How did you get the picture of my neighbors out for a canoe ride? 

The birthplace of Correct Craft/Pine Castle but certainly NOT boats!

Now, Wisconsin is the birthplace for this:

http://www.eliason-snowmobile.com/" rel="nofollow - Eliason Snowmobiles (eliason-snowmobile.com)

No kidding.  Its so cold up at Pete's, that its actually colder than Houston.

 Got a bilge heater going in the 88' and have all winter. No power outages here in Hotlanta even though it was 25'F when I left this morning. Went down yesterday to check on things yesterday and the dock boards were crunching with every step. Surface Ice in the gutters but not solid. Ice pellets on the Scarletts cover from the previous rain  that never got the chance to evaporate before the chill.That Lake effect winter wind blowing down the cove will cut right through you. Brrrrrrrr.....I had to go put on some long pants yesterday.

David,

It's very rare to see the real old sleds like I linked above. Most were ether scrapped or put in museums. However, this anual event we do get to see some "older" sleds:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=junker+snowmobile+racing&&view=detail&mid=34B7CF021874376A868C34B7CF021874376A868C&&FORM=VRDGAR" rel="nofollow - Junker Sled Weekend in Three Lakes, Wisconsin - Bing video

Gary,

Lately I have been thinking about going modern with something that runs on gas. Feeding all the dogs has become pretty expensive! 

No studs at all. They are not permitted in Wisconsin. 

The first 2 were early - mid 60s then the green one was early 70s.

Larry,

You've brought back memories to the by todays standards snowmobiles were very basic and you would even say crude. I had two 60's Motoski's before Bombardier bought them out. The first was a 340cc and then I went with the "fast" one which was a 634cc. I vividly remember how hard those Hirth engines were to start. Today I probably couldn't even pull that 634 over to start it! 

I had a friend who had a Skiroule which ran the JLO engines. It too was a beast to pull start. 

Yes, those were the days when you needed to be a mechanic since you would spent more time with repairs than riding the things! 

The last sled I owned was a 399TNT. It wasn't as fast as the 699TNT but still got you wherever quickly.

The trail system up here utilizes plenty of lake trails. Without crossing the lakes, getting someplace on a sled can be a chalenge. Ice thickness/condition is checked and then the lake trails are marked. 

Yes, it seems drinking and sledding is common. Most of the trails were created between bars! It's common to hear about accidents around 2am just after closing time. 

Today, it's a different story. The trails are well maintained and groomed like highways. 

This is 70/71

50 years later you can see the open water in the back ground-

Very few snowmobiles of the day were faster on ice than one of these. And I wonder why my ears ring today.....

Back then if you were to ask me I thought the winters were great,now days you can keep it

Near decapitations by barbed wires fences were always fun stories to hear about.  The favoriate "gin mill" near us was the Buffalo Head Inn, as you can see in the upper right corner, it was right on the tracks.  It was about a 2 mile straight shot down the tracks from the lake.

Besides the tracks, there were about a billion miles of little unplowed camp roads to ride on, but you are right, after a while, both the trails along the tracks and the back roads could get pretty hummocky.  We were in kind of a no mans land between civilization and the real winter sports mecca of Old Forge and the Adirondacks.  As the years went on, I dont really remember when it started, the Adirondacks went the route of all the formal, groomed trails.  Never made it up there to try them, probably after I left the area.  

This happened to me on my dirt bike.  Single strand across the trail, caught me chest high & pull me off the bike.  I had no idea what was happening until afterwards.  Good thing I was in 1st gear.