprised to see about 15 other vehicles with trailers and decks; however, there was still some room for us so we unloaded the sleds and headed out.

We rode the Main Moyie trail then followed a family of sledders up a smaller trail that branched to the right. Dad had been up Lumberton several years ago so he had a somewhat-clear idea of where to go. The group ahead of us stopped to check out a cutline and we passed by them and waved.

About 20 minutes later, we found a small play area and dad had some fun carving lines while I snapped off a few pictures. The snow was wet and a little bit heavy but we didn’t have problems getting stuck—thanks to 800 cc's of power.

Back on the trail we rode through some heavily forested areas and followed a route that eventually led us to the club’s cabin. No one else was there and after taking a peek through the window, I was impressed by the furnished and well-maintained interior. Kudos to the Cranbrook Snowmobile Club.

By this time, it was 4:15 p.m. and the falling snow made it hard to see through our goggles so we headed back to the truck.

Although it was short, I was pleased with my first trip to Lumberton. The trails are great and even though there were several other sledders out that day, we found virgin snow and untracked terrain.