Power Toys!
It seems that this is the land of motorized recreation.
This northern country is big... really big.
And one thing that is abundantly clear from riding around up here is that just about everyone who participates in some sort of outdoor activity does it with the assistance of a gas powered engine.
Seriously, I have seen a greater variety of recreational vehicles both large and small up here than I have ever seen anywhere else.
For the small stuff, there are relatively few motorbikes, but there are huge numbers of 4x4 ATVs (four wheeled motorbikes) as well as plenty of snow mobiles and the slightly larger 4x4 Big-ATVs (take two people side by side).
My favourite `mechanical critter`would have to be the 4-Trac conversion of the ATV, which is where a regular ATV has been converted for snow use by replacing the wheels with little track units... Amazing :))
They are getting to be very sophisticated machines these days with automatic transmissions, 4x4 and electric power stearing.
And Ive seen plenty of other less common types of critter, from swamp buggies and tundra buggies to a surprising number of air-boats (I thought they were endemic to the Florida everglades), and other thigs too (though Im not sure what to call them).
As for the larger toys, the roads are absolutely crowded with 4x4 pickup trucks (and Ive seen a couple of these converted for swow use with a larger version of the tracks used on the ATVs too), and there are plenty of full-on tracked snow machines around the place like Haglunds and Nodwells etc (which I know of from my work in the Antarctic). And on the more tourist oriented side of things, there are thousands of `fifth wheel`towed campers of a massive size. Likewise, there are dozens of full sized coaches that are fully fitted out as mobile homes...The highways are full of them.
But for the more `fun`larger toys, It has to go to the light aircraft. I have seem several hundred light aircraft fitted with floats and tundra tyres up here. Anywhere there is a town with a lake or an airstrip (and thats well and truely most of them), there are dozens of little aircraft as well.
Mostly they seem to be the pilot+one pasenger type planes like the little Super-Cub that my friend Mike flies, but its the sheer number of them that surprises me.
There are lots of slightly larger aircraft as well (like beavers etc) and quite a few small helicopters. How they all afford them I dont know but they are definitely here in huge numbers.
Toys Toys Toys... You name it, and if its powered by gasoline, then there are plenty of them up here.
It seems that this is the land of motorized recreation.
This northern country is big... really big.
And one thing that is abundantly clear from riding around up here is that just about everyone who participates in some sort of outdoor activity does it with the assistance of a gas powered engine.
Seriously, I have seen a greater variety of recreational vehicles both large and small up here than I have ever seen anywhere else.
For the small stuff, there are relatively few motorbikes, but there are huge numbers of 4x4 ATVs (four wheeled motorbikes) as well as plenty of snow mobiles and the slightly larger 4x4 Big-ATVs (take two people side by side).
My favourite `mechanical critter`would have to be the 4-Trac conversion of the ATV, which is where a regular ATV has been converted for snow use by replacing the wheels with little track units... Amazing :))
They are getting to be very sophisticated machines these days with automatic transmissions, 4x4 and electric power stearing.
And Ive seen plenty of other less common types of critter, from swamp buggies and tundra buggies to a surprising number of air-boats (I thought they were endemic to the Florida everglades), and other thigs too (though Im not sure what to call them).
As for the larger toys, the roads are absolutely crowded with 4x4 pickup trucks (and Ive seen a couple of these converted for swow use with a larger version of the tracks used on the ATVs too), and there are plenty of full-on tracked snow machines around the place like Haglunds and Nodwells etc (which I know of from my work in the Antarctic). And on the more tourist oriented side of things, there are thousands of `fifth wheel`towed campers of a massive size. Likewise, there are dozens of full sized coaches that are fully fitted out as mobile homes...The highways are full of them.
But for the more `fun`larger toys, It has to go to the light aircraft. I have seem several hundred light aircraft fitted with floats and tundra tyres up here. Anywhere there is a town with a lake or an airstrip (and thats well and truely most of them), there are dozens of little aircraft as well.
Mostly they seem to be the pilot+one pasenger type planes like the little Super-Cub that my friend Mike flies, but its the sheer number of them that surprises me.
There are lots of slightly larger aircraft as well (like beavers etc) and quite a few small helicopters. How they all afford them I dont know but they are definitely here in huge numbers.
Toys Toys Toys... You name it, and if its powered by gasoline, then there are plenty of them up here.
