Have you met Bob Yankus, Stokely’s enthusiastic snowshoe trail developer? He loves to stop by the lodge to talk with guest about their experiences on the trails. He knows the snowshoe tails and landscapes like the back of his hand. Bob is not new to trail development. In his younger years he developed off road bike trails in Michigan.
Over 13 years ago Bob and his wife Lucy started a few snowshoe trails at Stokely just as snowshoeing became the fastest growing winter sport. The first couple trails were Creek Side and Lucy’s mukluks. Now we have 25 km of trails and one that reaches to the top of King Mountain and another which goes past a quiet Lonesome Beaver Ponds.
It took awhile before our diehard skiers would take off their skis to try the intimate snowshoe trails. After feeling the, up close to nature experience, we now see more snowshoes coming to Stokely along with their pack of skis.
In January every year, Arch Hospice from the Sault, hosts a fundraiser on the Stokely trails. This year 440 guests were here on a Sunday afternoon enjoying fire pits and chocolate on the snowshoe trails. Our skiers did not notice the crowds except in the parking lot because our snowshoe trails only cross over the ski trails occasionally.
When Bob and Lucy develop the trails they are looking for majestic views or intimate paths or wide ice cliffs.
Bob guides an adventurous tour on the trails every Super Bowl weekend, February 2, 2019. Guests like it because you ski-snowshoe-ski. Your snowshoes and backpacks are portered to the first stop. After putting on your snowshoes Bob guides you around Moose Mountain, Lonesome Beaver Ponds and even some frozen water falls. Nothing like a warm Stokely lunch in Stokely Lake Cabin before a ski back to the lodge. And at the end of the day you feel like you accomplished a one of a kind trek through the wilderness.
Wilderness on snowshoes make a enchanting experience.